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“Seonwoo, the Center is doing this for your sake… and for everyone else’s. You made a mistake, and now everyone’s scared because of you. Don’t you see?”

“You can’t use your powers recklessly. Your ability is like a ticking time bomb. You’re only allowed to use it when the Center gives permission.”

“Because you’re dangerous… because you’re scary… that’s why people hate you. So you have to try hard to make sure they don’t hate you, right?”

“You’ll behave from now on, won’t you?”

It was only after the higher-ups at the Center decided I could be released that I was finally let out of the isolation room. The education continued steadily even after that. If I ever hesitated to respond to an order or showed any signs of resistance, they’d send me back into isolation.

That’s how I grew up.

As I matured, so did my powers. The missions I received from the Center were rarely fieldwork like dungeon raids or managing dungeon shock cases. Instead, they usually involved internal affairs.

Most of my work revolved around criminal reform or interrogation—reeducating those with anti-Center sentiments and extracting information from members of terrorist organizations.

“He’s nuts. He makes turning someone into a puppet look easy. What happens if he eventually learns to control S-Ranks too?”

“Then he’d be invincible. He could take over the world on his own. Seriously, what kind of crap is this?”

“It’s so ridiculous I’m not even surprised anymore. He’s even more of a monster than Ki Sihyeon.”

“At least with Ki Sihyeon, you can kind of understand it—he just uses a bunch of different abilities at once, so it’s about scale. But this? What the hell is this?”

“Seriously, what kind of karma did monsters like that rack up in a past life to get powers like that after awakening?”

No one touched me. They all kept their distance. They didn’t want to come near me. They were constantly on edge—watching my every move, every glance, every twitch of my hand like it was a threat.

And every time I saw that fear in their eyes, I never knew what kind of expression I should be making. It was exhausting.

So I looked at Ki Sihyeon’s back.

He once said he liked it when I looked him in the eye, told me to grow up quickly… but honestly, I think I spent more time staring at his back than his eyes.

“When is the kid ever going to grow up? He’s getting taller, sure, but every time I see him, he somehow looks smaller.”

For me, emotions were just one more variable in the mental landscape I could manipulate. Being able to take apart and control someone’s mind meant even my own sense of free will felt uncertain.

I used to wonder what exactly it was I felt for Ki Sihyeon. Admiration? Love? Fear? Empathy? Jealousy? Disgust?

None of those labels mattered. Even if I defined it, nothing would change.

Maybe it was all of them at once. Maybe that’s what it meant to like someone. That was it—nothing more.

So I just watched. Always watching his back. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he turned around, our eyes would meet.

Wishing that if I grew just a little more, maybe I’d finally be able to reach him.

But then Yoo Sejin appeared.

And suddenly, Ki Sihyeon didn’t need to turn around anymore. He didn’t need to wait—because Sejin came to him on his own.

Sejin wasn’t behind him. He wasn’t beneath him. He walked right beside him.

Even after Sejin showed up, I still kept staring at Ki Sihyeon’s back. But eventually, when it became clear Ki Sihyeon would never turn around, it was Yoo Sejin—holding his hand—who finally looked back at me.

That’s when I realized…

Maybe I thought we could understand each other. Because you once said you were lonely.

But that was just a fantasy. What you needed was salvation. You just wanted to breathe again.

If you were waiting for someone you knew I could never become… you should’ve just told me.

That night, at the New Year’s party…

When Yoo Sejin asked me why I was leaving so early, I couldn’t even give a proper answer. I just stammered something about needing to go back to the Center. Said my head hurt. Maybe I ate something bad. The excuses were pitiful, but Sejin accepted them anyway.

If Yoo Sejin didn’t hold me back, no one else would.

The party had just begun. As fireworks lit up the sky behind me, I got into the car and left.

The road back to the Center was dark—I couldn’t even see out the window—but I felt like I knew what it looked like. Probably crowded, noisy. Everyone out celebrating the new year.

January 1st.

In the early morning hours, the Center was dead quiet. Barely anyone had come in. It felt like I was the only one there. And I was glad.

I locked myself in my room and stayed in bed all day.

I didn’t want to wake up.

* * *

I opened my eyes. …Or did I?

My head was spinning. Dizzy. My body felt weak, like all my strength had drained out. I tried moving a finger—it barely twitched.

Everything was dark. My ears were ringing. My stomach churned with nausea.

“Uugh…”

Think. What happened? Who am I? Woo Seonwoo. Right… Where am I? Isolation room. How long have I been here?

On the way back, they sedated me, and when I finally came to, Nam Suhyeok had thrown me back in here. Said I needed another round of ideological reeducation.

It had been a while since I’d last received one.

The Center is my guardian. I’m an orphan—my best-case scenario was probably ending up in an orphanage. If the Center had given up on me, I wouldn’t have landed in an orphanage. I would’ve gone straight to prison.

Instead, the Center chose to protect and raise me. So I should always be… grateful to them…

“Ah… ugh…”

It feels like I’m about to break.

I didn’t even know what was breaking—but whatever it was, it hurt. No, it wasn’t just pain. I wanted it to break. Maybe then, this suffocating feeling would go away.

I was in a restraint suit and blindfolded—I couldn’t even tell if my eyes were open or shut. My jaw ached from the gag they’d put in my mouth. They must’ve done something to my ears too, because I couldn’t hear a thing.

With all my senses blocked, my mind was racing. The only thing I could move was my brain… but even that felt jammed. Stuck. Too full. Too loud.

And so, I just kept thinking.

“You’re dangerous. You could threaten everyone’s safety. You know staying quietly in the Center is what’s best for everyone. Woo Seonwoo, why are you being so selfish?”

Dr. Seo spoke to me firmly. Among all the doctors who had ever overseen me, Dr. Seo was the one who had watched over me the longest.

“I just… Ki Sihyeon, he…”

“You’re blaming someone else now? That’s a bad habit.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dr. Seo told me to take some time for reflection and sent me to the isolation room to clear my head. I don’t know how long it’s been since then.

It’s not that I plan to disobey the Center. I don’t want to go outside, and I’m not even curious about what’s out there. Even if I’m granted the right to leave once I turn twenty, I won’t go. I won’t even step out for a walk. I’ll live in the Center for the rest of my life.

My ability is for the Center, for everyone, and also…

It felt like something was crawling through my brain, eating away at it. If that’s what it was, I wished it would just finish the job and leave nothing behind.

“Urgh, ngh…”

I was squirming when, all of a sudden, light flooded my vision. I hadn’t even realized I had my eyes open. So I was awake… When did that happen?

“What are you, some drugged-up rat? What are you twitching around for?”

The blinding light chased away the pitch darkness and silence. A gruff, familiar voice cut through the fog. As I blinked to clear my vision, I saw someone—Gyeon Yejin. Gyeon Yejin? Why is he here?

“Seonwoo! Are you okay?”

He removed the gag from my mouth and pulled me into a tight hug…

Warm. It must be Yoo Sejin.

“…Ugh.”

“It’s me, Seonwoo. Do you recognize me? Hmm?”

“This kid’s still out of it and flopping around like a fish. Can’t even see straight?”

“Are these people out of their minds? Locking someone up for two weeks just because they stepped outside? What kind of logic is that?!”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Yoo Sejin, visibly furious, began undoing the restraints on my suit. Next to him, Gyeon Yejin was lazily picking at his ear, answering half-heartedly.

Warm… I blinked slowly at Yoo Sejin. I could piece together what had happened. So, I’d been here for two weeks. It felt both longer and shorter than that somehow.

The moment my restraints were undone, my strength gave out and I collapsed into Yoo Sejin’s arms.

“Ah, damn it. Shit, shit, shit. Yejin, get me some water!”

Cold water filled my mouth. I couldn’t swallow well—half of it went down my throat, the other half spilled out messily. I could hear Gyeon Yejin saying something to Yoo Sejin, but it was muffled.

That’s weird. I’d been sent to isolation before, and there were times I’d stayed in here for more than two weeks at a time. The first time, I was in here for over six months. It had never felt this hard.

Maybe Nam Suhyeok was right. Maybe I have been slipping lately. I don’t think I’ve changed, but with my coming of age approaching, maybe I’ve started acting more impulsively without even realizing it.

I don’t know. I feel the same… There’s no reason for anything to be different. Unless… Maybe it’s because of what happened at the New Year’s party…

Did I get my heart broken?

But I’ve been working through that, so I should be fine. I’m not handling it great, but if I keep trying, it’ll get better.

“Seonwoo. Look at me. Are you in pain? Where does it hurt? Why are your waves so chaotic?”

“Shit… Is he about to lose control? Yoo Sejin, move aside.”

Gyeon Yejin grabbed me by the collar and hoisted me up. My body was completely limp, a dead weight, but he lifted me effortlessly with one hand.