The massive soul-blast Shi Yoon unleashed bought him precious seconds, forcing the Aberrations into a shimmering, chaotic defensive posture. He didn't waste the window. He moved like a dark phantom through the haze, abandoning the colossal A.S. Alpha-Unit to its temporary stupor. His focus was singular: the squat, mundane building housing Seo Jun.
He tore through the library's back entrance, ignoring the panic of the few staff members who saw him—a tall figure in a dusty trench coat, the obsidian pendant on his neck humming with residual power. He found Seo-Jun in the reading room, huddled under a table with three other students. The boy was shaking, but his eyes were fixed on the dimensional chaos visible through the park-facing windows—he was more aware than any normal human should be.
The Resonance, Shi-Yoon registered bitterly. He feels the danger he attracts.
He strode past the terrified students, his focus exclusively on the boy he had marked. He didn't offer comfort or explanation. That wasn't his role.
"Seo Jun," Shi Yoon commanded, his voice flat, his gaze intense. "Move. Now."
Seo-Jun flinched, recognizing the voice of the distant, handsome stranger he'd only seen a handful of times in eleven years. He scrambled out from under the table.
"W-what's happening?" Seo-Jun stammered, his eyes wide.
"You're a magnet," Shi-Yoon clipped out, grabbing the boy's arm in a firm, cold grip. "And your shield is running low on patience."
He didn't wait for an answer. He projected the Aether-Watch's tactical screen, swiftly marking a nearby abandoned maintenance tunnel as an Extraction Point. With his other hand, he tore open a temporary portal. It wasn't clean or stable it was a vicious slash in the air fueled by his raw frustration.
But the Aberrations were faster. The perimeter he'd created had collapsed. A bony spike weapon punched through the library wall ten feet from them.
"Hold onto me," Shi Yoon ordered, pushing the terrified boy against his side. He didn't offer gentle reassurance; his commitment was proven by his presence, not his words.
He spun the Reaper's Blade outward, now just the obsidian pendant, directing a focused burst of energy that pulverized the wall near the breach. The Aberrations momentarily paused, sensing the concentrated power.
"They're coming for you," Shi Yoon muttered to the boy, his gaze locked on the closing threat. His own damn fault.
He hauled Seo Jun through the unstable portal just as the first Aberration breached the room. The transition was violent, throwing them onto the grimy concrete of the maintenance tunnel floor.
Shi Yoon instantly solidified the portal behind them, sealing the rip with a surge of Soul Energy. The Aberrations, still blind to his timer, wouldn't waste time trying to follow the collapsing rift.
He released the boy's arm. Seo-Jun immediately stumbled away, clutching his side, staring up at the tall figure.
"Thank you," Seo-Jun whispered, his voice trembling.
Shi-Yoon didn't acknowledge the gratitude. He was staring at his Aether-Watch. The Red Flags were receding. The tactical map was clearing. But the one piece of information that mattered remained the same.
Target: T-F-412. Core Anomaly Detected. Life Timer: UNK.
He looked at Seo-Jun—the handsome boy who was the embodiment of his failed control, the object of his cold, relentless protection, and the maddening secret that threatened to undo his very existence.
"Don't thank me," Shi-Yoon said, his voice low and utterly devoid of warmth. "You are an unacceptable variable. And I clean up my own mistakes."
He turned away, already opening a stable portal back to his sterile apartment, leaving Seo-Jun alone in the maintenance tunnel. The protection was absolute, the cost was rising, and Shi-Yoon's focus remained cold and fixed: He had to solve the puzzle of the blind spot before the next incursion.
*
*
*
The moment the portal shimmered shut, Shi Yoon felt the abrupt drop in dimensional resonance—a silence far colder than the chaos he'd just left. He was back in his apartment, the sleek, minimalist sanctuary of his life, but the quiet brought no peace.
He didn't check the mission debrief. He didn't even shed his dust-covered coat. He went straight to the holographic interface of his Aether Watch, overriding the security protocol to isolate his latest purchase: a small, almost invisible tracking beacon.
He couldn't leave Seo Jun to wander out of the maintenance tunnel alone. The Aberrations might be temporarily deterred, but the initial A.S. Alpha Unit was still active, and the Resonance would start pulling new threats immediately.
Shi Yoon pulled up a secondary interface a dark, complex screen of lines and schematics only Reapers were trained to interpret. He was cross-referencing Seo Jun's current location with the known dimensional bleed zones across the city. The boy was dangerously close to three distinct low-grade rifts.
I clean up my own mistakes, he repeated in his mind, the phrase a mantra of cold, absolute commitment. It wasn't about saving Seo-Jun for morality's sake; it was about protecting the equilibrium of his world, which the boy now threatened to shatter.
He initiated a series of rapid fire orders through the Watch's interface, using his personal Credit balance.
First, he pinged a registered, discreet civilian transport service. A dark, unmarked van was directed to the tunnel exit. The driver received a heavily-encrypted message and a massive payout: Retrieve one distressed juvenile. Transport to secure location. No questions.
Second, he accessed his private real estate logs, buying a non-descript apartment unit in a heavily secured, low-dimensional-activity district on the other side of the city. He then flooded the unit with automated defensive wards—minor, low-power seals that would cloak the Reaper's Mark Resonance from low-level entities.
Finally, he bought time. He navigated to the Global Dimensional Threat Map—a resource usually restricted to high-tier Reapers—and, with a single fluid motion of his finger across the holographic screen, diverted the known trajectory of three Grade B Anomalies that were currently inbound from the Pacific Rim. He couldn't eliminate them, but he could push them off-course, away from the city and away from Seo Jun for at least twelve hours.
The financial cost of the operation was staggering, depleting nearly half of his current reserve, but Shi Yoon barely glanced at the plummeting number. Resources were meaningless when the integrity of the mission his self imposed mission was at risk.
He finished the sequence, the Aether Watch humming softly as it executed the complex logistical ballet. He then dismissed the interface and looked out the window at the distant, glittering skyline a beautiful facade that hid the rot.
He hadn't offered Seo Jun a kind word, a safe presence, or the comfort of a handsome guardian. Instead, he'd offered logistics, security, and absolute control.
You are an unacceptable variable, he thought, the truth of his assessment piercing his own indifferent shield. And variables must be managed.
He retrieved a small, refrigerated container from his supply unit—a concentrated energy gel and methodically consumed the contents, his face still devoid of expression. He had bought twelve hours of relative calm. Twelve hours to investigate the nature of the blind spot. Twelve hours before the chaos he had temporarily diverted inevitably circled back to the boy marked by the Grim Reaper's Blade.