“Kwon Jae-jin, I’m still young. I have four years left……”
“I know. That you’re young. Not four years, not even four months have passed.”
“You said I still smell like a rookie.”
“That’s right. So what? Are you not going to do it?”
“No?”
“…….”
“No. I will.”
“…….”
“Let’s do it. Date me.”
“Then…… Seo Eui-woo, you should say it too. That’s how it’s supposed to start.”
“Oh, that’s how it works? Alright, Kwon Jae-jin.”
Seo Eui-woo spoke with an unusual docility, something completely uncharacteristic of him.
He was always reckless, doing whatever the fuck he wanted, acting on impulse.
“Will you date me, Eui-woo?”
That made Jae-jin chuckle a little.
***
In the end, he ended up dating Seo Eui-woo.
Not just in the first timeline, but in the second one too.
Not in four years, but in just four months.
Even so, there were still unresolved issues scattered everywhere, making it impossible to just lose himself in the fun of playing house. Feelings were important, but so was reality.
And today, Kwon Jae-jin learned that fact the hard way.
“Seo Eui-woo. Now is not the time to be zoning out. We need to clean up the house and move out immediately.”
They had spent a long time sitting in the hallway after the coordinate shift, and even longer wasting time in the bathroom for one reason or another. But if he thought about it rationally, this was no time to be doing this.
“This is too close to the crime scene. On top of that, the security system is broken. It wouldn’t be surprising if the special task force barged in at any moment—this place is way too dangerous.”
They needed to pack up and leave as quickly as possible.
With that in mind, the two of them stepped out of the bathroom and began moving busily.
Or rather, only Seo Eui-woo was moving busily, while Kwon Jae-jin took on the role of watching over him to ensure his mental and physical stability. What was he, a babysitter? Seriously.
As Seo Eui-woo stood in the middle of the living room, using his ability to turn the creature’s corpse into dust, Kwon Jae-jin floated safely in the air to avoid stepping on any more glass shards, observing him.
“Hmm. I’m not too familiar with ability-related matters, so I’m asking just to be sure—Major Mateo is definitely alive, right?”
Jae-jin, lost in thought as he considered their next steps, asked Eui-woo in a quiet voice.
Seo Eui-woo nodded with a cold smile, his reply laced with irritation.
“……Yeah. That bastard’s an A-rank defensive type, so he’s almost certainly still alive. He probably has a healing factor on him too.”
Ah, right. Come to think of it, Major Mateo’s ability was a protective barrier. There was no need to even question it—he was definitely alive.
“Then what happens now?”
“They’ll report it to the higher-ups. About the existence of an S-rank mutant Guide. Jae-jin, did they scan you by any chance?”
“Ah, yeah. As soon as they realized I wasn’t wearing an identification tag, they immediately—”
“Ha, fuck. I knew it, tsk. That means they’ve already reported your face, name, and detailed personal information.”
Having completely disintegrated the creature’s remains, leaving no trace behind, Seo Eui-woo frowned deeply, his dark brows knitting together in clear displeasure. Then, in a voice dripping with contempt, he muttered,
“This is so fucking annoying. Now all sorts of bastards are going to know about my Jae-jin.”
“……At least, Seo Eui-woo, no one saw you.”
Not that it was intentional, but thanks to the overwhelmingly intense ability Eui-woo had unleashed upon appearing, all anyone could see was blinding light. Even the members of the 7th Special Task Force couldn’t open their eyes properly, so there were no real witnesses.
“The entire scene was wiped out too, so there won’t be any evidence left behind.”
Even thinking back on it now, it was impressive. Seo Eui-woo had completely erased every trace of terrain from that area. Even if someone tried to find evidence, there wouldn’t be any left.
That power—it hadn’t felt like something a human could produce. It was more like a natural disaster. Like a meteor had struck, or a natural gas explosion had gone off.
Most importantly, the biggest relief was that the people from the Center had no idea about the existence of the power Seo Eui-woo had sealed away in his depths.
No matter how strong of an S-rank Esper he was, there was no way they would believe he could manifest an ability of such overwhelming strength. The true nature of the power hidden within him—aside from Seo Eui-woo and Kwon Jae-jin, no one else in the world knew.
The S-rank mutant Guide had gone missing. Case closed. Seo Eui-woo wouldn’t even be considered a suspect.
So, as long as they relocated and stayed hidden, everything would be fine.
Just like they had done before. Another round of hiding and living in seclusion.
“That’s all well and good, but what’s the point? They already saw you, Jae-jin….”
Seo Eui-woo clicked his tongue in frustration, clenching his jaw as he used telekinesis to gather the spent bullet casings and shattered glass into a pile. Then, turning sharply, he fixated on Kwon Jae-jin with his darkened gray eyes, scrutinizing every inch of his face with unsettling intensity.
Kwon Jae-jin sighed, his deep black eyes fixed on Seo Eui-woo’s face. His gaze swept over Eui-woo’s sharp nose, the lips that rarely smiled, always difficult and reserved. Then, his brow furrowed deeply.
Suddenly, an intrusive thought struck him—Major Mateo had touched those very lips. The moment the image formed in his mind, a violent urge surged within him.
“The thought of your name passing from mouth to mouth within the Center makes my blood boil. I feel like I’m going to lose it.”
Seo Eui-woo wasted no time. In an instant, the glass shards and bullet casings disintegrated into dust. Even the rugs and carpets stained with the creature’s black blood were wiped from existence. His ability flared uncontrollably, like an angry fire seeking an outlet.
“What’s worse is that I have to pretend I don’t care. I have to act like it doesn’t concern me, like I have nothing to do with it.”
“There’s no way around that. If you reveal any reaction, they’ll catch on. You need to behave as usual, Eui-woo. Go to work. Complete your missions.”
“I know. I do, but… No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I can stand it.”
The thought of leaving Kwon Jae-jin alone at home filled him with unbearable anxiety. His chest tightened at the idea of being away while countless people whispered about Jae-jin, dissecting him with their words. The rage bubbling within him made him want to scream.
He wanted to declare it—loudly, so the entire world knew.
Kwon Jae-jin belongs to Seo Eui-woo.
Kwon Jae-jin is Seo Eui-woo’s Guide.
Kwon Jae-jin is Seo Eui-woo’s lover.
He wanted to shout it, brand it into their minds so that no one would dare interfere. But reality didn’t allow such luxuries. And that infuriated him more than he could put into words.
“Hah… If only we were both Awakened, none of this would be a problem. We’d be an S-Class Esper and an S-Class Guide, permanently linked, untouchable by anyone.”
“What’s the point in saying that now?”
“Or, if we had both been ordinary people, this wouldn’t have happened either. We would’ve just dated like normal, been together, stayed together—solid and unshakable.”
At that, Kwon Jae-jin let out an incredulous laugh.
“Hah. Seo Eui-woo, do you even know what dating is?”
“I do.”
“Then explain it.”
“Dating is…”
Kwon Jae-jin narrowed his eyes, watching Seo Eui-woo’s lips, anticipating what would come next.
“Pre-marriage phase.”
As expected.
“Wrong.”
“What do you mean, wrong? It’s true. Ordinary people date to evaluate potential partners for reproduction, selecting someone to mix genes with, then use the institution of marriage to facilitate breeding and child-rearing.”
“…I said you’re wrong.”
Seo Eui-woo tilted his head, his face filled with confusion, as if someone had just told a scientist that the Earth didn’t orbit the Sun.
“Awakeners fight creatures for the safety and advancement of humanity, while ordinary people reproduce and raise children in safe zones for the sake of future generations and prosperity. Isn’t that the current survival model of humankind?”
“……”
Kwon Jae-jin pressed his left fingers against his temple, lips pressed into a firm line.
‘And I’m supposed to have a relationship with someone like this?’
He already knew Seo Eui-woo was utterly clueless about dating, but hearing it out loud like this made him scoff in disbelief.
‘When am I supposed to teach him all that? And how…? Ugh, I don’t even know.’
He had agreed to date Eui-woo on impulse, but now, the reality of having to reconcile their vastly different understandings of relationships hit him like a brick wall. It was daunting, draining even.
“Forget it. We’ll talk about this later.”
Jae-jin quickly decided to push this headache-inducing issue aside. Right now, securing a new place to live was the top priority.
“More importantly, Eui-woo, I have a few requests for when we move.”
“Mm? What is it? Tell me anything.”
“I want a way for us to contact each other in emergencies. It was frustrating not being able to reach you when I needed to.”
“Ah… That’s true. You don’t have a personal communication line.”
Having finished cleaning up the last traces of their presence, Eui-woo now used his telekinesis to pack up their belongings. Clothes folded themselves neatly into stacks, and weapons lined up in an orderly row.
“Voice calls might be difficult, but text messages should be possible. If we use the security system’s notification panel, we should be able to exchange short texts.”
“That’s good enough. As long as we can contact each other, I don’t care how.”
“That’s a relief. Oh, wait… Does that mean I can talk to you even when I’m at work now? Whoa. I never even thought of that.”
“No, it’s only for emergencies. What if someone notices?”
“Don’t worry about that. It’s set up so no one will see.”
“What? What do you mean ‘set up’? …Well, whatever. That aside, I have another request.”
