* * *
“You already know about him. Yes… My brother is still a student, so… I want him to live comfortably.”
Haeram had a younger brother who was six years younger than him.
The boy had been born without any traits and had been ignored by their father since he was a child.
Though it was something he couldn’t say out loud in front of Seo Jungwoo, Haeram hoped his brother would live a stable life after he left this world.
Before, he had no way to ensure that, but now that he had money, he planned to make a detailed plan after being discharged to leave an inheritance for his brother.
“He’s probably already living comfortably…”
“It might not be that simple. Our home isn’t exactly well-off.”
Seo Jungwoo stared off into space for a moment, his eyes turning cloudy.
Randomly, Haeram misunderstood and wondered if the man had some family secrets he couldn’t talk about. He worried that he had brought up a bad topic for no reason.
Trying to read his mood, Haeram tightened his grip. Feeling the pressure on his chest, Seo Jungwoo’s gaze drifted down before returning to Haeram.
“Right, let’s say that’s true. What’s next? That’s not something Haeram wants for himself either. Tell me what you want to do. Not what you want to do for others.”
In truth, what he wanted most was to become a Guide, but that was impossible no matter how much money he had. Haeram thought about how ironic the world was.
When he had no money, he was busy worrying about being kicked out of the hospital the moment his chance of awakening hit zero percent.
He had worried about how he would survive until his last breath once the state support was cut off.
Now that he actually had money, he had to face the fact that his heart didn’t truly desire those things.
“Well, I’ve thought about a lot of things. Visiting the old palaces. Going to an amusement park. Going to a shopping mall. Riding an airplane. I even imagined going for a trip outside the protected zone…”
Seo Jungwoo watched intently as Haeram listed them off, counting on his fingers.
“The plan to go outside the protected zone is quite something. Even I haven’t thought about that.”
“Yes. I want to go to the ocean, and I want to climb to the top of a mountain.”
Because the world was a place where Gates of all sizes could open anywhere, you had to hire a private Esper guard just to go on a trip outside the areas where the Esper military was stationed.
In remote mountain areas where small Gates would open and close on their own, there were places filled with pollutants, and cases where uncaptured monsters were hiding were quite common.
Since visiting the ocean or mountains was such a luxury in this world, it was worthy of being called a wish.
Every time Haeram mentioned a plausible wish, Seo Jungwoo bounced his leg and praised him.
“Good. What else? Tell me more. So I can remember them all.”
“Umm…” Haeram rolled his eyes.
“I also had a vague thought about wanting to stay in a hotel suite. If I went to a place like that, I’d eat something fancy, go to a wine bar to drink, and also…”
“And also?”
As Seo Jungwoo urged him on with a smile, Haeram’s face turned slightly red.
‘Umm… this is a wish that doesn’t really have anything to do with money, but can I say it?’
Actually, it wasn’t completely unrelated. If he was really going to die without awakening, he wanted to try dating just once before then.
Since dating for love felt like it would hurt too much, he wanted to try a relationship that was just physical.
‘Can I really say that?’
“Well, just things like that.”
Haeram changed his mind immediately.
There was a chance he might actually awaken. He didn’t think he needed to tell Seo Jungwoo all of his embarrassing wishes.
As Haeram shrugged and glossed over the rest of his wishes, one of Seo Jungwoo’s eyebrows twitched upward.
Haeram looked at him warily, wondering if the man would demand to know the hidden wishes.
Seo Jungwoo looked at Haeram silently for a moment and then laughed softly.
“Then when shall we go out?”
“Huh? Where?”
“You said you were going to buy me a meal.”
The conversation circled back to the dinner appointment.
Haeram let out a small sigh of relief, glad that the topic he glossed over had passed safely.
A dinner appointment.
That was it.
Seo Jungwoo had grandly called it a date, but Haeram thought the term ‘dinner appointment’ was much more fitting.
He had so many things to be grateful for regarding Seo Jungwoo.
There were so many that it was overwhelming to list them one by one.
It was purely thanks to him that Haeram had endured and made it through the point where he was about to give up, with only one year left until the awakening limit.
Normally, every day would have been painful, like waiting for an execution date, but thanks to Seo Jungwoo, every day was even enjoyable.
Therefore, he wanted to buy the most delicious food in the world and capture the expression on Seo Jungwoo’s face as he ate it.
Perhaps it was an appointment mixed with his own hidden desires as well.
“I’m fine with any time. You pick the date and apply for the outing at the desk, Teacher.”
“Okay. Our outing.”
Seo Jungwoo playfully repeated the word ‘our.’
Haeram wrinkled his nose as if his chest felt ticklish.
His first outing, and a fancy dinner with Seo Jungwoo.
Haeram found it difficult to hide his excitement.
“When I go out, I want to buy a present for Seungjoon too. If you have time, Teacher, let’s go shopping together.”
“Sure. Play as much as you want. That day, I’ll be your guardian.”
Haeram’s round eyes filled with joy.
This was likely the expression of a child receiving a Christmas present.
The plan was perfect, and there was plenty of time and money.
The person going with him was also a man so perfect he could be called a god.
Of course, that was assuming he showed up on the day of the appointment.
The next day, after receiving confirmation of the outing application from Sim Jihye, Haeram headed to Seo Jungwoo’s private room in Building E with an excited heart.
The date he had chosen was perfect in Haeram’s eyes too.
Furthermore, he had received a note saying that a restaurant reservation had been made for that date, so Haeram felt like he was walking on air.
If he had floated even 1cm higher, people might have said he was flying.
Since he didn’t know any restaurants, he had left the reservation entirely to Seo Jungwoo.
When he searched for the restaurant the man had booked, everything from the exterior to the menu was absolutely perfect.
However, it didn’t take long for Haeram’s inflated heart to deflate.
Seo Jungwoo’s private room was empty.
“Teacher…?”
Under the quiet, cool air, only the sound of Haeram’s breathing could be heard.
At that moment, the phone in his pocket began to blare a loud emergency alert.
It felt as if it were warning him of what was about to happen, and Haeram’s eyes widened.
He reflexively shuddered at the faint smell of ash brushing against the tip of his nose.
It was the moment a bad omen raced down his spine.
Even at the central desk on the 12th floor of Building D, where Haeram was hospitalized, they couldn’t confirm Seo Jungwoo’s schedule.
All calls made to his contact number were ignored, and his private line was dead.
Everyone was used to Seo Jungwoo being difficult to contact, but since this was the first time he had skipped Haeram’s treatment schedule without notice, they were just as puzzled as Haeram.
“It was late yesterday afternoon when I heard from Esper Seo Jungwoo about the outing application, and even then, there was no mention of today’s treatment schedule. It’s very strange. He’s not the type to do this.”
“Nothing happened to him, right?”
“If something happened to him, it would be on the breaking news.”
Sim Jihye comforted the worried Haeram while clicking on the news tab of a major portal site.
“Look, there’s no news. Even the Gate news section is quiet.”
“…….”
“Then today, Han Haeram-si, go to Building E… Let’s see, Esper Chae Seok-hyeong is free today. I’ll put a call in from here, so you just need to go. I’ll book a treatment with Esper Chae Seok-hyeong right away. The treatment room number is…”
“I don’t want to. I was supposed to go out with my teacher, so how can I… with someone else?”
“Oh my, what does the outing have to do with training? I told you, you can’t skip your assigned training time… Haeram-si? Haeram-si! Patient Han Haeram!”
Ignoring Sim Jihye, who was tapping on her tablet to assign a new training partner, Haeram ran away.
Her sharp voice echoed through the hallway, but he ignored it and kept running.
Because he was someone who had always been there, Haeram was simply flustered now that communication had been cut off like this.
Upon realizing that he had no way to reach him, Haeram snapped to his senses.
‘It’ll be a problem if Teacher likes me.’
Haeram laughed at how ridiculous he was.
He had told himself not to have anything or be greedy because his time was limited, but even thinking he could control that was his own arrogance.
He must have already thought he had Seo Jungwoo in the palm of his hand.
He felt like his whole body was aching as if he had acted arrogantly and then been knocked down.
Because there had been no sign or warning, Haeram trembled.
His heart grew cold in an instant.
* * *
