Jae-woo, who had hesitated for a moment as if struck speechless, suddenly shouted.
“What kind of nonsense is that?! There’s no way Hyung would say something like that! This guy’s a complete scammer, isn’t he?!”
“Unfortunately, I’m not bored enough to bother scamming someone like you.”
“Liar!”
Letting out a scream-like yell and ragged breaths, Jae-woo stormed past Seo Won.
“Where’s Hyung?! I need to hear it from him directly!”
Seo Won grabbed Jae-woo’s arm painfully as he tried to push past him toward the door.
Jae-woo let out a sharp cry without meaning to, instinctively turning to look at Seo Won, whose terrifying grip felt like it might snap his arm in two. The moment their eyes met, he felt an overwhelming pressure, like something heavy was bearing down on him from above—but this time, he refused to back down.
“Let go! Let go right now and go get Hyung!”
“Don’t make this a hassle.”
Black tendrils of aura curled out from Seo Won’s blue eyes. It was a silent threat—if Jae-woo didn’t obey, he’d use his ability to force him to.
Brazenly, Jae-woo also clenched his teeth, dark energy flickering in his own eyes. Even though his ability wasn’t offensive by nature, he was convinced that, depending on how he used it, he could at least hold his own against Seo Won. It was a clear sign—he had no intention of backing down.
Thankfully, the clash of abilities never came to pass.
Knock knock—
“Cha Han-gyeom is here, Director.”
At Lim Du-hyuk’s voice from outside the door, both of them instinctively turned toward it. Seo Won clicked his tongue in annoyance and released Jae-woo’s arm, while Jae-woo, though his freed arm throbbed with pain, lit up with relief.
The moment the door opened, Han-gyeom stepped in and frowned, glancing back and forth between the two.
“Did you two fight?”
“No.”
Seo Won replied immediately, swallowing down the remaining traces of the black aura still lingering in his eyes.
“Hyung! This guy’s acting weird!”
As if he’d been waiting for this, Jae-woo darted over to Han-gyeom and clung to him, pointing accusingly at Seo Won.
“He told me I have to go overseas! Can you believe that?! An unregistered Ability User going abroad?! I mean, come on. That’s ridiculous!”
Jae-woo’s exaggerated tattling was followed by a furious glare toward Seo Won.
“And then he lied, saying you’re the one who brought it up! Like he can just throw your name around whenever it suits him…”
“I did bring it up.”
“…Huh?”
Han-gyeom patted Jae-woo’s shoulder gently and brushed his messy bangs aside.
“I asked him to send you abroad. It’s a good opportunity for you to get legal civilian status, find a place to live, and what else was it… ah, yeah—you said you wanted a car, remember? Get a license and we’ll get you one.”
“What… what are you even saying right now, Hyung?”
“This kind of opportunity doesn’t come around often. You know as well as I do—most unregistered Ability Users, especially Espers, don’t have any choice but to live in hiding…”
“Hyung!”
Jae-woo finally raised his voice, cutting Han-gyeom off mid-sentence, and grabbed both of his shoulders with a frantic expression.
“What’s wrong with you, Hyung?! Where exactly are you trying to send me?! Overseas? Why would I go there?!”
“…Laws regarding unregistered Ability Users are becoming more relaxed overseas. Even if you get discovered, with a little help from Seo Won, it can be dealt with. If everything goes well, you could live like any ordinary person.”
“That’s not what this is about!”
“It is what this is about.”
Han-gyeom calmly removed Jae-woo’s hands from his shoulders.
“Go overseas, Jae-woo. Live your life in peace.”
“No.”
As Han-gyeom pushed his hands away, Jae-woo’s arms dropped powerlessly, his face twisting as if he were about to cry.
“Why are you doing this, Hyung…? Why all of a sudden… why are you acting like this now?”
Staring at Jae-woo’s trembling expression, Han-gyeom felt a heavy weight settle in his chest.
“It’s not sudden. We talked about this, remember? Back in that tiny room with the leaky roof. How we didn’t know when we’d get arrested if we stayed in Korea. How we wanted to stow away if that’s what it took to get out.”
“Yeah… I remember. We said stuff like that. But I never said I wanted to go alone.”
Jae-woo’s eyes were already rimmed red, and he reached out toward Han-gyeom’s hand with trembling fingers.
“The reason I wanted to go abroad was more for you than for me. I just… I wanted you to live comfortably, Hyung…”
But Han-gyeom avoided his touch, tucking his hands behind his back as if he didn’t want to be held.
“I feel the same. I want you to live comfortably. I want you to stop getting dragged into weird situations, stop living in fear, always hiding and watching your back. I want you to live without worrying about anyone’s gaze.”
“Hyung…”
“You might not like it now, but once you get there, your mind will change. Compared to what it’s been like hiding all this time, it’ll be so peaceful, you’ll wonder why we didn’t do this sooner. You won’t have to worry about money, either.”
“Hyung, please… just listen to me.”
“You can date someone you like, maybe even get married…”
“Hyung, please!”
Jae-woo shouted, shaking his head in desperation, like someone on the edge of collapse.
“I just don’t get it! Why are you saying all this?! I’m not going anywhere without you! I won’t go!”
“Song Jae-woo.”
“Is it because of what happened with Woo-chan hyung—no, Kang Woo-chan?! Because he used me?! Because I got caught by him and made things worse for you?! I’m sorry. I really am… but that—”
“So you do understand.”
Han-gyeom’s tone changed in an instant. The calm, comforting voice vanished, replaced by one just as cold as Seo Won’s.
“Can you just be honest with me?”
“Wh-What are you…”
“You’re a burden to me.”
Jae-woo froze in place, as if Han-gyeom’s blunt words had turned him to stone. The moisture that had been pooling in his eyes began to well at the corners, clinging there without falling.
“You heard I got Imprinted with Seo Won, right? Do you really think that was forced?”
“What are you… even saying…”
Han-gyeom locked eyes with Seo Won over Jae-woo’s shoulder. Jae-woo’s stiff neck jerked mechanically as he turned to glance at Seo Won as well.
“Remember when you asked me about Imprints? I told you—Imprinting isn’t something that can be done just because one person wants it. It takes both sides.”
Just as Han-gyeom had said, Imprinting was only possible when both an Esper and a Guide wanted it—whether for emotional reasons, mutual benefit, or simply because both agreed to it.
From what Han-gyeom could tell, Kang Woo-chan hadn’t shared the full details about Seo Won’s heart with his fellow operatives. Even Jung Ah-young, who had been planted as a spy, hadn’t known that Seo Won’s transplanted heart had previously been Imprinted to Han-gyeom. Nor that this connection had begun to damage the otherwise immortal body of Song Yeon-woo.
So Han-gyeom had decided to use it.
To separate Song Jae-woo from them.
“I chose this. Seo Won didn’t force me into anything.”
His voice was steady—calm, without even a flicker of hesitation. Jae-woo, who had been staring at Seo Won, now turned back to Han-gyeom.
“…Is that really true?”
“It is.”
“But that guy—he tied you to some weird contract and locked you up in this mansion…”
“That was only at the beginning. Now, I’m here because I don’t want to leave. I have no reason to.”
Which meant—it wasn’t some cold, calculated decision made for mutual benefit. It wasn’t just about survival or advantage.
That truth hit even harder.
“Why, Hyung… Why him of all people…”
“I don’t know. I guess… the more time we spent together, the more attached I got.”
Jae-woo couldn’t bring himself to accept Han-gyeom’s indifferent tone.
“Hyung… isn’t this, like, Stock—what’s it called, some kind of syndrome? Or gaslighting or something?”
The moment Jae-woo blurted that out, Han-gyeom’s expression turned chillingly cold. He had always been oddly sensitive to the word gaslighting—so much so that Jae-woo usually avoided saying it around him. But right now, he didn’t care.
“Seriously, though—how else do you explain it? You were locked up in this gloomy place, exploited for G-… Guiding every day. And now you’re telling me you Imprinted with him in that short amount of time?”
Wiping his tear-streaked cheeks with the back of his hand, Jae-woo stared at Han-gyeom with painful sincerity.
“If it’s not that… then what? Are you seriously saying you’re in love or something? Because that doesn’t sound like you at all.”
He thought, surely Han-gyeom would deny that part.
But instead, Han-gyeom’s sharp eyes softened. The corners of his mouth curved faintly, gently. His gaze was fixed not on Jae-woo—but on Seo Won.
“…Who knows.”
A vague, evasive answer.
But what gave it away was that rare, unmistakable expression on Han-gyeom’s face.
The moment Jae-woo saw it, the strength drained from his shoulders. His gaze dropped helplessly to the floor.
Just like Jae-woo had done earlier, Han-gyeom reached out and gently placed both hands on his shoulders.
“Remember what you said back then? That we weren’t boss and employee, but partners?”
“…Yeah.”
The answer came out automatically, a habit. Even as his mind remained a blank, still lost in the fog of confusion.
“That’s why I’m breaking the partnership on my own terms. So think of it as a severance package—I’m sending you overseas and handing over the money I earned. I don’t need it anymore.”
“…”
“I don’t want to worry about anything else for a while. Especially not anyone other than Seo Won.”
Strange, isn’t it?
The words were full of suspicion and contradiction, yet that part—those words—rang with an undeniable sincerity.
Jae-woo looked at Han-gyeom with hollow, disillusioned eyes. His gaze swelled with layered emotions, but Han-gyeom’s was colder and more resolute than ever. It felt like nothing—no amount of pleading, no choice of words—could shake him now.
“You’ll understand, won’t you?”
Jae-woo’s lips parted, but no words would come out. In the end, they shut again—silent and resigned.
