Chapter 2 : A Second Chance

“I’ll do better from now on, I’ll guide you, I’ll try harder. Please, don’t die….”

Lee So Won begged, voice breaking like a desperate prayer.
But Kang Tae Woo couldn’t hear, his life fading slowly.
Realizing this, So Won sobbed louder, tears streaming.
Screams and wails blended, indistinguishable, yet Tae Woo showed no response.

His breathing grew fainter.
The waves from his hand, once strong, weakened.
He was truly dying.
So Won clung to his hand, as if it were his lifeline.

“Be happy.”

Unexpected words stopped So Won’s cries.
Shocked, So Won stared at Tae Woo.
His eyes were already closed, lifeless.

Beep—

The machine’s sound echoed like tinnitus, splitting into dissonant tones.
The faint waves from Tae Woo’s hand snapped, like scissors cutting thread.

So Won’s vision went black.

Slowly, So Won’s eyes opened.

Blurred vision gradually cleared.
So Won lay still, then glanced around.
This was an emergency room.
The smell of antiseptic mixed with faint chaos, people bustling nearby.

As clarity returned, Tae Woo’s death hit first.

Kang Tae Woo.

Tears welled up instantly.
A single drop became a flood, soaking the soft pillow beneath.

Is Tae Woo dead?

He must be.
The blood-soaked surgical room, Tae Woo lying powerless, wounds unhealing, flashed before So Won.
The severed waves and the machine’s piercing wail rang like tinnitus.

‘[Be happy.]’

So Won recalled Tae Woo’s final words.
So Won hadn’t earned such a blessing.
If anything, So Won deserved curses, having abandoned guide duties.
Why would Tae Woo say that?

His last face, the dark red veins that once pulsed now blackened, haunted So Won.
Those veins, a curse from unguided power, covered his body.

If I’d guided him properly, he could’ve died with a cleaner face.

Guilt crushed So Won’s heart.
The pain, unlike anything before, felt like knives stabbing.
Regret surged like a tide.
So Won’s sobs turned to loud cries.

“Patient Lee So Won, are you in pain?”

A passing nurse, startled by So Won’s tears, spoke.
So Won didn’t answer.

It hurts.
The heart hurts so much I could die.
Tae Woo must be dead.
And I’m part of why.
So Won cursed the naive, ignorant younger self.
He was human.
So Won wanted to scream at the past self for treating him like a monster.

The nurse, sensing something wrong, called a doctor.

“Patient Lee So Won, congratulations on awakening as an A-grade guide. Is anything uncomfortable?”

The doctor examined So Won.
The patient wailed, yet the body showed no issues.
Perplexed, the doctor stared.
An A-grade guide, fainting from awakening shock, reacting like this?
A first.
Fearing backlash if a rare guide was harmed, the doctor worried.

“Nurse, call the Guide Association for a specialist.”

The doctor passed the responsibility.

So Won, hearing congratulations for an awakening eight years ago, cried harder, incredulous.
So Won had collapsed from the shock of an esper’s death.

Staring at the doctor’s name tag, So Won felt unease.
The hospital name was wrong.
So Won was in Incheon’s Esper Association, but this was a Seoul university hospital.
The same one from the day of awakening at twenty-two.

Puzzled, So Won stopped crying, scanning the room.
A digital clock caught attention.
Midnight, dated eight years ago, summer.

Is the clock broken? No, this is a dream.

The place, the doctor, the clock—all wrong.
It must be a dream.

“Is this a dream? Did Tae Woo die?”

The nurse and doctor exchanged odd glances.

“Not a dream. You awakened as an A-grade guide. Any head pain?”

Not a dream?
So Won blinked.
Of course, dreams don’t admit they’re dreams.
If this was a dream, So Won longed to see Tae Woo, who might vanish upon waking.
Thinking of him, tears welled again.

“Please, call Kang Tae Woo… S-grade esper Kang Tae Woo, please…”

So Won sobbed uncontrollably.
The doctor, flustered, ordered calls to both the Guide and Esper Associations.
So Won wailed Tae Woo’s name like a child.

A couple rushed into the ER, hearing a familiar voice.
Recognizing So Won’s cries, they shouted in alarm.

“So Won, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Doctor, is our So Won hurt? Why’s our kid crying like this!”

So Won’s mother.
Turning at the familiar voice, So Won saw younger parents, eyes full of worry.
This dream was too vivid.
But So Won’s mind was consumed by Tae Woo, dying in a pool of blood.

“The patient awakened as an A-grade guide. No physical issues, but we’re unsure why. We’ve contacted the Guide Association…”

“A guide?”

“Kang Tae Woo… Tae Woo…”

Wail.

So Won’s cries filled the ER with chaos.
Even minor patients glanced over.
So Won felt their stares but kept sobbing Tae Woo’s name.

So Won cried until tears ran dry, calling Tae Woo.
The doctor and parents, concerned, spoke gravely.
The chaos lasted until a Guide Association doctor arrived, declaring So Won fine.

Exhausted from crying, or waking from a dream, So Won stirred.

Struggling to open stinging eyes, So Won looked around.
A single hospital room, alone.

Was it a dream?
Even in a dream, I wanted to apologize to Tae Woo.
Failing to see him, tears fell again.
The eyes burned from endless crying.

“Oh, So Won, why are you crying again? Are you hurt? The doctor said you’re fine…”

The door slid open, So Won’s mother entering with a familiar voice.

“Mom… is Tae Woo dead?”

“Who’s Tae Woo? You’ve been calling that name since yesterday… Did you have a dream? Crying like that over a dream at your age.”

She doesn’t know Tae Woo?
So Won stared, shocked.
Like the dream, Mom looked younger.
Speechless, So Won wondered.
Still a dream?

“Mom, what year is it?”

“2023. So Won, are you really okay? Should I call the doctor again?”

So Won tried to dismiss it as a dream, pinching skin under the blanket.
It stung.
Not a dream.
Then were the last eight years a dream?

“So Won, they said you awakened as an A-grade guide. You always complained about job hunting. No need for that now, right?”

But those eight years felt too real.
A hellish nightmare, each day endless.
So Won recalled them.
Tae Woo’s final moments flashed by.
The stench of blood lingered.
Could I have returned to the past?
An absurd thought.

The phone beside So Won was an old model.
Pressing the power button, the screen lit up, showing a date eight years ago.
The day after So Won’s awakening.

Worried by So Won’s silence, Mom left to fetch a nurse.
So Won suddenly thought to search Tae Woo’s name.

Kang Tae Woo.

Typing the three characters, articles appeared with a faceless profile.
No reports of his death.

“Phew…”

Relieved, So Won exhaled deeply.
Sprawling on the bed, So Won gazed out.
A clear sky, no clouds, stretched beyond the window.
Staring at the peaceful view, So Won imagined wild possibilities, but nothing happened.
Not a dream.
Have I really gone back?