* * *
“The gate that Wonho entered—is it closed? No one actually saw him die, right? So he could still be alive… You never know. I’ll ask Hyunjoon oppa to go in. He might be able to bring him back alive.”
At those words, Jin Seyoung scoffed, as if mocking the idea that Na Hyunjoon, who was too consumed by jealousy to even allow guiding, would willingly enter the gate to save Wonho.
Especially since this was something that had happened a full ten days ago.
And yet, without anyone saying so, Choi Yoonseo had already concluded that Wonho was dead.
Haebom found her reaction oddly suspicious.
“Stop killing off Esper Wonho when he’s perfectly fine. And quit whining—it’s just getting in the way of people who are actually working.”
“…What? He’s… fine? Who? Wonho?”
Jin Seyoung had been deliberately vague, not wanting to give Choi Yoonseo the relief of knowing Wonho was alive.
But watching her continue to whimper was giving him a headache, so he finally relented and told her the truth.
Of course, it wasn’t as if Wonho had survived unscathed.
If Haebom hadn’t been there, things would have played out exactly as Choi Yoonseo feared.
In that case, Jin Seyoung himself might have been too consumed by grief to find her complaints annoying.
“Who else? We were talking about Wonho, so why would I suddenly be referring to someone else?”
Jin Seyoung had never liked Choi Yoonseo much to begin with, and his words were laced with sharpness.
She had no idea how generous he was being just by answering her at all.
Watching this, Haebom made a mental note not to do anything that would make Seyoung dislike him.
“H-how…?”
Choi Yoonseo’s question was strange.
Haebom tilted his head, sensing something off, but before he could dwell on it, she spoke again.
“No, that’s not important right now. Where is he? Even if he’s alive, he must be at the risk of rampaging. He needs guiding. That means I’m needed…!”
She sounded desperate, as if she would throw herself at Wonho for guiding right this second if she could.
But if she had simply provided steady guiding before he reached this point—even just some radiation guiding—Wonho wouldn’t have come so close to rampaging in the first place.
Because of that, rather than finding Choi Yoonseo’s attitude pitiable, Haebom found it selfish.
Maybe it was because he had stepped out of the novel’s perspective, but judging by Jin Seyoung’s expression, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
“He doesn’t need you.”
“…What? What do you mean he doesn’t need me?”
“Wonho has a Pair Guide now. A real Pair Guide, not just you filling in. So just focus on taking care of your own Pair, like you always have.”
Choi Yoonseo looked as if she had been struck.
She had just been told that the Esper she couldn’t take care of now had a proper Guide—yet she didn’t look happy at all. If anything, she looked devastated.
Haebom couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but one thing was clear—she wasn’t pleased.
“…Who is it?”
“Why do you care? But, well… since they’re right here, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Choi Yoonseo’s voice had sunk low, and Jin Seyoung’s brow remained furrowed.
When he mentioned ‘right here,’ her gaze shifted toward the back of the lab.
The only two people not wearing lab coats in Jin Seyoung’s team’s research lab were Choi Yoonseo herself and Haebom.
Which meant… no matter how you looked at it, he was saying that Wonho’s Pair Guide was Haebom.
As expected, Choi Yoonseo’s eyes turned to the one person in the room dressed differently—Haebom.
Their eyes met head-on, and Haebom flinched.
He had never expected to get dragged into this conversation.
Choi Yoonseo’s lips parted slightly, as if she was about to say something to him—
But before she could speak, the tightly shut door suddenly creaked open.
“Team leader, the kid is h—”
“Ho!”
The one who stepped through the door was none other than Wonho himself—the very person at the center of this entire conversation.
Without sparing a glance at anything else, Wonho had been looking straight at Jin Seyoung’s desk, ready to deliver his message.
But at the unexpected voice calling his name, he stopped in his tracks.
His head turned, shifting away from Jin Seyoung and toward Choi Yoonseo, who had just called out to him with an achingly desperate voice.
In the next moment, she threw herself into his arms.
“…Wow.”
Haebom simply stared at the scene before him, blankly.
It looked exactly like something out of a novel.
Or a movie.
Like lovers who had been forcibly separated and were now finally reuniting after so much hardship.
That was the feeling he got—until Wonho’s gaze shifted.
The problem was, it shifted straight toward Haebom.
…Huh?
Caught off guard, Haebom tilted his head slightly.
But before he could even fully tilt it, Wonho suddenly averted his eyes.
A strange feeling crept over Haebom.
Just moments ago, this had been a tearful reunion between long-lost lovers.
But now, with that one glance from Wonho…
The atmosphere had changed completely.
Now, it felt like a love triangle about to explode.
Which meant—right now, Haebom’s role was that of the current lover, forced to watch their partner embrace their ex.
So… was he supposed to grab his lover’s hair?
Or the ex’s?
…No, that was a ridiculous thought.
For one, those two weren’t ex-lovers.
And more importantly, Haebom wasn’t even Wonho’s lover to begin with.
Which meant, in the end, none of them were anything to each other.
“…When did you get here?”
“Is that really what matters right now? Why did you do something so reckless? I told you… to wait. I said I’d convince him.”
Though Haebom could only see Choi Yoonseo’s back, it was clear from her voice alone that she was crying.
Wonho, watching her, wore a troubled expression.
Haebom shook his head as he observed Wonho and Yoonseo lost in their own world.
Then, as he glanced around, he noticed that all the researchers—including Jin Seyoung—were looking at them with expressions that clearly questioned why a melodrama was unfolding in their workplace.
They all seemed to silently wish the couple would take their scene outside.
“Wonho, did you come looking for Haebom? He’s over there.”
“…Yeah. Yoonseo, we’ll talk later. Go back for now. I’ll call you.”
“What?”
Yoonseo let out a small, breathless sound, as if in disbelief.
And for good reason—this was the first time Wonho hadn’t cared about her tears.
‘We’ll talk later?’
What was that supposed to mean?
She couldn’t understand.
Not only did he refuse to comfort her, but he even went as far as pushing her away, as if… as if he was being cautious of someone else.
But it wasn’t Haebom that Wonho was wary of.
It was simply instinct.
He pulled Yoonseo out of his arms and sent her away.
Blinking in shock, Yoonseo—who had been so desperate to see Wonho—was now kicked out of the lab.
One of the researchers let out an impressed “Oh…” Clearly, everyone had assumed Wonho would leave with Yoonseo, and they were caught off guard when he didn’t.
“…Hey.”
Haebom wanted to ask if hey was really his name, but considering that this was a guy who even called the girl he liked by her full surname, he figured it was pointless.
When Haebom didn’t respond, a crease formed between Wonho’s brows—not that it was any of Haebom’s concern.
“Is your phone just for decoration?”
“Huh? Did you call? Why?”
Haebom tilted his head in confusion.
If it wasn’t about guiding, then Wonho had never sought him out before.
Even with guiding, it had only been three days since he’d started requesting it, and that was always through the system.
The two of them had never actually spoken on the phone.
Haebom hadn’t even saved Wonho’s number himself—Jin Seyoung had given it to him.
He didn’t even know if his number was in Wonho’s contacts.
At least, not until now.
* * *
🤩