Then, the grip on my hand tightened.
“…Who’s Je-ha?”
Ah.
That voice wasn’t Je-ha’s. It was someone else.
I blinked a few times in confusion, and my vision finally cleared.
In front of me, now sharp and focused—was Ra Ho-yeon.
Ra Ho-yeon was sitting beside the bed I lay in, holding my hand like it was some precious jewel.
“…Huh?”
What the hell?
Was I still trapped in a dream?
“Sorry, I mistook you for someone else. Well then, goodbye.”
I turned my head away and shut my eyes again, but Ra Ho-yeon gently turned my face back toward him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I grumbled, and Ra Ho-yeon frowned.
“…Your eyes are open, but judging by how out of it you seem, I guess you’re still in pretty bad shape.”
“Yeah. I’m really sick right now. Hurts like hell.”
Huh. Why am I talking like this?
All I did was run out of guiding energy, but the words just kept tumbling out of my mouth unfiltered.
Doesn’t matter anyway, does it?
My mind, hazy with fever, barely managed to form a thought.
It all feels like a dream anyway. So what if I say what I want? It’s not like anyone’s gonna hold it against me.
Once I’d made peace with that in my head, I felt oddly relieved.
There’s no way this was real. Before I passed out, Ra Ho-yeon and the rest of Secreti had looked pissed.
There’s no way those egg-white Espers would come check on me or take care of me. That just wasn’t happening.
So this had to be a dream.
Maybe I’d even said that out loud, because the crease between Ra Ho-yeon’s brows deepened. He almost looked… pained.
Yep. Definitely a dream. Ra Ho-yeon was an insufferable bastard in real life.
“…This isn’t a dream. And now I know exactly what you really think of us.”
He pressed his fingers hard into his brow, trying to smooth it out, and I giggled.
“Dreams are great, huh? You can say whatever you want, no filter.”
“I told you—it’s not a dream.”
“Yeah, right. Don’t lie to me, Ra Ho-yeon. Or should I say, my subconscious? Either way, it’s a pathetic dream. One where you guys are taking care of me.”
I babbled on, feeling the cool, damp towel on my forehead.
“When I wake up, there’ll be no one around. I’ll drag my fevered, barely moving body out of bed just to eat alone. Secreti’s bratty little Espers don’t respect me. Probably don’t even realize I’m sick. That’s just how they are.”
“……”
“They’re definitely just leaving me to rot.”
Maybe I’d gone too hard. Ra Ho-yeon’s face darkened with guilt.
Still, he didn’t let go of my hand. Thanks to that, I felt like I was regaining maybe 3% of my energy. Not much, but something. My body still burned and ached, though.
“Anyway, what are you doing here? This is reverse guiding, you know. If you stay like this, I might just drain you dry. Like a mosquito.”
I was trying to scare him off. But instead of backing off, Ra Ho-yeon’s frown vanished—and he lit up.
“Wha—what?”
“I was actually helping you?”
The usually composed Ra Ho-yeon suddenly beamed like a kid, and I stared at him, baffled. And yet, my mouth obediently replied.
“Uh… yeah. Thanks to you, I was able to wake up. I passed out because I ran out of energy.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Ra Ho-yeon smiled softly and kept holding my hand, going along with the reverse guiding. By now, he had to be feeling the flow of reverse guiding. It was weird that he didn’t pull away.
“What—what are you doing? Let go. You don’t even like me.”
“…That’s not true. If anything, I was the one who disliked you. I was the one who ignored you and did nothing.”
“…Did you hit your head or something?”
What the hell was up with him? Was he drugged or something?
Even while I thought that, the reverse guiding was steadily working, and I could feel my body getting a little lighter.
That’s when I realized—something wasn’t right.
“…This isn’t… a dream? No way.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? It’s not a dream.”
“But this… this isn’t possible.”
“…We’re the ones who were in the wrong.”
Before I could process that, the rest of the members showed up.
“He’s still not awake—oh!”
Shin Tae-boem burst into the room holding an ice pack and a freshly wrung towel, and pointed at me.
“You’re awake?!”
“Put that finger down. And what’s with the whole out-of-character act?”
Wait, Shin Tae-boem was the one who put the towel on my head?
That wasn’t even the biggest shock.
Cha Si-yoon walked in with a fever reducer for ability users and lit up as soon as he saw me.
“You’re awake, Yu-jin hyung.”
Cold and stiff like a porcelain doll, Cha Si-yoon actually teared up.
“I was really worried. Your fever spiked out of nowhere, and even the special fever reducer didn’t work…”
“Well, yeah. This is a side effect Guides get when their internal energy completely runs out.”
At my words, Cha Si-yoon quickly pulled out his phone and took notes.
“I didn’t know. I’ll make sure to record this and be ready in case it happens again.”
…Okay, that’s a bit much.
Ra Ho-yeon added more info to help him out.
“I heard reverse guiding works in cases like this. Yeon Yu-jin said so himself. That’s why I held his hand. It probably helped him wake up.”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll mark that in bold.”
Right in front of me, the baby Espers were now keeping an observation log on me.
“Knock it off.”
Even as I said that from my sickbed, they didn’t listen. Not even a little. Cha Si-yoon stared at Ra Ho-yeon holding my hand and asked,
“Ho-yeon hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I can handle the reverse guiding. Want to switch?”
“I’m still fine. I’ll stay a bit longer.”
“You should leave this kind of thing to your dongsaeng. You haven’t even had dinner. You must be starving. Go eat something.”
“I heard intermittent fasting is good for you. Skipping dinner’s fine.”
It felt like sparks were flying in the air—an invisible standoff. Meanwhile, the second I heard them talk about food, a powerful hunger hit me.
Grrrrrgle.
My stomach roared like a damn ship horn, and my face flushed red. I thought they’d tease me. But surprisingly, all three of them looked at me kindly and asked,
“Are you really hungry?”
“Hyung, think you can sit up and eat some porridge? I’ll help you.”
“There’s some porridge in the kitchen. Seo Yoon-chae made it. You should eat that for now.”
“…Huh? Seo Yoon-chae did?”
Why were they all being so nice?
And Seo Yoon-chae, cooking in the kitchen?
Isn’t that how you burn the whole place down?
While I was still confused, Ra Ho-yeon touched my forehead and frowned. Still hot, apparently.
“Doesn’t look like you can get up.”
“No, I can at least crawl or—”
“Want me to carry you to the kitchen?”
“…Okay, now I’m getting scared. What the hell is this? Did you all take something? Like, as a group?”
Even though my fevered body wouldn’t move well, the chill that ran down my spine had me pressing up against the wall in horror. All three of them looked hurt.
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s not like that, hyung.”
“We’re just trying to make it up to you.”
Unexpectedly, Shin Tae-boem was the one who gave the clearest explanation.
“You’re taking care of me because you feel bad?”
Ra Ho-yeon answered on everyone’s behalf.
“…Yeah.”
The way he hung his head made it obvious he knew they’d messed up.
What kind of change of heart is this?
It’d only been two, maybe three hours since I passed out.
Yet the baby chick Espers somehow looked worse off than me.
Still dazed, I slowly got up on my own. The reverse guiding was working automatically now, and Cha Si-yoon and Shin Tae-boem had grabbed onto my other arm to help.
The three Espers, without anyone telling them to, watched me anxiously and moved carefully, making sure I didn’t fall.
“Let go.”
“What if you collapse again, hyung?”
Cha Si-yoon refused to let go, treating me like I was on death’s door.
Unreal. The moment my energy comes back, I’ll be totally fine. Why were they acting like this?
“…Even a snail would crawl faster than this.”
I tried shaking them off, but they clung to me like glue.
I gave up and dragged my feet like a snail toward the kitchen, where Seo Yoon-chae stood frozen in a polka-dot apron. He quickly fumbled for a bowl and began scooping porridge.
“You’re… you’re hungry, right? I made porridge, so eat up, Yeon Yu-jin.”
The kitchen was intact. Even smelled amazing.
He handed me a warm bowl of vegetable porridge. Sprinkled with sesame seeds on top—it actually looked really good.
Next to it was a little soy sauce dish shaped like a cat’s face, filled with savory shredded beef jangjorim and some nicely chopped radish kimchi.
I swallowed hard and looked at Seo Yoon-chae.
“…You know how to cook?”
“Ahem. I-it’s easier than I thought. Didn’t take long, either.”
Looks like the rich boy’s discovered a hidden talent.
I poked at the porridge with my spoon and asked,
“…Is this actually good?”
“I think it’s edible.”
Of course he’d say that. But the moment I took my first bite—my eyes widened.
This is insanely good.
It wasn’t just because I was hungry. The porridge was phenomenal. I thought a pampered rich boy would suck at this kind of thing, but… damn. I was floored.
I devoured the bowl like a man starved and, before I knew it, blurted out:
“Give me more.”
“It’s good?”
“You shouldn’t be an idol. You should’ve been a chef.”
Seo Yoon-chae laughed heartily and gave me the rest of the porridge.
“Finish it. Don’t leave a drop.”
“…Okay.”
I cleaned that bowl down to the last grain like I was licking it.
While I was eating, Seo Yoon-chae heard about the reverse guiding and promptly latched onto my other arm with Ra Ho-yeon.
I debated telling them to stop, but… four Espers offering me their energy? No reason to refuse. It was more efficient this way, anyway.
My fever was going down, and my body was finally starting to feel light.
Even after all that porridge, I was still hungry. So I asked Secreti:
“Can we order pizza?”
High-calorie. I needed something high-calorie.
