Chapter 15 : Swapped Lives: Between Bodies and Bonds

As the situation sunk in, the anxiety lurking in a corner of his mind swelled, taking over his thoughts.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Worrying won’t change anything anyway…”

“Maybe we’ll even switch back tomorrow.”

“I wish we would…”

Despite Sekyeom’s comfort, Jihan couldn’t erase his gloomy expression, raising his hands to stare blankly at them.

The large hands with long fingers still felt utterly unfamiliar.

“Sekyeom…”

“Yeah.”

“What if, what if we can’t go back to normal… what happens to us?”

But even if he asked, Sekyeom didn’t know the answer either.

Jihan knew that too, so he didn’t press for a reply.

He just sighed and washed his face dryly with the hands he held up.

Then his movement stopped as he saw the Esper Watch on his wrist.

He was now in a position where he had to get used to this Esper Watch and EC levels.

Finding it too unfamiliar, Jihan’s expression slowly crumpled, and Sekyeom spoke firmly towards him.

“I’ll find a way, no matter what.”

“If nothing works, I’ll find that monster again, so don’t you worry about anything.”

“Just… just think of it as a long dream.”

“A dream I’ll wake you up from soon.”

Sekyeom slowly reached out and gently brushed back Jihan’s messy bangs.

At the careful touch, Jihan slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“Actually, I used to think, how great it would be if I were an Esper?”

“Because it was frustrating being in a dangerous situation and unable to help at all.”

“But now that things turned out like this, I feel bad, wondering if that fleeting thought caused this.”

“Like maybe this happened because I dared to covet something I shouldn’t have…”

For a moment, Sekyeom’s hand, which hadn’t left Jihan’s forehead even after brushing back his bangs, twitched and stopped moving.

“…You thought you wanted to be an Esper?”

“Yeah.”

“I did too.”

“How great would it have been if I were a Guide instead.”

“Then I wouldn’t have been misunderstood by you about guiding or whatever.”

“What misunderstanding are you talking about… Wait a minute, you thought that too?”

“You wanted to be a Guide?”

“…Didn’t you pray back then for a high matching rate?”

At Sekyeom’s question, Jihan blinked rapidly, finally managing to answer with stammering lips.

“I did, right?”

“Before the guiding…”

“Don’t tell me it’s because of that?”

“That pink slime monster granted our wishes?”

“…It could be one of the hypotheses.”

Silence fell between the two.

But their thoughts were the same.

They needed to find that pink monster again.

Thus, the two exchanged glances wordlessly.

The next morning, Jihan woke up and tried to get out of bed, but stopped, clutching his chest with a groan.

The moment he tried to sit up, he felt suffocated, his body as heavy as waterlogged cotton.

Despite having slept, Jihan felt unpleasant rather than refreshed and let out a long sigh.

The assumption that their bodies might return to normal after a day had been shattered.

“My body…”

“Give me back my bodyyy.”

Jihan collapsed back onto the bed in the same position he tried to get up from, murmuring in a tearful voice.

It couldn’t be more unfair.

After an uncomfortable reunion with a friend who had arbitrarily cut contact, their bodies had swapped.

Furthermore, the body had far too many flaws.

Enough to warrant a return if it were merchandise.

Jihan grumbled inwardly and checked the Esper Watch on his wrist.

ECI level 49%.

Despite just sleeping and waking up without doing anything, the level had risen by 3%.

Jihan’s face crumpled at the dangerously close number, just before hitting 50%.

No wonder his body felt heavy and the headache persisted ever since he woke up.

Even breathing didn’t feel refreshing; instead, it felt like something heavy was added, fueling his irritation.

All of this was due to the messed-up EC level.

“Of all bodies to swap with, it had to be this crappy one…”

“Ha, my luck is just rotten.”

Sighing deeply, Jihan picked up the medicine container from the bedside table.

Swallowing three pills without water, Jihan was clutching his aching head and groaning.

“Coming in.”

A short knock sounded at the door, followed immediately by the door opening.

Since this was a VIP-only area with strict access control, the only person who could come was Sekyeom, staying in the room across the hall.

“What, so early in the morning.”

“Right?”

“That’s a pretty harsh greeting first thing in the morning.”

“Isn’t this all because of your crappy body condition!”

“Ah, mornings really are the worst, aren’t they?”

Sekyeom spoke as if talking about someone else.

Well, technically, it was about someone else now.

Since it wasn’t his body anymore.

Annoyed by his attitude, Jihan frowned and waved his hand dismissively.

“If you came to tease me, leave.”

“Plenty of things pissing me off without you.”

“Stop being pissed and get ready for discharge.”

“…Discharge?”

“Are we being discharged?”

“Are you planning to just linger here when there’s nothing wrong with you?”

Linger? Hearing the grating word, Jihan’s eyes flashed, and he grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it.

“What do you mean nothing’s wrong…”

Ah, f*ck. This damn strength control.

Duck feathers burst from the pillow, filling the hospital room with white.

Amidst the fluttering white feathers, Jihan muttered a small curse under his breath, trembling with irritation as if he could die from

annoyance.

Even at a glance, his stress level seemed to have hit Max.

Sekyeom worried inwardly but outwardly just brushed the feathers off his hair and shoulders, clicking his tongue softly.

“Seeing you bursting with energy first thing in the morning, seems like there’s nothing wrong, right?”

“…Sigh.”

Jihan closed his eyes tightly, covering his forehead in despair.

Then Sekyeom approached the bed with a smirking face.

He gently plucked a feather off Jihan’s nose and spoke.

“Anyway, your poor condition is because you lack guiding, so it can’t be helped.”

“It wouldn’t do any good if it became known that I’m in the hospital.”

Sekyeom had always been a person of interest.

If the fact that he, an S-rank Esper suffering from guiding deficiency, was hospitalized due to illness became known, both the government

and the media would swarm him like vultures.

Worse, if that happened, it would be Jihan, not Sekyeom, who suffered.

To prevent this, Sekyeom hurried the discharge process.

Though Jihan, unaware of the exact reason, remained indifferent.

“What are we going to do after discharge?”

“Let’s go to our guild first.”

“Taepyeong Guild? Why all of a sudden?”

“I have things to ask my uncle, and we need to settle your affiliation properly.”

“You need to transfer to our guild.”

At that moment, Jihan’s eyes snapped open.

He whipped his head up and looked at Sekyeom.

“Am I really transferring?”

“We agreed on that.”

“We did, but it doesn’t feel real somehow.”

“Then I need to inform the team leader at my current guild…”

“Wait, today isn’t Monday, is it?”

“It’s Sunday, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Yesterday was Sunday.”

“Today is Monday.”

“Ack! My work!”

Suddenly feeling urgent, Jihan struggled to get off the bed.

Then a palm landed on his forehead, stopping his movement.

“Are you planning to go to work in that body?”

“Huh? Ah…”

“And I can’t go to work either.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Then what do we do?”

“This counts as unauthorized absence!”

Despite Jihan’s panicked, urgent question, Sekyeom seemed calm.

So calm it made one wonder if it was a basic requirement to become a Taepyeong Guild member.

“We can file for sick leave.”

“It was a Code Blue level monster, wasn’t it?”

“So just send a text saying you were injured from this incident and can’t come out.”

“I’ll ask my uncle to have our guild send an official cooperation notice.”

“It’ll be processed quickly.”

Indeed, the 10 years of experience as an Esper weren’t for nothing.

Jihan looked at Sekyeom, who spoke quite reliably, with fresh eyes.

Come to think of it, even when they were friends, he was the most dependable one.

Except for the times his occasional playfulness made Jihan want to smack him once.

Recalling the past, Jihan straightened himself and expressed his gratitude, hiding his awkwardness.

“Ahem, okay.”

“…Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I’ll assume you’re ready for discharge then, so put this on and come out.”

“I’ll wait outside.”

Sekyeom went to the wardrobe where he had found the medicine container yesterday, brought the clothes hanging there, and left the room.

Jihan, who had accepted them inadvertently, unbuttoned his patient gown without thinking and took it off.

And then.

“Wow, this body is… a weapon, truly a weapon.”

His hands stopped, surprised by the firmly set muscles.

The muscles, honed through real combat, were perfectly balanced, neither excessive nor lacking anywhere.

It was a body enviable even to other men.

How on earth did Sekyeom build such a body?

The delicately defined muscles looked like they were drawn, further enhancing his already good physical proportions.