Yu-won tried.
To not look like a child, to not let it show how much he liked him—he worked hard to hide his emotions and speak in a cool, detached tone.
Of course, Yu-won was well aware that Rion had gotten angry with him because of it. He knew it was only natural.
Relationships can go wrong even when you only exchange kind words. So how could anyone like someone who only ever says cold, unpleasant things?
But he couldn’t help it. Sometimes he exaggerated to sound more rational than he actually was, but for the most part, he’d meant what he said.
From afar, Rion had seemed incredible. He said he’d do anything if it meant saving people. That if a little fatigue on his part could save lives, then it was more than worth it.
In interviews, he seemed truly admirable. This was what it meant to be an Esper, Yu-won thought. This was the man who saved his life—and Yu-won had been quietly proud of that.
But up close, Rion was just… a person. A little hot-headed, often reckless, someone who smiled easily…
…And someone who got hurt—a lot.
“No, I just wanted to finish things quickly, so I had Seo-ha cover the rear. Still, it’s my first Gate with my matching Guide. Gotta finish it off in style and make a cool return, right? Now do you get why people call me Korea’s strongest Esper?”
Their first Gate together.
Rion’s injury hadn’t been serious. But the moment Yu-won saw him smiling like it was nothing, even while bleeding, he realized just how naïvely he’d been living.
A person who took it as a given to sacrifice himself for others. Someone who never even said he was in pain, even when wounded—instead, he joked about how cool he looked. Yu-won found that version of Rion frustrating.
If I annoy him enough… maybe he’ll remember my nagging and be a little more careful next time.
He’d had that hope, too. That if everyone else around Rion acted like his injuries didn’t matter, then maybe—just maybe—if even one person kept nagging him about it, he’d be a little more cautious just to avoid the lecture.
If that could help even a little, Yu-won didn’t care if Rion hated him. There were ways to look out for someone without making it obvious.
Besides, whether Rion liked him or not, Yu-won was still his matching Guide. In that sense, it almost felt like a blessing that Rion had such notoriously low matching rates with others.
Until Jin-ha showed up.
“I don’t need you anymore. I’ve got no problem getting guided now.”
Yu-won had long given up on being someone Rion liked. But that didn’t mean he was all that mature about it.
He was the one who kept pushing Rion away, yet whenever he saw him getting close to someone else, it still made him jealous. Before Jin-ha, that someone had been Kang-woo.
“This might sound like a lot, but… don’t take it too hard on Rion, okay? He acts tough, but he’s really soft on the inside.”
“Ah, hyung! Don’t say stuff like that to him!”
The spot of “Rion’s closest Guide.” Yu-won had half given it up himself, but it still stung to see someone else in that place.
Still, he could tolerate Kang-woo. He was A-rank, and his matching rate with Rion was low anyway.
But Jin-ha… was different.
Same age. Calm and composed for someone so young. Also S-rank. And his matching rate with Rion? Not bad.
Not perfect, but enough to guide him without Yu-won being around.
Yu-won hated Jin-ha.
Call it petty. Call it childish. He didn’t care. He just hated him.
“I want to get along with you, Yu-won.”
Especially that annoyingly cheerful smile, like he knew everything. Yu-won thought back to what Jin-ha had said earlier.
“But hey, no need to worry. Rion and I really are just friends. Although, I guess if it still bothers you, that can’t be helped?”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Yu-won, you like Rion.”
Jin-ha didn’t stop there—he said something that flustered Yu-won even more.
“Yeah, he’s cool. But if you’re trying to pass those feelings off as something else, that’s a pretty weak excuse.”
I thought I’d been careful… how the hell did he figure it out?
Maybe it was because of that talk he’d had with Rion. Maybe it left him feeling too raw, too exposed. Maybe it showed on his face more than he realized.
Whatever it was, the fact that the one person he least wanted to know had figured it out—it pissed him off.
Trying to regain his usual poker face, Yu-won wandered through the forest, walking in circles with no real destination.
BOOM—!
The thunderous explosion froze him in place. He turned toward the source of the sound.
“…Rion hyung.”
“Yu-won? Yu-won, can you hear me? Where are you?”
Reality didn’t give him a moment to dwell on his worry. At the sound of someone calling his name, Yu-won sprinted toward the other Guides.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. We already confirmed the boss’s form, so it wouldn’t be weird if the fight started at any moment… But still, I hope that wasn’t it.”
Hee-soo looked toward the Espers’ location, concern etched across her face. She had experienced an S-rank Gate once before—she couldn’t forget the horrors of that day, and her body gave a slight shiver at the memory.
“The atmosphere’s off. It’s just a gut feeling, but… it was like this that day too.”
“That day?”
Terrified by the blast, Ye-ju clung to Hee-soo and asked the question. Hee-soo gently patted her on the shoulder.
“My first S-rank Gate. The day the boss revealed its form for the first time… This feels exactly like that.”
“Su-jin… She’s going to be okay, right?”
Min-ho looked like he was about to cry. As Su-jin’s pair and boyfriend, his concern ran twice as deep as anyone else’s.
“I’m so anxious. If I were at her side, I could at least keep guiding her. You get it too, right, sunbae?”
“Me?”
“You have a pair. Maybe you’re not dating like we are, but… still, there’s something Guides and Espers can feel between them, right?”
Min-ho’s voice brimmed with conviction—and he wasn’t wrong.
Matching rate and mutual affinity were undeniably linked. Whether one came before the other was a long-debated question even top scholars couldn’t answer.
Some said a high matching rate led naturally to growing affection. Others believed the matching rate responded sharply to emotional closeness.
Either way, what was certain: between an Esper and Guide with a high matching rate, there existed a bond too deep for words.
“I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. I just… just want to run in there with my eyes closed and—”
“No. Did you forget what they told us earlier? In an S-rank Gate—especially during a boss fight—there’s no Esper who can afford to protect their Guide. If you don’t want to die with her, don’t go.”
Rarely showing anger, Hee-soo now did, stopping Min-ho firmly. As he hung his head in despair, Jin-ha looked past him toward another pair’s Guide.
They might not be officially paired, but the highest matching rate here… is on that side.
Yu-won looked like he’d completely checked out. His usual cold mask was nowhere to be seen. He just stared toward the explosion’s direction in stunned silence—his gaze so raw, it almost looked like longing.
He’ll be okay. He always comes back injured, sure… but there’s a reason they call him the strongest Esper. He’ll come back again, smiling like an idiot with another scar.
Yu-won tried to calm himself with that thought. He wanted to run to the Gate just as much as anyone.
“Everyone, let’s try to stay calm. I know how dangerous an S-rank Gate is… but we were sent in with a team capable of clearing it.”
Jin-ha stepped in to reassure the team. Yu-won finally tore his gaze from the woods.
“They’ll be fine. Let’s make sure we’re ready to guide them the moment they get back. That means keeping ourselves in shape too.”
“Right, right. Funny how you’re the rookie, but we’re learning from you.”
“You know what they say—learning never ends.”
Jin-ha replied to Hee-soo with a lighthearted grin, breaking some of the tension in the group.
“Yeah, let’s not worry too much. Our Espers will take that boss down, and we’ll all walk out of that Gate smiling.”
“…Right? They have to. Please, just let this be the last S-rank Gate during my shift—no, during my lifetime, even…”
“Yeah… And guiding’s useless if the Guide’s in pieces. Matching rate doesn’t mean anything if we’re all too shaken up to function.”
Each Guide worked to calm their nerves, dealing with the anxiety in their own way. But Yu-won… he still couldn’t relax.
The Espers didn’t return until the next morning, just after sunrise.
