As he rolled up his sleeves and dug into the bright red braised short ribs, he happened to meet the gaze of the housekeeper. She had already finished tidying up the kitchen and was smiling warmly at Hye-seong.
“You really do love ribs, huh?”
“…Huh? Me?”
“You’re reacting completely differently than yesterday.”
Was he? He didn’t think of ribs as his favorite food or anything, but maybe he’d been enjoying them more than usual without realizing it.
“I guess it’s just because they’re so delicious.”
He gave an awkward smile, and the housekeeper casually slipped in a question she’d clearly been curious about.
“You’re his younger brother, right?”
“Sorry?”
“You’re Yoo Ji-ho’s little brother, aren’t you?”
Hye-seong blinked rapidly.
Up to now, she hadn’t asked any personal questions despite having chatted with him for several days. She must have finally gotten curious about their relationship.
He swallowed the bite he’d been chewing and responded calmly.
“I’m… Yoo Ji-ho’s Guide.”
“What?”
It wasn’t a temporary title anymore, so there was no reason to hide it. Hye-seong answered with a bit of pride in his voice.
As expected, the housekeeper looked shocked, clapping her hands together in amazement.
“Oh my goodness! You looked so young, I never would’ve guessed. Sorry about that. You’re not a student—you’re a Guide!”
“Hehe, it’s okay.”
Feeling shy for no reason, he pressed his lips together. But inside, he felt an immense sense of pride.
“Oh, I see. So that’s what it was.”
The housekeeper, still watching him with fascinated eyes, suddenly clicked her tongue with concern.
“But still, for someone who eats this well, you’re way too skinny. You’re working, so you need to eat heartily. Is the food okay today too?”
“Yes! It’s so delicious, I can’t help eating more than usual.”
Hye-seong replied brightly, then scooped up another big spoonful of rice to make his point. The housekeeper, watching with obvious satisfaction, suddenly remembered something and spoke again.
“Oh, I almost forgot. He told me to make sure you eat the veggie side dishes too. Said it’s no good just eating meat.”
“Ah… okay.”
“Said to clean the whole thing.”
“A-All of this?”
“Yup, all of it.”
So… Ji-ho asked her to do that too.
Hye-seong nodded to reassure her, managing a nervous smile despite the growing anxiety in his eyes.
But the housekeeper’s warm gaze remained firmly fixed on his chopsticks.
He reached out toward what he wanted to eat. But the housekeeper gently closed her eyes and shook her head, her expression still kind, but unyielding.
“……”
His chopsticks, which had been aiming for a beef meatball, changed direction.
Instead, he picked up a piece of spinach. With a timid motion, he placed the leafy green in his mouth and started chewing.
It was seasoned well and tasted fine… but he wanted more meat.
Still, he smiled, trying to reassure her.
“It’s… delicious.”
“Mhm.”
But her skeptical gaze didn’t fade. In the end, Hye-seong stuffed his mouth with a heaping bite of seasoned greens and chewed vigorously.
“That’s it, eat up!”
Only then did the housekeeper finally turn away, satisfied.
It seemed Ji-ho was determined to push Hye-seong’s energy levels to the max.
Maybe he was being more attentive now that they were no longer temporary, but officially paired.
After all, the healthier a Guide was, the more Guiding energy he could supply to Yoo Ji-ho.
If that was the case, then Hye-seong had to take care of his health to meet expectations. That was probably what Ji-ho wanted from him.
“……”
With that thought in mind, the pile of green vegetables on the table suddenly looked a little more appealing.
Come to think of it, if he had hearty meals like this three times a day, he’d naturally grow stronger.
And so, with the attitude of a professional fulfilling his duty, Hye-seong polished off the entire bowl of rice along with every last vegetable side dish.
Chances were, there wouldn’t be any snacks after this meal.
He never got snacks when he was alone; Ji-ho usually brought them personally.
He didn’t even eat desserts himself, but always made sure to bring something for Hye-seong. He was truly grateful for that.
“Ugh, I’m so full…”
Rising from the table, Hye-seong dragged the hems of his loose pants into the bathroom. His sleeves had slipped down again, so he rolled them up neatly with practiced hands.
Then he picked up the toothbrush Ji-ho had prepared just for him and squeezed out some toothpaste.
Standing in front of the mirror, he noticed his lips looked swollen—it had been bothering him during lunch too. No wonder they’d been sore while eating.
It’d probably look ridiculous if someone saw him like this…
Just then, the doorbell rang.
He quickly rinsed his mouth and went to the door—it was the laundry service.
“Just a second.”
He greeted them like usual and headed to Ji-ho’s laundry room. Normally, the housekeeper would leave the laundry outside for pickup, but since someone was home, Hye-seong figured he might as well hand it over himself.
He picked up the two baskets Ji-ho had roughly sorted and gave them a quick once-over.
This one had the clothes Ji-ho wore to battle yesterday…
“The burn-it basket.”
Yup, this one was the burn-it basket.
Of course, Ji-ho had never actually called it that.
“When I come back from battle, I just throw those clothes out.”
“Huh? Why?”
“They need to be burned. They’re disgusting.”
“Ooh…”
After handing over the burn-it basket and the rest of the laundry, Hye-seong returned inside.
He’d even made sure to bundle up the more embarrassing items in a blanket so they wouldn’t be seen.
Back in his temporary room, he sat dazed on the sofa.
Even though he’d only been there a few days, it felt so cozy and comfortable—like it was his room.
Looking after Ji-ho’s empty house, moving about as if it were his own… it really did make him feel like Ji-ho’s Guide. And at the same time, it felt oddly surreal.
Do other Espers and Guides live like this too? Or was it just this way for assigned, exclusive pairs?
Either way, one thing was clear: he was finally living the life of a proper Guide, much more so than when he was just trailing after Ji-ho.
Unlike before, Ji-ho would now ask for Guiding whenever the opportunity arose.
And Hye-seong, sensing that Ji-ho’s resistance to Guiding had eased, accepted it willingly.
Still, Ji-ho didn’t constantly ask for that—not like he did that one time.
If he had, Hye-seong’s stamina would’ve been completely drained by now.
That night, Ji-ho had been like a different person.
Even as he drifted off to sleep from exhaustion, he clung to Hye-seong’s body—
like he wanted to absorb every inch of skin he touched, kissing and caressing everywhere until Hye-seong’s mind had gone completely blank.
How someone like that had resisted Guiding for so long was beyond belief.
Just remembering it made his ears burn. He shut his eyes tight and gave an involuntary shiver, trying to shake off the memory.
He had to erase it from his mind. After seeing Ji-ho like that, it was like a devil had taken root inside him—it just kept creeping back into his thoughts.
There was no real reason to be so embarrassed, but he wasn’t used to any of this, so it was hard to calm down.
If Ji-ho could read his thoughts…
He was really, really glad Ji-ho didn’t have any mental-type abilities.
“It’s because of the Guiding…”
Espers were beings who constantly craved Guiding.
Even if they didn’t want it themselves, they were biologically evolved to seek it out.
Sometimes, when the need grew intense, they’d act like animals in heat.
It had even become a social problem.
The first time Hye-seong ever saw an Esper like that was… Ji-ho.
After that long, intense night, Ji-ho hadn’t touched him again—aside from his lips.
Everything else had gone back to normal.
The only one feeling awkward was Hye-seong, because it had been his first time with anything like that.
Maybe it was because Ji-ho was so much more experienced and composed, but he treated everything so normally that it helped Hye-seong accept it too.
All he’d done was provide Guiding. Nothing more.
Ji-ho may have lost control temporarily as an Esper, but come morning, he’d viewed it all as just another part of the job.
That was life for supernaturals.
Hye-seong wondered if, once he got used to it, he’d be able to handle things as casually as Ji-ho.
But right now, he had a bigger problem.
How am I ever supposed to repay all this?
All he’d done during his stay was eat, sleep, and provide Guiding to Ji-ho.
Sure, he’d been doing real work—Guiding several times a day until his lips were sore—but he was receiving far more than he was giving.
Well, Ji-ho had broken down his front door, after all.
Still, he’d covered the repair costs and even suggested replacing the broken old lock on the front gate.
Hye-seong had never even thought about fixing it—just quietly put up with the inconvenience.
Once the renovations were done and he returned home, he wanted to give Ji-ho something in return, no matter how small it seemed in comparison.
He’d saved up most of his salary up until now, but he was willing to spend an entire month’s pay if it meant showing his appreciation—because it was Ji-ho.
What kind of gift would be good for him?
He pulled out his phone, intending to look into it.
“I should ask Yoon-sol sunbae too.”
Now that he thought about it, a few days ago, when he contacted Choi Yoon-sol to say he was back at work, he heard something strange.
Apparently, his old roommate Kim Young-woo hadn’t just resigned—he’d been kicked out for causing trouble.
It was kind of terrifying to hear.
Compared to that, what Kim had done to Hye-seong might’ve been just the tip of the iceberg.
Yoon-sol had asked whether Hye-seong had been hurt by him, but all he did was shut his mouth tightly.
After all, Kim had already given him a sincere apology.
And honestly, Hye-seong didn’t want to revisit those humiliating things he’d heard back then.
It was still all a bit murky in his mind.
What the hell really happened… huh?
Just then, he saw a text from the construction company that had arrived while he was asleep that morning.
“Ooh!”
The repairs were finished.
He shot up from the sofa and quickly sent a message of thanks.
It was finally time to go home.
