X
Lee Chae shot out of bed and lunged at Haejin. He was naked, but shame was the last thing on his mind.
“Tell me what kind of fight it is before you go.”
“It’s close by. But… it’ll take a while.”
Lee Chae grabbed Haejin’s collar and glared.
“Speak properly! This isn’t a normal battle. You think I’m stupid?”
Haejin stood silent for a long moment, then called softly,
“I don’t have time for this right now. One person could be in danger every minute.”
The strength drained from Lee Chae’s hands. The fabric slipped through his fingers.
He didn’t spell it out, but Lee Chae could feel how serious it was. He wanted to say don’t get hurt, text me when you can, no—just come back alive, but his lips were glued shut.
Haejin turned to leave, shouting over his shoulder,
“Don’t worry. You think I’d cheat on you with a monster?”
“Be… careful…”
“Yeah, I know. I know you love me. I’m really going now.”
SLAM.
The door shut.
Lee Chae screamed every curse he knew at the closed door—who the hell does he think he is, acting all cool going to a deadly fight?—then collapsed to the floor. He knew Haejin’s joke wasn’t just bravado; it was consideration, trying to downplay a massive crisis so Lee Chae wouldn’t worry.
Please… let nothing happen…
He dragged his heavy body to the bathroom. Quick shower, then head to school. Dawn hadn’t even broken, but if the battle was this huge, someone at school would know something.
Campus was dead quiet—like nothing had happened. Not a single ant in sight. A massive battle and it’s this calm? Am I the weird one for taking it seriously?
Lee Chae shook his head as he walked around.
High-rank espers were deployed in droves, yet headquarters acted like it was nothing. Their lives were apparently no different from civilians’. Things he’d never noticed while drowning in inferiority complexes were suddenly clear after meeting Haejin.
No wonder anti-government groups exist.
Cursing that both monsters and headquarters treated humans like disposable tools, he slumped onto a bench. Checked his phone on the slim chance—nothing from Haejin, of course.
“Cha Haejin… you’re okay, right?”
Saying it out loud only made the anxiety worse.
“Of course he’s okay. He’s S-rank—he blows everything up with a glance. No way he’s not okay!”
That calmed him a little. Classes were hours away, and he’d already told the cleanup crew he couldn’t come. No point going home.
After a long debate, he headed to Legion. All the espers were probably out, but one lonely dragon would be there. Right now he just wanted company.
He rang the bell and kicked the door—no answer.
“Yong-yong-ah, asleep?”
Then he remembered what Jae-hyung always told him:
“Never open the door for anyone!”
Lee Chae smiled—Yong-yong actually listened. Cute.
He knocked a few more times, then remembered the landline inside. Jae-hyung never said not to answer the phone—good dragon would hesitate but pick up. He called. It rang, was answered—silence.
“Yong-yong-ah!”
—H-hic.
“It’s me, collateral!”
—Ah, collateral! Why come? Captain not here. Right now.
“I know. Thought you might be lonely—came to hang out. Open the door.”
—Really? Good human.
Joy poured through the receiver. Moments later, the door opened. The second Lee Chae stepped in, Yong-yong tackle-hugged him.
“C-collateral… I was scared.”
That one sentence told Lee Chae everything. Jae-hyung must have sensed the battle was different and acted strange. Dragons were sensitive to human emotions—Yong-yong had picked up on it and was terrified.
Lee Chae patted his back.
“Why? Battles happen all the time. They’ll be back soon. Last time Jae-hyung left you just watched cartoons and sulked.”
“T-this time different.”
“How?”
“Kelvetero showed his real body. He came out himself—it’s dangerous!”
“K-Kelvetero himself?”
Lee Chae froze in shock. Kelvetero—the boss of the lowest-rank shadows. Even when other monster types appeared sporadically, the bosses had never shown themselves.
That’s why Haejin hyung looked so grim…
There was zero concrete data on Kelvetero because he’d never appeared. No known weaknesses.
When high-rank espers once formed a hunting party to kill a boss, they couldn’t even find him—the gate closed. Afterward, endless shadows flooded the world in revenge; the hunting party system was scrapped.
“Humans are weak. Weak, so dragons must protect. I wanted to go too! But Jae-hyung got mad and wouldn’t let me. My fault.”
Lee Chae hugged the sobbing dragon and fought his own tears. Clenched his fists to hold them back. No details on enemy strength could also mean the enemy was weaker than feared. And Kelvetero was the weakest boss among monsters—there was definitely a chance.
Plus, Haejin would come back even if just to whine about not being imprinted yet. He’d limp in complaining it hurt or spouting pervert nonsense.
Lee Chae slapped Yong-yong’s back hard enough to echo.
“Is Jae-hyung dead already? Why are you crying?”
“But… K-Kelvetero is a boss. Strong.”
“Bullshit. He’s still a monster. You don’t know how strong your captain is?”
Yong-yong dropped a tear and nodded. Lee Chae forced a smile and shouted how strong Haejin was—partly for Yong-yong, mostly for himself.
“One glare—BOOM! Explosion! One hand gesture—WHOOSH! Wind! Everything flies into the sky! I’m not kidding!”
“W-wow…”
“We can win, right?”
“M-maybe…”
The clueless dragon tilted his head instead of just agreeing. Lee Chae had come to comfort him—if Yong-yong kept crying, he wouldn’t hold it together. So he focused on calming the dragon first.
“Jae-hyung is a scout-type esper. He handles comms from a safe spot during fights. He won’t get hurt much.”
“That’s true. Illusion-types don’t get hurt much. Shadows and beasts do.”
“Yeah…”
It tasted bitter, but it stopped Yong-yong’s tears.
“But Yong-yong-ah,”
“Hm?”
“You must be worried sick about Jae-hyung. Like, tears-coming-out worried.”
“Of course. Dragons worry about pack. Humans too. We live in groups.”
“But why only Jae-hyung? What about Jin-woo hyung or the captain? The other Legion espers?”
Yong-yong’s mouth fell open like he’d never considered it. Lee Chae told him to close it before drool fell, and the dragon belatedly shut it, rolling his big eyes. Lee Chae teased with a grin,
“Lovebirds, huh? Yong-yong likes Jae-hyung.”
“HIEEK! No! Not like that! My mate is dragon! Not human!”
Lee Chae chased him around to distract himself from anxiety. Out of breath, he stopped. He’d told Yong-yong it wasn’t like that, but answered “got it” anyway and looked out the window. Dawn was faintly breaking.
“Let’s go to my room, collateral.”
“You have a room now?”
“Yeah. Captain said he was sick of seeing us two, made me one.”
Obvious what those two had been up to.
“Okay, let’s go.”
BOOM! CRASH!
The moment they entered the room, the sky roared. The whole building shook.
Lee Chae pushed Yong-yong down and stared outside. The faint dawn vanished; city lights went out. BOOM, BOOM. Blinding flashes—then darkness again.
Dread thickened. Yong-yong clutched his hand, trembling.
“K-Kelvetero’s power.”
“What?”
“The light blinking outside—that’s Kelvetero’s power. We’re all going to die.”
The hand he held shook. Lee Chae let go to check—Yong-yong wasn’t the one trembling. It was him. His palm was soaked with sweat.
Every ache from last night’s marathon throbbed with each tremor. He felt hollow—no tears even came.
Haejin’s traces were still vivid on his body, his last words still rang in his ears— and now they were all going to die? Just like this? No way in hell.
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