IDSEGI Chapter 55

Chapter 55

A short while later, they arrived on a desolate road. Dust swirled at their feet, clouding the view, but Ihan frantically scanned the area, desperate to find any trace of Yeoul. Yushin pointed west.

“Han Yeoul traveled by car. He headed west.”

Yushin pressed his lips together for a moment before speaking again, with some difficulty.

“…I know the direction he went, but not where he ended up.”

Staring quietly at the horizon in the distance, Ihan murmured,

“The West Sea.”

“What?”

“He must’ve gone to the West Sea.”

Every year, Zone 1 Espers write a will. Not for any grand reason — it was simply a tradition passed down over the years. Ihan had been careful never to let Yeoul find out, so as not to worry him, but one day when Yeoul had dropped by his office, he had found it.

“…What’s this?”

Hiding his unease, Ihan answered casually,

“Nothing. Everyone else does it, so I did too. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Yeoul read the will slowly, calmly, over and over.

And a few days later, he handed Ihan a sheet of paper.

“I tried writing one too. Read it.”

The contents were simple:

When I die, please scatter my ashes in the sea. And tell Ihan this —
I’ve always loved you, and I was always happy by your side.

Ihan couldn’t speak, swallowing back his tears. When he finally managed to say something, after a long silence, it was only,

“…Why the sea?”

“It’s my hometown. I was born there, so I want to die there too.”

Yeoul laid his hand over Ihan’s.

“And Ihan, let’s imprint.”

Ihan’s eyes went wide. After all the times he’d begged for it and been refused, Yeoul was now the one asking. He was so shocked he could only gape at him, and Yeoul smiled gently.

“I don’t want to regret it after I’m gone.”

That January, the two of them imprinted.

Ihan fell silent, recalling that moment. His eyes held the depths of the deep sea, shadows of grief in them — but beyond the darkness, a faint glimmer of hope.

“The closest sea from here is the West Sea. He would’ve gone there. Yushin, you go ahead and start looking for him. I’ll check the route on the way.”

“…Alright.”

When Ihan finished speaking, he turned toward Yoon Geon. Without the slightest hesitation, he bowed his head.

Witnessing this up close, Yushin rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly. Yoo Ihan, bowing to someone? Even if he told the other Espers in Zone 1, no one would believe it. Even he was questioning whether he’d really seen it.

Geon, too, seemed stunned, staring at him without moving. Ihan ignored the reactions and, eyes filled with urgency, pleaded.

“Help me find Yeoul.”

He bowed even lower. Pride? Worthless compared to Yeoul’s life.

It would be too much to search the entire route to the West Sea alone. He would ask the Zone 1 Espers for help too, but none were as reliable as Geon. Ihan never doubted his skill, and he knew he needed it this time.

Sensing Ihan’s sincerity, Geon answered calmly.

“You don’t need to ask. Han Yeoul is important to me too.”

Normally, Ihan would’ve taken that as an opening to argue, but he said nothing. He simply raised his head and spoke quietly.

“Thanks.”

For a brief moment, they looked into each other’s eyes before setting off in separate directions.

They moved apart, but their destination was the same —

The place where Han Yeoul was.

We have to find Yeoul.

* * *

After finishing the guiding session, Yeoul leaned weakly on the railing as he climbed to the second floor. Having guided four Espers in a row, his body was in terrible shape.

‘Persistent bastards.’

Thanks to Lim Juho’s orders, his lackeys didn’t lay hands on him, but they were desperate for guiding, watching him like hawks.

Fortunately, their match rates with him weren’t bad, so contact with just his hand was enough for guiding to work. But they were so ravenous for a Guide’s energy that the moment he turned his back, they’d pester him for more. The exhaustion piled up day by day.

‘But where does Lim Juho get his guiding from?’

Since his compatibility with Yeoul was the worst, he had to be getting it from someone else. But Yeoul had never seen him go outside.

‘He’s always watching me, so it’s not even easy to die.’

The promise to kill him seemed to be nothing but words; instead, Juho simply let him linger. Every attempt Yeoul made at ending his life ended in failure, which only made his frustration grow.

If I want to die, why the hell is he making such a fuss? He was a man Yeoul could never understand.

Dragging his exhausted body, Yeoul opened his room door — and froze.

Two naked men were tangled together on his bed.

He quickly shut the door, face burning red, and turned to leave, but it swung open again and someone grabbed his arm.

“Ugh!”

He was pulled straight into Lim Juho’s chest. Holding him close, Juho murmured slyly,

“Hyung, you a voyeur? Why were you peeking? That’s embarrassing.”

Embarrassing, my ass. Yeoul struggled, trying to ignore the sensation of something against his backside, but Juho only held him tighter.

Just then, one of the men, now throwing on a robe from a chair, walked over. Pouting, he complained to Juho,

“What the hell? We were just getting into it.”

“Ah, sorry. Wait in the next room for a bit. I’ll have some fun with my hyung first.”

“Hyung? You hate older guys.”

“Hyung’s fine. Just wait a bit.”

Frowning, displeased, the man turned sharply and went into the next room.

Taking advantage of Juho’s momentary distraction, Yeoul broke free — only to be caught again almost immediately. Juho rested his face on Yeoul’s shoulder and whined,

“Hyung, if you interrupted my fun, you should make it up to me. At least let me hold you.”

“Forget it. Let go.”

Juho spun him around to face him. Yeoul tilted his head up to avoid looking down.

“Put some clothes on!”

Looking down at himself, Juho cocked his head.

“Even after seeing me roll around, you’re still not hard? Are you a eunuch or something?”

“Stop talking nonsense and let me go!”

“Oh, come to think of it, I guess it wouldn’t matter if you were. It’s not like you’d be using it anyway — you’d be on the receiving end.”

Yeoul glared fiercely at him for spewing more sexual harassment with every breath. He’d rather die than deal with this lunatic.

…Actually, could he just let me die already?

Swallowing down the heat in his chest, Yeoul shoved him hard again. Still, Juho didn’t budge. Yeoul let out a long sigh.

“Ha… at least put on some pants. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about between us?”

Between us, my ass.

“To me, you’re just a kidnapper. There is no ‘us.’”

Juho smirked, stroking the back of his neck.

“Then how about we make it an ‘us’? I can bottom for you, hyung. Would that count?”

The subtle touch against his skin made Yeoul shiver. He smacked Juho’s chest, but it only hurt his own hand. Was this man made of stone?

“Whatever. Go finish what you were doing. I’m going downstairs.”

“What, are you jealous?”

Unbelievable. Yeoul was too annoyed to even respond.

Whatever Juho made of that silence, he started toying with Yeoul’s earlobe and whispered,

“Don’t be upset. He’s just a guiding hookup. Not like what we have.”

Yeoul jammed his elbow into Juho’s stomach and snapped,

“Cut the crap. There’s nothing between us.”

Seeing that his blow had no effect only infuriated him more.

“You’re disgustingly strong.”

Juho pretended to be shocked.

“Wow, hyung. In just a few days your mouth’s gotten filthy. I used to think you were cute when you spoke all proper like a squirrel. Shame, but since your mouth’s dirty now, why not make your body match? I’ll put it to good use.”

“Go to hell.”

“It’s fine. Still cute. Pathetic, but cute.”

Bastard. Yeoul muttered curses under his breath. He’d picked up more foul language here than in his whole life before.

“Isn’t that guy waiting for you? Stop fooling around with me and go.”

“That’s true… but playing with you is more fun. Still, like you said, I shouldn’t keep him waiting too long…”

Finally, Juho let him go, opened the door, and called downstairs,

“Chi-ho! Take him out of here.”

“Yes, boss!” came a loud voice from below. Juho looked at Yeoul expectantly, as if waiting for praise. Yeoul didn’t so much as glance at him.

At that moment, someone burst in, breathless.

“B-boss! Someone’s here to see you!”

Juho frowned.

“What’s with the panic?”

“It’s… Yoo Ihan! Yoo Ihan from Zone 1 is here!”

“What?”

Yeoul repeated numbly,

“Who… did you say?”

“Yoo Ihan! You don’t know him?”

Yeoul’s face went pale and froze. The sound of footsteps climbing toward them grew steadily closer.