HG | Chapter 4

At that moment, at the Awakener Management Association.

Hakyung fixed his gaze on the profile displayed on the screen.

Subject: Im Cheonghyeon (Esper)

Matching (%): 99.98

No matter how hard he stared at the screen, the truth didn’t change.

Perhaps because he had somewhat anticipated this outcome, the result itself wasn’t all that surprising. The specific figures like the compatibility and matching rate with his wavelength were fascinating, but that was all.

“…I can’t guide with this person.”

His voice, which he forced out, was filled with a complex mix of emotions.

“What? Why!”

Kwon Hojin jumped up from his seat. As if regaining his senses from Hakyung’s words, he too couldn’t take his eyes off the screen for a while, just like Hakyung. Though the meaning was entirely different.

“Wow, seriously. I never thought I’d see Im Cheonghyeon show up in a matching test. It’s true, you live long enough, you see everything.”

‘…Doesn’t the database show family relations?’

Hakyung hesitated before speaking cautiously.

“He’s… my father.”

“Huh?”

The man tilted his head with a dumbfounded expression, as if he had just heard something utterly absurd. Though Hakyung didn’t know him well, it didn’t seem like a common reaction given his usually sharp demeanor.

“Uh, what did you say? Try saying that again?”

“Oh, he’s my father. Esper Im Cheonghyeon….”

“What nonsense is that? Im Cheonghyeon isn’t your biological dad.”

“…What?”

What was he saying?

“……”

“……”

Faced with this unexpected situation, Hakyung’s mind went blank. He tried to respond, but his brain had stopped working, and his lips just moved silently.

“What, you didn’t know?”

He didn’t know. It was something he hadn’t even suspected in his 20 years of life.

“Well, that is….”

Even when something surprising happens, it has to be within the realm of common sense to be digestible. Hakyung stammered like a broken computer, pale as a sheet.

‘Father, my father isn’t my father.’

He couldn’t understand.

As Hakyung stood there in confusion, Kwon Hojin scrolled down the screen and pointed to a section.

“See this? When they test how well you match with someone, they check everything, including why you match. They even check if there’s a genetic connection. But the probability of you two being blood-related? 0%. You’re not biological relatives.”

“But still… he’s my father….”

“Well, the machine says otherwise. Seriously.”

He pounded his chest in frustration.

Hakyung didn’t think the machine would deliberately produce false results. Why would it specifically distort the results for a particular person?

He just hadn’t expected the truth he had believed for 20 years to be overturned in such a manner, leaving him confused by a situation he had never even suspected.

“Damn….”

Kwon Hojin clicked his tongue repeatedly, as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“This is insane. No, what’s even crazier is that that psychopath raised a kid? And so flawlessly? Looking at your face, it doesn’t seem like a lie. Anyway… this is nuts.”

Hakyung finally exhaled. He hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath.

It’s true.

The man seemed to know his father very well. His repeated reactions gave Hakyung the impression that Kwon Hojin was just as bewildered.

The way he spoke as if he knew his father well, the story contained in his irritable voice, Hakyung couldn’t just dismiss it.

So what should he do now?

Even if he wasn’t his biological father, it was hard to just accept it with a simple ‘Is that so?’

‘What should I do….’

He just wanted to disappear.

His vision blurred. The ground he had been desperately clinging to, or rather, the ground itself, seemed to crumble from the edges, bringing reality closer to him.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, a knock broke the heavy silence. Both Kwon Hojin and Hakyung turned their gazes toward the door.

The person who opened the door was Im Cheonghyeon.

“Hakyung.”

“Oh, this is insane….”

Who let this guy in! Kwon Hojin screamed and dashed out. To Hakyung, it sounded like tinnitus. His senses were entirely focused on the man who had approached him.

Tap.

A large hand touched the young man’s cheek.

“Dear, why are you so thin?”

“F-Father….”

“Yes.”

Im Cheonghyeon was still enormous. A man a head taller than Hakyung, someone he had to look up to all his life.

Even though Hakyung had become an adult like him, that fact hadn’t changed. When he realized that his grown-up gaze only reached his shoulder line, Hakyung was engulfed in the illusion of the sandy ground he stood on crumbling beneath him.

Suddenly, a sorrowful voice burst out.

“They say you’re… not my father.”

“You’re my son, Hakyung. Who do you think named you?”

The name Hakyung, meaning ‘lower’ and ‘scenery.’

His father often said, I named you well. With a genuinely proud expression.

“Father….”

“Yes. You’re my son. The son I named.”

But.

“But… but they say we’re not blood-related, the machine….”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

Huh?

Hakyung’s eyes widened to their limits. A different shock from witnessing Kwon Hojin and the machine’s screen struck his entire body.

The man gently embraced his slender frame and pressed his lips to his smooth forehead.

Did you really want to know the truth that much, Hakyung?

“If you’re asking whether our blood is mixed or not-.”

“……”

“It’s not.”

“……”

“Even so, you’re my son. No, that’s why you’re my son.”

The hand patting his back was very gentle. A touch as if handling the most fragile thing in the world.

He rested his chin on the child’s temple and laughed softly.

“Could someone as lovely as you have been born from my seed?”

Ah….

A confirmation shot.

Hakyung was at a loss. A flood of questions rushed in.

Then who am I? Whose son am I? Why did he raise me?

What should I do….

“Im Hakyung. Look at Dad.”

Before he could knock on the entrance to the abyss with deeply sunken eyes, Im Cheonghyeon pulled Hakyung back. He lifted his chin to meet his gaze.

“My son. Is it such a shock that you’re not blood-related to Dad?”

“……”

“Then, is it okay to mix bodies?”

“That…!”

The reality he had momentarily set aside hit him. Hakyung’s face flushed red. He hadn’t known that running a matching test would automatically notify the other party.

Cheonghyeon smirked as if he found it amusing.

“After all this time, your first contact is ‘let’s have sex,’ Hakyung.”

“Th-that’s…. That’s not what I meant,”

“Do you want to guide Dad?”

Ah….

Hakyung’s eyes welled up with tears. The reality of finally having his feelings exposed to the person in question was—

‘I want to.’

Thrilling.

That might be the only unchanging truth. Even in a world-turning situation where he wasn’t his father’s son, there was a clear truth.

‘I want to guide Father.’

I want him.

Hakyung stammered as he spoke.

“I-I saw… the haze.”

“Haze?”

“The golden haze…. F-Father’s wavelength….”

He hesitated for a moment before the word ‘Father,’ but Hakyung revealed the secret he had kept to himself all along.

From the beginning, you were my esper.

The visualization of wavelengths is a unique domain of guides. It’s a realm only exceptionally chosen guides can reach.

Unconsciously, Hakyung placed his hand on Cheonghyeon’s hand, which was covering his face.

Warm and tingling.

At the same time, it was blinding.

He couldn’t open his eyes properly, so he squinted like someone standing under bright sunlight. For some reason, even his eyeballs felt sore, making it increasingly difficult to look at him directly.

“I thought… Father might be my esper….”

“And since then… you’ve been thinking about having sex with Dad?”

“……!”

Startled by the vulgar tone, Hakyung stiffened. It was too irreverent to be a word from his father’s mouth. At the same time, he felt ashamed, as if his true feelings had been seen through.

He had nothing to say.

Since the time he awakened as a guide, he had thought his father was his esper, and he had even seen the golden haze. If he said that, it would naturally be taken as ‘I want to guide you because you’re my esper.’

He just hoped his father wouldn’t despise him.

Hakyung had sworn to keep that fact a secret for life. He hadn’t expected it to be exposed like this, nor had he planned to reveal it.

“Dear.”

Cheonghyeon patted the child’s back. His hands, thoroughly washed of monster blood and corpse dust, felt just solid and warm.

“I’ll say it again, you’re my son.”

“……”

“No matter what my son does, Dad won’t be disappointed. So if you need anything, don’t hide it and tell me. Lift your head.”

“……”

“Good.”

Hakyung slowly tilted his head back to look up at his father. His father’s unique golden eyes met him as if they had been waiting.

In fact, just by looking at those eyes, it was clear he wasn’t his biological son….

‘There were too few similarities.’

Three colors that represented Im Cheonghyeon. Black, white, and gold.

Genetically, awakeners who inherited the blood of their awakener parents often followed their parents’ colors. Appearance, skills, wavelength color, senses—traces of their roots appeared in various ways.

However, there was no trace of Cheonghyeon in Hakyung. He was fortunate to be born with a handsome appearance, which minimized controversy, but his pale skin, slender frame, ordinary brown eyes, and even the faint pulse of his wavelength were entirely different from him. It was astonishing that their wavelengths matched 99.98%.

Smooch.

“……”

Suddenly, Cheonghyeon leaned down and kissed Hakyung on the lips. It was only natural for his light brown eyes to widen in surprise.

“Who do you take after to be this pretty?”

“Ugh….”

“Hmm? Dear. I was a bit upset that you were distant now that you’re grown, but seeing how pretty you are, I can’t even get mad.”

Hakyung’s cheeks turned a rosy hue in an instant. Who else but Im Cheonghyeon would call a 20-year-old young man ‘dear’?

Hakyung suppressed the urge to cry. He liked Cheonghyeon, who adored him. He liked him even more for trying to embrace him despite his exposed vulnerabilities.

At the same time, he realized that he was ‘Father.’

Receiving the matching test results must have been surprising for him too, yet he prioritized reassuring his son first. The fact that he could vividly imagine what thoughts were behind his actions and what emotions lay beneath his expression was evidence that he was his father.

It was a habit and instinct learned from living together as father and son.

Even Kwon Hojin, who seemed to know his father, didn’t truly understand what kind of parent he was or how much he cherished his child.

The habits naturally ingrained from living as a family. Hakyung was convinced that these habits were the genes and legacy Cheonghyeon had left him. That’s why he emphasized ‘Father.’

It was true.

His father’s thumb gently brushed under Hakyung’s eyes.

“Why the face? What do you want to say? Say it all. Don’t cry. Don’t worry about what others think.”

“……”

“Did I raise you to be like that?”

“…No.”

Hakyung shook his head. As he said, Cheonghyeon hadn’t raised him to be someone who worried about others’ opinions. He now knew that his very existence was a solid shield.

The hesitation that had settled in was the result of self-learning. The cause was guilt.

The trace of feelings for someone he shouldn’t love.

Until now, he had hoped his father wouldn’t know about this desire. He had felt pathetic for not being able to manage his dirty emotions.

But if he didn’t have to hide those feelings.

If he could freely express what he wanted.

After moving his lips for a while, Hakyung finally spoke.

“I-I want to… guide… Father.”

Cheonghyeon’s lips curved into a smile.

“Good.”

***

To cut to the chase, the guiding attempt failed. More precisely, Hakyung’s attempt to guide on his own failed.

Just as espers learn to release their energy to use skills, guiding energy was also a type of power. It wasn’t a power that manifested just by hugging and making skin contact.

Hakyung was both flustered and dumbfounded.

‘What did I even learn in school?’

After all, he had attended a school specializing in educating awakeners. Even his college major dealt with abilities.

He had learned ‘how to guide’ until it was drilled into his ears, yet he failed at it.

The sense of futility was overwhelming.

‘Why, why isn’t it… coming out….’

He could feel a tingling sensation stirring inside his stomach and throughout his body. It was a clear difference from before. Until now, his body hadn’t reacted to any esper he encountered.

The first time he felt his energy since the day of awakening.

He was briefly moved by its presence. Then Hakyung became deeply flustered. His father kept patting his back, telling him not to be nervous, but it felt like he was comforting a child clinging to something impossible, and Hakyung despaired.

Why. Why isn’t it working….

Perhaps his desire to cry showed on his face, as his father pulled him into a deeper embrace.

‘Shh… dear, it’s okay.’

‘Father…. G-Guiding… isn’t….’

‘Guiding isn’t what? Not going as planned?’

His golden irises sparkled between his narrowed eyes. He seemed to know the cause that even Guide Hakyung couldn’t fully grasp.

Instead of nodding, Hakyung opened his mouth in a daze. He wasn’t even aware that his jaw had dropped.

He just stared at his father’s face, entranced by the dreamlike smile. It was a face with immense power.

A face so striking and bold, as if crafted by a god with intent from the start. His features were so distinct that they already left a strong impression, but his eyes, like the sun itself, intensified that impression.

He was beautiful.

His manly, firm jawline, his prominent nose and sharp bridge, his perfectly shaped, jet-black eyebrows, and his moderately full lips.

Even the golden gaze that placed everything beneath it….

That gaze sometimes seemed like a god observing all the affairs of the world. Once you met it, you couldn’t help but be awestruck and captivated….

Such a beautiful person, even his body attached below his face was perfect like a military god. Beyond robust, his massive physique was beyond words, and his muscular, solid frame seemed capable of protecting anything.

‘My son, did you open your mouth for a kiss?’

Smooch.

‘You’re so cute….’

A kiss on the lips. A light peck, like always.

Hakyung’s eyes trembled. The spot where their lips met felt hot.

It was then that the man’s arm wrapped around Hakyung’s waist, pressing their stomachs together.

Gasp…! Hakyung instinctively held his breath. He was too close to him. No, they had hugged like this often, but it was rare for a hug to make him so acutely aware of skin and breath.

Soon, a voice reached his ear.

‘Shall we have a taste of my son’s guiding?’

A deeply low and tightly locked voice was the signal.

‘Ah….’

Hakyung moaned inwardly. The breath he couldn’t believe belonged to his father touched his neck directly.

Hot. Hot….

‘Ah, sob….’

At the same time, the energy that had been swirling inside him without finding an outlet flowed out.

It was guiding.

‘Mm….’

He was guiding.

While deeply embraced in ‘my esper’s’ arms.

‘Ah, hoo….’

A tingling sensation swept through him like a small storm. His body tingled here and there. His mind boiled as if he were having a cramp, and the indescribable pleasure made him feel like his legs would give out at any moment. Perhaps they already had, and he was being held up by him.

As he groaned in a daze, Hakyung moved his arms. He hesitantly lifted his arms, which had been hanging limply at his sides, and wrapped them around his broad back. It was a back so large and wide that his fingertips couldn’t even reach it properly.

Hakyung clung to the embrace that held him tightly. The sensation of energy being drawn into one place was intense. There was no other way to describe it but addictive.

So this is guiding….

I can. I can guide too.

‘……Ha.’

The man who had buried his nose in his son’s neck suddenly laughed fiercely. It was the first time he had laughed like that, so Hakyung waited with trembling eyes for his esper’s next reaction.

And what he encountered at the end of his wait was a welcome presence.

‘This is… interesting.’

The golden haze.

***

After dropping Hakyung off at the school dormitory, Im Cheonghyeon left.

‘Son. Let me know if you feel like you’re going to overload again.’

As if it was truly just a ‘taste.’

From the moment he guided with him to the moment he returned to his room, Hakyung learned a few things.

First, that an esper could draw out guiding. Second….

‘Father… might have known I was his guide.’

One of the most outstanding espers in the world. An esper who ‘doesn’t need a guide.’ In the 20 years since espers appeared in Korea, he was the first to awaken and establish himself as a unique existence.

Being such an exceptional esper, he might have known the identity of a fledgling guide long ago. The fact that he wasn’t surprised by the matching test results added credibility to Hakyung’s speculation. If he had known what Hakyung was, it meant he had left him alone despite knowing. Such a conclusion naturally led to a realization.

‘Father….’

My esper has no intention of pairing with me.

“……”

Realizing the gentle rejection, Hakyung returned to reality.

***

That night.

“Guh…!”

Hakyung was once again engulfed in heat. It was even more intense than the previous night.

‘But I guided….’

He didn’t know. He didn’t understand why the energy he had released was building up again. Why his heart was pounding as if it would burst.

He didn’t know the principle or the process. But instinctively, he knew what it was, only its identity.

“Sob…!”

It was overload.