* * *
“…There’s something I need to look into. Just wait patiently. And don’t cause any trouble.”
“What? You’re the one always causing trouble. Just don’t get hurt.”
“Mm.”
Wonho was headed toward the entrance when he suddenly turned around and walked back toward the sofa where Haebom was sitting.
Then, with one hand, he cupped Haebom’s chin and pressed his cheeks with his fingers, making his lips pucker like a fish.
When Haebom scowled, asking what he was doing, Wonho chuckled, then leaned in and lightly kissed the fish-shaped lips.
‘Smack’—a soft sound echoed between them, but despite the light contact, Wonho let out a sigh, his eyes full of longing.
He briefly considered staying, but the Gate he was about to enter had the highest chance of containing what he’d been searching for.
So he had to leave this small, adorable Yoon Haebom behind.
Annoyed by that fact, he began planting kisses all over Haebom’s face.
“Ah, hey—! What are you—! Ugh!”
Haebom squirmed, trying to escape the sudden kiss attack.
When his struggling got too intense, Wonho finally let him go.
Breathing hard from the effort, Haebom glared at him.
“I’m heading out.”
“…Fine! Just don’t get hurt… and come back quickly.”
Wonho let out a soft laugh and ruffled Haebom’s hair before turning and walking out the door.
Though Haebom had snapped at him to go, he soon mumbled for him to come back quickly and stared after Wonho until he completely disappeared from view.
It was a B-Class Gate, so it would only take half a day or, at most, one full day.
Still, Haebom didn’t like being apart from him.
With a sigh, he pulled himself off the sofa.
He hadn’t just been lazing around during the two weeks that Wonho had been jumping between Gates.
There were more research materials available to Guides than he’d expected.
When he asked Lee Taeyoung, he learned there were actually quite a few Guides who studied Gates and monsters.
After all, their job often required them to wait for hours—or even days—while their Espers were inside the Gates.
Even Guides with no academic interest still wanted to know what kind of places their Espers were entering, or what kind of monsters they were fighting.
Haebom had initially started reading the research for a different reason, but soon found himself wanting to better understand the Gates Wonho was entering.
In fact, he might’ve been the only Guide to have ever gone inside one.
Hardly anyone at the Center even knew he’d returned from a Gate.
Even Wonho only knew that Haebom had awakened as a Guide inside one—he didn’t know the details.
Jin Seyoung had said the fewer people who knew the truth, the better, which is why Haebom hadn’t mentioned it at first.
But if he ever found out even a fragment of how he’d crossed into this world, Haebom planned to tell Wonho everything—his heart included.
The more time he spent with Wonho, the more his feelings piled up.
“Ugh… I’d better go.”
Haebom had felt like he was floating while Wonho was there, but now that he’d left, he felt sunken and heavy again.
Slowly dragging himself to his room, he changed into some casual clothes.
Since it wasn’t an official guiding session, he didn’t need to wear his uniform.
He threw on something simple and left the house.
It was unfortunate that the Gate and monster research materials were only accessible at the Center.
If only he could bring them home…
But that was illegal.
There was always someone who’d try to misuse them.
So the one who needed the information had to make the effort.
Shuffling along, he made his way to the Center.
Normally, he would’ve stopped by Jin Seyoung’s lab to chat, but today, he headed straight for his guiding office.
“It’s finally getting warmer…”
Even though he walked this path all the time, it somehow felt unfamiliar today.
It had been a while since he crossed over into the world Wonho lived in—and the seasons were changing.
With that odd feeling lingering, he stepped into the office building.
“Whew… I hope I find something today…”
For over two weeks, he’d been reading diligently, but he hadn’t found anything about people crossing through Gates from another world—or dimension.
There was just so much research.
And for someone like Haebom, who was never good with science or math, it was even harder to understand.
Going through each study one by one was incredibly time-consuming.
If today didn’t yield anything, he planned to ask Jin Seyoung directly.
But in order to do that, he’d have to tell her that he came from another dimension.
Maybe she already knew.
After all, Jin Seyoung was the first person to realize Haebom didn’t exist in this world—not in the way Wonho and she did.
Even as an S-Class Guide, the research materials he could access were limited.
Most were filled with studies on Gate compositions, monster traits, and how to deal with them.
These researchers lived and breathed research—there was nothing they didn’t study.
Gurgle—
“Ah… what time is it?”
When he checked the time, lunch had long since passed.
He could hardly recall a time in his life when he had been this focused on something.
Especially not on someone else’s research or academic papers—those were things he had never even bothered to read.
And yet, he couldn’t help but think maybe he had been overdoing it these past two weeks.
But despite all the effort, the only things left in his hands were scraps like monster skin tissue.
Once he heard his stomach grumble, the hunger hit him all at once.
No results, and now even his stomach was empty—it all just made him feel pitiful.
If Wonho were here, he’d have nagged him to eat three meals a day without skipping, wouldn’t he?
With that thought, Haebom slowly rose from his seat.
‘Like, I’m this focused because of who, exactly? And yet I’m the only one here pretending to be busy…’ he muttered as he headed out of the guide office for lunch.
“Should I go home…? Mmm, nah, I’ll just go to the cafeteria.”
Normally, he’d have gone home to eat and take a short break, but today Haebom chose to go to the cafeteria within the center.
Eating at home meant he’d have to prepare and heat up the food, then clean up afterward. It just felt like too much effort.
More importantly, he had already decided to go see Jin Seyoung after lunch, so the center cafeteria made more sense.
Bzzzt— As he was walking toward the cafeteria, his phone vibrated softly.
For a moment, Haebom thought it was a message from Wonho and quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket.
[Mr. Haebom, if you have time today, could you stop by the lab? I have something to talk to you about. And something you might want to hear, too. —Team Leader Jin Seyoung]
“…Huh? What’s this…?”
Haebom blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
Sure, he had been planning to go see Jin Seyoung today.
But to have the person he was going to meet reach out to him first—and to say they had something to talk about, no less.
Not just something to say, but something he’d need to hear too?
It was only natural that a sense of dread settled over him.
It felt like being called into the teacher’s office even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.
[Yes, I’m on my way to the cafeteria now. I’ll stop by after I eat.]
* * *
