CHAPTER 2: THE COLD INTRUDER

The documentary, adored by national TV, was on screen again.

He had nearly memorized it by now; tonight, he wasn’t mouthing the words, just humming along with the classical melody in the background.

"Everything started with a massive portal appearing, and monsters crawling out of it. Then, around the world, thousands, millions, more portals appeared."

The most well-known CCTV clips flickered across the screen. Screams sliced through the melody, and he flinched, overwatering his flower pot.

"Ah, come on... like you’ve never seen it before," he muttered. The documentary played on.

"Humanity was tested, so evolution came up with special people: espers. Espers had extraordinary powers, powers of many kinds, levels, and strengths. But for three whole years, espers were used constantly in battles. More of them were born every second, while others died or went into rampage just as fast. A rampage was worse, a dying esper, twisted by madness and unreleased tension, killed not only themselves but many innocents too..."

This was his favorite part. He joined in, chuckling awkwardly.

"Something was amiss. That was a guide."

"After three years of nightmare, the first guides appeared. They were healers, one touch, and their energy meant peace for an esper. With this reciprocal relationship, rampages were halted, and espers became more stable. Gradually, our world grew used to these portals. Not exactly sound, maybe, but safe."

He set the watering cup down among the flower pots and gazed at them fondly.

"Stretch time." Starting from his neck, he rolled his head, letting the muscles relax. With his eyes shut briefly, he thought the TV had switched off, the screen had gone black, frozen. No. It was still on.

"I’m exhausted," he muttered, swinging and shaking out his arms as he watched.

"Nearly two years ago, an esper was discovered. He appeared normal, but the guiding energy in him was a miracle."

"He could hold your hand and in just two or three minutes, guide you into an ecstatic state, effortlessly. They called him many things: miracle, angel... even god. He was also an alpha."

And then came his least favorite part.

"An orphan, found in a backstreet high school. Not among the elite. Yet now, his face is everywhere. They now call him the Treasure of the Country. The most fitting name for his existence."

He scoffed. Treasure of the Country. That was him.

With aching muscles, exhausted eyes, and a soul in endless agony. Even retirement wasn’t an option. He would keep doing what he did until he died, if they even allowed him that.

"The treasure of our own..." the documentary continued as he murmured, "I already had a name. Le An. Why bother..." He would never get used to that name, Treasure.

He turned off the TV and stared at the black screen. Silence filled the room. The world outside was quiet, too. His thoughts lingered, an orphan, from a backstreet high school...

He turned to switch off the lights. Also an alpha... His mind refused to settle. "How am I supposed to sleep like this?" His steps faltered as he began regulating the energy within, placing auto-control over the overflowing guiding force. He reached for the socket. Click. The room went dark. Only the bedside lamp remained.

Then he felt a breath on his back.

Thud.

Something, someone, seized his neck, covering his mouth. Before he could react, another hand slammed him into the wall. Le An froze, breath caught.

He always had a habit of thinking before acting, but this time, fear paralyzed him. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move. His next instinct was to kick or make noise, but then the man behind him spoke. Almost into his ear. Almost inside his mind.

"Don’t move. I already know what you are, what you’re hiding."

At the sound of that voice, at those words, Le An’s blood ran cold.

He can’t kill me. If he meant to, he would’ve already. That thought surfaced instinctively, like a desperate mental grip on control, but his body didn’t believe it. Everything screamed danger.

He drew in a breath, but a crushing force slammed into him. Esper oppression. "Urgh-!" Le An staggered, the sudden weight knocking the air out of his lungs.

His knees gave out. The hand on his mouth shifted to his arms, yanking them behind his back with violent strength. Only a whisper made it out.

"W-who are you?"

The voice was steady. Icy. "I’m the esper you’re going to guide now. Don’t bother screaming. It’ll only drain you. And we wouldn’t want your fellow espers downstairs to die, would we? I counted them before coming in."

Le An’s voice cracked. Barely audible. "Help... Theo-"

"Your house, I must say... isn’t very secure. For your safety, of course. And none of your personal guards can detect me."

A low, cruel laugh followed. Le An froze. "How d-did you get in? How-"

He stopped. He felt something, now that they were in physical contact, his guiding senses finally registered it.

One thing was certain: the man behind him was a ticking time bomb. Terrifyingly close to a rampage.

"How do you know t-that I’m..." He didn’t finish. The man did. "...an omega? Of course you’d want to know."

Was he stronger than Theo? Le An tried to glance back but failed. The man was taller, stronger, an alpha. An esper.

How had he even gotten in? Could his esper level be S-class?

But there’d been no reports of a near-rampaging esper. If there had, Le An’d have been informed already.

A foreigner? No. He spoke natively.

"Guide me. Now."

"..." There was no pheromone in the air, just pure pressure. He tried resisting, but the fear won out. Espers naturally exuded pressure toward humans and guides, but this... this was different. He tried moving again, but nothing obeyed.

"What part of that didn’t you understand?"

"N-no."

"No?"

Pain knifed through Le An’s body. He jolted, eyes burning with the strain. The pressure became unbearable. He couldn’t breathe.

Survival kicked in. He focused and released a small, tentative stream of energy. The man reacted instantly. So he gave more. A deep inhale followed.

"That’s right... Give it to me."

The pressure on his shoulders, his wrists, his neck, it all intensified. The contact points seared with pain. "Ugh..!"

The last time Le An had guided out of fear, the energy had surged from him so violently, it made him sick for days. That same nausea began rising again.

"More," the voice demanded.

Le An trembled as he obeyed, letting more energy go.

The man noticed. Even trembling with fear, the energy was immense. He scoffed inwardly. So much power, even under this much oppression? His grip loosened slightly, then clenched harder.

Le An winced. "My neck!" His voice barely broke free. The man didn’t seem to hear, or care. He pressed down harder. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in months. His body and mind... finally relaxing. Finally clearing.

This was the night he’d been waiting for, before the rampage took him. If he was finally going to kill Treasure, it would be tonight.

He absorbed the guiding energy greedily. Shaking Le An, slamming him again into the wall as if trying to draw out every last drop. He stared at the so-called Treasure.

From TV or afar, he looked tall. But up close, Le An was slender. Athletic, yes, but powerless. An omega in disguise. He kept taking in the energy, unmoved. The guide was detached, but he was trembling like a leaf.

Even while doing what forty, maybe fifty, A-rank guides couldn’t. And he wasn’t even using his full power. Minutes passed.

The more pressure he applied, the cloudier the man’s mind grew under the energy. It was time to stop. He glanced at his watch. Seven minutes.

Not tonight

, the man thought.

Treasure’s neck, now resting squarely beneath his palm, was no more than a branch he could snap at any moment. He would return. Treasure was his now, and tearing him apart was only a matter of time.

"Is that your fastest guiding?" tthe man asked.

"Yes." Le An answered quickly.

He felt the man’s gaze on his neck. "...You’re lying."

A tighter squeeze. Le An gasped. "Y-yes, I lied."

"Why?"

"Because you’d a-ask for more, ngh..."

A cold, detached laugh followed. "Everybody asks for more."

Le An still couldn’t move. He waited, breath held, as the guiding finally stopped. But now the question loomed in his head: What next? Was it over? Would he be taken... or killed?

Le An opened his mouth to scream again, but fear strangled the sound before it could rise. He began trembling again as the energy flow ceased.

The voice returned with a long, satisfied exhale. "Starting today, if you don’t want your little secret revealed, you’ll guide me every night."

"I’ll... find you." Le An hardly murmured.

"Now we’re talking. But how exactly?"

"I’ll find you somehow, ah-!" The air constricted around him again. He couldn’t lift his head. Something crushed his neck.

"You’ll need help, won’t you?" The voice echoed in his skull.

"If you even think of asking for help, the next thing on the news will be the truth about you’re being an omega. I don’t want a miracle from you. Just guiding. I never asked you to... spread your legs, for instance."

The body beneath the man froze. He whispered again, just to seal it:

"...Not yet."

"Once I find out who you are, you’re finished. Even before you bring up my-"

"You’re not afraid for your life, right? You think you’re too valuable. But you’ve never known real fear. No one’s ever taught you true pain. Yet."

Le An shuddered. "..."

"Should I make myself more clear?" The man shook him.

"..."

"Should I threaten others? Kill someone close, just to prove I’m serious?"

"..."

"Then we’re settled." The grip finally loosened, but Le An still couldn’t move. The pressure lingered. The voice continued.

"If I were you, I’d cooperate. Make it easier for both of us. Think of me as just another esper. Just... a bit more greedy."

A pause. "Tomorrow. Midnight. Be ready."

Then the pressure vanished. Le An turned, but the man was gone. He gasped, collapsing to his knees.

He was gone.