Warning: character death

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Yunho drifted in and out of consciousness. The pain was so overwhelming he got numb to it and the next time he blinked against the red fog around them, the cargo pants crouched by his side. A gun and a knife were strapped to a firm thigh and a narrow waist shaped into broad shoulders under a skin-tight shirt.

As if from far away, Yunho heard the mumble of the man's voice, but he didn't understand.

More blackness.

Pale, large hands reached for him. Adorned by black tattoos winding up his arms. Yunho recoiled.

"Don't touch me... You will get hurt..." He babbled, not even sure anymore what was going on. He hurt Bora.

Bora.

"Bora- Is Bora-" His tongue weighed like a brick in his mouth.

More darkness. Black fingernails touched his arm, his leg. Yunho couldn't feel them, but his heart thumped less erratically. As if the pain finally washed away to nothingness.

The dark voice spoke again. Yunho never heard it before.

"The guide is dead."

His shock made Yunho pass out again. In his mind, he cried out for her, but he forgot right away what for.

When he woke, the realisation crashed back into him.

"Bora!" He rasped, trying to push himself up and her way. He had fresh energy, but a weight on his chest held him back.

Bora was so motionless. Surrounded by blood with her chest ripped open.

Yunho had to help her, or she would die.

When he babbled unintelligibly, the boots by his side shifted. This person was still with him.

"Shh, stay down. I'm not done with you yet."

What was he doing?

Yunho whimpered at a tug on his skin. Something tight wound around his leg, putting pressure on the wound. Everywhere those fingers came into contact with him, his aches lifted as if they had never been there.

Guiding. This was guiding.

With a person Yunho didn't even know.

"Stop-" He stuttered, swiping lethargic hands to swat at the fingers on him like getting rid of some bothersome bug.

He was slapped back. Stunned, he let his flailing hand sink.

"Let me do my thing," the voice above him grumbled. Yunho felt better at a scary rate. He no longer wanted and his head stopped throbbing as if his brain were bouncing against the inner walls of his skull. His back still ached, but he felt as if he were already a week down to healing those wounds.

What was going on?

Strong arms stabilised him. When Lux finished his guiding, all of his wounds had disappeared. He hadn't been at full strength since the guide was only a level A, but draining the boy completely had improved his condition so much.

With Bora, it had never been like that based on simple touches. Merely a cosy breeze, but barely of any help.

Was this how it was supposed to be?

So befuddled by how quickly he healed, Yunho leaned in his arm when the man patted over his ruined uniform.

"Why are you out here without a proper guide? What is your rank? A? B?" He asked, finally finding the badge that categorised Yunho.

"D?"

A disbelieving scoff.

Yunho craned his head to look at him when he tapped the comm in his ear. Plush lips talked quickly in that rumbling voice. A pale scar split over his right eye, drawing across his brow to his cheek. Because of the dark sunglasses, Yunho couldn't tell if his eye was affected by it. Tattoos covered other pale scars. Climbing thorn vines, curling around his neck.

Yunho blanked out on what he said. His benefactor had shining white hair that shaggily fell into his face. When he jostled Yunho in his arm, he whimpered. The hand slipping under his shirt helped, but also urged a mortified blush from him when it pressed against his side.

"Come here. I'll get you back to your people," the man said, lifting Yunho into his arms. He was tall, along with his fit physique. Though he was too big to be carried, Yunho flailed to hang onto him. Not sane enough to refuse the guiding when it provided instant relief.

"Bora... She needs help..." Yunho mumbled, dazed.

The man didn't answer him. He just carried the befuddled esper off the roof and back down to the area of the rift, where everything was taken care of and no battles broke out anymore.

-

Bora was dead.

Yunho remembered that day in a haze. He couldn't recall how he had made it to the paramedics or being rushed into surgery to remove the metal in his back. When he woke, he was alone. No Bora by his side and the memories of a man with white hair blurry in his mind.

He left the sick ward early. His wounds healed well, and the nurse lauded his guide for helping him out so professionally. When she expressed her condolences for Bora's loss, Yunho didn't have the sense to explain her one wasn't the other.

There was no funeral, nothing. No further ties. An empty chat on his phone and a room cleared out by people in red uniforms. Yunho no longer had a right to anything concerning Bora, and she was ripped out of this world so suddenly.

The parents who sent her off to protect their country would receive her belongings back.

How awful.

Yunho couldn't look at anyone. Didn't call his parents and hid away in his room. He mourned for Bora and recovered by himself. No one checked on him. No one had a reason to. The only person who texted him was a high school friend asking him when he next visited Gwangju to hang out.

Yunho figured the trip to the south with Bora would never happen.

He blamed himself. This time, he wasn't just uncoordinated. He grabbed onto her. Tripped her up. Took the opportunity to defend herself away from her.

Yunho felt hollow inside. He didn't quite want to die, still afraid of death and his powers, but he just wanted peace. Wanted to get rid of those damned abilities and this place. Wanted to be normal. If he had met Bora in school, he might have had a crush on her.

Their relationship ended so morbidly.

After four days of staring at his ceiling and being haunted by images of the rift, its demons, and Bora's lifeless body, Yunho gathered enough energy to do his laundry. The blood of the demons still clung to his uniform.

Lethargic, he gathered up his pile to stuff it into a bag. The scent of blood and metal lingered in his nose. When the memories bubbled, his stomach twisted at the lack of food he provided. Recalled the same events.

Drained, he routinely patted over his pockets to make sure he threw no tissue into the wash. He halted at a flat item in the chest pocket of his uniform. When he drew it forth, he was faced with a sleek black card. Silver letters glinted back at him.

Did that man leave it?

Since he hadn't attended the reports and avoided his higher-ups, Yunho hadn't heard anything about the stranger and where he came from. Was he part of their team? Special forces? Yunho had no idea and if he had been the only one who interacted with him, he wouldn't give that information away. What happened on that roof was his last moment with Bora.

Yunho twisted the card in his fingers. He couldn't remember receiving it.

Tenebra

Song Mingi 010-xxxx-xxxx

Tenebra HQ, Jungnang-gu

Was that him? Song Mingi?

Yunho bit his lip as he pondered the card. Tenebra. That was what Lux said before he ditched Yunho to die. Or did that mean he was safe?

No, Lux wouldn't care.

Yunho slipped his phone out of his pocket. His laundry sat before him in a forgotten heap.

The curiosity took overhand. Now that he was sober, Yunho had so many questions.

Who was this person, and where did he come from that day? Was he a friend? An enemy? His guiding felt so good, it still tingled in Yunho's limbs and kept him sane against his despair.

Why had he helped Yunho?

His handsome features ghosted around Yunho's dreams. Helping him calm down, keeping him sane.

Before he realised what he was doing, Yunho tapped the numbers into his phone. Just a brief check. He wanted to thank his saviour.

His anxiety brought some feeling back to him. Perhaps this wasn't purgatory after all.

After two rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?" A husky voice asked from the other end. Yunho jolted when it zapped straight through his body that still remembered his touch. His tattoos had suited him so well.

"Th-This is Jeong Yunho. You saved me a few days ago on a rooftop."

"You found my card," the stranger, no, Song Mingi hummed. It was nice to listen to him. He sounded stable and unhurried.

Yunho sunk against his headboard. His jitters calmed.

"I wanted to thank you. For getting me out of there," he confessed. He couldn't tell what the man on the other end was doing. If he was a guide, did he live like the guides here? He definitely didn't belong to the centre.

The rich chuckle over the speaker tickled Yunho's senses.

"It will happen again. I won't always be there."

How ominous. Yunho nervously chipped on his fingernails. The sun was sinking already, throwing narrow beams of light through his permanently closed blinds.

"What do you mean?" Yunho asked him, down to talk about scary things if it meant listening to that voice. It wasn't extremely kind or chipper like Bora, but it was steady. Calming the storm of fear in Yunho's chest.

"Your power hurts you, doesn't it? Auresce won't give you the guiding you need. For them, you are cannon fodder so their better espers can gain glory. Your guide wasn't on your level and you lack training. You will keep running into those issues," Mingi explained to him.

Yunho's brows drew together. Had he seen Yunho use his powers? Or did guides just know?

"N-No, they took me in. My guide died, and it was my fault. I'm still new to this. I need to train harder." Though he appreciated the concern, it wasn't a stranger's place. They may have had an intimate moment of bonding through the guiding, but they still didn't know each other.

"I can't force you to believe me. Work for them if you want. Call me again if you notice something is off. You have my card," Mingi replied, firm on the topic even when he didn't know Yunho or his situation.

Befuddled, Yunho just hummed.

"Either way, you're welcome. I have to go now, but stay on alert. Let's not run into each other again like that." Humour tilted his voice and Yunho also caught the dead corners of his mouth twitch.

How nice to talk to a person properly. It felt as if years had passed.

"Have a nice evening," Yunho said, automatically in a polite mode.

A surprised pause on the other end. Then, once more, that chuckle. Yunho relished it.

"Yunho, was it? You too. Don't fret too much. It wasn't your fault."

The call ended and Yunho stared at his wall emptily. Tears welled up in his eyes as he finally let go of the tension wiring him in those past few days. He cried, but it was freeing.

He didn't know Mingi, but his assurance meant so much. Yunho had no one else to talk to here. Not a soul who was interested in him or Bora. She disappeared as if she had never been there.

Yunho sobbed until his room was doused in darkness. He was exhausted and chugged some water first, but the tears were much needed.

As he rubbed tired eyes, he figured he had to get out there. Order new glasses. Talk to his higher-ups and get some proper training, so something like this would never happen again.

If he hesitated, others would die for him. Mingi was right; it would happen again. Yunho needed to be reliable and trust others. He might ask among the guides if anyone knew about Mingi - since he forgot to ask who he was, maybe he could find out next time - and why his guiding had such a different effect on Mingi than Bora's even when he barely knew either of them.

Feeling refreshed and filled with fresh willpower, Yunho placed Mingi's card in the drawer of his nightstand, glad to see its comforting shine. Then, he finally gathered up his laundry for a quick sprint down to the washing area. Step one was to get his life back in order, then he could tackle the rest.