# Chapter 45
“This isn’t helping…”
Lee Seungwoo had cleared three gates since then. Of course, no matter how desperately Ko Eungyo rushed to meet him, Lee Seungwoo never entered a gate with him. Eventually, Ko Eungyo started ignoring gate notifications altogether.
What was the point of going when they wouldn’t let him in anyway?
It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to persuade Lee Seungwoo. When he waited until Lee Seungwoo cleared a gate, rather than listening to what Ko Eungyo had to say, Lee Seungwoo would make useless small talk like asking if Ko Eungyo would like to come home with him for a bit, or asking what his schedule was for the day.
Ko Eungyo decided to stick to his original plan and clear the Jeju Island gate. Believing the gate would be there, he had already booked a plane ticket.
But then a problem arose. The Jeju Island gate signals had completely vanished a week ago.
A gate reaction of 0% meant there was absolutely no possibility of a gate forming.
The ability user team who had been waiting to enter the Jeju Island gate immediately began withdrawing as soon as the gate reaction percentage hit zero, and they had completely finished their withdrawal as of yesterday.
Ko Eunso said she would look for another gate, but generally, large gates worthy of corporate involvement attracted a lot of attention. The Jeju Island gate had been an exception; typically, as soon as a gate was detected, the Center, other guilds, and corporations would somehow catch wind of it and circle around, fighting for their interests.
“Haa…”
Initially, Ko Eungyo also gave up on the Jeju Island gate. Gates disappearing was a common occurrence, so he didn’t particularly dwell on it.
He asked Ko Eunso to assign him any company Esper, and planned to secretly participate in gate operations, whether with the Center or a private company. This was possible because Ko Eunso was more cooperative than expected.
If not for Lee Seungwoo, the matter could have been resolved well enough. Though he clearly hadn’t assigned anyone to follow Ko Eungyo, somehow Lee Seungwoo always appeared whenever Ko Eungyo tried to enter a gate and prevented him from doing so.
To begin with, Ko Eungyo had no gate experience, and his reputation as a Guide wasn’t good, so team leaders were already somewhat reluctant to let Ko Eungyo enter gates with them. So when Lee Seungwoo appeared and discouraged Ko Eungyo, saying it was dangerous, they gladly used it as an excuse to get rid of him with phrases like “next time” or “let’s do it together later.”
This was the unfairness of fieldwork. It was impossible for a B-class Guide with a “temporary” tag to enter high-grade gates that attracted the Center and corporations, and for smaller gates, team leaders had so much influence that even if there was a verbal agreement to enter, it was difficult to force the issue if things went awry.
‘If you’re not going to help, at least don’t get in the way.’
He regretted mentioning that he had a temporary field Guide license. He sighed and looked down at the plane ticket in his hand.
The Jeju Island gate was the only straw left to grasp. The elite team that Ko Eunso had already assembled wouldn’t dare exclude Ko Eungyo. Although the gate signal had been cut off, Ko Eungyo knew of several instances where a gate had unexpectedly appeared after the signal had completely disappeared.
For unknown reasons, this was typically how civilians got sucked into suddenly formed gates and were harmed.
“Have a pleasant journey.”
“Thank you.”
A flight attendant smiled brightly at the security checkpoint, and he returned the smile as he picked up his carrier.
This time, he had checked Lee Seungwoo’s schedule in advance to avoid being caught. By now, Lee Seungwoo should be at a reunion with Woo Sihyun.
He’d never know that Ko Eungyo had booked an evening flight to induce complacency. As he boarded the plane, he couldn’t help but think about Lee Seungwoo.
Lee Seungwoo’s attitude had changed dramatically since receiving Guiding, and even more dramatically since Ko Eungyo first picked him up. Not only did he follow Ko Eungyo around like his shadow, but he also devoted his time and effort to being with Ko Eungyo all day.
When pushed away, he would either act very hurt or not hesitate to secretly follow Ko Eungyo. And that wasn’t all. Lee Seungwoo wanted Ko Eungyo to always be within his line of sight.
At first, Ko Eungyo wondered if Lee Seungwoo had some sort of obsession with control. It wasn’t like Lee Seungwoo could have naturally developed an interest in him because he liked Ko Eungyo. Since this was his first Guide ever, Ko Eungyo tried to be understanding. From Lee Seungwoo’s perspective, Ko Eungyo had probably changed dramatically as well.
Nevertheless, the old Ko Eungyo still remained in Lee Seungwoo’s mind, so no matter how much Ko Eungyo had changed from his former self, Lee Seungwoo seemed to keep in mind that Ko Eungyo might abruptly leave him or cause a major incident at any moment.
However, since Ko Eungyo couldn’t tell Lee Seungwoo that he wasn’t the original Ko Eungyo but was actually Jang Iju, a high-ranking Guide, he couldn’t resolve Lee Seungwoo’s anxiety.
Ironically, Ko Eungyo possessed exactly the same characteristics as Jang Iju, even down to the same allergies beyond mere preferences. For some unknown reason, he didn’t eat peaches due to allergies, always drank iced Americanos, and avoided cucumbers and tomatoes due to their mushy texture—the same eating habits.
The surprising part… was that Lee Seungwoo thoroughly understood Ko Eungyo’s preferences.
He had been startled numerous times when casually receiving Lee Seungwoo’s attentions. At this rate, even if he told Lee Seungwoo he wasn’t Ko Eungyo, he doubted Lee Seungwoo would believe him.
He seriously wondered if Ko Eungyo might be his soul twin that he’d only heard about. And he was also curious about why Lee Seungwoo knew so much about Ko Eungyo’s eating habits and preferences…
Could it be that Lee Seungwoo actually liked Ko Eungyo?
It sounded ridiculous, but you know how it goes. When you think about something you dislike every day and overreact to it, sometimes you start to like it a bit. Sometimes you end up liking something just as intensely as you once hated it.
Ko Eungyo was lost in these idle thoughts as he boarded the plane. And just as he was looking around to find his seat according to the flight attendant’s instructions:
“Professor.”
Ko Eungyo, who had been searching for his assigned seat, whirled around. There was Lee Seungwoo, looking at him with a smiling face.
His heart pounded from the shock. He definitely hadn’t been there earlier—where did he pop up from? And this was inside an airplane, no less.
“What… what is this? Didn’t you say you were going to a reunion?”
“I already went. More importantly, which seat did you reserve?”
“What kind of reunion ends so quickly…”
“Which seat are you in?”
“C-11…”
Overwhelmed by the subtle pressure, Ko Eungyo blurted out his seat number.
“That’s right here.”
This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t like they were at a magic show—it felt like seeing a ghost monster suddenly appear out of thin air. With an utterly bewildered feeling, he followed Lee Seungwoo’s gentle lead and sat down. Incredibly, Lee Seungwoo was in the seat right next to him, C-10.
Even as he plopped down in his seat, Ko Eungyo couldn’t take his eyes off Lee Seungwoo. Lee Seungwoo was smiling with his eyes curved like a drawn crescent.
“Have you been monitoring me?”
“You were acting so suspiciously that I couldn’t help but notice. I was curious about what you were planning, so I just pretended not to know… Were you trying to go on vacation without me?”
“…”
Lee Seungwoo spoke in an affectionate voice as he fastened Ko Eungyo’s seatbelt for him. Ko Eungyo couldn’t say anything and had no choice but to fly with Lee Seungwoo.
Even if they were on each other’s ‘my’ lists, people are fundamentally indifferent to others. Lee Seungwoo’s attentiveness definitely had something unusual about it compared to other people.
No, even a fool would notice. As Ko Eungyo blankly stared out the cabin window, he felt he couldn’t stand it anymore and looked at Lee Seungwoo once more.
Lee Seungwoo, who had been looking down at his mobile phone, turned to Ko Eungyo.
“Want to watch together?”
“…No, thank you.”
It wasn’t like he was flying for the first time… and they weren’t so affectionate that they wanted to share good things with each other, so what was there to watch together? The scenery outside the plane?
He sighed and sat in silence for about an hour.
Not long after, an announcement that they would soon arrive at Jeju Island airport played throughout the cabin. A little more time passed, and as the plane landed, everyone prepared to disembark.
At that moment, Lee Seungwoo leaned slightly toward Ko Eungyo.
Thinking he might have something to say, Ko Eungyo paused while unfastening his seatbelt. Then Lee Seungwoo’s hand reached over and unfastened Ko Eungyo’s seatbelt for him. And then he smiled brightly.
“…”
“Let’s go.”
He stared blankly as Lee Seungwoo picked up Ko Eungyo’s carrier as if it were his own and headed out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
