Even if I’m a mutant guide, I won’t be guiding Mr. Seo Ui-Woo or anything of that sort. That damn, shit…ugh, it’s revolting, between men.”
“…”
“I do know that espers need guidance from guides, and I’m aware it’s a guide’s duty. But why me, why… there are plenty of other official guides! Please, I beg you to ask them. I can’t, I mean… I can’t stand it anymore…”
“Jaejin…”
“Please, I’m begging you, Mr. Seo Ui-Woo. Send me back. To where I was, to Residential Area 6. I want to go back. Please, can I…?”
“No matter what you say, there’s nothing I can do about it…”
“Why can’t I return to where I was born and raised?! I’m from Residential Area 6. I’ve been absent without leave, so I need to go to my company, and home… I need to go home too…”
Jaejin’s fist, gripping his black combat uniform, shivered slightly. The suppressed rage in him was palpable but could not be contained.
Biting his jaw tightly and distorting his expression, Jaejin continued to struggle, dredging up what he least wanted to discuss.
“And, my family…”
“…”
“I have to go back… to see my family.”
Awakeners, isolated from birth and selected to live together in special residential zones, live and die alone as a single, independent entity, without belonging to the frame of a family. But for ordinary people…
For Kwon Jaejin, who comes from ordinary people, unlike Seo Ui-Woo…
***
The flames in the fireplace, quietly burning, waned with a surge.
The subsiding of the fire was unusual.
A sinister vibration carried through the air, foreshadowing something amiss. At that moment, darkness descended.
A power outage.
Whether the circuit breaker was tripped, the mountain villa mansion, newly moved into, was engulfed in darkness. The regularly spaced lightbulbs on the living room ceiling went out one by one, and a velvety black veil obscured the eyes. Only the blurry outlines of objects were visible; their essences concealed.
In the midst of this, Seo Ui-Woo lifted his head.
Focused on his supernatural ability, his hardened eye corners flashed with a wild gleam. Those gray irises resembled those of a beast more than a human.
“…”
With a short breath, Seo Ui-Woo retracted his hand.
The fingertips that had lightly touched the center of Kwon Jaejin’s forehead slowly lifted, and the force that had penetrated his being was completely withdrawn.
Seo Ui-Woo’s long, thin eyelashes looked down for a moment, then after a while, fluttered along with a meaningless grimace. A self-mocking chuckle escaped him naturally.
Meanwhile, power was restored, and the dead lightbulbs came back to life one by one.
Kwon Jaejin, who had regained his senses, slowly opened his eyes and gazed at him.
“Mr. Seo Ui-Woo, is it over? Have you finished reading all the memories?”
Kwon Jaejin, or rather, second-round Kwon Jaejin, asked curiously.
Seo Ui-Woo kept silent, then let out a faint chuckle.
“No.”
The response was brief and sorely lacking in an explanation.
The gentle, passionate smile aimed at Kwon Jaejin seemed the same as before, but not quite.
“…?”
Demanding an explanation with a piercing gaze, Seo Ui-Woo finally couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Ha…haha.”
“What is it. Why are you like this?”
“Ah… that’s right. Why was that?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean by that? Did you see my memories? No, what happened that has you like this?”
“Uh, that is…”
Seo Ui-Woo gently reached out and fondled Jaejin’s hair. He calmly stroked the deep black locks with his large palm. Unsatisfied, he softly rubbed Jaejin’s rounded earlobe with his thumb while smiling.
“I didn’t read much of Jaejin’s memories, rather there’s something else. Something that I think would surprise Jaejin, so I stopped using my ability because I couldn’t concentrate.”
“What? What is it…Please explain properly.”
“Should I even say it? I’m not sure.”
“Mr. Seo Ui-Woo.”
“Yes, Mr. Jaejin.”
“Seo Ui-Woo.”
“Yes…”
Kwon Jaejin faced Seo Ui-Woo head-on.
The solid black eyes and the precarious, cool gray eyes clashed in the air. A rising sense of anxiety rang a silent alarm.
Kwon Jaejin sighed heavily, a weight in his voice, and whispered.
“Look, I don’t know what you saw in my memories or what the surprise is that I’d be shocked to hear. I have no clue right now, but you can just tell me whatever it is. If there was something uncomfortable to begin with, I wouldn’t have let you into my head.”
“…”
“Seriously, Mr. Seo Ui-Woo, it’s kind of funny. Why hold back and hide things now? After all, we’ve seen the best of each other and the worst…”
“…”
“Haven’t I told you before? Trust me a little. Not just to look, but to trust. Don’t you remember?”
“…I remember.”
“So why?”
“…”
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
