“Why did you suddenly come back?”

“…I’m in charge of a new project. What other reason would there be?”

“Is it confidential this time too?”

“Yeah. Is that what you came to ask about?”

“I don’t think I’ve congratulated you yet on developing the weathering syndrome treatment. I heard you received massive investment to produce results in a short time?”

“……”

“As if there was someone who needed to be cured quickly.”

Yeo Myung-hwon spoke in a monotone voice. His gaze remained steadily fixed on Yun-jae. It felt like even the smallest change would be exposed under his gaze. An ordinary person would have shown signs of agitation, but not Yun-jae.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you done? I need to head out soon.”

“……”

“……”

“Ah. Right. How is Assemblyman Yeo doing?”

Could he know something? True to his gloomy personality, Yeo Ji-woong’s schedule was kept strictly confidential. Everyone at that location had been Ji-woong’s people.

Given that it was Yeo Myung-hwon, he might have accidentally learned about the schedule, but he couldn’t possibly know the content of their conversations.

Yun-jae approached the door and stood face to face with Myung-hwon.

‘Why are you asking me about your father?’

“He seems to care more about you than me. Since some point.”

Yeo Myung-hwon shrugged and made way for Yun-jae to pass. Yun-jae walked with steady steps.

“But Yun-jae.”

Thud. His steps stopped. The air was so sharp it stung his skin, and Yun-jae couldn’t even turn around. It wasn’t that he was using his ability; the air was violently rippling in response to Myung-hwon’s emotions.

“…Uh…”

As Yun-jae held his breath under the overwhelming presence, Myung-hwon asked in a lowered voice.

“Where is Ju-eon?”

“…I don’t know what kind of answer you’re expecting from me.”

“Really?”

Yun-jae’s jaw clenched as he bit his lip. He forced his stiffened muscles to move and started walking. Until Yun-jae left the corridor, no other footsteps were heard.

**

Ah. Another dream.

Ju-eon naturally realized this as he sensed his body wouldn’t move according to his will.

Since having his first dream related to the past, Ju-eon had been having these dreams periodically. Here, Ju-eon was a third party. The sensations were clear, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished. The man’s face wasn’t shrouded in a hazy fog either.

Ju-eon was lying with his cheek against some man’s stomach. The man was running his fingers through Ju-eon’s hair. The rustling sensation of his hair felt pleasant. But the voice that came out was utterly blunt.

‘Aren’t you going to do it?’

The man’s hand paused at Ju-eon’s direct question.

‘I’d rather never do it than have you in pain.’

‘…So you’re not doing it?’

‘No. I’m fine.’

The man patted Ju-eon’s back. His tenderness was suffocating. The thought that only one person had been remembering this moment all along made it hard to breathe. Regardless of Ju-eon’s thoughts, the fragments of what had already happened faithfully reenacted that moment.

‘No…!’

‘Huh?’

‘Just touching like that makes me frustrated.’

‘…What?’

‘I want to do it.’

‘You do?’

The man’s hand stopped. Though his face wasn’t visible, it was easy to guess he was surprised.

‘Why are you so surprised? I can say things like that too.’

‘No….’

‘What, why. What.’

Feeling awkward, he sat up on the sofa, gripping it unnecessarily. The man suddenly stood up.

‘I’m happy.’

The man wrapped his arms around Ju-eon’s waist with strong force and lifted him up. Though he flailed his legs at the sudden floating sensation, the arms holding him didn’t budge. When his feet touched the ground again, it was on the bed.

‘I thought you said we never had to do it. What’s making you happy?’

‘That you want me desperately too.’

He placed a light kiss on Ju-eon’s forehead. After dragging him to the bedroom like a bulldozer, his lips were trembling faintly. Their skin pressed together without any gaps. The air was hot.

‘Don’t stop even if I hurt a little.’

‘Don’t encourage me more here.’

‘Ugh. I’m not, encour…ah. aging.’

It felt like his skin was melting. Ju-eon clung to him with all his might. As if he never wanted to be separated from him.

His eyes grew hot as emotions welled up.

‘Don’t cry. Okay?’

‘O…okay.’

His red tongue swept across Ju-eon’s eyes. Unlike his gentle tone, the unleashed beast didn’t stop its assault. With each movement, the densely packed muscles on his back moved flexibly.

Beep beep beep-!

Beep beep beep-!

He suddenly opened his eyes at the loud alarm sound like a siren. Ju-eon checked that his whole body was drenched in sweat and pressed his forehead. His face burned at the vivid dream scene still lingering in his mind.

Ju-eon quickly got up and rushed into the bathroom. Gu-young must have woken up too, as rustling sounds could be heard from beyond the door.

“This is driving me crazy.”

The dreams had become more frequent since entering the training center. It was embarrassing since he didn’t even have a room to himself.

Shhhhhh. Ju-eon turned the water on full blast to prevent sounds from leaking out of the bathroom.

**

While those who came to the Special Abilities Agency headquarters’ training center were few and envied from the outside, within the agency, trainees were nothing more than rookies.

Yeo Myung-hwon was an S-class esper acknowledged by all, someone even the nation was promoting publicly, while he was just a trainee.

Well aware of this fact, he hadn’t expected to meet him right after entering the training center, but he never dreamed he wouldn’t even catch a glimpse of him even after four months.

“If you can’t even see Attack Team 1 when assigned to a regular team, how could a mere trainee see an S-class ability user?”

And naturally, Ju-eon wasn’t the only trainee who wanted to see Yeo Myung-hwon. There were countless people who wanted to see Yeo Myung-hwon, who reigned at the pinnacle even among ability users.

“Wonder if we’ll get to see him before leaving here?”

“Did you like Yeo Myung-hwon too, hyung?”

Though he knew it was said without much meaning, he couldn’t answer easily. He couldn’t exactly say that he didn’t just want to see him out of simple fan admiration like others.

“…Yeah.”

“It’ll probably be difficult.”

They were now down to their final days before returning. Ju-eon hadn’t decided on his career path yet and was considering staying longer at the training center, but honestly, there wasn’t much left to learn.

It had been a bit tough at first due to lack of physical strength. But once he gained some stamina, Ju-eon showed incomparable growth compared to others.

“If you work at headquarters, wouldn’t you get to see him at least once sometime?”

“……”

“What are you going to do?”

They only had two months left to be roommates with Gu-young.

“I don’t know yet.”

He wanted to stay here. Unlike Yun-jae’s worries, Ju-eon was comfortable with this life like a fish in water. Though Yun-jae wasn’t rushing him, whenever they occasionally got in touch, Yun-jae openly showed signs of wanting him to return.

“Someone of your level would be welcomed at headquarters. Does your partner hate it that much? Their original workplace is in District 1 anyway, right?”

“I want to think about it some more.”

He had a baseless feeling that something might change if he met him again.

“Well, you still have time to think about it.”

That baseless feeling might instantly dissolve when they actually meet, but that would be then. The thought that he needed to meet that man somehow had become strongly planted in Ju-eon’s mind.

**

The first two months were spent training for physical improvement, and the next two months were for training on how to utilize abilities.

And the final two months were for developing combat sense good enough to be deployed directly to the field. They said there would be practical training focused on actually entering low-grade dungeons under the guidance of active hunters.

First day of the final two months. At the usual training time, all trainees gathered in the indoor gymnasium. The trainees were lined up in a row and papers were distributed as names were called.

“Woo Ju-eon.”

When Ju-eon was called and went forward, he received his paper.

Woo Ju-eon

Guide / B-class

Team C

Only then did the trainees realize the meaning of the alphabets written on the floor that they hadn’t noticed before, and they busily moved to find their teams.

“The team combinations were arranged with balance in mind, so it would be better if teams get along well.”

Since it was for gaining field experience rather than clearing missions, the personnel were kept to a minimum. Active hunters would accompany them as a sort of safety measure, keeping risks to a minimum.

Looking around, he could get a sense of how the teams were organized. The better the ability, the smaller the group size.

“Hyung. Where are you?”

“Team C.”

“Me too. Wow. That’s great.”

“You would have adapted well wherever you were assigned.”

It was fortunate for Ju-eon, who wasn’t good with words, to have someone he knew in the same team.

But Gu-young nudged Ju-eon’s side and whispered, “There’s probably no one here better than their assigned grade than you, hyung.” When Ju-eon self-consciously looked around, Gu-young grinned, saying he had already checked before speaking.

“Looking forward to working together.”

“Me too. Is Team C over there? Hope the other team members are nice too.”

“Yeah.”

‘The teams have between three and eight people.’

While Ju-eon was assessing the situation, Gu-young went ahead to where it said Team C and greeted people good-naturedly.

“Hello.”

“…Hello. Oh?”

“……”

Ju-eon, who was late to greet because he was analyzing the surroundings, arrived. Jin Su-hui, who had arrived first, nodded once. Her gaze narrowed measuringly as she looked back and forth between them.