Chapter 151

“I… listened to the lecture you gave at the university earlier.”

“Oh, are you enrolled at Korea University as well, Jaeha-ssi?”

“Yes. In the psychology department, but…”

Jaeha needed time to choose his words, so he stalled by taking a sip of coffee.

“Aiden-ssi, the truth is… this world is fake. We were actually clearing a gate together, and right now we’re inside the boss’s hallucination. You’re not real either. So whatever pain you’re going through—it isn’t real.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

No—that was obviously not something he could say like that.

Rationally speaking, meeting him wouldn’t dispel this hallucination, so why had he instinctively felt he had to see him?

“I heard your lecture…”

It was because his current state looked unbearably pitiable. Even convinced this world wasn’t real, he couldn’t stand that someone who should shine more than anyone was being pressed down, like Jaeha himself had been in the past.

Whatever the means, the one who had dragged him from the shadows into the light was him. Even if he got out of the gate, he couldn’t shamelessly pretend not to know him.

“You looked… so worn down that… I couldn’t ignore it.”

“…You thought I looked worn down, so you even contacted Hallah to drag me out here?”

Hearing Jaeha’s reason, Aiden looked incredulous—and it was only natural. For a first meeting that had forced him to cancel his schedule, the explanation was pathetically flimsy. Still, perhaps it was a relief not to be dismissed as a crank. Jaeha hurried to speak.

“Aiden-ssi—no, Guide Aiden. What I mean is…”

“To the point of fighting with your hyung.”

“……”

“To be honest, I don’t know what your intention is, Jaeha-ssi. But to answer you first: I don’t think I’m having a hard time.”

The incredulous look smoothed over at once. Wearing that face—whether politeness or empty courtesy—he answered, and Jaeha lost his words.

Unlike Aiden, Jaeha wasn’t good at relationships; he wasn’t a smooth talker. And Aiden hid everything well. If Jaeha pressed his feelings down by force, Aiden made his depths opaque enough to fool anyone. In other words, it was extremely difficult to read what lay beneath the varnish.

“Since you’re neither esper nor guide, Jaeha-ssi, you probably can’t appreciate the grace and honor of being chosen.”

He continued smoothly, voice tinged with a smile—but inside those words, Jaeha felt something warped.

“No, Aiden-ssi. That’s not what you really think.”

In the end, Jaeha chose blunt insistence. He couldn’t outtalk or persuade him, so he would be shameless instead. Objectively, saying something so baseless took a lot of nerve. He even felt embarrassed about how it might look.

“Then what do I think?”

Aiden sounded exasperated, but he still entertained an answer.

“…Honestly?”

“Go on.”

What would Aiden think, faced with this situation?

Jaeha stared at him. He didn’t know how long this world’s Aiden had lived under pressure like this, but the one he knew would…

“I think you’d say it’s all f—… all crap.”

Ah—he stuttered and said “crap” twice. But that was the Aiden he knew. It couldn’t be helped. Even so, shame clamped his mouth shut. He watched Aiden’s face carefully.

“……”

He blinked, at a loss for words. The polite smile he always wore was gone.

Then suddenly—

“Heh.”

A small laugh slipped out.

“Haha…”

Rubbing his face, he let out a dry chuckle. Jaeha couldn’t tell if that was good or bad and kept watching him, tense, hands wrapped around his cup.

“Jaeha-ssi…”

“……”

“You’re unusual. You talk like you know me.”

“I do… Aiden-ssi—no. Guide Aiden, I know you.”

“Do you now.”

He answered, but without believing it. Perhaps the interest had been piqued, but only faintly. He gradually regained composure. After barely two sips of an iced americano that didn’t suit his taste, he checked a notification on his phone.

“If you think I’m such an ill-mannered bastard, that’s unfortunate.”

“……”

“But I’ll be going.”

He stood, and Jaeha awkwardly stood as well. No. He couldn’t let him leave like this. He had botched the meeting, making a next time even more unlikely, and he hadn’t found any answers yet.

He had thought seeing Aiden would make everything clear.

“Aiden-ssi, please don’t go.”

“Then what? Should I stand here and keep listening to your nonsense?”

“……”

“Sorry. That was a bit harsh.”

He smiled brightly. Grabbing his coat and pushing in his chair, he turned and started walking away. It had been a long time since Jaeha had seen him with his back turned. He followed immediately. He didn’t want to be pathetic, but he was desperate.

“Aiden-ssi!”

“I really have to go. A guiding request just came in. It’s a case that needs me.”

Ding-ling—when the door opened, the bell’s chime was familiar, like the one at Jaeha’s bar. He followed him out. Aiden veered toward an alley that led straight to the road, and Jaeha quickened his pace too. Beyond the alley, a black car already waited for him. Panic surged.

“Aiden-ssi, wait!”

He felt a fleeting pang of guilt toward the unknown esper who needed Aiden’s guiding—but he shouted anyway.

“I need your guiding too, Aiden-ssi!”

For once, he felt no shame.

After all, the first hand extended to monopolize guiding had been his.

Aiden’s brisk steps stopped cold. He halted so suddenly that Jaeha nearly bumped into his back.

“……”

He turned to face him. He wasn’t smiling. He looked indifferent—honestly, annoyed. Just as Jaeha had described: pissed off.

He looked Jaeha over slowly, then cocked his head.

“You’re a civilian, Jaeha-ssi.”

“…No, Aiden-ssi. I’m an esper.”

“You might not know, as a civilian, but Guides can feel an esper’s wave.”

“I know. And you’re special—you can tune perfectly to that wave and guide to match.”

“……”

He frowned. Jaeha considered grabbing his lapel, then carefully extended a hand instead, afraid Aiden might shake him off.

“Please—take my hand.”

“……”

“Guide me. Just once.”

The hand he offered was not the one he’d had in the original world. That one had more calluses, rougher skin, and wasn’t particularly pretty. This hand—proof of a life with support and time to study—had barely a hint of hardened skin on the middle finger, and no other scars at all.

“……”

Aiden stared down at the outstretched hand, unreadable. He glanced back toward the road, where the car waited.

“Just once.”

When Jaeha urged again, Aiden looked at him anew. His brows drew in; lashes cast a shadow over his eyes.

“……”

“……”

He seemed to weigh it, then let out a faint, humorless laugh. He peeled off his gloves and slowly reached out.

“This is the funniest thing that’s happened to me in a while.”

He didn’t look pleased. But after more than half a year together, even without an ability to read minds, Jaeha could guess his thought: What on earth are we doing? The self-mockery hung at the corner of his mouth.

He took Jaeha’s hand.

Familiar warmth wrapped his palm. Skin brushed, pressed lightly. Jaeha gripped back, familiar with the feel.

“……”

“……”

And… that was all.

A few seconds of silence. Despite the certainty and hope that had risen unbidden within him, nothing happened. It was just two men in an alley, pointlessly braced for something, holding hands.

“……”

“…Ha.”

Maybe because Jaeha had been so solemnly sure, a trace of amusement slipped onto Aiden’s face, as if to say, Of course.

“I should retire soon. I can’t feel any esper wave at all.”

He—joking or sneering, who could tell—started to pull away. But Jaeha didn’t let go. He laced their fingers and squeezed tight. He didn’t know why. It just felt like he had to.

“Jaeha-ssi? Let go.”

…Was he wrong? Had he gotten it all wrong?

What had he been hoping for?

Confusion swelled—made worse by the slow creep of displeasure across Aiden’s face. Jaeha flinched.

“……”

Strength drained from his hand, little by little. Aiden seized the chance and began to pull free.

And then—