Held Through the Night

That was the last thing she remembered.

'W-what is this?'

Baek Yeo-eul could hardly be blamed for panicking at the firm, bare chest filling her entire field of vision.

She had seen a man's bare chest before, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sure — but never one planted directly in front of her like this. Worse, it was close enough that it might as well have been touching her cheek.

For an entirely different reason than before she'd blacked out, Baek Yeo-eul broke into a cold sweat and pulled her head back as far as it would go.

"Mmph!"

But before she could put even a hand's breadth between them, a large palm wrapped firmly around the back of her head and pulled. By a hair's breadth, Baek Yeo-eul twisted her face aside — one heartbeat more and her lips would have been buried against his chest.

Pressed so seamlessly against him that her cheek flesh bulged out, she could feel the scorching heat of his body, and the frantic drumming of his heart bored straight into her ear.

It was less the soft flutter people gush about than an outright pounding.

Baek Yeo-eul tried, first things first, to move her hands and get out of this situation. She soon realized, however, that both her wrists were pinned under his arms and both her legs were caught between his — she couldn't budge so much as an inch.

Left with no other option, Baek Yeo-eul fluttered her lips, still unable to put any distance between them.

"Um… Esper Han Yi-hyeon."

Her voice had come out oddly muffled, so she cleared her throat and called him again.

"Esper Han Yi-hyeon."

When even that drew no answer, she barely managed to lift her head. A sleek, sharp jawline came into view first. Next, lips pressed firmly into a straight line. A high, straight nose. And the blindfold sitting loosely over his eyes.

The blindfold had slipped slightly askew.

She had never seen his eyes this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exposed before, and before she knew it, Baek Yeo-eul was studying his face in detail, helplessly entranced.

Even with his eyes hidden behind the blindfold, it was obvious enough that the man was handsome.

She was staring blankly when, all of a sudden, she saw his eyes twitch beneath the blindfold — then quietly drift open.

"Oh."

The moment she felt their eyes meet and parted her lips to speak—

"Han Yi— ack!"

Baek Yeo-eul was shoved away by Han Yi-hyeon and went tumbling to the floor.

"So, let me get this straight."

Pressing an ice pack to her swollen forehead, Baek Yeo-eul pieced the situation together.

"You're telling me you held me in your arms all night?"

"Yes."

Han Yi-hyeon nodded, his knees folded demurely together.

To sum it up: Han Yi-hyeon had tried to take her to a hospital, but even half out of her mind, Baek Yeo-eul had dug in her heels — absolutely not, she wasn't going — so he'd had no choice but to track down the emergency medication she kept on hand and get it into her.

And no matter how high he turned up the heat or how many layers he piled onto her, she kept shivering with cold, so in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the end he had stripped off his top and held her through the night.

The results had been outstanding.

After all, a fever that wouldn't break even with the heating cranked up to forty degrees Celsius had dropped sharply within a few hours.

"Thank you."

Baek Yeo-eul said at last, after some hesitation.

If Han Yi-hyeon hadn't been there, she would probably still be groaning through the fever right now. She was grateful, too, that he had listened to her instead of hauling her off to the hospital.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry… your forehead, too…"

The reason Han Yi-hyeon had been hovering anxiously like this ever since was none other than the bruise on her forehead from her fall off the bed.

"It doesn't hurt that much. I just bruise easily, that's all — honestly, it barely hurts at all now."

Carrying on as if he were the one who'd taken the hit, Han Yi-hyeon had kept insisting on the hospital until she barely managed to calm him down; now that the ice had done its work, the pain had indeed dulled compared to before.

"Still…"

"I'm fine."

At her flat refusal, Han Yi-hyeon nodded at last, reluctance dripping from every line of his face.

Then he rose to his feet.

"I'll make breakfast."

By now Baek Yeo-eul was fairly used to the strange sounds drifting in from the kitchen. She had no idea why making porridge required the noise of an all-out battle, but the result was, as always, perfect.

"It's delicious."

One spoonful of the creamy white porridge — beef and assorted vegetables finely diced, water added to the rice and stirred without pause so nothing would scorch — and her appetite seemed to come back to life.

She made short work of a full bowl, and while the kitchen the two of them had jointly reduced to a disaster zone was being briskly cleaned up around her, the watch rang.

Their gazes turned at the same moment to the watch lying abandoned on the living room floor.

Only then did Baek Yeo-eul realize she wasn't wearing it, and she set down the dish she'd been clearing. In the meantime, Han Yi-hyeon darted over and handed it to her.

It was an unknown number, but Baek Yeo-eul answered right away.

"Even granting that her identity hasn't been disclosed internally yet — a non-compliance alert goes off, and no one so much as reacts…"

"…"

"Your thoughts, Department Head Seo Joo-hwan?"

"I apologize."

Seo Joo-hwan bowed at the waist.

Somewhere along the way his forehead had gone slick with cold sweat; the moment he bent forward, the drops fell straight to the floor.

Seo Joo-hwan clasped his hands behind his back and squeezed them tight.

A handler had been temporarily assigned to Guide Baek Yeo-eul. But because the fact that she was Han Yi-hyeon's partner was still classified, her identity had never been released internally — and so the person suddenly stuck handling a C-rank Guide hadn't bothered to do the job properly.

All because she was a C-rank Guide.

The agent, accustomed to handling at least B-rank and above, had looked down on Baek Yeo-eul for her C-rank label and taken no action whatsoever even when the non-compliance alert had gone off.

The problem was that Do Geon had found out.

"You know full well that Guide Baek Yeo-eul is no ordinary C-rank Guide."

"I'm fully aware."

He knew it better than anyone.

What was more, Seo Joo-hwan was Han Yi-hyeon's own assigned handler. That was exactly why he could only own his mistake and bow his head deeper still.

"I will make sure this never happens again."

"See that you do."

Do Geon's brow creased.

Thankfully, nothing serious had come of it. But if the same lapse happened the next time a real crisis struck, it would amount to losing an exceptionally capable and vital asset.

"I'll handle the follow-up myself."

"Yes, sir."

Do Geon placed a call to someone through his watch.

"Delete it."

Kim Yu-ra's "Understood" came back through the watch.

Do Geon prized talent that was useful to him, regardless of station or gender. That was precisely why Kim Yu-ra — not even an awakened ability user — stood at his side.

She was the granddaughter of the butler who had served the Do family for a lifetime, and from childhood she had been trained to become his aide.

Anyone who knew of their connection had judged that Kim Yu-ra, a non-awakened, could never become Do Geon's aide. But with a body tempered by training brutal enough to border on extreme, a naturally brilliant mind, and relentless effort, Kim Yu-ra had become his aide in the end.

The clatter of typing that had run for a moment stopped as Kim Yu-ra gave her answer.

And just like that, the records of one agent registered at headquarters vanished without a trace.

At Do Geon's clean, utterly unhesitating handling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the matter, a faint chill of goosebumps crept up the back of Seo Joo-hwan's neck.

Han Yi-hyeon and Baek Yeo-eul arrived two hours later.

"Read this."

Do Geon held out a single sheet of paper to Baek Yeo-eul.

"This is the personal information that will be posted on the official site in about a week. If there's anything you want revised, say so."

So it really is going to be made public.

Swallowing against the tension, Baek Yeo-eul clutched the document tight. Then, eyes stretched wide, she read the short text down to the finest detail, half expecting something strange to be written there. At the very bottom sat her matching rate with her partner.

No matter how many times she looked, the number refused to feel familiar. It was barely five lines in all, yet Baek Yeo-eul read it through again and again, her gaze snagging every time on that figure — 89.

"Nothing to change."

"Then we'll proceed as is."

As Do Geon took the document back, his gaze skimmed past Baek Yeo-eul's face.

It happened in such a fleeting instant that Baek Yeo-eul chalked it up to her imagination and thought nothing more of it.

"I have things to discuss with Esper Han Yi-hyeon, so wait outside for a moment. And get that forehead looked at."

"Oh."

Baek Yeo-eul raised a hand toward her injured forehead, then lowered it again.

"Yes. Then…"

Feeling faintly awkward about walking out and leaving the two of them alone, Baek Yeo-eul exited the director's office at a brisk pace — to find Kim Yu-ra waiting outside, a first-aid kit for basic treatment in her hands.

"Please have a seat here."

Before treating the wound, Kim Yu-ra peeled off the gauze Baek Yeo-eul had hastily slapped on at home, and the bruise beneath revealed itself.

It had definitely been green when she'd checked at home, but how much time had passed for it to already have turned purple? It was the kind of bruise left by a blow from a blunt object.

Perhaps it looked serious enough to warrant concern, because Kim Yu-ra asked in a low voice:

"…Did Esper Han Yi-hyeon do this to you?"

"Pardon? As if he ever would."

When Baek Yeo-eul shook her head quickly, Kim Yu-ra's expression eased a little, and she continued the treatment.

"Now that your profile will be registered on the site, you'll need to have a new photo taken. The current one dates back quite a while."

"Ah — the photo is old, isn't it."

Baek Yeo-eul cast her mind back.

That had been when she was assessed as a C-rank Guide, and the picture had been taken at a tiny photo studio right next to the testing center.

Even looking at it again, it resembled nothing so much as a photo of someone who'd been strong-armed into a chair and snapped. She hadn't been fond of the result, but Baek Yeo-eul had been in no state to think about retaking it.

That day had been the day of the CSAT, the national college entrance exam.