FG | Chapter 4.1

Gu Seungjae led the raid team into the Gate, even Seon Jiyeol, whom I had trusted, failing to recognize the honey trap.

‘Tsk.’

Right now, the only thing I could do was send a request for reinforcements.

‘I wonder if there’s an S-class who’ll accept it.’

The number of casualties would depend on how many accepted. But that was something to worry about later—right now, the priority was requesting support.

Just as I opened my tablet—

“Let’s have a talk.”

Seon Jiyeol approached me. I was busy as hell, so I had no idea what he wanted to say, but I had no time to deal with him.

“Hey.”

I ignored him and was about to press the request button when someone grabbed my shoulder and forcibly turned me around.

My tablet slipped from my hands and fell to the ground. I saw a foot step on it. With a cracking sound, the screen shattered. I stared at it in shock when Seon Jiyeol spoke, irritation lacing his voice.

“I asked you a question.”

I lifted my gaze, locking eyes with him.

I was much taller and bigger than him, so I looked down at him. Seon Jiyeol didn’t seem to like that—he took a step back and crossed his arms.

“Why are you spreading lies?”

“Lies?”

“Falsely claiming an exclusive position is a serious crime. What’s your purpose in going around saying you’re Esper Yeo Eundo’s exclusive Guide?”

I wondered why he had such a misunderstanding, then remembered—I hadn’t specified ‘monitoring’ before ‘exclusive.’ Right, that was my mistake.

I hadn’t explained properly, but still…

“And what does that have to do with you, Seon Jiyeol Guide?”

“…What?”

“If it’s false representation, the concerned party can report it themselves.”

“You call that an answer…?!”

Ignoring Seon Jiyeol’s seething voice, I picked up my fallen tablet.

‘Tsk, completely wrecked.’

Being a budget model, its durability was trash. The screen was shattered and unresponsive.

Since each department had different dedicated models, getting a replacement was a hassle. Depending on the reason, I might even have to write an incident report.

Maybe it was because my already complicated situation had gotten even messier, but despite knowing it was pointless to pick a fight with him, I had no intention of humoring Seon Jiyeol. Just to be petty, I said,

“And didn’t Yeo Eundo already tell you what we are?”

I gathered up the broken tablet pieces and looked at Seon Jiyeol. Then, I smiled and added,

“He said we’re partners.”

At that single word, Seon Jiyeol’s face twisted in disgust, as if I had just spat the worst possible insult at him. He clenched his teeth and glared at me with cold fury.

Not caring at all, I started looking around for someone from the audit department.

That’s when—suddenly—someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me into an embrace.

It was Yeo Eundo.

‘Why the hell are you here now?’

For a second, I thought maybe he had given up on the raid and left, but then I noticed—the ominous Gate was flickering and on the verge of disappearing. The raid had been completed.

‘So it wasn’t a honey trap?’

No way. That eerie, unpleasant aura had definitely been a honey trap.

But I soon figured out why the Gate had been cleared so abnormally fast. The device on Yeo Eundo’s wrist, which was pressed against me, was sending an alert that his AD level was in the danger zone.

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If measured manually, it’d be even higher.

I wasn’t the only one who realized Yeo Eundo’s condition.

“Esper Yeo Eundo! You need guiding immediately!”

Seon Jiyeol grabbed hold of Yeo Eundo, who was still clinging to me. Yeo Eundo’s AD level was high, but not as bad as during his last rampage. He still had some rationality left, and Seon Jiyeol’s guiding should be enough to stabilize him.

I planned to push Yeo Eundo off as soon as Seon Jiyeol started guiding him. But things never went as expected—especially when it came to Yeo Eundo.

“Ugh!”

Seon Jiyeol, who had been holding onto Yeo Eundo, suddenly clutched his mouth and gagged. He barely lifted his head to look at me, his eyes filled with something close to fear.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

I had no idea what he saw or felt to make him react like that. But if there was a reason, the only possible one was the Yeo Eundo clinging to my back.

Just as I was about to turn to check, Yeo Eundo suddenly picked me up.

“Esper Yeo Eundo, what are you doing?”

“Princess carry?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Nope.”

Is this guy insane?

Dealing with Yeo Eundo was giving me a headache I didn’t even have before.

“This isn’t the time for jokes. Esper Yeo Eundo, don’t you need guiding right now?”

“Not here… it’s embarrassing.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about in guiding?”

“You said we’re partners.”

Yeo Eundo’s cheeks flushed red, and he seemed too flustered to even meet my eyes properly.

…So he did hear that. I’d only said it out of frustration over my broken tablet, but apparently, Yeo Eundo had taken it to heart.

I had to set things straight before he started getting any weird ideas.

“That’s not the kind of partner I meant!”

I did say partner, but not that kind.

I was the one who said it, but even to me, my argument had zero credibility. I needed a better excuse—and fast.

“Partner as in… we’ll become partners in a month. That’s what I meant.”

“But you still called me your partner.”

…Why did he only hear the parts he wanted to?

“Listen to me! What I meant was—!”

“My partner.”

The grip on my shoulders and knees tightened. His deep, longing gaze wrapped around me, pinning me in place.

Still holding me in his arms, he strode past Seon Jiyeol.

‘Looks like he’s heading home.’

I had a pretty good idea where we were going.

And judging by his firm hold, Yeo Eundo had no intention of putting me down until we got there. I had no one to blame but myself for this mess, but that didn’t make it any less exhausting.

Sure enough, he carried me all the way home. Once inside, he finally set me down gently and crouched down.

For a moment, I wasn’t sure what he was doing—then I realized.

He was taking off my shoes.

“Esper Yeo Eundo.”

At my call, he lifted his head, meeting my gaze. His golden eyes shimmered with anticipation, practically glowing.

Ignoring that, I asked, “What happened with the Gate?”

“What do you mean?”

As expected, he didn’t seem to understand my question.

“Your AD level is unstable. Something must have happened inside, didn’t it?”

I couldn’t just outright ask if it had been a honey trap, so I had to phrase it like this.

But instead of answering, Yeo Eundo wrapped his arms around my knees and slowly lifted his gaze. His face was flushed, likely from his skyrocketing AD.

Then, in a low voice, he murmured, warm breath tickling my fingers.

“Please…”

He wasn’t saying anything about what happened inside the Gate.

“I’m asking what happened.”

“Seol Maehwa Guide-nim…”

“Tsk.”

He clung to my legs, whining. It didn’t seem like he was intentionally avoiding my question, but still. Clicking my tongue, I pushed his head away and grabbed my phone.

Once a Gate was cleared, the audit department received an initial report. Since I was part of the Planning and Coordination Office’s Information Statistics Division, I could check it in real time.

Instead of asking this lunatic, it was better to see for myself.

Since my tablet was broken, I had to check on my phone. The report came in—it was surprisingly clean.

‘No casualties?’

Even though there were injury records, there had been no healer requests. That meant the on-site healers had been enough.

Judging by the report alone, the Gate seemed to be Beta-class, as initially assessed by the audit department. But the real issue was Yeo Eundo.

There was no way an S-class Esper’s AD level would spike like this from a mere Beta-class Gate.

I grabbed the cheeks of the idiot still clinging to my legs and asked again.

“Esper Yeo Eundo, are you really saying nothing happened inside the Gate?”

“Seol Maehwa Guide-nim.”

“…….”

It was my mistake for expecting a sane answer from a completely out-of-it Yeo Eundo.

There was no point in pressing further. The Gate had already been cleared, and digging any deeper wouldn’t change anything. I let go of his face.

But then he caught my hand and rubbed his cheek against it.

“I’m in pain.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

If he were a lower-ranked Esper, his AD level would have already sent him into a full rampage. There was no way he wasn’t in pain.

Honestly, he should’ve just let Seon Jiyeol guide him when they were on-site. It would’ve made things easier.

When I reacted indifferently, Yeo Eundo’s eyes watered, and he whined.

“Can’t you guide me?”

He was begging pitifully, but compared to the day he actually went berserk, this was nothing. At this level, even an A-rank guide would be sufficient.

I had no reason to entertain his antics, so I pushed up my glasses with my index finger and firmly replied,

“As I’ve told you before, you need to receive guiding appropriate to your rank.”

“I want to receive it from Seol Maehwa Guide-nim.”

His body trembled as he desperately craved guiding. I told him,

“I’ll assist you in getting matched with a high-rank Guide.”

In the meantime, I received a message from the Center saying they were sending someone to pick up Yeo Eundo directly.

Yeo Eundo muttered something under his breath.

“…Was it not enough?”

“Huh?”

I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me, but then he shook his head. He seemed to be deep in thought, which made me uneasy. Before he could dwell on it any further, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet.

“The Center sent someone for you. Let’s go.”

I expected him to resist, but surprisingly, he obediently followed.