Maybe Kang Min had given up after watching him slip away like a mudfish every time—because so far, he hadn’t pulled him aside to reprimand him for slacking off.
Still, seeing Kang Min buried under a mountain of work made his conscience prick, if only a little.
“I heard about the test results. You’re here to get approval for a Pair Contract, right?”
Kang Min didn’t look up until he’d signed the final page in a graceful hand. His gaze, fixed on the two standing side by side, was calm—but a flicker of bitterness passed through.
“And if I said I couldn’t give my approval, what would you do?”
At Kang Min’s words, Yu Je-hyun lifted the corner of his mouth in a teasing smile.
“You know this about me, Association President. I’m stubborn as hell. I might usually go with the flow, but when I want something, I get it. Always. We’ve known each other a long time, haven’t we?”
Kang Min let out a quiet sigh at the laid-back reply. He knew all too well that if he refused, Yu Je-hyun would hound him endlessly until he gave in.
Even without the Imprint, it would’ve been a pain. But now, just as he’d predicted, Yu Je-hyun had gone and Imprinted Lee Haru—making it even harder to say no.
As important as Lee Haru was, Yu Je-hyun was an S-rank Esper the Association couldn’t afford to lose. Especially now, with so few S-ranks left.
If Ji Yeon-woo—no, Lee Ha-neul—weren’t around, he might’ve argued that Lee Haru was the only active S-rank Guide. But even that excuse was no longer viable.
Lee Ha-neul had been performing his duties without a hitch.
“Guide Lee Haru, are you absolutely sure you won’t regret this? Once you enter a Pair Contract, you’ll be guiding that guy for the rest of your life. To an Ability User, it’s an even stronger bond than a marriage vow.”
Yu Je-hyun clearly wasn’t going to back down, so Kang Min turned to Lee Haru instead. Yu Je-hyun shot him a look, silently protesting Why would you say it like that?, but Kang Min ignored him.
If Lee Haru showed even the slightest hesitation, Kang Min was prepared to stop Yu Je-hyun, no matter what it took.
“I know exactly what a Pair Contract is. I’ve looked up a lot about it. I don’t think I’ll regret it… But even if I do, isn’t it better to regret something after trying it than to regret never trying at all?”
Lee Haru’s voice held just as much conviction as Yu Je-hyun’s, and that was when Kang Min realized he had only one option left.
“…Fine. But if you ever change your mind, come see me. A Pair Contract isn’t impossible to break.”
“Association President, what kind of thing is that to say?”
Yu Je-hyun snapped, but Kang Min simply looked at Lee Haru and offered a faint smile.
“A Pair Contract between S-rank Ability Users isn’t something I can approve on my own. Even if it’s just procedure, the Association’s leadership has to be informed. It could be approved as soon as a week, or it might take up to a month. Use that time to think it through.”
“No need. We’re not going to change our minds.”
Yu Je-hyun grit his teeth at Kang Min’s persistent pessimism—when Kang Min abruptly changed the subject.
“Also, we need to verify whether Guide Lee Haru truly has awakened Esper abilities. How about trying today? I’ve already arranged it with the training room. You can head straight there.”
“Really? Then I’ll start today.”
The topic Kang Min brought up was something both Yu Je-hyun and Lee Haru had been quietly concerned about.
There was no doubt Lee Haru had developed a teleportation ability—but since he couldn’t yet control it at will, it had to be tested.
“You’ve gotten sly since becoming Association President. Anyway, we’re taking that as a yes. Let’s go. Don’t work too hard.”
With the conversation more or less wrapped up, Yu Je-hyun grabbed Lee Haru’s hand and pulled him along.
Since they hadn’t planned to stay long, neither had sat down—they’d spent the whole time standing in front of Kang Min’s desk.
Even as Yu Je-hyun dragged him out, Lee Haru still turned back to say goodbye to Kang Min.
Even after the door closed, Kang Min couldn’t take his eyes off the spot where Lee Haru had stood. His hands didn’t move for quite some time.
***
“Don’t get too nervous. Just give it a try, and if it doesn’t work out, you can stop. You’re a Guide anyway—what’s the point in risking things by awakening Esper powers?”
After leaving the Association President’s office, the two headed straight to the diagnostics lab. There, Lee Haru underwent a specialized examination for Espers.
The results showed that his mana levels were consistent with an A-rank Esper. But curiously, his physical stats were no different from a regular person’s—so his final classification was B-rank.
Even that much was enough to shake the world. The examiner couldn’t hide their shock.
If the Association President hadn’t immediately marked the results as top secret, they might’ve blabbed to their coworkers on the spot.
After hearing the results, they moved to the training room. Yu Je-hyun would serve as Lee Haru’s trainer.
Kang Min had originally assigned someone else, but Yu Je-hyun insisted on handling it himself—saying he wouldn’t feel at ease otherwise.
The assigned trainer, acknowledging that Yu Je-hyun’s S-rank powers far surpassed his own A-rank, stepped down without complaint. He decided instead to observe the training from outside the room.
Yu Je-hyun placed a hand on Lee Haru’s shoulder and offered some encouragement, though his own face looked tenser than Lee Haru’s.
“I’ll give it a shot. With Esper Yu Je-hyun here, I’m not scared at all.”
In truth, he was trembling. But if he didn’t push through now, he felt like he might not even attempt the training—so he mustered the courage and stepped forward.
“Are you starting to get a feel for how to control your mana?”
Whether Esper or Guide, using one’s ability was almost second nature. Most people instinctively learned how to wield their powers after awakening.
Training and live combat only helped improve how diversely and skillfully those powers could be applied—it didn’t teach the ability itself.
By now, Lee Haru had learned to regulate his Guiding to a certain extent.
In the past, even the slightest touch would cause his Guiding mana to leak out uncontrollably. But now, as long as he stayed focused, he could keep it from spilling out.
The problem was that, unlike Guiding mana, he was only just beginning to sense the presence of his Esper mana—faint and elusive.
Yu Je-hyun had shared techniques from his own experience to help him move the mana more easily, but Haru still struggled to grasp it.
“I don’t really get it yet… But when I think back to the moments when the ability actually activated, there’s a common thread.”
“What is it?”
He’d heard that most Espers, not just himself, had instinctively triggered their powers the first time. Yu Je-hyun was no different.
Haru thought back to when he first used his ability.
“It was when I ran into a dungeon gate to escape from the leader of Black. The place was swarming with slime-like monsters. I fell into the biggest one—right inside its body. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I was suffocating.”
Yu Je-hyun’s expression darkened—it was the first time he’d heard this story. When Haru frowned, recalling the terror and pain, anger surged in Yu Je-hyun’s chest—anger for the now-dead Zero.
That bastard had forced Haru to endure something he never should have.
Haru placed his hand over Yu Je-hyun’s, continuing. By now, he could read Yu Je-hyun’s thoughts just by looking at him.
“I’m really okay.”
The only reason he could speak about it so calmly now was because he had come to terms with it. It felt more like a distant memory than trauma.
He smiled gently to reassure him, and only then did the tension in Yu Je-hyun’s brow begin to ease.
“Back then, all I could think about was wanting to live. Then I heard a voice—one that I think belonged to the body’s original owner. After that, I somehow moved to another place. I blacked out, so I don’t remember exactly how it happened…”
Deep down, Haru felt like this ability was a gift from the body’s previous owner. Choosing to live through that power was, in part, his way of expressing gratitude.
What the man had left behind wasn’t just an ability. His ring still rested on the opposite index finger of the one where Haru wore his matching ring with Yu Je-hyun.
No matter how many times he rubbed the ring’s surface, the man never answered again.
“The second time, you remember, right? When I suddenly appeared on top of you. That time, it wasn’t about survival—I just missed you so much. That was the only thing I was thinking about, and then… it just happened.”
“Of course I remember.”
How could he possibly forget? He’d been wasting away, day after day, without seeing Haru. And then, on the day they were finally reunited—how could that ever leave his mind?
