If a Guide—who isn’t even your assigned partner—steps in to calm your rampage out of emergency and gives you a guiding session, you should’ve known to back off when it was over!
Trying to make contact under the pretense of guiding, without the Guide’s permission even after regaining your senses? That was assault.
I wiped my swollen lips, puffed up from a few too many kisses, and sighed inwardly.
I didn’t raise my Esper partner to be such a shameless bastard.
If Hyun Je-ha weren’t currently being hunted by the government, I’d have reported him to the Bureau of Awakened Ability Users on the spot.
Fuming, I got up and glared at the center of Hyun Je-ha’s legs.
This is so damn outrageous. Now that he’s back to normal… Should I just kick him in the nuts? Huh?!
If I didn’t, I’d probably lie awake tonight, thrashing under the covers in frustrated regret.
Just as I was seriously about to act and raise my leg, Hyun Je-ha suddenly burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
…What the hell? What’s so funny?
It was nice to see him laugh like he used to. My chest stirred in a strange way.
No way… don’t tell me his tastes got weird while I wasn’t looking—
The weird thoughts stopped the moment Hyun Je-ha cut off his laughter and opened his mouth.
“…You… are you Ga-hyun?”
“Guh!”
I was so shocked I nearly bit my tongue.
How the hell did he figure it out?
From the very start, he’d been baring his teeth at me, suspicious I might be a government stooge.
And now here he was, asking me if I was Ahn Ga-hyun.
Was this a dream? Was I still asleep in the simulator dungeon of Test Room 5? Just dreaming that Hyun Je-ha finally recognized me, because I so desperately wanted him to?
Nothing good ever happened to me in real life. There’s no way I’d get this lucky.
As I froze in shock, Potato whispered in my mind.
[No, it’s not a dream! This is real—snap out of it! You still have to catch a taxi back to the dorm later!]
R-right.
Thanks to Potato, I managed to reel my mind back in.
Even when I was stationed on the front lines and had to throw on half-fastened combat gear at 4 a.m. to respond to a dungeon break, I never spaced out like this.
With me still silent, Hyun Je-ha continued in a quiet voice.
“I felt your guiding energy.”
“Right before rampaging? How the hell would you sense guiding energy then—”
“I felt it. I was close to rampaging, yeah, but not to the point of losing my mind.”
“…What?”
Hyun Je-ha shrugged.
“That whole thing? It was an act—pretending to be on the verge of rampaging. I was heavily corroded, sure. But not out of control.”
Then that means…
“You were completely conscious the entire time we did mucosal contact guiding?”
“Yeah.”
Yeah?
His blunt confirmation made my blood boil.
“The hell? You sneaky little shit.”
He faked an emergency to scare the hell out of me.
I was this close to swearing. Even if it was Hyun Je-ha, I wasn’t letting this one slide. But before I could curse him out, he raised both hands in surrender.
“…What the hell?”
Just as I was about to throw a punch, he apologized.
“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. But this was the only way I could be completely sure… that you were my partner Guide, Ga-hyun.”
I hesitated at those words, and Je-ha took the chance to explain further.
“I’d been watching you. And when you entered the simulator gate, I sensed a faint but familiar guiding energy and resonance.”
“Wh-what?”
I went into full-on panic mode.
That’s impossible. I’ve been suppressing my power the whole time—how could it have leaked? To the point even Je-ha, standing far away, picked up on it?!
Was my mental control that weak?
Potato gently stepped in.
[No, it happened when you briefly fell asleep, near the end of the test. It slipped out then.]
Wait—how do you even know that?
[…Well, I’m part of your ability, remember? I’m connected to you. And don’t worry—it didn’t leak to any of the Bureau staff. The test finished safely, and your real rank isn’t getting exposed.]
Well, that’s a relief. But one thing still nagged at me.
Hold on. Je-ha said he wasn’t actually about to rampage. But you warned me he was in danger.
[…You wanted to see him.]
What?
[You wanted Hyun Je-ha to recognize you, not Yeon Yu-jin.]
“……”
[Even though I’ve gained a separate identity, I’m still part of you. I’m tied to your desires. It’s easy to pick up on what you long for.]
You…
[I just wanted to make that wish come true. I believed he’d recognize you.]
I had no comeback. He was right.
Potato only wanted to fulfill the wish I hadn’t dared to voice.
While I stood there stunned, Hyun Je-ha kept speaking.
“Every awakened ability user gives off a unique energy and resonance. There’s no overlap. Each one’s distinct. But you… you were giving off the exact same guiding energy and resonance as my partner Guide—Ahn Ga-hyun. The one who died.”
He figured that out just from that brief moment? Je-ha really was something else.
“…When you came close, I couldn’t let the chance slip away. If you really were Ga-hyun, I had to confirm it immediately. I knew it was a violation, but I had to experience your guiding directly—even if I had to force it.”
“Because only by experiencing it could you know for sure that I’m Ahn Ga-hyun?”
“Yeah. I know it sounds insane… but pretending to rampage was worth it. That gamble paid off.”
Je-ha took a bold step toward me.
“Your guiding energy is identical to Ga-hyun’s.”
“……”
“You’re… Ga-hyun, aren’t you? You are, right?”
Unlike earlier when he had kissed me so aggressively, now Je-ha didn’t even try to touch me. He just stood there, watching, as if one wrong move would make me vanish.
Like a loyal dog waiting for its master’s command—his gaze was completely submissive.
Even though I’d longed for this moment, my words came out sharp without meaning to.
“…You could be wrong, you know.”
I remembered how he’d threatened me the first time we met again. My voice turned sulky and bratty without thinking.
I thought I’d brush it off like nothing, but I was wrong.
Otherwise, why would I feel so desperate for him to reassure me—like I needed him to believe in me?
Sensing my unease, Hyun Je-ha responded with certainty.
“There’s no way. I’ve been separated from that energy for a long time, but I could never mistake it. If I weren’t sure, I wouldn’t have staged a fake rampage just to get guided by you.”
“How can you be so sure? What if you’re just… mistaken?”
“There’s no mistake. Ever since I lost Ga-hyun, I’ve been reliving that feeling. His energy. Every single day. So I wouldn’t forget it.”
“……”
“You don’t look anything like Ga-hyun… but your habits, your behavior, your way of speaking—they’re all the same. It’s like your shell is different, but the soul inside is exactly the same. That feeling of something being off about you—it all makes perfect sense when I plug in the one missing piece: that you’re Ga-hyun. Like how you claimed Ahn Ga-hyun’s inheritance with no real connection. Or how you led a group of Espers flawlessly despite supposedly never fighting before. But the most decisive part is your guiding energy—its aura and resonance match perfectly. I never would’ve known if I hadn’t suspected you. I mean, it’s absurd. Even if Ga-hyun had a self-healing ability, I never imagined someone could come back from the dead.”
I didn’t either.
The words escaped between lips that wouldn’t stop trembling.
I’d wanted him to recognize me. But I’d given up, thinking it was impossible.
Even if he didn’t see through me, I just wanted to earn back his trust and fight by his side again.
Because I figured… our goal was probably the same. But for him to figure out my identity first? I hadn’t even dared dream of it.
Je-ha gazed at me with those clear, blue eyes, like he wouldn’t let go for even a second.
The emotion in that look made my chest ache. My throat burned, like I’d swallowed saltwater.
“All that’s left is for you to admit it.”
“……”
“I believe you’re Ahn Ga-hyun—my partner Guide who gave his life for me twenty years ago. I never believed in things like reincarnation… but maybe this is a miracle. Maybe it brought you back to me.”
“……”
“Don’t you recognize me? I’m Hyun Je-ha… your Esper partner from before.”
“…I know, you idiot.”
I couldn’t hold back anymore and threw my arms around him.
Since Yeon Yu-jin was smaller than my old body, it ended up looking like I was the one being hugged.
Je-ha held me in complete stillness. Breathing in the familiar scent, I whispered softly.
“You were wrong about one thing… It’s not reincarnation. I died. But when I woke up, I was Yeon Yu-jin. That moment you saw me in the special vault… that was right after I came to.”
“…You’re really… really Ga-hyun?”
“You’re the one who said you couldn’t be mistaken. And now you’re asking me?”
“Ga-hyun… you’re really…”
His arms around me were burning hot. Je-ha buried his face in my shoulder, then began sobbing like a child.
He kept his cries silent, afraid the Bureau might catch him. But they were soaked in years of sorrow.
“I missed you… I missed you so much….”
“I missed you too. So much.”
As I patted Je-ha’s trembling back, I finally reunited with my Esper—not as Yeon Yu-jin, but as Ahn Ga-hyun.
***
Now that he knew who I really was, the first thing Je-ha suggested was relocating.
“The ability testing center’s too dangerous. We should get out of here before the Bureau staff start getting suspicious.”
“Because of you?”
When I pointed it out, he nodded glumly.
“…Yeah.”
Since the Bureau had just officially verified me as a C-rank Guide, I was no longer under surveillance. But Je-ha was still a high-risk fugitive. Now that he’d confirmed my identity, he couldn’t afford to stick around.
As he nervously watched me, he spoke again.
“If you’re okay with it… I’d like to take you to where the rest of our unit is staying. Will you come with me?”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. Now that I know you’re Ga-hyun, I’m sure the others will understand if I explain.”
Would it really go that smoothly?
Even I can’t fully believe this phenomenon yet.
All I had were vague guesses—maybe my ‘Resurrection’ trait had something to do with it.
I was about to refuse, worried I might cause chaos if I showed up, when Je-ha’s eyes sparkled and he hit me with another idea.
“Actually, why don’t you just drop the Yeon Yu-jin act altogether and join us for good?”
