He was insane.
That was the only word that came to mind. A man, so breathtakingly handsome it was almost terrifying, was gazing down at Lee Haru.
If it weren’t for the slow, almost imperceptible flutter of his lashes, he could have been mistaken for a sculpture—the shadows cast across his face were so stark and defined.
And those eyes—subtly glistening with melancholy. Though his expression was blank, he seemed like a man carrying dozens of untold stories. Unlike the gloomy air Haru had once radiated, this man exuded a quiet, masculine sorrow that tugged at the chest.
His eyes, tinged faintly with red, were downright hypnotic.
Unconsciously, Haru found himself staring blankly at the man’s face. That was when the man’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
“Come in.”
“Ah, yes.”
The man stepped aside, allowing Haru to enter.
Clutching a modest duffel bag tightly against his chest, Haru stepped past him with uncharacteristically cautious movements.
‘Calm down, heart. Don’t embarrass me.’
His earlobes burned. Haru was struck once again by how helplessly weak he was to a good-looking face.
The man was an S-class Esper. His thundering heartbeat might’ve echoed like a drum in the other man’s ears. He wanted to calm the relentless pounding in his chest, but that was easier said than done.
After taking off his shoes, he stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. The man gestured silently toward a pair of indoor slippers.
“Oh.”
Haru quickly slipped his feet into them and followed behind the man’s broad back.
The possessed Haru’s own quarters were spacious, but this place? It was an outright mansion.
Even after walking for what felt like forever, the corridor just kept going.
Right as Haru was about to open his mouth, breath short from the long walk, the hallway suddenly opened up into a sunlit, expansive space.
“Wow…”
The words escaped before he could stop them.
It was like someone had plucked his ideal interior straight from his mind and made it reality.
A massive sofa big enough to serve as a bed sat in the middle of the room, yet the living space still didn’t feel the slightest bit cramped.
A place so large that children could play soccer indoors.
As he swept his gaze across the room—
He spotted two more men seated like they belonged in a painting.
“There’s two more statues in here…”
They were both stunning, just like the man who had led him inside, but with a distinctly different energy.
One had the dusky blue aura of the moments just before dawn, his expression gentle—but his eyes, when they landed on Haru, were ice-cold.
“This is fucking bullshit.”
The peaceful mood shattered like glass under the weight of the profanity. Haru’s gaze naturally drifted to the source of the voice.
“What the fuck are you looking at?”
There was no question now.
None of the three had any friendly feelings toward the possessed Haru.
Still, the first man who had opened the door to him wore a face impossible to read. The second—while his gaze betrayed him—managed to keep his expression calm.
But this one? The one cursing out loud?
He made his hatred for Haru clear with every inch of his being.
“I asked you what the fuck you’re looking at.”
“Gasp—”
In the blink of an eye, the man who had been lounging on the sofa with his legs crossed suddenly appeared right in front of him.
So fast that Haru’s bangs were blown back from the gust.
Now up close, their eyes locked—Haru’s widened.
Like the others, his irises weren’t the color of a typical Korean. A faint, smoky gray. The kind you’d expect to see on a stage under lights, not in reality. And yet there was no sign of contact lenses—just raw, natural color.
His hair was silver.
Even indoors, with sunlight pouring in, it practically shimmered. Haru’s eyes kept drifting back to it.
‘I want to touch it… but that’d probably get my wrist broken.’
It looked so smooth and silky that the temptation was hard to ignore.
But even Haru, not known for his tact, knew this wasn’t the time.
His body was trembling—just barely, but unmistakably.
Breathing felt like swallowing razor blades.
He’d read this kind of line in a novel once—eyes sharp enough to kill.
He’d always wondered what that meant.
He didn’t expect to experience it firsthand like this.
“Yu Je-hyun. That’s enough.”
“Hahh… Haaah…”
Just as the melancholic-looking man laid a hand on Yu Je-hyun’s shoulder to stop him, Haru’s knees gave out. He dropped to the floor.
He gasped like someone who’d just come up from underwater, chest heaving violently.
“Have you forgotten what happens when an Esper uses force against a Guide?”
“So what, you gonna report me to upper management? Go ahead. I don’t care. If this gives them an excuse to take that bastard away, I’d be thrilled.”
Yu Je-hyun curled his lip in disgust, like he was the wronged one.
Watching him, Kang Min held back a heavy sigh.
None of them had asked for this.
Kang Min didn’t like the situation either.
But that didn’t mean he could sit back and watch someone as overwhelmingly strong as Yu Je-hyun bully someone weaker like Haru.
“Here. Drink some water.”
“…Thank you.”
He had just come back from the brink of death. Lee Haru accepted the glass of water extended to him and soothed the sharp sting in his throat with a few sips.
That alone helped clear his flickering mind, like a faulty light bulb finally stabilizing. After placing the glass down on the table, Haru hesitated and slowly rose to his feet.
Under the weight of three sets of eyes staring straight at him, it felt like his entire body was being perforated.
He figured he’d somehow ended up inside a novel, but since this part didn’t match anything he remembered, he had no idea why these people seemed to loathe Haru so much.
Still, he was already inhabiting Haru’s body. If he didn’t want to be cast out of it, survival was the only option.
His legs were still trembling from what Yu Je-hyun had done to him. A normal person would’ve run for their life by now, but Haru chose to look on the bright side.
‘What’s a possession without some suffering?’
It was rare for someone to land in a new body and start living the good life right away. The true thrill of being a protagonist was overcoming hardship and growing stronger through it.
He tightened his core. The more he inhaled deeply, the more his already slim belly hollowed inward.
Then, just as the air reached the top of his lungs, he greeted them in a booming voice that echoed through the living room.
“Hello! I’m Lee Haru, your newly assigned exclusive Guide! I look forward to working with you!”
He even remembered to bow deeply, folding at the waist in perfect politeness.
When he straightened up again, he was met with the stunned faces of three beautiful men, as if they’d seen a ghost.
Even the man who had kept a gentle smile on his lips until now had gone completely stiff.
It felt like a chill breeze had blown in from somewhere—and Haru was certain it wasn’t just his imagination.
“…That’s enough of an introduction.”
The one to break the silence was Kang Min, the man who had welcomed him at the door.
“As you all know, this is Guide Lee Haru. He’ll be exclusively assigned to Alpha Team 1 from now on.”
“Team Leader, did upper management really make that decision? We clearly expressed our opposition.”
The man with the softer features was the first to object, directly responding to Kang Min.
Haru rolled his wide eyes around, trying to get a handle on the situation.
“For the next six months at minimum, you are to receive guiding only from Guide Lee Haru. Guiding from anyone else is not permitted. If you don’t like it, then tough it out with the machine. Those are your only two options.”
His voice was… beautiful.
Even in this heavy situation, Haru couldn’t help but admire how pleasant the man’s voice was, like it had nothing to do with him.
Strangely enough, just hearing it sent a wave of heat pooling low in his abdomen.
Worried that his body might react inappropriately, he clenched his fists tightly.
“Ah, fuck. You’re telling me we have to get guided by that bastard for a while? Have you all gone insane?”
Thud!
The loud crash jolted Haru in place like a cat that had just had its tail stepped on.
Yu Je-hyun had split the living room table clean in half.
It looked solid enough to withstand a sledgehammer, but it had been reduced to rubble with a casual punch.
“It’s already been decided. If you don’t like it, take it up with the machine.”
Clearly tired of the back-and-forth, Kang Min crossed his arms.
Yu Je-hyun flared his nostrils like a raging bull and shot another venomous glare at Haru.
The whites of his eyes were tinged red now, and despite his handsome face, he radiated a dangerous, violent energy.
Haru realized the atmosphere had to change—fast.
At this rate, Yu Je-hyun looked ready to strangle him.
Even someone as oblivious as Haru could tell this room held no warmth toward him.
Still, every situation could be spun in a positive light if approached the right way.
He beamed, a wide, eye-crinkling smile.
“Thanks so much for the warm welcome!”
His voice burst forth again, bold and energetic, causing another round of silence to settle over the living room.
As Haru stayed bent in a polite bow, unsure of when to straighten up, he just rolled his eyes back and forth while waiting.
“…Did this bastard show up high or something?”
Yu Je-hyun’s dumbfounded voice broke the silence.
Haru, who had been staring intently at the floor’s wood grain pattern, slowly straightened up.
And when he saw the way Yu Je-hyun’s brow was deeply creased, he realized—
He had definitely picked the wrong approach.
