Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

MINHO.

Teaching a room full of Espers always made my head pound. Not literally, well, sometimes literally but this time was because I didn't get a lick of sleep the night before.

I was halfway through the lecture on regulation and boundaries, pacing in front of about twenty young Espers of different grades and temperaments who couldn't sit still if you stapled them to the floor, most of them fidgeting or trying not to fidget.

One of them, a Grade-3 named Ahn Jaeho, was chewing the end of his pen like a middle schooler.

"Got a few reports that SOME of you don't accept the word 'No'."

A few brows furrowed, followed by murmurs rippling through the room. I tend to get their attention with accusations.

The word "No" isn't something Espers understand easily. The stronger they are, the worse it gets. And this room? Half of them would burn down a building if someone told them they couldn't have cake.

I let the silence hang.

"No doesn't mean rejection," I continued. "It means boundary, and guess what your guide is allowed to have? Boundaries."

A hand went up. Of course it was Felix.

Always Felix.

He's one of the smartest and gifted among his breed. A beautifully crafted character that makes you forget what they're capable of. He's both an Esper and a guide and in a transactional relationship with Hyunjin who's also an Esper.

"Go ahead Felix."

"I'm saying this as a guide... I think I agree to things just to make my assigned Esper happy, even when I don't want to. Part of the reason might be that I can't tell him no because I also don't want to be told no by him."

I tilted my head. "When he does something that you don't approve of, how does that make you feel?"

He blinked. "I don't like the feeling but at the same time, I felt guilty because I may have made him agree to my demand when he didn't want to."

Honest. I'll give him that.

"I want to put it out there that saying no doesn't hurt and when you also don't want something you should be able to say no without feeling guilty."

"What if they really want you to." Hyunjin asked without raising his hands.

"Hyunjin, as long as you don't want to, others want shouldn't make you waver from your decision. As Esper you should also know that other non Espers may feel pressured by your request because you're an Esper and may be forced into giving it to you just to be safe."

Then nodded attentively.

"It is your responsibility to make them feel like they have a choice. You can tell the mid request that it's very okay for them to say no if they don't want to."

"But the authorities said we can get whatever we want and when we're not given it, we should report to them."

Of course the authorities would tell them that.

"That's very wrong. Look no one can actually get everything they want, so next time someone doesn't give it to you, you just accept it instead of reporting it to the agency's authorities to apply force."

The majority of them nodded but not all of them were in total agreement because deep down, No Esper ever wanted to hear that they aren't the center of attention.

"Let's end the class here."

Chairs scraped back, murmurs rising, a few students paused to say to ask a few things unrelated to my teachings.

After they all left I took my things and headed out toward the South Wing of the establishment, My room was on the far end of the Guide Quarters that had been renovated to feel more like a hotel than a ward which the agency liked to pretend was luxurious but in reality it was like boarding school, the only difference is you get a room to yourself if you're important.

The almost empty hallway stretched ahead like it had no end, white walls washed with soft light panels and security runes woven into the tiling. The place was more than a facility. It was a city during the morning, a compound where you get to associate with other people and a cage if you plan on exploring, every inch of it seemed like a journey with no map.

I didn't talk to people anymore. I didn't need to. Not since I stepped down from the main fieldwork.

These days, I just teach, go back to my room and pretend I'm still here for the passion and not the contract.

I took the elevator, quicker than the thirty minute stair climbing marathon, when I got into another hallway walking to the very end I nearly collided with a blur of movement rounding the corridor corner.

"Whoa—shit."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Seungmin skidded to a stop in front of me, practically vibrating. His lab coat was half-buttoned and one of his shoes was untied.

"What the hell—?"

"Minho Sunbae!"

I raised a brow. "Why are you running like you're being chased?" I kept moving, not bothering to wait for an answer, I refused to get caught up in whatever was going on with him.

"We've got a new Esper coming in, a Grade Zero."

That stopped me, I turned and blinked at his disheveled self.

"Come again?"

"Grade Zero, I know I was surprised too." He managed to say in a rush, chest still heaving. "Got a report that he's being sent here after blowing up the facility they held him in."

"What?”

My gut tightened, not just in fear but a sudden rush of explicit flashbacks.

It's been years since anyone's even mentioned a Zero grade Esper.

The rarest of its kind, Espers were ranked from Five to One. But Zero? That was almost to be a myth but it wasn't, there has only been one record since its discovery and now another one.

Having zero grade Espers existing in the real world sounded like something out of a guide's worst nightmare.

Or at least my own worst nightmare.

Seungmin kept rambling "I've got to reconfigure the med block, run stability checks, do a full core scan. I'm really not ready for this I haven't even had breakfast"

My feet moved on their own trying to escape from the conversation as the information brought me nothing but ptsd. "Good luck."

"What? That's it?! You're not even curious?!"

"Nope."

"Minho—"

Everyone here knows I don't get involved with Espers anymore. Not with bonding or linking. I did my time and I've got the scars to prove it.

Let someone else take on the next disaster.

I barely made it back to my quarters, PTSD's a bitch like that. You think you've buried it deep enough under routines and rationality then someone says "Grade Zero Esper" like it's the goddamn weather forecast.

I punched in my passcode and stepped into my space, dim lights, clean floor, a couch I never sit on and a bed I haven't touched in two days.

Home, technically. I leaned against the door, shut my eyes, and exhaled slowly.

Grade Zero.

Fuck.

The part that unsettled me most was how badly the information had begun affecting my thoughts.

Maybe it would’ve sounded irrational to anyone else, but people who had never dealt with an Esper closely would never fully understand what they were capable of. Most people only saw the polished version of them on their screens.

They looked and acted like humans, so naturally that eventually it became easy to forget they weren’t.

Espers aren't human. I don't care how human they look or how human they act once they settle. They came from a place we still know next to nothing about. They fall from the sky like comets, that's where they got their second name from.

Fallen Angels.

A giant flashy rock, shockwave and screamin then suddenly, you've got one of them on the ground leaking like radiation, instincts set to kill.

Humans allowed their existence when they discovered their purpose, before we got Espers we had something we called monsters, not creative. They're alien-like creatures from the same otherworldly place Espers are from, only these ones feed on human souls like candy just to dominate its kind. Leave towns gutted, bodies burned from the inside out.

The world experienced years of monsters before they got Esper, which we thought was another motive set to destroy humanity until we discovered Espers were the repellent for monsters and killing them was their first instinct.

We adapted.

Governments weaponized them and agencies formed. Tests were created to rank and classify them, from unstable Grade 5s to the terrifying, world-flattening Grade 0s.

Now they legally live among us.

Esper might look all strong and mighty, but here on Earth they're not able to regulate their abilities because of how different our universes are from theirs making their own strength begin to eat them alive.

Every time they use their power their system can't regulate that energy back to normal and eventually it drives them to the brink of madness and sudden death.

That's where Guides came in.

Humans realized how vital it was having Espers among us and developed the technology to train humans to be able to regulate the Esper's energy.

Before humans were turned into Esper regulators there were other methods that failed or had effects on the Esper.

But human guides are more convenient and easy.

Human guide regulation for Esper is one of the most unbelievable and ridiculous methods possible but it works perfectly.

Physical intimacy.

Sex, if we're being blunt.

It's not always romantic and no, not just anyone can do it. It has to be a designated well trained Guide. But even then, there are limits. Just like Espers, Guides are ranked, low-grade Guides can't stabilize high-grade Espers.

And me?

I was a Grade One Guide.

I say "was" because I'm retired now. A badge on the wall, a limp in the winter, and memories that still wake me up sweating.

I teach now, I teach Espers how not to ruin the people who risk their lives to save them.

It's the best thing I could do with the remaining two years contract since the agency refused to let me go until the contract expired.

But I've managed to live quietly in the peace I built over the years away from everyone else and now Seungmin just smashed through it and now my whole world is in shambles.

I felt sick.

Grade Zeros Espers are more like forces of nature than the regular Espers. I spent years convincing myself I'd never have to deal with one again and now here comes another.

Maybe the universe thinks I still owe it something.

And now, I can't stop thinking about those goddamn eyes.
What bothered me most was the fact that none of this should’ve worked in the first place.
A lower-grade guide couldn’t properly regulate a higher-grade Esper. The power gap between an Esper and their guide mattered more than people realized.
Which meant someone like me—a Grade One guide—had absolutely no business being assigned to a Grade Zero Esper.
But there was no such thing as a Grade Zero guide.
That classification didn’t exist yet, no human could ever be strong enough to reach that level.
Humans couldn’t create a matching counterpart for a creature that fundamentally shouldn’t exist, so when humanity ended up with a Grade Zero Esper, there was no perfect solution waiting somewhere. No specially designed guide prepared to handle them.
They just threw the next strongest thing they had at the problem and hoped everyone survived it.
People like me.
Grade One guides.

That's why I'm worried

I know they're going to come knocking if they plan to keep the Esper here. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but the second that Esper starts leveling walls and melting through restraints, the agency's going to panic and send someone in and that someone is me.

I'm the only Grade One in the agency, I'm non-active and retired but who's that gonna stop.

I. Don't. Guide. Anymore.

I can't.

I nearly died because of it.

I don't want to remember what it was like trying to pull someone out of a collapsing building but the building is alive, screaming and trying to burn you from the inside out while begging you not to leave.

It's like being fed on and every second you keep them anchored is another second they rip a piece of you away.

I hate Espers

I hate guiding them.

I hate what they do to you.

I hate this dystopian system.

I hate that they're going to force me back in.

I signed that contract ten years ago, back when I was still stupid and "passionate" enough to believe I could handle anything. And now I have two years left.

Two more years of exploitation and being shoved back into the lion's mouth after barely surviving the last time.

Forcing me to smile at the media while it chews my ribs. I ordered food at some point not because I was hungry but just in case my appetite floods in the middle of the night when I can't get any sleep. I sat on the floor waiting for it. I might've been shaking the whole time hurdling myself together as I thought of how this new Esper was gonna turn my whole life around.

When the food arrived, I dumped it on the couch and sat on the edge of my bed, the one I never sleep in and buried my face in my hands and whispered a little prayer just to keep me from spiraling.

I crawled into bed without showering, laid on my side and stared at the blank wall like it might blink back at me.

This is how it ends, isn't it?

They're going to pair us.

Me and another walking weapon with too much power and no control. Another life I'll have to cradle with hands still shaking from the last one I dropped.

God help me.

I don't want to do this again.

But I don't have a decision when I'm being owned by an agency who only cares about their own benefits. And Another Zero Grade Esper was nothing but a breakthrough of benefits.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of stale food, I picked it up, threw it straight in the trash. Didn't even open it. I looked at the clock and realized I slept two hours which was actually great compared to getting no sleep at all.

I brushed my teeth, washed my face and got dressed.

It felt robotic but I had almost forgotten why I was panicking so much yesterday. I was even halfway out the door before I remembered.

Then I felt a ripple through my skin. Like someone had pressed a hot coin against the base of my neck and then yanked it away.

My chest tightened.

The Esper was here, I slammed the door shut again and locked it. My hands were shaking on the knob. My breath was uneven. I backed away like I expected the hallway to start growling.

I couldn't go out there.

I had to teach a class in a few but now I didn't feel like it.

I dropped onto the edge of my bed and just sat there, staring blankly at the floor like it might solve my problems for me. I could call in sick. Say I got a fever. Say I slipped in the bathroom and cracked a rib.

There was no way I was walking out of this room today.

And just when I started convincing myself it was all going to blow over, I heard three taps on my door.

I held my breath.

Maybe if I stay still they'll go away.

"Minho?" A familiar voice called out. "Open the door. We need to speak with you."

Agency authority.

The ones who still owned two years of my life.

"Who is it?"

"President Song. Minho, open the door this instant."

I let out a breath that felt like it scraped down my throat, stood up, and unlocked the door.

There they were.

Two of them and just as I had guessed
President Song and Assistant Jung.

"We need your help," President Song said, stepping into my room uninvited. "Up in the operating wing."

My lips twitched.

"I have no business in the operating wing, I haven't been there in years.”

"You do now."

"I'm not active."

"You're still contracted."

"Did you hear about the new Esper?" Song asked. "Grade Zero."

Of course I did. I felt it.

"It's been three years since the last one," he continued. "And we're lucky he didn't level a city block."

I looked away. "That's not my problem."

"We need you to stabilize him."

I scoffed. "Get someone else."

"You're the only Guide here with the clearance to handle this. You're the only one who can match him, you know that."

"No," I said. "I don't do this anymore."

"You're a Guide, Minho."

"Not anymore."

"Minho."

"No, I don't. I'm not a guide and you've witnessed what the last Zero did to me, I can't."

"This isn't about being a guide, it's about you and how passionate you are about Espers, you didn't even think twice about giving up everything just to dedicate it all to this agency."

"No, I can't.”

"Jung?" I looked up to see Jung reaching down his bags for a document and handing it to Song.

"Here, reread the contract you signed before you tell me no again."

Shit.

I took it from him, I didn't need to read it . I knew what I signed up for.

"We had to sedate him on entry and the dose would wear off soon. If he awakens without being subdued, he's going to tear the whole building down."

Then came the guilt.

"If that happens, the damage and the lives lost would be on you Lee Minho."

And just like that, the trap was set.

They looked at me like they'd given the free will to choose whatever I wanted but all the options were the same. And not choosing any at all would cause nothing but legal trouble.

So I either have to accept their request or accept their request.

Before the incident, everything I did for an Esper was by my own will. I was that passionate, fascinated and madly in love with the ideology of them that it drove me to my doom

"Let's go."

I followed them.

Step after step through the hallways I'd hoped never to walk again.

I thought the pounding in my chest would break through my ribs. I could barely hear over it. My thoughts were a blur of voices — I don't want this, I don't want this, I don't want this.

Everything in my body was pulling back, screaming no.

My legs were moving, but my soul was locked in place, trembling like it had just been dropped back into hell.

This was the same corridor I'd walked down everyday of my life before I was hospitalized.

The closer we got to the operating room, the colder it felt.

Like something in me knew what was coming.

And I hated it.

I hated all of it.

I hated the agency.

I hated the authorities.

I hated the power they had over me and most of all I hated the Esper.

Whoever he was.

He hadn't even woken up yet, and already I felt like he was unraveling me.

And I could hope for now for him to reject me.

That was the only hope I held on to.

In this Esper biased agency they would only let me go if the Esper rejected me.

Though Espers need guides to thrive, it doesn't stop them from picking and choosing. An Esper would rather face the wrath of its own power than let a guide he doesn't approve of to guide him.

"How long will it take?" Assistant Jung's voice cut through the voice in my head.

"It depends."

"How long was it with your last Esper?"

And in a blink I wasn't walking down the hallway anymore.

I was in a hospital bed. Wires in my veins, monitors screaming. My arms are too weak to lift, my brain too foggy to form a single thought.

I blinked again.

White ceiling tiles above me, pain in every part of my body, screaming in my ears no, maybe just inside my head. I couldn't remember anything.

Not even my name at one point.

Then I was in a therapy room.

A woman speaking softly. Asking questions I couldn't answer. Holding out flashcards and smiling at my silence.

I remembered the nights I woke up screaming, clutching the sheets, unable to tell if I was still in the operating room or if I was still clouded in a fantasy.

Months of it.

My mind, broken into shards.

My body, unrecognizable even to myself.

And somehow... through it all... I still had sympathy for them.

At least the lower grade ones.

The one not as powerful enough to ruin me like he did.

But in their defense it's not entirely their fault, Espers weren't like us.

They weren't meant to exist in this universe alongside us.

They were sent here molded by chaos before they ever knew peace.

Born to be Angels forced to be human weapons.

I exhaled shakily, hands trembling as I pressed them to my sides.

And I started wondering.

Who was this one?

Was he stronger?

Was he violent?

Can he be tamed?

I could feel him.

His energy levels were different, extraordinary.

Terrifyingly extraordinary.

And then we arrived.

The operating wing.

Glass windows. Cold dry air circulation and a faint chemical sting that clung to your throat.

Inside, I saw them.

Seungmin, Jeongyeon and a few other staffers with their masks and gloves on . All of them stepped back from the bed.

Seungmin caught my eye briefly and gave a small nod

Then they left me alone with him but watched from the outside.

I tried to do a little breathing exercise before I moved closer but my body was too anxious to correspond.

My feet moved slowly as my body began to shake and my mind replayed all the moments similar to this one.

With every step, the pressure intensified — like I was being dragged toward destruction.

My heart dropped down to my stomach as I finally approached the bed but it wasn't what I had expected.

He was still — unmoving.

His half naked body stretched out, hands unclenched by sedation. But even unconscious, the atmosphere was charged with raw and unfiltered energy.

But the energy was un-matching to the Esper who laid before me.

He looked small.

Actually he didn't look like an Esper at all.

I looked towards the cameras that were watching me, confused if this was the right room.

But I got no response.

I looked at him again to make sure.

There's no way he's an Esper.

It's easy to recognize Espers.

Even if you've never seen one before, your instincts kick in when you do. They may look like humans, sure — but the similarities stop at the surface.

Espers have exaggerated features, they look like the unrealistic version of humans.

Their eyes are bigger, their noses smaller, and their physique is taller.

Their very brightly colored hair tends to grow long, thick, unnaturally straight or coiled with strange textures no human gene could replicate. They don't cut it — not because they're vain, but because it grows too fast to bother.

And the height.

I rarely met Espers under six feet tall. Most range between 5'11, to 6' or 7 even. Broad-shouldered, long-limbed, like their bones came from different blueprints altogether. You don't realize how small humans are until you stand next to one of them.

They eat like starved wolves — not because they're gluttonous, but because their energy consumption is unmatched. A
Espers burn through calories and adrenaline like oxygen.

They're strong and overly adaptive to appear as human but no matter how human they appear they still look... something not of this world.

Like angels, if angels came down for war.

Their eyes are red, gold, yellow, colors that shine without light.

The boy lying on the bed didn't look like one. He looked like the average sized human. His hair, short and messy, no color shift or shimmer in his strands.

If I hadn't been told he was Grade Zero, I would've assumed they picked up the wrong person.

Even unconscious, the space around him buzzed. It felt like standing next to an unstable reactor. Like my own aura had to shift just to accommodate him.

I pulled a stool next to the bed and sat down carefully.

There were rules to this, if I wanted to guide him— which I clearly didn't want— I couldn't start unless he allowed it.

Espers are allowed to have choices, it didn't matter how compatible the stats appeared or how powerful the guide was

It had to be consented from their end.

So I sat there and waited for him to either wake up and unleashed monstrosity or agree to have sex with me

Those were the atrocious odds.

Guiding an Esper isn't some sacred art, It was a violent and transactional ritual that only benefited one party while the other got paid.

My eyes caught his fingers twitching, could be my imaginations but they moved again, like the signal was returning to the body, one limb at a time.

 

For a moment, I got carried away and almost reached out but thankfully I caught myself and pulled back.

I couldn't touch him without his permission, it could be fatal.

Instantly, his eyes shot open, it was white, all of it— a storming rage. Then a loud screech shredded the air like claws against metal, probably warning other Espers to steer clear. He jolted upright so hard the bed cracked under him.

 

Energy pulsed off his body in wild, burning waves, I moved, catching him by the shoulders before he could throw himself off the bed or throw me across the room.

"It's okay," I whispered.

My voice was small, not just because I had to show submission but I was also afraid.

I spoke to him like I used to speak to the berserk ones in the therapy bay that had forgotten that humans weren't preys

"I'm here to help. Please let me help you."

The Espers bright eyes came to focus on me, making my grip on him falter as I remembered I wasn't supposed to touch him.

"I'm a guide," I whispered. "I'm here for you."

The light in his eyes dimmed at my voice, his eyes changing from lightning bright to brown.

I felt his energy dip just a little, his eyes on me, analyzing if I was fit for him or not.

"Please let me guide you. I'll take care of you.”

The pulse spiked slightly, I could sense he didn't trust me.

"My name is Lee Minho, I'm a certified Grade One Guide, I've been trained to handle your kind, please trust me."

His gaze twitched, eyes moving around the room.

"Can you speak?" I asked gently.

Silence.

"I'll only guide you if you let me. I won't force you into anything, I promise."

His focus shifted, uninterested.

"Do you have a name?"

He opened his mouth, his voice sounding like a hundred, each voice spoke a different language.

"Can you speak like me?" I asked. "Your voice... it's… I can barely understand."

There was a pause before he opened his mouth again. "My name... is Zero Two."

"You're Zero Two?" My brain paused for a moment. "Don't you have a human name?" I asked because I'd prefer to use a name that wasn't closely related to my Ex Esper.

“In the old facility they called me Han Jisung."

I nodded. "Han Jisung." I could work with that. "Okay. That's really good."

My hand landed on his forearm and for a moment, the tension loosened.

"Do you like this?" I asked. "My touch?"

His eyes fluttered. "It's calm."

"Good. If I continue... That's if you allow me to guide you... it'll get better.”

I waited but no response

"Should I continue?" I asked again.

"No."

"Why not." I asked like my heart wasn't already leaping for joy.

His lips uttered just two words.

"Zero One."

Everything in me went cold, How did he know it?

What... what did you just say?" Maybe I misheard it.

He tilted his head, still watching me with that unreadable expression.

"Zero-One."

In my years of studies, I learnt that Esper knew of each other. Zero two couldn't have encountered him yet and Zero One was too far away to be sensed.

Zero One was the first Esper I was ever assigned to, the one who shattered me.

"How do you know that name?" I whispered.

"You carry his scent."

I blinked. "What?"

He squinted as if confused that I didn't already understand. "You have the scent of another Esper on you. I will not let you guide me."

Oh god.

Of course.

I should've known.

Scent-marking. It was one of the first things they taught us. When an Esper has an extraordinary bond with his guide he tends to leave traces of him behind to repel other Espers. These scents can't be acknowledged by humans but to another Esper, It's like wearing someone else's skin.

"I—" I swallowed. "That was a long time ago. I don't belong to Zero-One anymore. I haven't for years."

He watched me closely, part of him still trying to decide if I was safe or already claimed.

"I promise you," I said. "The scent on me means absolutely nothing. I'm only here for you and I would never carry a bond I didn't choose."

His eyes darted to the ground for a long moment before a small; “Okay."

"Can I touch you again?"

He nodded.

I brought my hands gently to his arms, running it down slowly in gentle strokes over his skin not meant to arouse or provoke but just to stabilize him.

"You're doing great," I whispered. "You're safe."

After a few moments, I started to sense a bit of relief, his eyes met mine again before he opened his mouth. "What is this feeling?"

"What do you feel?"

"Warm."

"That's really good, It means we're compatible."

We stayed like that for a while, me on the edge of the bed, him still half-curled in the middle of it while my hands brushed slow patterns over his skin.

I could tell he's never been stabilized by a guide before just from how easily he got better from my touch alone.

And I wouldn't need to have sex with him.