The halls of Axiom were quiet after containment events. Usually there was the hum of pressure locks, the flick of clipboard tabs, the echo of steps, but now everything felt like it had been turned off. Even the fluorescent lights seemed to buzz more gently when Saejin walked through them.
He moved slowly through the corridor. He had been cleared from his injury an hour ago, but there was something about being led out of the medical bay that made him feel like a visitor in his own body.
"You know… some people smile after surviving containment events" Hara muttered beside him, arms crossed, escort badge still clipped sideways on her belt.
He didn't respond, just glanced down at the clearance tag on his wrist before pulling it off.
"You were asleep for two days, you know" she added. "And someone tried to sneak a get-well balloon into the med bay."
He looked at her.
"…Was it you?"
She scoffed. "No. It popped in the elevator, but it was a very stylish balloon."
There was a slight smile and a calmness in his eyes that felt almost serene. She was glad to see it.
They passed through two more security doors before reaching the inner courtyard: Axiom's only open-air space. Technically classified as a bio-adjustment zone, but really just a concrete-wrapped piece of earth with a view of the sky. A few agents sat quietly on benches, reading reports or sipping rationed coffee.
Hara dragged him to one of the corners, where a soft patch of grass fought its way through reinforced stone. She sat down cross-legged and motioned for him to do the same.
"You're supposed to reset after a guiding" she said. "Let your mind re-center. Nature exposure, limited noise, grounding objects. You know... protocol."
She poked a pebble toward him.
"That's a grounding object. It's very reliable."
Saejin looked at the pebble, then at her. He accepted the invitation and sat down, back straight, arms resting on his knees. The wind moved slightly around them just enough to remind him the world was still turning. They sat like that for a while. Just him, the sky and the girl beside him who still believed a pebble could fix the things no one else could see.
It wasn't often that Saejin spoke first. Even in quiet moments like this, under open sky and away from everything, he preferred silence to noise. He believed in silence the way others believed in rest: as something essential, something earned. But this time, he broke it.
"He felt different."
Hara blinked, looking up from where she was absently braiding a few blades of grass.
"Who?"
She knew who, but Saejin answered anyway.
"The Esper from the event. He wasn't like the others. It wasn't just the volatility. It was…"
His voice trailed off. He was trying to find the right way to say it, but the language kept collapsing under his thoughts.
"It was like... resonance turned inward. Like being pulled into something that didn't want to be seen."
Hara let the grass fall from her fingers and let a pause slip in.
"You don't even know his name, do you?"
He looked at her quietly. She exhaled a bit surprised by him missing out on the obvious.
"Yuwon Sol" she said. "High-level Esper from Izun Sector. I've followed his team's logs for months."
She gave a slight, sheepish shrug.
"I mean... they're not exactly subtle. He's the only one I've ever seen handle a Class B collapse solo."
Saejin didn't flinch or speak, but he stood slightly straighter, like he was listening more closely now.
"There's more" Hara said. "I wasn't supposed to say anything yet, but... his team filed a match request."
That word landed heavier than the name.
"It has your ID on it" she added. "Filed before the containment breach. But I didn't know they'd pull you in without a full review."
Saejin said nothing. She looked down at her hands.
"It was supposed to come from the advisor. The official route. I didn't want to drop it on you."
Still nothing. She pulled her knees to her chest and stared at the concrete.
"You want to know what I think it means?"
A long pause followed.
"No."
He didn't mean to be cold or insensitive... It was just Saejin being Saejin.