"I'll do well from now on, I'll guide you, and I'll try harder. Don't die, please…"
So-Won was now begging him, but Tae-Woo was slowly dying.
So-Won, who had noticed it, cried even louder, shedding tears.
There was no reaction from Tae-Woo, even amidst the indistinguishable cries of So-Won.
His breath was fading, and Tae-Woo's wavelength felt in his hands was getting weaker.
He was really about to die.
So-Won held Tae-Woo's hand desperately as if it was his life.
"Be happy."
The unexpected words stopped So-Won's cry.
So-Won looked at Tae-Woo in surprise.
His eyes weakly closed.
Beep.
The sound of the machine echoed in several branches like a tinnitus.
At the same time, Tae-Woo's thin wavelength, which was felt on his hand, was cut off like scissors.
His field of vision went black.
So-Won's eyes slowly opened.
The blurred vision became clearer and brighter.
So-Won lay blank for a while and looked around.
The place where So-Won was, is in the emergency room.
With the smell of the hospital, people were busily walking around.
The first thing that came to mind when his mind cleared, was Tae-Woo's death.
'Kang Tae-Woo.'
As soon as he thought of him, tears flowed down his eyes.
The tears that began with a drop flowed constantly as if it were tap water, wetting the fluffy pillow under his head.
'Is Tae-Woo dead?'
'He must have died.'
The bleeding operating room, Tae-Woo, who was lying helplessly without the wound regenerating, passed by So-Won's eyes.
The break of the wavelength felt before he lost his mind and the high and the sharp sound of the machine sounded like a ringing in my ears.
"Be happy."
So-Won remembered Tae-Woo's last words.
So-Won didn't treat him well enough to be blessed by him.
He'd rather have been cursed him, but there was no reason for him to say that to him.
He'd rather Tae-Woo swear at him because he did not do his duty as a guide.
The last time he saw Tae-Woo's face, the dark red veins that seemed to eat him were spread.
The veins were spread not only through the face but also throughout the body, such curses, were side effects of Tae-Woo, who had not been guided.
If So-Won had properly guided him, he could at least die with a clean face.
Guilt squeezed So-Won's heart.
So-Won suffered a pain, the pain that he had never experienced in his life.
He felt like he had been stabbed again and again.
Regret flooded in.
So-Won began to sob and cry aloud.
"Lee So-Won, are you sick?"
The nurse passing by was surprised and talked to So-Won when she saw him crying.
So-Won did not answer.
"It hurts. My heart hurt so much that I feel like I was going to die. Tae-Woo died and I was the cause of his death."
So-Won hated himself, who was young and ignorant.
He's a person, too.
He wanted to yell at himself not to look at him like a monster.
A nurse who felt So-Won, who only cried silently was unusual, called a doctor.
"Lee So-Won, congratulations on your awakening as an A-class guide. Is there any inconvenience?"
The doctor approached and examined So-Won's body here and there.
The patient was clearly crying out like it's the end of the world, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with his body.
The bewildered doctor looked at So-Won.
A patient who woke up as an A-class guide and fainted due to pain, and this is his reaction as soon as he wakes up.
This is the first case.
He was worried that the precious A-class guide would have complications and he would be criticized by the public.
"Nurse, please call the Guide Association."
The doctor eventually chose to pass it on.
So-Won was speechless while crying when he heard the doctor congratulating him on seeing him awakened, it has already been eight years ago since he awakened.
Even now, he is in a state of shock because Tae-Woo is dead.So-Won looked at the doctor in tears because he was speechless and felt uncomfortable when he saw the name of the hospital written on the doctor's name tag.
Apparently, So-Won was at the Esper Association in Incheon, which was now a university hospital in the middle of Seoul.
He thought about it because he was familiar with the name, it was a hospital that he came to when he awakened at the age of 22.
Thinking it was strange, So-Won stopped crying and looked around the hospital with a teary face.
Suddenly, he noticed a digital clock hanging on one side.
The time was midnight, and the date was summer eight years ago.
'Is the clock broken? No, it must be a dream.'
The place was weird, the doctor was weird, and the clock was weird.
It was clearly a dream.
"Hey, this is a dream, right? Tae-Woo, is he dead?"
The nurse and the doctor exchanged strange looks.
"It's not a dream. You've awakened as an A-class guide. Do you feel pain in your head?"
So-Won, who heard that it was not a dream, blinked for a moment.
Well, there's no way he'd say a dream is not true in a dream.
' If this was a dream, I wanted to see Tae-Woo, who might not be there when I wake up. '
When he thought of Tae-Woo, tears came back from So-Won's eyes.
"Please call Kang Tae-Woo for me…. Kang Tae-woo, S-class Esper, please…"
So-Won shed tears again.
The doctor was flustered and called both the Guide Association and the Esper Association.
So-Won only cried like a child, calling Tae-Woo's name.
The couple, who were rushing into the emergency room, heard a familiar voice and ran to So-Won.
The couple was greatly surprised to see So-Won crying sadly.
"Oh, So-Won! Are you sick? Why are you crying? Doctor, did So-Won get hurt? How sick is he? He's crying like this! "
It was So-Won's mother.
So-Won turned his head to a familiar voice.
His younger parents were looking at him with worried eyes.
It was too detailed for a dream.
However, in So-Won's head, only Tae-Woo's who died in a pool of blood remained in his head.
"The patient has awakened as an A-class guide. There is no abnormality in the body, but we don't know the cause. Now that I've contacted the Guides Association…"
"What? A guide?"
"Kang Tae-Woo… Tae-Woo…""
Crying.
So-Won's cry confused the emergency room.
Even those brought in with mild symptoms glanced where So-Won were.
So-Won felt the gaze, but he continued to sob by calling Tae-Woo's name regardless.
So-Won cried out Kang Tae-Woo's name for a long time until he couldn't cry, and the doctor and So-Won's parents talked with serious expressions, saying that So-Won's condition was strange.
The uproar continued until the doctor, who rushed from the Guide Association, saw So-Won and said there was nothing wrong.
"Did he fall asleep after crying or woke up from a dream?"
So-Won tried to open his eyes tightly with his broken memories.
When he looked around, So-Won was lying alone in a single hospital room.
'Was it a dream? I wanted to meet Tae-Woo in my dream and apologize.'
Tears flowed down from So-Won's eyes, who eventually failed to meet Tae-Woo in his dream.
His eyes stings because he cried so much.
"Oh, So-Won, why are you crying again? Are you sick? The doctor said there's no problem…"
The door of the hospital room opened and So-Won's mother came in.
"Mom… Is Tae-Woo dead?"
"Who is Tae-Woo? You've been looking for him since yesterday…. Did you dream about him? You are already old but still cries because of a dream."
So-Won was surprised because his mother didn't know Tae-Woo.
Last night he saw his mother, who looks young, like a dream.
So-Won couldn't speak because he was flustered.
'Is it still a dream?'
"Mom, what year is this?"
"It's 2022. So-Won, are you sick? Should I call a doctor and ask him to check it out again?"
So-Won still tried to believe that this place was in a dream, but he slightly pinched his body under the blanket.
It stings.
'It didn't seem like a dream either.'
"So you're saying the last eight years are all dreams?"
"So-Won, they said you woke up as an A-class guide. You always talk about not wanting to get a job. You must be happy that you don't have to prepare for a job. Right?"
'But the last eight years have been so vivid. It was a terrible hell, and every day was too long.'
So-Won recalled the past.
Tae-Woo's last appearance passed by.
He can still feel the smell of blood.
So-Won even thought it was unrealistic to think that he return back in the past.
Even the cell phone next to So-Won was the model that So-Won used in the past.
So-Won pressed his cell phone hard.
Soon the screen brightened and showed the date, eight years ago.
The date was the day after So-Won woke up as a guide.
Perhaps worried about So-Won who is not answering, So-Won's mother went outside again, saying she would call a nurse.
While looking at the figure, So-Won suddenly thought he should search for Tae-Woo's name.
'Kang Tae-Woo.'
When he pressed the three letters, there were a lot of articles about the profile without a face and Tae-Woo.
Fortunately, there were no reports of his death.
"Ha…"
A relief escaped So-Won, that he even exhaled deeply.
So-Won, who stretched out his arms and legs, lay on his bed.
Outside the window, he could see a clear sky without a cloud.
He tried all kinds of strange imaginations while looking at the peaceful sky, but nothing happened.
As expected, it doesn't seem like a dream.
If so, did he go back in time?