Endemic Love

You're sure an omega. But a strong one," the man said suddenly. "He was practically begging to smell you."

"It's a side effect of guiding for espers..." Le An said. Taras had kissed Le An while clutching the glands on his nape like he wanted to extract their scent.

"Yeah. I know. I'm an omega too," the man smiled as he stepped forward, sliding into Le An's peripheral vision. "And if any esper came at me like that, the room would've already reeked of my pheromones. You're really good at hiding."

"T-thank you," Le An murmured, uncertain whether he was being genuine or sarcastic. But since Taras was stable, the nerve-racking tension in the air had dissipated. Le An straightened up to sit.

"I'm an S-level too," the man added, glancing at his own body as if implying something. Was he waiting to be guided, too?

"Which division do you work in?" Le An asked.

The man shot him a sideways glance. "Not sure if you should know that."

"Are you unregistered too?"

The man shrugged, as if to say obviously. "Apparently. Which esper from the outskirts is registered anyway? We don't exist to your people."

Le An was surprised. By outskirts, did he mean the coastal and border regions? "What?"

"Surprised?" the man said, standing up. " I don't know how much Tar told you, but judging by your blank face... I'd say not much. Which is even more annoying."

Le An ignored the tone. "But... even espers stationed in the outskirts are registered. If you're unregistered… how is that possible?"

" Wow. So, Tar really didn't tell you anything. But are you pretending not to know, or are you actually that clueless?"

"I don't know anything," Le An said, meeting the man's suspicious gaze. He glanced at Taras. He really was unconscious, wasn't he?

"Hm..." The man stared at Le An thoughtfully. "If they haven't even told someone like you, who seems deeply connected to the deep state... then you're just a puppet. A pretty display doll, the treasure," he said.

Then, looking at Le An's clueless, almond-shaped eyes, he remembered that this display doll had just saved Taras's life despite everything.

Maybe he deserved to know what kind of inhuman system he was standing in front of, didn't he?

" What if I told you that... not just espers, but millions of people live out there? Unregistered civilians. In places where no guides are sent, where fake border walls seal everything off, where all communication is silenced. The dungeon that appeared in our town today, it was seven meters wide. Have you ever seen one?

Le An stared at him in disbelief. "That's not possible."

The man smirked knowingly. "Ha! I wish I had my phone right now. If minor dungeons are left undealt with for long enough, yeah, that's possible. If it weren't for our unit today, the results would've been catastrophic. But don't worry, it wouldn't have reached your perfect little world."

Le An said nothing. He didn't look like he thought it was a lie. And suddenly, all the things Taras had ever said began making sense, weighing heavily in his chest.

"But..." Le An looked at him, overwhelmed with questions. "If this is happening within the country's borders, how are people not aware? Anyone can buy a ticket and go there, right?"

The man gave a sharp laugh. "Tickets? God bless ignorance…" He sighed before explaining.

"For years, you've been fed propaganda, stories of how the border regions are empty and dangerous. You think they still buy tickets there? You think people know there's life beyond those lines? You all think it's deserted. But it's not," the man said.

"There are millions without ID, education, and healthcare. No support. Nothing. We survive on our own."

Each word pulled Le An deeper into a pit he hadn't even known he was standing over. He wanted to ask more, but just… He couldn't. And despite his fatigue, this stranger in front of him still radiated a tense, angry energy.

"What's wrong, treasure? Don't like what you're hearing? The people you pose hand-in-hand with… they have abandoned their people to die."

"But why?" Le An whispered.

"So that you can live in luxury. Fewer people, fewer problems."

They fell silent. Le An rose to his feet slowly. The man didn't move; he clearly didn't see Le An as a threat. Le An leaned on the drawer beside the bed.

While he was lost in thought, Le An couldn't sense his surroundings. So he didn't see that Taras had woken up. The other man hadn't noticed either; he was approaching Le An to take some guiding from him. He held one of Le An's wrists. "Hey, I need some guiding too."

Taras's voice cut through the air. "Get away from him."

Le An turned his head to look. Maxim dropped Le An's wrist and spun around cheerfully. "You're awake. God… Tar, you scared the hell out of me..."

Taras wasn't looking at him. He was looking at Le An.

It was the first time they actually looked each other in the eyes. At that unfamiliar sensation, Le An looked away almost immediately. "You're awake…" he whispered, feeling his knees tremble.

Taras didn't reply. He stood up slowly, and they all watched as a few drops of blood slowly trailed down from his abdomen to his leg, soaking his pants. The wound hadn't closed, but the guiding Le An had given him had drastically accelerated his cell regeneration. So, at least, the bleeding had mostly stopped.

Still caught in Taras' coal-black eyes in his mind, Le An didn't know what to do and turned to the other man. "I can guide you too, if-"

"He doesn't need your guiding," Taras cut in.

The man rolled his eyes and looked at Le An with a suggestive smile. "But I must be at least level 4 now. And it's not like I get to taste the best every time."

"You'll be guided when we return," Taras replied flatly. His eyes were on... Le An's reddened lips, as if recalling what had happened. "Did you..." He seemed to want to ask.

But Le An answered first, swallowing his nerves. "You gained control of the flow so... Instinctually, to strengthen the guiding, I guess-"

"No." Taras cut him off again, this time more seriously. That wasn't what he meant.

"Did you get hurt?"

Le An stared blankly at him, as if he hadn't heard it right. "I..." He was really waiting for that answer, wasn't he? "No… I'm okay."

Taras looked at his teary, tired eyes, chapped lips, flushed cheeks, and his neck marked by fingerprints. Le An's hands were stained red with blood. His voice cracked.

Le An, thinking he was being inspected for his ability to guide more, started to move. "I can still do more if-"

"No," Taras interrupted again. "We need to head back. After we clean all traces of blood."

"This r-room has an advanced ventilation system and… is soundproof, so there won't be any scent," Le An said numbly.

"We should leave right away, actually," the other man added, looking at the small pool of blood. "They all must be waiting for you to return now, Tar."

"Go get a towel," Taras said. Le An walked out, dazed, and found one. As they began wiping off the blood, Taras ordered again.

"Go wash your hands." Le An moved as if he were in a trance. "Okay."

After all that had happened, seeing his face, learning his name, after the kiss… neither of them seemed to know what to say.

"Tar," the other man whispered while Le An was in the bathroom. " He saved your life. The treasure? He literally saved your life. You must've scared him half to death, pfft!"

Taras didn't respond.

"When we came out of that dungeon, I grabbed onto you. You dragged us here in your shadow form. You were like a beast. You nearly devoured him. Even I couldn't pull you off."

"Why didn't you restrain me with your powers?" Taras asked, tasting blood in his mouth again, glancing at Le An's figure through the slightly open door. What had gone through the treasure's mind to make such a choice?

"He said it was dangerous for you. I thought about breaking your arms, but he mumbled something about pain and neurons. And then you kicked him-"

Le An entered the room, not having heard them whispering. "Uhm… There are more traces in the main room," he said. The two alphas immediately noticed the unfocused look in his eyes.

"And... Oh..."

Le An's head began to spin. "You have to... It's still dripping from your scars." A hand reached out to steady him. "You might need to go somewhere to treat the wounds. Guiding helps regeneration, but… it can't stop internal bleeding. Got it?"

Le An began to lose all sensation, not even realizing he was being walked to the sofa. Although Taras moved as if to pick him up, when Le An murmured something about his shirt, they settled for walking.

"Not bed... Not bed. I've been sleeping... the whole day." Le An murmured, clutching onto Taras.

Taras remembered last night. And he laid him on the sofa instead. "Are you hemophobic?" he asked.

"No. I'm actually pretty good with blood." Le An's eyes drifted to the man cleaning blood in the center of the room. "Why?"

"Why?" Taras repeated. Le An wasn't aware of his condition.

"It's done," the other man said.

"You have to change clothes," Taras instructed. "Maxim, get him a change from that middle wardrobe."

How did he even know that was the wardrobe for clothes? Le An, blinking to clear his darkening vision, briefly had the thought. "His name's Maxim..." he mumbled. Taras gave him a side glance before turning to Maxim.

"Excuse me?" Maxim scoffed. "He can handle that much, Tar."

After a few whispers, Maxim fetched new clothes. "I can help him dress up," he said.

Le An suddenly felt alarmed, hugging himself. "I can-"

"Go into the bathroom with these. Change in there, then give me the dirty ones," Taras said. "If they find these, they'll know something happened."

Le An nodded and took the clothes. He entered the bathroom and locked the door. He slowly undressed, then stood naked, staring at his reflection. 

A knock on the door startled him. Panicking, he threw the shirt on and cradled the dirty clothes in his arms. He cracked the door open just slightly.

From the narrow gap, he saw Taras standing in the doorway. He handed him the clothes. They looked at each other again. Even before, Taras had seen the footprint dirt, so he knew where his kick landed. Taras looked at Le An's exposed shoulder.

"We're leaving," he said.

"O-okay," Le An replied. But as he started to close the door, Taras slipped a hand in. He pressed a towel to Le An's shoulder, his fingers grazing his skin slightly. "We will talk about this," he said, his face a mix of suspicion, inquiry, and unease.

Le An gripped the towel on his shoulder and nodded.

Taras turned his back, slowly turning into shadow, enveloping the other esper in darkness.