The Last Esper [BL]
Chapter 36: Where truth begins

Chapter 36: Where truth begins

Eun-woo walked out of the bathroom with slow steps, his hair damp and his T-shirt stuck to his body from the steam. The hallway was silent. The occasional creaking of the old wood beneath his feet was barely audible.

As he descended the stairs, a faint scent of mint and ginger wafted from the kitchen. He blinked, curious. Turning toward the entrance, he saw Caelan with his back to him, leaning over the stove, a teapot in his hand.

Hearing the faint creak of the steps, Caelan raised his head slightly, though he didn’t turn around. His shoulders tensed slightly, as if confirming that he was no longer alone.

Eun-woo stood at the threshold, watching him silently. Their eyes didn’t meet, but they both knew the other was there. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. The silence was a little awkward, as if each was waiting for the other to speak first.

Then Caelan turned around, a cup in his hands. He didn’t say anything at first, just looked at him calmly. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he slightly raised his cup.

"Tea?"

Caelan’s voice was so calm, so neutral, that it completely threw Eun-woo off. After everything they’d said earlier, he hadn’t expected such calm. Nor such naturalness.

Eun-woo looked down, embarrassed by the way he had spoken to him earlier.

"Thank you," he murmured, taking the cup with both hands.

Caelan nodded and gestured for him to follow. They walked together to the living room. A gas lamp flickered on a small table. They sat on the sofa, one at each end.

For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the clinking of pottery as they sipped their tea.

Eun-woo thought maybe that was it. An act of silent truce, but Caelan spoke up.

"I’m angry with Rong Ye not because he’s a Guide. Not because he has secrets. I’m angry because..." Caelan said bluntly.

Eun-woo looked up, surprised by the directness of the comment.

"He’s important to me," Caelan continued.

Eun-woo looked at him, not knowing what to say. Not because he didn’t understand, but because he’d never, not for a second, imagined that Caelan could feel anything for someone like Rong Ye.

"Are you... in love with Rong Ye?" Eun-woo asked cautiously.

Caelan gave a short laugh, lowering his gaze for a moment. As if he felt a little exposed by having said it out loud. He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand.

"Yes. I am. I know it doesn’t make sense because he and I are like gasoline and fire. Or rather, gasoline and acid. They don’t mix. But I love him... so much."

Eun-woo blinked, still absorbing Caelan’s words.

"I never would have imagined it," he said honestly.

"Nor him," Caelan replied, with a bitter half-smile. He took another sip of tea, avoiding Eun-woo’s gaze. "And now that I know what he is... what he’s been all along... It’s even harder to know if I really know him or if I’ve just fallen for a facade."

Eun-woo looked down at his cup, feeling the warmth soak into his fingers.

"Maybe... he’s not so different from what you thought," he said. "Maybe he just doesn’t know how to show himself as he really is. Sometimes we lie so we don’t lose the little we have."

Caelan gave a brief laugh, but it wasn’t exactly an answer. Then he was silent for a few seconds, staring at the contents of his cup, as if studying it intently.

"I’m surprised," Caelan said suddenly.

Eun-woo looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"What you just said... surprised me," Caelan replied. "I don’t know... I had a different perception of you."

Eun-woo frowned, intrigued.

"What perception?"

Caelan grimaced, as if he had trouble explaining it.

"I’m not sure. I felt like I couldn’t let my guard down around you. That I couldn’t trust you completely."

Eun-woo lowered his head slightly.

"But I also see how important you are to Rhys," Caelan added honestly. "And that’s why I’m asking you directly... What are your intentions with Rhys?"

Eun-woo blinked, even more confused.

"Intentions?"

"Yes. What do you want from him?" Caelan leaned forward slightly. "Do you just want to be his friend? Or do you just need him to fill the emptiness of being an Esper without a Guide?"

Eun-woo looked down. His lips parted, but no words came out. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know if he had an answer. The silence stretched so long that Caelan finally let out a deep, almost frustrated sigh.

"Anyway, Rhys isn’t a Guide..."

Eun-woo looked up sharply.

"Why does everyone think that? Rhys is a Guide."

Caelan froze. He blinked, processing what he had just heard.

"What?"

Eun-woo didn’t reply. He just held his gaze. He didn’t seem like he was lying.

Caelan leaned back on the couch, as if he needed more space to process what he’d just heard. His mind was spinning.

Rhys, a Guide?

It didn’t make sense.

The Guides were individuals monitored by the government from a young age. Since the espers disappeared—or rather, since they were declared extinct after the War—the Guides had become a sort of functional relic. They no longer served a purpose because there were no espers left to bond with. The only thing that made them useful now was their compatibility with resonance weapons: interdimensional energy-sensing devices that only they could wield with precision.

That’s why they were soldiers. Instruments controlled by the Regime. They were trained, classified, and placed. Each of them was registered in the government archives, and Magnus Blackwood knew exactly where each Guide was.

And Rhys wasn’t on any record.

Rhys didn’t have the calm, methodical demeanor that characterized the Guides. He didn’t have that quiet awareness, that calm, magnetic presence that made Guides so distinct. Rhys was impulsive. More heart than head. A loyal, protective man, but full of scars and contradictions.

And besides, Caelan had known him since they were kids.

Since always.

How could I not have known something like that?

He shook his head, an incredulous laugh catching in his throat.

"It can’t be," he murmured, more to himself than to Eun-woo. "It’s impossible. Rhys isn’t... He isn’t. If he was, Blackwood would already know. They’d have him under surveillance. Or armed. Or dead."

Eun-woo didn’t reply.

Caelan looked at him out of the corner of his eye, his thoughts crowding together in the form of doubts he didn’t want to have.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Eun-woo nodded.

"I don’t know how to explain it, my body just senses it."

Caelan looked down. Part of him wanted to continue denying it, but the other was starting to wonder if he’d been ignoring something all this time. The cup in his hands had cooled, but he didn’t seem to notice. His gaze had drifted off to an indeterminate point on the floor, caught between bewilderment and revelation.

Finally, he looked up at Eun-woo.

"Does Rhys know?"

Eun-woo looked at him with some surprise, as if that question had never occurred to him.

"I don’t know," he replied gently. "I always assumed so. Ever since I met him and started sensing his energy... I thought it was obvious. But I never talked to him about it."

Caelan frowned slightly. He leaned back on the sofa, running a hand over his face.

A minute passed before he spoke again.

"I was mad at Rong Ye for keeping the fact that he was a Guide from us," he said quietly. "But Rhys is one too... and even he doesn’t know it. Or he denies it. Or he keeps quiet about it. And he’s my best friend. I’ve known him forever. And yet...?"

He shook his head. There was more disbelief than resentment in his words.

Caelan carefully placed the cup on a small wooden table beside him. Then he stood up, lightly dusting off his clothes, as if the movement would help him reorganize his own mind.

"I’m going to find Rong Ye," he said. "I need to hear his side of the story." He turned to Eun-woo. He didn’t smile, but his expression had softened. He was calmer. "Thank you for talking to me."

Eun-woo nodded silently, with a slight nod.

Caelan walked out of the room with a firm stride.

He’d never tried to see things from Rong Ye’s perspective, never considered how he’d felt. He’d always judged him by his attitude, by his constant sarcasm, by his way of putting up walls whenever someone got too close. But now, after everything Eun-woo had told him... he couldn’t help but wonder what was behind it all. What Rong Ye had been hiding, not just as a Guide, but as a person.

Caelan hoped it wasn’t too late to hear what he had to say. But, more than anything, he hoped it wasn’t too late to understand him.

And also to ask for forgiveness.

Caelan walked slowly up the stairs. He stopped in front of the room where he knew Rhys was resting. He knocked softly on the door, but didn’t wait for a response. He pushed it carefully.

The room was dim, lit only by a portable lamp next to the bed. The air smelled of bandages, alcohol, and dried blood.

Rhys was lying back, half-propped up on pillows, his expression tired but serene. Opposite him, sitting in a chair at the edge of the bed, was Rong Ye.

They spoke in low voices, their tone so unusually calm that it took Caelan a few seconds to process it.

Since when were they able to talk without shouting or insulting each other?

Caelan was surprised.

Rong Ye was the first to notice his presence. He looked up at the threshold and, upon seeing Caelan, his lips immediately pursed.

"I’ll come back later to check on you," he said quietly, addressing Rhys without looking at him much. His tone wasn’t cold, but it was sharp. As he finished, he stood up.

Caelan instinctively stepped aside to let him out. But as Rong Ye walked past him, Caelan reached out and gently grasped his arm.

"Can we talk?" he said.

Rong Ye turned around with a sharp movement.

"Don’t touch me!" he exclaimed, moving away.

Rong Ye rushed out without waiting for a reply, brushing past Caelan.

Caelan stood there for a few seconds, staring in the direction Rong Ye had disappeared. Then he noticed Rhys’s gaze on him.

His friend watched him with a mixture of bewilderment and alarm. Caelan slowly turned toward him.

"I’m sorry," he said simply, without explanation.

And he walked out behind Rong Ye without adding anything else.

Rhys stood alone, staring at the half-open door.

Why had Caelan apologized to him?

He didn’t understand it, but something told him that conversation was far from over.