DGPR 27

“Ugh, seriously!”

The man who had thrown Jiho to the ground grabbed his collar again, this time raising a fist—but didn’t actually strike. Maybe even he couldn’t bring himself to hit an S-rank guide.

Instead, he just made a threatening show of it.

At the same time, the man pinning Sena down raised his fist again.

At this rate, she was going to get hit.

‘Danger!’

Somehow, Jiho—face pale with fear—sprang to his feet.

But he didn’t try to grab the man’s arm again like before. He had learned from that failed attempt just how outmatched he was in strength.

Instead, Jiho leapt up and sank his teeth into the man’s tense forearm with all the strength he had.

“AAAH! AAAAAGH!!”

Startled by the pain, the man released Sena and shoved Jiho’s forehead.

But Jiho didn’t let go.

Chaos erupted as others scrambled to pull Jiho off, yanking at his collar and hair.

“Let go! I said LET GO!”

“Little brat!”

Jiho held out for a moment, but there was no way he could overpower three or four adults.

Eventually, he was wrenched away and shoved back down.

In the scuffle, someone’s elbow hit his nose.

“Ugh!”

Jiho hit the floor again with a groan. His nose throbbed, eyes stinging with tears.

Drip, drip—

Blood began to fall from his lowered head in little drops. Sniffling, Jiho reached up to touch his face—his nose was bleeding.

“H-hah…!”

The guide who had accidentally elbowed him went pale with horror.

At the same time, Sena—gasping for breath just moments ago—snapped.

“HE’S BLEEDING, YOU JERKS!!”

So much for being tired.

Sena erupted with renewed fury, baring her teeth.

Just as she rolled up her sleeves to lunge again—

“WHAT on earth is going on here?!”

A familiar voice boomed through the air.

The gathered onlookers parted like a wave, and through the opening came Dojin, flanked by Alpha Team espers.

“Guide Jiho!”

Spotting Jiho a beat late, Dojin’s face drained of color as he sprinted over.

Dropping to one knee, he cupped Jiho’s face in both hands, carefully inspecting him.

“Y-You’re bleeding…”

His fingertips trembled as they touched Jiho’s cheek.

Noticing this, Jiho placed his hand gently over Dojin’s and mouthed something.

—I’m okay.

Meanwhile, Yulchan had spotted his guide and ran to grab Sena’s arm just in time.

Yes—Sena had still been winding up to punch someone.

“Hey—HEY! Lee Sena!”

“RAAHH! Let go! LEEET GO!”

“Sena, please! Just once—just this once, let it go, okay?”

While chaos reigned behind them, Dojin never once looked away.

He kept tenderly touching Jiho’s face—his hair, tangled from being grabbed; his bloodless complexion; the reddened nose and blood-smeared philtrum, lips, and chin.

And despite all that, Jiho had tried to comfort him, saying it was fine.

Emotion surged painfully in Dojin’s chest.

“What part of this is okay…”

He murmured under his breath and gently wiped Jiho’s face with his sleeve.

Then, sliding his hands under Jiho’s arms, he hoisted him up like pulling a radish from the ground.

“Wh—whoa…?”

Jiho’s mouth opened in surprise.

Before he knew it, he was cradled in Dojin’s arms.

“Just stay put, you’re shaking.”

Adjusting his grip around the flustered Jiho, Dojin swept a cold gaze across the crowd.

The guides involved shrank under his stare, lowering their heads.

“Someone better explain this. Why is my guide bleeding and lying on the ground?”

His voice was low and devoid of warmth. No laughter, no gentleness—only cold fury.

He turned his glare on the man who had pinned Sena.

Flinching under the weight of that stare, the guide stammered a shaky defense.

“N-no, Guide Lee Sena just attacked us! We were just defending ourselves, and then suddenly your guide—Baek Dojin’s guide—bit me!”

He held out his bitten arm like proof.

The bite mark was deep enough to draw blood, teeth prints clearly visible.

Dojin’s mouth fell open.

He hadn’t even considered the idea that Jiho had fought back.

At that moment, Sena—still practically restrained in Yulchan’s arms—screamed,

“AND WHAT ABOUT HOW YOU INSULTED US ALL?!”

“Insulted?”

Dojin’s gaze shifted, interest piqued.

Sena lifted her chin defiantly and recounted what she’d heard:

How they mocked Jiho’s rank, saying his large energy pool made it easy to handle multiple espers.

How they laughed at the fact that he couldn’t even speak, saying he had no one to tell.

The specific details spilling from Sena’s mouth threw the guides into a panic.

“W-Wait! When did we ever say that?!”

“Ha! What, memory loss already? You don’t remember? I recorded everything you said! Huh? Don’t remember? Want me to play it right here, right now? Loud enough for everyone to hear?”

She recorded it? From that distance? How?

Given how far away Sena had been when she first came charging over, there was no way she could’ve recorded everything.

But the sheer confidence with which she bluffed about playing the recording left the guides unable to call her bluff.

“Th-Th-That’s…”

Now completely pale, the guides stood frozen, watching Dojin nervously for any hint of his reaction.

They didn’t realize their behavior was only adding credibility to Sena’s accusations.

As Dojin took in the situation, his expression hardened even further. He stared the guides down, his eyes flashing with fury.

You dare say that to my guide?

If nothing else, the sexual innuendo and mockery about Jiho’s inability to speak were unforgivable.

The thought that Jiho might’ve been reminded of his painful past because of it made Dojin’s chest tighten.

“Hi-Hiek…!”

The guide who had been watching Dojin’s expression trembled as if pierced by his glare.

But before Dojin could act, someone of even higher rank stepped forward to block his path.

“That’s enough! Are you threatening guides now?”

“…Guide Director.”

The man who hadn’t once shown his face during the commotion had finally emerged—none other than the Guide Director.

He pointed at the frightened guides and reprimanded Dojin.

“Do you even realize where you are? An esper intimidating guides in a guide-only area…!”

“That’s not what’s happening!”

“Oh, isn’t it?!”

“They were the ones who mocked my guide first!”

It was the first time the normally composed Dojin raised his voice.

The arms that held Jiho trembled slightly from how tightly he was gripping him.

Jiho, at a loss, nervously darted his eyes around, then hesitantly placed a hand on Dojin’s cheek.

At that, Dojin gently swept a hand over the back of Jiho’s head, pulling it to rest firmly against his chest.

Jiho’s ear was pressed snugly against Dojin’s chest, where he could clearly hear the steady thump of his heartbeat and his calmer voice.

“A group of guides gathered to mock and harass a single guide. That’s how this began. So if you’re going to assign blame, you should start by handling them.”

“W-What?”

The Guide Director looked back at the guides as if to ask if that was true.

None of them made a single excuse. They just lowered their heads in shame.

Taking in their reaction, the director’s expression shifted. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Ahem! Ahem! Right, well—I see how it is.”

“……”

“But you know, uh, looks like it was mutual. Everyone gave and took a bit, didn’t they?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Look at ‘em. Judging from the state they’re all in, there was some scuffling. Am I wrong?”

To be fair, the opposing guides weren’t exactly unscathed either—especially the one Sena had hit, whose cheek was already bruising.

“Just kids roughhousing, that’s all. Nothing more than a little mishap.”

“…What did you just say?”

The Guide Director was trying to sweep the entire incident under the rug with a straight face.

Furious, Dojin began to protest—but the director waved him off.

“That’s enough! No need to blow this out of proportion. It won’t be good for your guide either.”

A veiled threat—if Dojin pushed this too far, it could come back to bite Jiho.

Since the incident occurred between guides, it was under the Guide Director’s jurisdiction to decide if anyone would be punished.

Dojin realized then that reasoning wouldn’t get through to this man.

Gritting his teeth, he swallowed his anger and said coldly,

“This happened in the Center. I had hoped it would be properly addressed here. But since it won’t be, I’ll have to handle it myself—privately.”

“…What?”

Dojin turned to Sena.

“Guide Lee Sena.”

“…?”

“Send me the audio file.”

“Ah! Yes, sir!” Sena replied without hesitation.

The Guide Chief, who hadn’t even known such a recording existed, panicked and reached out to stop Dojin.

“W-Wait! What recording? What do you mean—recording?”

“We’ll be leaving now. My guide needs treatment.”

Dojin coldly brushed off the director’s hand and strode away in long, purposeful steps.

The rest of Alpha Team followed suit.

“B-Baek Dojin! Captain Baek!”

Even as voices called after him from behind, Dojin didn’t turn around once.

His jaw was clenched tight with fury.