DPGR 163

That day was no different from any other.

Except for one thing, Baek Dojin, who usually followed Jiho around like a shadow, had gone to a meeting with the Esper Director.

With Baek Dojin finally separated from him for the first time in a while, Jiho wandered aimlessly around the Center. There wasn’t really anywhere worth going inside the Center, and he figured maybe if he just walked around, a good idea might pop into his head.

“Uuumm…”

Alone and dazed, Jiho made an easy target.

“…wandering around alone…”

“With that guy….”

People nearby began whispering behind his back, glancing at Jiho and gossiping about him and Baek Dojin.

The problem was, Jiho was so deep in thought that he didn’t hear a word of it.

“Look at him ignoring us. Typical of Baek Dojin’s Guide. They’re all birds of a feather.”

Jiho only sensed the unfriendly gazes once he heard the familiar name “Baek Dojin.” He turned toward the voice, and someone stuck their foot out to trip him.

“Urgh…!”

Unfortunately, just as he turned his head, he got caught and fell hard. Even the one who tripped him looked startled, as if they hadn’t expected Jiho to fall so badly.

“Ah, sorry! Are you okay?”

“……”

Jiho looked up at the person who had tripped him. The face was familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it.

When Jiho just stared silently, tilting his head in confusion, the man erased his awkwardness and curled his lips into a smirk.

His expression said, “He’s not crying and just staring, so I guess it didn’t hurt that much”

“You’re so unnoticeable, I didn’t even see you. You’re not hurt, right?”

As his mocking tone continued, people around them snickered under their breath.

A few cast pitying glances at Jiho, while others looked uncomfortable as they watched, but that was all.

“Here, take my hand and get up.”

The man who had tripped Jiho extended his hand. Jiho flinched slightly, ignoring the dull ache radiating from his knee.

‘He’s probably just trying to mess with me again.’

He was used to this kind of bullying. He could even predict what would happen next.

As soon as he took that hand, the guy would probably let go and make Jiho fall again. Or worse, he might grip his hand hard and yank him up suddenly.

Then, if Jiho showed pain or complained, they’d accuse him of being overly sensitive.

Jiho didn’t want to waste his emotions on childish games like this. His head was already on the verge of exploding from thinking about the resurrection artifact.

“…I’m fine.”

He muttered while still on the ground, fumbling as he tried to get up on his own.

“What’s all this commotion?”

“Ha…!”

A displeased voice cut through the crowd.

From far off, people began parting like the Red Sea. Through the opening walked someone who locked eyes with the person who had tripped Jiho.

The man who met that gaze stammered in a trembling voice.

“E-Esper Kwak Jiheon…?”

To Jiho’s surprise, it was none other than Kwak Jiheon, the very person he had been hoping to see.

“What’s all this noise in the Esper Wing? Care to explain?”

“A-ah… The Guide here tripped and fell, so I was, um, trying to help…”

“What team are you with?”

“……”

“I asked what your team is.”

A suffocating pressure radiated from Kwak Jiheon. Even the onlookers felt it and fell silent.

“S-sorry, I’m really sorry…”

“Are my words difficult to understand? Are you an outsider, perhaps?”

“N-no, I’m not… It’s just…”

“Then what’s stopping you from saying your team?”

Now on the verge of tears, the man finally stammered out his answer.

“I-I’m Park Gitae… from the Gamma Team…”

Jiho’s eyes widened. That’s right, Park Gitae. He knew that face from somewhere.

It had been a long time since he’d seen him, and with so much having happened, the name had slipped from his mind.

‘So in the first life, he wasn’t kicked out of the Center.’

In the third life, Park Gitae’s wrongdoings had been exposed along with the corruption of the Guide Director, and he’d been suspended. It was practically the same as being expelled.

On top of that, he’d always bragged about being the son of a major pharmaceutical company CEO, which ended up drawing criticism toward the company too.

‘They said he was eventually exiled overseas.’

In the third life, Park Gitae was sent abroad by the very father he trusted. The man chose to protect his company even at the cost of abandoning his son, but the damaged reputation was never restored.

“Park Gitae, Esper of the Gamma Team?”

“Y-yes…!”

“I’ll remember that name.”

While Jiho was lost in thought, Kwak Jiheon dismissed Park Gitae with a wave of his hand. A clear sign to get lost.

The surrounding people, worried about getting caught up in the situation, quickly dispersed.

Then, a larger, older hand. More wrinkled than Park Gitae’s, reached out to Jiho, who was still sitting on the ground.

“Child. Are you alright?”

“…?”

“Here, take my hand and stand up.”

The sharpness in Kwak Jiheon’s gaze had completely vanished. It seemed he had quickly figured out that Jiho had been bullied and now looked at him with gentle, softened eyes.

In that moment, Jiho’s eyes filled with tears. That look of concern, it was just like grandfather’s in the third life.

Like the Aesop fable ¹where warm sunlight makes a traveler take off his coat, sometimes affection and care could break down hardened defenses more easily than suffering or hardship.

‘Grandpa…’

As Jiho’s eyes turned red in an instant, Kwak Jiheon looked slightly flustered. He had only stepped in to help after seeing someone getting bullied.

‘Did I make him cry…?’

Just as he hesitated and began to pull his hand back, Jiho sniffled and grabbed it tightly.

Feeling the smoothness of Jiho’s hand, without any calluses, Kwak Jiheon realized he was a Guide.

“Child, what team are you with?”

Jiho’s lips moved silently, like a child trying to swallow tears.

In truth, he was holding back another round of sobs after being called child by Kwak Jiheon.

Kwak Jiheon quickly pulled him up and even dusted off his clothes with his own hands. Jiho kept sniffling at his gentle touch and finally managed to answer,

“Guide… Seo Jiho… S–no… A-rank, but… hic!”

“D-don’t cry!”

Of course, being told not to cry only made it worse. Jiho’s tears fell in big drops, like a broken faucet.

“Huuuh…”

“No, no, I’m not scolding you… Come on now, quiet down, hmm?”

“Huuuuu…”

“Uhuuuhu.”

Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop. Maybe it was because they had built up too much over time, too overwhelming to contain anymore.

In truth, Jiho had wanted to cry like this for a long time.

When they were about to enter the Final Dungeon and Dojin showed his fear, worrying about dying.

When that fear came true and Dojin sacrificed himself right before Jiho’s eyes.

When the overload Dojin didn’t recognize him anymore.

When Dojin stopped looking at him with warmth, stopped answering him altogether.

When he realized that the Baek Dojin of the first life wasn’t the same as the hyung he had known.

When he painfully came to terms with how alone he was in this place.

“Huuung, hic!”

As Kwak Jiheon panicked in front of him, that familiar feeling brought a wave of longing. All the loneliness and fear Jiho had bottled up burst out in a flood.

When Jiho showed no sign of calming down, Kwak Jiheon scrambled to suggest,

“L-let’s go somewhere quiet for now. People will think I did something to you.”

Of all places, it was right in the middle of a crowded hallway. Passersby who didn’t know what was going on kept glancing at them.

“Okaaay…”

Jiho’s face was already puffy from crying as he nodded and clung to Jiheon’s sleeve.

Kwak Jiheon froze for a second, then coughed dryly and led him away. They headed into an empty training room.

Sniff.

Jiho finally began to calm down on the way, sniffling with a reddened nose. Kwak Jiheon sat him down and brought back a bottle of water from a vending machine.

“Here. Drink this, or you’ll get sick.”

“Thank youu… sniff.”

Kwak Jiheon laughed at Jiho’s nasal voice. Jiho, lips sticking out in a pout, gulped down the water he’d been given.

Then he bowed deeply to Kwak Jiheon once more.

“Thank you… for the water and… for helping me….”

“Well. At least you’re polite. That’s something. Are you done crying?”

“Yeees.”

“Then talk to me.”

“Huh?”

Kwak Jiheon leaned in toward Jiho, meeting him at eye level as he asked sharply,

“Why did you look at me like that?”

“……?”

“You looked like you knew me. Have we met before?”

Jiho’s eyes widened. Tears welled up again in those clear caramel-colored eyes. Kwak Jiheon raised an eyebrow at the reaction.

“Don’t cry. Judging from your face, you definitely know me, but I’ve got no memory of you. And it’s not like I’ve got dementia or anything.”

“…Ugh.”

Jiho scrunched his brow, his chin trembling like a walnut, lips jutting out like a little beak.

Should he say it? Should he say he knew him, should he ask for help? Was it okay to beg like that?

‘Will Grandpa believe me?’

His hesitation didn’t last long. Kwak Jiheon smiled like a hahoetal mask and soothed his anxiety. That sense of relief made Jiho’s tears start flowing all over again.

“It’s okay. Go ahead and talk, child.”

“…Grandpa!”

“H-huh? Grandpa…?”

“Gran, hic! Pa…. I-I’m Jiho, it’s me, Jiho….”

In the end, words tumbled out of Jiho’s mouth mixed with sobs, completely jumbled and incoherent.

He tried to say he was Jiho from the third life, then suddenly started spilling information about the Final Dungeon, then jumped to demanding if Kwak Jiheon had fallen out with Baek Dojin.

Throughout Jiho’s long and messy story, Kwak Jiheon quietly wiped his tear-, snot-, and drool-covered face and made sure he drank water so he wouldn’t get dehydrated.

And when Jiho finally finished telling everything,

“So basically… in another timeline, Baek Dojin saved the world?”

“Y-yeah….”

“And to save him now, you need a resurrection artifact?”

“Sniff, yeah….”

“And in this timeline, humanity ends up doomed.”

Nod, nod.

Jiho rubbed his wet cheeks and nodded furiously. Jiheon let out a long sigh.

“Damn… this is a lot.”

“D-do you believe me?”

“Seeing how hard you’re crying, I doubt you’re lying. But… it’s all so hopeless.”

“It’s o-okay. Sniffle! In the end… everyone ends up happy. Time, hic, gets turned back….”

“Right, of course.”

“My hyung, Dojin-hyung saved it all….”

“……”

“So please… can’t you give it to me? The resurrection artifact… please, give it to me… save hyung….”

Jiho clung to Kwak Jiheon’s clothes, face soaked with tears, pleading. If that’s what it took to get the artifact, he would’ve thrown himself to the floor and grabbed Kwak Jiheon’s pants leg.

But instead of “sure” or “no,” Jiheon gave a completely different answer.

“That’s the thing. I don’t have it anymore.”

“…What?”

Kwak Jiheon scratched his head, looking apologetic.

“Yoon Changwook… you know, the Esper Director guy. He kept pestering me for it, so I gave it to him. It’s not mine anymore.”

“……!”

Despair swept across Jiho’s face. It felt like the world was collapsing.

‘This can’t be happening…’

One mountain after another. At this point, Jiho wasn’t sure if he was incredibly lucky or just cursed.

‘Wh-what do I do now? Should I break into the Esper Director’s room?’

1. Aesop’s fable, The North Wind and the Sun, where the sun and the wind compete to make a traveler remove his coat. The wind blows hard, but the traveler only clutches his coat tighter. When the sun shines warmly, the traveler relaxes and takes it off himself. ↩︎