Knock, knock.
The warmth that had filled the moment ended with a sharp, cold knock. Even before his striking features came into view, the rose-tinted hair reflected in the car window made it obvious who it was—Han Jigang.
“Kim Nabin. Get out.”
“Y-yes… I’ll go now…”
The soft, watercolor-like smile on Nabin’s lips vanished the instant he saw Han Jigang. His feet froze in place, but Kim Su-hyun knew that finding Lee Hayan and contacting him as soon as possible was the only way forward—for Nabin’s sake.
“Wait a second.”
Su-hyun quickly stopped Nabin from stepping out and handed him the Healing Potions he had brought along. Nabin might not have had any visible injuries, but it was clear they at least used potions on him freely. Still, these were different—these were his, given with care.
“I’ll bring more next time. Until you see me again, don’t hold back—use them all if you need to. Understand?”
“…Yes.”
The pouch was so full of potions that Nabin’s small hands could barely hold it. The reassuring weight eased some of the trembling in his frail body.
If Jigang hadn’t swung the door open in irritation, Nabin might have stayed frozen inside the car, unable to move.
“Why are you just sitting there like you’re planning to live here?”
“I almost wish he would. I trust the next Guiding won’t be like last time.”
“Fine, now get going.”
“Guide Kim Nabin, I’ll be off. I’ll come back to the mansion as soon as I can, so don’t worry too much.”
Before Nabin could even answer, Jigang grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the car. The rough, oppressive gesture made Su-hyun’s expression harden.
But when he saw Nabin looking back at him, Su-hyun forced a smile and even waved. That small gesture put the faintest blush back on Nabin’s pale cheeks.
Compared to when he had left the mansion, Nabin seemed steadier. Even standing beside Jigang, he didn’t collapse. But unlike with Su-hyun, he couldn’t straighten his shoulders—he only walked stiffly, pulled along like a captive.
Even so, when Nabin lifted a hand to wave back, Su-hyun pushed down his unease and kept smiling, waving goodbye until the boy disappeared inside the mansion.
***
“Hey.”
“Yes…”
Jigang had seen it—Nabin smiling at Su-hyun. Yet here he was now, trembling violently like prey before a predator, his shoulders twitching with each shiver.
Earlier, before their outing, Nabin had nearly collapsed from panic, his breathing ragged. He had seemed calmer outside, but watching him with Su-hyun made the contrast all too obvious, and it left Jigang unsettled.
“…Haa.”
A sigh slipped out. Just seeing Nabin’s frail body flinch as though the smallest sound were a shout made his Outbreak Risk Index spike, the heat in his blood boiling over.
The numbers that had dropped thanks to Nabin’s Guiding had already risen again. If he’d never known it, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. But now that he’d tasted it, the craving gnawed at him, and when the fever blurred his reason, he even felt the urge to break down Nabin’s locked door.
“I’m not gonna be rough with you like the first time. Stop being so scared.”
“Y-yes…”
Even as Jigang tried to reassure him, Nabin’s voice trembled with fear. He was clearly struggling to hold himself together, but just keeping his breath steady seemed to exhaust him completely.
“…Tonight, you have to Guide Gong Min first.”
He wasn’t sure Nabin could handle it, but Gong Min was the most urgent. At those words, Nabin’s eyes welled with tears, and Jigang’s chest tightened.
Guiding Jigang and Tae Yishin had been difficult, but Gong Min was the one who had broken him. The fact that they had even waited for Nabin to recover a little was already a stretch of goodwill.
“It won’t be like last time—he’s calmer now. Tomorrow, you’ll need to Guide me and Tae Yishin too. The Center Director said he’ll be checking our Outbreak Risk Indexes himself soon. …You don’t actually want to be sent back to where you came from, do you?”
Even as he said it, Jigang knew it was petty. Frustrated, he ran a hand roughly through his hair. For someone like him, holding back his anger was already the best he could do.
Nabin could only nod as tears spilled down his cheeks. He had no right to refuse. All he could do was hope it wouldn’t be as painful as the first time.
“You haven’t eaten, have you? You went out to ride the swing instead.”
Even someone like Jigang, with little conscience, felt pity seeing Nabin shiver like a rain-soaked puppy. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he tugged him toward the kitchen.
“And… I’ll let you use the swing in the garden. But don’t go outside with Kim Su-hyun again.”
He knew Nabin usually stayed holed up in his room anyway, but just the thought of him leaving the mansion with someone else left him unsettled, almost anxious, like he had left something precious behind. To quiet that feeling, Jigang decided he’d at least let him use the swing in the garden.
For Nabin, today’s outing had been like oxygen. Now, being told to stay inside again felt like being told to suffocate. But he could only nod weakly in response.
The kitchen table was covered with a feast of appetizing dishes. But even in front of the spread, Nabin’s expression remained frozen in fear.
“Don’t just stand there. Sit.”
“Yes…”
The seat Jigang pointed to was the same one Nabin had used before—a single place set apart, a quiet reminder of his unchanging position in the mansion.
Nabin perched on the very edge, careful not to touch the backrest. Tae Yishin’s words echoed in his ears, demanding the table be replaced simply because Nabin had eaten there once.
And now, he realized the table really was different. Whether it was Jigang or Yishin, someone had replaced a perfectly fine table just because he had sat at it.
The realization made his shoulders curl even tighter inward.
“Eat.”
With a thud, Jigang set down a plate of steak, salad, and pasta. The steak alone was bigger than both of Nabin’s fists put together.
Plates just like it were being placed around the table. Nabin’s anxious gaze fixed on the kitchen entrance.
Any second now, Tae Yishin could walk in, look down on him with disdain, and carve another wound into him with cutting words.
“Th-thank you… C-could I… take this to my room instead…?”
Finally, Nabin shut his eyes tight and pleaded. If he ate here, he might throw it all up. He wasn’t even hungry.
He hadn’t even digested the bread Su-hyun had given him earlier. Eating had been a struggle even then. Now the food Jigang placed before him was at least five times more.
Leaving food untouched wasn’t an option. Which meant he’d somehow have to finish it. But in this place, where Yishin or Gong Min could enter at any moment, that seemed impossible.
If he failed to clean his plate, Jigang might seize the excuse to lash out at him. Eating alone in his room, no matter how long it took, seemed like the only safe choice.
That was why Nabin, despite his fear, begged.
“Why? You uncomfortable eating with us?”
“N-no…”
It was the truth, but he couldn’t admit it. Even though he shook his head, Jigang’s voice dropped lower.
“You ate just fine with Kim Su-hyun, didn’t you?”
The icy tone, the pressure behind it—it made Nabin hiccup. His careful breathing unraveled again.
“Hhic—s-sorry…”
The thought that Nabin treated him differently from Su-hyun soured Jigang’s mood. But when the boy looked like he might seize up again, Jigang clenched his teeth and forced himself to rein it back.
Maybe it was because Nabin was so timid, or because he was just a D-rank Guide—or maybe both—but even the faintest pressure left him trembling, and it made Jigang’s chest feel suffocating.
“…Han Jigang.”
Just then, as Nabin sat frozen, clutching the edge of his plate with trembling hands, a low voice cut through the room without warning.
