# Chapter 74
-Hy…ung…
Geonwoo called his brother’s name with difficulty. His heart was racing wildly. The last scene Geonwoo saw before his vision was covered with darkness was the monster’s large claw about to touch his brother’s back. That scene made Geonwoo’s body tremble. Geonwoo raised his hand and grabbed his brother’s hand that was covering his eyes. Then he felt the trembling. Geonwoo couldn’t distinguish whether it was his own trembling or his brother’s.
-It’s… o…kay…, now…
His brother comforted Geonwoo, saying it was okay because the Espers had arrived. As if that was true, voices of people expressing relief were heard around them.
-Hyung, this… hand!
But what was important to Geonwoo now was his brother. Geonwoo exerted strength to lower his brother’s hand that was covering his eyes. However, his brother didn’t release the strength in the hand covering Geonwoo’s eyes. No matter how much strength he used, his brother didn’t show his appearance until the end.
-Hyung!
Geonwoo’s vision became free again when one of the Espers picked him up at his brother’s request. In his arms, Geonwoo secretly turned his face and urgently looked at where his brother had been.
-Hy…ung…?
But his brother wasn’t there. Only a large doll, stained red, was left in the place where his brother had been.
***
Several days had passed since the festival day.
-Where’s hyung? Where’s Jaehee hyung?
During that time, Geonwoo couldn’t meet his brother. No matter how long he waited, his brother didn’t come. So Geonwoo clung to the adult Guide who visited once or twice a month for his mother’s counseling at his brother’s request. He looked down at Geonwoo with a peculiar expression, then took something out from his arms.
-Here, this.
What he offered was a letter from his brother. The letter was filled with closely written characters. Whether Geonwoo was okay, whether he was crying or not, from beginning to end, his brother’s letter was full of concern for Geonwoo.
[I’m fine.]
Reading through his brother’s letter, Geonwoo could finally find out about his brother’s well-being that he had been searching for. Fortunately, his brother said that he wasn’t injured because an Esper appeared and blocked the attack when the monster rushed at him. He also wrote that the training he had received at the Center had been helpful, that thanks to that, he had been able to hold out well until the Espers arrived, and that because of that, he hadn’t been injured at all.
-Huh…, huaaaang!
Young Geonwoo held the letter tightly with both hands and wailed loudly. The anxiety that had built up melted away like melting snow at his brother’s words saying he was fine, written over and over again.
‘Hyung… I miss you…’
Geonwoo thought this while crying. Geonwoo continued reading the letter with teardrops hanging from his eyes. And there was one sad news.
[Let’s meet again at the Center later, Geonwoo.]
His brother said that he had been caught by the higher-ups for secretly leaving the Center and was no longer allowed to leave the Center. So when Geonwoo experiences manifestation pain and enters the Center, they would see each other again. His brother would wait until then. That’s what was written.
Seeing this, teardrops fell from Geonwoo’s eyes again. Generally, manifestation pain came when one became an adult, so the day his brother mentioned was a time too long for young Geonwoo to wait.
[Hyung, I…]
So young Geonwoo grabbed a pen. He pressed down firmly and wrote each character on the letter paper. Geonwoo wrote letters to his brother every day as if trying to somehow fill the void left by his brother.
[Hyung! What did you do today?]
That’s how Geonwoo exchanged many conversations with his brother through letters. Through this, he learned many things about his brother.
[Today, with Dohyun…]
This was one of them. Kang Dohyun, he said, was the only Esper at the Center who was the same age as his brother among all the adults. His brother often mentioned him. He said he kept looking after him because he felt like a younger brother.
-You were with that hyung again today…
But such letters from his brother made Geonwoo’s lips pout. Thanks to his brother’s efforts, Geonwoo no longer had to be lonely by himself as many people had come around him. But it was strange. The huge void created by his brother’s absence couldn’t be filled by anyone else.
To Geonwoo, Dohyun was an object of envy. He was always with his brother, receiving his brother’s affectionate care, which made Geonwoo very envious.
[Geonwoo, Dohyun…]
But did those feelings come through in the letter? His brother cautiously brought up the story. Unlike others, he said that because Dohyun manifested as an Esper at too young an age, bad people were targeting him. So he said he needed to protect him until he was old enough to protect himself. That’s how his brother consoled young Geonwoo’s heart.
Crying, laughing, missing his brother, and exchanging letters like that for 1 year, 2 years, 3 years… time flew by quickly. Before he knew it, Geonwoo’s treasure box was filled with replies received from his brother. Just as much, the longing for his brother had been piled up to the limit inside Geonwoo.
-Geonwoo!
Then one day when 11-year-old Geonwoo had turned 20, he suddenly collapsed while coughing up blood. The manifestation pain he had been waiting for and hoping for had come. In the midst of the terrible pain that slashed through his body, Geonwoo smiled brightly. Finally, he could meet his brother.
‘Where… is hyung?’
But on the day he entered the Center, which he had longed for. Geonwoo wore a gloomy expression. It was because he couldn’t meet his brother.
‘He definitely said he would come out on time…’
His brother, who was supposed to come to the building for unmanifested Espers to see Geonwoo, was nowhere to be found no matter where he looked.
‘…Is he too busy to come?’
Geonwoo’s eyebrows drooped downward, as if revealing his disappointed feelings. That’s when someone grabbed Geonwoo’s arm. Geonwoo reflexively turned his head to the side. Far below his line of sight, a beautiful man who was capturing everyone’s attention was looking up at Geonwoo.
But unlike others, Geonwoo couldn’t feel any excitement while looking at him. He just felt burdened by the man’s hand that was holding onto him and not letting go when he needed to find his brother. Just as Geonwoo was about to open his mouth to remove the man’s hand, the man spoke first.
-You told me to come at 2 o’clock?
At the man’s words, Geonwoo’s eyebrows twitched.
What was he saying?
-But you’re just passing by your hyung? Even though we’re seeing each other after such a long time, you’re not even saying hello?
The man said with a gentle smile. That smiling face seemed familiar somewhere.
No way…
-Are you… Jaehee… hyung?
Perhaps because of the great surprise. Words of respect that Geonwoo hadn’t used even as a child unconsciously popped out of his mouth. His brother nodded his head, smiling brightly at Geonwoo’s words.
-Ah…!
Geonwoo’s eyes grew round and large. The brother he saw again after several years was very different from his memory. Although his brother had been pretty when he was young, he had been taller than him and always a reliable brother who embraced him.
But.
‘How… can he be so different…?’
Once he realized it was his brother, his appearance, which had seemed unimpressive until just a moment ago, felt completely different. The brother in front of him gave a strong impression of someone who seemed delicate to touch, someone who needed to be held and comforted. Such a brother smiled so prettily at Geonwoo. It was that sparkling smile of his brother that he had seen when he was young.
But why? Geonwoo’s face grew hotter and hotter. Even his pupils shook wildly.
-Geonwoo?
Eventually, Geonwoo avoided his brother’s gaze. He didn’t know why. Geonwoo just acted like someone with a fever for a very long time whenever he faced his brother.
-It’s time to go…
When he finally managed to meet his brother’s eyes, Geonwoo belatedly realized that he was following his brother around. As if trying to fill that emptiness from childhood, Geonwoo had no thought of leaving his brother’s side.
It was the same today. Geonwoo was now waiting for his brother who had gone to a gate. If he hadn’t been in an unmanifested state, he would have even followed him to the gate.
-Hyung?
In Geonwoo’s eyes, he could see his brother coming from far away. His brother softly narrowed his eyes and smiled at Geonwoo. But Geonwoo’s pupils trembled as he looked at such a brother.
-What is this scar again?
Geonwoo ran over, grabbed his brother’s hand, and looked down at the deep scar that was beginning to heal.
-I’m on my way back from getting treatment. I’m fine.
His brother said that and smiled as if trying to reassure Geonwoo. But Geonwoo couldn’t smile back. Geonwoo’s gaze turned toward the Espers and Guides who had entered the gate with his brother. But none of them were injured.
Only his brother came out injured, again.
‘He’s the only S-class Guide at the Center, why on earth…!’
Didn’t anyone think to protect him?
Even though there had been no occurrence of high-level gates until now, it was a situation that was impossible to understand. But Geonwoo was the only one who harbored such doubts. Instead, there were even people who showed hostility toward his brother without any reason.
But that wasn’t all. As if misfortune had settled on him, small incidents and accidents always occurred around his brother. Because of that, his brother always lived with injuries.
[I’m doing well.]
Clearly, his brother’s letter said so… But the reality of his brother that he faced wasn’t like that. Geonwoo realized that all the words written in the letter were his brother’s lies to not worry him, only after turning twenty and seeing the reality with his own eyes.
But his brother’s lies weren’t just that.
[There’s a child at the Center like you, Geonwoo, whom I want to take care of like a younger brother.]
Kang Dohyun, who had always appeared in his brother’s letters. Geonwoo didn’t forget his existence. He thought that he, like himself, would cherish his brother.
But why?
-I told you to stay out of my business. Lee Jaehee.
Dohyun’s eyes looking at his brother were full of hostility.
