After He Left

Even at Jaeyoung’s sudden action, Saheon didn’t look flustered.

He simply took another pen out of the pencil holder and placed it into Jaeyoung’s hand.

Unlike before, Jaeyoung calmly set the pen down.

Saheon looked at him as if asking what he was doing.

“I’m not signing.”

Jaeyoung said it as evenly as he could.

To avoid meeting Saheon’s eyes even by accident, he fixed his gaze on the corner of the desk.

“What?”

At the low, suppressed voice, Jaeyoung’s body trembled slightly.

Saheon hadn’t done anything in particular, yet a chill crept up from the nape of Jaeyoung’s neck where his hand rested.

“Unlike Espers… Guides don’t actually have to be active.

They can live normal lives.”

Saheon stared at Jaeyoung with visibly startled eyes.

It seemed he hadn’t expected someone who’d lived as a civilian to know that much about Guides.

Jaeyoung felt a small sense of pride for remembering what he’d learned in class.

After a moment of silence, Saheon moved away from Jaeyoung and sat cross-legged on the bed.

Before that, he pushed the back of the wheeled chair.

Still seated, Jaeyoung spun around to face him directly.

Saheon relentlessly chased Jaeyoung’s fleeing gaze.

Finally giving up, Jaeyoung looked at him with trembling eyes.

“I’ll be honest.”

Saheon wet his dry lips with his tongue and spoke slowly.

“I need you.”

The words that followed were something Jaeyoung had already expected, and the tension drained from his shoulders instead.

Even Jaeyoung, who knew almost nothing, understood that 97.6 was an absurdly high matching rate.

It was no wonder Saheon was desperate.

“You’ve managed just fine until now, even without me.”

In the future Jaeyoung had imagined, becoming someone’s Guide had never existed.

He didn’t have Guides around him, so even trying to picture himself as one was nothing but darkness.

Saheon silently observed Jaeyoung’s firm refusal.

Then, as if forcing himself to say something he didn’t want to, he spoke with a deeply furrowed expression.

“I don’t have a Guide right now.”

“…What?”

“No.

It’d be more accurate to say I haven’t had one for almost six years.”

Jaeyoung’s mouth fell open in shock.

Six years meant since Saheon awakened at eighteen.

After manifesting as the youngest and highest-ranked Esper, he’d been thrown into the field so fast it was hard to believe he’d even had time to train.

Because he was S-class, he was dispatched to higher-level dungeons, burning through enormous power each time.

‘And he doesn’t have a dedicated Guide?’

Civilians generally didn’t pay much attention to ability users.

They simply enjoyed the peace they provided.

Jaeyoung was no different.

He didn’t understand the mechanics of Espers and Guides in depth.

But he knew at least this—

Espers needed Guides.

Without them, they couldn’t operate properly.

“Then how did you even…?”

How were you still alive?

The unspoken question showed plainly on Jaeyoung’s face.

Even just watching broadcast raid footage made it clear that Saheon used his abilities without restraint.

“Drugs.

Or machines.”

Saheon answered with visible distaste.

Even so, it seemed there were alternatives.

“Then why—why didn’t you receive guiding from a person?”

Jaeyoung asked, almost accusingly.

Most Guides in Korea were affiliated with the Association.

There was no way not a single one matched Saheon.

“I don’t want just anyone peeking inside my head.”

Jaeyoung frowned.

He didn’t understand how guiding worked, so Saheon’s words didn’t fully register.

“Does guiding let you read thoughts?”

Saheon looked at him with amused eyes and let out a short laugh.

“To an Esper, a Guide is like a doctor.”

“Then… is guiding like an endoscopy?”

Jaeyoung tilted his head, unsure even as he said it.

When Saheon nodded, it felt like something clogged inside him finally cleared.

Jaeyoung let out a relieved sigh.

There were ways even without a Guide.

And if those stopped working, Saheon could always receive guiding from someone else.

“I don’t want to be a Guide.”

With his mind finally settled, Jaeyoung didn’t hesitate.

If refusing human guiding was merely Saheon’s preference, there was no reason for Jaeyoung to live a life he didn’t want.

Saheon quietly studied Jaeyoung as he spoke decisively.

Under that gaze, Jaeyoung tensed and searched his face nervously.

Suddenly, Saheon stood up from the bed.

Jaeyoung’s eyes clung stubbornly to him.

Losing sight of Saheon felt like it would invite something dangerous.

“If you change your mind, contact me anytime.”

As Saheon stepped back, the shadow looming over Jaeyoung’s head disappeared.

Jaeyoung stared blankly at Saheon’s retreating back.

He’d expected him to force the contract, even by intimidation.

That assumption about Saheon quietly shifted.

At the very least, he seemed to have a baseline of consideration.

From the window Saheon exited through, hot, humid air drifted in.

Jaeyoung trudged over to it.

“I told you to use the door…”

He muttered while watching Saheon’s back fade beneath the hazy streetlight.

He’d only made a choice for himself, yet his chest felt oddly unsettled.

It was a day when exams had ended early.

Jaeyoung received a call from his eldest brother, who had moved out long ago.

He’d left behind some urgently needed documents at home and asked Jaeyoung to bring them over.

Jaehyun, who lived near his company, had come home last week for their mother’s birthday dinner.

Despite claiming he was swamped with work, he’d apparently brought documents with him and forgotten them.

“Good afternoon!

I’m here to see Team Leader Kim Jaehyun from the Sales Department.”

Jaeyoung greeted the security guard at reception politely and stated his purpose.

When he mentioned his brother’s title, he couldn’t help feeling a little proud.

Few people that age reached such a position.

“So you’re Team Leader Kim’s younger brother.

You can tell right away—you look alike.”

The guard warmly shook Jaeyoung’s hand.

There was a familiarity in his tone that suggested Jaehyun wasn’t just another employee.

“Yes, I’m Kim Jaeyoung.

Please take good care of my brother.”

“I’m just a guard—what care is there for me to give?”

He waved it off, but clearly looked pleased.

“Take the elevator at the end there and wait at the fifth-floor lounge.”

Unable to leave his post, the guard stretched from where he stood and gave directions in an even friendlier voice.

When Jaeyoung reached the elevator, the doors were just about to close.

He hesitated, then hurried forward.

“Wait, please!”

He rushed over and stretched his arm out.

Normally he’d wait for the next one, but his brother’s urgency stuck with him.

Thankfully, the doors slid open again.

“Hah… hah… th-thank you…”

Someone inside had their hand on the open button.

That person slowly scanned Jaeyoung’s face, as if searching for something.

‘Is there something on my face?’

Wiping sweat with the back of his hand, Jaeyoung glanced at the elevator wall.

The man was still staring.

It felt unsettling.

The man was tall, heavily built—big enough to feel threatening.

Jaeyoung avoided eye contact and stared only at the rising floor numbers.

“You look like a student.

What brings you here?”

The man spoke.

With no choice, Jaeyoung turned toward him and quickly assessed his appearance.

With a wired earpiece in one ear, he didn’t look like an ordinary employee—more like security.

Relieved, Jaeyoung answered.

“I’m just running an errand.”

He lifted the envelope in his hand as proof.

But the man’s gaze never left his face.

That strange feeling only deepened.

Jaeyoung forced an awkward smile and turned away.

He could almost feel the man’s stare burning into his back.

“Have a good day!”

Ding.

Just as he felt suffocated, the doors slid open.

It was the lounge, and his brother was already there, spotting him immediately.

“Hyung!

Here.”

Jaeyoung handed over the documents right away.

“Thanks.

Go buy yourself something good.”

Jaehyun rewarded him with a thick envelope of cash.

Jaeyoung fidgeted with it uneasily.

He’d been wanting a weapon skin, so the money was welcome—but worry crept in.

“That’s a lot.

Are you going to starve for a week if you give this to me?”

“Your brother earns plenty.”

Jaehyun stuffed the envelope into Jaeyoung’s pocket.

“Go hang out with your friends.

Don’t stress yourself out too much.”

He hadn’t forgotten Jaeyoung was an exam-taker.

Feeling guilty, Jaeyoung smiled awkwardly.

“Get home safe!”

Jaehyun hurried off, as busy as he’d claimed.

“I should head home too.”

Left alone, Jaeyoung was about to board the elevator again when he stopped.

His face and neck were sticky with sweat.

If he took the subway like this, he’d definitely smell unpleasant.

“I should use the restroom first.”

He headed toward the restroom right beside the elevator.

In his hurry to wash up, he flung the door open and collided with someone exiting.

“I’m sorry.”

After bowing quickly, Jaeyoung froze at a familiar face.

“Oh?

You’re the security officer from earlier, right?”

The man stared at Jaeyoung blankly, like his soul had left his body.

Tilting his head, Jaeyoung stepped aside to give him room.

Then the man reached out and grabbed Jaeyoung’s arm.

“You can go fir—”

With crushing force, Jaeyoung was dragged inside the restroom.

The man slammed him against the wall between stalls.

The dazed man from earlier was gone—

What remained was the face of a starving beast.

“What are you doing?!”

Jaeyoung twisted desperately to break free.

But the man’s body was solid as a wall, unmoving.

“It’ll be over soon, so stay still.”

The man threatened him in a feral, seething voice.

The greed in his eyes sent chills down Jaeyoung’s spine.

Pinning Jaeyoung completely, the man buried his face into the nape of his neck.