* * *
“I read a novel. One that had espers and guides in it. It even had things like gates, monsters, and an ability center, so I already knew all the terms.”
Haebom gave the closest thing to the truth he could.
Instead of telling the whole story, he left out the fact that Choi Yoonseo and Na Hyunjoon were the main characters, that Wonho was just a side character, and that Jin Seyoung didn’t even have a proper name in the original book—just an unnamed researcher in the background.
He spoke vaguely about the protagonists and the plot.
Jin Seyoung listened with a grave expression.
It made him wonder—could there be someone else who had connected to this dimension?
Sure, it was possible for someone to come up with similar ideas, but a novel that laid out all the exact terms and definitions?
That was just too suspicious.
Seyoung decided he would look further into that part.
But he figured Haebom probably didn’t know much more.
Maybe he had found the information from the Center’s records.
“So, what’s your answer to my question?”
“…Huh?”
Haebom tilted his head.
He thought he’d already answered everything.
But Jin Seyoung just stared at him silently without repeating the question.
Haebom furrowed his brows, trying to recall what Jin Seyoung had asked.
Then—ah!—it hit him.
He hadn’t answered the very first question.
The first thing she had asked was—
“Do you want to go back? If you could… would you?”
Nothing had been discovered yet except for the presence of another connected passage inside the gate, so honestly, even Haebom didn’t know if returning was possible.
But Jin Seyoung wanted an answer from him.
It might seem like she was meddling, but with Wonho in mind, she couldn’t help it.
If Haebom said he wanted to go back, she couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.
She’d either have to tell Wonho to pour all his charm into persuading him to stay, or help him find another guide who could live with him.
Choi Yoonseo was still a compatible guide, but if Wonho rejected being guided by him, it would all be for nothing.
Seyoung knew their relationship wasn’t what it used to be.
Under her heavy gaze, Haebom swallowed hard.
Truthfully, he already had his answer.
From the moment he realized he liked Wonho—or maybe even before that, when he was still denying it—he might’ve already made the choice to stay in this world.
Sure, he had friends in his original world.
But no one there worried about his three meals a day the way Wonho did.
And despite trying not to form new attachments, he had anyway.
That made it even harder to let go.
“…If I said I wanted to go back, could I?”
“To be honest, I can’t give you a clear answer. We’re still in the research phase, and there haven’t been any successful cases. We don’t know what dangers there might be, and I can’t ask you to walk into a gate under those conditions. Wonho would never allow it, either. So until we uncover more, I can’t promise anything… but we’ll do our best.”
From Haebom’s words and expression, Jin Seyoung could tell—he was going to stay.
Still, she had to offer him the choice, so she laid out the current situation.
If it were up to her, she would’ve tied Haebom down and not let him go anywhere.
That’s how important Haebom was to Wonho.
And it wasn’t just about guiding.
Ever since Seyoung had met Wonho, she had never seen him smile like that.
She hadn’t known he could smile so brightly.
Even though she had tried to look after him in place of a guardian, it had never been enough.
The kid who always had a sullen face, who once threw his life away without hesitation, was now starting to look more alive.
As someone who cared for Wonho beyond just being his researcher, she desperately hoped Haebom would stay.
“I…”
Haebom held back the words that rose to his throat.
‘I want to stay.’
If he said that now, he felt like there’d be no turning back.
He would be choosing to give up everything he had built in twenty-one years and remain by Wonho’s side.
He had made his decision—but still, the fear lingered.
What if, just like how he suddenly arrived here, he suddenly got pulled back?
Still, more than that fear… he wanted to stay.
He hadn’t even realized when his feelings had grown this much.
“Stay…”
BOOM! BOOM!
Beeep, beeep, beeep, beeep—!
Just as Haebom was about to say he wanted to stay, a loud explosion shook the room.
Haebom’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit as he looked at Jin Seyoung.
She also furrowed her brows and jumped to her feet.
A red warning light flashed, accompanied by a shrill alarm throughout the lab.
“It’s a rampage.”
“…What?”
“That alarm sounds when an esper goes out of control. It must’ve happened inside the Center. But… who is it?”
Jin Seyoung immediately picked up her phone and opened the app exclusive to the Center’s researchers.
She checked the rampage levels of Espers within the Seoul branch.
But none of them had reached the rampage stage—or even the warning stage just below it.
That didn’t make sense.
Seyoung frowned deeply and dialed someone’s number.
[Attention all personnel within the Center. Esper ‘Na Hyunjoon’ is currently in a rampage state. All personnel inside the building must evacuate to the underground shelter immediately. Do not, under any circumstances, leave the shelter until the Esper ‘Na Hyunjoon’ has been subdued. I repeat—]
Seyoung, in the middle of a phone call, froze in shock at the voice coming through the speaker. Haebom was just as stunned.
An S-rank Esper going on a rampage—it wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
Seyoung ended the call and double-checked Na Hyunjoon’s stats in the app. His level was still at 40%.
“This is insane… Haebom, get up. We have to get to the shelter.”
“Huh? Ah—yes, okay…!”
Haebom shot to his feet.
Seyoung figured getting him to safety took priority over trying to make sense of the situation.
An unshakable sense of dread wrapped around him like a shroud.
Just as they were about to exit the lab—BOOM!
The hallway directly in front of them collapsed in a fiery blast.
A massive fireball had hit the corridor.
Na Hyunjoon was a flame-type Esper.
“Haebom! Are you okay?!”
The lab was intact, but they could still feel the oppressive heat from outside.
The blazing heat from the collapsed corridor—now open and exposed to the outside—flooded toward them.
Though unharmed, the lab door was scorched black.
The heat reached all the way to Haebom, who had been standing near the door.
He wasn’t wearing the standard flame-resistant uniform, and his t-shirt had already started to singe in several places.
He wasn’t seriously injured, at least not visibly.
Or maybe the shock was just dulling the pain….
“…There you are. I found you.”
Thud. Someone stepped into view at the ruined end of the hallway.
Both Seyoung and Haebom turned their eyes toward the voice.
At the end of the scorched corridor stood Na Hyunjoon, now more fire than man, smiling faintly.
But it wasn’t just the flames.
* * *
