It was ten years ago, when Gates randomly appeared here and there throughout the Seoul area.
At that time, Hyeseong, who was seventeen years old, was so busy staying up all night for days on end clearing Gates that he didn’t have time to breathe. The Director worried about his condition since he was still a student and told him to go home and rest even for a little while, Hyeseong smiled at Yeoul with a tired face.
It was a day when the rain was drizzling down. Yeoul’s father and Hyeseong’s father had briefly left the house to get groceries that had run out. Yeoul, who was crouched in the dark living room with his mother watching TV, ran to Hyeseong in one breath and hugged him.
‘Hyung! I missed you. Do you know how much I worried?’
‘Did you? Our Ulie, I’m sorry for making you worry.’
Yeoul, held in Hyeseong’s arms, chattered on about the piled-up things he had to say. That the Super Ultra Ice Gun he’d newly made for him a few weeks ago was, as expected, the most popular at school, but now he was so, so bored because he couldn’t go to school due to the school closure order, that he’d always found going to school annoying but now he wanted to go a bit, and so on…
‘Yeoul, Hyeseong hyung is too tired. So let hyung rest for now, and we’ll talk later. Okay?’
‘Huuung… I want to play more with hyung…’
‘I’m fine, Auntie. Yeoul seems happy to see me after a long time.’
Yeoul’s mother, who couldn’t watch anymore, approached and stopped him. However, Hyeseong smiled even with his face darkened under his eyes and hugged Yeoul tightly, who was stuck to his torso. And at that moment.
—Code Black. Code Black. A-rank Gate occurrence. Coordinates 198, 903. Seoul City XX District XX Neighborhood…
That low, urgent voice ringing along with the ominous siren sound, Yeoul would probably never forget for his entire life.
Because the address flowing through the pager was exactly the mart where Yeoul and Hyeseong’s fathers had said they were going shopping.
As soon as Kang Hyeseong arrived at the scene, he jumped into the Gate in his casual clothes without even putting on protective gear. It was useless even when the Security Bureau staff at the scene desperately tried to stop him.
‘Mom… what about Hyeseong hyung…? What about Dad…?’
‘Don’t worry, Yeoul. You trust Hyeseong hyung, right? He’s the strongest hero in the world.’
‘…Yeah.’
‘Hyeseong hyung will rescue them splendidly. So don’t worry and let’s wait.’
Yeoul and his mother, who had arrived at the scene, held their breath and waited for the Gate to disappear along with the citizens. Among them, only the sounds of sobbing worrying about the citizens trapped inside the Gate and voices comforting each other occasionally rang out.
—Gate DA-1421 has completely disappeared. Announcing once again. Gate DA-1421 has disappeared…
Finally, the citizens who had been trapped inside the Gate were rescued one by one with the support of Espers. The waiting people let out screams of relief and ran to them.
An A-rank Gate meant a gate with very high danger, and therefore a high possibility of casualties. Fortunately, as soon as the Gate occurred, Hyeseong, who was nearby, quickly deployed, and the Espers who were on patrol also responded well initially, so there were almost no casualties.
Except for one single victim.
‘Honey… h-how, could this, happen, honey…’
Hyeseong’s mother, who came running late, collapsed on the ground and wailed. She, who had been sobbing in Yeoul’s mother’s arms, eventually lost consciousness. Yeoul’s father stood next to her like a sinner.
At that moment, Hyeseong finished all the rescue work and walked out of the Gate barehanded. He had an expression Yeoul had never seen before.
Empty eyes. Tightly closed lips. The cold air eerily emanating from his body…
‘…Hyung…’
Yeoul hesitantly parted his lips, but his voice came out smaller than an ant. His mother held back Yeoul, who was hesitantly trying to approach him. Then she firmly shook her head.
The Gate had occurred encompassing the entire mart, and as soon as it was created, the A-rank monster creature inside it had devoured Hyeseong’s father who was closest. The Gate’s creation and his sacrifice happened only a few seconds apart, so even Hyeseong couldn’t prevent it.
The coldly falling rain soaked the people. The gathered citizens left the scene while repeatedly thanking the Espers, and the ability users busily moved around cleaning up the remaining situation.
However, Kang Hyeseong, who had safely rescued dozens of citizens trapped inside the Gate, stood blankly in that spot like an empty shell, like someone who couldn’t see or hear anything. For quite a while.
He, who had been standing like a pillar of salt, eventually pulled himself together to comfort his wailing mother. Then, after holding his father’s funeral in just one day, he immediately moved to the Center.
And Kang Hyeseong rampaged for the first time that day.
It was his first rampage since awakening. All the buildings of the Supernatural Bureau were surrounded by ice, and a chilling cold began to cover all of downtown Seoul. All the high-rank Espers clung to him and tried their best to stop him, but it was insufficient.
Originally, Espers whose rampage couldn’t be controlled and were therefore judged to cause enormous damage to citizens were sometimes killed. However, the Director couldn’t issue a kill order for the country’s only S-rank Esper. If they could just safely stop this rampage, Kang Hyeseong would continue to be South Korea’s hope.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that Kang Hyeseong at that time was a relatively inexperienced ability user who had only been awakened for about three years. He was in a state where he couldn’t freely draw out and use the enormous ability latent in his body like now.
The moment the randomly emitted wavelength hesitated, all the Espers including the Director rushed in and blocked him. Thanks to that, the rampage that could have turned into a major accident was concluded like that.
However, another problem was waiting this time. Kang Hyeseong, who had lost consciousness as he was, couldn’t regain consciousness for several days.
This time, all the Guides at the Center were mobilized and clung to him. The only measure they could take for him, who was a minor, was to touch his arms and legs while wearing Guiding gloves. Only after the Guides poured out an enormous amount of Guiding for days while spilling nosebleeds did Kang Hyeseong regain consciousness.
During the ten years that passed since then, neither Hyeseong nor Yeoul carelessly brought up that incident. As if they had made a promise.
However, Yeoul’s family quietly observed his father’s death anniversary together. Yeoul silently stroked Kang Hyeseong’s back several times as he bowed his head in front of the ossuary.
“That’s why, I’m definitely going to become a wonderful Guide.”
Like those who had miraculously saved hyung from his comatose state.
It was then that Yeoul first came to have reverence for the existence called Guides. It was probably from that time. That he harbored a secret yearning to become a Guide.
Of course, since that wasn’t something he could decide on his own, he had no choice but to be disappointed. After becoming an adult, Yeoul completely let go of his yearning for being a Guide. However, the turning point of awakening came to Yeoul like fate at an unexpected timing.
His bewilderment was brief, and Yeoul steeled his resolve even while groaning from awakening pains.
All he could do back then was cry and pray for Kang Hyeseong to please wake up. However, if a situation like that came now… couldn’t he help him even just a little bit?
He didn’t even dream of becoming an A-rank Guide, of which there were only two or three in the country. They said there weren’t many even at B-rank. After finishing basic physical training, he would most likely be evaluated as a C or D-rank Guide, which were the most numerous. The examiner said his wavelength was very healthy and clear, so if he was lucky, he might be evaluated as B-rank.
The help he could give to Kang Hyeseong, an S-rank Esper, would probably be very small and insignificant. As he’d told Noona Huijun, perhaps that opportunity might not come at all.
But it would be better than his young self who couldn’t do anything for Kang Hyeseong. Just being able to work in the same space as him and run into each other occasionally was good. Because he’d be able to know in more detail about his situation and well-being, which he always brushed off without properly telling him, saying not to worry.
And just in case, just in case a moment came when his help as a Guide was needed, he might be able to give even the tiniest bit of help…
So, he definitely wanted to become a wonderful Guide.
“…As a Guide.”
Kang Hyeseong slowly opened his mouth.
“Yeah, …that’s admirable.”
He lowered his gaze obliquely. Was it his imagination that those quietly muttered words sounded bitter? It was Kang Hyeseong who had been smiling and hugging him until just moments ago.
At a glance, he had the same face as usual, but Yeoul could immediately feel it. In the markedly lowered atmosphere, a certain doubt raised its head.
Why does the atmosphere change whenever Kang Hyeseong brings up the topic of Guides?
“…Hyung.”
Did something happen? He wanted to ask like that.
“Mm, why?”
“……”
But something hard to explain in words strongly suppressed that impulse. Yeoul quietly looked into Hyeseong’s eyes, then slowly shook his head. He just had a vague premonition that for some reason, he shouldn’t ask.
“The churros are really delicious. Thanks to you, hyung, my tension eased a lot.”
He deliberately grinned at him and picked up the last remaining churro and put it right in his mouth. Hyeseong tidied up the empty paper bag and wiped the table. He didn’t forget to pull out a wet wipe and meticulously wipe Yeoul’s mouth.
