Cha Jae-woo watched them carefully and moved slowly, not just for the sake of his remaining life. In truth, he could have eliminated them without anyone suspecting, but he chose not to.
Quick revenge was generally futile, and Cha Jae-woo wanted them to suffer for a long time. They needed to endure as much pain as possible, even if it wasn’t as long as the time he had endured.
He pondered how to make them suffer the most. The answer was simple: take away what they valued most. He would ensure that everything they thought they had would slip through their fingers like sand.
His plan was to leave them in a state worse than death, stripped of everything they had built over the years. He didn’t need to put much effort into it; his targets were limited to two people.
Jo Gyeong-hoon and Jang Gijun.
Cha Jae-woo did not intend to prolong this tedious task. Fortunately, both of his targets held the position of Association President, making them easy to focus on. The rest, like Cha Seong-ju, would simply disappear from the world. However, the end for these two would be anything but peaceful.
Jo Gyeong-hoon and Jang Gijun were the ones who had thrown him into the Gate and even pushed his parents in as well. Therefore, they deserved no peaceful end.
Cha Jae-woo began his meticulous plan.
His first target was Jang Gijun. The position of Guide Association President seemed to be the most precious thing to him. Jang Gijun acted as if he held great honor, flaunting his power everywhere. Cha Jae-woo found it amusing to imagine stripping him of his wealth and honor, leaving him to be scorned by everyone. Watching him crumble would be satisfying.
Of course, Jo Gyeong-hoon was not much different. He was also consumed by wealth and power, perhaps even more cunning and power-hungry than Jang Gijun.
Jo Gyeong-hoon acted as if all Espers were his possessions, wielding his power over them. The Espers did not resist, as Jo Gyeong-hoon was skilled in manipulation, making it difficult for anyone to oppose him, even the government.
He manipulated the matching rates between Guides and Espers, controlling them like puppets. It was ironic that Espers saw him as a savior, unaware of his true nature. If Cha Jae-woo had not regained his memories, he might have thought the same.
Jo Gyeong-hoon was the primary reason Cha Jae-woo had struggled to find a Guide. He had repeatedly rejected the government’s proposals for nationwide Guide screenings, as it would have made his manipulations more difficult.
Cha Jae-woo felt disgusted at the thought of Jo Gyeong-hoon waiting for him to beg for help.
“He’s still young; he must feel lonely.”
It was nauseating to think that Jo Gyeong-hoon had said such things while throwing him into the Gate.
Cha Jae-woo planned to strip Jo Gyeong-hoon of his power, one piece at a time. Once the Espers turned their backs on him, Jo Gyeong-hoon’s power would crumble. Without the support of the Espers, the title of Esper Association President would mean nothing. He would be left powerless, just like the current Ability Association President.
It seemed almost too easy. Cha Jae-woo felt a sense of emptiness even before he started, but he moved forward nonetheless. His first step was to take down Jang Gijun.
There was plenty of evidence to tarnish Jang Gijun’s reputation. He had left trails of his misdeeds everywhere, making it easy to gather evidence against him. Cha Jae-woo was not surprised to find that Jang Gijun had manipulated the matching rates, but he was intrigued to discover that Jang Gijun had been conducting experiments to artificially increase the matching rates of Guides.
‘There is a tree called the Backhwamyo that only grows inside the Gate. By extracting the essence from its fruit and mixing it with Feleil’s blood in a specific ratio, a special solution is created. Feleil’s blood makes the Esper desire guiding, and the Backhwamyo fruit temporarily increases the Guide’s mana circulation. Combining these two elements and administering them to a Guide creates the illusion of an increased matching rate.’
This revelation was both fascinating and disturbing. Cha Jae-woo was determined to use this information to bring down Jang Gijun and expose his manipulations to the world.
Despite being the Guide Association President, a title that now felt utterly hollow, Jang Gijun was pathetically easy to hypnotize, spilling all about his laughable experiment without hesitation.
Apparently, he had pinned his hopes on the idea that even the slightest touch would cause the matching rate to rise—either sustaining it steadily or causing it to spike explosively for a short burst.
Since he harbored resentment over not being treated as highly as Jo Gyeong-hoon despite his position, he believed that if he developed a drug to raise matching rates, his own standing would naturally soar.
However, the experiments failed repeatedly. Even when the matching rate did rise, it was only by a mere 1–2 percent, and the effect was fleeting at best.
Yet, Jang Gijun couldn’t abandon the experiment because Lee Ju-yeon existed—someone whose matching rate with him was steadily increasing, just as he wished.
Oblivious to the fact that he was merely being toyed with by Lee Ju-yeon, Jang Gijun idiotically rejoiced, believing his experiment had finally succeeded.
‘How is someone like this even a president?’
Cha Jae-woo found himself thinking such disdainful thoughts. He hadn’t expected revenge to be particularly exhilarating, but neither had he thought it would be this dull. Should he just kill him quickly? That seemed like a better idea.
“Give Jang Gijun to me.”
Just as he was seriously contemplating ending it all to avoid wasting any more time, Lee Ju-yeon’s words stopped him.
“All I ask is that you let me be the one to kill him.”
Cha Jae-woo didn’t particularly care about the reason. Nor did he have any reason to refuse. It might have been different if it were Jo Gyeong-hoon, but for someone like Jang Gijun, he could easily step aside.
That was when he realized he had missed Lim Haeyul’s birthday. It happened right as he stepped into Jang Gijun’s house and received a call—something rare enough from Lim Haeyul to make him curious. Only then did he find out that today was Lim Haeyul’s birthday.
But… was that really something to be concerned about?
Lim Haeyul hadn’t even told him directly. Wasn’t it enough that he was at a friend’s house, having fun? Did he really need to spend time with Cha Jae-woo? Hadn’t he clearly said he had work to do? Then why call with a voice so thick with longing? If he wanted to spend time together, he should’ve just said so earlier.
Thus, he initially decided to leave it alone. He didn’t want to visit Jang Gijun’s house twice, after all, and preferred to gather everything he could in one go.
However, Cha Jae-woo soon turned back. Once he judged that simply exposing the manipulated matching rates and the illegal experiments would suffice, he no longer saw the need to linger.
The job ended sooner than expected. That was all. He was just heading home. It wasn’t because Lim Haeyul was weighing on his mind.
“I missed you so muuuch…!”
Though unintentional, Cha Jae-woo thought he had made the right call the moment he entered and was greeted by Lim Haeyul’s gleeful face.
“Every year, I mean, every birthday, always.”
“Yeah.”
“I was… lonely.”
Hearing those words, Cha Jae-woo actually felt a small surge of relief that he had finished early and returned to this house.
Of course, it wasn’t because he was craving Lim Haeyul’s affection. Even without trying, Lim Haeyul’s love overflowed toward him.
He simply found himself empathizing with Lim Haeyul’s heart. Because loneliness… was something Cha Jae-woo knew better than anyone.
“So right now, having you here… it’s making me… so happy…”
The peculiar feeling that welled up in that moment was, perhaps, because the overwhelming emotion spilling from Lim Haeyul seeped into him too.
“I love you. So much… I really love you…”
Absurdly enough, a lightning-like impulse struck Cha Jae-woo. He didn’t know where it came from, but he suddenly wanted to hold Lim Haeyul in his arms.
Had Lim Haeyul’s loneliness transferred to him somehow? Even to Cha Jae-woo himself, the thought was ridiculous. To be swayed by someone else’s emotions? That was utterly unlike him.
Nonetheless, the rare impulse had come, and Cha Jae-woo didn’t bother resisting. He briefly considered consoling the drunken Lim Haeyul, but that thought didn’t last long. Why hold back? Hadn’t he already accepted everything, including sharing a bed, when he agreed to date him?
“I said to go slow, but you’re really going slow…”
“Then should I go fast?”
Wasn’t he just teasing him deliberately at this point?
Before Lim Haeyul, Cha Jae-woo had cared neither for men nor women. He had embraced whoever could guide him even a little. It was a tedious, mechanical act.
But now, for some reason, he felt a frantic urgency. His entire body tensed to the point of aching. He barely managed a smile—only possible because Lim Haeyul’s reactions amused him.
“…How fast?”
Maybe it was the innocent look Lim Haeyul gave him. Maybe it was something else. Cha Jae-woo didn’t know.
He was simply engulfed in the heat of the moment—and regret. Regret that he hadn’t met Jang Gijun on some other day. If he had, he could have spent more time with Lim Haeyul.
‘Wait. Did I show up to them looking like this?’
That sudden thought irritated him. He knew well enough how people—especially Kim Geon-ung—looked at Lim Haeyul.
And that only made him more annoyed.
“As fast as you want to stop.”
But it was fleeting.
What truly mattered was Lim Haeyul, who, at those words, smiled brightly and nodded.
Faced with the temptation blooming right before his eyes, Cha Jae-woo surrendered easily. Even though, soon enough, the temptation vanished.
“Lim Haeyul. Are you asleep?”
Moments ago, he had complained it was too slow, but now, Lim Haeyul had curled up defensively and fallen asleep. Cha Jae-woo didn’t push him awake.
He simply stroked Lim Haeyul’s soft, sleeping body and took care of his own throbbing desire with just a little help from the slumbering figure beside him.
That night, Cha Jae-woo dreamed a very good dream.
He couldn’t recall the details exactly, but he knew one thing for certain—it had been a truly wonderful dream.
