“Why? You said the repairs were all done…”
When Hye-seong asked in a slightly troubled voice, wondering if something else had gone wrong, Yoo Ji-ho frowned, puzzled, and asked sincerely.
“You’re not planning to commute from home every day from now on, are you?”
“……”
“No way.”
Hye-seong immediately clamped his mouth shut. He was planning to commute from home every day. At that transparent reaction, Ji-ho let out a deep sigh and said,
“What if I suddenly need you, Hye-seong?”
“Suddenly…?”
“What if something dangerous happens again like last time, and my Guide isn’t around? I don’t know what other Espers do in those situations. I’m not that familiar with Guiding.”
“……”
“Or maybe you can tell me. You know more than I do.”
“In emergency situations…”
He didn’t think a situation like before would happen again so easily. If Ji-ho kept receiving regular Guiding like this from now on, then probably, an incident like that wouldn’t happen again anytime soon…
If Ji-ho were deployed in a large-scale battle, Hye-seong could stay at the Center, ready to guide him at a moment’s notice.
But an emergency was, by nature, an emergency. Something unpredictable. Ji-ho’s concern was valid—something that deserved consideration.
When Hye-seong didn’t respond, Ji-ho spoke again.
“If that happens, I guess some other Guide would be assigned to me first. That’s usually what happens, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. If the Esper’s in danger, the Center assigns whoever’s available…”
“But unlike them, I only have one Guide, and that’s you, Hye-seong.”
“……”
Hye-seong blinked rapidly.
“You said you’re my fan. So I guess it doesn’t bother you if I’m handed off to some other person?”
“…If you need Guiding, then there’s no helping it.”
His voice clearly sounded downcast, no matter how you heard it. But for Hye-seong, this wasn’t something he had any say in. Ji-ho didn’t belong to him anyway.
“You’re saying I should just go hook up with another Guide?”
“What? H-Hook u—”
“So if I just call up some random person and hook up with them right in front of you, you’d be totally fine with that?”
Hye-seong’s eyes widened. Despite the explicit wording, Ji-ho’s expression and tone were so gentle it left him wondering if he’d misheard.
But Ji-ho didn’t seem to find anything strange about what he’d just said. With a casual “Hmm?”, he nudged Hye-seong to respond.
Ji-ho… with someone else…?
The logic had skipped a few steps, but Hye-seong was too overwhelmed to focus on anything else. He had never thought about Ji-ho’s private life in that way before.
“Not… not for that kind of thing, right?”
When he asked absentmindedly, Ji-ho smiled and shook his head. Hye-seong began chewing his lip nervously.
“So… you really have to do it that way…”
“You’re the one who said nothing’s more effective than that.”
“That’s true…”
Ji-ho wasn’t wrong—not a single word of it.
When he’d first heard Ji-ho speak, all Hye-seong had imagined was him holding someone’s hand. Maybe even a kiss.
And if it were done privately, not for Guiding purposes, then even more so—he had no right to say he didn’t like it.
But if Ji-ho were to wrap someone in his arms, press his lips against theirs, move roughly and whisper low into their ear…
That… would not be okay. He didn’t even want to imagine Ji-ho looking at someone else like that.
He couldn’t tell Ji-ho not to do it. And since he’d already applied for reassignment and given up his dorm, he didn’t have any good alternatives either.
“Well then, I’ll try to get reassigned to the dorm again soon and—”
“Dorm applications are already closed.”
“Ah… is my old room already taken?”
Ji-ho obviously had no idea about the current state of the Guide dorms, but Hye-seong was so flustered that he just blurted the question out.
He’d told himself he didn’t want to run into Kim Young-woo, yet now, in his panic, he actually wanted to return to that place. But wait—he’d said he quit, hadn’t he…?
As Hye-seong scrambled to gather his thoughts, Ji-ho asked with a frosty look in his eyes.
“You’re thinking of going back there?”
“N-No, that’s not—”
While Hye-seong tried to sort through the mess in his head, Ji-ho sighed into the empty air. Still looking down at the floor, Hye-seong muttered dejectedly,
“I’ll figure something out… I left the dorms on my own in the first place, so I’ll handle it. You don’t have to worry. But for now, I’ll probably have to commute.”
“……”
“If that makes you anxious, I can try to find a place near the Center. A place that rents long-term—”
How much would that cost?
He had barely received two paychecks so far, most of which he’d put into savings. He wasn’t sure he could manage this new expense… The thought of money suddenly made it hard to breathe.
“Instead of all that, how about just staying here?”
And as Hye-seong’s worries deepened, Ji-ho’s expression only grew more rigid. But his voice was light, as if asking whether he’d eaten yet.
He thought Hye-seong would gratefully say yes and agree to stay longer. He couldn’t for the life of him understand why the guy was dead set on leaving, spending money he didn’t have.
“Stay here… with you? No way, I couldn’t possibly—”
Another rejection.
Something unidentifiable surged up from deep within Ji-ho, and he had to push it back down. But more than anything, it was essential to keep Baek Hye-seong by his side right now.
Speaking gently instead of coldly was still hard for him, but he’d started to get the hang of it after spending time with Hye-seong. Compared to how stiff and awkward his words had been back when the Director first told him to take him in, this was a huge improvement.
“I didn’t know what it was like to be separated from my Guide before…”
He glanced at the conflicted Hye-seong and continued, his calm voice betraying none of the impatience gnawing at him.
“To be honest, I don’t want to feel that way again anytime soon.”
But even as the words left his mouth, he frowned. The half-hearted bait he’d tossed out to lure Hye-seong back had unexpectedly settled heavy on his chest.
“I just… wish you’d do it without feeling burdened. Am I asking for too much?”
“……”
Watching the bowed expression on Hye-seong’s face, Ji-ho repeated his request gently—like a child begging an adult for a toy.
And just like he’d said, Ji-ho really was asking—asking Hye-seong.
But the suggestion he made so casually was anything but simple to Hye-seong. He just stared blankly at Ji-ho’s face, his fingers losing all strength.
Suddenly, he dropped his head. His wide eyes turned red, and his lips began to tremble.
“…Hye-seong?”
Ji-ho hadn’t expected that reaction. And when he heard the soft sniffles, he froze like a statue.
“Why? Why are you crying?”
When he’d heard Hye-seong talk about crawling back into that cramped dorm, he’d almost cursed out loud. Why the hell would he go there, of all places? To live cozily with some asshole in that shoebox of a room? Fuck…
Did he overhear that muttered curse earlier? Ji-ho tried to retrace when things had started going sideways, but the memories were all a blur.
If he’d known this would happen, he never would’ve told Hye-seong that Kim Young-woo was gone. If he’d known that dorm would become a “possibility” in Hye-seong’s eyes, he would’ve kept his mouth shut.
“Tell me why you’re crying, Hye-seong.”
“Hrrk…”
“Hmm?”
The more someone asks why you’re crying, the harder it is to stop. Hye-seong couldn’t sob openly, so he just pressed his damp eyes into his long sleeves.
“Haah, what the hell did I say, fuck…”
Ji-ho ruffled his neatly styled hair in frustration.
Meanwhile, Hye-seong finally managed to choke down his tears. He wiped his face with a brave little sniffle, then lifted his tear-stained cheeks to look at Ji-ho. His voice, soaked in emotion, trembled as he spoke.
“Then….”
“……”
“I’ll stay… just until I can get back into the dorm. I need to stay by your side, after all…”
Ji-ho waited, expecting something grander—but that was all. Hye-seong lowered his gaze again, lips quivering.
Tilting his head slightly, Ji-ho gazed down at that face. Judging by the result, it looked like his words had worked—and that realization filled him with relief. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from that tearful expression.
What am I going to do? I can’t let you go on your own anymore.
But seeing Hye-seong trying so hard to speak while holding back tears made him look so pitiful, Ji-ho offered the words he wanted to hear with a gentle smile.
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
Of course, he had absolutely no intention of letting that happen.
