IDESGI Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Yoon Geon came out of the Zone 5 director’s office, his expression frozen cold.

‘They suddenly said I’m banned from entering Zone 1.’

When he couldn’t get in touch with Yeoul, Yoon Geon applied for a zone transfer out of worry, but it was rejected. When he asked why, the director confessed that he was just as frustrated.

“I really don’t know either. They just informed me without warning.”

Zone 5 was a special unit. An elite, small-scale force with independence and autonomy. They guarded the borders and kept monsters from the gates beyond from crossing into the capital region.

But that also meant they didn’t have active exchanges with other zones.

It was only in the last three years, since the change in directors, that they had started to increase interaction little by little—until suddenly, all communication with Zone 1, the very core of the country, was cut off. Even Central Headquarters refused Yoon Geon’s official request for dispatch.

The Zone 5 director was equally exasperated. Yoon Geon kept pushing Central Headquarters for approval, and in turn, Headquarters pressured the director to keep the S-Class Esper in check. The stress was overwhelming.

Not that Yoon Geon didn’t understand.

But the timing was far too suspicious. Out of nowhere, an official notice was issued warning that any Esper caught using their personal teleportation ability for non-official purposes would face disciplinary action.

Using one’s ability raised the stress index, and that meant they’d need guiding—making it impossible to hide. With everyone now holding back, Yoon Geon couldn’t easily ask for favors either.

“Damn it!”

He clenched his fists tightly.

‘If it comes to it, I’ll just drive there.’

The distance between Zones 5 and 1 was roughly 150 kilometers. Not too far by car, though outside the zones the roads were destroyed in many places and there was always the danger of monster attacks. It wouldn’t be easy.

But that didn’t matter. As long as he could see Han Yeoul.

He was going insane with worry. They said poison had spread in Zone 1—was Yeoul alright? Was he skipping meals? Was something going on?

Some might call it overprotective, but the Yeoul he had met after so long looked so terribly unhappy that he couldn’t ignore it.

He had been furious to see Yeoul’s already thin frame even more wasted away. If it hadn’t been Han Yeoul, he might have grabbed Yoo Ihan by the collar.

When Yeoul had been by his side, he might not have looked happy, but at least he had seemed at peace.

“Hyung, I like being a Guide.”

“Why?”

“Because they pay me well.”

When Yoon Geon fell silent at the unexpected answer, Yeoul looked up at the sky and smiled faintly.

“When you don’t have money, life is really miserable. At least now I’m not miserable because of poverty anymore. I like that.”

That was the kind of person Yeoul was—someone who was genuinely content with being a Guide and doing well in his own way. If you were going to take someone like that away, shouldn’t you at least make them happy?

Blood rushed to his tightly clenched fists. The veins bulging in his arms showed just how angry he was.

He hadn’t let Yeoul go for this.

“Hyung, I’m so happy these days. Is this okay? To be… this happy…?”

When a drunken Yeoul said that, Yoon Geon couldn’t stop him from leaving. The Yeoul who once said he liked not being miserable was saying for the first time that he was happy. If he couldn’t make Yeoul happy himself, he at least wanted to wish him happiness.

By Yoo Ihan’s side, Yeoul smiled brighter than anyone. A smile so warm it melted the heart, and so dazzling it made his chest ache.

Two years later, Yeoul called him. Emaciated, with desperate eyes asking for help—he couldn’t turn him away.

Yoon Geon chuckled at his own thoughts.

Couldn’t turn him away? No. He simply didn’t want to lose this chance. He wanted, no matter what, to take Han Yeoul back from Yoo Ihan.

If he was going to be unhappy and miserable no matter where he was, then he should at least come back to his side where it was peaceful.

When he said family was shit, he had meant it. Yoon Geon no longer wanted to be just a family-like older brother to Yeoul.

He was going to be Han Yeoul’s everything.

Just like Han Yeoul had been to him for the past seven years.

* * *

Seven years ago, the day Han Yeoul first moved into Geon’s house.

“This will be your room.”

Yoon Geon led Yeoul to the room. He had quickly bought and filled it with furniture, but since it was his first time letting someone into a home where he’d always lived alone, he was tense.

“Wow. This is nice!”

“If you need anything, just tell me.”

“Yes! Thank you, Esper Yoon Geon.”

Geon stood at the door, staring quietly at Yeoul. Sensing it, Yeoul glanced at him cautiously and asked.

“Um… is there something you want to say?”

Geon snapped back to his senses. He hadn’t meant to just stand there staring, but he kept catching himself following Yeoul with his eyes, and it left him feeling oddly flustered.

“No. Rest.”

Until the door closed completely, his gaze lingered on the back of Yeoul’s small head.

It was an unfamiliar feeling—wanting to keep following someone, wanting to see them, thinking about them. And the fact that this someone was a man, just like himself, was even more absurd.

Wasn’t he straight? Sure, tastes could change over time, but could sexual orientation change as well?

But if his tastes had changed, then why did no other man stir any excitement in him except Han Yeoul? It was the same with sexual arousal—the only person who stirred him was…

“Give me your hand. I’ll guide you.”

Geon took the hand Yeoul held out. Even though it was smaller and softer than his own, it was unmistakably a man’s hand. Yet the feel of it lingered with him for a long time.

“Tch.”

Water poured down from the showerhead above. Standing under it, black hair dripping, Geon frowned at the white liquid on his hand.

“Ha.”

It was ridiculous. Just a hand—and yet he had gotten aroused thinking about it.

Was this the heart of an Esper toward their Guide?

He had never met a Guide whose match rate aligned with his before, so everything was new. The surging lust he felt when he saw Yeoul, the possessiveness that made him want to interfere when Yeoul talked to others, the obsession that made him track him down if he disappeared—all of it.

‘So I am an Esper too.’

To think he had the same instinct toward his Guide—it surprised him at first, but he quickly accepted it. Han Yeoul was his Guide.

But as time passed, things grew stranger.

“From now on, I’ll do the cooking.”

After finishing the poorly cooked ramen Geon had made, Yeoul smiled, saying it was probably better if he handled the meals from now on. Geon didn’t understand why that smile made his heart race.

“Your stress level is a bit high. Hug-guiding will take a while…”

When Yeoul hesitated and looked at him, Geon spoke without thinking.

“I don’t do mucous membrane guiding.”

What nonsense. Without it, how had he been guided by Guides with match rates under 30% all this time? Espers naturally longed for at least a kiss, often more, from their Guides.

Geon felt like a mutant. He had always thought of himself as someone who suffered from guide-rejection syndrome, but this time it was for a different reason.

When it came to Han Yeoul, he didn’t want to be an Esper.

“Hyung! I’ll do hug-guiding.”

When Yeoul awkwardly stepped into his arms, Geon pulled him in tightly. For a man, he fit so snugly in his embrace. And the fact that Geon felt a strange satisfaction from it…

His feelings for Han Yeoul deepened with each passing day.

The more he got to know him, the more he wanted to see him.
The more he loved him, the more lovable he became.

It wasn’t until nearly a year of living with Han Yeoul that Geon admitted it—his feelings weren’t because he was an Esper.

Geon wanted to be a man to Yeoul.

“I’m glad I have you, Hyung. I don’t have a family, so it makes me happy that you feel like family.”

His heart wavered when Yeoul said that.

“Ah… I overstepped, didn’t I? Sorry. Forget it.”

As Yeoul blushed and started to leave, Geon grabbed him without thinking and lied.

“I think of you like family too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Yeoul’s face brightened, a radiant smile spreading.

“Now I have a hyung too!”

What did it matter if it was as a brother? Or as family? As long as Han Yeoul stayed by his side, he didn’t care what form it took.

If you wanted it, I would be anything for you.

If you were my friend, it would be friendship. If you were my child, it would be affection. If you were my student, it would be respect.

Even if Han Yeoul was a Guide and Yoon Geon was an Esper—no matter how they had met—Geon would have loved him under many different names.

In the end, it was all love.

He had sent Yeoul to Ihan with a wish for happiness. But now that Yeoul had returned to him of his own accord…

“You brought this on yourself, Han Yeoul.”

There was no more family now. Yoon Geon was going to be a man to Han Yeoul.

* * *

Yawning wide, Eunha tossed down the results of his research test.

“Ugh! There’s no answer to this.”

He had been researching the match rate test between Geon and Yeoul, but with no control group, there was no progress at all.

‘If I could just see the test results with Lord Ihan, maybe I’d find something.’

With only the results from Geon, his research had hit a wall. But to get that, he’d need to contact Han Yeoul first.

Grumbling, Eunha stood up from his chair to stretch his hunched back.

“Ugh. I need coffee.”

He headed to the kitchen to brew a cup, but just as he was about to drink, the doorbell rang. Eunha frowned deeply.

“Who the hell comes at this hour…!”

Opening the door mid-complaint, Eunha froze in surprise at the person standing there.

“Esper Yoon Geon?”

Wait. How the hell did he even know my address?

A shiver ran down his spine, and he tried to quietly pull the door shut—only for Geon’s hand to suddenly slip through the gap.