IDSEGI Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Morning came. After telling Ihan to sleep well, Yeoul himself barely got any rest. Instead, he spent the entire night watching Ihan’s sleeping face. He felt like he could look at it for a lifetime and never tire of it.

At some point, he must have dozed off. The morning sunlight broke across his face in soft fragments. Slowly opening his eyelids, he met Ihan’s gaze. A smile naturally spread across Yeoul’s lips.

“Did you sleep well?”

Ihan blinked and only answered after a long moment.

“You too?”

“Yeah.”

Then they simply stared at each other in silence for a while, as if trying to etch the other’s image into their eyes.

Hand in hand, they headed to the lab. When they knocked, Eunha rubbed his eyes sleepily and opened the door.

“You’re here? …You’re here.”

After greeting Ihan and Yeoul, Eunha slipped a small device onto each of their fingers.

“We’ll start the match rate test. Yeoul, try guiding me.”

Taking a deep breath, Yeoul slowly sent Guide energy to Ihan. What would be the best outcome? If nothing changed, dying alone would be meaningless. Better to die now than to wait another two years. That was exactly what he wanted. Please, let the score drop. Let it end with just me dying.

Soon the test results printed out, and Eunha stared at the paper in surprise for a long time.

“Match rate is 99.8%!”

Selfishly…

The first thing Yeoul felt was relief.

* * *

Yeoul told Ihan and Eunha everything. That he had, in fact, regressed, and that in two years, his match rate with Ihan would drop. But he didn’t know if it would drop with all Guides or just with him.

Eunha thought,

Has he been taking drugs?

Of course, the Yeoul he knew wouldn’t have, so it seemed more like extreme stress-induced delusion. Eunha leaned toward Ihan and whispered,

“I think you should take Guide Han Yeoul to a psychiatrist.”

Logically speaking, that was the right thing to do. But Ihan was a man in love. Which meant he was in a state where logic didn’t apply—completely irrational.

“Yeoul, even if you told me the moon was a rock, I’d believe you.”

Grasping Yeoul’s hand, Ihan declared that he would follow and believe anything he said. At this point, Eunha wondered if he was the strange one for doubting Yeoul.

Technically, maybe the moon really was a rock.

Swept up by the mood, Eunha almost started agreeing with Ihan. If the moon was a rock, maybe regression was possible too? But thankfully, his graduate school science education stopped that thought.

What the hell am I thinking?

He had almost been gaslit by Ihan. That was terrifying. Rubbing the goosebumps on his arms, Eunha told these crazy people the plain truth.

“That’s impossible.”

It was just a fact, but he still had to endure Ihan’s sharp glare. Even so, if he backed down here, his years of bowing to professors in grad school would be for nothing. Straightening his back, Eunha continued.

“Even if, for the sake of argument, there’s a monster capable of communication, the idea of turning back time is absurd. Yeoul, maybe you’re just confusing a dream with reality?”

“I know it’s hard to believe. You don’t have to believe it—just help with the research.”

Researching a hypothesis that couldn’t even be established from the start… as a researcher, it was unacceptable. Just as Eunha was about to refuse, Ihan shoved his phone in front of him. On the screen was a number he’d never even seen before.

“This much for research funding—sound good?”

“I’ll do it.”

Money, sometimes, made many things acceptable.

* * *

Now Yeoul had about two years of leeway. But even with time, he couldn’t help feeling rushed. His plan to keep his distance from Ihan—since he might have to die—had already fallen apart when Ihan developed a guiding rejection to anyone else. If he had to guide him, he couldn’t hide his feelings. Pushing Ihan away was no longer an option.

Back to square one.

If only there were some kind of clue. For now, there was no way of knowing why the match rate had dropped. All he could do was set up multiple hypotheses and hope at least one was right.

With complicated thoughts swirling, Yeoul carefully reviewed his past lives, running simulations in his head—what mistakes he had made, and how to avoid repeating them. That was when he remembered.

There was someone he still owed.

“Ihan, can you do me a favor?”

Having finally started dating after two months of push and pull, Ihan’s eyes lit up at his new lover’s request.

“Anything. Just say it.”

“Can you arrange for an Esper to be transferred to Zone 1?”

“…An Esper? Who?”

“An Esper from Zone 2.”

Yeoul spoke a name he would have preferred not to recall.

“Esper Lim Juho.”

* * *

Sitting on the training ground steps, Ihan was watching the Espers run themselves ragged. His gaze lingered on one particular Esper before he clicked his tongue. He had brought Lim Juho here at Yeoul’s request, but the guy really got under his skin.

Kim Yushin had definitely said that Yeoul knew about something called the “barracks.”

Yeoul, knowing things about Zone 1 that even he didn’t—

If he considered the possibility that Yeoul had regressed, it was plausible. But that alone wasn’t enough to prove something as far-fetched as regression. Still, Ihan decided to believe him—for no other reason than because Yeoul had said it.

If it was something Yeoul wanted, Ihan was willing to do anything. There was nothing he couldn’t make happen.

But this… he didn’t like.

Ihan shot a dissatisfied glare at Lim Juho, the man he had summoned to Zone 1 at Yeoul’s request. It would have been easier if he had no skills, but unfortunately the man was A-rank, both in ability and skill. Ihan was working him hard under the excuse of “teaching him discipline,” but annoyingly enough, the guy was keeping up.

“I owe him a debt.”

That was what Yeoul had said, asking him to bring Lim Juho to Zone 1 because of a debt from a past life. Ihan couldn’t bring himself to refuse. Still, Yeoul hadn’t said anything about treating him nicely.

When in Rome, follow Roman law. And in Zone 1, the law was Yoo Ihan.

“Huff… Huff… I finished all 100 laps.”

After a few days of being beaten into shape, Lim Juho finally started to listen, but his eyes were still combative.

Look at that glare. Still hasn’t learned.

“Still got enough energy to talk? Run another 100 laps.”

Lim Juho’s face twisted in frustration. Ihan tilted his head at the sight of that dissatisfied expression.

“If you want to never run again, keep standing there.”

Without a word, Lim Juho started running the track again.

“Damn it… Why the hell did they drag me here when I was living just fine?”

After finishing the grueling training, Lim Juho collapsed onto the lounge sofa. His body ached all over even though he hadn’t even used his energy—this was a first.

“Maybe guiding will help…”

He knew it wouldn’t do much besides slightly speed up recovery since he hadn’t used his powers, but it would at least feel good.

He was about to get up and request guiding when someone opened the lounge door.

Thinking it might be Yoo Ihan, Lim Juho instinctively slid under the sofa. Pathetic, maybe, but that lunatic scared even him.

Thankfully, it wasn’t Ihan but a few other Espers.

“Why did Yoo Ihan suddenly call in an Esper from another zone?”

“I heard Guide Han Yeoul asked him to.”

“What? Why?”

“How should I know?”

Guide Han Yeoul?

As he listened in, Lim Juho picked up some brief information—he was a Zone 5 Guide, and the one Yoo Ihan was hopelessly in love with.

I’m not letting this go without answers.

He wanted to know why he’d been dragged here. Lim Juho contacted Chiho, a younger Esper who had been loyal to him back in Zone 2.

“Chiho, I’m heading to Zone 5.”

I need to see that guy’s face before I can calm down.

* * *

When Lim Juho appeared before him, Yeoul wasn’t surprised. He’d figured this would happen eventually. Knowing his personality, there was no way he could leave his curiosity unanswered.

“You’re Han Yeoul?”

“Hello.”

It had been thanks to Lim Juho’s help that they’d reached the Jamsil Gate, so Yeoul had made arrangements to keep him from being expelled. He figured keeping him near Ihan would prevent him from causing trouble.

Yeoul’s guess was partly right, but Lim Juho wasn’t the type to just sit still. Coming into Zone 5 illegally while being assigned to Zone 1—clearly, some things never changed.

“Putting aside why you called me here, the trip was tiring. Let’s start with guiding.”

Lim Juho approached with a sly glint in his eyes. Yeoul didn’t bother to avoid him. After all, it wouldn’t work anyway—Lim Juho had a guiding rejection toward him. With the worst compatibility, once he experienced guiding from Yeoul, he wouldn’t be asking for it again.

Yeoul took his hand and sent Guide energy.

There should have been a rejection response.

“Guess the match rate isn’t bad. Efficiency’s decent too.”

Guiding was going smoothly.