After Beom Do-il and Min Yu-hyun’s ridiculous banter had rattled Chi-yu’s nerves, Lee Jun-hyung and Yoon Do-jae finally arrived.
The moment Beom Do-il spotted Jun-hyung, he clung to him like an excited puppy greeting its owner, bombarding him with questions. Jun-hyung brushed him off with half-hearted answers while directing his real attention to the staff, asking about the program’s setup and their assigned rooms.
“You could’ve at least given me a heads-up.”
Chi-yu pouted at Jun-hyung, who had escaped into his room to avoid Beom Do-il’s interrogation. Jun-hyung leaned back on the bed, supporting himself with both arms, and chuckled at his sulky expression.
“Tae-oh told me not to say a word.”
“…What?”
“He made me promise to keep my mouth shut until filming began. That was the condition for taking out the original Guide and slotting me in.”
“……”
“Turns out, Beom Do-il was thrown in just so they could add me. Tae-oh probably thought no one would care except you, but… we’re still your frien—no, colleagues, so he must’ve cared enough to set it up.”
That damned “colleague.”
“What, did Tae-oh tell you to call me that too?”
“You think that’s all? He also told me to keep Esper Yoon Do-jae away from you. Do-il, on the other hand, swore he could prove—on his name—that he has no ulterior motives toward you.”
“What the hell is going on here….”
“Looks like Tae-oh’s made up his mind about something. Doesn’t it have to do with your moving?”
“……”
“Well, maybe it’s time to settle things. Aren’t you sick of that endless one-sided crush?”
Jun-hyung muttered almost to himself, legs swinging.
But what was there to “settle”? Chi-yu had joined the program intending to let it go, only to get tangled back into this mess. And now Min Yu-hyun was part of the picture too.
His temples throbbed as he pressed them with his fingers. Could he really survive a whole month watching Min Yu-hyun stick to Tae-oh? He honestly didn’t know.
“And what about you? How long are you going to pretend you don’t notice Beom Do-il’s feelings?”
Pushing aside his own situation, Chi-yu turned the question back on Jun-hyung. Jun-hyung only looked at him silently, and when no response came, Chi-yu pressed further.
“You’ve known for ages he likes you.”
Jun-hyung lowered his gaze for a moment, then lifted it again with a faint smile.
“We’ve got our own circumstances. You worry about your own crush, colleague.”
“God, that damned ‘colleague’ crap.”
Chi-yu clicked his tongue in irritation.
“Then why not just split it? Whoever wants the second floor takes the second, whoever wants the first takes the first.”
Arms crossed, Min Yu-hyun confronted Hyun Tae-oh. Tae-oh had just returned from an Emergency Assembly, only to find Yu-hyun blocking his path, nagging to be allowed upstairs. His patience was wearing thin.
“Don’t like it? Then get out.”
“Hey!”
“I just want to wash up. Move.”
Tae-oh waved him off wearily and started upstairs, but Yu-hyun instantly blocked his way again.
“Fuck, will you get out of my face?”
Tae-oh’s features twisted at the close distance, but Yu-hyun only tightened his crossed arms.
“I need the second floor. Either you come down, or let the ones who want it stay up there.”
“You son of a—”
Before Tae-oh could finish, Chi-yu emerged from his room with Jun-hyung.
The moment Tae-oh’s eyes met his, Chi-yu’s gaze flicked to Yu-hyun standing in front of him, then darted away. That avoidance made Tae-oh’s temper spike even higher. He was already exhausted from fighting mutant beasts and in desperate need of Guiding. Being ignored by Chi-yu on top of that left him seething.
Talking to Yu-hyun was clearly pointless, and all Tae-oh wanted was to soak in a hot bath. He teleported without hesitation.
“Ah—! Hey! Hyun Tae-oh!!”
Yu-hyun shouted after him, but Tae-oh was already gone.
On his way to the kitchen with Jun-hyung, Chi-yu bit down on his lip. Just seeing Yu-hyun standing beside Tae-oh made his chest ache like pins stabbing into his heart. And to think he’d have to watch this every day for four weeks… and even see them partnered up. It was unbearable.
Why had Tae-oh even agreed to appear on a show where he’d be forced to live in close quarters with others for a month? Unless his obsession with cleanliness and people had truly been cured, Chi-yu couldn’t imagine another explanation.
And if that were true… maybe Tae-oh really didn’t need him anymore.
“Hot or cold?”
Jun-hyung fiddled with the coffee machine, glancing back at Chi-yu.
“Cold.”
“Me too.”
Yu-hyun entered the kitchen and chimed in. Jun-hyung, still figuring out the buttons, gave a distracted nod.
“Want me to do it?”
Chi-yu asked. Jun-hyung shook his head, muttering that he should learn himself since they’d be using it for a month. Chi-yu nodded and pulled out his phone.
Yu-hyun deliberately sat across from him at the table.
“Mind helping me out, childhood friend?”
Chi-yu lifted his eyes from his phone.
“I doubt Tae-oh’s gonna listen to a word I say.”
“…Do you think he’ll listen to me?”
Chi-yu looked back at his phone, scrolling casually.
“Tae-oh’s never been able to live on the first floor since he was a kid. It’s pathological. He’s never going to change his mind.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking you.”
The clipped way Yu-hyun spoke grated on him—though what stung more was that smug “I know.”
“…It’s Kang Chi-yu.”
“…What?”
“My name. Not ‘childhood friend.’ It’s Kang Chi-yu.”
“Oh, so you wanted to be called by name?”
Yu-hyun wrinkled his nose faintly, and Chi-yu’s brows tightened.
“Fine, Guide Kang Chi-yu. Just like Tae-oh can’t live downstairs, I can’t handle living beneath anyone. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve only lived on top floors. It’s just how I’m wired.”
“……”
“So yeah, I get his neurotic quirks. But still, people should at least have a say in where they live. I didn’t come here because I wanted to—I was begged by the director to appear. Tae-oh’s not the only one with circumstances. So he doesn’t get to dictate where everyone else lives.”
“……”
“That’s why I’d like childhood fri—no, Guide Kang Chi-yu, to back me up.”
“I’m not sure there’s much I can do.”
“He actually listens to you.”
Wouldn’t he listen to Min Yu-hyun more…?
Chi-yu swallowed the thought, but his eyes caught Yu-hyun’s hand on the table, sparking a memory of holding Tae-oh’s hand during teleportation. His chest turned cold all over again.
“He’d still refuse if I asked. That’s Tae-oh.”
“How do you know without trying?”
“Because I don’t need to.”
“I really can’t last a month downstairs. So—”
“Nice to meet you.”
Suddenly, Yoon Do-jae appeared with a whoosh, cutting Yu-hyun off as he greeted Chi-yu.
Jun-hyung and Chi-yu blinked in surprise at the sudden teleportation. Yu-hyun’s brow twitched.
“Is teleportation trendy among Espers here or something.”
He muttered—not quietly enough. Do-jae’s gaze slid to him.
“Is that a problem?”
Yu-hyun faltered under the blunt question.
“…No, not really….”
“Then don’t concern yourself.”
Cutting him off, Do-jae immediately turned to Chi-yu, expressionless as ever, and asked if he’d been well.
The question was so unexpected that Chi-yu let out a small laugh.
“Yes, I’ve been fine. But didn’t we just meet yesterday at the studio?”
“Did your interview go well yesterday?”
“Yes. And yours, Esper Yoon Do-jae?”
“It was exhausting.”
The honest, almost heavy answer drew smiles from both Jun-hyung and Chi-yu.
“Haha, interviews are always rough. I find them draining too.”
Do-jae nodded once.
“Well, you looked great on camera. That’s already a point in your favor.”
Jun-hyung, having finally figured out the machine, slid in a capsule.
“Is that so?”
“Oh, seriously. You came out really well on screen.”
Chi-yu added. Do-jae’s head snapped toward him instantly, his face softening into a bright smile.
“Is that so?”
His voice toward Chi-yu was completely different from how he’d answered Jun-hyung.
Jun-hyung didn’t miss it—those hawk-like eyes fixed on Chi-yu, that warmth in his smile. Do-jae’s gaze was anything but ordinary.
He’d suspected before, from the way Do-jae kept asking about Chi-yu, but now he was sure—this wasn’t just curiosity.
Jun-hyung wondered if his friend might finally break free from that endless one-sided love and find something new.
And he wasn’t the only one noticing.
Yu-hyun frowned as he watched Do-jae soften around Chi-yu. The guy who usually had zero expression was suddenly all smiles in front of him? It rubbed him the wrong way.
Given how the revamped program had basically turned into a survival game, maybe it wasn’t strange to feel that way.
The rules had changed: contestants now needed approval from all three Espers to graduate into regular cast members of PairBorn. That meant Yu-hyun had to dominate the filming, keep control. And why wouldn’t he? What Esper in the world would turn down an S-rank from the Central Bureau?
But right from the start, impossible obstacles had shown up among the cast: Hyun Tae-oh with his crippling mysophobia, the stiff, rule-bound FM Yoon Do-jae who clearly had no interest in him, and Beom Do-il, some B-team A-rank who didn’t even know who he was.
Looking at this lineup he had to win over, Yu-hyun felt a wave of gloom settle over him.
