Ban Noah strolled out of the Bureau without a care in the world.
Idiots.
Shutting down the exits? Utterly useless. His abilities in mind control and disguise were among the best he’d ever acquired.
Objective complete. I copied and smuggled out all the information the Bureau had on Hyun Je-ha and his comrades.
It wasn’t that the Bureau lacked talent. But against Ban Noah—who could freely wield all kinds of stolen abilities—they never stood a chance.
As long as he had those crystalline shards of power jingling near his ear, he was invincible.
And besides, he had a reliable collaborator on the inside. There was nothing about the Bureau’s agents that scared him.
Well… except for Hyun Je-ha.
…That bastard Je-ha.
Unbearable inferiority twisted in his gut.
He hated it, but the moment Je-ha’s name came to mind, so did that incident in the abandoned factory.
He’d only meant to rattle them, to scare them into backing off—but instead, he’d nearly been caught by the throat.
That was the moment Ban Noah made up his mind.
This dragged-out, 20-year-long game of cat and mouse had to end.
When he got back home and had finished washing up, his phone rang.
The caller ID: his younger brother.
“Hello?”
Water still dripped from Ban Noah’s hair, forming a small puddle on the floor, but he didn’t care. He picked up cheerfully.
The voice on the other end, however, sounded irritated and exasperated.
— What the hell do you think you’re doing, hyung? You promised to visit the Bureau’s restricted sector without causing a damn scene.
“Did I? Oops. Must’ve slipped my mind. Getting old, you know—memory’s not what it used to be.”
— At least lie with a straight face. You haven’t aged a day since that incident.
His younger brother’s voice was deep, rough, and clearly much older-sounding than his own—so much so that if the two of them stood side by side, people might think they were father and son.
Ban Noah half-listened while drying his hair with a towel.
His brother was just an ordinary human with no powers. Harmless, and hardly worth his attention.
— Are you even listening? Because of you tearing through the restricted levels, even I—the chief—was nearly exposed!
“If I didn’t get caught, then it’s fine.”
— Hyung!
How cute.
Despite having no abilities of his own, his little brother occasionally tried to lecture him ever since becoming a Bureau director thanks to the family’s influence.
Ban Noah appreciated the help in opening the Bureau’s doors—but his patience ended there.
— Just stop causing problems already! Do you have any idea what would happen if you got exposed?! You’re already in trouble over that incident the other day!
“Enough.”
Ban Noah’s curt reply immediately shut his brother up.
— …Mmph!
A red orb flickered at Ban Noah’s ear. He’d activated an ability.
“You’re my only brother, so I’ve been lenient. But no more.”
— Mmph! Nghhh!
“A yap-happy mutt like you needs to be muzzled from time to time. Think of it as paying the price for raising your voice at your hyung. Reflect on it.”
His brother tried to protest through his sealed mouth, but Ban Noah ended the call with a tap.
Continuing that conversation would’ve just soured his mood even more—and might’ve tempted him to kill the man.
After quickly drying his hair, Ban Noah sat down and began reading the stolen files on Hyun Je-ha and his comrades.
“The Baekho Unit, huh…”
They were ability users branded as deserters. He’d assumed the government’s pursuit would wear them down eventually.
Yet they’d survived. Persisted. And now they were hot on his trail.
He thought back to that tracker—second only to Je-ha himself in terms of threat level.
Apparently, the Bureau hadn’t been sitting idle. The intel on Je-ha and the Baekho Unit was surprisingly thorough.
Ban Noah skimmed through the documents, sneering to himself.
“How should I strike them to make it hurt the most?”
Je-ha’s weakness was the people he cared about.
Ban Noah’s parents had already murdered Je-ha’s Guide partner. The only ones left were his comrades in the Baekho Unit.
Using those comrades as pawns would be the ultimate revenge.
Grinning like a kid writing a wish list to Santa, Ban Noah started devising a plan.
They may have gained passive resistance to psychic abilities… but if I can temporarily nullify that skill, they’ll be helpless against my mind control.
He wanted to watch them slaughter each other—driven mad under his control.
Humming to himself, Ban Noah sketched out his sadistic strategy step by step.
As the white paper became covered in black ink, he suddenly froze.
“Come to think of it… what was Yeon Yu-jin doing there?”
Yeon Yu-jin.
Just a lowly D-rank Guide. But because Je-ha had shown interest in him, Ban Noah had, in turn, taken notice as well.
He’d tested the guy, thinking he might have some hidden talent, but came up empty. Aside from a bump in rank to C, there was nothing special about him.
So how did someone like him end up in the Bureau’s restricted area—with Director Shin Yoon-hee, no less?
He’d already dismissed the guy as a generic, ability-less Guide.
Did he sweet-talk the Director or something? Showing up to access the classified database was completely unexpected.
Whatever it was, Yeon Yu-jin was tampering with the database.
When they’d crossed paths, the guy had been so desperate to stop him that Ban Noah hadn’t been able to figure out exactly what was going on.
Still, there was only one thing in there: the ability users’ master database.
It could only mean one thing—Yu-jin had come for that.
But why would a run-of-the-mill idol need access to something like that?
He was an orphan. And abilities weren’t hereditary, so he wouldn’t be looking for lost relatives.
A memory of Je-ha back at the testing center flashed through Ban Noah’s mind.
“…No way.”
Were those two working together?
Ban Noah hurriedly searched for Yeon Yu-jin’s records.
[Guide Yeon Yu-jin has a prior record of receiving the inheritance of the late Guide Ahn Ga-hyun on X/X at X o’clock.]
Bullshit!
That was impossible.
Whoever wrote that report must’ve thought nothing of it, but… there was no way anyone should’ve known the exact dates of Ahn Ga-hyun’s enlistment or death.
Ban Noah’s parents were the ones who’d ordered all related records destroyed—so that no one could ever find out what they’d done to Ahn Ga-hyun.
And Ban Noah and his brother had been the ones to finish the cleanup themselves.
Maybe Je-ha could’ve figured it out… but for Yeon Yu-jin to get his hands on that information? Impossible.
How had he missed this?
He’d broken into the Bureau to wipe out Je-ha and his team, but now he regretted not grabbing Yu-jin’s file while he was at it.
“Guide Yeon Yu-jin…”
Just who the hell are you?
Ban Noah’s eyes gleamed with menace.
***
Word of the Bureau lockdown had barely gotten out when Yu-jin returned—only to be bombarded with concern and scolding from the CEO and the members.
“You’re not getting out of any more schedules no matter how much you whine! Focus on the comeback!”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
That night, after an exhausting round of practice, everyone else was asleep.
Yu-jin hadn’t even messaged him, but he heard the light tap tap of a pebble against his window.
When he opened it, Je-ha was floating in midair, perched lightly on the window frame with the help of telekinesis.
“I’ve got the stealth artifact fastened tight—no one’ll see me.”
“Thanks. Here.”
Yu-jin handed over the USB with the database. Je-ha received it carefully, tucking it into his jacket.
“I’ll contact you the moment I confirm someone who could be X.”
“As you should. You know how hard I worked for that, right? If you try to go after him alone, I’ll hate you forever.”
“Haha.”
“Don’t ‘haha’ me. You didn’t even deny it.”
“It was a joke. Once we learn X’s identity, I’ll go after him with my team—and with you.”
“Promise me.”
Yu-jin rested his head on Je-ha’s shoulder, and he felt the man jolt in surprise.
“What? Why are you so freaked out? We used to do this all the time.”
“Y-yeah, but still…”
Even with the moonlight cooling the whole room in soft silver hues, Je-ha’s face was clearly flushed red in the dark.
And for some reason…
Yu-jin felt the sudden urge to reach up and touch his cheek.
And then…
“What the hell are you doing over there?”
