In the leaning afternoon sun, Suhyeon hesitated for a moment as he stepped into the Association with Hajin.
The atmosphere in the lobby was different from the usual routine he had experienced while coming in daily for education and training.
Typically, the lobby felt like a quiet, clean headquarters of a massive corporation, bustling with people commuting silently.
The only exception was the occasional noisy swarm of reporters, but today was different.
People worked with stiff expressions; some dashed off somewhere only to hurry back.
Even a cursory glance revealed a state of disarray.
“……! ……! ……!!!”
As they took the elevator to the top floor—where the President’s office was located—and crossed the corridor, Suhyeon could even hear shouting coming from one of the lined rooms.
The President’s voice over the phone earlier had been tinged with urgency, but just what was happening?
Suhyeon stole a glance at Hajin, but Hajin’s expression was no different than usual.
In fact, Hajin looked down at him as if asking what was wrong, making Suhyeon almost mistake this chaos for a regular occurrence.
“Ah, you’re here.”
The speed at which the President popped out the moment they knocked on his door put an end to that misconception.
“Ah, did Asher check in?”
Whether he was in the middle of a call or not, the President held his phone, spoke a few more words, and gestured for them to take a seat at the large desk.
“Oh, Team 2? Got it for now.”
Letting the phone conversation drift in through one ear, Suhyeon sat down.
His eyes reflexively scanned the desk scattered with documents and several monitors, only to freeze.
On the largest monitor, a photo of something massive was displayed.
A Gate.
It was something he had seen so much of lately during his training simulations and videos that he was sick of it.
His round, light-brown eyes wavered.
A Gate was still one of the few things that could truly unsettle him.
Thanks to his training nearing its end, Suhyeon no longer spiraled into a panic just by facing a Gate, but he couldn’t help flinching every time he saw one.
Suhyeon stared intensely at the Gate on the screen.
The Gate in the photo was larger than any he had ever seen before.
Was it possible that this had opened?
Suhyeon felt his hands grow slightly stiff.
Despite his efforts to bury it, the vivid memories in his mind prevented him from brushing off a Gate as easily as anything else.
Just as Suhyeon let out a small sigh because his body was reacting against his will despite his improvement, a firm hand overlapped his own pale one.
It was Hajin.
Simultaneously, the monitor flickered and went black.
Snapped back to his senses, Suhyeon looked up.
The President, exhaling a sigh as if he had just finished his call, sat in the opposite chair and looked at them.
“I’m glad you came together. I had something to tell both of you, so this is fortunate.”
“Is it a Gate?”
Hajin asked nonchalantly.
The President let out a deep sigh and nodded.
The Gate, the photo from earlier, and the cluttered atmosphere of the Association.
Suhyeon lowered his gaze to look at his hand held by Hajin.
Hajin’s firm hand slowly massaged his under the desk.
“I’ve already sent the specific details via email. The Gate energy in the area has risen to Level 9. It’s a catastrophe class.”
Hajin’s eyebrows shot up.
“Level 9?”
The usual cheerfulness was absent from the President’s face.
Suhyeon felt a creeping sense of anxiety beginning to rear its head within him.
Gate energy refers to the specific energy that gathers around the area where a Gate is about to open.
Gifted individuals use it to estimate and predict the scale and location of the Gate.
Usually, he had heard that even the most massive Gates only reached Level 7. But Level 9.
A record flashed through Suhyeon’s mind: 70 years ago, Level 15 Gate energy had gathered exactly once, resulting in a Great Disaster.
“What you saw just now is the roughly estimated size.”
“The date?”
“Within next week.”
Suhyeon’s burgeoning fear and anxiety paused when he heard the exchange between Hajin and the President.
It was certainly urgent and serious, yet their faces hadn’t changed much—as if this was a reality that could happen at any time.
“It just had to be near the city. Evacuation has already begun. Honestly, after those Level 7s popped off in a row recently, I don’t know why these things keep appearing…….”
As the conversation between the stone-faced President and Hajin continued, Suhyeon suddenly realized something.
This was the reality and the daily life of the world he had entered.
One he now had to accept. He had to shake off the fear. His heart, which had been racing, slowed its pace.
“Ah, and I think you’ll need to head out with Team 2.”
“Together?”
Hajin’s face crumpled into a dissatisfied scowl, which was perfectly consistent with his usual self.
“I told you the scale. We have to take all the Guides with us. That’s why, Suhyeon-kun,”
“Suhyeon is—”
“I think Suhyeon-kun will have to go out as well.”
Dazed for a moment before snapping back to attention, Suhyeon blinked at the sudden turn of the topic toward him.
The President was looking at him with a resolute face, while Hajin was glaring at the President.
If it was determined that an Esper’s guiding energy might drop to dangerous levels during Gate operations, a Guide had to follow them to the site.
That was why Guides also received Gate response training.
Recalling this fact belatedly, Suhyeon blinked.
“I’m going too?”
“No—”
“Of course, Suhyeon-kun’s safety will be absolutely guaranteed. You’ll be assigned an A-class Esper and guards, and you’ll be on standby nearby, not right in front of the Gate. Since your existence hasn’t been made public yet, the team will only consist of trustworthy Espers. If Hajin-kun needs guiding, a movement Esper in the team will bring him to you.”
Ignoring Hajin’s attempt to protest, the President continued.
“Level 9 is a Gate that none of the Espers currently active in the field have ever faced. Not me, not Hajin-kun, nor Asher-kun. We don’t want to lose an S-class Esper in any ‘what-if’ scenario.”
The President, as he explained this, looked unusually, almost fiercely serious.
‘It really is dangerous.’
—Kueeeeek!
Memories from inside the Gate seeped into Suhyeon’s ears.
But again, this was the reality he had stepped into.
Suhyeon nodded.
After leaving the President’s office, Hajin gently led Suhyeon to his office.
It was different from his previous private office; before he knew it, they were inside a spacious area partitioned off within the bustling main office.
Since the office wasn’t empty, Suhyeon realized late that numerous gazes were fixed on his back.
However, those vanished the moment Hajin closed the door connecting to the office.
Sitting on the sofa, Suhyeon blankly watched Hajin approach.
He looked incredibly composed.
—Of course, I do think the measures might be a bit excessive! But we’re doing it just in case, so don’t worry too much!
Before they left the room, the President had regained his cheerfulness and said those words.
When he first saw the photo of the Gate, he felt as if cold water had been poured over his mind, which had been melting in a peaceful and sweet daily life.
But Suhyeon had regained his composure, if not completely.
However, it didn’t seem that way to Hajin.
“Are you very scared?”
Suhyeon’s light-brown eyes blinked.
Was it because of the sunset light filtering through the open blinds?
Hajin’s blue eyes held a particularly mysterious glow today.
Hajin was watching him obsessively, as if he wouldn’t miss even the slightest reaction from Suhyeon.
His gaze looked as if he would eliminate the cause immediately if Suhyeon seemed to be struggling even a little.
Hajin, kneeling before him, caressed Suhyeon’s pale cheek.
“You don’t have to go, Suhyeon. If I just bring about five more suitable A-class Guides, the President will be satisfied.”
A-class Guides weren’t exactly things you could just pick up off the ground, but Hajin looked like he would actually do it if Suhyeon said just one word.
Hajin stood up and sat beside Suhyeon.
Tilting his neck as Hajin’s lips began to linger as usual, Suhyeon leaned into Hajin’s embrace.
The lives of the gifted are closest to the Gates and are, naturally, dangerous.
There were many unique reasons why Gates hadn’t entered Suhyeon’s daily life until now, but Hajin’s effort to build a peaceful and warm greenhouse for him was likely a major factor.
If it were the old Suhyeon—the one before he met Hajin—he probably would have stayed happily submerged in this comfort and done nothing.
Suhyeon turned his head to face Hajin.
When he caressed Hajin’s cheek just as Hajin had done to him, Hajin closed his eyes like a tamed cat and basked in Suhyeon’s touch.
Suddenly, he wasn’t thinking much about the Gate.
Instead, a sudden urge rose within him—not just to be protected by him, but to stand by his side.
He wanted to lighten Hajin’s load as much as he could, reduce Hajin’s pain, and do whatever he was capable of.
He had always been someone who never did anything beyond what was absolutely necessary, so feeling such emotions was quite strange.
“It’s okay,” Suhyeon whispered, burying his head in Hajin’s chest.
It would be a lie to say he was completely fine, but the man beside him made Suhyeon want to take that step.
Once again, Suhyeon realized he was just as captivated by Hajin as Hajin was by him.
