PARADOX 49

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Gu Jeyi’s tone of voice sounded slower than usual. He really hoped it was just his imagination.

Hanseo answered while meeting the gaze that was staring fixedly at him.

“I don’t really know either.”

Of course, it was a lie. He had a rough idea of what was happening.

Gates appeared chaotic at a glance because the rules of time and space differed from reality, but in truth, clear rules existed. For instance, the fact that a Gate vanishes once the core is destroyed.

Perhaps this fog, once you fall asleep and wake up, doesn’t work a second time?

But… to think it would actually work on Gu Jeyi.

In truth, the fog itself wasn’t that dangerous. At most, you’d just fall asleep for a bit.

The problem comes after falling asleep. Once the prey is asleep, a swamp forms beneath their feet, sucking them in and transporting them inside a plant that is either an avatar or an offspring of the main body. And inside there, one sees hallucinations that don’t end until death.

Strictly speaking, hallucinations are fake, so they couldn’t be seen as dangerous in and of themselves. What was truly dangerous was believing those hallucinations to be real—one’s own mind itself.

Is this going to be okay?

What he had been worried about was Gu Jeyi’s mental state becoming exhausted due to the deaths of his teammates, not Gu Jeyi’s life itself.

However, now his thoughts had to change. Moreover, didn’t he already know what kind of state Gu Jeyi was in?

…How long has it been since Gu Jeyi last slept?

“Are you very sleepy? On a scale of 0 to 10, about how much?”

“I will try to endure it.”

Gu Jeyi answered that way, but he didn’t seem reliable at all. It was noticeable that his walking speed had already become much slower than just a moment ago.

Casting a suspicious glance, Hanseo saw a faint ripple spreading beneath Gu Jeyi’s feet.

Hanseo’s complexion worsened rapidly. It felt like confirmation that the floor would swallow him the moment Gu Jeyi fell asleep.

If Gu Jeyi went down, would he be able to save him in time?

“Th—then, shall we keep talking as we go so you don’t get sleepy?”

Gu Jeyi was by no means the type of person who enjoyed chattering, but perhaps thinking the method Hanseo suggested wasn’t bad, he nodded.

“Fine.”

“How much further do you think we have to go for the main body to appear?”

“It is certain the distance is closing. However, I do not know exactly how close we have gotten.”

“Are you sure it’s really in the direction where the fog gets thicker? The equipment isn’t showing any reaction.”

“We are heading the right way, so you do not need to worry about that.”

The equipment worn before entering a Gate has a function to detect and notify of a core, but it had not activated once since they entered the Gate, perhaps because the core was outside the detection radius. Yet, Gu Jeyi answered without a single hesitation, like a person who knew exactly where the core was.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Hanseo asked.

“How do you know that?”

“Intuition.”

Ah, intuition… Hanseo’s eyes turned hollow. It was annoying, but an Esper’s sixth sense is generally superior to a normal person’s. Furthermore, for an Esper of Gu Jeyi’s caliber, it wasn’t strange to feel the location of a core by intuition.

Actually, it is strange. But had there been only one or two times where a human named Gu Jeyi destroyed the standards? Originally, Espers were classified from A—D class just like Guides, but the S-class was created when Gu Jeyi appeared.

After that, Hanseo continued to throw out questions. It would be a disaster if Gu Jeyi fell asleep like this, so he couldn’t let his guard down. If Gu Jeyi’s response was even slightly delayed, his heart would drop and he would break out in a cold sweat.

Doing so, it felt a bit like the conversations they used to force back and forth to stabilize Gu Jeyi’s wavelength to the target level. Though unlike then, this time monsters popped out in between.

“Ah.”

Because the root of a fallen monster moved, Hanseo, who was stepping over it, momentarily lost his balance.

Just before he face-planted on the floor, Gu Jeyi grabbed Hanseo by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him up.

“Ah, thank you.”

Standing properly, Hanseo suddenly felt a sense of emptiness and looked down at his left hand. Then, he began to look around his surroundings frantically.

Gu Jeyi, who was looking at Hanseo with bewilderment, suddenly bent his waist and picked something up from the ground.

“Is this what you are looking for?”

“Ah.”

Gu Jeyi tilted his head while looking at the object Hanseo carefully took from him.

“But why are you wearing something that doesn’t even fit your hand?”

Hanseo looked at Gu Jeyi with an absurd face.

“…You don’t know what this is?”

Perhaps thinking Hanseo was treating him like an idiot, Gu Jeyi answered with a furrowed brow.

“A ring?”

Yes, a ring.

It’s the wedding ring I got with you, you bastard.

Looking at the reaction, it seemed Gu Jeyi really didn’t remember. Well, he hadn’t picked it out himself in the first place, so there was no way he would know. Gu Jeyi must have the same item, but the only time he wore the ring was on the wedding day.

Hanseo looked down at Gu Jeyi’s black leather gloves. He could bet everything he owned that there was no ring on the hand beneath that glove.

Hanseo didn’t say anything more and put the ring he was holding onto his left ring finger. The ring was a bit loose. It wasn’t that he had lost weight in the meantime; it had been like this from the start, perhaps because the person who took the measurements made a mistake. He could have said something and changed it, but… he wondered if there was a need to go that far. It would become useless in two years anyway.

Seeing Hanseo’s reaction, it seemed Gu Jeyi had finally realized the identity of the ring. A hint of realization flashed across his face.

“…It’s a wedding ring.”

Yeah, you figured it out just now? For some reason, he felt hurt. But Hanseo soon denied that feeling. Why would he feel hurt when he hadn’t expected anything in the first place? If anything, it should be annoyance.

Even though he was helping out of necessity because the situation turned out this way, there was no way he could look kindly upon the guy who almost killed him. Right, it wasn’t that he was hurt, but that he was annoyed.

However, Gu Jeyi accurately caught the disappointment lingering on Hanseo’s face. It was the moment Gu Jeyi’s misunderstanding began to snowball.

“Did you not say you were giving up your feelings?”

Gu Jeyi thought that Hanseo was wearing a ring that didn’t even fit precisely because he couldn’t give up his feelings for him.

Of course, that was a misunderstanding. The only reason Hanseo wore the ring was because Pyo Myeongho had asked him to make it obvious they were married when they were outside. Perhaps knowing that Gu Jeyi wouldn’t wear a ring, Pyo Myeongho had only asked Hanseo. Unlike Hanseo, if someone asked, Gu Jeyi had an excuse—he could just say he didn’t wear it because he was afraid of losing it while fighting monsters.

“I told you I gave up. Don’t worry.”

“…I understand.”

No matter how he looked at it, the man didn’t seem to believe his words. Hanseo felt wronged. No, really, it’s not like that. Why would I like you? I almost died because of you. Do you know how big the hole in my stomach was?

As expected, the buttons were fastened wrong from the start. He should have come up with some other excuse instead of the one about liking him. He thought it was good that Gu Jeyi didn’t doubt his intentions, but because of that, wasn’t he going to be doubted in a different way?

He felt wronged, but there was something more important than clarifying things right now.

“Anyway, let’s go quickly. The time is…”

Even before the sentence finished, the root of the monster Hanseo had almost tripped over lunged toward him.

Crazy!

Koong!

Before Hanseo could take any measure to speak of, the root struck him. However, it didn’t hurt. It was thanks to something solid embracing him.

“Hyung!”

Hanseo’s face turned pale as he saw Gu Jeyi, who had closed his eyes while pulling him into an embrace.

“Are—are you okay?”

Hanseo hurriedly fumbled over Gu Jeyi, checking for injuries. Then, perhaps because he disliked the touch, Gu Jeyi slightly opened his eyes and, with slow movements, very diligently brushed Hanseo’s hands away.

Only then did Hanseo realize that Gu Jeyi was perfectly fine. Even though he had been hit head-on by that massive root, no bones were broken, let alone a bruise. It was an enviably sturdy body.

Oh, the root.

Having confirmed that Gu Jeyi was fine, Hanseo belatedly looked back at the monster that had attacked him. However, the massive root lay on the floor without moving. Soon after, the form of the root slowly crumbled and scattered into dust. It had died after that last attack.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Hanseo checked on Gu Jeyi again.

“You really startled me.”

Gu Jeyi, who had sprawled out on the floor at some point, blinked his eyes very slowly and gave no answer.

What’s with him? While staring blankly, Hanseo realized the situation and shouted with a face turned deathly pale.

“Hyung, you can’t fall asleep!”

However, an old saying goes that even a man of great strength cannot lift his own eyelids. It seemed the same was true for an S-class Esper.

Once he lay on the floor, it seemed sleep was pouring over him helplessly, and Gu Jeyi now appeared half-asleep. Then, the surface of the floor began to ripple like waves again.

“I said wake up!”

He hurriedly shook Gu Jeyi’s body and tried pinching him, but it was no use.

Hanseo’s heart became frantic.

What is a way to wake someone up instantly?

He couldn’t think of anything at all.

What on earth could it be, something that would startle Gu Jeyi enough to make him snap his eyes open and get up…

At that moment, a good idea flashed through his mind. Since it was just before Gu Jeyi’s eyelids closed tightly, Hanseo had no leisure to distinguish whether the idea was truly right or wrong and immediately lunged toward Gu Jeyi’s lips.