From the moment Eun-jo started out as a child actor, every relationship in his life had served a purpose. Acting brought him money and popularity. Giving his family access to his credit cards and bank account earned him their affection. Naturally, he thought it was the same this time—if he played his part and Guided them well, they’d love him in return.
Maybe that pressure was what had shut down his Guiding ability.
With Heo Nan-gyeom, who didn’t even need Guiding, my powers worked just fine.
As the realization hit, Eun-jo burst out laughing.
“Ha… ha.”
Jin Mu-seong, suddenly anxious, grabbed onto him tightly.
The pressure in the air started to lift. Slowly, people began to move again. And just as the heaviness disappeared, familiar voices rang out from behind.
“Yeo Eun-jo!”
“…Oh, fuck!”
“Baby…!”
Park Se-yul, Jung Tae-seok, and Lee Sang-heon came sprinting over the moment they spotted him. In an instant, they reached him and latched onto his arms.
“Fuck, where do you think you’re going, hyung?”
Jung Tae-seok snarled through gritted teeth, wrapping himself around one of Eun-jo’s arms.
“You want me to just stand there and watch you die?”
“…Was what I showed you in the bathroom not enough?”
Park Se-yul murmured as he clung to Eun-jo’s other arm. Jung Tae-seok’s ears twitched, and he snapped his head around.
“What bathroom?”
He narrowed his eyes at Eun-jo like he was demanding an explanation. Below them, Lee Sang-heon crouched on the ground, gripping Eun-jo’s leg, looking completely lost—like he didn’t even know if he was still human anymore.
And throughout the chaos, Jin Mu-seong never stopped watching Eun-jo’s face.
It was total mayhem. Eun-jo could feel the stares, hear the click of cameras going off from every direction.
“Eun-jo.”
Jin Mu-seong called his name again. Finally, Eun-jo parted his lips.
“I’m not leaving.”
He spoke with a faint, fragile smile.
“I’m staying. I just…”
“……”
“Even if I’m selfish and completely clueless… I still want to stay with you.”
What he truly wanted—more than being useful, more than anything—was just to stay by their side. Without them, he felt like he wouldn’t even know how to live.
“You’re stuck with me now.”
At that, the others froze. When they didn’t respond, Eun-jo tilted his head and spoke again.
“You don’t get it? You’re already in too deep. You’re all addicted to me.”
“……”
“You’re seriously screwed.”
To hell with the original plot—this was the conclusion he had come to.
With that, Eun-jo smiled—light, carefree, radiant. It was the kind of smile that could brighten anyone’s day. Only then did he feel like he truly belonged in this world.
Forget Guiding and all that… I don’t care anymore.
And just like that, the burden disappeared.
The three of them pulled him into a crushing hug. From every point of contact, warmth surged out of him—his Guiding energy, finally flowing again.
“…Wh-What?”
“Haa…”
The Guiding sensation, which had been gone for so long, now flowed so clearly that Eun-jo looked down at himself in disbelief.
“This… this is Guiding, right?”
“Y-Yeah… yeah.”
“Haa… Eun-jo hyung.”
The moment Eun-jo’s Guiding energy came back, the four of them clung to him like cats drunk on catnip. As he stared down at himself in shock—
Clink.
Cold metal snapped around his wrists.
He followed the hands holding the cuffs… and saw Jin Mu-seong, now completely composed, wearing a crooked smirk.
“Baby.”
“…Huh?”
“A Guide leaving the country without the Center’s approval? That’s illegal.”
And you’re my responsibility now.
He tugged the chain attached to the cuffs. Eun-jo’s body jerked forward, pulled straight into his arms before he could even react.
Still too stunned by the cuffs to resist, Eun-jo was enveloped in their embrace.
Their Guide. And this time, they had no intention of letting him go.
***
From that point on, everything moved quickly.
The news that an S-rank Guide had awakened sent the entire Center into a frenzy. Any promises Eun-jo made about retiring and living as a civilian had long since vanished. Researchers clamored to study the unprecedented specimen, Espers lined up hoping to be Guided, and the Guide Center practically threw a parade.
But thanks to the Team A Espers snarling like guard dogs, everything was kept tightly controlled. No contact was allowed between Eun-jo and any Espers other than his Imprinted ones.
The chaos even reached the Security Team. One employee returning to the lobby with a lunchbox her husband packed giggled to herself.
“Don’t you think Team Leader Park’s been in a suspiciously good mood lately?”
“Team Leader Park? Why?”
The staffer across the desk perked up, already deep in Team A gossip.
“Seriously, when has he ever shown emotion?”
“No, I mean it. He’s got that weird rosy glow. You can just tell—his whole vibe’s changed.”
“You think it’s because their Team Guide awakened as an S-rank?”
“Could be…”
Both of them turned to the youngest on the Security Team, Park Hee-won. As the superstar’s only real friend, he was texting furiously, fingers flying across his screen.
“Hee-won, come on. You have to know something.”
Oblivious to their voices, Hee-won just typed out another desperate reply.
[pls save me T_T]
[wtf u still cuffed??]
[AAAAAAAAAAAH]
The stream of vowels just kept going. Unable to read any more, Hee-won flipped his phone screen-down with a sigh.
It had been a full week since Eun-jo was dragged back to the Center. And in all that time, he hadn’t once been freed from his handcuffs.
“Hee-won. Hey, Hee-won!”
“Wha—yeah?”
“Who are you texting that’s got you so spaced out?”
“My mom. Just my mom.”
If anyone found out he was texting Eun-jo, a swarm of rabid dogs would be on him in seconds. The Security Team knew better than anyone what had happened to the Espers who visited out of curiosity after hearing about the S-rank awakening.
But the staffer wasn’t letting it go.
“Seriously? You really don’t know anything? About Guide Yeo Eun-jo? About Team A?”
“…Nothing.”
“Oh, come on.”
Hee-won sighed, pressing a palm to his forehead.
“I don’t know. I swear. Just stop asking…”
He spun his chair around and began tapping at his keyboard. How is the Guide even surviving all this…?
Then he thought of Team A and shook his head.
I guess… it’s just fate.
Not that Eun-jo would take that lying down. He’d flip the hell out if he heard it.
***
Seven days into his ‘house arrest’ in the team office.
A collar was fastened around Eun-jo’s neck, cuffs locked around his wrists, and a strange metal shackle clamped to his ankle. The collar’s length was just enough to let him reach the front door—and not an inch further.
Jung Tae-seok had slapped it on him the moment they got back.
And as if that weren’t enough, the four of them had developed severe separation anxiety.
Inconvenient? Absolutely. But Eun-jo didn’t complain. He quietly gave in to whatever they wanted.
Because every time he even hinted at being uncomfortable, Jung Tae-seok would start listing off all of Eun-jo’s past escape attempts like a damn receipt.
At this point, Eun-jo couldn’t even bring himself to ask them to let him go.
