The sound of cool water filled the bathroom. As Seo Won stood under the shower, the water washed over him, pleasantly cooling his entire body.
After finishing his shower, Seo Won dried himself and stood in front of the mirror above the sink. The Black Vein, which had grotesquely spread across his body, had now receded to his shoulder area. The retreating tendrils seemed to reluctantly stretch towards his arm.
Seo Won looked at his body with a sense of wonder.
Before his heart transplant, about a year and a few months ago, he had never taken the Black Vein seriously. He believed it was something that only affected Espers who couldn’t find a guide. Even though unregistered guides were rare, Seo Won thought it didn’t matter. Unregistered Ability Users would do anything if given what they wanted: a comfortable place to stay, abundant food, plenty of money, and protection from the Esper Association.
Seo Won’s mansion was always full of guides because he provided all these things. He never imagined he would suffer from Black Vein due to a lack of guiding. Even when he saw reports of former Espers turned into monsters, he felt no emotion. Watching them be subdued by association-affiliated Espers and turned to black ash seemed like a distant, unreal story.
But then, one day, black tendrils began to spread across his body.
It was strange.
After the heart transplant, guiding sessions with the guides became uncomfortably strange. Instead of feeling pleasant and relaxed, he felt an eerie discomfort, as if many tiny hands were rudely touching his body. This sensation quickly turned into a revolting feeling that he couldn’t stand.
It wasn’t just one guide; all the guides in his mansion had the same ineffective and repulsive effect. Seo Won was at a loss, and even when he endured the guiding, nothing changed. Desperate, he sought out Cha Min-hyung, a high-ranking official in the association and a renowned S-class guide. They had met before due to secret collaborations with the association, so arranging a meeting wasn’t difficult.
That’s when he learned the truth.
The discomfort he felt was actually the screams of his new heart.
No! I only want the guiding of my Imprinted!
Where are they?!”
Where is my guide?!
Apparently, when an Esper is imprinted, drinking GP from a non-imprinted guide leaves an intense feeling of revulsion all over the body. It’s a horrible sensation, as if disgusting bugs are crawling everywhere.
“Even with deep guiding, where bodies are completely intertwined, the repulsion can be minimized, but it still won’t work. Ultimately, it has to be the guiding of the Imprinted,”
Cha Min-hyung explained with a troubled expression.
“The only solution is to find the Imprinted of the heart. If guiding continues to be unavailable… you have about a year left.”
Another death sentence. Seo Won thought he had escaped his ‘curse’ with the heart transplant, but it seemed he was wrong. As despair washed over him, Min-hyung offered a glimmer of hope.
“It’s too early to give up. I have an idea who the Imprinted of that heart might be.”
The original owner of the imprinted heart was from the Esper Association, specifically the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility, known only to a few. There was only one guide there.
Before the original owner turned into black ash, only one person had been guiding him. That person was the only guide from the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility.
Everyone else, both researchers and test subjects, had perished. Only the guide was missing.
The association assumed the guide had died without a trace. The chances of a fragile guide surviving the catastrophic ESP storm of an S-class Esper were virtually zero. Even the physically robust Espers were found in unrecognizable pieces.
But Min-hyung believed the guide was still alive. He thought the Esper would have protected his guide, even in that chaotic situation.
Seo Won clung to Min-hyung’s words, searching desperately for the unregistered guide across Korea. The disgust was unbearable for his main body, so he used a clone to receive guiding and transfer it back. This method, suggested by Min-hyung, helped reduce the revulsion since the main body wasn’t directly involved.
Fortunately, the guiding from the clone caused no discomfort, but it also had no effect. His body, unresponsive to others’ guiding, was gradually consumed by the Black Vein, which eventually reached his neck.
It was during this desperate search that he finally found Cha Han-gyeom. Among the unregistered guides, Cha Han-gyeom was known to do anything for money, a guide from the lowest rungs of society.
But Cha Han-gyeom’s guiding was miraculous. It brought a clear ray of hope to Seo Won’s dark path, offering a chance to extend his life.
Seo Won’s confidence grew stronger each day.
As the Black Vein gradually retreated from his heart, how could he not feel sure? The face that came to mind was Cha Han-gyeom’s.
The person who existed to keep him alive. The person who could only live if he lived. The person who wanted him to live.
‘My guide.’
A smile spread across Seo Won’s face as he thought of Han-gyeom. Lately, he found himself smiling more often, not because of any particular event, but simply because thinking of Cha Han-gyeom naturally lifted his spirits.
Looking in the mirror, Seo Won noticed a reddish mark on his neck, a remnant of Han-gyeom’s passionate kisses. The thought that Han-gyeom had left this mark on purpose filled him with an inexplicable joy and satisfaction.
After refreshing himself with a shower and neatly wrapping himself in a bathrobe, Seo Won saw Han-gyeom sitting absentmindedly on the bed. They had just finished deep guiding through sex, and Han-gyeom had taken a call related to work before showering first. Seo Won had helped him into a bathrobe and then gone to shower alone. Even after Seo Won returned, Han-gyeom remained deep in thought.
Han-gyeom only looked up with a start when Seo Won sat on the bed.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?” Seo Won asked.
Han-gyeom shook his head, saying it was nothing, but his expression said otherwise. Seo Won’s curiosity piqued, and he pressed further, “Tell me quickly. What’s going on?”
Han-gyeom hesitated, struggling to find the words. Seo Won’s expression grew sharp and cold, his possessiveness surfacing. He wanted to know what was occupying Han-gyeom’s mind so completely.
What consumed Han-gyeom’s thoughts was the situation with Song Jae-woo. He wondered who the guide approaching Song Jae-woo was and whether this guide was connected to the terrorists he suspected. He pondered how they had obtained their information and what their plans might be.
During guiding, the resonance from the imprint allowed Han-gyeom to focus on Seo Won. But once the guiding ended and the resonance faded, his thoughts returned to the complexities surrounding Song Jae-woo.
However, Han-gyeom couldn’t share everything with Seo Won. He knew Seo Won was aware of his conversation with Song Jae-woo, but Seo Won had no obligation to help Song Jae-woo. To Seo Won, Song Jae-woo was just someone he tolerated because of his agreement with Cha Han-gyeom, not someone he needed to protect.
Despite his concerns, Cha Han-gyeom couldn’t bring himself to ask Seo Won to protect Song Jae-woo. He knew that doing so might change the way Seo Won looked at him, potentially causing unnecessary tension. The possessiveness ignited by the imprint was not something to be taken lightly.
Seo Won’s eyes narrowed sharply, seemingly unaware of Han-gyeom’s internal struggle. “Tell me,” he demanded. “Who is it that’s occupying your thoughts right now?”
Feeling cornered by Seo Won’s piercing gaze, Han-gyeom reluctantly parted his lips to speak.
