IDSEGI Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Yeoul looked at his sleeping lover.

There were tear stains on Ihan’s cheeks, and his brow was furrowed as if he were having a nightmare.

But even if he dreamed nightmares, Ihan needed to sleep. It was obvious he hadn’t slept for days, and Yeoul couldn’t bring himself to wake him.

He pulled Ihan into his arms and patted his back, as if to tell him, I’m right here with you.

The strained sounds of Ihan’s breathing slowly quieted. When Yeoul shifted slightly, Ihan’s eyelids twitched. As expected, he didn’t seem to be in a deep sleep.

Yeoul took Ihan’s hand and tried to guide him. He thought that if he wrapped Ihan warmly in guiding energy, he wouldn’t wake.

But no matter how hard he tried—

He couldn’t guide him.

* * *

“Mmh…”

Before long, Ihan’s eyelids slowly lifted. Hiding his unease, Yeoul smiled gently.

“Sleep a bit more, Ihan.”

“No. I should get up now.”

When Ihan sat up, Yeoul rose with him. After tidying the bed, Ihan examined Yeoul’s body closely.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, right? The doctor says you’re fine, but I can’t just believe that. You were hit by high-voltage electricity.”

“I’m fine, aside from being a little tired. But I don’t think I can guide for a while. My body doesn’t feel fully recovered yet.”

Startled, Ihan ran his hands over Yeoul, checking thoroughly.

“Does it hurt that much? Where exactly?”

“It’s just a little fatigue, a heaviness in my body. Don’t worry too much.”

“How am I supposed to not worry? And don’t worry about me. My readings aren’t high enough to need guiding right now.”

“Alright. Oh, right. You said you did match rate tests with multiple Guides because of your guiding rejection reaction, right?”

As if it had just come to mind, Yeoul asked naturally, and Ihan answered without the slightest suspicion.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Let’s test again with new equipment. They’ve released a model that gives even more precise numbers, and Eunha-hyung’s been wanting one. I’d like to check more accurately too.”

If it was something Yeoul wanted, Ihan was more than willing to buy it. He agreed readily.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

* * *

“You’re going to buy the equipment?”

Eunha’s jaw dropped at Ihan’s words. One moment he had barged into the lab out of nowhere, and now he was saying he’d buy a brand-new match rate tester!

Eunha was about to nod immediately, but then hesitated. Maybe Ihan didn’t know the price? Was he agreeing so easily because he had no idea how expensive it was?

Glancing at Ihan uncertainly, Eunha said,

“It’s a bit expensive.”

“That’s fine.”

“Actually, it’s very expensive.”

“That’s fine. Buy it.”

“I’m lying. It’s not just expensive—it’s insanely expensive.”

“I said buy it.”

When Ihan replied irritably, Eunha confessed the price while watching his expression.

“It’s over four million dollars… more than forty billion won.”

“Just buy it.”

“How many months should I put it on installments?”

Ihan frowned slightly.

“Can you even put a black card on installments? Never mind, just pay in full.”

Eunha’s hands trembled anew at the tangible reminder of Ihan’s wealth.

The secretly repeated match rate test results came out normal again. The readings were just more detailed, but nothing had changed.

“This thing gives numbers down to five decimal places. It’s amazing.”

Watching the excited Eunha, Yeoul smiled faintly.

“It had better be amazing.”

Eunha, too caught up in the marvel of new tech, missed the subtle edge in Yeoul’s tone. Inside, Yeoul made a quiet decision.

It was time to end everything.

* * *

His match rate with other Guides hadn’t changed, and Yeoul still couldn’t guide Ihan. It didn’t take much thought to figure out what that meant.

The drop in match rate wasn’t Ihan’s problem—it was Yeoul’s.

‘That woman with only lips said she was the one-eyed one’s successor.’

After the one-eyed being died, another presence appeared.

And that presence asked Yeoul to return the time. The one-eyed had once told him to come and give it back when he wanted, that there would be no need to repay. That contradictory statement had finally come back to bind him.

‘Just a little earlier.’

Had the woman with lips meant she would bring forward an event that would have happened two years later?

Yeoul could no longer guide Ihan. Not gradually, but suddenly. All at once.

He wasn’t even that surprised. It wasn’t an unexpected outcome. Hadn’t he already suspected something was wrong with himself from the guiding efficiency with Yoon Geon, or when guiding Lim Juho? He had only planned to wait two years just in case. But now, there was no need to waste those two years—it was almost better this way.

When Ihan was out, Yeoul went to see Eunha. He knocked on the lab door, and Eunha, who opened it, glanced around.

“Where’s Esper Yoo Ihan? Didn’t you come together?”

“I came alone today.”

Eunha’s face brightened immediately. Just the fact that Ihan wasn’t there made it feel easier to breathe. Gesturing him in, Eunha said,

“Come in.”

Once inside, Yeoul hesitated before speaking.

“Hyung, anesthesia or sleeping pills don’t work well on Espers, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”

In his second life, Yeoul had once slipped sleeping pills into Ihan’s drink to get away from him. But sleeping pills had no effect on Ihan.

Espers were resistant to toxins, and in most cases, medicine didn’t work well either. That was why guiding was important—wounds healed much faster through natural recovery with guiding than with hospital treatment.

But it wasn’t that no medicine worked at all. There were some that did. However, Ihan’s high rank meant his resistance to poisons was far stronger than most Espers.

“Ihan hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Is there any medicine that might work on him?”

“Esper Yoo Ihan hasn’t been sleeping well? Why?”

Yeoul gave a faint, bittersweet smile.

“Because of what happened a few days ago.”

Eunha let out a short sigh and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Hold on a second. I have some medicine I used in research before.”

Eunha fetched a pill bottle and handed it to Yeoul.

“Only give him one a day. The sleep effect is strong and immediate, but so are the side effects.”

“Side effects?”

“Liver toxicity—in other words, he could go into liver shock.”

Seeing Yeoul’s expression turn serious, Eunha quickly added,

“It’s fine as long as you stick to the dose. Just don’t misuse it.”

“What if one pill doesn’t work?”

It was possible Ihan might not be affected even by a full pill. Eunha groaned, folded his arms, and thought for a moment.

“Hm… in that case… half a pill more! Exactly half. No more than that. Even an Esper like Yoo Ihan could go into liver shock otherwise.”

Yeoul fiddled with the pill bottle with a worried look. Wanting to reassure him, Eunha patted his back.

“Don’t worry too much. Even if something happens, as long as he gets an antidote injection within twenty-four hours, he’ll be fine.”

Yeoul bit his lip, then smiled.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to tell him to stick to the dosage.”

“Good. Oh, and—don’t go scrolling on your phone. Stay away from the news for a while. People these days are vicious, desperate to make money off sensational articles. Ugh, nasty bastards. Who wants to earn money by trashing others?”

Yeoul knew exactly what Eunha was worried about. Public opinion toward Han Yeoul—the Guide that Yoo Ihan had risked his comrades’ lives to protect—was at rock bottom. Eunha was probably worried Yeoul might be hurt by it.

“I don’t care about that.”

He truly didn’t care at all. Whether his reputation plummeted or not made no difference to him. He was going to die soon anyway, so what did any of it matter?

“By the way, hyung, didn’t you just get a new car?”

“You mean my baby? Yeah, I splurged on it this time.”

Eunha rubbed his nose proudly and puffed out his chest. He began enthusiastically bragging about his car.

“This thing runs like a dream. These days everyone ignores gasoline, but electric cars have no soul. Gasoline cars have that classic charm.”

“How much did you pay for it?”

“Fifteen hundred. Why? You thinking of getting one?”

Eunha pulled out his phone, saying he knew a good used car dealer. Shaking his head, Yeoul spoke carefully.

“Could you lend it to me for just a day?”

“You want to borrow Kkamdingi?”

Apparently, he’d already named it—Kkamdingi, because it was a black sedan. Eunha really didn’t have a knack for naming.

“Ihan’s car is electric. I was thinking of buying a gasoline one too, but I want to try it first.”

“Hmm…”

When Eunha hesitated, Yeoul added another proposal.

“If it breaks, I’ll buy you a better one. A brand-new car, not used.”

“6152. It’s parked behind the lab.”

Eunha quickly pulled the car key from his pocket. The promise of a new car was tempting.

Accepting the key, Yeoul looked at Eunha for a moment before lowering his gaze.

“Thanks for helping me with the research, hyung.”

“No need to be so formal. Besides, I got paid a lot.”

“No, I mean it. Thank you. You don’t believe a word I say, but you still helped me.”

Eunha felt a pang of guilt. It was true he hadn’t believed Yeoul’s claim about returning in time, but hearing it directly had made him feel like a bad person.

“It’s just… I’m a science guy. Don’t take it too personally. The research itself is fun. I’ve been setting up different hypotheses and running simulations. Even abroad, they research ridiculous things like time travel, so why not? I’m satisfied just being able to study in this kind of environment.”

“Thanks for saying that. I should get going now.”

With the pill bottle in his right hand and the car key in his left, Yeoul stood up. Before leaving the lab, he looked back at Eunha one last time.

“Thanks for everything, hyung.”

“I told you, it’s fine. Go on home and rest. You don’t look so well.”

“You take care too, hyung.”

Yeoul smiled as he left.