Three Ways to Run from an Esper

Part 1

Yoo Joonghyuk's POV:
     Joonghuk stepped out of the red gate in a daze. He knew he had properly cleared the dungeon, he vaguely recalled slaying the S class dragon with little trouble, the monsters weren't the problem, it was his own mind that was eating him alive.
     Being an esper meant that his powers were constantly trying to eat away at his mind, the only thing that could stop it was a guide, unfortunately, YJ is so powerful that he had yet to find a guide that could handle him.
    As it was, he went to the guiding center and drained five guides until they passed out. The whole experience was like torture since none of the guides were compatible with him. It felt like needles piercing through his skin. He went through all that pain only for piss poor guidance. His percentage went from 90% to 85%. That means each of the A-class guides only managed to drain 1% of his toxic energy.
     He stared down at the unconscious guides on the floor and sighed. Was there any guide out there that could relieve his pain?

Kim Dokja's POV:

      Kim Dokja felt like he was going to die. He stared at his computer screen with dark circles under his eyes. It was currently 1:00 in the morning and it looked like he would be sleeping at the office again. Five empty energy drink cans littered his work desk. He stared at the resignation letter in his desk drawer but shook his head. He couldn't afford to loose this job. He had such a hard time finding a job that didn't conduct guide and esper tests on their employees. Minosoft was a company that went around the law in order to save time and money, so they didn't require a test result when applying and never conducted the mandatory annual esper/guide testing.
    Most people awakened as a guide or esper in their teens and only about five percent of the population was awakened, so the chances of anyone at the company being awakened was slim to none in their eyes. Plus, who would choose to work at a black company rather than take in the riches and status associated with being an awakened. The answer to that question was currently typing up a report at 1:00 am with dead eyes and opening a sixth can of Red Bill to stay awake.
Kim Dokja had plenty of reasons to not want to be a guide. For one, once a guide awakened they were forced to work for the Center, guiding required physical contact and espers were known for being... pushy. Once an esper found a guide with a high compatibility rating that they could bond with, the guide didn't get a choice in the matter and would be stuck with the esper till one of them died.
Many esper treated guides like pets or tools. Not respecting their wishes and controlling their lives. In worse cases esper have even been known to lock their guides up so no one could see or touch them. It was an unhealthy relationship built on one person having all the power over another. Dokja remembered his mother's weary face when his father would get home and forced her to guide him until she passed out. He had to stop thinking about it before he remembered even worse memories from his childhood.
    "You're still here Dokja?" Yoo Sangah asked in a worried tone.
    Kim Dokja looked up with tired eyes but smiled at his friend.
'I guess not all espers are bad.' He thought to himself as Sangah offered to help him finish and he declined.
    Dokja and Sangah had both been rookies at the company when they first met. Dokja was shocked when he found her hiding in the stairwell one day with symptoms of guiding withdrawal.
He risked his secret being exposed in order to help her and in return she confided in him as well.
She was hiding the fact she was an esper because she didn't want to be forced to use guides. The center would love to have a powerful esper like her, but they would also force her to get regular guiding and if they found a compatible guide she would be expected to use them. She didn't agree with how guides were treated and although it severely damaged her health she would put off guiding for as long as possible.
   Kim Dokja would guide her whenever she started to show symptoms, he offered to guide her regularly so she didn't have to suffer any pain but Sangah said she didn't want to exploit him. He tried to assure her that it was his decision and it was fine, but she was stubborn to a fault. She bought him dinner often and cared for him in a friendly way so he didn't feel like he was being used by her at all. She really was a kind person who didn't exhibit the usual possessiveness and arrogance of other espers Dokja had met.
     "Look at you! You look like you died and came back to life as a zombie! Enough working for tonight, let's go get you something to eat and then you are going straight to sleep." Dokja tried to keep working but he was too tired to resist as Sangah saved his files and turned off his computer.
     Dokja was being dragged to a nearby chicken restaurant when it happened. A black gate. A catastrophe level threat to the world appeared right in front of them on the street. For a second Dokja thought he must be hallucinating due to lack of sleep, but Sangah was staring in fear at the dark void as well so his hopes of it being his imagination were dashed.
    "We have to get away from here." Sangah immediately said as she started to drag Dokja away. Unfortunately, the stronger the gate the faster monsters came out of it, and Sangah didn't have the power of flight, speed, or teleportation. She could probably get away fast enough on her own, but not with Dokja.
    "Leave me, I'll be fine. Get yourself to safety." Dokja said.
    "I'm not leaving you behind." Sangah said with determination as she kept running with her hand clamped around his wrist.
    It was then when they heard the hiss. Dokja peeked back to see a blue serpent the size of a skyscraper slithering out of the gate. It immediately spotted them, they had only made it a block away.
     It lunged quickly towards them, clearing the distance in a matter of seconds. Sangah activated her powers and used glowing golden threads to tie up the mouth of the serpent and yank it away from Dokja.
It had taken all her strength just to turn the monster's head. She swung around the monster and tried stabbing it with her glowing knifes, but it didn't seem to have any effect against its hard scales.
     Dokja was trying to think quickly and figure out how he could help when a strong aura overcame him. It felt like a mass of black tar. Dokja had never felt such strongly condensed energy. He turned around to see a dark figure descend from the sky. He wore a black coat that matched his dark hair, but it was his eyes that caught Dokja's attention. They were shining bright as stars, which was beautiful, but signified an oncoming rampage.
    He landed in front of Dokja and glared down at him.
   "You aren't an esper are you?" The man asked sternly.
  "N...No." Dokja stuttered out.
   "Then get to safety." He said with a glare before turning to go fight the serpent with Sangah.
   "Wait!" Dokja caught his arm without thinking, "y...your eyes! You're on the verge of a rampage! If you use your powers anymore you will be more of a threat to us than that monster!"
    The man looked down at him with a peculiar expression for a second, he looked at where Dokja was holding his arm with an expression that was somewhere between wonder and suspicion.
    "I'll be fine. Don't run away. Stay back and wait." He ordered
     "Weren't you just trying to get me to run?" Dokja asked confused, but before he could say anymore the esper flew up to the serpent that was still chasing Sangah around in circles as she desperately tried to make even a scratch on it.
    "That's an S class leviathan. You are strong, but I'm guessing you're only A class. You won't be able to defeat it. Stand back."
   Sangah wasn't a huge fan of the arrogant tone he took, but she was also exhausted and hadn't made any progress other than distracting it from Dokja.
    She stepped back and before she could even blink, the man fired a large black fire ball at the monster and it disintegrated to ash before her eyes. She and Dokja gapped.
     The man landed on the ground again with a calm expression.
     "I need to close this gate. I'm going in. Wait here until I return. Make sure he doesn't leave." He told Sangah as he pointed at Kim Dokja. "I have a theory to test with him." He said as he eyed the tired looking office worker.
     The esper was about to enter the gate when Dokja grabbed his arm again. The man glared.
    "What?" He asked
    Kim Dokja gulped. He was nervous to do this, but this man had just saved him and Sangah's lives. He could feel he was on the verge of a rampage and must be in incredible pain. Dokja couldn't allow him to go into a catastrophe level dungeon without doing what he could to help.
     He steeled himself and grabbed the esper's hand. He closed his eyes and let the energy that he normally kept under lock and key flow into the man, and at the same time he allowed the toxic energy to flow into him, his body naturally cleansing it and returning it to the esper.
This was the first time since he was a child that he felt so overwhelmed while guiding. There was so much of the toxic energy and it was so powerful, but he managed to keep going until he could no longer sense the toxic substance.
    He breathed a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. He stared up into the esper's now black eyes. He had an expression of amazement on his face, as if Dokja had just sprouted angel wings.
    "T...that should help." Dokja said as he tried to wrench his hand away, but the esper immediately clenched onto Dokja's wrist with a bruising amount of force.
   "Ow! Can you let go of me please?!" Dokja said with a slight sense of panic as he twisted and turned trying to get out of his grasp.
   The esper looked between Dokja and the black gate, which had grown bigger and showed signs of spewing out even more monsters soon if not closed.
   "Stay. Here." The man told Dokja firmly like it was the most important thing in the world.
"I'll clear this gate quickly as possible. You will be here when I return." It wasn't a request. He was demanding Dokja to stay. Dokja wanted to protest but the man was already flying into the gate with the speed of the wind.
   Sangah ran up to Dokja as he rubbed his wrist as purple bruising appeared around it.
  "Are you ok?" She said worried.
   "Yeah, but I have a feeling I don't want to stay around for that esper to come back." He said as he stared at the gate.
    "Dokja... do you know who that was?" She said with a hesitant, worried voice.
    "You know I don't like to hear about esper and guide news."
    "That was Yoo Joonghyuk! The strongest esper in the country! He is known for being unable to find a compatible guide... until now I guess." Sangah finished with a whisper.
   "Well now I definitely don't want to stick around." Dokja said with a worried gulp.
   "Let's get out of here. I think you're gonna need to lay low for a while." Sangah said as they hurried away.
    "Yeah... let's hope that's enough." Kim Dokja said with a concerned scowl.