A Period of Chaos - Chapter 51

Chapter 51. Imprint

“Lieutenant General…?”

It was a voice filled with shock, as if the Ether kissing in the middle of the gate could not possibly be their Lieutenant General.

Tae-joo immediately hid Ah-hee behind him. His eyes, which were surprised by the appearance of people, were slightly w*t.

The watery eyes were only slightly sparkling, but the Ethers, who had good eyesight, saw it. They opened their mouths in groups, denying the reality before their eyes, thinking that it couldn’t be tears. It must be because of the cold wind.

“Winter coat.”

“Huh?”

“Clothes.”

Tae-joo growled viciously like a thug trying to extort money and ripped off one of the winter coats without warning. Of course, it was for Ah-hee, whose lips were swollen.

“The boss is over there.”

Tae-joo said, pulling up the zipper of the winter coat tightly. A long tentacle was pointing to the west.

The Ethers dispatched from the military looked bewildered. They were a rescue team. Their job was literally to help people who needed rescue.

Tae-joo, who had lost Ah-hee and was in a panic, was making so much noise. They knew he was here when they saw his signature giant tentacles.

However, taking over the boss was not in their plans.

“We need to get to the hospital immediately, so handle it quickly.”

“Yes… I understand!”

They answered in a daze and moved in unison.

The civilians rescued by the team and the Ethers who were in charge of their security remained.

“Where are you hurt?”

An Ether, who was acting as a medic, ran to Tae-joo.

“We need to go to the hospital. The hospital.”

He waved his hand with an extremely annoyed expression. It meant, “Get out of here.”

The Ether scratched his head as he saw Tae-joo, who looked perfectly fine. An Ether didn’t need treatment in the first place. The reason he was assigned to be a medic was because of the civilians who might have been caught in the gate.

The gate occurred in Area 1, and at the center at that. It wasn’t just civilians, but important people might be trapped. The rescue team was quickly dispatched, and they had plenty of supplies.

He consciously fixed his head as he was about to turn back to the Guide standing behind Tae-joo. She was probably Tae-joo’s Guide, and she was famous. Just like Tae-joo, who was a national hero to put it a little exaggeratedly.

She was the cause of all the strange behaviors Tae-joo had committed. Rumors spread that Tae-joo would get into trouble just by making eye contact with the Guide, so he slowly moved away.

Ah-hee covered the wound on her forehead with her hand out of embarrassment. People might think she was seriously injured because she had put too much gauze on her small wound. She was fine inside anyway.

Then, her eyes met with the Guide who was in the arms of an Ether. The sturdy Ether was holding her lightly with one arm.

The Guide was Ju-mi.

“Please let me down for a moment.”

When Ju-mi tapped the Ether on the shoulder, she put her down.

Ju-mi limped toward Ah-hee, perhaps because of an injured leg.

Tae-joo’s eyebrows furrowed sharply as he looked back and forth between Ah-hee and Ju-mi.

“What is it?”

Tae-joo asked Ah-hee. She briefly pondered how to introduce Ju-mi.

“She’s the Guide I met at the Cultural Center.”

“I know that too. Choi Ju-mi. 23 years old.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not even close, so why is she coming near you?”

“…Do you have something to say?”

Tae-joo glared at Ju-mi sharply with a displeased expression. Normally, he wouldn’t have been this cautious, but this was inside the gate. Tae-joo, who had lost Ah-hee once, was extremely sensitive, like an animal protecting its young.

Ju-mi’s personal information was already in Tae-joo’s hands. However, he didn’t know that there had been a slight argument between the two. That was because they had been dragged to the gate that day.

If he had known, he would have kicked her out a long time ago. Anyway, now he was just wondering how he could kick out Ah-hee’s ‘friend’.

Meanwhile, Ju-mi was very embarrassed. An Ether was a kind life form to the Guide. Even the ‘sister’ she saw for the first time today held Ju-mi all the time for her injured leg.

It was the first time since she became a full-fledged Guide that she had received an Ether’s eerie gaze. It almost felt like a murderous spirit. Ju-mi’s face turned pale as she felt threatened.

“Please give me a moment.”

Ju-mi nodded behind her. The look in the Ether’s eyes was so fierce.

“I’ll be back shortly.”

If it weren’t for the gate, Tae-joo would have allowed it. The idea that he should be patient to make a few friends was still valid.

However, this was inside the gate. Even though Ah-hee had tried to appease him, Tae-joo’s mind and body were exhausted after witnessing her almost dying right before his eyes.

He was suspicious of everything and his stress level was so high that he felt like he was going to vomit. With his temper, he wanted to tell her to get out right away.

“Go out and do it.”

Tae-joo shook his head while grabbing Ah-hee.

“Let’s go out and talk it.”

Ah-hee followed Tae-joo’s words. If he said she couldn’t do it, then it couldn’t be done. Nothing else mattered.

“…Yes.”

Ju-mi limped away again with an embarrassed face, as if she hadn’t expected to be rejected. She saw ‘Sister’, who had been watching her with concern, approach her and say something.

A moment later, a halo of light rippled and drove the living creatures out of the gate.

It was a gate closing phenomenon.

When Ah-hee felt a little dizzy and staggered, Tae-joo grabbed her body.

“Noona!”

A delicate man with a young face flew in like a butterfly.

“Seon-ho…!”

The ‘sister’ next to Ju-mi kicked the ground hard and ran at a frightening speed, hugging the Guide she called Seonho.

“Noona! Are you hurt anywhere? I was so worried!”

“Oh my, my b*by. Are you worried about me? Your complexion is gone.”

Ah-hee turned her head nervously after seeing a pair of lovebirds, no, an Ether-Guide pair. Her eyes met Ju-mi’s.

The ‘Sister’ stayed by Ju-mi’s side until the door closed. She helped Ju-mi, who was feeling unwell, and took care of her the whole time. Ah-hee thought the two were having a fling.

However, the ‘sister’ with Seonho had honey dripping from her eyes. Anyone could tell that the other person was the real deal.

It’s not like Ju-mi had any regrets or regrets on her face.

“Let’s go to the hospital.”

Tae-joo didn’t really care what was going on around her. His first priority right now was to have Ah-hee’s forehead stitched up by a professional so that there would be no scar.

“Let’s talk.”

Ju-mi called Ah-hee from behind. Ah-hee looked at Tae-joo as if asking what to do.

“Don’t go far away. Stay where I can see you.”

Tae-joo sighed and nodded. The words to finish within 5 minutes were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t say them out loud.

Ah-hee and Ju-mi sat on a bench a little further away.

“What’s going on?”

“I think we need to clear up any misunderstandings.”

Ju-mi searched her pockets and took out a bracelet. It was the item Ah-hee had dropped at the blood donation center.

“I’ll tell you in advance, I didn’t steal it. I brought it back from the fifth floor. I’m going to bring it to you myself. If you don’t believe me, check the location tracking data to see where this bracelet was at that time. At that time, the building was on fire, so they must have been tracking you. I’ll say it again, I didn’t steal it.”

Ju-mi explained with a face that didn’t want to be misunderstood.

“I won’t misunderstand. Thank you for finding it.”

Ah-hee took the bracelet without making a fuss.

Ju-mi hesitated and then explained.

“It’s true that the bracelet fell off because of me. I accidentally touched the lock when I was holding you. I saw the bracelet come off, but I just didn’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“Haa… Actually, I don’t know why I did that either. I just had complicated feelings.”

Ju-mi sighed as she looked at the innocent face.

Guide Choi Ju-mi’s manifestation was incomplete. There were times like that.

A Guide is a Guide, but there’s something lacking.

Ju-mi applied for the clinical trial, took the medicine given by the center, and became a complete Guide.

The wounds she received until that point were deep. Everyone around her thought Ju-mi would become a Guide because of the blood test she had taken when she was young.

Her family also had high expectations. They could move to a safer area if she became a Guide.

However, Ju-mi had an incomplete manifestation, and she had to go through various events before becoming a complete one.

Ju-mi knew that Ah-hee had also experienced an incomplete manifestation. Shin Tae-joo’s Guide was famous for making him do all sorts of strange things.

At first, she was just happy. She thought they were the same because they had experienced the same pain. However, just as people cannot be the same, Ah-hee was different from Ju-mi.

It is true that she’s a better fit for a fling than for a relationship. She liked free love better.

However, she started to laugh at herself a little every time she and her pair broke up.

Was it because she was an incompletely manifested Guide that she was lacking? Why couldn’t she love and be loved until the end?

At some point, she became more defensive because she thought that even if she gave her heart, it would break again. She couldn’t get close to her pair because she pushed and threw him away. It was a vicious cycle.

On the other hand, Ah-hee had an Ether who had been by her side the whole time. Ah-hee was a princess that everyone knew.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know, but at that moment, she was envious of that fact.

Ju-mi had discovered the Ether security guard before anyone else, but she couldn’t get help. She was coldly rejected because of her status. Her wavelength didn’t match the Ether’s.

And he was looking for Ah-hee instead. Ah-hee was wearing the bracelet that Ju-mi couldn’t wear anymore.