Chapter 4 : Facing the Past

Rushing to shower and choose clothes, Lee So Won opened the wardrobe and sank to the floor.
So Won cursed the younger self for wearing cheap, outdated clothes.
Childish designs, stuck in eight-year-old trends, greeted So Won.
Picking the least embarrassing outfit, time had already slipped away.

Eight years ago, today was a blazing summer day.
Stepping outside, sweat trickled down instantly.
Dang it…
So Won sighed softly.
Efforts to make a good first impression seemed doomed.

Seeing the Esper Association, So Won’s steps quickened instinctively.
The sleek, massive building, larger than most government facilities, loomed larger with each step.
Kang Tae Woo. Tae Woo.
So Won murmured his name quietly.
He wouldn’t remember So Won.
All the more reason to start this first meeting right.

Cool air inside the Esper Association welcomed So Won.
Panting, So Won caught their breath.
The soaring ceiling and ornate design stole attention.
Gasping, So Won approached the reception desk, steadying breaths.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m Lee So Won, here for a guiding test with Kang Tae Woo.”

“Oh… Please head to the guiding test room on the seventh floor.”

So Won bowed, hurrying to the elevator.
Breathing calmed now.
First floor, second floor…
The numbers climbed quickly.
So Won wondered how Tae Woo reacted to the matching results.
Joyful?
His emotions, dulled by unguided side effects, might have left him indifferent.

So Won’s heart raced.
Guilt for letting him die, fear of facing the one So Won dreaded, and a faint hope of seeing a healthier Tae Woo swirled together.

Clunk.

Seventh floor.
The elevator stopped, doors sliding open.
So Won scanned the wide hallway, searching for the guiding test room.

Eight years ago, no guiding test preceded their match.
Requesting a specific match had altered the past.
So Won expected the original 65% compatibility to reappear after this test.

“There it is.”

Guiding Test Room.
The silence inside made So Won worry about being in the wrong place.
Knocking lightly, a researcher promptly opened the door, greeting So Won.

Three researchers awaited inside.
So Won’s eyes darted, searching for Tae Woo.
Thankfully—or disappointingly—he hadn’t arrived.

Beyond a glass partition, another room held a complex machine and two chairs, likely for the test.

As So Won studied the room, heavy footsteps outside stopped at the door.
So Won flinched, instinctively knowing it was Tae Woo.
His sharp waves seemed to pierce through already.
So Won’s body stiffened, trembling despite vows not to.

Click.
The door opened without a knock.
Unprepared, So Won’s body shook pitifully, defying all resolve.

Fresh from a gate, Kang Tae Woo lay alone in a private room at the Esper Association.
Three guiding machines clung to his body.
He exhaled raggedly, wracked by pain as if torn apart.
Post-gate missions always felt like this.
His body burned, ready to burst, yet it didn’t.
The reason for living was long forgotten.
Endless pain and torment—he merely followed orders.

It was suffocating.
An endless thirst threatened to crack his body into dust.
The machines only dripped guiding like sparse water to a parched man.
Writhing in worsening thirst, Tae Woo’s instincts screamed for a guide.
To touch one, to end this agony.
But he had none.

Instead, he drowned in hard liquor to dull his mind.
Empty whiskey bottles littered the floor, the room reeking of alcohol.

Buzz.

His phone vibrated on the bed.
An Esper Association call.
Another emergency?
Already in terrible condition, Tae Woo frowned, answering.

He stayed silent.
The caller, trembling, breathed shakily.

– Uh, hello, Esper Kang Tae Woo.

No response.
The man continued.

– A guide named Lee So Won is asking for you at the university hospital ER. Is this your guide…

Crunch.
The smartphone shattered in Tae Woo’s hand.
A guide?
For a monster like him, who lived alone his whole life?
No such thing.
Before anger could rise, pain surged, shaking him.
Clinging to sanity, his hand tensed, ready to burst.

Tormented all night, Tae Woo stabilized by morning.
Unlucky or fortunate, no rampage this time.
Rubbing his throat, he felt smooth metal, not rough skin.
A black, thick collar—a bomb.

Without a guide, he was unstable, but docile for an S-grade esper, making him useful.
If he rampaged, the bomb would detonate.
Whether it could harm his unbreakable skin, Tae Woo didn’t know.
If that day came, he only hoped for freedom from this pain.

Slightly stabilized but still weak, Tae Woo lay surrounded by machines.
He moved only when a visitor arrived in the afternoon.

“Esper Kang Tae Woo?”

A young researcher cautiously entered, trembling upon meeting Tae Woo’s gaze.
Covered in guiding machines like tentacles, his grim expression worsened by poor condition, Tae Woo looked terrifying.
The researcher wanted to faint.

“A specific… matching request came in…”

“Do as you please.”

Too scared to enter, the researcher stammered, fleeing before finishing.
A specific match?
Tae Woo’s mood sank.
No match ever exceeded 5%.
Since yesterday, guide-related nonsense kept surfacing, mocking him.

Tae Woo believed he’d die miserably, rampaging after endless gate missions, guideless.
Even if a guide appeared, they’d flee his monstrous appearance.
But that wouldn’t faze him.
He knew everyone feared the monster he was.

The next morning, another visitor.
Tae Woo’s regular doctor, usually stoic, burst in excitedly.
Tae Woo’s brow furrowed.
Rare visitors to his isolated room were unwelcome.

“Esper Kang Tae Woo! Look at this!”

Barging in without knocking, the doctor, unshaken, handed Tae Woo a stack of papers.
Machines on his arms clinked as he took them.
A matching result report.

“A 100% compatibility guide appeared! A 100% guide!”

The doctor, acting half his age, shouted in childish excitement.
Normally, Tae Woo would’ve scared him off with a scowl.
Stunned, he only stared at the papers.

To others, he seemed calm.
Expecting joy or shock, the doctor’s excitement faded, regaining composure.

“We couldn’t believe it, so we tested multiple times. It’s 100%. We’ve requested another lab to verify, but it’ll likely be the same.”

Calmer now, the doctor gauged Tae Woo’s reaction.

100.0%.

Every page showed the same number.
As Tae Woo read, his heart froze.
No guide ever surpassed 5%.
Now, a sudden 100%?
Impossible for any esper-guide pair, let alone with him.
The test was clearly wrong.

Tae Woo glared at the paper, as if it might shatter.
The doctor, seeing his icy expression, swallowed hard.
A familiar name caught Tae Woo’s eye.
Guide, Lee So Won.
Recognizable, but he didn’t dwell on it, handing the papers back.

The trembling doctor fled with them.