Stage 3 Guiding was typically reserved for lovers or Espers and Guides who had already formed an Imprint. It was a step above saliva-contact Guiding, replenishing energy with greater speed and intensity. But it came with its drawbacks: while the actual Guiding time was short, the act itself dragged on, often for hours. In some cases, people even spent an entire day at it just to fill their energy in the span of a few moments.
For Kang Chi-yu, finding himself doing Stage 3 Guiding with Hyun Tae-oh was nothing short of overwhelming. Yet, in the end, this was the man he had quietly loved for more than ten years. Maybe that makes it okay, he thought. Besides, Tae-oh couldn’t take suppressants for a month, and as his temporary Pair, Chi-yu was only B rank. Stage 2 Guiding alone simply wasn’t enough. Stage 3 seemed the only way to make up for what was lacking.
Convincing himself with that reasoning, Chi-yu decided to accept it.
…But not quite like this.
With Tae-oh pressing down on him so firmly, Chi-yu struggled to breathe, his lungs filling only in short, shallow bursts. Tae-oh’s arms around him were unyielding, like steel bands.
“Still scared?”
That low, husky murmur was unbearably seductive. Chi-yu shook his head, suppressing the whimpers that kept rising in his throat.
“Am I too heavy?”
Tae-oh brushed his lips against Chi-yu’s ear as he spoke.
Exhaling a languid sigh, Chi-yu shook his head again. Their bodies, pressed so tightly together, rose and fell with each uneven breath.
His heart pounded violently, so loud he was certain Tae-oh could feel it through their joined bodies. The thought alone sent Chi-yu’s emotions into a whirl.
When Chi-yu’s hands clenched tight around the bedsheets, the movement only spurred Tae-oh further. A heavy sigh slipped from his lips, and he gently covered Chi-yu’s fists with his own.
“Relax your hands, Chi-yu.”
Though playful, his voice trembled faintly. Tae-oh’s throat bobbed again and again, his Adam’s apple betraying his unsteady composure.
Why didn’t I ever realize how good this feels?
There had been fleeting moments when he’d thought about kissing before, but he’d never gone through with it—there had never been any real interest.
If only I’d known earlier…
Tae-oh’s gaze stayed fixed on Kang Chi-yu.
Back at the Esper Academy, he had realized that the instinctive aversion he felt toward everyone else never applied to Chi-yu. At the time, even making eye contact with others had felt unbearable. Yet Chi-yu was the one person who gave him space to breathe.
Whenever the constant pressure from classmates, teachers, deans, or even intruders left him exhausted, returning to their dorm always brought him relief. Chi-yu’s Radiant Guiding—scattered throughout the room like a habit—soothed his frayed nerves.
Even on days when no Guiding was necessary, Chi-yu would fill the space with Radiant Guiding, only so that Tae-oh could rest.
To him, Kang Chi-yu had become his only place of rest, the one person he could be around without discomfort. That uniqueness naturally shifted into something special.
He had never thought of making Chi-yu his Pair, the realization never stretching into romance. But if he had known then how incredible this Pair contract would feel, Chi-yu might already have become his Imprint.
That thought stirred something dark inside him—an overwhelming, possessive urge that consumed him like a raging storm.
Tae-oh tilted his head, taking in Chi-yu’s face. Tears shimmered in reddened eyes, his flushed cheeks damp with sweat, his breaths coming fast and shallow. There was no trace of composure left.
Seeing him like that made Tae-oh’s expression grow heavy. Countless emotions flickered across his face.
“Ha… fuck.”
The words left him in a low growl, as if Chi-yu’s appearance alone was enough to drive him wild.
Startled, Chi-yu looked up at him with wide eyes, but another crushing wave of pressure quickly forced his gaze away again.
If Stage 3 Guiding had some sort of technique or finesse, maybe it wouldn’t have been so overwhelming for him. But Tae-oh, of course, had no such experience.
Someone who couldn’t even tolerate physical contact with others would never have studied something that required pressing his body so completely against a Guide.
If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve at least studied the theory… Chi-yu regretted. Perhaps it was their lack of skill that made it so exhausting. He promised himself that next time would be different.
But Tae-oh had no intention of stopping here. If he had planned to quit halfway, he wouldn’t have started at all. Everything that Stage 2 Guiding couldn’t resolve had already piled up to the brim.
And he knew Chi-yu wasn’t much different from him. Which meant that the thought of quitting now—Chi-yu was probably just as conflicted.
The Kang Chi-yu he knew was always the one who worried the most about Tae-oh’s Guiding.
Leaning closer, Tae-oh whispered into his ear,
“If we stop now, both of us will regret it… don’t you think?”
His voice was impossibly gentle, as if to erase the very possibility of stopping.
Chi-yu knew better than anyone that once Tae-oh decided on something, he always followed through. And he had already resolved to go through with Stage 3 Guiding—pulling out now would only leave him with regret.
Besides, since it was their first time, maybe seeing it through to the end would leave them both with something worth remembering.
By now, needless worries had already faded away: how things had come to this, the unease about Min Yu-hyun, the fear of whether their friendship could survive, even the thought that being this close would only make giving up his one-sided love impossible.
None of it mattered anymore.
His focus was already too frayed for the Guiding to flow properly. He had no energy left for stray thoughts.
This was the limit of Hyun Tae-oh’s restraint.
Chi-yu’s lips were devoured whole by the ravenous beast before him.
***
Chi-yu lay slumped in the bathtub, staring blankly up at the ceiling. His whole body felt drained from just a single round of Stage 3 Guiding. The memory of Tae-oh carrying him all the way into the bathroom made him squeeze his eyes shut in mortification.
As if that weren’t humiliating enough, what truly made his cheeks burn was the fact that—despite pressing so tightly against each other—he hadn’t managed to guide at all. The very purpose of it had gone completely unfulfilled.
Maybe I’m not even cut out to be a Guide.
He’d gone so far as to let himself be wrapped up in Tae-oh’s arms for Stage 3 Guiding, only for it to fizzle out without accomplishing anything. Were there any other Guides who had ever failed this miserably?
The experience itself had been terrifying, embarrassing, and dizzying, every nerve ending lit aflame. And yet, beneath all that, his heart had pounded so wildly that it drowned out every other feeling.
But doing this a second time? No way.
Chi-yu shook his head without realizing it.
But Tae-oh moved in again, winding himself around Chi-yu like a snake and locking him in another suffocating embrace.
Chi-yu’s eyes went wide. What on earth does he eat to have this kind of stamina? The moment Tae-oh pressed closer again, he panicked and pushed him away.
“What are you doing?”
“Doing it again.”
“What?! No way!”
“Why not?”
“We already did it! You’re heavy—too heavy—and weird, and I feel like I’m going to die! And what’s with this position? Why are you wrapping your legs around me like that?!”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be. The first time, I didn’t, because I thought it might be too hard on you.”
“…”
“I won’t squeeze too tightly.”
“No! I’m not doing this—it’s too weird!”
“It’ll be over quickly. Even if I don’t want it to end fast, when I’m holding you like this the Guiding always finishes quickly.’
“What the hell does that even mean?! …No!”
“You haven’t even guided me yet.”
That back-and-forth dragged on for several minutes, until finally, in response to Chi-yu’s protests about how painful and exhausting it had been, Tae-oh calmly suggested they rest for a bit and then do it again—a notion so chilling that Chi-yu nearly choked.
With a long sigh, Chi-yu dragged his wet hands over his face and through his hair.
He had done it. He had actually gone through Stage 3 Guiding with Hyun Tae-oh. The highest, most intimate form of Guiding—requiring far more closeness than Stage 2—and he had crossed that line.
The realization froze his expression.
Circumstances had pushed them together, piling reason upon reason until their bodies overlapped—but between them, nothing had changed.
Even when Tae-oh carried him so carefully into the bathroom, all he spoke of was the unfinished Guiding. There had been no talk of their relationship, no hesitation, no hint of awareness that anything between them might be different now.
To Hyun Tae-oh, even after Stage 3 Guiding, nothing about their bond had shifted. Which meant there was no hope—no chance—that they could become something more.
Chi-yu could only wish that, after all this, things at least wouldn’t turn unbearably awkward.
But one thought gnawed at him: what if someone else took that place at Tae-oh’s side? And of all people, Min Yu-hyun seemed the most likely.
If Tae-oh ever did find a lover, then what they had done would almost certainly force distance between them. No partner would tolerate a friend who had been not only a temporary Pair, but had even gone through Stage 3 Guiding with him.
Chi-yu let out a slow breath and shut his eyes. From now on, he would have to find the strength to pull away from Tae-oh—for good.
***
“Ah.”
“Does it hurt? The ointment’s already on.”
Hyun Tae-oh snapped the cap back onto the tube as he spoke.
It had been inevitable—an accident finally happened. Because Chi-yu barely registered pain, he hadn’t noticed the strain from Stage 3 Guiding. But when he tried to climb into the tub, his body wobbled, and he knocked the back of his head against the rim.
He’d sat up again as if nothing was wrong, only to realize from the faint tinge of red in the water that he was bleeding. Startled, he had tried to stand quickly, only to stagger again and nearly collapse.
That was when Tae-oh appeared out of nowhere, teleporting in and catching him before his head could slam into the tub a second time. Of course, Chi-yu nearly had a heart attack from Tae-oh’s sudden appearance instead.
Alarmed by the blood trickling from Chi-yu’s scalp and the bathwater slowly darkening, Tae-oh had immediately tried to carry him out. But Chi-yu, dead serious, had protested about the cameras and crew still present. Tae-oh had only replied that the cameras could be shut off and the crew sent away—easier said than done.
In the end, Chi-yu refused to leave, insisting on at least rinsing off first. While washing him off with his own hands, Tae-oh couldn’t seem to stop worrying over the wound. Which was how they had ended up here, with him tending it and smoothing ointment over the cut.
“It’s not too bad. But what about the Guiding?”
“What about it? We’ll just do it.”
Chi-yu’s face stiffened at once.
As Tae-oh tucked the ointment back into the kit, he finally noticed the horrified look aimed at him. His expression shifted—first confusion, then realization.
“Oh—no, no. I meant saliva-contact Guiding. Not Stage 3.”
