STJ_02

"I'm looking for a doctor on the plane! Are there any medical personnel among you?"

The flight attendant walked around shouting loudly, but no one came forward.

As she hurriedly walked down the aisle, thinking she had no choice but to contact the airport, someone appeared from the first class cabin.

"What happened?"

The flight attendant, who saw a tall man appearing after the curtain was opened, greeted him in surprise, and she and the other flight attendants were all excited to see Sa Kangjun.

There was nothing to be read on his expressionless face. However, from his action of looking at his watch, it was clear that he was dissatisfied with the situation of the delayed departure.

"I'm sorry. A passenger is showing symptoms of an anxiety attack."

"Let's go together."

The situation witnessed by Kangjun, who followed the flight crew, was quite serious. The passenger with his ears covered was moaning in pain and barely breathing. His eyes were completely wide open, although he occasionally waved his hands in the air.

Kangjun took off his gloves and made eye contact with the passenger sitting in the aisle. When he(KJ) lifted the tip of his(DY) chin with his straight and long fingers, his pale white face was revealed.

"Keep your... head down... stay low..."

Kangjun's eyes slowly began to tremble as he held the small face of the man who was talking nonsense with his palms. A sapphire-colored circle appeared in his irises, gradually becoming more and more blue.

Eyes that sparkle with a mysterious hue, as bright as the sea near the equator, but darken as the pupils approach. His deep eyes are reminiscent of a blue hole, known as a black hole in the ocean.

It's okay.

When Kangjun's voice entered his head, the trembling of his pine-like body stopped for a moment. Soon, the dark brown eyes that were controlled to be as docile as a doll turned to Kangjun who was using his ability.

"What is your name?"

"... Joo Doyoung."

Just as he was about to hypnotize him into sleeping peacefully, Kangjun's eyebrow hairs became tangled.

A faint guiding energy came from the opponent. Kangjun turned his head and asked the flight attendant who was standing a few steps away.

"This person, is he a Guide?"

"Yes? That's impossible. According to the airline's procedures, Esper and Guide passengers are in first class."

Kangjun lowered his eyes to Doyoung. His eyes were blue again. But even after showing his ability, it seemed that the question had not been resolved. Kangjun asked the flight attendant with an indifferent expression.

"Can you find this person's passport?"

A procedural error was suspected anyway. The flight attendant opened Doyoung's bag and found his passport. She then opened the front page and held it out for Kangjun to see.

[27 years old, Joo Doyoung]

Judging from the fact that the name 'Guide' was not written next to his name, this man was clearly an ordinary person. In that case, what is that faint energy on the tip of his finger?

Kangjun's piercing eyes stared at Doyoung even more sharply.

"Joo Doyoung."

A deep voice called Doyoung's name. Doyoung looked at Kangjun with blank eyes, as if completely captivated, while Kangjun gave instructions with his voice.

"Please answer."

"Yes..."

"From now on, you will answer honestly."

"......."

Kangjun's finger touched Doyoung's confused cheek.

"Answer."

"Yes..."

"Are you a Guide?"

"No..."

Kangjun's eyes, looking down with a complicated expression, shimmered with blue light.

It wasn't wrong to say that he wasn't a Guide. However, that was because no one could lie in front of his abilities.

It was just that this man named Joo Doyoung was clearly guiding him right now.

"No..."

"Yes..."

"This is not something you should answer. You must be tired, so you should stop and sleep."

As Kangjun's big hand covered his eyes, Doyoung finally fell asleep.

***

"He said he was a Guide?"

"Yes."

"No matter how you look at it, isn't that wrong? Look. The numbers are at their lowest."

"Still. That's what Lieutenant Colonel Sa said."

"Hmm... Is it a technical error? Contact the others and have them get another wave detector."

Doyoung awoke to the sound of a stranger's conversation in his ears. People in white coats passed in front of his eyes. The emblem on their chests was familiar.

The symbol of the UEFC unit with a lightning bolt crossing a long sword shone.

"Oh? Are you awake?"

A woman who found Doyoung shook her head, then quickly approached and checked his pupils with a penlight, he (DY) read the writing engraved on the chest of the white coat.

[UEFC Medical Support Team. Dr. Ji Heeyoung]

Why did a UEFC doctor examine him?

Doyoung recalled his memories.

He panicked when he realized that there was no sleeping pill when he boarded the plane. The scene of his childhood accident as his trauma unfolded before his eyes, even though he knew it wasn't real, he still felt desperate. In the middle of it, his memory was cut off.

This must have caused great discomfort to the passengers on the same plane. Confused, Doyoung rubbed his sore temples and asked the doctor.

"Where is this?"

"UEFC main building, 6th floor, medical staff section."

"Yes? Not the airport?"

He woke up as if he had been baptized with cold water. UEFC was outside of Seoul and quite far from the airport. As if he understood Doyoung's doubts, the doctor spoke.

"Joo Doyoung-ssi came here through a legitimate legal process after receiving a report about an alleged Guide."

"...Yes? What report?"

"You know that concealing the fact that you are a Guide is an act punishable by the new National Security Act? It's seven years in prison."

"W, what?"

Doyoung, suddenly hearing something inappropriate, frowned.

"Don't you know? In Article 7 Paragraph 2 of the new National Security Act, anyone who knows that he is an Esper or a Guide but does not inform the investigating or intelligence agency will be sentenced to up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won."

"I am not a Guide! Who can tell me about the law? Are you threatening people now?"

Doyoung shouted words of protest at the threatening woman. But the woman didn't even blink, raising her finger at the soldier standing behind her. A document was placed in her hand and immediately thrust in front of Doyoung.

"There is indeed no leaking guiding wave, but you will know when you check. Can you sign here? Guidance Assessment Test Agreement."

"Why do I have to take this test?"

"I heard that you are not a Guide. Is there a problem?"

"Huh. This doesn't make sense."

Doyoung signed the document to protest his innocence. The nurse, who approached as if she had been waiting, placed silicone pads all over Doyoung's body, making his body shiver from the cold touch.

"Ugh! No, but why am I here and not at the airport? Who reported me?"

Doyoung asked, but no one in the room answered. A male nurse with a businesslike expression silently applied silicone pads to Doyoung's arm and forehead, told him to open his mouth and bite into a stick connected to a cable.

Doyoung, who was confused, asked as he bit into the stick.

"What is this?"

"This is a wave measuring device that guides the mucosa. Bite it well."

No one knew that guiding the mucosa meant kissing and sexual intercourse. Doyoung blushed and let go of the stick he was biting.

"It doesn't hurt, so don't worry."

"That's not what I meant..."

"You shouldn't talk for now. Put it back in your mouth. Let's start measuring."

The nurse didn't listen to Doyoung's words and pushed the stick into Doyoung's mouth like candy to continue the examination.

The paper was pulled out of the machine with a beep, and even Doyoung, who was not an expert, could tell that the numbers that appeared were near the bottom of the graph.

"Hm... you're not a Guide."

Doyoung just shrugged at the doctor's answer.

After the results came out, the doctor approached the man in military uniform standing at one side of the examination room, looked at the paper together, and spoke with a serious face.

"Look, this is not a technical error. This is just a normal person. I'm sure of it."

"What? But he can't be lying."

"This is Sierra 1. If it's 2, I can understand."

Doyoung, showing his journalistic spirit, pricked up his ears but could not understand the code-like words.

"Well... maybe one day even monkeys will fall from trees*. If not, just let it be."

*t/n: 원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다; proverb; usually used to comfort people who make mistakes. This means that even professionals can make mistakes.

Doyoung pretended not to hear their conversation as he tightened his lips in a stern expression. The doctor holding the examination sheet approached with a smiling face.

"Joo Doyoung-ssi? I've troubled you a lot. You can go home now."

Doyoung muttered 'it's about time' and hurried over.

"Is it okay to kidnap a good citizen like this? If you received a prank call report on someone else who was suspected of being an Esper or Guide, would you take them all for examination like this?"

"It's not like that. Civilians are examined when there are more than two cumulative reports. However, if an Esper reports it, then this must be investigated by the relevant agency."

"What? An Esper reports me?"

The doctor looked confused, as if hinting why he(DY) didn't know about it.

"Yes. You had an anxiety attack on the plane. Lieutenant Colonel Sa Kangjun was the one who saved you and reported you."

"……!"

Lieutenant Colonel Sa Kangjun.

He was someone he had never thought of being related to in any way. That's because he(KJ) is up there and he(DY) is in the real world.

After hearing a brief explanation of the process that had brought him here, Doyoung came out holding the test results in his hands.

"Haa... What kind of mess is this?"

While walking down the hallway with complicated feelings, Doyoung suddenly realized that he was lost. He had a bad sense of direction. Even after all these years, he often got lost in his neighborhood.

Fortunately, there was a map on the wall. As Doyoung was tracing the red dot indicating the current location with his fingertip to estimate where the elevator was, the sound of a siren pierced his eardrums, someone was shouting.

"Catch him! Don't let him get out!"

Could it be, me? Why?

As he looked around in confusion, the warning lights on the wall began to flash. Doyoung, who was so shocked that he jumped from his seat, couldn't do anything.

At that moment, the dividing wall was lowered a few steps in front of Doyoung as if an iron weight had fallen with a loud noise.

"Ahh! W, what have I done..."

The ground beneath his feet shook like an earthquake. A loud, deafening sound was heard just behind him. Doyoung covered his ears and looked back, his face turning pale.

He wasn't the only one trapped in a closed room, blocked from front to back. Only then did he realize that he wasn't the one being blocked by humans.

A huge shadow covered Doyoung's face.

A tall man was now standing in front of him.

Doyoung's lips trembled pitifully as he murmured the name that everyone in Korea must have known.

"Sa... Sa Iijun..."

–

TL: Muji

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