---- Dae ----

Dae decided to walk back to the guild. His doctor protested him leaving early but folded as the nurse had. Dae hoped this trend of using his status to get away with things didn’t become a habit. Jin-Won hated it when S-classes from other guilds abused their status. Dae wouldn’t have considered it even without the threat of Jin-Won’s wrath. 

Including today, Dae could count the number of times he had abused his power on one hand. All of those instances had something to do with Guide Nox Levi. The walk back to Titan headquarters reminded him of his flight after their first meeting. Restrictive, bitter, and uncertain. 

The nagging fear that he had hurt Nox was now solidified into certainty. Nox was only a year older than Dae but his hair was already fully white. In their brief interaction as teens Nox had implied the streak he had then was a result of multiple total drains. How many would it take for a full head of hair? 

Nox was well enough acquainted with a regen Esper to request a transplant beyond the legal yearly limit. Dae wondered if Nox gave that Esper regular guiding at the center. A streetlight Dae was walking past began to rattle and a couple of women screamed. Dae held his hands up and apologized profusely. 

“Are you Esper Kane from Titan?” One of the women said,  her fear turning to excitement. Dae cringed but nodded his head slowly. The status of Esper came with the allure of celebrity mixed with the fear one might have of a rabid beast. Curiosity, admiration, disdain, it was impossible to tell how someone would react when they recognized Dae.

These two seemed to fall on the more positive side of things. 

“Can we get a picture with you?” 

Dae took a half step back and his hands twitched nervously. His bloody clothing had been tossed. Which left him with a mismatched combination of Titan merchandise the guild had provided to him on short notice. He was essentially a walking advertisement for the guild.

The woman was sure to upload the picture to social media. Which would notify Jin-won that Dae had left the hospital early. Dae had signed himself up for a mandatory training(torture) session by disregarding the doctors orders. Things would only be made worse if Jin-won found out before he was able to explain himself.  

On the other hand, it would be even worse if a post went up about him losing control of his powers and then being rude to fans. Dae shoved his distaste for human interaction to the wayside and agreed to the picture. The women flanked him and one held up her phone. The one standing behind him put her hand on his back. He flinched away as her energy sent his head spinning. 

“You’re a guide?” He turned to the woman. She smiled sheepishly at him. 

“Sorry! I know you’re supposed to sign papers and stuff. But a friend of mine works at the guild you used to be with. He was talking about your energy being wild. Guess it’s true how big your vessel is. Seems like he was lying about the high corruption though.” 

The other woman stepped between Dae and the guide. She pushed the guide away and apologized to Dae. 

“I swear I didn’t know she would do that!” 

Dae shrugged and looked down at his hands in a daze. 

“He would have been right about my corruption on any other day.” He tried to fight off the melancholy sinking into his bones and aimed a disapproving look at the rogue guide, “He might have also mentioned that many of my guides suffered severe side effects. So it would be unwise to guide strangers from now on.” 

The guide looked amused but unapologetic, her friend on the other hand, had the decency to look ashamed. She grabbed the guide's hand and pulled her along mumbling ‘can’t take you anywhere.’ 

Dae wasn’t sure if they had actually taken any pictures. But he thought it best to get ahead of things. Jin-Won picked up on the second ring. 

“Esper Kane,” her voice was clipped and strained, a clear red flag, “I hear you’re well enough to be wandering the streets against medical advice. Do you think we pay for the best doctors money can buy just for you to ignore them?” 

“No but I-” Dae was already on edge from the encounter with the rogue guide. The last thing he needed was to be bullied by his superior. 

“I don’t care how you thought you felt! You’re a spoon bender! It doesn’t matter how good you bend spoons, you don’t have seniority over medical professionals!” 

Dae frowned at the comparison but decided it was in his best interest to keep his grievances to himself. Jin-Won’s voice had a sharp tilt to it that spelled combat training bordering on assault. Dae could already feel bruises forming. 

“I was trying to be understanding when that hospital guide told me you had gone to see the guide that saved you. You looked like you’d seen a ghost so I thought he might be that guide you’re always waxing poetic about. But now I see you were just using it as an excuse to slip away early!”

“He is the guide I’ve been looking for.” 

Jin-Won fell silent. Dae could almost see the expression she had on her face. A mix of indignation and concern. Jin-Won had always been the most understanding of Dae’s fixation on 609. 

One night, after a dangerous level of alcohol consumption, she confessed she had lost her fated guide a few years prior to Dae joining the guild.. Dae couldn’t remember the guide’s name but he could remember the way Jin-Won had spoken about him. There was a sparkling longing in Jin-Won’s eyes Dae connected with.

Jin-Won decided to tell Dae because she had felt the same draw to her guide as what Dae described. She said it was instantaneous and life changing. The two of them had been able to bond over their shared hopeless longing as they gazed into their respective drinks. 

They shared a toast to misery before Jin-Won pinned Dae’s head to the bar and warned him that if he ever told anyone else she was a hopeless romantic she would change him to active duty for the rest of his life. A threat Dae knew she was more than willing to make good on.

That understanding most likely added fuel to the fire of rage she had burning against Dae at the moment. 

“YOU FOUND HIM AND JUST FUCKING LEFT HIM!” 

“He would have been better off never crossing paths with me again. I almost killed him.” Dae’s voice cracked with emotion and he was shocked to see tears falling to the sidewalk. 

“That’s what every guide signs up for.” Jin-Won’s voice was shockingly gentle and soft. It was finally hitting him how pathetic he had been. Thinking about Nox for a decade, refusing guiding and field work in his name without him even knowing. 

“He didn’t want to see me.” 

“Oh.” Jin-Won’s voice sounded weak and broken. Dae wished he could have had this conversation with anyone else. Tessa would make fun of him for being a loser. Neil would make him tea and let him sit silently with his emotions. Even his mother would have just laughed him off and moved on to asking when he was coming to visit again. 

But he was talking to Jin-Won Song. The woman who had nearly retired when her guide died. The woman who had wrapped an arm around Dae in that bar and nearly cried describing the bond she felt with her guide. 

He cleared his throat but his voice still came out strained and hoarse, “Have the guild contact him. Guide Nox Levi, working with the local Esper/Guide center. Give him anything he wants.” 

“Will do.” Jin-Won shifted back to her commanding no-nonsense tone. It gave Dae the confidence he needed to keep walking.