The old man didn’t know that the heart transplanted into Seo Won had an Imprint carved into it. If he had known, he would’ve tracked down the original Imprinter before the surgery. Or he would’ve turned the world upside down looking for a Guide capable of guiding someone already Imprinted.
So, if he had just come clean and kept the heart’s Imprinter close from the beginning, it would’ve saved them all the trouble. But if he had done that, this time he might really collapse clutching his neck and never get back up again. The man had only just regained his strength a year ago—when Seo Won opened his eyes after the transplant.
“He’s just a simple Guide. Is there really any need to meet him?”
“I’m worried he might be pulling something shady.”
The old man’s face, now rigid, held the faintest trace of anger.
“It was a ‘simple Guide’ who seduced your mother. I’d rather not see you end up the same way.”
Seo Won met the old man’s piercing gaze and thought of his mother.
She’d fallen in love with a Guide she met while studying in the UK, abandoning her family and everything else for him.
Or so she thought it was love.
She had no idea that the Guide had only been after her wealth and background—approaching her under the guise of love, all to get her addicted to his guiding.
Seo Won’s naive mother had mistaken the intoxicating effects of guiding for love, and when she finally realized the truth, she was devastated. As soon as her savings dried up, the Guide coldly discarded her and disappeared, leaving no room for doubt.
By then, she was already too far gone—so addicted to guiding that she was beyond help. All that remained was a seven-year-old child who knew nothing but neglect and abuse.
Recalling that time, Seo Won raised his eyes defiantly.
—You should’ve been the one to die.
Those were the first words the old man had said to him on the day he first stepped into this mansion.
Much had happened since then, and the old man no longer looked at him with that same icy stare. In fact, out of everyone in the household, the old man had come to trust Seo Won the most.
But that didn’t mean Seo Won trusted him completely—or had forgiven him.
How could he not resent the man who had turned his back on his gentle mother, who had blindly followed a Guide?
So when the old man brought up his mother like this, acting concerned about him, it made his blood boil. More so than the selfish father he couldn’t even picture anymore. More than that damn unregistered Guide.
“I’ll handle my own affairs.”
Seo Won’s voice was as cold as his stare as he rose to his feet.
“If the only reason you called me here was to talk about my Guide, then I’ll take my leave. This was a waste of time.”
The old man looked up at Seo Won in silence and calmly raised his teacup. Warm, fragrant black tea rippled between his wrinkled lips as he took a sip.
Seo Won didn’t even wait for the man to finish savoring it. He turned on his heel and walked toward the door. Frankly, he wanted to release his ability right then and erase the projection on the spot, but there were too many eyes watching. As much as it annoyed him, he’d just walk out like everyone else.
“Won-ah.”
As Seo Won took a few steps toward the door, the old man, who had just set down his teacup, called out his name again.
“I’m sure I’ve told you this countless times already, but you must never mistake the feeling a Guide gives you during guiding for affection. Don’t let yourself be bewitched by it.”
Seo Won paused mid-step, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Cha Han-gyeom flooded his mind without permission.
He replayed the memory of Han-gyeom’s guiding, recalled the moments their faces were close, and tried to summon the sensation of holding him without any guiding involved.
Not once had Cha Han-gyeom’s guiding contained affection.
Whenever he performed direct guiding, it had always been excessively cold and precise. And when Seo Won had forcibly drawn it in, it had come in raw and scorching, enough to leave his entire body numb. Looking back on that, it was obvious—Han-gyeom had never guided him out of love.
It was exactly what it appeared to be: part of the contract, or a burden driven by guilt over the death of the heart’s previous Imprinter.
Perhaps that’s why Seo Won had been able to accept Han-gyeom’s guiding without resistance. Whether it was due to the influence of the Imprinted heart or not, the emotions that guided the guiding—those were entirely his own.
So there was no way he’d ever mistake Cha Han-gyeom’s guiding for affection.
And the idea of being enchanted by it? Ridiculous.
He had deliberately slept with Han-gyeom multiple times without any guiding involved, only to realize guiding wasn’t all that important to begin with.
Seo Won glanced back over his shoulder at the old man.
“Instead of worrying about nonsense, maybe start thinking about how to live longer.”
With that insolent remark, he strode out the door. As the words “Are you leaving?” echoed in his head, he replied “Open it,” and just like with Ha Tae-soo, the Esper waiting outside obediently opened the door for him.
Once Seo Won was gone, the old man was left alone in the lounge. He stared blankly at the warm tea that Seo Won hadn’t even touched, lost in thought.
Before long, someone abruptly appeared in the lounge.
“Grandpa, I’m here~!”
Flashing a mischievous grin, it was none other than Yoon Jeong-ho.
He’d been staying in the mansion even before Seo Won arrived. He didn’t use his ability until he saw Seo Won’s projection get into the car. If the old man hadn’t warned the staff in advance and temporarily lifted the barrier, every single alarm in the place would’ve gone off the moment Jeong-ho teleported in.
Though he already knew the lounge was empty save for the old man, he still made a show of scanning the room carefully. He’d seen the flower-covered interior plenty of times during his frequent visits lately, so nothing really surprised him anymore.
“So, how did the talk go?”
Jeong-ho plopped down in the seat Seo Won had just vacated and casually reached for the teacup. The still-warm tea flowed into his mouth in place of Seo Won.
“Who knows.”
“What do you mean, ‘who knows’? You haven’t seen each other in a while.”
“Even if it’s been a while, there wasn’t much point in a long conversation.”
The old man looked directly at Yoon Jeong-ho, who, knowingly or not, had been acting as his eyes and ears around Seo Won.
The old man didn’t think Jeong-ho was particularly quick on the uptake—but once he got a sense of something, he was sharper than anyone.
The old man hadn’t missed the particular phrasing hidden in Seo Won’s words.
“If the only reason you called me here was to talk about my Guide, then I’ll take my leave. This was a waste of time.”
My Guide… he’d said.
Seo Won from the past would never have spoken like that.
The phrase “my Guide”—a possessive claim—was the kind of cringeworthy expression only romanticized Espers from the Association used, those hopelessly lost in fantasy.
To say it so casually, to so boldly draw a line and claim a Guide as his own… It struck the old man as a clear sign that Seo Won had already started falling under the sway of guiding.
The warmth and gentleness the old man had once shown toward Seo Won were completely gone from his face now.
What remained was nothing but disgust and contempt toward Guides—and bitter resentment.
The kind of resentment Seo Won himself used to wield back when he kept Cha Han-gyeom under his heel, justifying it with the contract.
“…I knew it wouldn’t work.”
“Seo Won? What wouldn’t work?”
Yoon Jeong-ho glanced at the door Seo Won had just exited through, his eyes round with curiosity. The old man clarified for his sake.
“That Guide. Cha Han-gyeom, wasn’t it?”
He rolled the name around in his mouth, the corners of his wrinkled lips curling upward.
“The moment I said I wanted to meet him, Seo Won looked like I’d said something outrageous.”
“Ah, well yeah! But Grandpa, don’t expect to see him that easily. Seo Won guards that guy like treasure.”
Jeong-ho’s eyes sparkled like a child excited to share a secret.
He’d seen firsthand how Seo Won had been treating Cha Han-gyeom lately.
In the past, there had always been people after Seo Won—especially after he successfully developed a new type of secondary battery. That’s why he mostly kept to the mansion, only sending out projections.
But recently, it felt like that wasn’t the reason anymore. And the root of that change… was likely Cha Han-gyeom.
Seo Won had been throwing all his attention at Han-gyeom lately. Even in the middle of important conversations, he would suddenly excuse himself because of Han-gyeom. He’d let him into his private office—not for guiding, but simply to let him rest in peace.
Every time, Seo Won’s eyes weren’t on Jeong-ho, no matter what they were discussing. They were always fixed on Cha Han-gyeom.
From a young age, Seo Won’s emotions had been desolate and cold—an icy air clinging to him that didn’t match his age. That chill never seemed to thaw, even when he looked at people.
He rarely liked anything, and even those he kept close were treated like property. That was just how he was. Even Jeong-ho himself, despite being family, was never fully trusted outside of their business contracts.
Whether it was people, objects, or deals—Seo Won viewed everything through the lens of gain and loss. He had been taught to think that way by this very old man.
Especially Guides. They were, by definition, contractual tools—easily replaceable, nothing more, nothing less.
That’s how it had always been.
But ever since Cha Han-gyeom appeared, Seo Won began to change.
And now, would he so easily bring the one who had changed him before this calculating old man? Unlikely.
As Jeong-ho recalled the moment Seo Won’s projection left the mansion, the old man smiled and said,
“If he won’t show him to me… then I’ll just have to drag the boy here myself, won’t I?”
