Was I being too much?
He’d occasionally been scolded by friends with lines like, “I like how outgoing you are, but when you’re oblivious, it’s infuriating.”
Thanks to his naturally optimistic disposition, he had always taken it as a compliment. But now, those words resurfaced in his mind—because his skin was stinging.
With friends, things usually ended with banter or the occasional light scuffle. But with these people, they were never on equal footing to begin with. After all, he had possessed the body of a Guide, while they were Espers. In some novels, there were rare cases of Guides who had superior combat abilities to Espers, but that was extremely uncommon. Besides, Lee Haru had been trying to figure out exactly what his abilities were while also learning the rules of this world.
A Guide is basically just like a regular person, aside from the Guiding ability.
Cold sweat beaded on his temples. He just wanted to ease the tension in the air. But as he scanned the eyes of the Espers looking at him, it felt like he needed to conjure up a sense of tact out of thin air.
“Can someone really change this much in an instant? Was Lee Haru always like this?”
Yu Je-hyun’s voice muttered lowly, as if he were staring at a bizarre creature, and Haru’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He usually wasn’t the type to get scared, but the murderous gleam in Yu Je-hyun’s eyes chilled him to the bone. His survival instincts screamed in alarm. Right. He wasn’t Kim Min-hyeok anymore—he was Lee Haru. In a world where Espers, Guides, and monsters existed, he now inhabited the body of S-rank Guide Lee Haru.
And according to all the rumors he’d picked up, the Lee Haru he’d possessed had slit his own wrist just to secure the right to exclusively Guide the Espers now standing before him.
“Huff…”
“Talk. Are you on something?”
Yu Je-hyun’s specialty must be teleportation or something. Before he even noticed, he was right in front of him again. Haru clutched his chest, trying to calm his pounding heart as he sucked in a shallow breath. Desperately, he tried to recall everything he knew about Haru. Devastatingly, Haru didn’t have a single close friend.
While staying at home, not one person had ever come by. Every time Haru went to the cafeteria to eat, people he didn’t even know would gossip about his suicide attempt—everyone seemed to know about it.
And yet, not a single soul actually seemed to worry about him. That alone was depressing. Which meant the information he had about Haru was inevitably limited.
But there was one thing he could be certain of—his personality was the exact opposite of Haru’s. Otherwise, there was no way Yu Je-hyun and the other Espers would be making faces like they’d seen a ghost.
He recalled the image of Haru from his ID. Strikingly beautiful, yet cloaked in an atmosphere as gloomy as a thundercloud. Haru’s eyebrows and mouth subtly drooped downward. Back in college, he’d reluctantly joined a theater club under a pushy friend’s insistence. Never thought that experience would actually come in handy.
“…Drugs? You know how much I hate that kind of stuff.”
No one likes taking meds, so technically it wasn’t a lie. Haru subtly cast a glance at Yu Je-hyun’s face while exuding a deeply melancholic vibe.
Bingo.
Just moments ago, his eyes had been burning holes into Haru’s skin, but now they were clouded with confusion. He’s not sure.
Seems like his impersonation of the photo’s gloomy demeanor was close enough to the real Haru. First priority was to get through this crisis, so he kept up the downcast expression.
“Cut that pitiful act. It’s disgusting.”
Shit. He’d nailed the imitation, but it turned out Yu Je-hyun really couldn’t stand Haru. The chill in his eyes made goosebumps rise along the back of Haru’s neck.
What the hell had Haru done to earn this kind of hatred?
Sure, slitting your own wrist to get what you want was an extreme move. And yeah, Haru was nowhere to be found now, his body vacant and now taken over by someone else.
But still, Haru was a Guide. Yu Je-hyun was an Esper. No matter what Haru had done, it couldn’t have posed any real threat to someone like Yu Je-hyun.
The power difference was like an elephant versus an ant.
No helping it. Haru ducked his head, avoiding Yu Je-hyun’s gaze. There was a decent height difference between them, so now all Yu Je-hyun could see was the crown of his head. If he couldn’t see Haru’s face, maybe his irritation would lessen…
“Why are you bowing now? What, are we doing some mutual respect ritual?”
Ha ha ha.
Haru only laughed internally as he quickly schooled his expression back into a reluctant frown. Normally so calm he was dubbed “Saint Kim,” but Yu Je-hyun’s mercurial attitude was nearly enough to help Haru discover the emotion called anger.
He straightened his back to exactly a 45-degree angle and dropped his gaze to the floor, hands folded politely in front. The others hadn’t exactly been friendly to Haru, but at least they hadn’t actively tried to harm him like Yu Je-hyun seemed about to.
As he silently begged the heavens for someone—anyone—to get this walking landmine away from him, it seemed like the skies finally answered his plea.
Beep— Beep— Beep—
The sudden, jarring sound cut through the stillness, disrupting the quiet filled only by the sound of breathing. Yu Je-hyun tore his gaze away from Lee Haru, raising his right hand with a look of irritation.
The word “EMERGENCY” was flashing in red across his all-black watch.
“Why is it always me getting called? This is so damn annoying. Did the Team Leader or Hong Seong-jun get summoned too?”
His long index finger tapped the screen. As a hologram emerged above it, Haru’s eyes lost focus, turning slightly dazed.
It was a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie. Though this world included Espers, Guides, and monsters, Haru hadn’t yet fully grasped just how fundamentally different it was from the one he’d come from.
One thing was clear—it felt more technologically advanced than South Korea.
“Guess it’s just you, hyung. Go on.”
A handsome man with a soft demeanor tried to soothe Yu Je-hyun. Yu Je-hyun took a deep breath, his broad chest rising and falling noticeably. Whether intentional or not, the gust of his breath brushed across Haru’s bangs.
Haru shifted his toes inside his slippers, silently observing the situation. He’d shown up at the mansion without much thought, but Yu Je-hyun was proving to be far more formidable than expected.
He stole a glance at the man called Hong Seong-jun. Their eyes locked for a split second before Haru hurriedly looked away.
‘He looks like he’s got a temper too…’
His features were gentle, but his gaze was icy—it gave off a definite don’t-mess-with-me vibe. Still, at least he didn’t rush in and apply pressure like Yu Je-hyun had. That was something.
“Let’s head out together. Hong Seong-jun, show Guide Lee Haru to his room. Assign him one of the rooms on the first floor. You’ll be the first to receive guiding today. The Director wants your instability score down below 30 by the end of the day.”
“Understood.”
While Haru remained silent, the Team Leader swiftly wrapped up the situation.
“You. We’ll talk after I get back.”
“Yes! Have a safe trip!”
Figuring a basic farewell wouldn’t hurt, Haru offered it—but Yu Je-hyun didn’t even acknowledge it and simply turned to leave. The Team Leader gave Haru a polite nod before following after him.
His mind was in a complete whirlwind. In the blink of an eye, Haru was alone with the Esper named Hong Seong-jun.
“Follow me.”
Huh? Hong Seong-jun’s tone had changed. Just earlier, hadn’t he been speaking formally? Or was that Haru’s imagination? Now that they were alone, he dropped the honorifics entirely.
It was hard to guess his age, but judging by his face, he looked about the same as the Lee Haru he had possessed. Still, asking why he’d suddenly switched to informal speech would be awkward, so Haru simply nodded and picked up the duffel bag that had been lying on the floor.
He’d gripped the handles so tightly under stress that the bag was now pitifully misshapen.
“Your room’s on the first floor. Ours are all upstairs.”
“I see.”
‘Thank god the floors are separated.’
Haru nodded repeatedly and hustled after Hong Seong-jun.
But suddenly, Hong Seong-jun stopped in front of the stairs leading to the second floor. Haru, who had been right behind him, had no choice but to stop as well.
“No going upstairs without permission. Got it?”
“Ah…”
‘This asshole’s got attitude too, huh.’
They’d be living in the same house for at least six months—was it really necessary to draw territorial lines like this? Of course, Haru wasn’t the type to barge into someone’s personal space without cause. But still, couldn’t he have said it more gently?
Hong Seong-jun’s eyes carried an unspoken accusation, as if assuming Haru would sneak upstairs without asking.
“Understood. I will. Never. Go. Upstairs. Without. Permission.”
He even took breaths between the words, emphasizing each one clearly. He threw in a smile for good measure, as if to say, Unless you beg me to, my foot will never touch that staircase.
If only he’d known he’d end up going up there without permission someday, he never would’ve made that kind of promise.
“Good. You’ve got a brain, so you should be able to understand. You’re not some goldfish with no learning ability.”
‘Why are you slandering goldfish now?’
Haru bit his inner cheek to keep his lips from trembling as he forced a smile to stay put.
Hong Seong-jun passed the staircase and continued walking. Beyond him stretched a corridor nearly as long as the one leading from the front door to the living room, past a spacious kitchen and dining room.
‘Why is this part of the house so damn creepy?’
Haru’s complexion paled slightly. He was practically the embodiment of positivity—but there was one thing he could never put a positive spin on.
‘This place feels haunted…’
Ghosts—according to the dictionary, the lingering spirit of a dead person.
The soft echo of footsteps in the corridor lent the space the ominous vibe of a horror movie.
