* * *

‘In just a year, he’s grown so much.’

It was astonishing how his gaze alone could make people feel so small.

Maybe it was the typical “protagonist buff,” but it was certainly effective.

“You agreed to follow my decisions, so go along with the examination,” Beom Sinje insisted firmly. But Doyoung hesitated, his reluctance clear.

‘There’s too much I’m hiding.’

For one, no one in the guild knew he was an Esper with telekinetic abilities, and Beom Sinje was well aware of this.

And then there was his hidden power, unknown even to his closest allies—a life-saving ability that allowed him to survive even grave injuries.

If the equipment here was as advanced as in the old Antithesis facility, it might detect every ability he’d been hiding.

“I’ll receive the results alone and dispose of them all,” Beom Sinje’s words were almost as if he’d read Doyoung’s mind.

Doyoung looked at him, sighing. There was no escaping this now.

“Promise me one thing.”

“Go on.”

It wasn’t a promise to grant it, just permission to say it.

Doyoung let out another long breath.

Ever since their reunion, Beom Sinje seemed even harder to deal with.

‘Not that he didn’t have a mature side even before.’

Years of hardship and exposure to life’s harsh truths had forced him to grow up fast.

“No, forget it.”

There was no use in asking. It would all come to light during the examination anyway.

Resigned, Doyoung nodded toward the curious-looking doctor, indicating they should get started.

Beom Sinje frowned slightly in disapproval, but Doyoung had already moved on and didn’t notice.

---

After nearly two hours, Doyoung’s long ordeal finally ended.

“Ugh… I’m exhausted.”

Lying down, standing up, stepping in, stepping out—the endless rounds of examinations had drained him.

After taking some cold medicine, he felt even more sluggish, slumping into the soft sofa.

Cough, cough.

The coughing continued persistently.

“You’ve worked hard,” said the doctor, offering him a glass of water, which Doyoung took gratefully.

“Is it over?”

“Yes. Rest here for a while, but don’t stay too long.”

The doctor’s gaze pointed elsewhere, and Doyoung looked through the transparent glass.

There, like a stone statue, stood Beom Sinje.

“Was he like that the whole time?”

“Yes.”

“All through the examination?”

The doctor nodded, and Doyoung’s face twisted in annoyance.

“Doesn’t the guild master have better things to do?”

The doctor shrugged, surprised himself.

He knew the guild master cared for his members, but staying from start to finish during a single member’s examination was unusual.

“So don’t worry him too much,” the doctor said, his tone almost playful.

Doyoung looked at him in disbelief, but the doctor’s focus was on Beom Sinje.

“You probably didn’t hear, but he made a special request.”

“A request?”

“Yes. To look closely at any lasting effects from excessive Esper ability use.”

Doyoung’s face hardened, and the doctor’s expression turned serious as he met his gaze.

“Your health seems quite poor. We’ll know more with the results, but try not to overextend yourself.”

Doyoung scrutinized the doctor, his eyes narrowing.

Tilting his head, he asked:

“Have we met before?”

The doctor spoke gently, but his eyes were sharp.

Still, Doyoung remained unfazed.

“I guess I’ve been somewhat skilled, so I’ve had plenty of scouting offers. That meant moving around a lot, but I worked at the same place for the past eight years.”

“The benefits were fantastic,” he added, his tone still soft and polite.

Doyoung was more surprised by this than anything else.

“You worked at the same place for eight years?”

The Cheonho Guild had only been established for a year, and he’d been working here barely a month.

The dates just didn’t add up.

‘Could it be?’

A thought crossed his mind.

“Yes, technically speaking, my previous job was here. We shut down for a few months before being taken over.”

The doctor, as if he knew exactly what Doyoung was thinking, rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger.

“A takeover?”

“Yes. I had just about lost hope of finding a good position when I got a call. They told me everything had been sorted out, and I could come back to work.”

Seeing Doyoung’s bewildered expression, the doctor chuckled.

“Strange, right? I wonder how they even knew to reach out to me. They just said, ‘Don’t ask questions. Just listen to the terms, and if you’re interested, come back.’”

With the conditions supposedly being better pay and benefits, it almost seemed suspicious.

“No other conditions? I heard this place…”

“Used to be the headquarters of a famous criminal organization,” the doctor replied, finishing Doyoung’s sentence as if he knew what he was about to say.

“To be honest, I and the other medical staff had no idea until the incident happened. We thought it was just a multinational company. As you know, Antithesis had a lot of secrets.”

Doyoung was speechless.

This didn’t seem like something one could just brush off.

“Didn’t the government investigate?”

“Oh, they hounded us for a while. But as you know, you need physical evidence—equipment, data, even a scrap of paper. Nothing remained that could prove anything.”

The doctor glanced toward where Beom Sinje was before continuing.

“Plus, thanks to the guild leader here taking full responsibility for all of the medical staff, the government backed off after a month or so.”

By now, Doyoung didn’t know if he should feel proud of the clean way the matter was handled or frustrated by the government’s lax approach.

Still, he couldn’t understand Beom Sinje’s motives.

What was he thinking, going through with all this?

“Impressive,” he muttered, barely concealing his disdain.

What was the point of a new guild getting on the government’s bad side?

He glared at Beom Sinje, who was standing as still as a statue.

‘What are you thinking? Bringing me here wasn’t enough? You brought back the entire medical staff, too?’

Could it be that many of the current staff here were former Antithesis employees?

Sure, they might’ve just been handling routine work, but still.

Then Doyoung noticed Beom Sinje gripping the doorknob to the exam room.

“Getting impatient, are we?”

The doctor, noticing as well, chuckled.

With Beom Sinje about to enter, Doyoung quickly spoke up.

“Is that all you have to say about my health? Nothing about my abilities?”

The doctor looked confused, then went, “Ah.”

“Well, I don’t have results on that yet. When I send the report, you’ll be able to check it then.”

Just as he finished, the door swung open.

“Hyung, if you’re done, let’s go.”

Faced with Beom Sinje’s intense gaze, Doyoung didn’t hesitate and rose to his feet.

“Thank you for your work,” he said, bowing politely to the doctor.

“Actually, you did most of the work. You’re not feeling great, so take it easy and rest today,” the doctor replied with a smile, though his gaze remained fixed on Beom Sinje instead of Doyoung.

Doyoung found it irritating.

Why did he keep treating Beom Sinje like he was Doyoung’s guardian?

“Guild leader, shall we go?”

The title was respectful, but the doctor’s tone was anything but formal.

Doyoung knew he must look rough to the doctor, but he didn’t bother to change his attitude.

He didn’t have the energy.

His coughing had subsided a bit, but whether from hours of tests or all this stress, he felt worse.

‘God, I need to sleep.’

A soft bed sounded like heaven right now, but, unfortunately, his workday was far from over.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Barely masking his annoyance, Doyoung tapped Beom Sinje’s arm and walked past him.

Watching him go, Beom Sinje lingered a moment, then followed.

Standing at the elevator, Doyoung held in a sigh and moved to press the up button.

But the down button lit up first.

“?”

“Go rest for the day,” Beom Sinje said, guiding Doyoung into the elevator and then pressing the button for the basement.

* * *