In an instant, Lee Jae-hoon’s body went limp, his face twisted in agony. Without even a moment to assess the situation, several other men inside the car also collapsed. There was no one left who could stop Cha Jae-woo from dragging me outside.
“W-Wait a second…”
I had assumed that Jo Gyeong-hoon’s side would have made thorough preparations, so the fact that Cha Jae-woo appeared before me without a scratch was shocking. A part of me was even terrified—not because I had wanted him to be defeated, but because the cold, hardened expression on his face and the crushing grip on my wrist made my body tremble uncontrollably.
“Shut your mouth and follow me.”
The atmosphere left no room for words; even if he hadn’t ordered me, I would have obeyed anyway.
I was being dragged helplessly by Cha Jae-woo when my mouth finally opened in delayed shock. A massive, pitch-black vortex swirled before my eyes—so enormous that it was almost absurd I hadn’t noticed it earlier.
“This is…”
A Gate. I had only ever seen them from afar, but anyone would recognize a Gate upon seeing one. And now, one stood right in front of me.
When did it appear? Why was it here? Was it supposed to form in this location? Was that why Jo Gyeong-hoon lured Cha Jae-woo here? Just to rely on a single Gate?
I knew very well that Jo Gyeong-hoon couldn’t control Cha Jae-woo. But still—trusting a Gate to pull something like this off was absurd. The same went for Lee Jae-hoon, who had laughed as if expecting something amusing, with only this much to show for it.
“Ah…”
Questions swirled in my mind, but none of them were the kind I could dare ask Cha Jae-woo. Instead, I tried to deduce what Jo Gyeong-hoon had been thinking.
However, even that thought was quickly wiped away by the faint sigh Cha Jae-woo let out as he walked ahead of me.
“Ugh.”
Cha Jae-woo suddenly turned on his heel. The grip on my wrist grew even fiercer as he began marching back toward the car he had pulled me from.
“W-What are you doing…”
We returned to the spot where the men, looking as if they were dead, lay motionless. Earlier, I hadn’t had the time to properly check their condition. But now that I looked closely, my heart pounded violently in my chest. Were they… actually dead? Had Cha Jae-woo killed them?
Slaying monsters inside a Gate was one thing—it didn’t bother me. But seeing humans dead like this… It made my skin crawl. No—”terrifying” was the more accurate word.
Yet the very man responsible for this was completely unfazed. Cha Jae-woo treated them as if they were no more significant than buzzing flies. With the hand that wasn’t gripping me, he grabbed the clothing of all three men—including Lee Jae-hoon—and bundled them together. And just like that, three grown men were dragged along the ground by Cha Jae-woo.
Absurdly, for a fleeting moment, I thought he might be trying to move them somewhere safer, away from the Gate—or perhaps to a hospital. It was a ridiculous notion. If that had been his intention, he wouldn’t have attacked them in the first place.
But that was the limit of my ability to predict Cha Jae-woo’s actions. At least it was better than the alternative—that he would throw unconscious people into the Gate itself.
“P-Please don’t do that. If they enter a Gate, they could die!”
“I told you to shut up.”
“Cha Jae-woo!”
The unconscious men were hurled into the Gate without hesitation. I clung to him desperately, but I was no match for Cha Jae-woo. In the blink of an eye, Lee Jae-hoon and the others vanished inside the Gate.
“Ah…”
I hadn’t even had time to stop him. I stared blankly at the Gate, but nothing changed.
Meanwhile, Cha Jae-woo tugged at me again, and I stumbled after him, dazed. The eerie silence that surrounded us was terrifying. Had there truly been no one here from the very beginning?
“……”
A sudden question rose in his mind but never made it past his lips. A bloodstain visible not far away was already answering it for him.
The wrist gripped by Cha Jae-woo’s brutal hand ached dully. The coldness was so intense that he was desperate to shake it off. Yet he did nothing. He was certain that if he so much as resisted, he too would be thrown straight into that Gate.
***
He hadn’t even touched the door handle of the closed door. He merely crouched by the bed, leaning his back against it.
What was he supposed to do? No—was there anything he was allowed to do? How had things been settled back there? Was that Gate truly all Jo Gyeong-hoon had prepared? What had become of them?
All of it was wiped clean from his mind in an instant.
“……”
At least for now, his own survival mattered more than anything else.
Witnessing firsthand just how cruel a human could be had left an indelible impact. It was astounding, in hindsight, that he had ever let himself grow close enough to Cha Jae-woo to forget such fear.
‘…I shouldn’t have run.’
Cha Jae-woo was definitely furious. He might have wanted to kill him too, just like he had killed those others. And yet, he hadn’t. Why? Because he was his exclusive Guide? But he wasn’t the only one who could Guide him anymore… so why—
‘…No, no. It has to be me.’
His fingers twitched anxiously, and he curled up even smaller. The only person capable of Guiding Cha Jae-woo—meaning the only one who could provide the satisfaction Cha Jae-woo needed—had to be him. Only then could he ensure his own safety.
Up until now, the worst threat he had faced around Cha Jae-woo was the risk of Mana Drain due to their overwhelming Rank difference. It had been frightening, but part of him had always thought he could somehow manage.
But this time was different.
Cha Jae-woo…could actually kill a person. He had seen it with his own eyes. There was no way things could ever go back to how they were before.
“……”
The house he had lived in for months offered no comfort whatsoever. It felt as if something heavy was pressing down on him from all sides.
He stared at the closed door, biting down hard on his lips. At any moment, that door might swing open, and Cha Jae-woo would storm in, grabbing him by the neck just like he had done to Lee Jae-hoon.
He should never have made him angry. He should have just obeyed everything he said. The realization came far too late. Fear swelled inside him like a violent tide, paralyzing all rational thought.
“……Hhk.”
How much time had passed? The door he had prayed would stay shut forever finally creaked open, and Cha Jae-woo appeared.
“Lim Haeyul.”
On the way back to this house—wherever they had come from—Cha Jae-woo hadn’t spoken a single word to him. He couldn’t even begin to guess what he was thinking, too overwhelmed by terror to dare.
Now was no different. He had no idea what Cha Jae-woo had done after leaving him alone in this room—or why he had come back now. All he knew was one thing, the only thought filling his mind: Cha Jae-woo was terrifying.
“……Y-Yes…”
His voice trembled hopelessly as he answered. Even though he had lifted his head, his gaze instinctively fell to the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to meet Cha Jae-woo’s eyes.
“Look me in the eyes properly.”
But Cha Jae-woo had no intention of letting him off easy. His emotionless voice crushed the air between them, making it hard to even breathe.
“……”
Slowly, with great difficulty, he lifted his gaze. He couldn’t defy an order. He mustn’t make Cha Jae-woo any angrier. Every nerve in his body stood on end, tension crackling through him like static.
“……”
“……”
Cha Jae-woo stared at him in silence. He neither averted his gaze nor gave permission for him to look away, forcing Lim Haeyul to desperately maintain eye contact.
All the emotions he had once held for Cha Jae-woo were now crushed under a suffocating fear. His heart pounded frantically, faster than it ever had before.
“Hah…”
Then, Cha Jae-woo’s lips twisted, and a hollow laugh slipped between his teeth. Lim Haeyul immediately dropped his gaze and hunched in on himself, swallowing hard. It was the most he could do to protect himself.
“Your mind’s resistance is really something, huh?”
The dry words dropped onto him like a heavy weight. He had suspected it might be true, but hearing it confirmed still shocked him. And yet, more than surprise, he felt resentment—resentment at himself for being immune.
If only he could forget everything…If only he could enjoy the version of Cha Jae-woo that was merely cold but kind.
But after seeing the monstrous cruelty hidden beneath that facade, all those hopes crumbled. If he had remained ignorant, he might have been spared this terror.
“What should I do with you?”
Cha Jae-woo mused aloud. Lim Haeyul’s entire body shook uncontrollably.
“P-Please spare me…”
In this situation, it was all he could do—forcing his trembling lips apart to beg for his life.
