“He’s seriously lost it─.”
He’s seriously lost his mind.
Swallowing the words that had risen all the way up to his throat, Lim Haeyul took several steps back. Cha Jae-woo was staring at him with an intrigued expression.
Was life getting boring for him lately? Was that why he was acting like this? Was he doing it just to see Haeyul’s reaction? A flood of thoughts rushed through his mind. Whatever the reason, the conclusion was the same: Cha Jae-woo was crazy. And according to Haeyul’s personal philosophy that it was best to avoid crazy people, he began to inch farther away.
“……I should get going.”
“Without eating?”
“I feel like I’ll get indigestion if I eat right now.”
At his brutally honest reply, Cha Jae-woo gave him a baffled look, scanning him from head to toe. But it only lasted a moment before the corners of his mouth lifted into a grin. ……Damn, he’s seriously handsome, but that smile just doesn’t fit. Seeing Cha Jae-woo laugh during a conversation like this felt like a sign of the end times—or at least, from Haeyul’s point of view.
“Then, I’ll be off…….”
“I won’t mess with you anymore. Eat before you go.”
“…….”
So he was messing with him after all? Haeyul’s face instinctively pouted, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice any complaints. Cha Jae-woo still looked thoroughly amused.
“You’ve got plenty of time left, anyway.”
He gave Haeyul’s shoulder a light tap before casually turning away. His relaxed figure, seemingly refreshed after thoroughly teasing his target, quickly disappeared into the distance. Haeyul stood there, frozen, until Cha Jae-woo finally disappeared into the room.
“…….”
His stiff body finally moved a good while after the door had shut.
“Haa…….”
He rubbed his face with his hands and let out a long sigh. Only then did he notice how loudly his heart was pounding. His face still burned with lingering heat, making him acutely aware of how flushed he must look. The thought of having faced Cha Jae-woo looking like a complete red radish made a fresh wave of embarrassment wash over him.
All his strength had drained away since morning. Slouching, Haeyul trudged toward the kitchen. As he moved, the delicious smell of food hit him, and his stomach let out a loud rumble in response. His body felt drained, but apparently, he still had enough energy left to eat.
‘But seriously, what the hell was that?’
Something about Cha Jae-woo’s behavior earlier struck him as too attentive, as if he had an excessive interest in him.
And then there was that word he used—being charmed. That was puzzling too. Could it be that Cha Jae-woo had started taking an interest in him? Was he teasing him because he was curious about him?
Interest, huh.
It wasn’t a possibility he had ever seriously considered before. But once the thought crossed his mind, the behavior Cha Jae-woo had shown up until now suddenly made a lot more sense. No—everything clicked perfectly into place. If Cha Jae-woo had developed feelings for him, all of it was entirely plausible. It was a logical suspicion.
“Ugh…….”
It was just a hypothesis, yet even that alone sent his already racing heart into overdrive. Given that Cha Jae-woo had used the term charmed, it likely indicated that his feelings were something similar to attraction.
Thinking about it that way made Haeyul feel bashful and oddly exhilarated. Well, it made sense, considering he liked Cha Jae-woo. He didn’t know to what extent Cha Jae-woo’s feelings had grown yet, but still—wasn’t this the moment when a one-sided crush began turning mutual?
Honestly, it wasn’t even that far-fetched of an assumption.
Cha Jae-woo had plenty of reasons to fall for him, didn’t he? Seriously, think about it. Not only had he completely stabilized Cha Jae-woo after he came in like a wreck, but he had even protected him when Cha Jae-woo, half out of his mind, had come charging at him.
It wasn’t arrogance—he was being objectively honest. Whether as a Guide or simply as a person, what Haeyul had done back then was seriously cool. Cha Jae-woo had gone through a total shitstorm that he didn’t even remember, and yet the next day, Haeyul had still professionally carried out the Guiding.
Really, when else would Cha Jae-woo have experienced something like that? He didn’t even have a matching Guide before.
Yeah, it had to be true that Cha Jae-woo was starting to develop feelings for him. The more Haeyul thought about it, the more it seemed like the only plausible explanation.
“Hehe…….”
As soon as his thoughts reached that point, a soft, creeping laugh slipped out of him. Just moments ago, he had felt incredibly flustered, but now the laughter kept bubbling up, making him feel embarrassed for an entirely different reason. Still, he couldn’t hold it back.
He didn’t care how the lady would see him, nor what Cha Jae-woo, who was probably still listening in, would think. He didn’t have the mental space to worry about any of that.
The person he liked might like him back. No—correction—might like him back, since nothing was certain yet.
Regardless, it was a happy thought, and that fact alone didn’t change.
***
Even after finishing his meal and catching a ride to school, Lim Haeyul couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. He had never really taken the time to reflect on how he looked while Guiding, but now that he thought back on it, he realized he looked pretty damn cool.
And not just that—what about when he Guided Jung Hyun-soo? Sure, it had been shocking, but even Cha Jae-woo must’ve thought he was impressive and cool. After all, he had successfully Guided a rampaging Esper—of course that was something remarkable.
Besides, Haeyul wasn’t doing some run-of-the-mill Guiding that just involved channeling mana. It embarrassed him to admit it, but his technique was extraordinarily delicate, soothing an Esper’s very waves. That was no small feat. If anything, it was truly incredible. There were plenty of reasons for Cha Jae-woo to start falling for him.
‘But… is this really something to be happy about?’
The happy mood didn’t last long. As soon as they arrived at the school parking lot and Haeyul set foot on the ground, a troubling thought struck him.
No, this wasn’t purely something to be happy about. If anything, it was a serious problem, wasn’t it? He had only grown fond of Cha Jae-woo because of the side effects, but if Cha Jae-woo’s feelings were genuine, then wasn’t that way too complicated?
The realization hit him so hard that he wondered how he had even managed to float around so cluelessly until now. How could he have been so stupid, not thinking of it sooner?
“Ah, so that’s why he said I was being charmed…….”
Now that he thought about it, it seemed like Cha Jae-woo had already figured all of this out. That was why he had said Haeyul was being charmed. Cha Jae-woo knew Haeyul had feelings for him—but he also knew it was because of the side effects.
In the end, maybe what Cha Jae-woo wanted was for Haeyul to genuinely fall for him, not just because of the aftermath of Guiding.
“…….”
Of course, it was still a hypothesis. A hypothesis—but it felt pretty damn close to the truth.
And wasn’t that just unbearably sad? Haeyul now knew for sure: this wasn’t something to be happy about. If anything, he was in a position where he shouldn’t be seen as attractive. It would be a problem if Cha Jae-woo fell for him.
But how was he supposed to avoid that? His thoughts spiraled endlessly. Honestly, he had only done what he was supposed to do—and just happened to look good while doing it. It wasn’t like he could just undo that now.
Haeyul fell into some serious soul-searching. He swore he had never worried about something like this his entire life. But his deep thoughts didn’t last long.
Screeeech─!
“Uwaaah!”
Just as he was about to fully leave the parking lot after getting out of the car, another car suddenly lunged toward him, nearly hitting him.
The brakes screeched as the car jerked to a halt. Haeyul staggered backward, letting out a shriek. Thankfully, he hadn’t actually been hit, but it was terrifyingly close.
;What the hell kind of maniac speeds through a parking lot?!;
As soon as he got his wits back, a surge of anger rushed up inside him. The car door swung open, and the driver stepped out.
“You……!”
“Whoa, shit. That scared the crap out of me. Tto-yul, you okay?”
In a ridiculous twist, it was none other than Kim Geon-ung.
‘Since when the hell did this bastard have a car?’ Wait, wasn’t his license basically useless, too? Where the hell did he get the confidence to drive around like that?
Trying to suppress his wildly hammering heart, Haeyul picked his words carefully.
“Oh? Are you not okay? Did you get hurt? I didn’t hit you though?”
“YOU FUCKING IDIOT!”
But before the words could even form properly, a roar of curses burst out first—and his fist moved even faster than his mouth.
Haeyul swung at Kim Geon-ung, who had approached him without a care. His punch landed squarely on Geon-ung’s shoulder, making him cry out, “Ow!” as he staggered backward.
Not that Haeyul gave a damn—he kept swinging without mercy.
“You think this is a goddamn highway?! I almost fucking died!”
“You were the one charging forward like crazy!”
“Ever heard of brakes? BRAKES?! What, you see someone walking and just slam the gas?!”
“I DID hit the brakes!”
“Maybe you should’ve hit them sooner! Or hell, why not just run me over and THEN stop!”
Why the hell was Geon-ung raising his voice like he was the victim? Enraged, Haeyul screamed even louder, practically shrieking in his face. Geon-ung winced and waved his hands frantically.
“Okay, okay! I get it! I’m sorry! But you’re not hurt, right?”
“Ha…… Yeah, I’m not hurt. But seriously, what the hell are you doing driving around?”
Haeyul didn’t have a license yet, but Kim Geon-ung had gotten his as soon as he turned twenty. That said, he’d practically never driven since then.
Maybe once? There was that one time Geon-ung had rented a car and acted like a hotshot, so Haeyul had climbed into the passenger seat without thinking—only to jump out before they even made it a hundred meters down the road.
Jo Ha-eon and Park Yeon-ho had been there too, and they’d bolted even faster than Haeyul did.
After that disaster, it had been decided unanimously: Kim Geon-ung was never allowed to touch the steering wheel again. They handed over driving duties to Park Yeon-ho, who was at least marginally more competent.
Geon-ung had sulked about it for a long time afterward, whining that he drove just fine and that they were being unfair.
Sure, because almost killing everyone at a young age was totally fine.
But looking at him now, it was clear that he was still caught up in his delusions.
“Noona lent it to me to use today.”
“……Is Yeonju Noona still drunk?”
“Hey, she didn’t lend it to me because she was drunk, okay?”
“She is drunk, isn’t she?”
“……Well, she did come home this morning.”
“Ugh. You seriously took the words of a drunk person at face value? You’re dead meat later.”
“What! She told me to take it!”
Normally, Kim Geon-ung was the more mature one between them, but every now and then, he showed these childish sides. Especially when it came to cars—he was oddly reckless.
Haeyul shook his head as he stared at the blazing red car, a vehicle that perfectly reflected Yeonju Noona’s flashy taste. Then he beckoned to Geon-ung.
“Whatever. Just go park it properly.”
“Yeah. Hey, wait up. I’ll come with you.”
“If you finish parking before class starts.”
“Come on, we still have thirty minutes!”
“Exactly. Thirty minutes. So please get it done before then.”
At his words, Kim Geon-ung puffed up his cheeks and opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue. But Haeyul waved his hand dismissively, cutting him off before he could say anything. If Geon-ung had time to talk, he had time to park the damn car and get to class.
***
In the end, Kim Geon-ung’s parking ordeal took exactly twenty-five minutes.
They had left with plenty of time, but thanks to Geon-ung, Haeyul had to sprint to the lecture hall at the last minute, leaving him no choice but to grab a seat at the very front instead of his usual spot in the crowded back. Geon-ung ended up sitting beside him, too.
“Agh…… I should’ve just come by myself.”
“Hey, what about loyalty? Isn’t that a little harsh?”
“Shut it. Never bring a car here again. No—doesn’t matter. You’re dead anyway. Might as well wish you rest in peace in advance.”
Yeonju Noona liked to drink. And when she got properly drunk, she became the kind of overly positive person who would say yes to anything. Most likely, Kim Geon-ung had managed to borrow her car because she was completely plastered last night.
Once she sobered up…… just imagining it sent a chill down his spine.
Back in the day, Haeyul used to run away the moment he saw Yeonju Noona. She was scary. Though, thinking back, she had just been doting on him in her own way. These days, their relationship was decent. Decent enough, anyway.
Not that any of that mattered right now. What mattered was that today, he was probably going to lose a long-time friend.
“Can you not jinx it?”
“Better brace yourself. It’s not like you didn’t know what you were doing when you took her car.”
“…….”
Kim Geon-ung went silent. Of course he knew.
Haeyul leaned back against his seat with a shake of his head. The chair wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than sitting stiffly upright.
While Geon-ung sat there wordless, probably because of his own impending doom, Haeyul’s mind returned to the much bigger problem he had momentarily forgotten because of the chaos—Cha Jae-woo’s face floated vividly before his eyes.
Ah, seriously, what the hell was he supposed to do?
Both he and Geon-ung fell into deep, heavy thoughts—each for their own reasons.
“Hey.”
Haeyul was the first to break the silence. It was better to have two brains than one, right? Even a sheet of paper was easier to carry together, after all.
“What?”
Geon-ung already had his phone out. Looked like he was panicking after the fact and trying to send Yeonju Noona a long, desperate text explaining himself.
‘Typical bastard.’
Clicking his tongue, Haeyul asked in a composed voice,
“What’s a good way to seem unattractive?”
