# Chapter 77
Jaehee and Dohyun headed toward the Gate. Dr. Yoon watched them through the window and let out a small sigh. The past few days he had spent with the two came to mind.
“Well, anyway.”
Soon after, Dr. Yoon tapped the window lightly with his fingertip and muttered as if talking to himself.
“Those two haven’t changed a bit.”
As he said this, a small smile had already formed on his lips.
Both Dohyun, who refused to be apart from Jaehee even for a moment while erasing the Bond, worried that something might happen to him, and Jaehee, who insisted on following Dohyun to the Gate out of concern despite his body not having fully recovered.
“They haven’t changed at all since they were young. Not one bit.”
The sight of the two naturally brought back memories of the past. Back then, they were the same as they are now. Fighting to take care of each other, arguing, and eventually understanding each other’s feelings and making up. It was a constant cycle.
“Well, if there’s one difference from now…”
Maybe just one?
Dr. Yoon dug up a faint memory from the past and spoke it aloud.
“The difference from now is that when they were young, Esper Kang Dohyun took care of Guide Lee Jaehee more.”
When they were young, Dohyun was almost one-sided in keeping Jaehee by his side, treating him as if he were his only treasure.
“Even before the one-way Bond with Guide Lee Jaehee, during the Bonded state.”
And.
“Even after the Bond was broken.”
Young Jaehee also gradually opened his heart to such a Dohyun, and Dr. Yoon had witnessed the entire process from the side.
“How protective he was.”
Dr. Yoon, recalling the Dohyun of the past, shook his head slightly from side to side as if saying he was too much. He remembered the image of young Dohyun who was always busy hiding Jaehee behind his back as if he didn’t want to show him to anyone.
“He was so intense.”
Dr. Yoon recalled the image of young Dohyun and let out a small laugh as if finding it cute.
“He put up walls against other people.”
Isn’t it funny? The stark contrast in his attitude between Jaehee and others.
“He even put up walls against Guide Lee Jaehee at first, just like he did with others.”
It was then that Dr. Yoon’s smile suddenly stopped.
Huh? Come to think of it…
“When did it start?”
When did Esper Kang Dohyun begin to take care of Guide Lee Jaehee?
In that moment, a thought suddenly occurred to Dr. Yoon, and he narrowed his eyes. As if trying to forcibly extract a memory from the distant past to solve the question, Dr. Yoon furrowed his brow as he traced his memories one by one.
“According to my memory…”
From before Dohyun and Jaehee entered the Center until the day they became adults, Dr. Yoon had been at the Center. That’s why he remembered everything about the two. The higher-ups of the Center had assigned him to care for the two young ability users.
Among those duties, the most important task was…
“I remember being asked to manage Esper Kang Dohyun because of his unstable psychological state.”
This was it. Unlike now, the young Dohyun of the past was a child who refused to let anyone close. Numerous painful experiences had made that child that way.
And it wasn’t just adults that Dohyun built walls against and pushed away. They had even tried putting him with children his age to stabilize his extremely unstable psychological state, but it was completely useless. Dohyun wouldn’t let even his peers get close. He was alone, sinking into deep distrust and solitude.
That Kang Dohyun…
“Easily let Guide Lee Jaehee get close.”
Young Kang Dohyun only accepted Jaehee as his own, the only one he allowed by his side. From that young age until now.
But something was strange.
“Why can’t I recall any memory of Esper Kang Dohyun pushing away Guide Lee Jaehee?”
No matter how much he liked him…
“Everyone needs that process, right? Getting to know someone, opening up, and approaching them?”
Surely there must have been such a period in the beginning, but he couldn’t recall it. Dr. Yoon slightly tilted his head and frowned.
Moreover.
“He pushed everyone else away, so why only Guide Lee Jaehee?”
Once the question arose, it wouldn’t leave Dr. Yoon alone. Instead, it began to grow, one after another.
At that time, the young Dohyun who couldn’t trust people was becoming increasingly psychologically unstable, with uneven wavelengths that could have killed him, so after meeting Jaehee, Dr. Yoon had only felt relief seeing him gradually find psychological stability.
And not long after, Dohyun had even formed a one-way Bond with Jaehee, leaving no room for other thoughts.
“Why did he open his heart so easily only to Guide Lee Jaehee? What was it about him?”
No matter how much he tried to recall, he couldn’t find an answer to the question. Rather, the more he searched through past memories, the bigger the question grew. All he could remember was countless images of Dohyun taking care of Jaehee.
“…”
Then, from the hazy memories, one relatively clear memory came to mind. The day Jaehee manifested as a Guide and entered the Center.
Because Jaehee had suffered a major accident before entering the Center, and because he was the first S-class Guide to appear, the memory of that day was a bit clearer than others.
“…!”
And fleetingly, the image of Dohyun came to mind.
“That’s right. It was from the very beginning.”
The Kang Dohyun in his memory couldn’t take his eyes off Lee Jaehee from the first day they met.
But that wasn’t all.
“He even approached Guide Lee Jaehee first.”
With a smile on his face that he had never shown before.
As if he had already opened his heart and was waiting for Jaehee to enter the Center.
***
Meanwhile, in front of the Gate.
At the front were Jaehee and Dohyun, and behind them, the Espers and the Guides positioned at the rear entered the Gate in formation.
“Huh? This… place?”
A completely different world unfolded before them.
“What is this? Why are there so many trees like this?”
They had just left the Center behind and entered the Gate entrance that had appeared at the cave entrance, but…
Surprised people looked back. But what should have been there wasn’t.
“The Gate entrance has disappeared too!”
Plus, the Center building that should have been behind them wasn’t visible either. All they could see was an endless, vast forest densely packed with trees.
Everyone was shocked by the unfamiliar situation. Some were unconsciously pacing around, looking in all directions.
Dohyun was about to shout at them.
“Everyone, don’t break formation!”
But someone called out before Dohyun could. It was Jaehee who focused everyone’s attention.
“The Gate entrance will open automatically once we deal with the boss monster anyway.”
This Gate, which had startled everyone, was a special Gate that occurred with an extremely low probability.
In the case of ordinary Gates, when you entered, they took the form of a cave. The Gate entrance also didn’t disappear but was maintained with a transparent barrier that simply prevented you from exiting the Gate.
But this special Gate was different. It led to a completely different world. Just like now.
However, only Jaehee, who had experienced the future once, knew this. Before the regression, this special Gate hadn’t opened before the current one, so there was no relevant information.
As if it had no intention of opening the official stage before the appearance of Geonwoo, the protagonist of the original story. Only low-grade ordinary Gates had occurred.
“So everyone, just focus on clearing the Gate.”
Jaehee looked at the ability users and spoke firmly. The leaders of the team, consisting of 10 Guides and 10 Espers, were undoubtedly Jaehee and Dohyun.
But because of the positional difference between Esper and Guide, it was usually Dohyun who took the lead and commanded people. But today was different. Jaehee was the one who volunteered for the role first.
Because only Jaehee uniquely knew the future.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Jaehee’s composure raised questions for everyone. But no one could ask how he could remain so calm. Because as soon as Jaehee finished speaking, monsters began to emerge.
Keeack-!
Like approaching dark shadows, numerous insect-type monsters poured out of the forest. Bugs with their mouths wide open, making bizarre sounds, rushed toward the ability users.
The battle had begun.
The first to react was Dohyun. Having noticed along with Jaehee when he spoke, Dohyun used his telekinesis from the front of the formation to press the approaching bugs’ bodies against the ground, crushing them.
Following that, the other 7 Espers began to draw upon their abilities to face the monsters.
Behind them, 2 Espers protected the Guides. Jaehee stood at the very front of the Guides, watching the battle situation without missing anything.
“Those are ant-type monsters, right?”
Then a Guide asked, looking at the monsters. The Esper standing guard beside him looked carefully at the monsters and nodded slightly.
“Yes, they seem to be red ants.”
At the Esper’s words, the shoulders of the Guides, who had been stiff with tension due to the appearance of the special Gate, relaxed.
They couldn’t help it.
About 30 monsters had appeared. But they were just 50cm-sized ant-type monsters with red patterns on their backs, only slightly numerous.
And they were merely C-class monsters at that.
Moreover.
“The remeasurement result still shows C-class.”
This was the result of remeasuring the Gate’s grade with a wavelength meter due to the unfamiliar appearance of the Gate they were experiencing for the first time.
In the end, it meant that while the appearance inside the Gate was different, the grade of monsters to be dealt with was the same. C-class or lower monsters. That meant there was no need to be afraid at all. Not only was there a class difference, but C-class was something they had encountered so many times that it was almost laughable for them.
Soon, the tension faded from everyone’s faces, and ease returned.
But.
‘…C-class Gate.’
Only one person, Jaehee, felt differently.
The problem here was that the Gate’s grade, C-class… was the beginning of everything.
