As twilight fell over Seoul, the skies erupted in a violent crimson—as if the fabric of the world had been ruptured, bleeding out from its open wounds. 

On the rooftop of a towering skyscraper, Lee Haneul stood above the cityscape, bathed in the warm light reflecting off the surrounding glass structures. The wind swept across the rooftop, lifting his silver hair around his face, taking on a burnished copper color in the light. He looked over to the horizon, where the battle between the monsters and Hunters was taking place.

Surrounding him were the rest of the Guides who gathered to wait for the Hunters to return from the mission. As Guides were non-combatants who supported Hunters, they remained at a cautious distance away from the violence. The area was plagued by a horde of A-Class monsters, prompting the Center to deploy several teams to handle the scale of the monster outbreak. Among the teams, however, there was only one S-Class Hunter.

“That monster is on Team D, right?”

“I heard that he massacred a team of Hunters when he was younger.”

“Seriously?”

“He went berserk and went on a rampage. None of the Guides could handle him and they all ended up in the hospital.”

The rumors were the same as always—

Park Noah is a monster.

Haneul reflected on those words as the other Guides whispered among themselves. He never uncovered the whole story but understood that the truth was more nuanced—when Noah’s powers manifested for the first time, he lost control of himself and decimated his surroundings. Although that did not excuse the deaths resulting from the incident, he was locked away deep underground in the Center’s strongest holding facility for years, subjected to unspeakable treatment that no child should have ever gone through.

“How is he still allowed here? That rabid dog needs to be put down—”

“Hey, be quiet!”

From the periphery of his vision, Haneul caught the Guides stealing furtive glances at him. Team Leader Jang Woohyun, an A-Class Guide who led an elite team with higher class Guides and Hunters, began approaching him with a mild smile.

“Team Leader Lee Haneul. You’re Hunter Park Noah’s dedicated Guide, aren’t you?”

“His temporary Guide,” Haneul clarified. 

“Guiding him must be challenging,” Woohyun said, wearing a sympathetic expression. “The differences in your respective classes must make it impossible. Even the A-Class Guides never lasted while working with him.”

So this was how he was going to be. Not only was he disparaging Noah, but also he was looking down on Haneul in the same breath. Haneul was no stranger to this kind of behavior, after all those years of sharing the same space as other idols who appeared charming in front of the camera but mistreated others backstage.

“Not at all,” Haneul answered simply. “The guiding process takes longer than normal since I'm a D-Class, but he waits patiently during guiding and listens well to me on the team. He’s quite docile, actually.”

Woohyun blinked, taken aback by his unexpected answer.

“Will he listen when it comes to harming his teammates and destroying buildings?” The concern in his voice belied his intention to spread malicious rumors, regardless of the truth to his words. “Team Leader, you should be careful when it comes to that guy. He has a track record of violence and endangering the people around him.”

“He’s not as bad as you think him to be.” Haneul looked at him in all seriousness. “Although he can be reckless with his powers and selfish in his actions, he doesn’t mean any harm.”

All of the Guides looked at him with complete incredulity.

“Team Leader,” Woohyun began to say. “Are you being coerced?”

“Of course not.”

“Is he bullying or threatening you?”

“I said that he’s not.”

“Even though you’re his Guide, you don’t have to make excuses for him. We all know that Hunter is a dangerous person. We’re on your side, so if he’s doing anything to threaten you, we’re here to support you.”

Haneul couldn’t stand this anymore. “Park Noah is a good kid! He has a pure and innocent heart!”

A stunned silence fell across the rooftop. He was only fueling the baseless rumors, but he couldn’t stay silent and listen to them slander Noah in his absence. But their silence lasted longer than necessary.

As Haneul began to think that he spoke wrongly, a shiver of foreboding descended his spine. A colossal shadow loomed behind him, eclipsing the rooftop in darkness. He snapped his head around, stopping cold at the sight unraveling before him. 

Rising from the edge of the skyscraper, a dark sphere appeared like a black sunrise. One large eye regarded him from the center of its body, much larger than any monster he had encountered before, with countless swarming tentacles extending from its surface. 

Before Haneul could react, a tentacle lashed out. The limb struck the rooftop flooring with considerable force when he narrowly leapt away in time. Dust and debris exploded in the air from the impact, obscuring his vision.

Panic descended as the Guides scattered in all directions, desperate to escape the monster before them. Some lost their footing, losing the strength to run away. There was a crushing pressure bearing down upon them, the manifestation of the monster’s aura suffocating them and making it difficult to move. 

“An S-Class?!”

“What the hell is going on?!”

No doubt lingered about the monster’s devastating potential to wipe out the entire building and surrounding area. Haneul yelled out to Woohyun who was beside him earlier. “Call for reinforcements immediately—”

But where Woohyun once stood was nothing more than a ragdoll. One of the tentacles impaled him through the chest, leaving him suspended lifelessly in the air. Blood poured from the gruesome wound, pooling on the rooftop below.

One of the younger Guides beside Haneul covered his pale face in his trembling hands, looking as if he would throw up. “Team Leader…”

Haneul’s stomach twisted at the sight. But there was no time to process the horror of the situation. Haneul dived forward to pull him away as another tentacle smashed down, crushing where they had been standing moments before. He brought his arms up, shielding his face from the debris whipping in his direction. A bright line of pain sliced at his shoulder as glass and shrapnel tore through the fabric of his clothing. He needed to focus on keeping everyone alive and finding a way to inform the Hunters.

He refused to let anyone else die here—not like before.

The young Guide clung onto his arm. “Team Leader, what should we do?!”

Haneul assessed his surroundings. Any communication equipment had been destroyed in the monster’s attack, rendering it impossible to call for backup. Some of the metal rods from the rooftop's railing had been detached, rolling to a stop at his feet.

All of the other Guides were younger than him. He needed to be the one to protect them. This was a terrible plan, but if he could impale the monster in its eye, then he could evoke enough of a reaction to bring attention to the Hunters.

Haneul picked up the rod in his hand, reinforcing the length of it with his aura. He removed himself from the Guide’s grasp, looking at him with a calm expression. “Stay back.”

Gripping the rod, Haneul ran toward the monster, evading the incoming tentacles intending to ensnare him, deflecting the ones that closed in on him. But his speed proved to be no match for an S-Class monster.

A tentacle shot out, wrapping thick and gelid around his throat, raising him in the air. The rod fell from his hand, landing on the floor with a metallic clang. This was the worst possible scenario. Haneul managed to choke out his words to his colleagues, who watched on with terror contorting their faces.

“Listen up! All of you need to stay alive—”

The limb constricted with crushing force around him, beginning to asphyxiate him. He struggled for air, but his lungs failed to find relief. As the tight pressure increased, he realized how helpless he was against it. 

Through the haze of pain, Haneul found himself face-to-face with the lone demonic eye centered in the monster’s body, watching him with violent hunger. Darkness began encroaching at the edge of his vision. His consciousness was slipping away. Was this really the end for him?

He never reconciled with his members from his former agency. He never stood on stage for the last time, fulfilling his promise to the fans who had waited for him so patiently all this time. He never proved to his colleagues that Noah was kinder and gentler than they could fathom, contrary to their preconceived notions that he was a volatile monster meant to be feared.

He couldn’t let everything end this way. 

Not when he promised to be responsible for Noah—

A young man leapt over the railing. Raising his sword in the air, he plunged the blade deep into the monster’s eye. Dark fluid sprayed from its wounded eye, splattering hot on Haneul’s cheek. 

His aura penetrated the core located in the center of its body. Cracks spiderwebbed across the monster's mantle, a red light bleeding through the fissures like fire splitting stone. The monster convulsed beneath him from the heat of his aura, sputtering and shaking in its last moments of life, before detonating in a flash of light. The explosive force rippled outward, sending Haneul flying back through the air.

Before he plummeted stories below, he fell into strong arms supporting the small of his back and underneath his legs. A fire-bright aura radiated from the embrace like the warmth of burning embers, and who it belonged to was unmistakable. Haneul gasped for breath and coughed, clutching his throat after being denied air for too long.

“Noah?” His voice came out too rough.

Noah leaned in and kissed his cheek. “My sweetheart.”

Haneul didn’t have the strength to retort his endearment. Finding himself secure in his arms, he became aware that they were still suspended in midair from Noah’s psychokinesis. As Haneul's breathing began to settle, Noah slowly descended back to the rooftop, landing with quiet footsteps.

“Team Leader!”

“Thank goodness you’re alive!”

The Guides rushed over to him with relieved and frantic expressions, but stopped short upon registering Noah in their presence, covered in monster blood and visceral remains. There was a dark, unreadable intensity in Noah’s eyes as Haneul curiously looked at him. He was still carrying Haneul in his arms, making them appear more intimate than they truly were. 

“Noah,” Haneul said, splaying a hand over his chest to push him away. “You can let me down now. I’m alright thanks to you.”

“Hm?” After being praised, Noah’s gaze lost its vicious edge. He looked down at him, giving him a small smile. “I’m not letting you go again.”

Haneul wondered about what that could possibly mean, when Noah leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Heat rose to his face under the gaze of his colleagues, who stood speechless before Noah's unexpected gesture.

Somehow, Haneul managed to tame this monstrous S-Class into a giant puppy.