“Let’s do that, then.”
Yoo Ji-ho answered with a bored tone and went back to moving his hands. Hye-seong reached out, saying he’d feed himself, but Ji-ho blocked him.
He just looked so happy. That was what irritated Ji-ho.
“You like it that much?”
Hye-seong, his mouth still full, nodded as if in a trance. And he didn’t stop.
Nod, nod, nod, nod, nod.
Ji-ho stared at him in silence before finally speaking up.
“Enough with the nodding.”
The nodding stopped.
“Open your mouth again.”
“I can eat it myse—”
“You’ll be here all day at that pace. Ah.”
“Ahhh—.”
The bowl was nearly empty now. Hye-seong, as if he couldn’t believe it, kept asking to confirm the promise.
“You have to get guiding every single day from now on.”
With his eyes lowered slightly, Ji-ho gave no verbal answer. He just fixed his gaze on Hye-seong and offered the faintest smile. Even if guiding had somehow worked until now, the two of them had never actually done Contact Guiding while fully conscious.
Hye-seong’s eyes had been sparkling for a while now—whether from hope or because that’s just how they were, Ji-ho didn’t know. But the longer he stared into them, the more that budding curiosity from earlier started to swell.
A chronic condition he’d completely given up on after one single failed attempt as a child. He’d clung to the delusion that maybe, by some freak accident, it had been cured—wasting nearly a year of his life chasing that hope.
And looking back on the person he’d clung to? God, it was embarrassing. Absolutely pathetic.
He knew better now—how much despair followed in the wake of empty hope.
So what intrigued Yoo Ji-ho now was something else entirely.
What will you do… once you realize Contact Guiding is impossible?
“You really promised. Every single day.”
“Yeah. If it’s possible.”
That soft reply and easy smile—it had been a while since he’d looked this natural. When Ji-ho smiled, Hye-seong smiled back, visibly relieved.
But what if… it’s a chronic condition that no effort—no matter how hard you try—can fix?
Ji-ho wondered if even then, Hye-seong would still refuse to give up. How long would that sparkle in his eyes last?
***
The next day, Yoo Ji-ho’s eyes were filled with confusion.
This… wasn’t the scene he’d envisioned.
It wasn’t supposed to be this peaceful.
Yoo Ji-ho had never once wanted a scene without fear, without screams, without pain, without nausea!
He especially had no intention of going through anything resembling “getting to know each other.”
“So I was really shocked. I never imagined I’d actually recognize a Daurian redstart with my own eyes. I mean, it’s not even a rare bird or anything, but still—I’d just barely memorized the name, and then it shows up right in front of me…”
“……”
He had no idea why he was just sitting there, letting Baek Hye-seong ramble on while half-listening and letting it go in one ear and out the other. All he knew was that he’d offered one hand and now his head felt like it was about to explode.
“But Yoo Ji-ho, why did you bring that earlier?”
Hye-seong pointed beside them. The trash bin Ji-ho had brought just in case was sitting there like a centerpiece. Ji-ho stared blankly at it before dragging a hand down his face.
“……Yeah. Completely useless.”
“Huh?”
Before Ji-ho could even respond, Hye-seong suddenly stood up. He’d checked the time.
The two hands that had been clinging to Ji-ho’s for hours like they’d never let go now slipped away effortlessly, as if they never had.
“It’s already this late!”
With a serious look, Hye-seong checked his pager and phone, then began tidying up. The low efficiency had made them fall behind schedule. But things should improve gradually, right? Time to get back to the office and write that report.
“Yoo Ji-ho, then I’ll see you tomorrow at the same time. Please get some rest. Take care.”
“……”
After the guiding session, Hye-seong bowed politely to Ji-ho. He looked like a scholar heading off to Hanyang for the civil service exam.
Ji-ho’s gaze trailed him obsessively, from the moment he bowed to when he rushed off the balcony in a hurry. And only after Hye-seong’s back completely disappeared from view—
“Ha.”
—a scoff slipped from his lips.
All that chasing him around saying he had to be guided—and now that he’d done his duty, he ran off like a soldier with marching orders. Not just walked—ran.
What, job’s done, see you never?
You said you were my fan.
“Fuck. This is so annoying.”
Ji-ho cursed for no reason and flopped onto the sunbed.
His mind was a mess. He was pissed as hell, and yet his body felt so light it was ridiculous. That was the most annoying part.
Now he was wondering—was it really possible for the Rejection Condition, which had made even a touch feel repulsive, to just vanish like that?
Or had he finally met a Guide who actually suited him?
“……”
The thought was so absurd he let out a sharp laugh.
As if. No way.
A dime-a-dozen B-rank Guide. That useless brat? There was no way someone like that was the one he’d been searching for his whole life.
So then… maybe, after that near-rampage episode, his body had sensed the danger and instinctively suppressed the Rejection Condition.
Either way, it was good news for him.
Not bad at all.
Ji-ho, previously bored out of his mind, now found himself genuinely intrigued by this new development.
***
[EXCLUSIVE] ‘Gate Survivor’ Pastor Jang Min-seop Interview
“Yoo Ji-ho was like a god.”
It was the kind of headline that made it impossible to just scroll past.
“Wow…”
Hye-seong was instantly sucked in, mesmerized by the grandiose title. Not because he was a fan—absolutely not. He was just monitoring things briefly before heading to work, like any responsible Guide.
He tapped the bold headline, and the full article popped up. Below the title was a picture of a gentle-looking middle-aged man, smiling warmly—an image that radiated kindness.
It was the interview and photo of Pastor Jang Min-seop, the survivor rescued in the recent Gate incident.
Though he was still recovering and wearing a neck brace, the wide smile in the photo made Hye-seong feel oddly comforted even before reading a single line.
“It’s amazing I didn’t die in there. You hear all the time that barely anyone comes out alive from a Gate… I was in total panic, couldn’t even open my eyes. I just kept praying, and then I heard a man’s voice. For a moment, I thought heaven had come to take me. I really thought I was already dead. But then I felt my body being lifted—and when I opened my eyes, I was back at church. Maybe miracles really do exist. Maybe Yoo Ji-ho is a miracle.”
Pastor Jang, despite still undergoing treatment for aftereffects, had insisted on doing this interview.
It was the only way he could think of to express his gratitude to Yoo Ji-ho for saving his life.
He also said he hoped the interview would help clear up the recent misunderstandings and controversy surrounding Ji-ho’s character and alleged property damage. That was why he pushed through with it, despite still being in recovery.
When the pastor spoke about how even the damaged church facilities were being remodeled with help from Ji-ho and the Yeouido Center, the article said he and the reporter both teared up.
The piece even went into the history of the Faith Love Church—how he’d built it in his youth with his wife, Deaconess Kang Myung-sook.
“……”
Hye-seong silently scrolled through the article, eyes growing red. Then he quickly flicked down past the comments.
[Comments]
└ Why am I crying..? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Pastor, please stay healthy.
└ I was rescued like this two years ago. This brings back memories. I hope Pastor Jang recovers quickly.
└ Beautiful interview, but the title’s a bit cringe lol
└└ Why tho???ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I liked itㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└└ Can we stop deifying Espers? Is this even a real article??
└└ Hope you survive alone next time you’re in a Gate then lmao
└ Where’s Ji-ho’s interview? I wanna hear his side too
└└ He skipped it due to personal reasons. Some say he’s still laying low after the scandal ㅠㅠ
└└ People are still mad about that? Dude’s saving lives and still getting shit. Unbelievable.
└└ Wait, seriously?? I can’t even see Ji-ho’s interview now because of that asshole? I’m fucking pissed, fr
└└ I was waiting for it too… now I know why. Sigh
└└ Exhausting, even just reading this…
└ A Gate opened near my school once during lunch. Espers came to evacuate everyone. Later I heard they were B-rank, but back then, they just looked like goddamn heroes. Can’t imagine what it must’ve been like meeting Ji-ho inside a Gate. “Like a god”? Yeah, I get it.
└└ You from Talryeo Girls’ Middle School?
└└ Nah I’m a dude LMAO
└ Isn’t all that compensation paid with taxes? Nothing’s changed since the last incident, lol
└└ People like this: don’t pay taxes
└└ I do, asshole
└└ Lol people like this: pay less than a penny
└└ LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Not long ago, public sentiment toward Yoo Ji-ho had been brutal. But it seemed things were finally starting to calm down.
Hye-seong glanced at the time while scrolling, then grabbed his bag and left the room. It was time for work.
As he opened the door, he flinched—he’d come face-to-face with his roommate, Kim Young-woo.
The Guide Dormitory at the Yeouido Center was mostly made up of two-person units, with each room facing the other across a shared living area.
And there, on the sofa, sat Kim Young-woo—staring at him like he’d been waiting.
“……Good morning, sunbae.”
Hye-seong froze for a moment with the door at his back, then belatedly greeted him and tried to walk past.
“Hey. Why’d you come back so early yesterday?”
“……”
“Ji-ho didn’t ask you to sleep over again?”
His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Ever since being assigned to the same dorm as the infamous Yoo Ji-ho’s Pair Guide, Kim Young-woo had been relentlessly nosy. Now, too, when Hye-seong didn’t respond, he smiled like he’d been waiting for this.
“What, is he already tired of you?”
Especially after Ji-ho’s near-rampage incident, Young-woo’s jabs had gotten way more direct.
Hye-seong no longer knew whether he was just being harassed, or if Young-woo actually thought of him that way.
