* * *
Would anything have been different if he hadn’t gone to that appointment?
*
For Chae Suhyeon, spending time alone with his lover was very difficult.
In a way, it was natural.
Unlike Suhyeon, who was just an ordinary office worker, his lover, Do Yejun, was an Esper.
An ability user who closed the Gates that opened all over the Earth and fought the monsters that emerged from them.
Yejun was not just any Esper; he was an A-Class Esper, the rank just below the S-Class, who were counted on one hand.
His lover, Do Yejun, was one of those who were called to the most dangerous places first.
He was a truly great person, often seen in the media.
That was why when the day they were to spend a whole day together—not just a brief meeting slipped in during work—finally arrived.
Suhyeon’s heart pounded pleasantly. It was as if they had been dating for less than a month.
He woke up early, fixed his hair, and spent two hours on preparation, changing his clothes dozens of times, before opening the cafe door.
Jingle-
The bell on the cafe door rang clearly.
Suhyeon looked around for the lover who said he had arrived early.
But when he spotted his striking-looking lover among the many people.
Suhyeon’s light-colored eyes, instead of curving into a full smile as they always did, trembled faintly.
“Oh, Suhyeon. You’re here?”
It wasn’t because there was any major change in Do Yejun that was visible at a glance.
Suhyeon’s eyes were fixed on the man glued to Do Yejun’s side.
The man, Lee Jaeram, smiled meltingly as soon as their eyes met.
This pale man was his lover Do Yejun’s exclusive Guide.
Guides were essential for Espers, who were sometimes called the second kind of humanity, to prevent them from going berserk.
Do Yejun was an Esper, so he was no exception.
Suhyeon, as he always did when he met Lee Jaeram, recited the basic Esper-Guide knowledge in his head and let his lips tremble slightly.
This was what a non-ability user who loved an Esper had to endure.
Suhyeon’s lips pressed into a thin line.
When Yejun took a little time out to see Suhyeon, it was always right after his work was over.
He was in need of Guiding, and Jaeram was always stuck to Yejun’s side at those times.
Ostentatiously.
But today was supposed to be different.
“…You didn’t say Jaeram would be coming, Yejun.”
His voice, barely emerging, shook slightly.
Before Yejun could answer, Lee Jaeram, whose eyes curved sweetly like a fox, cut in.
“I’m sorry, Suhyeon. I had no intention of intruding.”
He offered a casual apology, but the fact that he showed no sign of moving away from Yejun plainly showed that his words were hollow.
“There was a prediction that a Gate might open nearby today. I’m sorry, Suhyeon. You understand, right?”
Suhyeon, who was about to say something, flinched at Yejun’s question, which carried a troubled look.
His red lips silently parted several times before he finally managed to speak.
“…Do you have to go to work, too?”
“Hmm, sorry. If I get called, I have to go. We can meet again next time, right?”
‘But what about today?’
Suhyeon, about to counter, suddenly felt an overwhelming fatigue and sat down weakly.
It hadn’t been just a few weeks, but months that Suhyeon had waited for the day he could spend the whole day with Yejun.
It was so difficult for them to make a single day where they weren’t pressed for time and could spend it just with each other.
Of course, Suhyeon was also a person with a social life, so he wasn’t completely unable to understand.
“Can’t someone else close the Gate?”
But the lingering attachment was strong because he had waited so long.
Yejun sighed. Suhyeon saw a flash of annoyance cross his eyes and finally agreed weakly.
“…I understand. We can see each other next time.”
Time slowly dragged on.
Normally, he would have tried to ignore Jaeram’s presence somehow and enjoy his time with Do Yejun, but today, that was hard.
“Yejun, the call came.”
“Suhyeon, then I’ll see you later.”
Finally, Yejun got the call.
Yejun, who didn’t even give him a simple peck on the cheek, left with Jaeram linked to his arm.
Suhyeon was left alone in the cafe.
He absentmindedly brought the three empty teacups on the table to the counter and slowly walked out onto the street.
Where had the excitement of the morning gone?
Only feelings of exhaustion and fatigue remained, empty and hollow.
Suhyeon thought once more about his lover, who had left him so coldly.
His chiseled jawline and firm physique.
A body so solid you’d think he was an athlete.
Suhyeon and Yejun were childhood friends.
He had started having a crush on Yejun in the first year of high school.
And the summer he turned twenty was when Suhyeon couldn’t hold it in any longer and confessed to him.
He remembered when Yejun accepted him and the first time he kissed Suhyeon.
That was three years ago already.
Back then, just being by his side under the name of a lover was enough to make him so happy.
Had his desire grown too big?
Or was he just tired of seeing his lover, whom he could barely see, always attached to his Guide?
The heart that had pounded with love was covered in fatigue, and he could no longer hear its beat.
Lee Jaeram was always with Do Yejun.
To an outsider, Jaeram would probably look more like Do Yejun’s lover.
Yejun was good to Suhyeon.
Though he sometimes showed an annoyed expression and made him feel a little self-conscious, Suhyeon had desperately closed his ears to his own reason telling him that this wasn’t right, believing that Yejun was affectionate enough.
Thud!
“Ugh,”
Suhyeon, who was walking weakly while thinking about Yejun, bumped into someone with a loud thud and fell onto the street.
“…Ah, I’m sorry.”
The light bag he was carrying fell, and all the contents spilled out.
Suhyeon finally snapped to his senses and hastily picked them up.
He hadn’t had the time to check who he had bumped into, but while picking up his belongings, he suddenly remembered that he had left his phone at the cafe.
It was truly a damned unlucky day.
“…Excuse me,”
“I’m truly sorry.”
Suhyeon, who hadn’t heard what the man he bumped into was saying, picked up his belongings and ran back in the direction of the cafe.
After finally finding his phone and letting out a deep sigh, he walked out of the cafe again.
What he faced then, however, was—
Do Yejun and Lee Jaeram were hugging and kissing each other.
“…Ah.”
Suhyeon didn’t know why Jaeram and Do Yejun, who had just separated, were back here. He stared at them blankly.
‘Was that Guiding? Is that how Guiding is supposed to be done?’
He distinctly remembered Do Yejun saying it was completed with just an arm or hand touching, and that while deeper skinship was possible, he would never do that because he had a lover.
“…Eup, Suhyeon?”
Do Yejun, who had been obscenely kissing and touching Jaeram in the shadows, finally spotted Suhyeon, who was standing still, after a long moment.
That was the mouth he had kissed, too.
Had he also kissed him with the traces of Jaeram on his lips?
Suhyeon’s mind felt like it was broken and couldn’t function properly.
Despite that, Do Yejun, with Jaeram still tucked under one arm, rushed toward Suhyeon.
He saw his normally cheerful eyes trembling, but even that—
“Th-that’s Guiding, Suhyeon. Don’t misunderstand.”
—sounded like an excuse.
“That’s right, Suhyeon. Um, even as a non-ability user, you know the common knowledge that more contact is more efficient for Guiding, right?”
Lee Jaeram’s words were so brazen.
“…Let’s break up.”
After another long silence, Suhyeon uttered the words.
His mind was still sputtering. Ridiculously, tears flowed at that moment.
It was an impulsive statement, but he had no intention of taking it back.
The feelings that loved Do Yejun were screaming ‘why are you doing this?’ but this wasn’t right.
‘Are you doing this over just one kiss?’
In Suhyeon’s mind, a worse possibility flashed for an instant.
Do Yejun’s eyes widened, and Jaeram blinked.
Suhyeon turned his back and started walking away.
His heart ached intensely.
“Uh. Look, Chae Suhyeon. I’m really sorry, but it’s a misunderstanding. Really. I’m telling you, it was just Guiding.”
It wasn’t Do Yejun who grabbed his shoulder as he walked, but Lee Jaeram.
“Huh? I don’t want to become the bad guy.”
Suhyeon had nothing more to say.
He glanced back and saw Do Yejun standing blankly where he had been moments ago.
It was strangely cruel.
“…LEE Jaeram!!!”
It was then that Do Yejun roared.
Before Suhyeon could even react, he dashed toward the man beside him with unbelievable speed and snatched him away.
“Su-”
In the instant that the pale-faced Do Yejun seemed to call out to him, a massive gust of wind rushed in.
Suhyeon’s body was helplessly swept up and flew into the sky before he could even resist.
When Suhyeon struggled to lift his head against the fierce wind, there was a hole so huge it was terrifying.
A Gate. The thing he had only seen in the news unfolded before his eyes.
Do Yejun, far below on the ground, was embracing Jaeram while stretching his other arm out toward Suhyeon.
Everything flowed slowly, like in slow motion.
Suhyeon was swallowed up and sucked into the gaping maw of the Gate.
Just before his vision turned black, Suhyeon’s mind finally processed the situation.
One single second.
The one second Do Yejun had to stop the Gate from opening and sucking in both Lee Jaeram and Chae Suhyeon.
Do Yejun had chosen to save Lee Jaeram.
It was a rather cruel ending.
* * *
