EOL | Chapter 1

Facing death, I truly felt alive.

Once grand buildings crumbled like cookies. The deafening roar of the world turning upside down swallowed all screams. My ears were ringing. My lips were wet with some liquid, maybe saliva or blood.

I thought I was too young to die. I was ten years old.

My heart pounded loudly. In the brief moment I closed my eyes, many thoughts flashed by. Where did Mom and Dad go? Will I see them again? Am I about to die?

My heart pounded again, as if it would leap out of my throat. At that moment, I realized anew, ‘Ah, I have a heart too.’

I was alive at that moment. And soon, I was destined to die.

‘I don’t want to die.’

Then everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes, ready to face death, what stood before me wasn’t death.

It was a hero.

The hero appeared as a boy my age.

His face, drenched in blood, looked as red as a grim reaper. He didn’t seem like a champion of justice, but a hero was a hero nonetheless.

I don’t remember exactly how he saved me. Did he push away the monsters with one hand? Maybe. Did he kick away the falling buildings? Perhaps.

The memories from long ago are vague and fairy-tale-like.

However, there is one particularly vivid scene in my memory.

In a collapsing world, the one who saved me was a boy. A boy with a flushed face, breathing heavily, spoke to me. I remember that voice.

Youthful, trembling, but slightly excited…

“I was looking for you.”

The moment I heard that one phrase, my wild dream began.

A dream to stand beside that hero.

Maybe because I wished for it so desperately, my wish came true not long after.

The summer I turned eighteen, I manifested as a guide.

It was a late time compared to others. Plus, I was a D-rank. People laughed at my insignificant ability.

But I was just happy.

As soon as I manifested as a guide, I registered at the center and went through the procedures. I immediately gave up my ordinary high school life. Everyone around me tried to stop me, but I was determined. I didn’t care about the intense training, the drug experiments, or the mock battles.

It was all because of Lee Gyeon.

I was excited about the fact that I could meet Lee Gyeon. That I could get a little closer to him. Saving the world with the person I admired made my heart swell just thinking about it. I might be a D-rank now, but if I work hard, there will be a day when I can stand shoulder to shoulder with S-rank Lee Gyeon. There will be a day when I guide Lee Gyeon, and he will recognize my ability and make me his exclusive guide. We will become the best team.

I think I naively believed that.

❖ ❖ ❖

The inside of the military vehicle, heated by the sun, was warm. The faint noise gradually grew louder.

-Sector A15 clear. High energy response terminated. Esper Team 1 returning.
-Four civilian casualties being transported to nearby hospitals. No life-threatening injuries.
-Code Red, sample lab arrival. Analysis expected to take 3 hours.
-Team Leader Han Haegyeol, you’re being called. The guide center director is looking for you.

The radio was buzzing nonstop, but none of it was the news I was waiting for. I clicked my tongue and frowned. I looked around the ruins outside the window.

Lee Gyeon was nowhere to be seen.

“This is Guide Team 1. Entering Sector A15. Where is Lee Gyeon?”

-Lee Gyeon Esper is not on site.

“Witnesses?”

-Multiple civilian witnesses are being protected and investigated at the nearby precinct…

“Not that.”

-What?

I was suddenly filled with irritation at the clueless voice.

“I’m asking if anyone saw that bastard Lee Gyeon!”

There was a commotion on the other end of the radio, then a familiar voice came through.

-Calm down, Team Leader Han Haegyeol. You’re scaring the kids.

“Sunbae.”

-You’re having a hard time because of that reckless pair esper? I told you to quit and join our team.

It was Sunbae Dohun. Hearing his calm voice amidst the chaos reassured me.

Sunbae Dohun was one of the few who understood my complicated love-hate relationship with Lee Gyeon. He was a colleague I had worked with for a long time.

-Lee Gyeon Esper made quite a scene again. He brought down three buildings this time. The legal team is rushing over.

“Did you find the tracking device?”

-We found something that looks like a tracking device. It was smashed to pieces.

As expected. Lee Gyeon broke the tracking device to avoid being tracked. Again.

“That bastard did it again!”

Listing all of Lee Gyeon’s antics would be endless, but the most infuriating was breaking the tracking devices.

Espers and guides were legally soldiers. It wasn’t just a deviation for a soldier to leave their post at will; it was a crime.

-Team Leader Han Haegyeol. Isn’t it better to quit being Lee Gyeon Esper’s pair? Come join me…

“Understood. I’ll see you at the center.”

I cut off the radio and jumped out of the vehicle. My role was to find Lee Gyeon and bring him back to the center. At this point, I couldn’t tell if I was a nanny or a pair guide.

I borrowed a field agent’s bike, scouring the area thoroughly.

The tracking device provided by the center was broken, but the homemade one I secretly attached was still intact.

Following the faint signal, I found the familiar back I was waiting for.

“Lee Gyeon! Hey! Return to the unit immediately, you crazy bastard!”

Before I even got off the bike, I was shouting.

Lee Gyeon turned to look at me, surprised.

That’s when it happened.

Rumble—

A giant tentacle shot up from the ground.

“Lee Gyeon! Get out of the way!”

Collapsing concrete, burning utility poles, and Lee Gyeon running towards me.

The sirens of the unmanned guard post wailed, and the city walls activated.

“Damn, a gate opened. There was no energy response detected earlier!”

“Han Haegyeol! Go back!”

“You can’t fight alone in your current state! I’ll cover you, so attack!”

It was a sudden battle. Lee Gyeon, uncharacteristically, struggled, and I was short on weapons.

An inevitable defeat was imminent.

For tens of minutes, we were thoroughly ravaged by the monster’s limbs. It was a hopeless situation with no reinforcements in sight.

“Han Haegyeol, go back to the center. Take my ID card and go to the First Air Raid Shelter; you’ll be safe there.”

Lee Gyeon grabbed me. He intended to throw me over the wall.

“Cowardly telling me to run away alone?”

I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth and grabbed Lee Gyeon by the collar. I intended to kiss him right then. There was no time to worry about dirt or anything else.

Lee Gyeon was in no condition to use his abilities due to accumulated battles.

Lee Gyeon needed guiding. More desperately than ever.

As I bent my elbow to cling to Lee Gyeon, he turned his head to avoid my lips. Anger surged.

“Is this the time to avoid guiding?”

Another annoying trait of Lee Gyeon.

Lee Gyeon refused guiding. No matter how urgent the situation was. Despite having great abilities, he suffered significant backlash, yet he refused treatment like a wary wild animal.

“If this keeps up, we’ll both die. I don’t want to die.”

“I can handle it.”

“If you could handle it, you would’ve done it already!”

Lee Gyeon and I wasted time bickering in the middle of the battlefield.

Then, a monster spotted us and charged quickly. My brain spun rapidly at that moment.

‘That’s an unavoidable attack. At least one of us will die. Lee Gyeon would try to save me and get hurt himself. In a typical situation, that’s the best course of action. Espers can recover quickly. But Lee Gyeon, without guiding, can’t endure…’

At this rate, Lee Gyeon would die.

Losing Lee Gyeon would be a national, no, a global loss. Guides can be replaced, but espers cannot.

I pushed Lee Gyeon, who was about to be pierced by the tentacle.

The impatient tentacle crushed my insides instead of piercing Lee Gyeon. It happened in an instant.

“Ugh—.”

“Han Haegyeol.”

Seeing Lee Gyeon’s hollow eyes, I felt a slight thrill. As the pain surged, the shallow satisfaction of ‘I repaid the favor’ filled me.

And then, darkness.

…If only it had ended there.

I found myself back on the morning a few years ago when Lee Gyeon and I were matched as a pair.

❖ ❖ ❖

The new life began to flow exactly like the past.

Lee Gyeon leaving the operation site at will.

Lee Gyeon bringing down buildings.

Lee Gyeon breaking tracking devices.

Lee Gyeon refusing guiding.

And always beside him, me, Han Haegyeol.

Han Haegyeol getting scolded by the center director instead of Lee Gyeon.

Han Haegyeol chasing after the missing Lee Gyeon.

Han Haegyeol getting angry, demanding guiding, and punching Lee Gyeon in the face.

Han Haegyeol eventually kneeling and begging.

Then both dying.

Repeating again.

In front of the stubborn and powerful esper Lee Gyeon, I was only incompetent.

The brain-crushing siren never ceased.

In the 88th death I faced, I felt my limit.

In a hazy state of consciousness, a large hand groped my chest. For a moment, my memory blanked, and I didn’t immediately realize why Lee Gyeon was doing this.

“Just hold on. Just a little longer… Han Haegyeol, don’t lose consciousness.”

Lee Gyeon was skillfully but shakily stopping my bleeding. Even while in contact with me, he was on high alert to avoid receiving guiding.

Yet he was trying to save me. It was blatant hypocrisy.

“Guiding… you need…”

“No. Han Haegyeol, don’t think about guiding. Focus on breathing.”

At that moment, something inside me snapped with a ‘twang.’

I overlapped my hand over Lee Gyeon’s and spoke in a rather calm voice.

“I think I’m really tired now.”

The foolish me finally made a decision.

To let go of this bastard Lee Gyeon’s hand.