IDESGI Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Espers were treated as special civil servants and received different benefits from soldiers, but on paper, they still fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense.

If the Commander of Central Headquarters was the Director, then the person who appointed him was the Minister of Defense. In essence, aside from the President, he was the most powerful person in the chain of command.

Naturally, sitting across from someone like that made Yeoul tense.

‘It’s my first time meeting the Defense Minister face to face.’

He had met the Central Headquarters Director a few times before, but this was his first time being face-to-face with someone at the ministerial level. It was clear just how important the country considered Yoo Ihan.

“So, I hear you want to separate from Esper Yoo Ihan.”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Park Chulho let out a slow, deliberate hum and fixed his gaze directly on Yeoul. The piercing look made Yeoul instinctively sit straighter, his body rigid with tension.

“I was actually against the idea of Esper Yoo Ihan imprinting with Guide Han Yeoul. Did you know that?”

“No, sir. I wasn’t aware.”

“Don’t take it too personally. But as you can see, my prediction came true. The worst-case scenario happened—sooner than expected, even.”

As Park Chulho raised his brow, Yeoul gave a polite, silent bow.

“I have no excuse.”

“Damn right you don’t.”

There was a sharpness in his voice now. Park Chulho’s stern face—harsh even in silence—grew even more severe. The weight of his presence pressed heavily on Yeoul’s chest.

“Guide Han Yeoul, fine. Separate if you must. But you’ll continue guiding him.”

“I can’t do that.”

Fear was fear—but Yeoul still had to say what needed to be said. If he were going to back down because he was scared, he shouldn’t have started this to begin with.

As Yeoul stood firm, Park Chulho’s expression changed in an instant. The polite smile he had worn for formality vanished completely, and the sharpness in his already narrow eyes deepened threateningly.

“If that’s how you want to play it, then I have no choice. I’ll have you permanently exiled from the zone.”

Permanent exile.

It was basically a death sentence.

A Guide, not even an Esper, cast out beyond the zones… The odds of being killed by monsters from an unconfirmed gate were higher than surviving. That was the reality.

‘Doesn’t matter. I was planning to die anyway.’

“I’ll accept it. But if you do that, there will be severe backlash from Esper Yoo Ihan.”

Park Chulho’s lips curled into a smirk, laced with mockery.

“So what. You think that means exile’s off the table?”

Yeoul shook his head, his expression unnervingly calm for someone who had just received a death sentence.

“No. Go ahead and exile me. But I’d appreciate it if you gave me time to settle things with Esper Yoo Ihan.”

“Time to settle things, huh. You mean time to let him go.”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

After a brief pause in thought, Park Chulho slapped his palm against his knee with a booming laugh.

“Alright, fine. I’ll give you ten days. Of course, if within those ten days you change your mind and decide to continue guiding Esper Yoo Ihan, then I’ll withdraw my statement.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Then, since you’re so sure, I expect you to settle things clearly.”

Park Chulho extended his hand for a handshake. Yeoul stared down at it for a moment, then finally reached out and took it.

With permission granted, Yeoul returned to Zone 1.

‘I didn’t even tell Geon-hyung I was coming back.’

He’d probably be worried. He should call—except, of all times, his phone battery had died. He’d have to wait until he got home to reach anyone.

‘Ihan’s probably worried too.’

That thought crept into his mind for a moment but was quickly dismissed.

Ten days. That was all he had left.

Even if the exile became official, once Ihan found out, the government would likely dress it up with some excuse and cover it up. But that wouldn’t stop the pressure from continuing, and eventually, the truth about the drop in match rate would be exposed.

Which meant Yeoul had to take matters into his own hands—before Ihan found out.

He had ten days. Ten days to die for Ihan’s sake.

“I’ve made Eunha-hyung feel guilty again…”

He’d dragged Eunha into this all over again. Honestly, even if Park Chulho hadn’t gotten involved, nothing would’ve changed. If entire teams of researchers around the world couldn’t discover the reason behind the match rate drop in his last life, how could Eunha do it alone? It had been a hopeless wish from the start. Nothing but a fantasy.

‘Let’s go home.’

Yeoul, who had been standing blankly in front of the Zone 1 Center, finally turned to leave. Or rather, he tried to.

‘Home…? Where is that?’

His home… was the big, beautiful house he had shared with Ihan. The one with large windows that let sunlight flood the rooms during the day, and gave a clear view of the stars at night.

And the one he had watched those stars with—Yoo Ihan—was the very person Yeoul truly thought of as home.

“Ugh.”

Clutching his upper abdomen, Yeoul collapsed to his knees. A twisting pain wrenched through his gut. His face turned ghostly pale, completely drained of color.

‘I think I’m going to throw up…’

That was the last thought he had before his body gave out and he collapsed onto the ground.

---

“Ow, that stings.”

Yeoul blinked awake at the sound of someone’s startled yelp. A woman in a soft green nurse’s uniform noticed he’d woken and quickly spoke.

“Oh, you’re awake? I’m sorry. There was a sudden static shock. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

It looked like she’d been trying to insert an IV into his arm. Yeoul slowly sat up in bed, glancing around. It was clearly a hospital.

“Why… am I here?”

“You collapsed. You were transferred to the Center hospital.”

“I… did?”

“The doctor will explain in more detail. You’re Guide Han Yeoul, assigned to Esper Yoo Ihan, right?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Your assigned Esper has been contacted, so he should be here soon.”

“Okay. Wait—what?”

His still-groggy mind snapped awake like ice water had been poured over it.

“You contacted Ihan?”

“Yes. Since he’s your assigned Esper.”

“When did you call him? And how long has it been?”

The nurse checked the chart and answered.

“You were admitted at 3:45. He was contacted around 5:10.”

“What time is it now?”

“5:15. It hasn’t been long, so he probably—”

“Yeoul!”

The door burst open.

Yeoul covered his face with his hand in dismay.

Ihan rushed in, eyes glistening with tears, looking like the world had just collapsed.

“Yeoul, are you okay? Doctor, is Yeoul alright? Maybe Kim Yushin was right after all. Yeoul, do you have some serious illness?”

“It’s not that.”

Yeoul waved his hand dismissively, clearly annoyed. But Ihan turned toward the nurse.

“Call the doctor, please. Run every possible test.”

“Um, but the patient doesn’t seem to have any—”

“Doctor.”

Ihan smiled gently.

The nurse, stunned, stared at Ihan like she was looking at an angel.

“Please. Call the doctor.”

Bewitched by his sweet, soothing voice, the nurse nodded and went to call for the doctor.

When the doctor on duty arrived, rushing in after being told it was urgent, he looked between Ihan and Yeoul in disbelief.

“I mean, this isn’t anything serious. Do we really need to run all these tests?”

“We do. I’m very worried.”

“Did the patient agree to this?”

“No. I don’t—”

Yeoul began shaking his head, but Ihan interrupted.

“Doctor, you’ll help, right?”

With a sigh, the doctor pushed up his glasses and spoke to the nurse.

“Prep the tests, Nurse Park.”

Ihan’s charms worked on both men and women.

“He’s really fine, right?”

Ihan pestered the doctor again and again, until finally, worn down by the endless questioning, the doctor replied with a tired voice.

“Yes, he’s fine. It was stress-induced gastric cramps. He’s also slightly malnourished. If he eats properly, he’ll recover soon.”

“Really, he’s okay?”

“Can we please go now…?”

Yeoul was so embarrassed he couldn’t lift his head. He tugged on Ihan’s sleeve, urging him to leave.

Even after getting multiple confirmations, Ihan wasn’t satisfied. He didn’t leave the hospital until he’d scheduled a sedation endoscopy.

“I can’t live like this because of you. You overreacted.”

“You collapsed! How am I supposed to stay calm? And your behavior lately—sudden changes, fainting! Are you really not hiding a serious illness?”

“I’m not.”

Yeoul gritted his teeth and firmly denied it.

“Just go already. I told you I’m fine.”

“You want me to leave when you’re sick? No way. I won’t. If you’re going to leave, you’ll have to kill me first!”

It felt like Yeoul’s heart dropped to the floor.

‘Kill you first? How can you say something like that so easily…?’

He lived in constant fear of Ihan dying, and yet Ihan said such things without a second thought.

Yeoul’s eyes, teetering on the edge of breaking, filled with a dry, quiet bitterness.

“What’s so easy for you?”

“Huh?”

Seeing Ihan’s confused expression made Yeoul’s stomach twist again. Clenching his fists to suppress the pain, he brushed past Ihan and spoke coldly.

“If you’re just going to talk nonsense, I’m leaving first.”

As he tried to walk away, Ihan grabbed his wrist.

Yeoul glared at him, annoyed.

“Let go.”

“It’s not easy at all.”

“What?”

Ihan pulled Yeoul’s hand to his chest.

His heart was beating so wildly it was terrifying—like it could explode at any moment.

“Every time you walk away like this, I really feel like I’m going to die. Yeoul, just… just for today, can you come home with me? Just for one night. I’m too worried to let you go. Please, just this once.”

Yeoul swallowed the lump rising in his throat as he felt Ihan’s erratic heartbeat in his palm.

‘Whoever called it a heartbeat…’

The thudding under his hand wasn’t just fast—it was messy, desperate, panicked.

This wasn’t a gentle flutter; it was a plea. A scream. A frantic cry from every cell and blood vessel in his body: save me, I can’t breathe, I’m going to die like this.

And Yeoul understood that all too well.

But—

“Let go. I’m tired.”

His own heart had already stopped beating—back on the day Ihan died in his arms.

Despite the firm rejection, Ihan didn’t back off. He only gripped Yeoul’s wrist tighter.

“Let’s go home. I’ll drop you off and leave right away. I’ll stay at a hotel or something, but I can’t send you back to that semi-basement room. I won’t ask for anything else—please, just this.”

As people around them started to stare, Yeoul sighed.

He didn’t want to be the center of attention. To end the scene, he nodded vaguely.

“Alright.”

He only said that with the plan to run off later, once they were somewhere less crowded.

But Ihan didn’t let go—he instantly teleported with Yeoul still in hand.

Before he could register what had happened, they were already in the spacious living room of their house.

Yeoul had forgotten, for a moment, that Ihan’s secondary ability was teleportation.

His already aching head pounded even worse.

“Are you dizzy?”

‘Then don’t use your powers on me without warning…’

Even now, with Ihan worrying over him, Yeoul felt a twinge of annoyance.