“Looks like that’s the place...”
The building was so tall he had to crane his neck for quite a while to see the top. Shops filled the lower floors up through the middle levels, while the upper stories seemed to be entirely studio apartments. The movie theater appeared to be somewhere around the middle of the building.
Right then, the pedestrian light changed.
Gyujin crossed almost mechanically, but he still couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling that had been dogging him. It was difficult to put into words. It felt like having muddy water splashed across the hem of his pants—nothing dramatic, just persistently irritating.
He had felt that way ever since leaving home.
After hesitating, he took out his phone.
It would probably be better to confirm where Kwon Dajung was first, then decide whether to keep going.
The moment he opened the app, Dajung’s current location appeared.
The red dot was practically right on top of him.
Gyujin’s heart dropped.
Startled badly enough to jolt, he snapped his head up.
And there was Kwon Dajung, so close that Gyujin wondered how he had failed to notice him until now.
Dajung was walking toward him from the other side of the crosswalk.
Gyujin swallowed dryly.
So this is what they mean when they say enemies meet on a narrow bridge.
Not that Kwon Dajung was his enemy.
Still, that was the first thought that came to mind.
His mouth went dry.
He racked his brain for some way to escape without making it obvious, but nothing useful came to him. Given where they were standing, there was no way to move without being noticed.
Clutching at straws, Gyujin pulled his cap down lower.
There was no chance Kwon Dajung would fail to recognize him just because of that, but still.
Maybe.
He kept his eyes down as much as possible and stared at the ground.
He had barely started taking a wide detour around Dajung when a bright voice called out to him.
“Gyujin!”
At the familiar voice, Gyujin forgot the situation entirely and widened his eyes.
He turned reflexively.
Ko Hyeguk suddenly poked his face out from directly behind Kwon Dajung.
“...Hyeguk?”
“Gyujin!”
Hyeguk came toward him at a brisk pace.
“What are you doing here? Were you on your way somewhere?”
“Huh? Oh... no, I was just...”
“How did we happen to run into each other here?”
Hyeguk was almost excessively delighted as he hooked his arm through Gyujin’s.
Caught completely off guard, Gyujin let himself be led along awkwardly.
Hyeguk kept chattering the entire time they crossed the street.
“I really didn’t expect to randomly run into you out here. Oh, right. Are you feeling better? I was going to come visit you, but I was so busy I never got the chance.”
“Yeah. I’m fine now. I’m all better.”
Gyujin answered dutifully, but still glanced over his shoulder.
Kwon Dajung was following them at a moderate distance.
It felt deeply unfamiliar.
Normally, Dajung would already have been clinging to him or making his presence aggressively known.
They had openly fought plenty of times before, but this kind of cold war was a first.
Maybe that was why the situation felt so unbearably awkward.
I really should’ve stayed home.
Chewing over his belated regret, Gyujin quickly looked forward again.
The harder he tried not to be conscious of Dajung, the more conscious of him he became.
Hyeguk, unaware of the situation, continued cheerfully.
“Do you know the Center completely lost its mind when everyone heard you were hospitalized? Honestly, it felt like people were talking about that more than the fire. Everyone was seriously worried—”
“Don’t you need to get going?”
Kwon Dajung abruptly cut in.
His gaze was fixed precisely on Hyeguk’s arm.
Noticing where he was looking, Hyeguk slowly unhooked himself from Gyujin.
“I’m going. Christ, it’s not like I’ve got nothing better to do...”
He grumbled continuously.
Dajung was difficult enough, but Ko Hyeguk was hardly inferior when it came to having an abrasive personality.
Hyeguk glared at Dajung for a while, then let out a loud sigh clearly meant for him to hear.
“Anyway, I’ll head out first. I’ll contact you again after I get back to the Center.”
“Oh. Yeah. Get back safely.”
Gyujin nodded.
Hyeguk stared at him for a moment, then scratched his head.
“So, uh... take it easy for a while. You’ve barely been out of the hospital, so you really shouldn’t be wandering around like this. Especially these days, when there are dangerous people fucking everywhere—”
“Are you leaving or not?”
Once again, Dajung cut him off.
He flicked his hand as if telling Hyeguk to disappear already.
“Go.”
“What a fucking temper...”
No profanity actually passed between them, but thick distrust and irritation tangled openly in the way they looked at each other.
Worried it might turn into a pointless fight, Gyujin quickly stepped between them.
“Wait. How were you two together in the first place? It’s work hours right now.”
“Ah, well... I’m temporarily taking over as Team 1’s Guide.”
Hyeguk scratched the back of his head.
“So we met up for guiding and all that. Sort of a preliminary meeting.”
“...Temporary Guide?”
Gyujin repeated the words before he could stop himself.
Hyeguk nodded.
“I heard you’d be resting for a while, so I agreed to fill in during that period. Right, Kwon Dajung?”
At Hyeguk’s question, the corner of Dajung’s eye twitched faintly.
But he quickly returned to normal and looked at him with an icy expression.
“When are you going to fuck off?”
“I said I’m going. I’m leaving. I will leave. I’m leaving, okay?”
Still glaring at Dajung like he was his mortal enemy, Hyeguk waved at Gyujin.
“I’ll go first. Take care of yourself, and I’ll see you later.”
He rattled the words off at machine-gun speed, then spun around.
Hyeguk walked off without looking back, like someone was chasing him.
Gyujin watched him disappear from sight, then cleared his throat.
“Um... Dajung.”
He took a brief breath and finally forced himself to speak.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
***
[Ko Hyeguk: Area cleared.]
[Ko Hyeguk: Five people latched onto him in that short amount of time... You need to scare some sense into Gyujin. Either make sure he doesn’t go outside alone for a while, or if that’s too hard, keep a bodyguard stationed next to him. If you leave him by himself like this, something’s going to happen sooner rather than later.]
Kwon Dajung ground his teeth.
Five people had attached themselves to Yoon Gyujin in that brief window.
He didn’t need to imagine very hard what might have happened if their timing had been even slightly worse.
Barely suppressing his rage, Dajung typed rapidly.
[You killed them all, right?]
A reply came after a short pause.
[Ko Hyeguk: Yeah.]
Dajung checked the message and silently shoved the phone back into his pocket.
If they were dead, then that was enough for now.
He planned to deal with the rest one step at a time.
“Order 211, your grapefruit tea is ready.”
Right on cue, Gyujin’s drink was called.
Dajung walked over to the counter and picked it up.
He even took care to grab napkins before turning toward where Gyujin was waiting.
Despite it being daytime, the café was packed.
Students studying and people chatting filled the place, all busy with their own reasons for being there.
Dajung found Gyujin instantly among them.
Yoon Gyujin was sitting by the window in a corner.
Sunlight streamed in from outside and settled across the side of his face.
There was nothing especially unusual about the sight.
And yet simply because he was Yoon Gyujin, it was enough to pull Dajung’s gaze toward him.
The slightly lowered eyes.
That faintly melancholy expression.
Sunlight spilled across his graceful features and broke into brilliant fragments.
Yoon Gyujin staring endlessly out the window looked, with only a little exaggeration, more angelic than an actual angel.
Everyone else in the café kept sneaking glances at him while pretending not to.
Of course they did.
He shone even when left alone.
That didn’t make it any less fucking irritating.
Should I really just lock him up?
If that had actually been possible, Dajung probably wouldn’t have ended up in this situation in the first place.
Still, moments like this always made him regret that it wasn’t.
For Yoon Gyujin’s safety, confinement was honestly not a bad solution.
But Kwon Dajung could never go against Yoon Gyujin’s wishes under any circumstances.
In a way, that was Dajung’s chronic illness.
Hiding the gloomy thought, he hurried over to the seat across from Gyujin.
Gyujin straightened when he noticed him.
“It’s hot, so be careful.”
Dajung set the tea in front of him.
Gyujin smiled out of habit and toyed with the mug.
“Thanks.”
Even after saying it, he didn’t seem to have any intention of actually drinking.
His fingers just kept moving around the cup, betraying an inexplicable hesitation.
And the more Yoon Gyujin hesitated, the more Dajung’s anxiety grew.
Whatever Gyujin said, Dajung had no excuse.
He was the one who had cornered him without giving a proper explanation.
He was the one who had said things that hurt him.
Not a single thing Yoon Palsik had said was wrong.
Yoon Gyujin was absurdly precious compared to someone like him.
Dajung knew that too.
“It’s nothing else, I just...”
Gyujin stopped speaking and closed his mouth.
His eyes narrowed awkwardly, then his expression hardened as though he had made up his mind.
Dajung clenched his fist.
Whatever Gyujin said here, no matter how harshly he blamed him, Dajung was prepared to accept it.
“I got a call from Youngju earlier. He said the Esper Bureau was looking for you. They were worried because nobody even knew where you were, so that’s why I came to find you.”
Dajung stared blankly for a moment, then dropped his head.
He muttered quietly.
“I thought it was something serious...”
When Yoon Gyujin had been the one to ask to talk, Dajung had prepared himself for the absolute worst.
He had even imagined hearing, Let’s break up.
He had been ready to drop to his knees and say he would rather die than agree to that.
But instead Gyujin was talking about the Esper Bureau.
The tension drained out of him all at once.
“You don’t need to worry about something like—”
“Why do you keep talking like that?”
Yoon Gyujin’s voice turned cold.
Dajung had no idea what exactly had upset him, but the response was far icier than anything he usually heard from Gyujin.
“I’m allowed to worry about where you are and what you’re doing. Isn’t that something worth taking seriously too?”