Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Reverse Guiding
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Since the phone broke because of me, Ju Yeon-woo gave me his to use temporarily until I could buy a new one.
That very day, I headed straight to Han Se-young's place and got the number set up again. And today, the thought suddenly struck me.
'I guess I'm just not fated to get any rest.'
According to my original plan, I should've slept like the dead until afternoon. But thanks to one of Ju Yeon-woo's acquaintances, I was forced awake bright and early, and now in the afternoon, Han Se-young had dragged me out too.
And the reason she'd called me out?
"We're dating now."
That was it.
Yang Hyun-woo shyly scratched his cheek while Han Se-young beamed with a bright smile.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I glanced at the two of them reflected in the rearview mirror. While I'd been unwittingly starring in Home Alone at Noona's House, it looked like something had gone down between them.
"Uh, yeah. Congrats, I guess."
"What? That's all you've got?"
"...Congratulations?"
Han Se-young grumbled that my reaction was lame. Since she was whining so openly for some acknowledgment, I even clapped for good measure.
Honestly, up until now, they'd basically been dating already—they just hadn't said the words.
"To celebrate us officially dating, it's on us today. What do you want to eat? We can order something pricey!"
I had no idea why I was the one getting treated just because these two had become a couple, but free food was free food, so I nodded agreeably.
When I said I'd think about it and put off deciding, Han Se-young immediately turned to Yang Hyun-woo.
She chattered away asking if he preferred Western or Korean food, and even while driving, he answered her every question with utmost care.
"Se-young."
"Yeah? Oh, right. You said you're sick of Western food and hardly eat it anymore. Should we just hit up a hotel buffet? We can try a bunch of stuff."
"Tell me about Awakeners. Guiding stuff, if possible."
"A hotel we can book right now... Huh? What'd you say?"
Han Se-young whipped around in shock. Yang Hyun-woo was just as startled.
With a surprised look, he turned his head to glance back at me.
"Yu-jeong-ssi, what's up?"
"Something wrong?"
"You hardly ever bring up Awakeners on your own."
"You asking about Awakeners out of the blue? This must be big. Spill it—what's going on? Or have you finally decided to register as one?"
Their questions came at me rapid-fire without a breath in between, so I clapped my hands to grab their attention.
"First off, Hyun-woo-ssi, eyes on the road. Our destination isn't the afterlife."
"Ah, got it!"
"And Han Se-young, I'm not registering as an Awakener, so don't get your hopes up."
"Huh? Then why?"
I had no choice but to shut my mouth at that one.
"Just... since I'm a Guide, I figured I should know the basics. On that note, I've got a question—cool if I ask?"
"Y-yeah! I'll answer anything I know!"
"I keep my guiding suppressed to the minimum in everyday life, right? But what if I touch an Esper? Could just making contact suddenly ramp up the guiding?"
Guides can't completely erase their guiding. The extent of control they can exercise through training is limited to adjusting the method or amount.
Even then, suppressing it so low that an Esper wouldn't notice—like I did—was something Yang Hyun-woo had said had no known precedents, as far as he knew.
But back then.
The first time I placed my hand on Ju Yeon-woo's forehead, I had zero intention of guiding.
Of course not. I didn't even know he was an Esper at that point.
I'd touched his forehead with my guiding dialed down to its absolute limit, just like always.
But suddenly, the guiding surged, and I felt something draining out of me inside, just like when I'd guided Yang Hyun-woo.
No. To be precise, it was a little different.
With Yang Hyun-woo, it was such a faint sensation that I could barely recognize it as guiding.
But with Ju Yeon-woo, it hit me like a whirlwind of intense sensations, the kind I'd felt back when I was actively using my powers.
It was so overwhelming I wanted to escape reality.
The feeling was closer to what I'd experienced with Amelia than with Yang Hyun-woo—enough that for a split second, I wondered if it was guiding at all, or if my healing ability had somehow returned.
And sure enough, right after that sensation, Ju Yeon-woo had recovered as if he'd been healed.
"So... you're saying a ton of guiding drained out even though you didn't raise your output?"
"Yeah. Could that happen without me meaning to?"
Both Amelia's healing and guiding required physical contact to activate.
But unlike guiding, which triggered automatically upon contact, healing wouldn't work from touch alone unless I consciously used it.
It was like the difference between a freely flowing river and one blocked by a dam.
Han Se-young's eyes went wide at my question, and she clamped her mouth shut. Yang Hyun-woo asked in surprise.
"Yu-jeong-ssi, did you hear about this somewhere? That's reverse guiding."
"Reverse guiding..."
"I mentioned before that it can happen with low matching rates, right? It also occurs sometimes when an Esper's in bad shape from lack of guiding. Or when they deliberately reject it—which is the worse kind, unlike the first case."
Han Se-young spoke with a grim expression.
"You don't need to worry about it. Reverse guiding hurts like hell. I never really got why Espers complained so much about pain during rampages until I experienced it myself."
"Uh..."
"I know it's awkward saying this in front of an Esper like Hyun-woo-ssi, but Guides usually avoid Espers on the verge of rampage. High chance of reverse guiding, and if you get caught in the rampage, you're dead."
"Hmm..."
I quietly rolled my eyes.
Hurts? Then what about me? I didn't feel a thing. Just that draining sensation.
"...Everyone says reverse guiding hurts? No Guides who come out fine?"
"Of course not! Every Guide I know says it hurts!"
Then does that mean I'm not a Guide?
"No time delay or anything? Like feeling fine at first, then problems cropping up later."
"Yu-jeong-ah, what is this, some volleyball delayed spike? No way."
Han Se-young shook her head. And the way her eyes narrowed suspiciously at me said she was onto something.
I hurriedly changed the subject.
"Anyway, when did you experience reverse guiding? Isn't it too much for a low-rank Guide?"
"Low-rank means I don't have much power to begin with. It's not like school—they don't cut you slack for lack of ability at work. Plus, with Guides flocking to guilds lately, there's a manpower shortage."
By then, we'd arrived at our destination, and the car pulled into the parking lot.
Yang Hyun-woo, who'd been smiling awkwardly while Han Se-young talked, finally spoke up.
"Um... Se-young-ssi actually told me not to tell you this, but the first time we met, reverse guiding happened too."
"...What?"
"Wait, Hyun-woo-ssi!"
"I was in really bad shape back then. I didn't know much about Guides, and I had no idea reverse guiding was that painful. Hearing about it now makes me feel bad all over again."
"I said it was fine. Because it was you, Hyun-woo-ssi!"
"Se-young-ssi..."
Yang Hyun-woo gazed at Han Se-young with earnest eyes. She looked back at him the same way.
"Uh... I'll head up first. Gotta hit the bathroom."
With overflowing consideration for their moment, I quietly opened the door and slipped out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After a satisfying meal, I headed straight home and looked for Ju Yeon-woo first thing.
Not that I needed to search—he came out to greet me the moment I stepped through the front door.
He followed me around like a giant dog welcoming its owner home, asking if I'd eaten. I nodded with a half-hearted expression.
"Yeah, I ate. You?"
"I did too."
That seemed unlikely, given the still-steaming food on the dining table. When I glanced that way, he averted his eyes.
"...Actually, my stomach's been iffy, so I was gonna eat later."
"Oh, is it bad?"
"Not really. Why?"
"If you're okay with it, there's something I'd like a little help with."
If something weird had happened, I might as well ask the person it happened with. Ju Yeon-woo already knew I was a Guide, so there was no point playing coy.
"Specifically, there's an experiment I want to try... Got a minute?"
Oh, did that phrasing sound off?
I regretted it instantly and rushed to explain, but he answered before I could.
"Sure, I'm free."
His innocent gaze, blinking up at me expectantly like a child's, made my mouth move on reflex.
"...How do you agree without even knowing what I'll ask?"
"Whatever it is, it's fine."
"No, Yeon-woo-ssi..."
What was I supposed to do with this nice guy?
I let out a sigh and calmly continued my explanation.
It wasn't anything weird—just that I wanted his help for a bit while I looked into guiding.
Compared to the common knowledge about Guides, there were some irregularities with me. But there were oddities on Ju Yeon-woo's side too.
For instance, back at the café when I'd done that hand cream product placement.
Thinking back, there'd been brief contact then, and after that, Ju Yeon-woo started paying attention to me. That's when the rumors began too.
The weird part? I'd had my guiding minimized at the time.