# Chapter 42
He wasn’t a typical Guide who sympathized with Espers struggling with accumulated energy. Rather, he would immediately terminate contracts if they weren’t beneficial to him. After all, the damage from not receiving Guiding fell heavily on the Esper, not so much on the Guide.
That’s why he tried to contract with Dohyun, knowing it would benefit him. No, it was also a contract made to avoid losses.
So he continued with only obligatory Guiding. Haegang, who typically didn’t pay much attention to others, noticed before the end of their second week of contract that the soles of Dohyun’s sneakers were extremely worn out.
Although they had been cleaned thoroughly, it was impossible not to notice. Well-worn shoes always left their traces. Because of shoelaces that often came undone despite being tied well, Dohyun would stop mid-conversation with Chan to retie them.
At first, Haegang tried to dismiss it, thinking maybe Dohyun was just attached to the shoes. But after hearing about Dohyun’s night job, he couldn’t easily ignore it anymore.
As Haegang spent more time close to Dohyun, he realized that Dohyun was uncomfortable when people asked questions about him.
‘Why can’t he just say he’s uncomfortable?’
Anyone could see he was troubled, so he could easily ask people not to question him. If he were to act more flexibly, he could just smile cunningly like Haegang’s friend and smoothly change the subject. But Dohyun couldn’t do that.
‘Would someone like this really have said that intentionally?’
Did he really ask if he could go home to put a Guide in his place?
Haegang’s image of Dohyun gradually crumbled. He couldn’t speak properly to people he wasn’t close with, would blurt out strange things when lost in his own thoughts, and couldn’t say anything negative to people he knew.
‘Guide Choi Haegang. It’s a misunderstanding. Esper Baek Dohyun has never been affiliated with a guild before. This is his first time joining the Somyeong Guild. You already knew he came from a regular school, didn’t you?’
Around that time, Haegang received a message from the Association, learning that he had misunderstood.
If something was uncomfortable, he could just say it was uncomfortable, but from their first meeting, Dohyun couldn’t bring himself to speak much to Haegang, whose first impression had not been good.
‘Um… can I go now?’
‘Um… if the compatibility check is over, can I go home now?’
Only then did the intention behind the question Haegang had heard become clear.
Haegang had always thought he was good at understanding the meaning behind people’s words. But he had completely misread the thoughts of a frightened child and gotten angry for no reason. He sighed.
‘He should at least complain.’
For Haegang, no matter how hard he tried to understand, it was an incomprehensible personality. Even after being prodded repeatedly, Dohyun wouldn’t get angry. If he’d been treated that unfairly, he should have complained, but for some reason, his expression was always resigned.
Even when Haegang deliberately provoked him, Dohyun didn’t get heated. On the day they contracted, he even restrained his friend who was getting worked up beside him.
Was he mature? Or was he just naturally calm? Even so, he was only twenty—how could he be so composed?
Haegang decided to observe the young Esper just a little longer. He had never completed a full contract period before, so it might not be bad to work until this contract expired for once. Additionally, if he terminated this contract early again, there would be legal issues.
In other words, Haegang’s decision to become Dohyun’s dedicated Guide was partly voluntary but also somewhat forced.
It took less than a month for Haegang’s image of Dohyun to change from a rude Esper to a strange Esper who couldn’t express his thoughts well, and finally to his true self—a gentle boy who was an adult only in age. It was ridiculous that he was working part-time because he couldn’t use his abilities properly, and how much he hated being indebted to others.
‘Isn’t this unearned income?’
Haegang completely changed his opinion of Dohyun after hearing him refer to his gate conquest bonus as “unearned income.” Unlike other Espers, he disliked depending on others. No, he hated being indebted. He tried to do everything alone.
The first time Haegang thought he needed to keep Dohyun in his sight was when there was a fire at Dohyun’s home. Haegang’s first instinct was to contact the guild.
But Dohyun was urgent. He was trying to run into the flames. Startled by this, Haegang quickly grabbed him.
No matter how panicked someone might be, who would try to enter a burning building bare-handed?
Haegang thought Dohyun would be crying. Isn’t that what people usually do in such situations? But his dry eyes stared blankly at Haegang.
‘He doesn’t have a clue how to handle this.’
Not knowing if his body condition was good or bad. Not checking how much energy had accumulated or how much Guiding he needed. The more Haegang observed him, the more he felt he couldn’t just leave him alone.
Eventually, Haegang brought the Esper he had planned to keep at a distance into his own home.
A stranger had entered his home, which had always been maintained in perfect order. Although Haegang was bothered by this fact, Dohyun was much more self-conscious. He tried his best to maintain the order that Haegang demanded. He was overly cautious, even going so far as to buy convenience store boxed meals rather than eating at home. Somehow, whenever Dohyun drew such boundaries, Haegang felt uncomfortable.
After living together for quite some time, Haegang completely redefined his image of Dohyun. Beneath his composed expression and cute face was an animal with its hackles raised.
He seemed to think he was all grown up, but in Haegang’s eyes, he was far from it. While showing signs that he didn’t want others to worry about him, he acted in ways that made it impossible not to. He didn’t know much, was awkward receiving things, often skipped meals, and got into trouble as soon as Haegang took his eyes off him…
Or rather, he suffered trouble.
Today was no different. As if he had some astrological predisposition to being caught up in all sorts of incidents, yet another accident had occurred—who knew how many this year alone.
“…Maybe I should write him a protective charm.”
That small, timid Esper. The Esper whom Haegang had come to know a little better than the mess he was at first, had pushed him away and been sucked into the gate alone. Unlike normal Espers, he was slow to request Guiding despite the pain of accumulated energy. The young Esper who only pretended to care for his body when Haegang forced him to, had been sucked into the gate alone as if he could handle it.
Haegang pondered how to rescue the small Esper who wouldn’t listen. He knew Dohyun too well to reassure himself with “he’s an Esper, he’ll be fine.”
Haegang tapped the device in his pocket. It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Feeling somewhat relieved, he began to think of something else.
“This is ridiculous.”
It was an odd dilemma. Should he go in or not? Haegang had always refused when previous contracted Espers asked him to enter gates with them. He disliked having his routine disrupted.
“…It’s better than him being alone, I suppose.”
“Excuse me?”
One of the Espers who had arrived quickly turned his head at Haegang’s mumbling.
“When the Association arrives, please tell them that one Esper and one Guide have been caught in the gate. And ask them to come rescue us as quickly as possible.”
“W-wait, Guide!”
Before anyone could stop him, Haegang strode into the gate.
This isn’t because of Dohyun. It’s not because he’s worried about his Esper caught in the gate, but for the noble reason of keeping a precious human life as safe as possible.
Also, if someone he knows dies right before his eyes, it would give him nightmares. That’s all it is.
Haegang muttered these things to himself as he passed through the gate.
❖ ❖ ❖
How much time had passed? Dohyun blinked slowly. The last time he counted, eight hours had passed. He seemed to have counted a few more seconds each time he closed and opened his eyes, but later it felt meaningless, so he gave up. His back ached from being curled up for too long, but Dohyun didn’t stretch out. There was no point in raising his head when only darkness would greet him.
‘Has it been about a day?’
Though he deliberately didn’t count seconds because he didn’t want to feel time passing, it seemed about that long. Thanks to Dohyun not thinking about extinguishing it, the ball of fire floating in the void continued to emit light. He considered trying to extinguish it but thought it would be better to keep it lit to show his position to anyone who might enter the dark gate.
He had heard stories about unusual gates where time flowed differently from the outside world, but Dohyun never imagined he would enter one. And on his second encounter, no less. Dohyun couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at his consistently terrible luck.
“I hope I don’t go berserk…”
Even though he had kept the output low, it was natural for his body to be strained as energy continuously flowed out. Dohyun knew that what was flowing from his eyes wasn’t tears. Since he couldn’t use water, he wiped it with his hand and shook it onto the floor. His hand was covered in red marks.
Dohyun didn’t have tears. No, he believed he shouldn’t cry. Even when he wanted to cry, Dohyun’s memories prevented it. A little moisture might form when he felt wronged or hurt, but still, he couldn’t let it fall.
‘Seonwoo. Your hyung and noonas care for you so much, what could be so sad that you’re crying?’
A chilling voice constricted Dohyun. He increased the size of the small ball of fire he had created. If it was dark, the voice would sound louder.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
