BME | Chapter 1.1

He​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ had the familiar dream again.

The day his father was murdered often replayed itself in Hyewoo’s dreams.

The mansion where Hyewoo had been born and raised collapsed before his eyes. In the place where all the thick walls had fallen, only pale dust rose, so dense that nothing could be made out. His father, who had always protected him, had fallen as well and could not get back up. Unable even to scream, Hyewoo frantically hugged his father to his chest. He wailed for someone to help, but it was no use.

Every​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ time he drew breath, gritty dust settled inside his body. Hyewoo coughed fitfully and clamped a hand over his mouth.

The surprise attack did not subside until a long while had passed.

He could barely open his eyes, but he realized that a huge figure was slowly approaching from far away. He could feel an intense wavelength, as though it might overflow at any moment.

Hyewoo’s​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ head, which had been bowed toward the ground, slowly lifted. His body, overcome with fear, would not move as he wished. Every joint creaked, creating an unpleasant sensation.

Even though he knew it was a dream, the agony and terror of that day were not diluted. Since he already knew the ending, he could not hold on to even a single thread of hope. All he could do was watch everything unfold.

Emotionless, parched eyes looked down at Hyewoo. A large man stood close enough to touch if he reached out a hand. The man’s shadow fell over Hyewoo’s head. He had been big to begin with, but looking up at him from below made him terrifyingly imposing.

Overcome​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ with fear, Hyewoo collapsed and could only tremble. His breath caught as though his tongue had rolled back into his throat.

“Have you said your farewells to Dr. Lee?”

The man asked the pale-faced Hyewoo as he normally would, as though nothing had happened. The question sounded as casual as if he were asking whether Hyewoo had exchanged morning greetings with his father. It sent a chill through him. The man was going to kill his father, after all.

Was​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ this consideration, allowing him to say one last goodbye? Could something like this be called consideration?

The man had stayed in this mansion for several years, yet he had not so much as wavered upon seeing Hyewoo’s father dying. His excessive composure terrified Hyewoo, and he hugged his father even tighter. The only thing he could cling to was the fading sound of his heartbeat. But his father was still alive. For now….

As he always did, Hyewoo begged the man to save his father. Despite his desperate pleas, the man’s expression remained unmoved. At a glance, he looked as though he were watching a tedious play.

“Hmm…….​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ I think I’ve waited long enough.”

The man calmly pronounced Hyewoo’s father dead. Sobbing, Hyewoo held his father’s breathless body. With one casual glance from the man, his father’s heart stopped. To him, all of this seemed easy and simple.

Would Hyewoo be next, after his father? Hyewoo rather wished that were the case.

But​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ while Hyewoo gasped for breath, the man merely stared down at him for a long time with eyes whose meaning he could not decipher.

Then, abruptly, he asked:

“Will you come with me?”

Those​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ were the words the man who had killed his father had spoken to Hyewoo on the day of the murder.

Hyewoo did not know how to describe the dumbfounded emotion he had felt at that moment. Sometimes, he wanted to ask the man from that day what answer he had expected from someone clinging to his father’s corpse.

Terrified, Hyewoo shook his head wildly without taking even a moment to think. He hunched his entire body, afraid the man might drag him away by force.

Of​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ course, the man did not forcibly take Hyewoo with him.

He seemed not to have expected a positive answer from Hyewoo in the first place, because he simply turned away without the slightest hesitation. He did not even ask if Hyewoo was sure. Hyewoo watched the man’s back furtively, relief and confusion mingling in his eyes.

The man walked with a broad stride, unhurried but steady. As he gradually grew more distant, he soon disappeared from view. Hyewoo’s irregular breathing slowly calmed.

Hyewoo’s​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ dream had always ended there.

On the day he lost his father, Hyewoo stayed in that place until his father’s body grew cold. After enduring for a long time, he finally came to his senses in a hospital ward at the Center.

Soon afterward, Jo Huitae came to see him. Hyewoo joined Delta Team as a sub Guide, and was imprisoned in that villa.

After​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ that, he prolonged his meaningless life… until at last, he froze to death on the balcony.

“……Hyewoo.”

Hyewoo sat up on impulse, pure and simple. He carefully laid his father’s body, whose warmth had not yet faded, on the floor. Then he staggered away on legs that had lost their strength. He headed in the direction the man had disappeared.

What was he supposed to accomplish by following him now?

He​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ did not know. He did not know what had made him follow the man after all this time, or what he was curious about. Perhaps he had finally become curious about how this dream might end differently.

Without reaching any conclusion, Hyewoo began walking aimlessly. He walked on and on with the clumsy steps of a newborn animal.

He did not know where the man had gone. And yet, strangely, he felt as though he knew where he was.

“……Hyewoo.”

Gasping,​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ panting, Hyewoo felt his breath climb to the very top of his throat. His injured leg dragged almost uselessly along the ground. Only when he was so out of breath that he was on the verge of collapsing did the pitch-black forest receive him.

Hyewoo instinctively stopped before the black forest, where not a single ray of light could be seen. But soon, he began walking again.

If he just went in, if he entered here…….

He​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ staggered onward. He was just about to set one foot inside the forest, barely managing to get that far, when:

“……Hyewoo!”

The sharp call struck his ears with a loud crack.

Hyewoo sucked in a deep breath. His mind snapped awake as though he had been slapped across the cheek.

“Hyewoo.​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ Aren’t you going to come to your senses?”

“……Yes?”

Hyewoo’s eyes opened. He answered reflexively upon hearing the familiar voice.

Hyewoo stared ahead with bleary eyes. He frowned at the sudden brightness. The black forest was nowhere to be seen. Instead, harsh fluorescent lights stabbed at his eyes. He had been sure he was about to reach the forest.

White​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ walls, a narrow bed large enough for two people to lie on, and a man sitting there. It was a face he had never seen before. Who was this person? What was this……?

Hyewoo thought blankly. His thoughts did not flow smoothly, as though his brain had frozen and only just thawed. As he stared at the scene before him, he recalled, one thing at a time, what had happened just before.

It had been snowing outside, and Hyewoo had been driven out onto the balcony.

And​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ then…….

His thoughts abruptly jammed. Hyewoo remembered the moment of his death with perfect clarity. The snowstorm that had slapped his cheeks until just moments ago still felt vivid, yet there was no cold here, only warmth. Hadn’t he definitely died there?

“Hyewoo, you need to focus.”

Just​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ as he was about to panic, the gentle voice brought him back to his senses again. It was a voice he had not heard in a very long time. That deeply familiar call belonged to his father…… to his deceased father.

Unable not to recognize the voice, Hyewoo looked around in confusion. The sound was coming from a speaker mounted in the ceiling. As he surveyed the room, he saw a large mirror taking up half of one wall. It looked like an ordinary mirror from this side, but from the other side, someone could see into the room.

Ah, Hyewoo knew where this was. When his father had still been alive, he had come here once every week or two.

This​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ was a guiding room at the Center.

Once he realized that, he noticed the man across from him fastening a wavelength meter to his upper body. Then was his father on the other side of that mirror? Was this a flashback? Or a dream? Maybe a dream within a dream. Several questions with no answers rose in Hyewoo’s mind.

“Hyewoo. Why can’t you get a grip today of all days? Aren’t you going to do it properly?”

The​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ voice came from the speaker again. Because Hyewoo had been so out of it, his father’s voice had clearly turned stern.

Hyewoo immediately recoiled as though a knife had been thrust before his eyes. Just as the sight of a lemon made saliva gather in his mouth involuntarily, he became afraid the moment his father’s voice changed. Even if this situation was a dream, that would not change.

“What are you doing, Hyewoo? You need to Guide him.”

“Yes,​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ yes…!”

Hyewoo answered hurriedly. Then he pulled the Esper’s hand toward him. The moment he touched the Esper, a sharp wavelength surged into him.

The other man was an A-rank Esper, and judging by the unsettling wavelength flowing from him, he seemed to be in urgent need of guiding. Level two? Or level three? Hyewoo had been guiding him while holding one of his hands, but decided that would not be enough.

Guiding​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ generally had four levels. Starting with level-one radiant guiding, followed by level-two contact guiding, level-three mucosal guiding, and level-four penetrative guiding, each stage required increasingly intimate physical contact.

Level one was performed without touching the Esper. Level two involved hugging and shaking hands, level three included kissing and petting, and level four went as far as penetration.

As Delta Team’s sub Guide, Hyewoo had been forced by the Espers to perform level-four guiding. They had told him that penetrative guiding was mandatory for an exclusive Guide. Hyewoo had no way of knowing whether that was true.

Hyewoo​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ dragged his chair closer to the bed and wrapped his arms around the other man’s waist. When he approached without a word, the Esper asked in confusion:

“Uh…… Are we doing it this way today?”

“Yes. Then I’ll begin guiding.”

In​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ truth, guiding while their bare skin touched was far more effective than this. But this much was enough for now.

Even while disoriented, Hyewoo guided him with all his might. He did not know who the Esper before him was, but his father had told him to Guide him, so he faithfully followed the instructions.

“…How do you feel?”

“Yes,​‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍​ it feels good…….”

The Esper’s breathing gradually grew languid. Before long, the other man relaxed as well and wrapped his arms around Hyewoo. After confirming that the wavelength was calming, Hyewoo began to relax too.