“Juho… ngh.”
“It’s okay, hyung.”
While Dr. Kwak was lost in thought, Seon Juho was gently guiding Lee Tae-rim to adjust his Guiding. From the very first kiss, Juho had been subtly directing him—pulling away each time Tae-rim instinctively started Guiding. He’d kiss him, wait for the Guiding to begin, then back off again.
Eventually, Tae-rim seemed to catch on. He started Guiding with just the faintest touch—barely a quarter of his usual strength. Stopping altogether would raise suspicion, so he held back just enough to keep things looking natural.
There were moments when Juho’s kisses overwhelmed him, and he unconsciously slipped back into his usual Guiding intensity. But each time, Juho would pull away, bringing him back to his senses. Still, Tae-rim couldn’t help getting irritated. The stream of pheromones he’d been drinking in kept getting interrupted. It was driving him nuts.
Juho was kissing him while gently cupping his neck, his fingers brushing the bomb collar wrapped around it. He tapped it lightly—tap, tap, tap.
At first, Tae-rim didn’t understand what the signal meant. But after a few repetitions, he started to get it. He shifted into different positions, and when his hand finally brushed against Juho’s neck, the kiss deepened—almost like a reward. Taking the hint, Tae-rim mirrored him and wrapped his hand around Juho’s neck too.
Kissing Juho alone was already overwhelming. Now he was expected to follow signals and respond? It was frustrating. But for some reason, he found himself wanting to go along with it. He didn’t fight it. Seeing Tae-rim respond exactly as he hoped, Juho smiled against his lips.
“Hyung.”
“Hmm?”
“Hyung.”
“What?”
Juho shifted his gaze slightly upward. A woman who caught the glance scoffed under her breath and turned her head away with a look of disgust. Her expression said she couldn’t stand the sight of them. Juho’s smile only grew deeper.
Just looking at Tae-rim today—yeah, this wasn’t sustainable. He’d already been planning to break them out, but seeing Tae-rim’s condition sealed it. He was a mess. That was it. He didn’t care about anything else anymore. Risks, plans—none of it mattered. Tae-rim came first.
Juho leaned in with a broad grin and kissed him again with a loud smack. Tae-rim looked up at him, dazed, clearly more intoxicated by his pheromones than usual. His body and mind were at their limit.
“Shall we go?”
“Huh?”
“What are you talking abou—”
Juho called upon the ability he’d been practicing every day, manipulating it between his fingers like second nature. With it, he enveloped the collar around Tae-rim’s neck in shadow. Then, through the same darkness, he reached for the one around his own neck.
“Let’s go home.”
The bombs fastened around their necks vanished into the shadows, swallowed whole.
“What kind of nonsense are you—ugh!”
As soon as the bombs disappeared, alarms blared from the tablet. Still holding Tae-rim close, Juho extended a hand toward Dr. Kwak.
“Aaagh!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Juho erased the eyeballs of the three people stationed outside. He wanted to do the same to the bastards watching through the cameras, but that was pushing his limits. So instead, he settled for destroying every last camera. It felt so good.
“Home?”
“Yeah.”
Tae-rim, still not fully recovered from the pheromones, clung tightly to Juho, who flashed a mischievous grin like a kid up to no good.
“I want soy sauce egg rice.”
Tae-rim blinked in surprise, then let out a small laugh.
“Okay. I’ll make it.”
“Promise?”
Just a moment ago, they’d been clawing at each other like wild animals. Now they were talking like nothing had happened. As they chatted, shadows continued to ripple from Juho’s hand.
The darkness began to move. It spread across the ceiling, consuming everything in its path, carving out a way forward for the two of them.
“Ahhh!”
“What the hell is that?!”
“What the hell’s going on?!”
The entire building rang with sirens, emergency lights flashing red. With Tae-rim securely in his arms, Juho took off into the air. Tae-rim stared at him in stunned silence.
“The test subject! The test subject’s escaping!”
“Stop them!”
As Seon Juho ascended, the scene unfolding before Lee Tae-rim was utter chaos. People caught sight of them and started yelling, some screaming incoherently, while Espers moved in to attack. But Juho swallowed every last threat with his Darkness, as if to say—nothing’s getting in our way.
“Feels rude to just leave. Should we pay them back before we go?”
“Huh?”
“Watch.”
Juho formed spheres of Darkness, each about the size of a volleyball. Dozens, maybe hundreds, surrounded them. With a playful flick of his fingers, he grinned like a magician performing a trick.
“Go, boom!”
The moment he gave the command, the orbs shot out in all directions. They vanished from Tae-rim’s sight, dispersing rapidly as they created perfect black circles wherever they struck.
Then came the screams. Darkness devoured everything without mercy—and that included people.
“You’re not getting motion sickness, are you?”
As they continued to rise, Tae-rim stared blankly at the carnage unfolding below. The orbs were zipping across the facility, erasing whatever they touched. Limbs disappeared. Blood sprayed. People dropped where they stood.
“Urgh…“
Tae-rim’s stomach twisted. Juho quickly looked down at him, startled. Tae-rim’s face had gone completely pale.
“Too much? Should I stop?”
“…No.”
It was brutal, yes—but part of him felt they deserved it. He shook his head and buried his face in Juho’s shoulder.
“Let’s just get out of here.”
“Yeah.”
Juho sped up in response. But as they climbed higher, the air turned colder. That’s when it hit him—he didn’t feel the cold because he was an Esper. Tae-rim, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky.
Juho frantically yanked down anything he could find—curtains, sheets, scraps of fabric. It was winter outside, and he’d completely forgotten. They’d been indoors for so long.
Sure enough, the moment they burst into the open air, a freezing gust hit them hard. Juho wrapped Tae-rim in the thickest curtain he had, layering more fabric over him like a cocoon. Now bundled head to toe with only his face peeking out, Tae-rim blinked up at him wide-eyed, looking like a startled caterpillar.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Nope.”
Juho didn’t know the exact time, but the sky was dim—either dawn or dusk. Looking around at the surrounding trees, he flew higher, despite the wind growing stronger. He pulled Tae-rim in tighter as they soared. In the distance, a cluster of lights glimmered—probably a city.
But they couldn’t leave just yet. Not without leaving something behind for the bastards below to remember.
Juho expanded the hole he’d created in the lab, widening it further. As the light from below crept up, the outline of the surrounding landscape came into view.
“A mountain?”
Tae-rim sniffled from the cold as he looked around. They hadn’t emerged at the peak, but from the edge of a mountain. Judging by the terrain, they were near the outskirts of a city—not too far, but still remote. He really hid me in a place like this, Tae-rim thought.
With the lab now blown wide open, Juho had no regrets left. He turned toward the glowing city in the distance, ready to take Tae-rim there. Tae-rim also knew they had no choice now but to contact the authorities.
“This is…”
But Juho froze mid-air. A ripple of energy hit him, and he flinched instinctively. Tae-rim looked up at him in confusion. Juho let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Hyung… I think a Gate just opened.”
“What?!”
“Over there, I can feel the wavelength.”
“S-Shit. Is there any way to call someone? Anything?”
“Nope.”
The moment he said it, KUUUUNG!—a thunderous rumble tore through the ground as the earth split open below them. Tae-rim quickly clamped his hands over his ears.
KIIIIIEEEEEEEKK!
A monster’s shriek ripped through the darkness, so loud it felt like it could tear through bone. Tae-rim winced, feeling like his eardrums were about to burst.
“I don’t think I can stop all of them…”
Juho muttered, and Tae-rim’s body locked up. The memory of being kidnapped flashed through his mind. But he shook it off quickly. A Gate had opened inside the barrier. This was a full-scale emergency.
“We need to get to the city and alert the Center.”
He didn’t know what district this was. Didn’t know where the nearest Center even was. It was nighttime. None of it helped. Tae-rim grabbed Juho by the collar and shook him urgently.
“Hurry! Please!”
“They probably already know we’re here.”
Juho jerked his chin toward the chaos below. The Gate seemed to be opening underground—the ground trembled as if an earthquake had hit, and monsters were already roaring up from below. There was no way this could go unnoticed. Tae-rim nodded, understanding.
“And besides,” Juho added, eyes darkening, “there’s something I want to try before the others arrive.”
