# Chapter 61
Dohyun had a habit of kicking off his blanket, so he usually woke up curled on his side, but this morning he found himself still neatly covered—probably because he’d been so drunk the night before. Nothing else seemed different, but…
‘How did they know I slept well?’
As Dohyun was pondering this, Haegang made a request.
“If you have nothing else to do, make a few more potions.”
“…Ah, yes.”
“We’ll be going out later, so prepare for that too.”
Going out? Dohyun put the towel that had been around his neck into the laundry basket.
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
“I need to buy some things for Baek Dohyun.”
“…For me?”
I don’t need anything. Seeing Dohyun’s confused expression, Haegang sighed while doing the dishes.
“The seasons are changing. Don’t you buy clothes?”
“Ah…”
“It’ll get hot soon. If you keep wearing winter clothes, people will think you’re strange.”
At those words, Dohyun suddenly realized he’d been with Haegang, living in this house, for quite some time. Since becoming an Esper, he could clearly distinguish temperature differences, but he no longer felt heat or cold. Because of that, he hadn’t paid attention to people wearing thinner clothes and just wore a hoodie as usual. But spring was short. The weather was already practically early summer.
“The cherry blossoms will bloom soon.”
“Really…?”
“If you keep wearing that thick hoodie then, even if you don’t want it, people will realize you’re an Esper. They’ll notice you’re not affected by heat or cold.”
Dohyun headed to his room to change clothes without further argument.
“Wear a shirt,” Haegang called, turning his head. “Don’t layer with a hoodie again.”
Yes, yes. I’ll dress appropriately. Dohyun put on a shirt that supposedly suited him well with a cardigan over it and came out.
Isn’t this too… freshman-looking? Dohyun, who still secretly yearned for a normal life, naturally looked for clothes appropriate for his age group. He went back to his room to try on various combinations, but soon emerged with a defeated look. It was impossible. He could achieve a similar style, but the clothes Haegang had bought were far too expensive for an ordinary college student.
I’ll buy my own clothes today. Dohyun thought about the contract money still sitting in his account and opened his banking app. He’d been using just the debit card linked to his account lately, but since he rarely needed to spend money, he hadn’t even checked the balance.
“…Hik!”
“What’s wrong?”
As Dohyun froze at the entrance with only one shoe on, staring at his phone, Haegang came down from the second floor and looked at him from behind. Seeing the account balance on Dohyun’s screen, Haegang sighed at his reaction.
“Does money… normally… multiply like this? The amount from before…”
“It didn’t multiply. It’s the payment from selling your potions.”
“B-but, even so, this is…”
“…Baek Dohyun Esper.”
“Yeees…”
No matter how many times it was explained, he couldn’t get used to it. Do I really need this much money? When Dohyun’s hand holding the phone trembled, Haegang reached out and grabbed it. What are you doing, why suddenly? Dohyun flinched and turned to look at Haegang, who took his phone and pressed the lock button.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah…”
“Don’t block the door. I can’t get out.”
How are you so calm when I’m shocked? As Dohyun thought this, he let out a small “ah.”
‘First, you have to share at least 10% of the income an Esper earns through activities.’
He could guess how much Haegang was earning based on his own payment. Haegang must have received an amount that differed from Dohyun’s only in the number of digits.
Dohyun hurried after Haegang as he walked out. The door, which had been closing slowly, shut with a sharp sound.
Dohyun, who had been following Haegang, suddenly turned his head at an odd feeling.
“Aren’t you coming?”
When the footsteps behind him abruptly stopped, Haegang turned around.
“……”
“Baek Dohyun?”
“……”
“Baek Dohyun Esper.”
Seeing Dohyun staring intently at the front door, Haegang turned around again.
“Guide.”
“Yes.”
“Normally, when the door closes…”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t the electronic lock make a sound?”
Haegang nodded at Dohyun’s words. There should have been a beeping sound. But just now, the door had clearly closed without any sound.
“Maybe you just didn’t hear it?”
“No, it didn’t make a sound.”
Dohyun gripped the bag he was carrying tightly. Seeing Dohyun’s tension, Haegang also put his hand in his pocket. Of course, he had his device with him. Haegang also carried the protective barrier potion that Dohyun had given him in a separate small bottle.
“This is why I hate perceptive children. Seonwoo was always too sharp.”
At the sudden voice, Dohyun’s expression hardened. When Haegang turned his head, he saw a woman standing on a thin branch of the garden tree, smiling—who knew how long she had been there.
Before Haegang could ask who she was, Dohyun reacted quickly. He moved in front of Haegang to shield him. Unlike the tense Dohyun, the woman smiled brightly as if pleased, creating a strange scene.
“…Who are you?”
“Seonwoo’s… big sister, I suppose?”
She was clearly from the orphanage. Haegang picked up his phone to make a call. It wouldn’t take long. There would be guild Espers watching the situation nearby.
“It took so long to find the Guide’s house~. Took us quite a while to find our Seonwoo.”
Guides’ information was usually well-hidden, so her words implied she had a special way to find them. Seeing Dohyun swallow nervously, Haegang was assessing when would be the best time to activate his device.
“But it worked out well. Found you right away. Just at the right time.”
The woman clapped her hands together and smiled happily, then suddenly opened her eyes fiercely.
“I’ve come to take our youngest. I don’t need you.”
“What on earth are you talking about…?”
“Goodbye.”
As the woman waved her hand, Haegang’s body floated up.
“Choi Haegang-ssi!”
As Haegang seemed to be floating away, a gate suddenly appeared and swallowed him. Dohyun desperately reached out for Haegang, but his hand couldn’t reach him. Haegang’s eyes, wide with shock at the gate pulling him in, were fixed on Dohyun.
Dohyun’s outstretched hand trembled in the air. That gaze, full of surprise and bewilderment, kept circling in his vision, making him dizzy. I have to save him. I have to do it.
Dohyun moved his feet toward the gate entrance with blank eyes. No, he tried to. But the woman’s hand stopped him.
“Let go! Choi Haegang-ssi!”
Even as he violently resisted and shook his arm, she wouldn’t release him.
“We haven’t even greeted each other yet, Seonwoo. Besides, you can shout all you want outside the gate, but no one will hear you.”
How is this possible? An emergency gate appearing like this? Dohyun looked into the eyes of the woman who was gripping his arm tightly. Her yellow eyes shone as she looked at him.
“Our youngest. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“……”
He remembered who she was. She was also a Han. Dohyun knew this person who had been adopted before him, right before his first adoption, and had then returned. She had shared that room with him, so her face was naturally familiar.
A young girl, about thirteen, with a split near her lip, smiled at Dohyun.
‘I’m back, Seonwoo.’
‘Aren’t you going to welcome your Noona?’
‘Noona missed the youngest so much.’
There were many children younger than Dohyun at the orphanage. But Dohyun was always caught because he was the youngest in the room. After Dohyun, no one else was allowed to enter that room.
Dohyun gathered fragments between memories and held them as if storing them in his mind. It felt like he was about to remember something.
“How did you even know…”
“Ah… Well? How did I know!”
Her bright, beaming smile hadn’t changed from when she was young. It was as if she’d just grown bigger while keeping her childhood appearance, without even changing her way of speaking. No, there was one other difference. The color of her eyes was now yellow, unlike before.
A smile brighter than anyone else’s, but terrifying to Dohyun. That smile stirred up buried memories, making Dohyun clench his teeth. He needed to save Haegang, who had been sucked into the gate. There was still time before the gate closed.
“Do you remember Noona’s name?”
The woman asked with a confident expression, as if he would certainly know, urging Dohyun to say her name. What does that matter? After pushing someone into a gate. But it was difficult to escape the power of a combat Esper, so Dohyun glared at the woman while his arm was held.
When Dohyun just glared at her without speaking, the woman’s previously smiling expression hardened.
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember Noona? Seonwoo.”
This woman’s name wasn’t important. What mattered to Dohyun now was Haegang, who had been caught up in this. Haegang certainly had his device and the potion Dohyun had given him. As long as he was alright, there wouldn’t be a problem.
But Dohyun remembered how his leg had broken when he was caught in an emergency gate before. He hadn’t lost consciousness because he was an Esper, but most ordinary people suffer serious injuries when caught in emergency gates. No matter how tough Haegang was, his body’s durability was basically the same as any ordinary person’s. Dohyun had to save Haegang. He tried with all his might to break free from this Esper who was holding his arm.
“Let go.”
“Seonwoo. Noona hasn’t finished talking. Why do you interrupt Noona?”
‘Why do you interrupt Noona?’
As past memories overlapped, Dohyun turned his head with an eerie sensation, and the woman who grabbed his hair by the roots smiled again.
“You need to learn… again. Right?”
I need to drink a potion. That’s what he needed to use his ability. Only his arm and hair were restrained, leaving the rest of his body free to move. But drinking a potion now would be impossible. The woman wouldn’t calmly watch as Dohyun drank a potion.
Dohyun continued to struggle with his arm while thinking. Haegang had called for help, but it would take time for other Espers to arrive. What could he do?
‘I can just splash it.’
As the thought flashed through his mind, Dohyun reached into his bag and pulled out a water bottle. Then he splashed the water, now turned pink, directly at his opponent.
BOOM!
“Kyaak!”
A huge explosion erupted on the ground. The explosion affected Dohyun too, but much less than his direct-hit opponent.
“You, you!”
“Let go of this!”
The woman, startled by the explosion, released her grip on Dohyun’s arm. As soon as his arm was free, Dohyun didn’t think twice and jumped into the gate.
“Han Seonwoo-!”
Dohyun deliberately ignored the sharp cry. She would follow. Definitely. If Dohyun’s memory of that woman’s personality was correct. If his memory was right. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t. Haegang was more urgent.
‘Please…, please.’
He has to be safe. Dohyun’s face contorted as if about to cry as he entered the gate.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
