He hated Kang Yun-jae. Sometimes he felt the urge to put a bullet in his chest. Remembering how Yun-jae not only hid Ju-eon from him but also pretended to be his lover made his blood boil.

But at the same time, he knew that without Kang Yun-jae, Ju-eon wouldn’t have survived. He knew Yun-jae had made a terrible mistake and would suffer enough without him exacting punishment.

He suppressed his raging, beast-like desires. It was time to think rationally.

“Finish this quickly and come back.”

Ju-eon’s fingertips carefully touched Myung-hwon’s cheek. He could feel the rough surface of his skin. Ju-eon lowered his hand and whispered softly.

Ju-eon had no choice but to trust. He couldn’t completely deny all the time and effort Yun-jae had poured into saving his life.

“Okay.”

Ju-eon looked at Myung-hwon, who answered obediently like a tamed beast. His heart beat softly. Even in a moment like this, seeing Myung-hwon made him happy.

“I have something to tell you when this is over.”

His throat was dry, so he moistened his lower lip with his tongue.

“Me too.”

After Myung-hwon left, the space he vacated smelled like sunshine. It was Myung-hwon’s scent that he loved, but for some reason, it made him feel like crying.

“Ju-eon!”

Seo Yun-jin’s call snapped him back to reality. It seemed she had come this way to catch her breath after Myung-hwon left.

“Come over here.”

Up close, Yun-jin’s condition appeared more serious than he’d thought. Her clothes were soaked in blood. When he grabbed her arm to support her, her body swayed heavily, seemingly drained of all strength.

“I have a rabbit-like husband waiting for me…”

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“I’m trying to make you laugh.”

“Don’t make such morbid jokes.”

“Are you crying?”

“No!”

Ju-eon quickly grabbed Yun-jin’s hand before she could answer. Her hand felt hot. Though less efficient than using his lips, their experience of breathing together meant he could quickly calm Yun-jin’s energy.

“Every time we meet, the atmosphere isn’t right for proper conversation.”

“We can talk a lot when we get out of here.”

Though the floor was dirty and covered with glass shards, Yun-jin lay down, too exhausted to be picky, and muttered while looking at the sky.

“True. If I died here, I’d be so annoyed that I couldn’t die even if I wanted to.”

Yun-jin’s hand holding Ju-eon’s tightened.

Ju-eon forced a smile at Yun-jin’s weak laughter. Red spots had appeared on her skin. It was a side effect of forcibly using her power when her energy circulation wasn’t working properly.

His head felt dizzy as his strength drained away. Unlike Ju-eon who was losing strength, Seo Yun-jin’s complexion rapidly improved.

“Aaaahh! What’s happening to them!”

Gu-young, who had rejoined Myung-hwon, screamed.

“What… is that?”

The espers who had been forced to take the medicine by Myung-hwon showed strange reactions.

The first ones to swallow the suppressant were the espers who had already collapsed. Those with broken arms or legs who couldn’t get up started choking and grabbing their throats, then began foaming at the mouth.

Hwaaaagh!

The bestial howl seemed to drive the other fighting espers into a frenzy as they began to rampage.

“What do we do now?”

They looked more like monsters than humans. Yeo Myung-hwon hesitated briefly but soon told Gu-young:

“Just keep blocking them, continue.”

Gu-young’s arm twisted to one side, but he didn’t care and knocked down an esper rushing toward him.

Thwack!

“With my skill level, I can’t hold back. I’ll just try to stay alive for now.”

Gu-young had no choice but to make a decision, and Myung-hwon gave a small nod in response.

“Yeo Myung-hwon, you b*stard! What the h*ll are you doing?”

Yeo Han-ol screamed from a distance. Anyone could see his condition had worsened since earlier.

“Woo Ju-eon! F*ck! What did you make them eat? It’s my fault… and you’re screwing me over like this?”

Han-ol’s face turned red with anger. If not for the opponent he faced, he looked ready to charge at Ju-eon.

“Why on earth…”

“Ju-eon, that medicine, you gave it to Myung-hwon, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Where did you get it from?”

Ju-eon found it difficult to answer Yun-jin’s question.

He couldn’t say he got it from someone who had been under Yeo Ji-woong, probably the person who made that rampage drug. He had nothing to say even if criticized for being foolish enough to be deceived despite knowing better.

“From a friend…”

A dusty wind brushed past his faint voice. He had believed that even if it took time, someday he could forgive and return to how things were before.

Ju-eon could only stare stupidly at the scene that had become even more chaotic, his gaze confused.

Was he deceived again?

Had he ruined everything because of his mistake in trying to trust one last time? He felt confused. The world seemed to spin. He felt dizzy and wanted to throw up.

“Ju-eon?”

Seo Yun-jin called out to Ju-eon, noticing his troubled expression.

If the rampaging espers went more berserk here and someone got hurt…

‘It would be better if I were the one to get hurt.’

He had often heard that guides were unfairly essential to espers while espers weren’t necessary for guides to survive, but to fulfill their role, guides had to expose themselves to raw danger.

“Yeo Han-ol!”

Myung-hwon called out to Han-ol in a low, firm voice, but the agitated Han-ol didn’t stop at Myung-hwon’s shout.

“Stop right now! Tell him to stop!”

Han-ol charged toward him, screaming in rage. Behind him, Ju-eon could see Myung-hwon’s shocked face. And Seo Yun-jin still hadn’t fully recovered.

“Tell that b*stard Yeo Myung-hwon to stop, d*mn it! What the h*ll kind of drug did you give them!”

Han-ol intended to take Ju-eon hostage again to stop Myung-hwon. It was the quickest way.

“Hey!”

Showing no intention of using the same gentle method as before, Han-ol charged at Ju-eon with a dagger in his hand.

“Ju-eon!”

Seo Yun-jin reached out her arm, but Han-ol moved slightly faster. Ju-eon reflexively squeezed his eyes shut at the strong smell of blood that wafted toward him. His body knew he should dodge, but few people could handle such situations with familiarity.

Thud.

Instead of pain, he felt warmth in his abdomen. Soon after, Yun-jae rested his forehead on Ju-eon’s shoulder.

“Yun-jae?”

Ju-eon’s face turned pale as he realized that the blood surging from Yun-jae’s side had warmed his clothes.

“…Why.”

Why did you come here? You deceived me again. So why? He didn’t want anyone sacrificing themselves for his sake.

“Why are you here?”

Why did you come out here? Why are you taking the attack meant for me?

The blood quickly cooled, making the wet clothes cling coldly to his skin.

“It’s because the rampage has progressed too far. They’ll return to normal soon. I just realized I hadn’t told you that.”

“You got hurt like this just to tell me that?”

Yun-jae let out a low laugh at Ju-eon’s biting words. For Yun-jae, it wasn’t “just” that.

“Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t use the medicine I gave you.”

No matter how urgent the situation, there was too much history and Myung-hwon’s presence to believe in the possibility that he hadn’t deceived Ju-eon.

Ju-eon felt his eyes grow hot at Yun-jae’s words. As soon as he heard something was wrong, he had doubted. Thinking he had been deceived again.

“You’re bleeding a lot.”

His hands trembled. Ju-eon had nothing more to give to Yun-jae. Yun-jae must have known that fact too.

“It hurts more than I expected.”

Yun-jae’s body slid helplessly to the floor.

Just before Han-ol attacked Ju-eon, Yun-jae had arrived at Ju-eon’s location. Yun-jae stood closer to Ju-eon than Han-ol and immediately threw himself to block the attack. It seemed nearly miraculous for an ordinary person to block an esper’s attack, but Han-ol was exhausted and his attack wasn’t fast, so Yun-jae barely managed to stop it.

“You… now…”

The unwanted kindness had saved Ju-eon’s life, but this wasn’t what Ju-eon wanted.

“Why are you crying over someone like me?”

“…”

Even while saying this, Yun-jae smiled, apparently satisfied with that single tear. There was a bitter taste on his tongue.

“I just didn’t explain properly, so I blocked the attack that was coming for you.”

It remained a selfish choice until the end. Ju-eon bit his lower lip hard. He should have just told Yun-jae to stop caring about him, or he should have been the one to take the knife.

Yeo Han-ol, who was about to attack again, stopped at Kang Yun-jae’s words. The people who had been convulsing began to collapse one by one. Yeo Myung-hwon grabbed the back of Han-ol’s clothes and threw him away.

“Don’t pull it out.”

Seo Yun-jin grabbed Ju-eon’s hand as he was about to grasp the handle of the dagger embedded in Yun-jae’s side.

“It would be a lie to say it doesn’t hurt… but I don’t feel bad.”

Because it meant Ju-eon believed that what he had shown wasn’t completely a lie.

His actions served himself, not Ju-eon. So Ju-eon didn’t need to feel burdened. Since the size of Ju-eon’s feelings for him differed, his actions must have created an enormous burden.

“I’m selfish until the end, aren’t I?”

“If you knew that, you shouldn’t have done it.”

That’s why Yun-jae could only apologize to Ju-eon’s resentment.

“I’m sorry.”

At the same time, he realized: no matter how special and precious this feeling was, it became only a burden if the other person didn’t want it. No matter how much he deceived or forcibly gave, it could only cause problems. It finally hit him hard that he had no place to interfere from the beginning.

He wanted to say something more, but his eyelids felt heavy. With those words of apology, Yun-jae’s hand fell to the floor.