When Chi-yu let a soft murmur slip, his happiness showing despite himself, Tae-oh’s lips curved in a languid smile.
“Yeah?”
“You’re not enjoying this?”
“No. How could I be bored when I’m with you?”
“…Are you upset that the others tagged along?”
“I’m not upset.”
Chi-yu turned his head, peeking up at Tae-oh. Meeting his gaze, Tae-oh spoke flatly:
“They’re loud. Especially Beom Do-il.”
“Haha.”
“Well, it’s not unbearable. But I wouldn’t want to come in a pack like this again.”
“Next time, just the two of us.”
“Think it won’t feel awkward then?” Tae-oh teased, his tone playful.
Chi-yu chuckled awkwardly and answered,
“It’s not you that feels awkward. It’s just… our situation, our relationship—it all changed so suddenly. That’s what feels a little strange.”
Tae-oh laughed quietly. With the arm he had draped around Chi-yu’s shoulders, he pulled him closer, pressing his lips briefly against the crown of his head before letting go.
Chi-yu, who’d been standing uncertainly, slipped his arms around Tae-oh’s waist. Tae-oh looked down at him, and when their eyes met, Chi-yu’s gaze softened into a smile.
“I feel like I could walk like this until dawn.”
“Your legs will give out.”
“Will yours?”
“No, yours.”
“I like walking.”
“Oh, please. You’re wheezing after five minutes.”
“Not the same as work. Right now it’s healing. Healing.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You don’t like it? Walking like this?”
“I do. I like it, but…”
Tae-oh’s eyes drifted toward the horizon, where sea and sky blurred together in the dark.
“…my healing’s inside your clothes.”
Chi-yu jabbed him in the side with his elbow and glared. Tae-oh only grinned at him, bright and mischievous like a boy playing a prank.
In truth, even though he’d joked about healing being in Chi-yu’s body, Tae-oh genuinely enjoyed this quiet walk along the night sea with him.
There were no loud voices from the others, no grating noises cutting across the waves. Just peace.
The beach was empty because, until recently, this place had been a Mutant Beast habitat. Though the beasts were gone and the area converted into a resort, people still feared one might appear from the dark waters at night.
So hardly anyone ventured out after sunset.
Espers, of course, weren’t usually fazed by the thought of facing a beast or two. But that was in missions or day-to-day life. On vacation, it was different.
Most Espers who came to rest had no desire to fight even here, so the night beach was left deserted.
Not that any of this mattered to Hyun Tae-oh. If anything, it only made him more alert.
As he walked with Chi-yu, savoring the moment, he silently released his Shadow Control, ready to strike at anything that might disturb Chi-yu’s good mood.
But what interrupted their peaceful night wasn’t a Mutant Beast.
It was Sung Ji-yeol.
For reasons impossible to guess, he was caught in a trap—the kind Ridune hunters set for beasts.
This time he was alone, without the two Espers Chi-yu had seen at the restaurant earlier.
But this was no accident. This was Ji-yeol’s ploy.
He was certain Tae-oh wouldn’t fear a walk along the night shore. And if Tae-oh’s current lover, Kang Chi-yu, was with him—so much the better.
The traps had long since been cleared when the area became a resort. But one of Ji-yeol’s men had once made a living hunting Ridune, so building a new one was trivial.
The other Espers lay hidden nearby in case a real beast showed up, while Ji-yeol himself waited with his foot deliberately caught, biding his time for Tae-oh and Chi-yu.
He’d considered the chance they might not come out. But the only people at this resort right now were his group, Tae-oh’s group, and three low-ranked Esper couples. He was certain those couples wouldn’t dare leave their rooms at night.
That made the plan simple.
He waited forty minutes in the trap.
And then, as if fortune smiled on him, Tae-oh and Chi-yu stepped out of a building.
The side they came from glowed faintly with Ridune light, unlike the dark stretch where Ji-yeol hid.
Holding his breath, he watched as Chi-yu walked along the waves with Tae-oh’s arm slung over his shoulders.
That Guide—how he hated him.
Just a B-rank Guide. No better than himself. Yet because he’d been Tae-oh’s childhood friend, he now had everything Ji-yeol coveted.
Jealousy and spite churned into one sour mass inside him.
As the pair drew closer, Ji-yeol released a glowstick so they wouldn’t pass him by unseen.
It worked.
Chi-yu spotted him immediately and rushed over.
That shocked expression—rather than grateful, it only made Ji-yeol sneer inwardly. Still, he wore the look of someone overwhelmed with relief at being saved.
Acting had always been his strength.
“Are you alright?!”
“Ah, Guide Kang Chi-yu.”
“Ah! This—! Tae-oh!”
Chi-yu spotted the trap clamped on Ji-yeol’s ankle and quickly called Tae-oh over.
Tae-oh approached, brows drawn tight.
“Get this off him.”
He clicked his tongue, but without hesitation used his ability, cleaving the trap cleanly in two.
It sprang open and clattered to the ground, releasing Ji-yeol’s ankle.
“Ah, it’s bleeding.”
Actually letting the trap bite into him had been worth it—it looked real.
Blood seeped from the wound, and even Tae-oh’s frozen gaze softened a fraction.
With nothing else at hand, Chi-yu stripped off the overshirt he wore and bound Ji-yeol’s ankle.
Now in just a white t-shirt, his pale skin looked even more striking, his figure younger somehow.
“I just put this on when we came out, so it’s clean. Can you stand?”
“Ah, thank you.”
With Chi-yu’s help, Ji-yeol rose.
He half-expected Tae-oh to step in, but Tae-oh didn’t touch him at all.
“Is there a hospital nearby?”
Chi-yu asked. Tae-oh took his arm and replied flatly:
“Want me to drop him in front of one?”
Even teleportation—Tae-oh only ever did it through Chi-yu. He seemed almost obsessively unwilling to touch anyone else.
At the hospital, while Ji-yeol was treated, Chi-yu stayed with him.
Perhaps out of a sense of duty as the one who’d found him, he described the trap in detail—the shape, the placement, and how Tae-oh had sliced it open with his ability.
He even reminded them to check for poison, since some Espers laced their traps.
Ji-yeol found his fussiness both grating and strangely moving, leaving him unsettled.
While Chi-yu was inside with him, Tae-oh was outside on the phone with Yoon Do-jae.
From the moment he’d seen Ji-yeol at the restaurant, Tae-oh had disliked the look in his eyes. And now it was clear—Ji-yeol was that queen bee.
“Fuck. Shameless bastard.”
– Then why are you with him?
Yoon Do-jae’s voice was tinged with drunkenness. Earlier he’d sworn he wouldn’t touch alcohol if Chi-yu went out with Tae-oh, but clearly the atmosphere had won.
It only proved Tae-oh had been right to take Chi-yu out alone.
“Found him on the beach. Caught in one of those hunter traps.”
– What??
“Once you sober up, find out which cleanup company handled this zone. It’s open to civilians—there shouldn’t be any traps left behind.”
– Exactly. Doesn’t add up.
“Deliberate or not—if deliberate, what the hell they’re planning—I need answers.”
– What about Guide Kang Chi-yu?
“My lover’s being looked after just fine by me. Don’t waste your breath worrying about him. Do your job.”
– You really shouldn’t leave that Guide around him.
“Why.”
– Just… feels wrong.
“Yeah, I don’t like it either. Anyway, dig into it. Now.”
– Fine.
Without a word of parting, Tae-oh cut the call and lifted his eyes to the starless night sky.
This trip was supposed to be theirs alone. But one thing after another had ruined it.
He’d half resigned himself when the others tagged along, but now even more distractions chipped away at their time. It grated on him.
Clicking his tongue, he stepped back into the hospital.
***
The instant Sung Ji-yeol saw Hyun Tae-oh, it felt like the air was crushed from his lungs.
Not from fear, but because of the sheer weight of his aura—the kind of presence that dazzled like a halo, too brilliant to approach.
An Esper’s rank often reflected in their appearance. The higher the rank, the more striking their build and looks.
As an SS-rank, it was only natural Tae-oh would be unmatched. His features, his carefully honed body, the aura he carried—he was the kind of beauty anyone would fall for at first sight.
But because his expression was cold, and his words even colder, most people never had the chance to admire him. They were overwhelmed before they could even draw breath, cowed by his reputation and his icy demeanor.
Only on a second or third meeting could one truly recognize just how breathtaking he was.
“Done?”
That man—so devastatingly handsome—walked into the room, and his eyes went only to Kang Chi-yu.
Even the doctor and nurse gasped aloud, but Tae-oh ignored them completely. His gaze never once wavered, fixed solely on Chi-yu.
Not even a sidelong glance for anyone else.
It was envy-inducing. Maddening.
“Yeah. Can you walk?”
Chi-yu nodded to Tae-oh, then turned back to Ji-yeol.
Ji-yeol hesitated, pretending difficulty.
“I’ll help you. Lean on me.”
As Chi-yu stepped closer, Tae-oh’s brow twitched.
Ji-yeol rested a hand on Chi-yu’s shoulder, his heart pounding. Surely Tae-oh would object. Surely he’d step in and tell him to back off.
From what he’d seen, Tae-oh was exactly that type—possessive, territorial, written all over his face. He wouldn’t tolerate anyone clinging to his lover.
With Chi-yu’s support, Ji-yeol stepped forward, still half-expecting Tae-oh’s arm to replace Chi-yu’s at any moment.
