PRT | Chapter 1.3

Heeseo’s eyes met with Seo Yigyeom’s, who looked down without any change in expression. He watched Heeseo while lighting a cigarette, deeply inhaling until his cheeks hollowed, then blowing smoke at the man.

“Didn’t anyone teach you not to fight with friends?”

“You fucking bastard, where do you come from…!”

The man tried to attack while coughing, but Seo Yigyeom, indifferent, just smoked. He clicked his tongue, looking back and forth between Heeseo and the man, probably considering them both unregistered Espers.

“A Guide acting tough, fuck. You won’t be walking out of here alive today, you asshole.”

If only he had stopped there. Instead, the man raised his hand, glaring. Heeseo flinched at the threatening gesture. No, he’ll get hurt if he does that. Despite the clear concern, Seo Yigyeom remained composed.

“Why can’t you understand when I say it nicely?”

Was it immediately after Seo Yigyeom sighed, his red tongue visible between his teeth? The debris aimed at Seo Yigyeom fell to the ground without reaching him, as if they couldn’t approach him.

Then, bam! A tremendous sound echoed. Seo Yigyeom grabbed the man by the hair and slammed him against the wall of the building, repeatedly doing so despite the man’s struggles.

Finally, when the man lost consciousness and went limp, Seo Yigyeom let go. Heeseo watched Seo Yigyeom make the man kneel, feeling a chill as he casually shook off the ash from his blood-stained hand.

Is he dead?

…Did he kill him?

“Should I let you live?”

When Seo Yigyeom asked this question while Heeseo lay there like a corpse, only blinking, he leaned down unexpectedly.

“You guys can’t do without me, right?”

There was no anger in his slow question, yet Heeseo trembled. It was because he could sense the faint contempt in Seo Yigyeom’s voice. Even when beaten, he felt wronged but not scared; now, his tongue felt numb.

“Go ahead and lose control.”

He felt like a prey exposing its neck in front of a beast baring its sharp teeth.

“Then perhaps, I might let you live.”

Contrary to his thoughts, Seo Yigyeom whispered gently and even wiped the blood from Heeseo’s eyes. After checking on the frozen Heeseo, he tossed away his cigarette and stood up.

Thud. The action of kicking away the debris that had been pressing on Heeseo was so nonchalant and elegant that it made one forget the previous violence. Is he saving me…? Heeseo, half in doubt, breathed thinly while looking up at Seo Yigyeom.

Their eyes met, and just as Seo Yigyeom’s face turned strange while lighting another cigarette…

“Seo Yigyeom Guide-nim.”

Thud, thud. Urgent footsteps and a call came running. At the same time, Seo Yigyeom’s gaze dropped as if it had never been there.

“How are you here?”

“Just passing by, by chance.”

Ha Jaewon, who understood the situation with just a few glances, frowned uncharacteristically. Seeing Heeseo covered in blood, he seemed to realize something, but only for a moment before he bowed his head in greeting with an expressionless face.

“Take that away. And this one…”

Seo Yigyeom, gesturing instead of speaking, looked at Heeseo and continued,

“Take him for treatment. Unless you want more bodies.”

After speaking quietly, he turned away without any hesitation. Heeseo’s gaze was fixed on Seo Yigyeom’s broad back as he moved further away. The figure visible through his slowing eyelids soon turned into a dot and disappeared.

Blink, the last blink like a final flutter of wings stopped. With his eyes closed, Heeseo suddenly remembered the tag that had followed Seo Yigyeom. He had thought it was just baseless speculation, malicious criticism…

…His personality really sucks.

A new impression came out with a breath-like laugh. With that, Heeseo lost consciousness.

A minor accident.

The headquarters summarized the previous incident in one line. Despite Heeseo being diagnosed with six weeks of recovery for rib fractures and needing to stay in the hospital for a week, it was treated with indifference. They were only concerned with the level of ability proficiency. It was no different from the treatment of the two unregistered espers who were dragged in nearly dead and faced legal punishment.

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s not something Esper Kim Heeseo should apologize for.”

Even Ha Jaewon felt a tinge of responsibility but wasn’t genuinely worried. When he occasionally visited to check on Heeseo’s condition, his manner was still strictly professional, occasionally making Heeseo feel bitter.

Heeseo, groaning through several weeks, realized anew. Ah, the only one who can protect me is myself. If I lose my value, I’ll be discarded in an instant, just like those unregistered Espers. Until now, he had been overwhelmed by unfamiliarity and isolation; this time, what came was resignation.

Heeseo had lived complacently, believing that good things would naturally follow. That was his nature. That’s why the current situation, where he found himself suddenly falling, was even more challenging.

The sharp contempt was unfamiliar, painfully piercing and numbing his tongue. This feeling foretold the future. Because of this, Heeseo was dragged along in a daze without even the chance to loudly proclaim his innocence.

However, his tender skin, repeatedly wounded, had hardened. Like when he was told he was both gentle and sometimes quite stubborn, he steeled his heart. This led to the determination not to cower anymore.

What bloomed in this extreme situation was, ironically, a desire for life. Lying down under the guise of rehabilitation and recovery, he contemplated how to live safely and fully in his current situation.

“…”

The first thing he must do, undoubtedly, was to clear his name. The problem was that this path seemed incredibly distant. Even though he officially joined the headquarters and could access the data room, the way forward seemed just as daunting.

What could he do? He couldn’t even form good relationships with other espers in the headquarters, let alone with his team members. Heeseo, breathing out shallowly, turned over in pain, wincing at the sharp pain.

“Ah, my ribs…”

The small cry echoed in the empty space and came back. Holding his side, Heeseo carefully adjusted his position. Lying back, looking up at the ceiling, he suddenly laughed at how foolish he looked.

“I miss Mom.”

Lying alone in the empty dormitory, making a fuss. It felt a bit lonely and also awkward. Negative emotions easy to succumb to came rushing like a tide, but he shook them off with all his might, not wanting to be defeated by them.

Blink, with each closing of his eyelids, the patterns on the ceiling looked different. Since joining, he had moved and lived here for quite some time. His roommate rarely came in, so he was mostly alone.

The advantage and disadvantage of this quiet space was that it left room for many thoughts. Some days he reflected on the past, others he pondered the future. Strangely, he often recalled the day of the incident.

No. More precisely, the image of Seo Yigyeom who was there came to mind.

“…”

Was it because he saw him last before passing out? Or because his image was so vividly imprinted in his mind? Seo Yigyeom invaded his thoughts abruptly. As this time increased, he began to redefine his perception of him.

“He was scary right?”

Just as the rumors suggested, maybe even more remarkable than that. A man who seemed more like an Esper than a Guide. Someone who stimulated all his senses… He chewed over every detail, from his voice to his gaze, to the smallest gestures, as if they were imprinted in his mind.

Heeseo, with a fleeting smile, imagined Seo Yigyeom’s face on the ceiling. The long, sharp eyes, the dark gray pupils embedded within them, and the red lips holding a white cigarette vividly came to mind.

Since that day, whenever Seo Yigyeom appeared or was mentioned within the headquarters, Heeseo would tense up in shock. This was probably due to the faint fear he felt towards Seo Yigyeom. Yet, the reason he kept thinking about him was because of the help he received.

In a world where everyone shunned unregistered Espers, even the espers within the headquarters were no exception. While the issue of Esper rights had been somewhat resolved over time, the perception of unregistered espers remained at its worst.

“Didn’t hold the elevator for me, huh.”

But what about Seo Yigyeom? He had saved him even though he mistook him for an unregistered Esper. Despite his cold, indifferent eyes, he had cleared away all the steel bars that were blocking his breath.

He was grateful for that nonchalance, which was the first gesture of help he had felt since coming here. Even when the discomfort rose like fear, it was something to chase after.

He didn’t know why Seo Yigyeom was there that day. But it was clear that he had been saved by him for some reason.

…Well, Seo Yigyeom probably forgot about it entirely.

While Heeseo was killing time by staring blankly, he suddenly felt a presence outside the door. As he sat up and paid attention, the door lock disengaged, and the door opened.

“Huh?”

The person who stumbled in saw Heeseo and gave a cheeky smile.

“Hyung, you were here? Are your bones all healed?”

He thought he would run away, but the words were too rude to be directed at someone else, yet too loud for a monologue. The one pointing fingers with insolence had an immature smile, not fully shedding his youthful appearance.

“Maybe it’s because I prayed for you to heal quickly. I was with you in spirit every time the team leader visited.”

Amen… Heeseo stood there, dumbfounded, looking at the other who was dragging out his words. Even though only one person had entered, it suddenly felt uncomfortable. His roommate, who might visit once a week if at all, had unexpectedly shown up today.

“But hyung… aren’t you grateful? I’m starting to feel hurt.”

The one spouting nonsense was his roommate and fellow member of Team 1, Hong Taebin. An illusion Esper who, after awakening at the young age of four, was abandoned by his parents and had lived here ever since.

“…I’m grateful. You look tired too, did you come back from the field?”

“Ah, so you did greet me in your heart? I couldn’t read that…”

Was it because he hadn’t yet reached adulthood, standing on the cusp? Or perhaps because his life hadn’t been easy? Hong Taebin was all over the place with his abilities and actions. Heeseo could tell even without much interaction.

“I’m going out, so get some rest.”

“But, hyung.”

He couldn’t help but know. Hong Taebin always did something beyond common sense whenever they met.

“Hyung, have you seen something like this?”

Heeseo, who was about to pass Hong Taebin and head towards the door, stopped as if his feet were bound. His bright eyes lost their way, grappling with the air, trembling as if he had witnessed something.

“I’m so curious, it’s hard to hold back… I’m very curious by nature.”

Ah. Heeseo, suppressing a groan, bit his lip. He couldn’t close his eyes, keeping them wide open to the point of soreness. What he saw was an alley filled with dead bodies, an illusion laid out by Hong Taebin.

The illusion didn’t just appeal to the eyes; it was so realistic that it gave the illusion of being in the actual situation. The scene of a burnt corpse being crushed in the twisted air stabbed at his eyeballs.

“What does it look like when a person bursts from being compressed? Ah, realism is the life of my ability…”

“…What are you doing? Stop it.”

“Next time you go out to the field, I’ll show you. I can manifest anything I’ve seen once. It’ll be quite a sight, right?”