I Possessed a Promiscuous Guide 44

Why the hell is he making meals for just anyone?

He could not pinpoint exactly why, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. The sight of Lee Haru being kind to Ji Yeon-woo struck a nerve, and that spark quickly ignited into a blaze.

Kang Min had already warned him that the S-rank Guide recently rescued from Black would be staying at the mansion for a while, so he knew who Ji Yeon-woo was.

He had even seen the man unconscious, cradled in Kang Min’s arms.

And now, that same guy was sitting there sniveling while Lee Haru comforted him—and the whole scene made his blood boil.

When he caught the mouthwatering aroma of the food laid out on the table, he realized that among the mess of emotions churning inside him was… a sharp pang of jealousy.

It hit him like a slap—everything Lee Haru had done for him—the meals, the kindness—it had never been about him being special. Haru was like that with everyone.

The realization made his stomach twist with resentment. The only thing holding him back from snapping completely was the fragile sensation of the slender wrist still trapped in his hand.

Shit. Is he seriously pissed just because I spilled water on Ji Yeon-woo?

Lee Haru, meanwhile, had completely misread Yu Je-hyun’s reaction. It made sense—after all, Ji Yeon-woo was the main bottom, and Yu Je-hyun was one of the leading top candidates. The Lee Haru he had possessed, unfortunately, was the villain.

Only now did he start to understand what that glass, tilting in his hand against his will, had meant.

Do not tell me I am destined to keep tormenting Ji Yeon-woo in front of the love interests from here on out?

Just imagining it gave him chills. One wrong move, and a death flag could get triggered at any moment.

Should I just run from this mansion now, while I still can?

But there were too many loose ends.

He still had to find concrete evidence to prove Kang Min was really the culprit. And after attempting suicide to get assigned as the Espers’ exclusive Guide, if he suddenly disappeared, the Association would start pressing in on him.

They might even claim I am mentally unstable and force me into therapy.

If that happened, it would be all too easy for his secret to be exposed.

So this is what “trapped between a rock and a hard place” really feels like.

He had no desire to understand the true meaning of that idiom while literally fearing for his life. His wrist had been throbbing from Yu Je-hyun’s grip for a while now, but he could not even say it hurt.

Those blazing, gunmetal-gray eyes had left him breathless. He had not even had a chance to wipe the water off Ji Yeon-woo’s face properly.

The only thing he could count on was earning favor from Ji Yeon-woo, the main bottom—enough so that when the others inevitably tried to kill him, Yeon-woo would shield him. But at this rate, he was too rattled to even pull that off.

“Uh, um…”

Ji Yeon-woo looked on the verge of tears, glancing back and forth between Haru’s wrist and Yu Je-hyun.

He was scared of Yu Je-hyun—but seeing him threaten Haru stirred something protective inside him. It was obvious the two knew each other.

But the way Yu Je-hyun was barking at Haru reminded Ji Yeon-woo too much of the Espers he had encountered again and again in Black.

“Please let go of Haru hyung…!”

Ji Yeon-woo suddenly sprang up from his chair and grabbed Yu Je-hyun’s arm with both hands. The thick muscle under his palms flexed menacingly.

He was terrified—but more than that, he was desperate to save the man who had rescued him.

“Yeon-woo-ssi, really, I am fine.”

Haru was the one caught off guard. He had not expected Ji Yeon-woo to jump in like that. Seeing his terrified face and his desperate grip made Haru instinctively glance toward Yu Je-hyun.

Shit, I’m screwed.

Yu Je-hyun’s expression had twisted even more harshly than before. He should have been happy that Ji Yeon-woo was opening up to him—but instead, he had earned himself the full brunt of Yu Je-hyun’s jealousy.

“Esper Yu Je-hyun, as Yeon-woo-ssi said, could you please release my wrist?”

To someone like Yu Je-hyun, Ji Yeon-woo’s strength must have felt like an ant brushing his skin with its antennae. Despite Ji Yeon-woo throwing his full weight into it, Yu Je-hyun’s arm did not budge an inch.

The way his brow kept twitching spoke volumes—he was annoyed, clearly.

And the ache in Haru’s wrist was only getting worse. He tried to tough it out, but a soft sound of pain slipped out before he could stop it.

“Nngh…”

At that moment, the hand gripping him like a leech finally released. Ji Yeon-woo, still clinging to Yu Je-hyun’s arm, lost his balance and tumbled to the floor with a thud.

“Ugh…”

“Oh my God—are you okay?!”

Ji Yeon-woo had landed hard on his backside and could not even think about standing up. Without even checking his own badly swollen wrist, Haru dropped to his knees in front of him.

“Does it hurt a lot? Should I put on a recovery potion?”

Meeting Ji Yeon-woo’s tear-filled eyes, Haru suddenly remembered the stash of healing potions stored in the room.

He had taken a nasty fall himself once, and he knew all too well how excruciating it was when your tailbone took the hit.

Un-fucking-believable.

Yu Je-hyun felt the ground fall out from under him. The thought that he had hurt Haru again, simply because he had failed to rein in his emotions, left him reeling.

He wanted to apologize, but seeing Haru ignore his own injury to tend to Ji Yeon-woo made his emotions spiral even further out of control.

He had always been moody, but ever since realizing his feelings for Lee Haru, his emotional swings had grown even more volatile than a temperamental child’s.

Haru hyung, my ass.

The glare Yu Je-hyun shot at Ji Yeon-woo was vicious—like a wild animal staring down an intruder in its territory.

How close could they possibly have gotten in such a short time for him to be calling Haru ‘hyung’ with that much affection? It was ridiculous.

With a swift motion, Yu Je-hyun pushed back his bangs and yanked Haru up by the arm.

“Worry about your own damn self.”

Seeing Haru’s delicate skin already starting to swell—just like the mark Hong Seong-jun had once left—made his blood boil. If he could have broken his own wrist out of sheer frustration, he would have.

At the sudden harshness in his voice, Haru blinked in surprise, wide-eyed. With drooping brows and a sulky expression, he muttered under his breath.

“Guess even being worried is annoying now.”

“What?”

“…Never mind. I’ll go get a healing potion.”

Slumping slightly, Haru turned and left the dining room, disappearing down the hall with a weary gait. Two pairs of eyes trailed silently after him.

Ji Yeon-woo lingered for a moment, glancing nervously at Yu Je-hyun before rising and scurrying off in the same direction Haru had gone.

“…Ha.”

Should he just storm into the Association President’s office and raise hell?

What on earth had that man been thinking, sending Ji Yeon-woo into this mansion?

If they had gone to such lengths to rescue an S-rank Guide from Black, then he should have been under tight protection at the Association’s headquarters—surrounded by elite security, not thrown into this powder keg.

“This is such bullshit.”

Just imagining Haru and Ji Yeon-woo alone together in a room was enough to make him want to smash everything in sight.

Yu Je-hyun forced himself to take a deep breath, tamping down the fury burning in his chest, then stepped into the long, shadowed hallway.

The corridor was steeped in silence, save for faint voices drifting from deeper within. One of the doors was ajar.

“Since it’s your butt that’s hurt, I can’t exactly help you apply it. There’s a bathroom across the hall—you can manage, right?”

“Of course. But I’ll check Haru hyung’s wrist first, then take care of myself.”

Ji Yeon-woo took the healing potion and immediately popped the cap. Back in Black, these things were so rare, you only saw them when someone was on the brink.

He poured out a small amount onto his fingertips and reached for Haru’s swollen wrist—just as—

“I’ll do it. You take care of your own injuries.”

Yu Je-hyun appeared without a sound, placing a hand on Ji Yeon-woo’s shoulder and firmly nudging him aside. Ji Yeon-woo froze, hand suspended midair, fingertips brushing at nothing.

“Let me see your wrist.”

Yu Je-hyun’s broad back completely blocked Haru from view.

But based on his movements, Ji Yeon-woo could tell he was now doing exactly what he had just tried to do.

“G-Gently…”

Haru winced at the sharp throb that shot through his wrist and let out a soft plea. Yu Je-hyun immediately eased his grip and pressed his lips together, jaw tight.

He had thought he was being gentle, but somehow, yet again, he had ended up hurting Haru.

Beads of sweat gathered at his temples as he focused intently, spreading the potion in a thin layer across the injury with meticulous care.

It was only then that Haru noticed—there was something uncharacteristically subdued about Yu Je-hyun’s demeanor. His touch was unusually cautious, his presence far quieter than usual.

If this was just anger over what Haru had done to Ji Yeon-woo, then it felt… misplaced. Should he not be tending to Ji Yeon-woo first?

Is he the type who gets all shy and awkward around the person he likes?

Haru had a friend like that—rough around the edges, all bravado and manliness, but when it came to someone he liked, he would clam up like a broken robot.

Haru subtly leaned to the side, trying to glimpse Ji Yeon-woo from around Yu Je-hyun’s massive frame. The man was so tall and broad that all Haru could make out was a flash of soft brown hair peeking out past his arm.

Or… is it that he cannot even stand the sight of me looking at Ji Yeon-woo?

Author: Levia