[Eun-soo]
While leading a training exercise in an isolated, off-grid location, Cha Eun-hyuk finally got around to checking his personal phone. A missed call from his younger brother was displayed on the screen.
He immediately tried calling back, but a voice prompt informed him that the recipient’s device was turned off.
Assuming the battery might have died, he dialed Shim Tae-seong next. But all he got was a long, unanswered ringtone before the call disconnected.
Just as he frowned down at the screen in frustration—
“Team Leader.”
A familiar voice called out, and he turned around.
“There’s something I need to inform you about regarding deployment preparations.”
It was an agent affiliated with a national intelligence agency they were collaborating with. Cha Eun-hyuk gave a slight nod and began walking.
At the same time, he sent Cha Eun-soo a quick message, asking if everything was okay.
A strange sense of unease began to creep in.
***
Joo Cheong-gyeong gazed down at the sleeping Cha Eun-soo. The exhausted Guide looked dead to the world, eyes tightly shut. His body, marked all over with traces of their night together, brought a deep satisfaction to Cheong-gyeong, making the corners of his lips curl up involuntarily.
But that wasn’t the only thing putting him in a good mood.
Throughout the entire night they spent entangled together, Cha Eun-soo hadn’t voiced a single word of protest. It wasn’t that he had surrendered to pleasure—it was something else, something closer to… unmistakable pity.
It had been worth opening up about his unpleasant past.
The smile faded from Joo Cheong-gyeong’s face as he drifted into memory.
Clang!
The sound of something shattering—far too familiar. Every day after school, he’d come home to that sound. His father would be holding the object that caused it, using it to threaten him.
“You little shit, you can’t even buy me a damn drink?!”
“……”
“Fucking useless… You’re just like the rest of the trash in this house. If your mom ever dares to come back, I swear to God—I won’t let it slide! You hear me?!”
What the hell do you want me to do?
Joo Cheong-gyeong thought to himself, expression blank. As far as he was concerned, his mother could rot for all he cared. Actually, the same went for his father.
A mother who abandoned her family for pleasure and indulgence, and a father who mercilessly beat his own child—what a perfect pair.
If one killed the other, or if they both died, no one would mourn them.
“……”
After he crushed the life out of his father, the thought that crossed his mind was: There must be other Espers out there, still forced to obey trash like this.
But looking back now…
“The real problem was the very structure of a society that let ordinary people control Espers in the first place.”
Jang Hee-gang spoke.
He was eyeing the underage Esper who had boldly sought out his organization with great interest.
“You say you can control other people’s bodies?”
“……”
“That’s an excellent ability.”
With Jang Hee-gang’s wholehearted approval, Joo Cheong-gyeong became one of his men. The organization’s ideology aligned perfectly with his own, and for the first time, he felt he had found where he belonged. He followed Jang Hee-gang without a shred of hesitation.
After all, Jang Hee-gang was an overwhelmingly powerful figure—someone no Esper’s ability could touch.
In the years that followed, Joo Cheong-gyeong learned the true extent of his powers, carrying out missions and spending a long time under the organization’s banner.
And then, he came face-to-face with the slow unraveling of Jang Hee-gang.
The highest-ranked Guide in the organization was tasked with caring for Jang Hee-gang. But to call it “Guiding” would be misleading. To someone like Joo Cheong-gyeong, an S-rank Esper himself, it was painfully clear—this was nothing more than pouring water into a bottomless pit.
And yet, the reason Jang Hee-gang still insisted on receiving guidance boiled down to one thing: to give the illusion that he was maintaining a stable wave state, so as not to demoralize his subordinates.
That day had seemed no different from the rest. It was the usual hour when Jang Hee-gang summoned a Guide to his office.
“…Help… me…”
Passing through the hallway, Joo Cheong-gyeong’s hypersensitive hearing picked up a voice—barely a whisper, as if it would break off at any second.
He knew well enough that this sound had come from Jang Hee-gang’s private office, and that it was forbidden to enter uninvited. But the voice belonged to a Guide he was familiar with, and in an organization where Guides were rare, protecting them was an unbreakable rule.
His decision was made in an instant. Joo Cheong-gyeong moved swiftly toward the office, flung the door open without hesitation, and entered.
“…Ah.”
He locked eyes with Jang Hee-gang, who was gripping the Guide’s throat.
The man’s gaze was hazy, as if dazed—yet glinted with madness.
Slowly, his expression returned to normal.
“…Tch.”
“Now that was…”
“A mistake. He just got on my nerves.”
Jang Hee-gang spoke with terrifying calm, gently laying the unconscious Guide down on the sofa. Joo Cheong-gyeong stood in silence, watching him.
That was the beginning.
Guides might have meant nothing to Jang Hee-gang or even Joo Cheong-gyeong—but for other Espers of the same rank, they were essential. The fact that Jang Hee-gang had tried to kill a Guide who provided the very support they needed was deeply unsettling. It was enough to begin corroding even the most loyal hearts.
Not wanting to see the organization fall apart, Joo Cheong-gyeong soothed their growing concerns in his role as second-in-command. But Jang Hee-gang paid no mind to the unrest brewing in his ranks. In fact, he seemed to relish it—as if it were the perfect chance to filter out anyone who didn’t follow him unconditionally, and began ruling with a heavy hand.
“I agree that traitors should be executed.”
Joo Cheong-gyeong quietly addressed Jang Hee-gang, who had just killed a subordinate for failing a mission.
“But this… isn’t one of those situations.”
“It’s all part of the process to improve mission success rates.”
“That’s not how we’ve done things until now.”
“Hmm.”
Jang Hee-gang smiled lazily, flashing his teeth.
“I figured it was time for a change—I’ve been too soft all this time. Is that a problem?”
His jet-black eyes gleamed with unmistakable warning.
“And… since when did I need your permission to do things my way?”
Just a few days later, Jang Hee-gang summoned a group of specific subordinates and executed them all under the pretense of punishing treason. The majority of those Espers had begun following Joo Cheong-gyeong after the incident where Jang Hee-gang had attempted to harm a Guide.
It was at that moment that Joo Cheong-gyeong understood—Jang Hee-gang was not the one who would realize his vision.
What he wanted was a society led by the strong—not a lunatic’s reign where no one could tell friend from foe.
So Joo Cheong-gyeong took what remained of his forces and split from the organization. The process was far from smooth, but in the end, he succeeded. He built his own organization and secured his position—just as he had now.
Of course, Jang Hee-gang had relentlessly pursued him in the aftermath. But that, too, was about to come to an end. If Jang Hee-gang had sensed the movement of government forces led by Cha Eun-hyuk, then he would no longer waste energy coming after them. He would consolidate all his military power in preparation for war.
“……”
Joo Cheong-gyeong reached out and gently stroked Cha Eun-soo’s cheek as he lay beside him, breathing in slow, steady rhythm.
It was the touch of someone handling something precious.
That he had once been taken in by Jang Hee-gang. That Jang Hee-gang had killed Cha Eun-soo’s biological father. That a direct and inevitable clash between Jang Hee-gang and Cha Eun-hyuk was drawing near—
None of it mattered. His Guide, Cha Eun-soo, didn’t need to know any of that.
Joo Cheong-gyeong intended to make sure that all Cha Eun-soo ever focused on was deepening his feelings for him. He had no plans to leave him even a sliver of room for any other thoughts.
***
Another dream of my past life.
I stretched in my seat, positioned somewhere near the center of a sprawling floor divided by partitions. I blinked my bloodshot eyes and glanced out at the pitch-black night sky.
“Ugh, it’s freezing.”
A coworker entered, tugging his padded coat tightly around himself. Judging by the cigarette pack he pulled from his pocket and tossed onto his desk, he’d just come back from a smoke break.
“Eun-soo, how long are you sticking around tonight?”
“Hmm, I don’t know yet.”
“Damn, we’re all suffering, huh?”
He slumped into his chair, melting into it. Then, bored, he shuffled over to my desk and began watching me type away at my keyboard.
“By the way, Eun-soo.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re looking a lot better these days.”
It wasn’t the kind of thing you’d typically say to someone rotting away in the office with you at that hour, but his words made me pause. I lifted a hand to my face, as if something felt off.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Everyone’s been talking about it lately—saying something must be up with the visuals at our company.”
“Haha.”
I gave a sheepish laugh.
“Thanks for the concern. I think it’s just that I got completely hooked on a game and stayed up playing it every night.”
“A game? Which one?”
“Hmm…”
“Never mind. I probably wouldn’t know it anyway. I’m not really into games.”
He scratched the tip of his nose.
“I’m more into web novels. Actually, there are a lot of them that use games as a setting.”
“Ah, I see.”
“There are some where the fun game turns out to be a whole other world… stuff like that. Really interesting.”
“I don’t usually read web novels, but… that sounds fun. What’s the title?”
When I showed genuine interest, he lit up and eagerly rattled off not just the title, but also a list of all the web novel platforms he used—far too generously. Most of them had a “wait and read for free” system, but you could also rent or purchase chapters if you paid. This one worked this way, that one worked that way, on and on.
I could see myself listening with a polite smile. But that was just me smiling mechanically. I only wanted to catch the title, but I’d been completely ensnared.
“I’m gonna go get some air.”
“Ah, sure—go ahead.”
Finally freed, I escaped the office and headed toward the elevator. Letting out a deep sigh, I pressed the button. It was headed upward.
“……”
I made my way to the rooftop and looked out at the city lights. I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them again, exhaling all the tension in my chest.
Time to go back down, I thought, and turned to leave—
Only to come face-to-face with a massive man standing motionless nearby.
“Sh—ah, jeez!”
I jumped in shock, having not sensed a single trace of his presence. The moment I instinctively began scanning him—
My vision distorted.
I felt like I was being sucked into something.
And just like that, when I came back to my senses…The dream—like a perfectly carved illusion—was over.
