The brass bell above the glass door chimed, cutting through the soft jazz hum playing over the cafe's speakers.
Hanseong sat in the far-corner booth of Cafe Luminous, staring blankly into his glass of iced Americano. To any random passerby through the window, he was just a normal weary guy.
Only Hanseong could see the translucent blue screen hovering before him.
[COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS, 18 HOURS, 42 MINUTES.]
'Six days...' Hanseong massaged his temples. He had no idea how he was going to achieve this mission before the timer ran out.
He took a deep sip of his coffee, letting the dark espresso wash away the lingering panic from Ah-In's and Jae-won's words.
"Don't worry Hanseong-ah, I'll make sure your coffin is beautiful." Ah-In said while clutching Hanseong's hands like he was going to disappear.
"Noona... The coffin arrangement is my job." Jae-won pouted.
Hanseong didn't even bother telling them about the timer change. He'd reached his limits, he got dumped yesterday, he couldn't even sulk properly before the universe decided to interrupt his depression episode.
He scrolled through the news on his phone. Every headline had already been buried beneath a single story.
BREAKING NEWS: Esper Lee Taehyun has just been moved to a confinement area near Gwang-Hyundo district.
Yes. The X-Class Esper he was supposed to guide back to sanity had been moved to his neighbourhood.
What a wonderful coincidence.
Apparently, Esper Lee Taehyun broke through three feet of reinforced anti-mana titanium just to strangle South Korea's other X-Class Esper, Song Moonho, because the guy taunted him through the air vents.
Three feet of solid, bomb-proof titanium. Ripped apart like damp cardboard.
According to the report, the government had no choice but to transfer him from Seoul to Gwang-Hyundo, the nearest X-Class containment facility.
Hanseong stared at his phone.
I can't believe the government placed two X-Class Espers in the same confinement facility.
Then he looked down at his own pale, slender hands.
Realisation slowly dawned on him.
'I'm supposed to guide that?!'
[Get there first.]
'How?! You piece of shit—'
Clack-clack-clack.
The loud, obnoxious click of designer high heels shattered the cafe's serene jazz atmosphere.
Hanseong didn't even need to look up. He recognized that sharp, overbearing scent of expensive perfume anywhere. He'd bought it himself.
She slid into the seat in front of him like she owned the place, dropping her handbag onto the polished wooden table with a heavy thud.
Hanseong sighed and slowly looked up.
He definitely should've ordered something stronger than coffee.
"Well, well. Look who's hiding in a cheap corner," she sneered, her voice dripping with condescension as she examined her manicure. "I heard the good news, Hanseong-ah. "Six years wasted. At least my Min-Jae finally came to his senses and dumped you."
Hanseong stared at the woman he had once desperately wished to call 'mother'—the same woman who had coldly forbidden him from ever using the word because an orphan D-Class was "too low" for her family.
"How may I help you, Miss Choi?" Hanseong asked softly.
"Aigoo." She chuckled, adjusting the collar of her mink coat with obvious satisfaction.
Hanseong remembered standing outside a luxury boutique for nearly an hour before finally deciding to buy it.
He remembered how bad he wanted her validation, while she just treated him as a walking wallet.
He'd been really stupid back then.
But now wasn't the time for sulking. He didn't have her time at all.
He pushed back his chair and stood. He offered a brief, polite bow.
But before he could even take another step, suddenly his world tilted violently.
A strange, heavy numbness spread from the back of his neck straight down to his chest. His vision doubled, the warm jazz music turning into a muffled, underwater roar.
"Hey brat! I wasn't done talking!" Min-Jae's mother snapped, her voice growing distant and warped.
His blurry eyes darted to the coffee.
No...
The iced Americano he'd been sipping had been served by an unfamiliar barista he'd barely glanced at. It had a faint, metallic aftertaste that he completely ignored.
Shit.
His consciousness slowly slipped away...
THUD.
****
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Hanseong opened his eyes for a split second. Then he immediately closed it.
Blinding white lights.
And the feeling the rough canvas of a stretcher mattress beneath him.
Where?
"Subject is awake." A deep voice echoed above him. Before Hanseong could even process the words, a cold fluid rushed through his veins, and darkness swallowed him whole again.
****
"Guide Jung Hanseong."
Hmm?
Hanseong nearly had a heart attack when an old man with a receding hairline was staring at him like he was something to be dissected.
He froze when he felt leather restraints on his wrists.
"What's this for?"
"Who are you?!"
The old man calmly stroked his chin before lossening his tie. He cleared his throat before looking at Hanseong dead in the eye.
"Tell me something." The man said sternly. "Just how long did you think you could hide it from us?"
"Excuse me?"