Haru laid his hand over the one shielding his face. The warmth spreading through his cheek grew even more intense.
Afraid Lee Haru might vanish like a mirage the moment he blinked, Yu Je-hyun kept his eyes open until they ached.
“You’ve gotten so thin.”
That was what he had wanted to say all along. Yu Je-hyun’s jawline was so sharply defined now, it was alarming. Even the moisture in his voice sounded unfamiliar.
There were no tears, yet it felt like Yu Je-hyun was the one crying. As he gently stroked Haru’s cheek, Yu Je-hyun whispered softly.
“…I’m not crazy, right?”
He didn’t know how to answer. Truthfully, Haru had started wondering if he himself was losing it.
It didn’t feel like a dream, but it was too unreal to be called reality. Unless he had suddenly developed teleportation powers, there was no way he could have opened his eyes and found himself in an entirely different place.
And if Yu Je-hyun had rescued him while he was unconscious, then his reaction didn’t match—it had been far too off-kilter.
“Even if I am losing it, I don’t care… I just want you to stay in front of me.”
His faint smile was unbearably tender. It was strange, feeling this way just by looking at Yu Je-hyun.
His eyes fell on Je-hyun’s lips—dry, cracked, bruised. They looked painful, just to behold. A sudden urge surged inside him.
From up close, he could see Yu Je-hyun’s eyes widen in surprise. The rough, yet soft brush of lips against his sent a shiver up his spine.
The moment Haru realized what he had just done, he tried to pull back.
“Mm…”
But Yu Je-hyun moved faster. The hand that had been holding Haru’s face slipped behind his neck.
Their noses grazed, and their lips sealed together more firmly. A hot tongue pried between Haru’s lips.
Just as his lashes trembled, the tongue slid in deeper, brushing against the roof of his mouth before retreating. From the start, this kiss was nothing like the one before.
It felt as though Yu Je-hyun’s taste still lingered in his mouth. His throat tightened. His heart pounded so violently, Haru didn’t even notice that he was trembling.
“…You didn’t like it?”
Yu Je-hyun’s voice came out small, almost timid, in response to what he must have read as rejection. He had always carried himself with such confidence.
Even when he made mistakes, he seemed like the type who would barrel forward without shame—but now he looked as if he were bracing for punishment after doing something wrong.
Haru shook his head slightly. If anything, he had been the one who initiated the kiss. He just hadn’t expected a tongue so suddenly, and the surprise had overwhelmed him.
He now clearly understood the difference between a kiss and a peck.
Even the briefest brush of their tongues sent a flood of heat roaring through his gut.
“Then… Can I kiss you again?”
Yu Je-hyun’s cautious question made Haru’s heart, which had only just calmed, start racing again. Instead of answering, he closed his eyes.
Their lips, which had briefly parted, met again.
Fingers trailed along the back of his neck and slid into his hair. The sensation sent a thrill down his spine, something like a shiver and a rush of pleasure all at once.
Haru received the tongue that slipped between his lips without resistance. The mingling of their saliva was intensely vivid.
Bit by bit, the Guiding energy stored in Haru’s body began to seep into Yu Je-hyun. As the kiss deepened, that energy flowing between them, Yu Je-hyun’s moans grew heavier.
Haru, on his part, was overwhelmed by the tongue exploring every inch of his mouth. They were just kissing, him seated on Yu Je-hyun’s thigh, and yet he was already gasping for air.
Even without experience, he could tell—
Yu Je-hyun kissed obscenely well. That soft flesh pressing against his tongue, coaxing it deeper. Haru tried to respond in kind, but all he could manage was a hesitant graze.
“Haa…”
Each time their lips parted, a breathless sigh slipped out. Haru’s hands gripped Yu Je-hyun’s shoulders tighter.
He tried to turn his head, overwhelmed by the feeling that every bit of air was being sucked out of him—but Yu Je-hyun followed, closing the gap again in an instant.
Everything he had been thinking about all day vanished—completely erased.
His mind went blank. The only thing he could register now was the warmth transmitted through their lips.
Reality was far from what he had imagined. In his thoughts, kissing had never been this wet, this breathless, this intense—never enough to make the root of his tongue ache.
The focus in Yu Je-hyun’s deep-black eyes slowly began to fade. Haru didn’t even notice the hand slipping beneath his shirt, gently tracing the smooth line of his back.
“…Lee Haru?”
He sensed something off as the kiss grew more fervent and his mind started to fog. The suction that had been pulling on his tongue was starting to weaken.
When he raised his dazed, blurry eyes, he saw Yu Je-hyun’s startled expression. He wanted to ask what was wrong.
But just then, a sharp jolt swallowed him, and the world went black. It felt like he had gone completely blind.
Instinctively, he squeezed his eyes shut—when he opened them again, everything around him had changed.
“…What the hell?”
His voice cracked, barely audible. Just moments ago, they had been clinging to each other in a dimly lit room.
The only illumination had come from a faint glow under the bed, casting a soft light across the darkness.
But now, the entire space was blindingly bright. Even the ceiling was pale, so much so it hurt to look at.
“Esper Yu Je-hyun?”
He called out, but the only sound echoing back in the vast room was his own breathing. He shot up, scanning his surroundings in confusion.
It didn’t feel like a dream. His lips were still warm. When he brushed his fingers across them, they were swollen—plump and flushed, nothing like before.
“What the hell is going on…”
He’d been through plenty of bizarre situations, but nothing quite like this. He had eaten a full meal and dozed off on the couch.
Then all of a sudden, he had ended up on top of Yu Je-hyun, their eyes locked—and without thinking, he had kissed him.
If he had stayed there even a moment longer, it might have gone far beyond just a kiss. The atmosphere had clearly been heading that way.
When he looked down and noticed the heavy bulge in his pants—something he hadn’t even realized until now—Lee Haru’s expression crumpled in dismay.
“This is seriously the kind of thing that makes ghosts wail…”
The problem wasn’t just that it hadn’t been a dream—it was that there was a chance it had been. Either possibility was a problem.
Everything felt uncertain and confusing, but there was one thing he could say with complete confidence:
He had genuinely fallen for Yu Je-hyun.
***
“What the hell do you mean? Guide Lee Haru appeared in your room?”
“Exactly that. He suddenly showed up—and disappeared before I could even reach for him.”
Yu Je-hyun dragged his hand down his face with a harsh scrape. Just remembering the moment sent a cold wave crashing through his chest.
He had tried to reach him, but Haru had slipped away like a mirage. Since the day that Lee Haru was taken, Yu Je-hyun had barely been functioning.
He didn’t sleep more than an hour a night. He barely ate. His weight had plummeted to a frightening degree. The only reason he was still standing was because he was an Esper.
If Kang Min hadn’t forcibly made him take nutrient IVs, he probably would’ve collapsed by now. He looked and acted like someone who had been hollowed out from the inside.
Now, to have him suddenly burst into the room in the middle of the night spouting something that sounded like delusions—of course Kang Min’s eyes darkened with concern.
“I think you need to withdraw from all missions for the time being. Come with me to the med lab. Right now. This looks like a serious psychological issue.”
“You don’t believe me. Do you?”
“…”
His silence was all the answer Yu Je-hyun needed. A sharp, bitter smile twisted his lips as he raked both hands through his hair.
It irritated him that Kang Min didn’t believe him—but even he had to admit, it sounded completely insane.
If he hadn’t experienced it with his own body, he wouldn’t believe it either.
“Fuck, I’m really going crazy…”
Yu Je-hyun swiped his hair back, his frustration boiling over. Kang Min didn’t feel much better watching him spiral like this.
He considered dragging Yu Je-hyun to the medical wing by force—but after a brief pause, he let out a sigh and placed a firm hand on the younger man’s shoulder, gripping it tightly.
“You need to rest—whether you want to or not. At this rate, you’ll collapse before anything else happens. You need to regain your strength if you want any chance of finding Guide Lee Haru.”
He had already noticed that Yu Je-hyun’s behavior toward Haru had changed in recent months. But he hadn’t realized it had gone this far.
Yu Je-hyun was acting as if he had Imprinted with Haru.
An Esper could only Imprint with one Guide in their lifetime.
It wasn’t something they could choose—it simply happened. Some called it a blessing. Others, a curse.
Once an Esper Imprinted, they developed something akin to separation anxiety. Being apart from their Guide for too long didn’t just affect them emotionally—it began to take a toll on them physically as well.
And if they tried to receive contact Guiding from a different Guide, the efficiency would drop drastically, almost to nothing.
But with the one they had Imprinted on, the efficiency rate would skyrocket to nearly 100%.
It would take an official test to confirm it, but at this point, Yu Je-hyun’s condition made it hard to believe he was still an S-rank Esper—he was on the verge of collapse.
“How am I supposed to rest? I don’t even know where Lee Haru is.”
But Kang Min’s reasoning did nothing to calm him. If anything, it only heightened Yu Je-hyun’s growing anxiety.
