IDSEGI Chapter 105

Chapter 105

There was a time when he had begged to be guided, and now that Yeoul was offering, he was refusing.

It was so absurd that it wiped away the sadness from moments ago.

“You kept saying you wanted me to guide you. Why are you acting like this now that I’m saying I will?”

Ihan shook his head and answered with an air of seriousness.

“Yeoul, you said before that you wouldn’t guide me. I’m reflecting on the fact that I ignored your wishes.”

“Now you are?”

“Better late than never. Reflection should be done even if it’s late.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, I do. It bothers me. You said you’d never guide me, and I still clung to you, didn’t I? Sorry.”

Ihan took in every one of Yeoul’s words without leaving any gaps.

Yeoul resented how he kept pressing in without understanding what was going on inside him.

As a bit of petty venting, he snapped back at Ihan.

“You said you were going back—why are you still here? And how did you know where I was?”

Ihan tapped the brim of the cap he had put on Yeoul’s head.

“I realized I hadn’t given you your hat back. I came back to return it and saw you heading somewhere. I was going to call out to you, but you didn’t seem in the mood, so I just followed.”

His mouth curved playfully, but his eyes held a faint trace of concern.

He stroked Yeoul’s cheek and asked gently.

“Did something happen? It looked like you got a call from Kim Yushin earlier. What did he say?”

Lying wouldn’t work here.

Yeoul sighed and admitted it.

“He said you were sick.”

“You were startled because you heard I was sick?”

Ihan’s eyes widened, then softened into a smile.

He pulled Yeoul into a tight embrace.

“This is bad. I’m selfish. I don’t like that you were startled, but I kind of like that it was because of me.”

In that familiar embrace, Yeoul secretly drew in a breath.

The faint scent of Ihan calmed the racing of his heart.

In contrast, Ihan’s heartbeat thudded so loud it was almost noisy.

Idiot. What’s there to be so happy about?

With his face buried in Ihan’s shirt, Yeoul mumbled.

“You’ve always been selfish. Don’t pretend otherwise. I already know.”

“I wasn’t planning on acting like this, you know? I was going to hide my true nature and be nice in front of you forever. But you said your type was guys with a bad personality. I thought you liked bad boys.”

“Sorry, but I like women.”

“That’s fine. I’m pretty enough to beat your preferences.”

Yeoul couldn’t help but laugh.

It was true—Yoo Ihan was the one who had made him question and eventually change the identity he had thought was fixed as a heterosexual man.

“Shameless.”

“Since I’ve been found out, I might as well go all in. Looks like you like me this way more.”

“It’s not that I like it more—”

No. It’s that I like you no matter what you’re like.

Yeoul swallowed the words.

There were too many truths still hidden to say it outright.

Until he found out the cause of the match rate drop, he couldn’t let the distance close too much.

He pulled his face away from Ihan’s shirt and pushed at his chest.

“Enough talking. Take my guiding.”

“If you’ll date me, I will.”

Ihan draped an arm over Yeoul’s shoulder and leaned down to meet his eyes.

In those eyes, warm yet intense, Yeoul’s reflection was clear.

“I want to be in a relationship with you, Yeoul.”

The tone was still gentle, but firm.

When Yeoul kept his head down and didn’t answer, Ihan asked with a sigh.

“Why do you dislike the idea of being my lover so much?”

Through guiding, Ihan must have learned that Yeoul loved him.

He would be confused and frustrated about why Yeoul wouldn’t accept him.

But Yeoul had been through too much to accept Ihan’s feelings so easily.

When you define a relationship, breaking up becomes harder.

He had already experienced that painfully in his past life.

If you’re lovers, there has to be a breakup.

If you’re nothing, there doesn’t.

He had to be ready to leave Ihan at any time, so Ihan’s love only frightened him.

He wanted it to stay exactly here.

He didn’t want Ihan to love him any more than this—just enough to hesitate when asked if he’d die for him.

That much, and no more.

For now, he decided to buy himself two months’ time and spoke with casual insinuation.

“I’m the type who needs three months before deciding whether to date someone or not.”

“So in two months, you’ll date me?”

The light came back into Ihan’s eyes.

Hearing the hope in his voice, Yeoul felt the corner of his lips twitch.

He forced the smile back and answered flatly.

“If I say yes, will you take my guiding?”

“I will!”

It was a little annoying how quickly he answered, but even that side of him, Yeoul found endearing.

* * *

The Espers in Zone 5 lost their appetite when they heard that Yoo Ihan wasn’t leaving.

It wasn’t so much that they didn’t want to eat, but more that their arms were trembling too much from the dawn training to even lift a spoon.

One Esper, who kept raising his spoon to his mouth only to lower it to his brow again, finally threw it down with a snarl.

“I can’t take it anymore! We’re gonna die training like this!”

The others agreed, but no one had a concrete solution.

Everyone just sighed, until one who fancied himself clever spoke up cautiously.

“What if we set the Captain up with Han Yeoul? If they imprint, even Yoo Ihan won’t be able to do anything and will give up.”

“You think Yoo Ihan would give up that easily? We should just send Han Yeoul to Zone 1 instead.”

“What about the Captain?”

In Zone 5, there wasn’t a soul—other than Yeoul himself—who didn’t know that Yoon Geon had been nursing a crush on him for years.

The thought of pushing Yeoul toward Ihan instead of Yoon Geon made them feel guilty.

When no one responded, one Esper slammed his spoon down noisily and snapped.

“Who told him to just sit on his hands for five years? It’s been frustrating as hell to watch. Why won’t he just confess? He’s been staring at Han Yeoul with eyes dripping honey this whole time!”

They all felt the same, but still—Espers had their sense of loyalty.

They didn’t want to betray Yoon Geon like that.

“Still, it feels like we’d be betraying the Captain.”

“What if they just all dated each other? Then we wouldn’t have to deal with this headache.”

“With Yoo Ihan’s personality, you think that’d work?”

“…Yeah, probably not.”

“God… I just wish this nightmare would end already…”

The woes of the Zone 5 Espers only grew heavier.

At that same time, Yoo Ihan—the very subject of their gossip—was in Zone 1.

He had come to inform the Center Director that he would be staying longer in Zone 5, and also to deal with someone.

“Kim Yushin, you’ve got something to explain to me, don’t you?”

Kneeling on the floor, Yushin glanced up at Ihan, who was looking down at him with a blank expression.

Fortunately, Ihan didn’t seem in a bad mood. In fact, he looked almost pleased.

“I’m giving you the chance to explain yourself before I start using you as my errand boy for a while. Go on, make an excuse.”

If he was being given a chance to explain, Ihan must be in a good mood today.

At times like this, it was better to just give an honest apology rather than a flimsy excuse.

“I was really trying to quit smoking, but I just couldn’t. But I’m not the only one! There are at least five more besides me!”

“What? You smoke?”

Wait—what? That wasn’t it?

Yushin had thought Yeoul knew about the supply locker because Ihan had told him, so he figured Ihan had already found out.

He had confessed thinking this was about smoking, but apparently it wasn’t.

“Didn’t I tell you to quit? You want me to cut your life short myself before your lungs turn black?”

“I’ll switch to e-cigarettes!”

“That your last words?”

“H-how about herbal ones, then—”

“I’ll make sure there’s one in your coffin. Smoke all you want in the afterlife.”

“…I’ll quit.”

Yushin’s lifespan had just increased by at least ten years, but he didn’t feel the least bit grateful to Ihan.

Living ten more years just meant ten more years as Yoo Ihan’s errand boy.

“I’ll let the thing with Yeoul slide. Calling him without permission worked out well for me anyway.”

“Really? Thanks!”

This time, he was genuinely grateful.

When Yushin grinned, Ihan grinned back.

“To set an example, we’ll have a special training session. It’ll start at 3 a.m.”

Yushin’s face soured immediately, in stark contrast to Ihan’s bright smile.

“…You mean 3 p.m., right?”

“I have to be in Zone 5 during the day, so no. Three in the morning. Make sure you tell everyone clearly.”

The early bird might get the worm, but three in the morning was a whole different story.

This bastard was ruthless.

Yushin ground his teeth in secret.

As Ihan got up to leave, he suddenly looked down as if remembering something.

“Oh, right. You come to Zone 5 at 2:30. I’ll need you to teleport me.”

This damn sadist. How much more did he plan to use him?

What good was quitting smoking? Sleep deprivation would kill him first.

“Sure. I’ve got insomnia these days anyway. Haha.”

But mouthing off would only earn him harsher curses and harsher training.

Like a well-trained dog, Yushin obeyed orders, cursing under his breath the whole time.

Then a sudden thought struck him.

“Wait… how did Han Yeoul know about the supply locker?”