* * *
Wonho looked extremely unstable, probably from overusing his abilities.
Yoonseo reached out to him, but his hand never made it.
Wonho slapped Yoonseo’s hand away harshly before it could touch him.
The pain wasn’t even the issue — it was the rejection that made Yoonseo’s expression crumble, looking like he might cry.
But Wonho couldn’t care less about Yoonseo’s face or feelings.
“What do you mean I don’t have a pair? What kind of bullshit—! Yoon Haebom! Haebom, fuck, where are you!”
Pushing Yoonseo aside, Wonho shouted loud enough to shake the forest, calling for his lover and pair Guide who had vanished somewhere.
But no reply came.
Taeyoung opened his mouth to tell Wonho to get a grip, but before he could speak, Wonho bolted from the spot.
Even half-crazed from overusing his powers, an Esper was still an Esper — and an S-Class one at that.
There was no way someone like Taeyoung, practically an ordinary human, could stop him.
“Tsk… Let’s head back. Choi Yoonseo, as soon as we’re back, get some rest and immediately request to guide Esper Wonho. You’ve got no pair anyway, so it’s not like you’re busy.”
“…Understood.”
“What kind of tone is that? You think anyone wants to be without a pair?”
Taeyoung clicked his tongue at Lee Yeojoon, who had stayed quiet inside the Gate, dazed, but now wouldn’t shut up the moment they were out.
Right now, they needed to leave this to the Center and get the rookie Guides back safely.
How long had they been inside?
He wasn’t sure.
But one thing bugged him: why was there no leader for this group of rookies?
Based on experience and rank, he or Yoonseo might be considered leaders, but this wasn’t a standard mission — it was Gate training.
Neither he nor Yoonseo had ever been through Gate training.
So there should have been a separate leader.
But there wasn’t.
Everyone who entered the Gate was accounted for…
Wait, was it… me?
Oh, right.
It was me.
“Weren’t you the one saying let’s go? Are you planning to stand around all night?” Yeojoon shouted.
Yoonseo tried to calm Yeojoon, who finally quieted down but kept glaring, lips jutting out in frustration.
Annoyed but now focused, Taeyoung led the rookies down the mountain.
Fortunately, it wasn’t far from the Center.
Though they had nothing on them — no phones, no wallets — they still had their gear, so Taeyoung called for pickup on the way down.
Not long after, vehicles arrived at the base of the mountain to retrieve them.
Less time had passed than he expected — it was still the night of the Gate training, though closer to dawn than midnight.
Either way, it wasn’t as bad as he feared.
Upon arrival, Taeyoung filed a report about everything they experienced, including Wonho’s condition.
His hair wasn’t fully white, but nearly there — clearly unwell, and mentally unstable on top of the energy waves — like a ticking time bomb. They needed to find him fast.
Oddly, Taeyoung hadn’t noticed anything particularly off at the time.
It felt unsettling, but he couldn’t pinpoint why.
“…Who did Esper Wonho say he was looking for?”
Jin Seyoung, the researcher overseeing Wonho, approached him with a question after hearing his report.
Though Taeyoung had already explained everything, he repeated it for Seyoung.
“He called out for ‘Yoon Haebom.’ Claimed Haebom was his pair Guide. But as far as I know, Wonho’s never had a pair Guide. Am I wrong?”
It was possible he didn’t know everything.
Even if Wonho was practically a celebrity within the Center and beyond, Taeyoung couldn’t know every detail of his life.
But Jin Seyoung was different — she was the researcher directly responsible for Wonho’s compatibility tests.
If anyone knew, it was her.
“There isn’t one. Never has been… There’s no Guide by that name either.”
“That’s what I thought. He’s in bad shape. We need to bring him in for guiding ASAP. I’ve already told Guide Yoonseo to rest until then, so he should be ready when we find Wonho.”
Seyoung nodded and immediately started tracking Wonho’s location.
At that moment, Wonho was still lost in the mountains beyond the Gate.
He scoured the forest like he was hunting for lice, but there wasn’t a trace of Haebom anywhere.
The only presence he sensed was the animals — not a single human in sight.
“This doesn’t make sense. Yoon Haebom, where are you? Fuck, when I find you, you’re done. You’re not stepping outside the house — no, outside your room — ever again. Don’t even think about complaining; this is your own fault.”
His heart pounded uncontrollably with anxiety.
The fear that Haebom might suddenly vanish had always haunted Wonho.
But this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.
Where had everything gone wrong?
Was it when the simulated space created by Esper abilities suddenly turned into a real Gate?
Wonho shook off the tangled mess in his head, tearing through the forest.
A violent urge to destroy everything surged within him.
But if Haebom was still out here somewhere, he could get hurt.
So Wonho forced himself to suppress the impulse.
He pictured Haebom’s clear, innocent face.
If he didn’t, he might lose control and obliterate not just the forest — but the entire city.
He had enough power to do it.
‘Thump, thump, thump’ — his heart raced wildly with unease.
If Haebom wasn’t in these mountains, there was only one place he could be.
It didn’t make sense for Haebom to slip past an S-Class Esper like him… but Wonho knew Haebom would be there.
He moved faster than when he’d been scouring the mountains, rushing to the place Haebom might be.
It wasn’t far from the Center, so it didn’t take long to get there.
His gear beeped repeatedly the whole way, but Wonho ignored it.
He wanted to rip it off, but what if Haebom called? He couldn’t risk it.
He punched in the familiar door lock code and flung the door open.
“Yoon Haebom!”
I called out loudly for my lover, but only silence returned.
Once again, I felt that strange sense of unease.
This was the space Haebom and I had always shared, yet something had changed.
Definitely…
Even the faint scent of Haebom that should tickle my nose was completely gone.
Even if Haebom had gone out, this place should still carry his scent.
But right now, there was nothing.
Except for my own, I couldn’t detect a single other scent.
It was as if Haebom had never even stepped foot in this house.
“This doesn’t make sense… There’s no way. Haebom, I’m already shocked enough, so come out now. Stop messing with me.”
Wonho’s voice, low and subdued, trembled faintly.
It revealed all too clearly how disoriented he was.
His gaze swept over the living room visible the moment he stepped in through the front door.
It all looked normal, yet something felt off.
“…Yoon Haebom.”
His steps, heavy with shock, carried him to stand in front of Haebom’s room.
Reaching toward the doorknob, Wonho clenched his fist, then slowly opened it again.
From the moment he set foot inside the house, he had already realized Haebom’s presence was completely absent.
The reason Wonho hesitated to open the door wasn’t just because Haebom wasn’t here—but because he feared there would be no trace of Haebom left at all.
That couldn’t be possible… yet…
* * *
