“Eh? If the Guide is that obsessed, shouldn’t he at least know by now? I mean, it’d be weird if he didn’t.”
“Well… there’s the age gap, so…”
“So he’s rejecting it?”
“Not rejecting, exactly… more like running away from reality.”
“Oh my. Isn’t Esper Jung Jae-heon coming in today? He is, right?”
“Want me to go tell him?”
“Hey, stuff like this? He should be the first to know! I bet the Guide’s really looking forward to it! I mean, it’s their first love—who also saved their life. And come on, Esper Jung Jae-heon’s pretty handsome, right? Easy to fall for at that age. Oh right, is the new Guide a woman?”
“Nope, a guy.”
“Oh my… Esper Jung Jae-heon really is dangerous. Even charmed a boy.”
Espers didn’t discriminate when it came to the gender of their Guides. Sure, some insisted on the opposite sex, but once the Matching Rate was high enough, none of that really mattered. So having the same gender wasn’t going to be an issue.
Lee Tae-rim found himself wondering how Jung Jae-heon would take it once he found out. Once he knew the truth, there’d be no more running away into denial.
But whether it was fortunate or not, Jung Jae-heon didn’t show up for Guiding that day. Instead, rumors about the new Guide spread like wildfire. The kind of wildfire that made it impossible not to hear it—even if Jung Jae-heon didn’t want to.
Everyone was excited. It sounded like something out of a storybook—destiny, fate, a reunion—and the hype was contagious.
And of course, Seon Juho was thrilled.
“All those prayers finally paid off.”
Turns out he’d actually been praying every day. Tae-rim burst out laughing at that. No matter how you looked at it, this was definitely a good thing, but judging by Jung Jae-heon’s reaction…
Yeah. He really wanted to see it for himself. To see what kind of state Jung Jae-heon was in. But now that he was curious, he figured he might as well ask directly.
“So, how’s Esper Jung Jae-heon reacting to all this?”
“He’s not doing so great. He’s convinced the person he saved was a girl, so now he’s trying to pretend this is all just misinformation.”
“Pfft!”
If Jung Jae-heon had mistaken him for a girl, the boy must’ve been seriously pretty. Tae-rim was now genuinely curious about the new Guide. He probably grew up to be gorgeous.
“He kept muttering to himself like, ‘She was tiny, no way it was a guy.’”
“Really?”
Tae-rim imagined someone small and delicate-looking. Standing next to Jung Jae-heon, they’d probably look adorable. A proper spectacle for District 1 Center.
“He’s 189 centimeters. Not exactly tiny.”
And just like that, the image of a dainty beauty stretched into a towering height. What was Jung Jae-heon’s height again? If the Guide was 189cm, they were probably about the same. Tae-rim now pictured a tall, runway-model-level heartthrob. If they walked side by side, it’d look like something out of a magazine spread.
“How do you even know that?”
“Saw it in the report… and he’s arriving really soon. May 10th.”
That was Seon Juho’s birthday. It also happened to fall on a Monday, making it a decent choice for a first day on the job. Still, the timing felt rushed. Normally, when someone transferred from another district, they’d take at least two to three weeks.
And if he was twenty-two, he was probably still in college. He’d have to deal with school stuff too.
Even Lee Hae-il, who was already living in District 1, took two weeks to wrap everything up before starting. Sure, quitting a job and dropping out of school weren’t exactly the same, but either way—it was clear the guy was in a hurry. Must’ve been dying to see Jung Jae-heon again.
The next day, after learning a bit more about the new Guide, Tae-rim had planned to share the details with three other people—only to find the rumor mill had already raced ahead of him.
“Whoa…”
Tae-rim couldn’t help but be impressed when he searched the name Yoon Ye-rin had given him online. The new Guide, Won Hwa-jun, was an actual model. He’d been modeling since he was seventeen and had walked in plenty of runway shows. A well-known figure in the industry.
When Tae-rim saw his physique, all he could say was wow.
Won Hwa-jun had that lithe, toned body you only got from years of modeling. Unlike Tae-rim’s practical, combat-ready muscle, Won’s was clearly sculpted to show. It was the kind of body only a professional could maintain, and it was spectacular. His face? Even more so.
Delicately handsome, with a wild edge—undeniably attractive.
Yoon Ye-rin was practically bouncing in excitement, saying a real celebrity was joining them.
“He was already the full package at seventeen. Total glow-up icon.”
“Esper Jung Jae-heon thought he was a girl when he saved him…”
“…Seriously? I mean, he’s pretty, but he doesn’t look that feminine. Then again, how old was he when that happened?”
“Esper Jung Jae-heon was in his mid-20s and stationed in District 4 at the time, so Guide Won Hwa-jun must’ve been in his early teens.”
“That’s a shame. I tried looking, but there’s no childhood photos anywhere…”
It seemed Won was a model through and through. No pre-debut snapshots floating around the internet. Still, he was ridiculously good-looking, and clearly popular. A search turned up tons of pictures.
“His fans must be heartbroken… That’s the end of public photos now that he’s an S-rank Guide. His agency site just says he’s going abroad for school. The fans are all wishing him well with his studies…”
It wasn’t all that rare for celebrities to Awaken. But Awakening as an S-rank? That was a first. Apparently, he was planning to quietly retire under the excuse of “studying abroad” to keep that part hidden.
“Still, that’s wild. I mean, what kind of twenty-two-year-old has a face like that? The modeling world really lost a gem.”
Tae-rim had to agree. He didn’t look like your average twenty-two-year-old—he looked like someone who embodied every form of sex appeal on Earth. Which explained the abundance of shirtless photos. Still, there were also a few where he was fully buttoned up in a suit, radiating a kind of restrained, almost ascetic allure. Those looked incredible too.
“But hey, we gained a gem. Talk about a visual feast. He’s got a completely different vibe from most Espers—must be the celebrity thing.”
“Totally. I don’t think I’ve seen an Esper with this kind of look. Most of them have that classic, clean-cut kind of handsomeness.”
“Right? But this guy—his eyes just ooze seduction. That kind of sensual gaze is rare.”
“God, I love this so much.”
Tae-rim wanted so badly to say, ‘You think that’s sexy? You should see Juho in bed…’ But he bit his tongue. Tae-rim kept reminding himself: That’s not something to brag about. And yet, some weird pride bubbled up in him. He suddenly really wanted to tell everyone that his Juho was sexy too. Was this what parents felt when they couldn’t stop bragging about their kids? Tae-rim took a deep breath and tried to rein it in.
“Maybe it’s just ‘cause we always see them in uniforms.”
“Huh?”
“I mean the Espers. If they were made up and styled like in these photos, wouldn’t they look just as good?”
“…Now that you mention it, yeah.”
Unlike celebrities, Espers were always barefaced and in uniform. Tae-rim had only ever seen Juho in casual loungewear at home. Even when they went out, it was just to the shopping arcade inside the Center. A suit? That was practically a myth.
“I wish we had one day a month where everyone could wear their own clothes…”
“You know what they say—fashion’s all about the face. Most of them could pull off a burlap sack and still look hot.”
“Still, I’d love to see them in suits… just once.”
“Maybe as an event or something? I bet they’d all look so different. Like, in a good way.”
“And then people would start dating?”
“Pfft! And when they break up, they block each other!”
One day a month in casualwear… Tae-rim imagined Juho in a suit. But having never seen it, he just couldn’t picture it. With shoulders like that, Juho would definitely look amazing—but yeah, now he was dying to see it.
Tae-rim quietly picked up his phone. He started browsing online. A tailored suit would be ideal, of course, but since he just wanted a peek, off-the-rack would do…
“Tae-rim, what are you doing?”
“Wait, are you looking at suits? Why? Oh—trying to picture Esper Seon Juho in one?”
“Ha ha… I, uh, just got curious.”
“Fair enough. With a body like his, he’d look killer in a suit.”
“Exactly, but… wouldn’t a tailored one be better?”
“I don’t think I could take him out shopping…”
The last attempt still haunted him. Even knowing it was technically illegal, he’d still been tempted—Juho was that good-looking. The man was weapon-grade charm.
“There’s always the option of calling in a pro, Tae-rim. That might actually be better than you picking one yourself. Have you ever worn a suit?”
Back when he worked at a company, sure, Tae-rim had worn them daily. But here, he was just a twenty-three-year-old kid. A kid who’d Awakened at nineteen, joined the Center, and had no real-world experience. And right now, according to the official records, he had amnesia. It’d be weird for someone like that to know how to pick out a good suit.
“No…”
“Esper Seon Juho would probably look good in anything, but still, go with a professional. And send us photos when it’s done!”
“Wait, hold on. How tall is Seon Juho? He’s gotta be over 190cm, right? At that height, you won’t find much off the rack.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Well, my uncle’s good with this kind of thing. I’ll ask him.”
“The one who made the rings?”
“Yup.”
Tae-rim had just been mildly curious… but suddenly this whole operation was coming together way too fast.
“I didn’t mean for this to turn into a thing…”
“We know. But we’re curious too, so let’s just go all in, okay, Tae-rim?”
“Espers might not need suits in their line of work, but still, isn’t it nice to have at least one?”
“Let’s just make it a birthday present while we’re at it. No—we’ll give it to him as a gift! Tae-rim, just give us his measurements!”
“Yes! Let’s do that!”
“Ooh, great idea!”
Before he could say anything, the whole suit situation had spiraled way out of Tae-rim’s hands. Mouth slightly agape, he blinked in stunned silence while the other three cheered.
“Don’t you think Esper Jung Jae-heon and Esper Jeon Jun-pyo would look amazing in suits too?”
“Oh, totally. Esper Jeon Jun-pyo would look like a chaebol heir or something.”
“Perfect. Just perfect.”
With a helpless chuckle, Tae-rim decided to stop resisting. This thing had already taken on a life of its own. And besides, the three of them were having such a blast. All he could do now was take a bunch of pictures later and share them around.
