The moment he heard the words “PR Department,” a shiver ran down Kwon Ho-eun’s spine like Ban Seol-ah herself had returned. Goosebumps prickled along his arms.
“Do you know who’s coming?”
“Everyone.”
“E-everyone?”
Ho-eun’s face drained of all color.
“Wh-what time did you say they’re arriving? Wait—first, I need to change my clothes…”
The news that the PR team was on their way sent Ho-eun into a full-blown panic.
Not only had he failed to recognize the infiltrating anti-government Esper, but as a Guide, he’d gotten hurt. And to top it off, he’d let the target escape.
Just imagining Bae Yeon-woo’s reaction made his mouth go dry.
Grabbing a change of clothes from the rolling rack, Ho-eun made a beeline for the changing room.
Sure, Bae Yeon-woo was intimidating—but what scared him more was letting Do In-ho find out about the shoot like this.
The milk was already spilled, but Ho-eun had planned to hide it until the footage came out—then explain it all. By then, Do In-ho might say something like, “It couldn’t be helped,” and let it go.
But if he got caught now…
“Achoo.”
A chill hit him, and Ho-eun sneezed. His body trembled from the cold.
“Ho-eun, are you okay?”
Ryu Yoon-jae, sitting beside Kim Se-hee, called out to him, trying to calm him down.
“Yoon-jae… you know how that boy-who-cried-wolf story ends?”
“…Huh?”
“Tell them I disappeared with the anti-government Esper.”
“??”
Yoon-jae, clearly baffled by Ho-eun’s nonsense, smacked his arm hard with a loud slap.
“Se-hee is still unconscious. This isn’t the time for dumb jokes.”
His brows drawn together, Ryu Yoon-jae’s face was firm. Only after seeing that expression did Ho-eun finally stop flailing.
Clearly, no one was more shaken right now than Yoon-jae and Se-hee. They hadn’t even been involved in the shoot to begin with. If they weren’t his fellow interns, they would have had no reason to be here at all.
Ho-eun’s eyes drifted to Se-hee, still unconscious. Her face was twisted in pain, like she was trapped in a nightmare.
“This one’s on me. I knew a reporter was coming, so I didn’t suspect anything.”
“I ran into her once too and didn’t realize either. Should’ve questioned the cap…”
Shin Eun-hye, the Chief Secretary, brushed her bangs aside. A flash of anger crossed her usually stoic face.
For someone who prided herself on handling everything flawlessly, this incident was a blow to her pride. She asked Ho-eun to calmly walk her through exactly what had happened so she could untangle the mess.
“The interview was pretty normal. Stuff like ‘What’s your favorite food?’ ‘Do your teammates treat you well?’—honestly, questions that made me wonder if this was even a Guide-related interview.”
“Definitely doesn’t sound Guide-related. Did you feel any energy leaking during broadcast guiding?”
“No… not that I noticed. I might just be really dull when it comes to sensing that kind of thing.”
“And the reporter didn’t touch you or anything?”
“No. No contact at all.”
The interview had been completely ordinary. Unlike how she grabbed Se-hee, the woman hadn’t physically touched Ho-eun at all.
“Anything else unusual?”
“No…”
“She didn’t act like she recognized you from 63 Square?”
“I don’t think she knew I was that Guide.”
While facing off with Ban Seol-ah, Ho-eun had worried she might recognize him. She’d shown hostility toward him before—if she had realized he was the Guide from 63 Square, she probably wouldn’t have let him go this time.
Thankfully, he’d been wearing a helmet back then, and it seemed she hadn’t recognized him. Even when he managed a small act of revenge, Ban Seol-ah had shown no reaction.
“Got it.”
As Shin Eun-hye scribbled in her notepad, her phone buzzed. She picked up.
“Yes. Send them in.”
Feigning disinterest, Ho-eun took a step back—but his ears perked up. Someone was coming.
“The healing Esper’s here.”
“Thank god.”
Ho-eun and Ryu Yoon-jae exchanged a glance, both letting out a sigh of relief as the healing Esper entered the room.
“This way. Her arm was grabbed by the anti-government Esper.”
The Esper checked the bruise left on Se-hee’s arm, as well as the rest of her body for any additional injuries.
“I’ve healed the external damage. Internally, nothing major—at least from what I can tell. But she should get a full examination just in case.”
After healing Se-hee, the Esper frowned slightly, muttering to himself.
“She shouldn’t be unconscious from just this.”
“Don’t lump Guides in with Espers.”
Yoon-jae shut him down cold.
Working in the medical wing, he’d seen plenty of Guides in rough shape. His tone was sharp, and the healing Esper backed off awkwardly and left the room.
“Sorry, Yoon-jae. You got dragged into this mess because of me.”
“No need to apologize. I’m fine.”
Shin Eun-hye was now on the phone again, being told that the teleportation Esper had arrived on-site.
She gave directions to their waiting room. After ending the call, she turned to Ryu Yoon-jae.
“You should get checked, too—just in case.”
Because the case involved anti-government Espers, there was a risk of being targeted again.
They decided to have the teleportation Esper escort everyone back safely. Except for Ho-eun, who belonged to PR, Ryu Yoon-jae and Kim Se-hee were escorted off the set by headquarters staff.
“Dragging me out on a sacred weekend… I will be filing for overtime.”
A familiar voice rang out in the distance, and Ho-eun, who had been slumped over in exhaustion, quickly straightened up.
“Assistant Manager?”
Peeking out into the hallway, he spotted the unmistakable pink hair of Bae Yeon-woo, striding toward them with his usual flair. Without thinking, Ho-eun ran to meet him.
“Assistant Manager!”
But as he got closer, he saw a second figure—Do In-ho—walking behind Bae Yeon-woo, and immediately skidded to a stop.
He ducked into the nearest empty room, heart pounding. He’d thought Yeon-woo had come alone, but Do In-ho was right there. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest as he pressed his hand to it, hiding silently in the dark room.
“…Why am I hiding?”
Even if he’d hidden well, Do In-ho definitely saw him.
Standing frozen in front of the door, Ho-eun ran a hand down his face. He’d chosen to lie. Simple as that. He’d assumed Do In-ho would hate the idea of him doing a filmed shoot. So instead of trying to talk it out, Ho-eun had opted for secrecy.
But that choice came with strings attached—there wasn’t supposed to be an anti-government Esper, or any injury to a Guide.
“Sigh…”
Just as regret started to creep in, there was a knock at the door.
“Can I come in?”
“…Yeah.”
As expected, hiding hadn’t helped.
Do In-ho opened the door, light from the hallway spilling into the dark room. Ho-eun, who’d gotten used to the darkness, squinted at the brightness. Do In-ho stood backlit, his face shadowed.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
His gaze moved slowly over Ho-eun, from head to toe—calmer than usual.
It would’ve been easier if he’d just demanded, “Why’d you lie?”
But instead, Do In-ho kept his lips pressed tightly shut.
Ho-eun sighed inwardly.
Do In-ho likely knew everything that had happened on set already, but meeting him like this—still in costume—only made it more awkward.
“I’m fine.”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I’m okay.”
Ho-eun forced a smile, trying to lighten the mood. But it wasn’t enough to melt the chill coming off of Do In-ho. To anyone else, he probably looked like his usual self—but Ho-eun could tell. Something was off.
He’s mad. I can tell. I had so many chances to tell him, and I kept lying.
Trust was everything in a partnership, and Ho-eun had just shattered it. He’d known exactly what would happen and still chose deception.
“Kwon Ho-eun, come brief us on what happened.”
Bae Yeon-woo, who’d been watching the two of them from the hallway, must’ve picked up on the tension.
He stepped in to break it up and pulled Ho-eun outside.
Normally, those two would’ve been bickering or joking around by now—but today, the air between them was razor-thin.
Even Bae Yeon-woo, who would usually fuss over every little injury, just gave Ho-eun a light pat on the shoulder.
“Anyway, good job on the covert mission. Oh, and for the record—Ho-eun was acting under direct orders from the Chairman. The mission was classified, so only I was told. No misunderstandings, okay?”
He glanced sideways at Do In-ho as he spoke, but the attempt at smoothing things over didn’t seem to work.
“Chairman’s orders, huh…”
Do In-ho muttered in a low voice, grinding his teeth. A faint grrrk escaped from between them.
“Ahem. So where the hell is Nam Woon-soo? We can’t debrief without him.”
Bae Yeon-woo grumbled loudly for show—just as Nam Woon-soo came running down the hallway, hair dripping wet.
“Sorry! The faucet exploded on me.”
As he shook out his wet hair, water splashed onto Yeon-woo. He scowled and tossed a handkerchief from his inner pocket.
“Everyone from PR here now?”
Shin Eun-hye, who’d been quietly observing, naturally joined the conversation.
Once Yeon-woo nodded, she led the PR team into the room with the shattered window where Ban Seol-ah had escaped.
“Let’s check the CCTV footage first. I’m fairly certain they knew we were filming here.”
She handed over a tablet and played a video.
A figure appeared in the prop storage area—Ban Seol-ah.
“There’s likely a portal Esper involved. A portal circle was drawn in the storage room.”
Carrying a laptop bag and pulling her cap low, Ban Seol-ah had walked the set freely.
Because the second shoot was supposed to feature three Guides, there were bodyguards and Association staff all over the place—leaving the hallways oddly empty.
She’d slipped into the designated press waiting room, easily took out the real reporter, and replaced them.
The reporter was eventually found in a cabinet and sent to the hospital.
“After that, she interviewed Ho-eun, and then Se-hee went in.”
When the footage changed, Do In-ho’s brows furrowed.
“What’s this?”
He gestured with his chin at the screen—pointing at the man standing in front of Ho-eun.
