“One more thing.”
“Yeah?”
Seo Won pointed to himself as he asked Han-gyeom about the sound.
“How did you know that sound might make me lose control?”
Han-gyeom answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“That sound—it was something they used a lot back at the lab I was in.”
“The lab…?”
Seo Won’s brow furrowed deeply, clearly displeased.
“They used it to control and restrain Espers. Sometimes, they’d use it to monitor the progression of Black Vein too.”
Han-gyeom’s voice flowed easily, but his eyes dimmed. It was a kind of darkness he wouldn’t have even noticed in the past. Seo Won didn’t like the shadow that had fallen across Han-gyeom’s gaze.
It’s probably best not to make him recall what happened at that lab.
Someday, if the chance came, he wanted to ask why Han-gyeom had willingly gone into such a place. But until that opportunity arrived, he didn’t want to stir up the past unnecessarily.
“That,” Han-gyeom suddenly said, pointing at Seo Won.
His fingertip slipped beneath the open button of Seo Won’s shirt, brushing a specific point on his collarbone.
“It’s still there.”
Seo Won followed his hand with his eyes. What Han-gyeom had touched was a red mark lingering on his collarbone—a small trace that, at a glance, really could’ve been mistaken for an insect bite.
The first mark that Cha Han-gyeom had ever left.
Seo Won bit back a sharp curse and abruptly lunged at Han-gyeom, pushing him down and casting a shadow over him as if ready to pounce.
Han-gyeom showed no sign of surprise, simply lying there and looking quietly up at him. His red lips moved slightly.
“I still can’t guide. You told me not to, remember?”
“…Yeah.”
At some point, heat had flooded Seo Won’s eyes. He looked down at Han-gyeom, breathing heavily, and suddenly lowered his lips.
“Nngh… mm…”
Their mouths met, and he immediately slipped his tongue past the lips Han-gyeom willingly parted for him. He moved through the small, accepting mouth like it was his own—exploring every inch.
The soft, warm inner walls, the smooth and firm roof of the mouth, the neat and delicate teeth he could feel just by running his tongue over them, and that small, pliant tongue that seemed to breathe with life.
Every part was thoroughly ravaged by the flesh Seo Won forced inside. Whenever he teased or scraped with the tip of his tongue, it drew out especially sweet moans, so out of habit, he never left any part of that mouth untouched.
“Hngh… mmph…”
Han-gyeom, who had been quietly accepting the kiss, gently pushed Seo Won away.
“I told you, I can’t guide right now.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Then why are we doing this?”
Han-gyeom’s question left Seo Won momentarily speechless. No answer came to mind. He didn’t even know himself why he was kissing him.
If he had to put it into words—Because he was beautiful. That was all.
He kissed Cha Han-gyeom simply because he looked so beautiful. He hadn’t been trying to receive guidance.
Seo Won closed his mouth, his gaze uncharacteristically shaken. In all his life, he’d only ever engaged in sex for the sake of guiding. He had never once kissed someone—or done anything beyond that—without a guiding purpose.
He didn’t believe in things like romance or love with others, nor did he care to. The only thing that ever mattered to him was survival.
All he’d ever cared about was clawing his way to stay alive, trapped in a cursed family with a death sentence hanging over him.
Bringing Cha Han-gyeom into the estate had been for that very reason. Keeping him close, using his body—it had never strayed from that purpose.
Until now.
“Get a grip, Seo Won. I’m not going to let you die.”
Recalling Han-gyeom’s sincere voice, Seo Won asked quietly,
“You didn’t want me to die?”
“I didn’t.”
“Why? Because I’m the only one who can stop your episodes?”
Even as Seo Won’s shadow fell across him, Han-gyeom met his gaze head-on, unflinching.
“Would it be so wrong if that were the reason?”
Han-gyeom reached out and wrapped both arms around Seo Won’s neck. Pulled close, Seo Won’s face now hovered at a breath’s distance from his.
“You’re the one who said it.”
Han-gyeom whispered in a soft murmur, like a bird’s delicate trill.
“You said you’d be my salvation from now on.”
He tilted his chin up, licking at Seo Won’s lips as if to tempt him, then bit down gently.
“I can’t let you die before you save me.”
Even knowing how unnatural Han-gyeom’s seduction felt, Seo Won couldn’t help but devour the lips that reached for his.
He wanted Cha Han-gyeom to look only at him, to cling only to him. For guiding, for survival. But it felt like there was something else—something more—lurking just beyond that.
Everything.
As he accepted Seo Won’s kiss despite not even wanting guidance, the light in Han-gyeom’s eyes turned cold.
“You said you’d be my salvation from now on.”
What a joke.
A faint smile played on Han-gyeom’s lips, but in his mind, the memory of the day Seo Won shattered and trampled his so-called salvation was still vivid.
As he closed his eyes tightly, he recalled part of a report from the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility—something he’d found tucked between letters in a drawer.
Someone who destroys your salvation can never become your salvation.
[Request from client: secure transplantable heart.]
[Refinement process required to match ESP frequency accurately.]
[Estimated four years post-extraction.]
They’re nothing more than the one who tramples.
[Risk of physical collapse and rampage upon heart extraction.]
So he would do the same in return.
[Heart extraction performed as per client’s request.]
[Post-extraction, ESP levels observed to be abnormally low.]
[Degeneration of all organs underway.]
When that day comes, he would become someone who tramples—just like Seo Won.
[Scheduled disposal date of subject E_NO.17: June 19, 2018]
And to make that happen, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.
[Heart transplant recipient: Seo Won (S)]
Whether it meant being a seductress, a whore—whatever it took, he’d play the part.
***
An abandoned cathedral on the outskirts of Seoul.
A man stood before the desolate church, its stone walls cloaked in ivy, before stepping inside.
“You’re here?”
The moment he opened the door, a cheerful voice rang out from within.
Inside the ruined cathedral, four Espers—men and women—were scattered across long, disheveled pews, either sitting or leaning against them.
Kang Woo-chan, who had come to the forsaken place, smiled gently at the four Espers who had gathered in response to his summons.
“There’s someone we need to secure before things go down.”
“Who?”
“Didn’t we already scour up to the Third Facility? There’s still someone else to find?”
To the confused expressions of the men and women, Woo-chan handed over a photograph.
The image featured a rather prominent public figure—Seo Won, CEO of Prism BioBattery.
He stood surrounded by a formation of bodyguards clad in black suits.
One of the group shook his head.
“No way, that has to be a mistake. This guy’s the youngest of the Kangsan Group, right? There’s no way someone like that would’ve been dragged into the Ability Analysis Facility. That’s just ridiculous.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen pictures of him as a kid floating around too. They use him as eye candy.”
Sliding into the middle of their murmurs, Woo-chan pointed to the corner of the photo they were staring at. Looking closely where his finger landed—Between the bodyguards lined up on either side, there was one more person.
“Cha Han-gyeom. Twenty-eight. Up until about a month ago, he worked for five years as a guiding whore.”
“A guiding whore? Well, if he’s an unregistered Guide, I guess he could be useful…”
A large man frowned, his voice apathetic.
There was only one registered Guide among their group. So the idea of having another who could manage their needs was certainly appealing.
But there was a reason they could bond like siblings even on first meeting—A unique kind of connection they all shared. Bringing in some clueless unregistered Guide might just end up being a burden.
As if mocking their hesitation, Kang Woo-chan offered a critical clue.
“The oldest trace we have of him before working as a guiding whore only goes back two years. Meaning—we could track his activities up to seven years ago, but nothing beyond that.”
“Nothing before that? You mean there’s no record at all?”
Now, their expressions began to change.
“Even unregistered Espers usually leave some sort of trail behind. But with Cha Han-gyeom, it’s like he just dropped into the world seven years ago. Not a single trace before that.”
Woo-chan scanned the four Espers, their excitement rising, and hammered the final nail into their speculation.
“Just like us.”
The four exchanged bright, eager glances. Their voices buzzed with excitement.
“Are you serious? There was another survivor?”
“Thank god!”
But just then, one young man tilted his head in confusion and asked,
“But… didn’t the whole facility get obliterated in that S-rank test subject rampage incident? How the hell did he survive?”
Everyone, including the one who asked, turned to look at Woo-chan. He was the one who had gathered the intel—he would be the one with the answer.
“There’s no record anywhere of a survivor. But there was one missing person. And that was Cha Han-gyeom.”
Woo-chan stared intently at the photograph the others had been fixated on. Though much of the figure was obscured by the bodyguards, he remembered that face clearly. He hadn’t known at the time, but they had met and spoken in person.
Glancing around at the men and women whose eyes still gleamed with excitement, Woo-chan repeated himself.
“He’s the only Guide to ever come out of the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility.
Just like me, his ability is Guide-specialized—an incredibly valuable asset.”
The playful air from earlier had vanished; every face had turned serious.
“Now that the testing is complete, once we secure Cha Han-gyeom, it’s time to get started for real.”
A bright, eager smile curved Woo-chan’s lips.
“It’s time we had our revenge.”
The same eager smile spread across the others’ faces as well. Clearly, all of them were looking forward to what was coming.
Woo-chan’s gaze dropped back to the photo in their hands. This time, he wasn’t looking at Cha Han-gyeom, but at the man standing next to him—Seo Won.
Those bastards from the Association who got into bed with him—they’ll need to be cleaned up too. They’re all the same scum.
Seo Won would be dealt with. Cha Han-gyeom would be taken.
If things went well, he might be able to take care of both in one blow.
