STJ_10

His eyelids felt heavy, as if he had slept for a very long time. When he openedhis eyes, all he could see was a pure white ceiling that looked hazy.

"Ugh!"

When Doyoung turned his head to look athis surroundings, his face suddenly changed. His whole body was tingling and hurting like it was being trampled by an elephant.

"Oh? Are you awake?"

Doyoung moved his eyes without turning his head. A doctor he had seen before appeared in the corner of his vision. It was the UEFC doctor named Ji Heeyoung.

"How... cough... what happened?"

Doyoung asked as he clearedhis throat. Heeyoung walked over while taking a flashlight out of her pocket and shining it into Doyoung's pupils. It felt familiar, like déjà vu.

"You were electrocuted and fell to the floor."

"Oh... In the lab earlier…”

“Yesterday, not earlier. You were unconscious all day."

Doyoung couldn't remember exactly the circumstances of the accident. The last thing he remembered was running towards Sa Iijun. However, the gruesome scene he witnessed with his own eyes was still fresh in his mind.

The sight of Sa Iijun on the laboratory chair reminded him of a scene in a gore movie. But what was even more horrifying was the lack of ethics in the feelings of those who committed such atrocities without remorse.

"There are no broken bones or bleeding, but concussion symptoms can last a week or more. You may experience headaches, dizziness, and vomiting, so we'll keep you in the hospital until the end of the week."

Doyoung looked up at the ceiling and took a long breath. Maybe it was the thought of getting on a plane out of nowhere, but everything seemed to have gone wrong since that day.

"About the accident... Do you know anything?"

Instead of answering, she picked up the small ziplock bag on her nightstand that contained the bracelet Doyoung always wore.

"It looks like this is what caused it."

"My bracelet?"

It was the bracelet he had worn for ten years. If he didn't wear it, he would feel uncomfortable. Heeyoung put the bracelet back on.

"You know that Sa Iijun has two attributes, right?"

"Yes."

All Esper have abilities. Some can create wind, others can tell fortunes. Some, like Sa Kangjun, could manipulate the minds of their opponents.

Though broadly divided into physical and mental realms, the various Esper have one thing in common: they share a single attribute.

But Sa Iijun was special. He possessed two elements: fire and electricity. He also had extremely powerful stats.

An extraordinary Esper who existed since the ten thousandth, a junior lieutenant who was always getting into trouble. Mostly for disobeying orders or insubordination. Often even for damaging equipment and obstructing the execution of special tasks.

"The electric current he generates has a higher voltage than the tram lines of a high-speed train. He is a human who can blow up a Creature just like that. Fortunately, his abilities were exhausted during the experiment. That was your first luck, Chief Joo Doyoung.

"First luck?”

The doctor's words about good luck to him while he was bedridden with a broken bone made no sense, but Doyoung couldn't help but be curious and ask about the second good fortune.

"The second luck is the bracelet you're wearing, the silver bracelet to be exact."

Heeyoung continued to explain to Doyoung, who blinkedhis eyes as if he still didn't understand.

"People who work with electricity often wear silver watches because silver is the metal that conducts electricity the best, so it was very lucky that you were wearing a silver bracelet at that time. When you came into contact with Sa Iijun, the electricity from your fingertips wouldn't have stayed in your body, but would have come out through your bracelet.

"Ah..."

"The heart is very sensitive to electrical stimulation, that's why you had a cardiac arrest."

"Cardiac arrest? You mean I'm dead?"

"Yes. Something like that."

He didn't feel like he'd died and come back to life. His body felt sore and uncomfortable, but no part of it was seriously injured. The only thing he noticed was the bandage wrapped around the index finger of his right hand. It looked like a burn, probably from an electric shock, but it was not too severe and there was no pain.

"Esper Sa Iijun saved your life, but it's hard to be grateful since he was the one who killed you."

"Sa Iijun?"

"Yes. When I went in with the defibrillator, Sa Iijun had already delivered an electric shock to your heart. He's like a human defibrillator. Who would have thought that his abilities could be used for such a purpose?"

Heeyoung mimicked what Sa Iijun did by raising his two index fingers like electrodes.

"After the vitals recovered, there was no need to perform CPR, but he insisted on doing it and took off your shirt to check?”

"......."

Doyoung felt a bit relieved. Listening to his crazy actions, it seemed that Sa Iijun was fine. He looked very fragile at that moment, as if he would break the next time. After being tortured like that, he wondered if there would be any side effects.

As soon as he thought about it, he felt sorry for himself: How could he sympathize with someone when he himself was lying in a hospital bed after a near-death experience?

Besides, he was Sa Iijun. The Full Metal Baby who was said to be hard to kill except by letting him get out of control. At only 22 years old, he earns tens of billions a year and has fans all over the world.

"It must be hard for you, so rest tonight and have a checkup tomorrow, as there may be lingering side effects."

As he left the room, Doyoung agreed. The injuries from the accident looked pretty serious even to him.

"Haa....."

Left alone in the overly spacious hospital room, Doyoung lifted his stiff body and sat down, staring at the clouds of mist coming from the humidifier, lost in thought.

He thought he had become someone who lived an ordinary life, dreaming of simple happiness. But instead, he had become an overly cynical citizen of life who sometimes felt disappointed by his passivity towards reality.

It had been a long time since he had felt such an intense life. He was convinced that anything that attracted attention would only bring unnecessary attention and negative views within the organization.

On the one hand, he was concerned about this, but on the other hand, he was proud of himself for successfully stopping the experiment.

As Doyoung let out a long sigh in response to his inner turmoil, there was the sound of a window creaking. Then a cold breeze came in and hit him.

He wondered if someone had left the window open. Because of the stabbing pain in every joint, he couldn't close the window.

So he reached for the nurse's call button.

"Master!"

For a moment, Doyoung thought he had misheard and that he might be hallucinating.

Turning his head stiffly, Doyoung saw Sa Iijun crawl in through the hospital window.

"Ah!"

Maybe he wouldn't have been so surprised if his room wasn't on the sixth floor, which was as high as the eighth or ninth floor in a normal apartment. Iijun jumped down from the window and wiped the dust from his body.

Doyoung stood up, ignoring the pain in his body, and went to the window. There were no safety ropes hanging from the building.

"How did you get here?"

"Through the window.”

"......."

Who doesn't know that?

Doyoung looked at Iijun. He doesn't have a safety rope. Did he crawl up the building with his own body?

Standing in front of Doyoung, Iijun fumbled around his waist with both hands, looking for something.

"Eh? Where is it..."

Her voice was not as deep as Sa Kangjun's, but it was soft and calm. When Doyoung was stunned by his voice, Iijun shoved his hands into his pants, causing Doyoung's face to freeze in shock.

"Ah, there you are."

He carefully took something out of his pants. It was a rose wrapped in paper, the stem broken and the petals hanging down, Doyoung waved his hand and smiled brightly at Iijun like an actor in a commercial.

"...it, it's okay."

"Oh, it's not supposed to be there. I tucked it around my waist so I wouldn't lose it, but it must have fallen into my pants when I climbed up the building.”

"......."

He didn't seem to feel that it was a strange place. Seeing that Doyoung didn't take the flower, Iijun sadly put the rose stem into the half-filled glass on the bedside table.

Doyoung thought silently. He would never drink from that glass again.

"Since I accidentally killed you... you must be in a lot of pain."

Sa Iijun didn't have the courage to look him in the face. He just touched the petals of the rose he was carrying, his voice sounding embarrassed, but also mixed with regret.

"But since I brought you back to life... please forgive me."

It was only yesterday that he had seen him suffering in the lab. He wondered how he could come back so well after such an experience, especially with such an innocent face.

Remembering Iijun's suffering, Doyong walked over and ran his hand over Iijun's face, carefully examining his forehead, temples, and chin where the wires of the device had been placed.

Iijun pressed his chin closer to Doyoung's hand like a puppy wanting to be cuddled by its master.

"There doesn't seem to be any major injuries....Are you okay?"

".....yes?"

Iijun's expression looked as if he had heard words he had never heard before.

His Guide, who was so small and fragile that he looked like he would die if he touched him wrong, was worried about him.

"Here, does it hurt where it's attached to the machine?"

"What about Master?"

Iijun, who was holding Doyoung's hand, which he was about to remove from his face after the examination, leaned his body like a puppy that wanted to pee.

"Is Master... in a lot of pain?"

"Of course. I just came back from the dead.”

"Ah..."

His eyes trembling with fear, Iijun smacked his dry lips and bent his body to wrap his arms tightly around Doyoung's waist. He buried his face in Doyoung's chest in a hug.

"Are you going to hate me?"

"......."

"Please don't hate me... I didn't do it on purpose."

"......."

"You shouldn't be guiding other Esper just because you hate me.”

Iijun's curly hair gently tickled the tip of Doyoung's chin. Perhaps because of the itchy atmosphere, he was a little distracted, so he tried to ignore the nonsense Iijun was spewing.

"Why do I hate Esper Sa Iijun?"

"Then please promise me. You won't be guiding with another Esper.”

How could he be guiding another Esper if he was not a Guide himself? Doyoung pondered in his mind, then calmed Iijun, whose shoulders were visibly shaking, with a soft voice.

"All right, I won't."

Iijun let out a long sigh of relief and steadied himself physically. His face, buried in his chest, lifted. Doyoung had to crane his neck to look into Iijun's eyes that were more than 20 centimeters away.

"Really?"

Iijun's hands still clasped Doyoung's waist. The large palm covering the back of the waist moved slowly, the thumb gently tracing the length of Doyoung's bronze bone. Each time the hand touched him, a strange sensation of sticky slime oozed from every inch of his body.

The large, warm palm seemed to examine each vertebrae one by one, pressing gently on the protruding wing bones there.

"Ah..."

Surprised by the sound that came out of his mouth, Doyoung pushed Iijun's chest away.

What was that? What was that disgusting sound?

Sa Iijun's shocked face stared at them in confusion and fascination. His brown pupils, which looked cloudy without light as if he had lost consciousness, gave off a mysterious wet impression.

Iijun stuck out his tongue to polish his dry lips. Just as he was about to approach Doyoung again, a noise was heard outside the door. Doyoung guessed the source of the sound. It was the footsteps of the soldiers running this way.

Sa Iijun looked at the door with a grunt. He rushed to the window he had entered earlier, leaned half of his body out of the window and said goodbye to Doyoung.

"See you soon, Master."

Sa Iijun smiled broadly. Then he jumped down without hesitation.

This was the sixth floor....

There was no one crazier than him.

–

TL: Muji

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