---
I tapped my fingers against the cold metal bench. 'How long am I going to have to sit here?'
[Host has been in the bunker for forty minutes now.]
My shoulders stilled.
'Forty minutes?!' My stomach growled violently.
I leaned back against the cold titanium wall.
'I'm a national asset for God's sake! Why am I still locked in here?'
[I feel like host has accepted his fate.]
'Of cour—'
Bang!
The heavy titanium doors suddenly slammed open with a resounding thud.
An old man in a sharp black suit stormed into the observation area, radiating a powerful A-Class Esper aura. Several security personnel and aides hurried after him.
The memories from the original Hanseong hit me like a truck.
Jung Do-hyuk.
My grandfather.
Former President of South Korea.
I stared, wide-eyed.
"Grandpa?" The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
Yuri immediately straightened. "Mr. Jung—"
"Director Kim," the old man cut her off, voice cold and authoritative.
"Explain to me why my grandson is locked inside a reinforced vault like a dangerous criminal."
I could only sit there, frozen, as the weight of my new reality crashed down even harder.
Not only was I the first S-Class Guide in existence…
I was also the grandson of one of the most powerful men in the country.
And he looked ready to burn the entire Guide Association to the ground if they didn't release me immediately.
'Fantastic.'
[Fantastic?]
'Shut up'
Then my eyes shifted. My soul attempted to leave my body for the nth time.
Standing a few steps behind my grandfather, arms crossed against the wall was Lee Taehyun.
His mismatched eyes met mine through the reinforced glass.
[Your boyfriend is staring]
'He's not–! The fuck is wrong with you?!'
Grandfather finally noticed where my gaze had gone. The atmosphere changed instantly.
His eyes landed on Taehyun.
The room grew noticeably colder.
"Esper Lee Taehyun."
Taehyun straightened lazily from the wall.
"Former President Jung."
"I heard you took my grandson to an active S-class gate"
Taehyun's jaw tightened.
Yuri pinched the bridge of her nose.
Taehyun's voice remained flat.
"He volunteered"
My eye twitched violently.
'What?'
Grandfather's expression hardened.
"He's nineteen."
Taehyun didn't back down.
"He's my guide."
Each sentence landed like a judicial verdict.
Murderous aura flared from them both.
'This is getting good'
[Host shouldn't be supporting this!]
'Why not?'
My stomach grumbled loudly and the two men stilled. The murderous aura in the room faltered.
'Oh no' I closed my eyes.
[Oh, yes]
'Traitor'
Yuri slowly lowered the hand pinching the bridge of her nose.
Grandfather's terrifying expression cracked almost imperceptibly.
The tension in the room shifted to something worse.
Concern.
Absolute fucking humiliation.
Grandfather turned to Yuri, his voice dropping into a low dangerous whisper.
"You didn't feed my grandson?"
[Grandpa chill]
'Will you shut up?'
The entire observation room froze.
Yuri blinkedonce. "Mr. Jung, with all due respect, we were dealing with the first S-Class Guide in recorded history."
"And?"
The single word landed like a hammer.
His sharp gaze swept across the room.
"You locked him in a reinforced bunker."
"You frightened him."
"And nobody thought to feed him?"
[Grandfather appears dissatisfied with current management protocols.]
'No shit.'
Yuri inhaled slowly.
For the first time since I'd met her...
Director Kim Yuri looked mildly defeated.
I face palmed.
'Grandpa why?...'
[Host's hunger has been logged as a national security concern.]
'Don't make it worse.'
---