IDSEGI Chapter 78

Chapter 78

But looking at Yeoul’s condition, Eunha couldn’t bring himself to say there had been some progress in his research.

What was the point? Yoo Ihan was already dead, and Yeoul had lost his lover in the end.

Eunha changed the subject.

“Get well soon. Should I make you some medicine that’s good for your digestive system?”

“That’s reassuring.”

But hyung… it won’t work. This isn’t something medicine can cure.

Yeoul hid his true feelings behind a convincing smile. Seeing him like that made Eunha’s chest ache—not because of the feelings he had once had for Yeoul, but because anyone who saw him now would feel the same.

Yeoul looked like a corpse kept alive only by breath. Maybe it was the colorless lips, or the stick-thin limbs. But the biggest reason was probably those empty eyes.

Eunha quietly turned away.

Once outside the hospital, he tossed the USB in his hand into a trash bin on the street. He then deleted every copy of the research data saved on his computer.

The contents of the document before deletion read as follows:

[Han Yeoul and Yoon Geon Match Rate Test Analysis Report]

After imprinting with Yoo Ihan, Han Yeoul and Yoon Geon’s original match rate of 89% dropped to 82%. However, guiding efficiency increased.

After the imprint was broken, the match rate returned to 89%.

Even so, guiding efficiency was now higher than it had been previously at 89%.

At present, Han Yeoul’s efficiency with Esper Yoon Geon alone was comparable to—or even higher than—that of an A-class Guide with a match rate over 90%.
→ The increased efficiency may not be due to imprinting.
※ The hypothesis inferred from this fact is… ???#@%!^$&^?$%#$?#???$#%$#@

The document was permanently deleted.

* * *

Inside Zone 5’s hospital, a man strode quickly down the corridor. With a face so pretty he could be mistaken for a woman, his steps were rough and heavy despite his slender frame. With a loud bang, he threw open the door.

“Guide Han Yeoul!”

“Yeon-oh? Why are you here…?”

Yeon-oh, who had been about to take a large step toward him, stopped in his tracks.

“…”

During Yeoul’s hospitalization, Yoon Geon had not received guiding from him. Yeoul’s physical strength had weakened too much to guide. Guiding required stamina to release energy, and they couldn’t afford to push him.

Until now, the number of gates needing to be handled had been small enough to manage, but the limit was drawing near.

Concerned for Yoon Geon, the Zone 5 Center Director issued an order for Yeon-oh—who had transferred to Zone 1—to return.

For Yeon-oh, it was like a bolt from the blue. He had finally been starting to forget about Yoon Geon and begin a new relationship with Yushin, only for Han Yeoul to get in the way.

But no matter how selfish and self-centered Yeon-oh could be, seeing Yeoul’s condition made it impossible for him to get angry.

He was far thinner than the last time they met. He had been skinny even then, but now he looked like nothing but skin. His faded eyes showed no will to live.

“…Are you eating properly?”

“Haha. You guys really must have planned this. Everyone’s saying the same thing.”

Even hearing it from Yeon-oh was amusing. He wondered how bad he must look for them to keep asking, but in the end, it didn’t matter. He no longer even had the energy to look in a mirror.

“What brings you here, Yeon-oh?”

“I came because of Yoon Geon… to guide him.”

Only then did Yeoul realize he hadn’t been guiding Yoon Geon for a while. He had been so focused on Ihan that he hadn’t even thought of him.

“I’m sorry. I’ll guide hyung, so you can go back to Zone 1.”

“How can you talk about guiding in that condition? Just make sure you’re eating well.”

Though his tone was curt, Yeon-oh glanced at Yeoul. Yeoul smiled and nodded.

“Alright. I will. Thanks for worrying about me.”

The way he forced his lips into a smile was pitiful. Yeon-oh parted his lips as if to speak but turned away instead.

As he closed the hospital room door, he muttered,

“Just get better soon. Even if no one says it, everyone’s worried.”

Especially Yushin—he worried about Yeoul so much it was almost jealousy-inducing.

“If he’s so worried, he should just come and see for himself.”

Yeon-oh had been annoyed at Yushin for asking Hyunho about how Yeoul was doing. When Yeon-oh grumbled, Yushin had given him a troubled expression and intertwined their fingers.

“I’m not ready yet.”

He said he wasn’t confident he could avoid hating Yeoul. That if it weren’t for Yeoul, Ihan wouldn’t have died, and he was afraid he’d voice that resentment to his face. That was why he hadn’t gone to Zone 5.

Instead, he asked Yeon-oh—who had been reassigned to Zone 5—for a favor.

“Could you check in on Guide Han Yeoul now and then to see if he’s doing okay?”

Yoon Geon would handle things well enough on his own, so why should he bother too? Disliking the idea, he had refused on the spot—but seeing Yeoul in person now, he couldn’t help feeling concerned.

“Ah, seriously, this is so annoying.”

Counting it as doing a favor for his new lover Yushin, Yeon-oh began visiting Yeoul’s hospital room from the next day.

“Open the windows and get some fresh air in here. It smells.”

The moment he stepped inside, Yeon-oh wrinkled his nose and scolded him. He opened the window wide before walking over to Yeoul.

“What about your food? Did you finish it?”

“…Yes.”

“Yeah, right. You hesitated for three seconds—means you left some.”

Snorting, Yeon-oh pulled out a porridge that was closer to gruel from his bag and handed it to Yeoul.

“What are you doing? Take it.”

“My stomach’s not feeling great right now… I’ll eat it later. It’d be a waste if I just throw it up after.”

“Forget it. Eat. Even if you throw up, at least something will stay in your stomach. I want to get back to Zone 1 as soon as possible, and for that, you need to recover fast so you can guide Esper Yoon Geon.”

Though his tone was sharp, what Yeon-oh was really saying was simply for him to get better soon.

Yeoul found it strange that Yeon-oh was paying him any attention. Up until now, he had treated him like a romantic rival, and now this… Truthfully, though he hadn’t shown it, he found Yeon-oh bothersome. He wished he would just leave him alone.

Then again, maybe it meant that even in the eyes of someone who disliked him, he looked pitiful now. He was supposed to be grateful for being cared for, but all it did was feel like a nuisance. He guessed he wasn’t kind enough to feel thankful toward someone.

“It feels a bit strange saying this… but Yeon-oh, didn’t you dislike me? Why are you being nice to me?”

Still, he wasn’t shameless enough to tell him outright not to care about him.

When Yeoul asked cautiously, Yeon-oh smirked.

“Yushin said Yoo Ihan was a pain in the ass even when you treated him well. Guess you’re the same. If someone’s good to you, just take it. Why ask why?”

At the mention of Ihan’s name, Yeoul’s lips, which had been slightly parted, closed again. It had been a long time since he’d heard Ihan’s name spoken by someone else.

With a look that said, I see, Yeon-oh went to the window and raised the blinds.

It was the start of winter, but the sunlight was hot enough to sting the eyes. Squinting against the sudden brightness, Yeoul frowned, but Yeon-oh kept going until the blinds were fully open.

“…Yeon-oh, could you maybe…”

He didn’t want to see the sunlight pouring in under the raised blinds, but Yeon-oh kept pushing, telling him to open the window, to get some fresh air.

Telling him to forget about Yoo Ihan.

“You acted like the country would collapse without Yoo Ihan, but you see now, don’t you? Headquarters is running fine. The world doesn’t fall apart just because one hero’s gone. If that were the case, humanity would’ve been wiped out already.”

Yeon-oh pressed him to face the world. At the sharp reproach, Yeoul smiled faintly—a worn, shabby smile, like an old, drifting boat floating on the surface of the water.

“My world, Yeon-oh… it collapsed the moment Ihan died.”

Who could possibly know? Who could understand what it was like to lose the same lover three times? No one would ever know how he felt living like this.

Yeon-oh spoke as if such things didn’t matter.

“If it’s collapsed, then just rebuild it. A hundred years ago, when the gates first appeared, the world’s population dropped to a quarter, and all infrastructure was destroyed—but look. Espers and Guides popped up everywhere, and now people are living well again.”

“…”

“You know what? Fifty years ago, it was hard to even watch TV. It took a hundred years just to get back to something like the old days. Even when the world was on the brink of collapse, people still lived. They kept going.”

Looking at Yeoul’s lips, which refused to open, Yeon-oh let out an annoyed sigh.

“So if you’re gonna keep saying you want to die or whatever, then at least eat while you’re at it. Look at the way the world’s turning. Watch some TV. There’s dust on your remote.”

Wanting to drag Yeoul back out into the world, even if by force, Yeon-oh turned on the TV. On the screen were the words Breaking News.

—At this hour, surprising information has come to light from China’s mega-scale gate, known as the Beijing Gate.

—…The Chinese government has announced that the inside of the mega-scale gate is connected to several other gates within China… and has argued that S-class gates in other countries should also be investigated…

Yeoul stared fixedly at the TV. He turned the volume up to the maximum and focused on the news.

The mega-scale gate is connected to other gates?

That could mean the Jamsil Gate and the cave gate where the one-eyed being had stayed might also be connected.

Yeoul’s slowly beating heart began to race.

Maybe—just maybe—

There might still be a chance to return.