Hyun Tae-oh dragged Kang Chi-yu upstairs by the wrist, shutting off every wall-mounted camera with his ability as they passed. Without hesitation, he pulled him straight into his room.
The moment the door closed, Tae-oh pushed Chi-yu against the wall. Even then, his hand slipped behind Chi-yu’s head to shield him from hitting it—rough in action, but unexpectedly gentle in touch.
Tae-oh tilted his head and leaned in, lips just about to press against Chi-yu’s—when Chi-yu suddenly turned his face away. Tae-oh froze. A flicker of hurt crossed his face before he smothered it down.
“What are you doing…?”
Chi-yu’s mutter sounded more guilty than angry, unsettled by how deliberately he’d avoided him.
“Guiding.”
“Do it with your partner.”
“Chi-yu.”
“I just guided Esper Yoon Do-jae. I’m drained. I can’t do it with you right now.”
“Then why the hell did you guide him in the first place?”
“Because he’s my partner.”
“You think I busted my ass to get you guiding rights for nothing?”
“Jun-hyung’s good at guiding. Among A-ranks, his wave stabilization is especially clean….”
“Fuck. Do you really have to shove me onto someone else like that?”
Tae-oh’s brow furrowed as he spat the words out.
Chi-yu’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean ‘shove you onto someone’? He’s your partner, that’s all….”
“So what—you want me to go to Guide Lee Jun-hyung, is that it?”
Though Tae-oh had said it himself, the implication that he might actually do it made Chi-yu’s chest seize coldly.
Just imagining Tae-oh holding hands, even kissing, with another Guide—especially with his own friend Jun-hyung—made bile rise in his throat. It was unbearable. Could he really let Tae-oh go if it felt this wretched?
When he’d moved out and even changed his phone number, he’d thought maybe he could. But now… it felt heavier, harder. Maybe it was that damned Stage 3 Guiding.
If he’d never tasted it, he wouldn’t know what he was missing. But now he had—and he didn’t want to share it with anyone. He only craved more.
Chi-yu closed his eyes tight, then slowly opened them. Tae-oh’s dark eyes were waiting, swirling with emotions that didn’t suit him—anger, sorrow, unease, anxiety.
“You really wouldn’t care if I did those things with someone else?”
Chi-yu almost shook his head instinctively but forced himself not to. He’d started this. Denying it now would be ridiculous. So instead of a denial, he made an excuse.
“Look, this is still filming. It’s a contract. We have to stay with our assigned partner every week. And what, am I supposed to say no just because I’ve got guiding rights? That’d be ridiculous. You Espers need Guiding, and if your partner won’t do it, another Guide has to. There are only three of us here.”
“……”
“If one Guide refuses, the others have to make up for it. So the most efficient thing is for each of us to stick with our partner….”
“So you really don’t care if I get guided by Lee Jun-hyung or Min Yu-hyun.”
“……”
“And you’ll just keep guiding Beom Do-il or—fuck—even Yoon Do-jae.”
The curse-laced words hung heavy. Tae-oh exhaled hard, stepping back.
“So that’s all I am to you.”
He let out a humorless laugh, dragging a hand through his hair. The sleek strands lifted and fell across his forehead, softening his features and making him look almost boyish.
“I was planning to be with you forever. But to you, I’m just a friend.”
…What?
Chi-yu frowned in confusion.
Tae-oh dropped his gaze, rubbing his face with one hand, sighing again.
“Tae-oh….”
“I like you.”
Chi-yu’s heart plummeted. Heat raced through him at the sudden confession. For a second, he wondered if he’d misheard.
“No… I should say it right. I love you.”
“…Wh-what? All of a sudden…!”
“Yeah. It’s a shock. It probably confuses the hell out of you.”
Chi-yu’s wide eyes trembled. Tae-oh held his gaze firmly, unwavering.
“But the truth is—I’ve loved you for a long time.”
Jun-hyung’s counseling had pushed Tae-oh into this—straight ahead, no hesitation.
This was the same guy who barely even seemed to grasp the meaning of the word love. And now he was saying he’d loved him for years.
Chi-yu remembered when Tae-oh had asked if he wanted to “date, as friends.”
“How could we even date?”
He’d thrown the words out like it was obvious. And now, he was overturning them, throwing Chi-yu’s heart into chaos.
“So what I mean is….”
“You’re the one who said not long ago we couldn’t date.”
Chi-yu cut him off sharply.
“…That was because I….”
“Why are you suddenly like this? What’s gotten into you?”
Was he serious? Was this real? Everything felt muddled.
“No sudden change. I just realized I was wrong about how to keep you forever.”
“……”
“I was too stupid. Friendship isn’t enough. I hate the thought of you with anyone else—flirting, dating. And I’d rather die than see you leave me.”
“……”
“I know you don’t feel the same. But I can’t just be friends anymore, Chi-yu.”
Chi-yu’s eyes widened even more.
Doesn’t feel the same? What a joke. From the start, he was the one who hadn’t seen Tae-oh as just a friend.
He’d been trying to push those feelings down now, sure, but the truth was he’d left “friend” behind long ago. Tae-oh had stayed still, while Chi-yu had run ahead alone, convinced he was special, only to be crushed when he realized he wasn’t. That was why he’d left so abruptly.
But now Tae-oh was saying he wanted to run with him. That he loved him.
If it were true, it would be everything he wanted. But twenty years of knowing Tae-oh told him not to take it blindly.
Then Min Yu-hyun’s face flashed in his mind—the scandal, the sight of him leaving Tae-oh’s house.
He needed answers first.
“You and Guide Min Yu-hyun… there’s nothing between you, right?”
It felt random to bring it up now, but he needed clarity.
After all, the reason he’d decided to give up on Tae-oh hadn’t been just because Tae-oh saw him as a friend, but because it seemed Min Yu-hyun might be special too.
Tae-oh’s expression twisted with pure outrage.
“What?! What the hell would I have with him?!”
The genuine anger eased some of Chi-yu’s worry. He pressed on.
“But I saw you holding his hand while teleporting.”
“What? Me? When?? Why the fuck would I hold that bastard’s hand?!”
“…After the PairBorn special, in the lounge….”
Chi-yu trailed off. Tae-oh blinked, then suddenly lit up.
“Oh! The pen. We were holding a pen. Classified work.”
A pen. Right. He’d only assumed it was hand-holding. From afar, it could’ve looked like that.
And Tae-oh wasn’t the type to lie about something easily checked. Which meant it was a misunderstanding.
“…Then what about your house?”
“My house? What about it?”
“I saw Guide Min Yu-hyun leaving it.”
Tae-oh’s eyes nearly popped.
“What?! That bastard, at my house?! Unless a monster ate his brain, there’s no way he’d dare—oh!”
He stopped mid-rant, realization dawning.
Chi-yu’s chest clenched coldly—but eased again at Tae-oh’s quick explanation.
“No, no. That was a top-secret order. The Department Head brought Min Yu-hyun in by teleport. He wasn’t alone, I didn’t invite him, and they left right after the classified briefing.”
So it had been nothing.
That day—if he’d asked Tae-oh directly, it would’ve cleared up immediately.
But his timidity, his low self-esteem around Tae-oh, had stopped him. And he knew—even if he went back, he probably wouldn’t have had the courage to ask.
“…And the scandal photos?”
“Don’t get me started on that shit. I wanted to kill everyone at that damned station, but the Bureau Chief—”
Tae-oh ranted furiously. Chi-yu couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
Tae-oh stopped mid-sentence, staring at him. His gaze lingered, heavy, sweeping across Chi-yu’s face.
Flustered by his own laugh, Chi-yu pressed his lips together and glanced away.
“…So you misunderstood?”
The quiet weight in his voice stabbed into Chi-yu’s chest. There were too many meanings in that word.
“…Not exactly a misunderstanding….”
Chi-yu turned away, but Tae-oh’s hand caught his chin, turning his face gently back.
Pinned against the wall, his lips were suddenly just inches from Tae-oh’s. Chi-yu swallowed hard. Tae-oh’s throat bobbed in response.
“Chi-yu.”
His voice was low, rough, achingly deep. It sent shivers racing through Chi-yu’s stomach.
“…Yeah.”
His throat felt tight; he had to force the word out.
“I meant it when I said I can’t be friends anymore.”
“……”
“I’m not letting you go. Whether it’s dating, marriage, imprinting—I don’t care. If it means keeping you, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Chi-yu’s lips trembled.
It was everything he’d ever wanted. The words, the feelings. He hadn’t expected it like this, but it was real.
His heart thundered, his face burned. He couldn’t look at him.
“I know I can’t ignore your feelings.”
But his feelings didn’t matter. He was already drowning in Hyun Tae-oh.
“So I thought about it a lot.”
Thought about it? For Chi-yu, the answer was simple. If Tae-oh said, let’s date, he’d say yes instantly. Tae-oh was already everything. And now he knew Min Yu-hyun wasn’t an obstacle, and Tae-oh loved him too—what reason was there to refuse?
“I’ll win you over.”
If Tae-oh wanted to court him—of course, he’d… Wait. Court?
Chi-yu’s eyes shot to him.
He’d expected let’s date. Instead, Tae-oh said, I’ll seduce you.
“I’ll keep at it until you fall for me.”
Even though Chi-yu’s heart was already more than halfway gone. Maybe completely.
But this idiot, hopeless at feelings, didn’t even think to just say let’s date.
Chi-yu glared at him in exasperation.
All Tae-oh had to do was ask, and Chi-yu could finally move past “childhood friend” and become his lover. But instead, he ruined the moment with this nonsense.
There was no way Chi-yu could just blurt out, Forget that, let’s just date right now. So he only stared at him in silence, eyes full of frustration.
“I’ll make you want to date me.”
Yes. That was all he could do—look at this clueless idiot with utter exasperation.
“…So, can I at least rub our lips together?”
Freakin’ finally! Let’s gooo!