“Suhyeon…”
“Haah, yes, hah…”
Thump-thump-thump.
His heart, still reeling from the aftermath of the kiss, beat violently.
Hajin still held Suhyeon trapped between his arms.
His eyes, looking down at Suhyeon, flickered with a dark intensity.
Looking up at him, Suhyeon belatedly realized that Hajin’s eyes were filled with exhaustion.
The dark blue irises were clouded.
“Suhyeon… you are mine.”
After staring at the gasping Suhyeon for a long time, a sound like a low animal growl escaped Hajin’s lips.
“And Shin Hajin belongs to Chae Suhyeon.”
“Yeah…”
Blue eyes scanned Suhyeon as if to consume him.
Faced with words that were spoken with the ferocity of a beast and the finality of a decree, all Suhyeon could do was affirm.
Watching him, Hajin suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms tightly around Suhyeon’s waist, burying his face in Suhyeon’s chest.
“I thought… I thought you were going to die.”
As if reliving the memory, the fabric of Suhyeon’s clothes gripped in Hajin’s hands trembled violently.
“I’m sorry…”
Suhyeon’s voice was raspy and weak. He whispered like a mumble.
—CHAE Suhyeon!!!!!!!!!
—Chae Suhyeon, Suhyeon. Suhyeon…
The desperate voices woven into his fragmented memories belonged to Hajin.
He must have been so terrified. Suhyeon was shocked too, but Hajin must have been even more so.
‘What if the situation had been reversed?’
Suhyeon blankly imagined the unthinkable.
Hajin was far stronger than him, but the thought was horrific nonetheless.
He was just glad he had woken up safely.
Suhyeon forced his strengthless arms upward to stroke Hajin’s hair.
Hajin continued to nuzzle into his chest as if trying to soak up every bit of Suhyeon’s warmth.
“How many days… was I out?”
“Five days…”
The answer came back in a slurred, muffled voice.
He had been down longer than he thought.
He suddenly understood why his body felt so hollow and why Hajin was acting this way.
Before long, the sound of rhythmic breathing signaled that Hajin had fallen asleep.
Suhyeon, who had been stroking Hajin’s hair until then, also closed his eyes.
Sleep rushed over him as if it had been waiting.
The hand that had been softly ruffling the black hair slowed down, then eventually came to a rest.
Only the moonlight shone upon them.
In a dark room, dozens of monitors displayed the man with light brown hair.
‘From a tragic Gate accident victim to the most outstanding S-rank Guide, Guide Chae Suhyeon was involved in an incident in downtown Seoul approximately four years ago…’
A middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair stared at the pale man filling the screen and stroked his chin.
“Oh, isn’t that your failure?”
The man glanced back. It was someone from the Canadian Association.
He looked with interest at the man sticking close to the one on the screen.
Black hair and those distinct blue eyes.
It was unmistakably South Korea’s S-rank Esper, Shin Hajin.
The middle-aged man’s eyes crinkled with a deceptively kind warmth.
“It seems fate exists after all…”
“What?”
The man behind him tilted his head, unable to understand the Korean, but the middle-aged man stood up regardless.
A man who was trapped inside a Gate for three years.
An ordinary person who emerged from a Gate, awakened as an S-rank Guide, and even influenced the closing of a Gate during a disaster…
Of course, one couldn’t trust the news entirely, but it was an undeniably fascinating specimen.
The fact that he was with Hajin—whom the man had personally judged to be a failure—was another element of interest.
A small, old music box rattled in his hand.
Habitually, he wound the key with one practiced hand, and a melody that sounded like it was coming from a broken toy—tink, creak—began to play.
“Has it been seventeen years since I last went back?”
The man murmured, humming along as if listening to the most melodious music.
The middle-aged man’s distinct blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight as he planned his return to his homeland for the first time in nearly two decades.
An accidental occurrence.
That was the name given to the Gate incident where Suhyeon had almost lost his life.
They said not a single trace of Gate energy had been detected beforehand, and there were no means to predict a Gate opening in that vicinity.
The most the Association could offer was that Gates occurring during a Gate Rush sometimes ignored all known laws.
“Accidental occurrence” was a remarkably irresponsible term to apply to a situation where many people could have died.
Even Hajin, who relayed the news, growled that he would kill them all if he wanted… but Suhyeon didn’t particularly care.
Things that can’t be helped, simply can’t be helped.
Besides, none of the Guides or guards who were with him had died or sustained serious injuries.
He also heard the news that his identity had been completely exposed to the media in the meantime, but regardless, he was safe.
That was what mattered.
Suhyeon leaned back comfortably into the bed that carried Hajin’s scent.
A day after regaining consciousness, he had undergone a thorough examination, been confirmed to have no abnormalities, and returned home.
—Suhyeon…
—Mr. Suhyeon.
In the process, he had barely managed to calm a panicked Yihan, met with the Association President, heard the explanation of his condition from Yihan, received visits from the Guides involved in the accident, and even got a visit from a frantic Asher Delveron.
A lot had happened, but finally, he was back in his peaceful home.
“Suhyeon, is there anything uncomfortable? Are you hungry?”
Of course, Hajin was by his side.
“No, I’m okay.”
Suhyeon looked down at Hajin, who had his arms wrapped around Suhyeon’s waist and was nuzzling his face into Suhyeon’s side.
Since Suhyeon woke up, Hajin had not left his side for a single second, like a pet with separation anxiety.
Suhyeon had barely talked him out of following him into the bathroom.
The blue eyes beneath lowered lids shimmered softly as he held Suhyeon.
After watching him for a while, Suhyeon stroked Hajin’s hair; Hajin closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against Suhyeon’s hand, asking for more.
The low purring sound from his throat made it feel like a large feline was enjoying his touch.
The version of Hajin who had been unstable and filled with panic when Suhyeon first woke up seemed to have calmed down to some extent.
Warm sunlight poured through the window.
Considering how he had been dragged around to Gate sites without a moment’s rest before losing consciousness, it was a peaceful and leisurely afternoon, regardless of the circumstances.
He didn’t know if he should call it luck or if the Gate Rush was being considerate, but the Gates that had been tearing open incessantly had begun to subside shortly after Suhyeon woke up, reportedly entering a lull.
Of course, since a Gate Rush usually ends with a disaster-level Gate after pouring out smaller ones, this wouldn’t be the end.
Naturally, the Association’s observation teams were on high alert, but the gifted individuals who had been rolling in the dirt were cheering at the sudden arrival of peace and a holiday.
Suhyeon was also relieved. He didn’t feel like he could possibly go to work in this physical state.
Suhyeon buried himself deeper into the pile of cozy blankets.
Being nestled in bed under the sunlight made his body feel naturally drowsy.
—KREEEEEEEEEEAK!!!!!!
Fiddling with the cheek of Hajin, who was leaning against him, Suhyeon tried to recall his final memories, as he had been doing whenever he had time since waking up.
Actually, the memory of that moment remained quite surreal to Suhyeon, so despite his trauma regarding Gates, it wasn’t particularly difficult to think about.
No, rather, he didn’t even feel unpleasantness at the moment he was placed before the Gate.
He didn’t even think he felt fear.
It seemed nonsensical even to him, but what he felt momentarily back then was… familiarity?
Was that right?
“Suhyeon, are you in—ahem.”
“Kyuu! Kyu!”
While Suhyeon was blankly pondering the question, he tried to sit up at the noisy sound of the door swinging open, only to be pulled back down by Hajin.
The person who entered saw this and scowled deeply.
“Let go of him. You’re twenty-nine years old, what are you doing?”
“I’m sure you’re the same.”
“Do you think I act like a brat toward my partner like you do?”
“I heard you do.”
“Wh-when did you see that!”
Using the familiar bickering that erupted whenever Hajin met this person as background noise, Suhyeon wiggled out of Hajin’s arms and sat up.
The visitor who had suddenly broken into the house was Yihan.
“How’s your body? Your chest doesn’t hurt, right?”
Suhyeon nodded.
Hearing the barrage of questions about his health the moment they met made him feel like he had returned to the very first day he came to Hajin’s house.
“Kyuu!!”
At that moment, hearing Suhyeon’s voice, a white thing peeked its head out from Yihan’s arms and chirped.
The ball of fluff, spotting Suhyeon, immediately bounced out of Yihan’s embrace.
Suhyeon reflexively opened his arms for the creature flying through the air.
Yihan reached out in a panic, but the furball had already escaped him.
“Tch, where do you think you’re going?”
However, just before the furball could reach Suhyeon’s arms, Hajin caught it by the scruff of its neck.
“Whoa, hey!”
As Hajin lifted his arm as if to throw the furball away, Yihan let out a yell.
“Kyuuuuuuuu…”
But it ended as just an attempt.
Seeing the soft thing crying with its round black eyes opened pitifully, Suhyeon unconsciously grabbed Hajin’s arm.
“Kyu!”
Taking advantage of Hajin’s hesitation, the tiny body wiggled and shook itself free from his grip, successfully landing in Suhyeon’s arms.
Hajin’s burning gaze followed immediately, but the furball seemed happy just to be in Suhyeon’s embrace, chirping “kyuu kyuu” and nuzzling against him.
The lifeform that had popped out of the brilliant white light when he reached out to the monster.
It was white, soft, and tiny, but it was impossible to think of it as an ordinary animal.
This creature, which had reportedly stayed by his side the entire time he was unconscious, had been stuck to Suhyeon like a chick to its mother since he woke up.
Given that everyone’s attention at the Association was currently focused on him, he couldn’t show this to others.
Yihan had offered to look into it, so Suhyeon had entrusted it to him for about half a day, and it had just returned.
“Kyuu, kyu…”
It almost sounded like it was crying, asking why he had left it with someone else. Suhyeon unconsciously stroked the soft creature as it nuzzled into him, then looked up at Yihan.
Yihan was looking at the thing in Suhyeon’s arms with a somewhat heated gaze before snapping out of it and meeting Suhyeon’s eyes.
“……Well, I took a look at it here and there.”
Hajin glared, looking ready to get rid of the fluff-ball immediately depending on Yihan’s answer.
Yihan scratched his ear.
“I’m pretty sure this thing… is a monster.”
‘Um.’
Suhyeon blinked.
