It felt like they were living in entirely different worlds. To Kang Min, Lee Haru was simply someone who provided Guiding when needed—nothing more. But the other clearly wanted something beyond that.
It was exhausting. A situation he had encountered far too many times before.
After realizing that his careless actions could be interpreted differently by others, he had made a point to maintain boundaries.
He treated everyone with equal distance, ensuring that no one could misunderstand his intentions or become a nuisance.
Emotional entanglements meant less to him than a single meal.
Most people gave up and left when faced with that kind of cold indifference. Everyone except Lee Haru.
Kang Min’s gaze swept over Lee Haru’s unconscious face, lingering just a moment longer on the lips he had just kissed.
“Persistent bastard, I will give him that.”
Even among Espers, it was rare to see that kind of tenacity. Perhaps Haru had changed his approach—he no longer clung to him like a leech, which made things more tolerable.
Under normal circumstances, he would have forced him awake and made him drink a recovery potion. Mouth-to-mouth had never even been in the realm of consideration.
“Let us call it payment for the kimchi stew.”
He never would have expected to be touched by a meal Lee Haru made.
If someone had said this to him just a month ago, he would have called them insane.
Strangely enough, the new Lee Haru did not rub him the wrong way. In any case, they were only meant to live together for six months.
And since Lee Haru had secured this spot through a suicide attempt, pulling a similar stunt again would likely not get him what he wanted.
He lifted the limp body into his arms and stood. He was absurdly light for someone his height.
Recalling how heartily he had eaten during dinner, Kang Min found it odd. Even before that, he had noticed Haru quietly raiding the fridge like a squirrel hoarding seeds.
Given how little he moved, he likely had a body that simply did not gain weight easily.
Kang Min carried him down the long hallway and opened the door to the room he had given him. He paused. The space had changed.
Now imbued with a soft, cozy atmosphere, the room seemed to suit the new Lee Haru perfectly.
“I’m hungry…”
As Kang Min laid him on the bed, Haru murmured the words, smacking his lips in a half-conscious state.
He had no idea what he looked like right now, and the way he muttered in his sleep was almost comical. Without realizing it, a small smile crept across Kang Min’s face.
***
Even after Kang Min shut the door and left, Lee Haru kept mumbling in his sleep, lazily scratching his stomach.
He only opened his eyes when the gnawing hunger became too intense to ignore.
“…When did I even get back to my room?”
His sleepy eyes took in a now-familiar scene. As he rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, he startled himself.
“Ugh—jeez, that scared me.”
Anyone else walking in might have gotten the wrong idea, just from looking at him. With no other option, he headed straight to the bathroom.
The hot water relaxed his tense muscles as he took a long shower, then changed into clean clothes.
His body was unscathed, apart from the blood-stained outfit. But his fingers trembled slightly as they brushed the spot on his neck where Hong Seong-jun had choked him without mercy.
“I need to stay on high alert from now on.”
Unlike other Espers who maintained boundaries, Hong Seong-jun was like a runaway car with no brakes.
If he wanted to avoid dying a senseless death, he had to keep his guard up around that man—no exceptions. Even if he steeled his resolve, if Hong Seong-jun came after him again, there would be no stopping him.
Maybe it would have been better if I had possessed an Esper instead.
Espers had their own struggles, no doubt, but the power gap was overwhelming—like comparing an elephant to an ant. There was no way to fight back.
No, think positively. I am a total coward—how would I even fight monsters?
Besides, killing just was not in his nature. Even if they were monsters, they were still living beings.
In that sense, possessing a Guide’s body is a hundred, no, a thousand times better. If I had landed in the middle of a battlefield, I would have been dead in a few days, tops.
When he could not even bring himself to kill a monster, ending up in the body of someone whose role was to kill would have been a death sentence.
After tossing the bloodied clothes in the laundry basket, he headed to the kitchen. The living room was still a mess, just as he had left it.
The moment he spotted the stains from his own blood, a low sigh slipped out. He wanted to clean up, but he had no idea where to start.
The floor, torn and uneven as if a digger had ripped through it, made him sigh again.
“Let’s eat first.”
After all, it was the hunger that had woken him. Haru grabbed a packet of instant food and shoved it into the microwave.
“11:50 PM…”
Checking the time gave him a chill. The ghostly cries he had been hearing came at random times.
They always struck when he was alone, catching him off guard. He was not sure if it worked the same way in this world, but ghosts typically preferred night over day.
And midnight—the exact start of a new day—was a favorite in ghost stories and a classic horror movie cliché.
Even as he ate, his eyes darted around the room, restless.
Just to be safe, he had turned on every light in the living room, kitchen, and dining area. But the eeriness of being alone still clung to the air.
The sound of him swallowing echoed in his ears. His chopsticks scraped the bottom of the container and slipped.
Fear had overtaken hunger. Still holding the half-finished meal, Lee Haru rose from his seat.
It was already 11:59 PM.
In a rush, he rinsed the container and quickly washed the chopsticks he had used, placing them back on the shelf.
Even as he headed toward the room, his eyes remained fixed on his phone screen. Being alone in an enclosed space was frightening—but being out in the open, exposed on all sides, was even worse. It amplified the fear tenfold.
The moment the number on the screen flipped from 11 to 12, he managed to slip into the room just in time.
“…Can it not hear me?”
It was a guess, nothing more. He had been wrong, but that came as a relief. With the lights still on, Lee Haru walked over and sat down on the bed.
He still needed to brush his teeth, wash his face—basic things—but the thought of opening that door again made his courage wither.
“If I was going to rot from skipping one night, it would have happened already. I applied a recovery potion recently, so I should be fine.”
With that little compromise made, he lay down on the bed. The overhead light was almost blinding, but still better than total darkness.
He had not eaten his fill, but the edge of the hunger had dulled enough to let sleep creep in. Drowsiness settled over him like a heavy fog.
His mind drifted toward unconsciousness, pulled into that hazy twilight of sleep. He thought, just briefly, If I could sleep straight through till morning, that would be nice.
That was the moment it started.
Like a cruel joke, soft sobbing echoed through the room.
“Hhuuuuk…”
“…Haah…”
His sleep vanished instantly. Lee Haru exhaled sharply and sat up again, frustration bubbling beneath the surface.
He dragged his palm down his face, rubbing hard. His pale skin flared red under his hand.
“Am I losing it? Or is it… something else?”
Maybe that ghost wanted something from him. Ghosts often appeared when someone had died with unresolved resentment, lingering on in the world of the living.
And now that it had confirmed he could hear it, there was a good chance it would not stop until it got what it came for.
If this was not a haunting, but instead some kind of psychological break… that was a different kind of nightmare. The world was already unkind to someone like Lee Haru.
If he went to a psychiatrist, the gossip would spread like wildfire. Another breakdown. Another mess. That was how people would see it.
Did Lee Haru go through this too?
If he had, his hypersensitivity to others made sense. Ever since he had started hearing the ghost’s cries, his sleep had gone to hell.
Everyone needs rest. At least six hours, minimum, to function like a normal person. But that felt impossible now.
Even as those thoughts circled his head, the sobbing kept coming—intermittent but constant enough to drive him mad.
“Judging by the direction… it’s coming from the basement.”
Beside the stairs leading to the second floor, there was another staircase that descended underground. He had never seen any of the Espers use it. It probably was not in regular use.
“…So much for sleeping tonight.”
The one small mercy was that the ghost had not done anything to harm him directly. If the sobbing had been accompanied by full-blown apparitions, he probably would have bolted from the mansion without hesitation.
Lee Haru had risked everything to be here—had literally thrown his life away for this. To get inside this mansion and guide S-rank Espers, exclusively.
He had no idea what had happened to the original Haru. But now that he was in his body, he was determined to see this through, no matter what.
“When the sun rises, I’ll go down to the basement.”
It was a decision made with effort, but necessary. If he just stayed frozen like this, he would get nowhere.
The sound kept coming from below. That could only mean one thing—something was definitely down there.
