6) Run-away Darling!
Park Woo-jun’s smile curved sweetly, melting like sugar on a warm tongue. His gaze turned even more tender as he casually slipped between Julian and Lee Han-seo, subtly widening the space between them. The motion was as smooth as flowing water, but there was a stubbornness to it too—unyielding, like a boulder that refused to budge.
Julian and Park Woo-jun. Both were attack-type, nature-affinity Espers of the same rank, guided by the same man. Naturally, the media and public had started comparing them with every possible standard—who was stronger, who was more attractive, who looked better standing next to Lee Han-seo.
But unfortunately for Julian, this wasn’t a flashy magazine spread debating who made the prettier pair. The place where the three of them stood now wasn’t for such frivolous judgment. Here, where Lee Han-seo stood as judge and center, Julian Moore—no matter how exceptional he was—didn’t even qualify to stand as Park Woo-jun’s rival.
“You must’ve been exhausted. You should’ve slept more. We could’ve just gone out for breakfast.”
“No way. I can’t just feed Han-seo whatever. Baby, you like it best when I cook for you, right?”
Just like before, Park Woo-jun made sure to raise his voice noticeably here.
“Mmhmm… yeah. Woo-jun’s cooking really is the best…”
Maybe I shouldn’t have enjoyed that pizza Julian brought over so much last night, Han-seo thought, nodding slightly as if agreeing. So this was what he’d been up to—getting out of bed before dawn, sneaking around. Following Woo-jun, who looked practically radiant against a bright floral apron, Han-seo stepped into the kitchen and saw the table fully set. Not just kimchi stew, but rolled omelets, bulgogi, fresh seasonal greens—enough food to make the table legs groan.
Yet for all that, there were only two bowls of rice. Sitting beside Han-seo, Park Woo-jun looked toward Julian—who was clearly unimpressed—and said with a cheerful smile, “There’s bread over there,” as if that settled everything. “You know where the toaster is, right?” The follow-up was the real kicker.
“Baby, come eat! Quick, quick!”
Han-seo knew this over-the-top display was no different from a male peacock flashing his feathers. He kept his head down, pretending not to notice the performative tension, and quietly picked up his spoon.
They’d lived together long enough that Woo-jun’s cooking matched his tastes perfectly. Every bite was delicious despite the heavy atmosphere. Even while Julian sat there sulking, chewing his way through a bag of plain, untoasted bread—no milk, no coffee, just gnawing on it like stale rubber—Han-seo kept quietly eating his rice.
The only thing still on his mind was how Woo-jun had even managed to source all these Korean ingredients at the Berlin HQ, which didn’t even have a full-size supermarket like the Seoul Central Branch.
If Han-seo ever found out that Woo-jun had secretly offered to help out with a few non-U-rank Dungeons in exchange for a rushed food delivery… this peaceful breakfast would end right then and there.
“Han-seo. I want Guiding.”
After forcing down a couple slices of bread, Julian stretched his hand boldly across the table. Without missing a beat, Woo-jun smacked it away, saying, “Oh no, a bug!” Julian’s palm, which had looked like it might hold on for dear life, was swatted aside like a dead leaf in the wind. Even though they were the same rank, Woo-jun’s Guiding condition was far superior. In terms of real capability, Julian didn’t stand a chance.
“That’s kinda weird, don’t you think, baby?”
“Uh? What, what is?”
“It’s not a Dungeon day, and we’re not doing any combat training either. So what kind of idiot tries to get Guiding from someone else’s Guide?”
“Y-yeah… weird… Woo-jun’s right, as always…”
Han-seo, who had been about to scoop some bulgogi with a slice of kimchi, stopped and lowered his head, guilt pricking at him. Ever since that not-so-short conversation with William Brown, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he’d upended his entire life.
S-Class Esper Julian Moore had officially been registered as a Bonded Pair—though not an equal one—under S-Class Guide Lee Han-seo. It wasn’t a standard team setup like with the other volunteers, and Julian wasn’t treated as an equal to Park Woo-jun either.
Julian had become Han-seo’s “Secondary Pair”—a half-partner, with a vague, never-before-seen title that didn’t sit right no matter how you looked at it.
The one who had so fiercely resisted this kind of setup had now changed his stance entirely, and it was all because of that conversation with William Brown.
An old man, limbs torn apart, still alive but writhing in agony. A child clinging to the bodies of their dead parents, face red and swollen with sobs. A nameless young man, dead with eyes wide open, his face frozen in pain.
If he claimed those photos and William’s sharp, merciless words hadn’t shaken him, he’d be lying.
Right after that conversation, Han-seo had shut himself in the Alliance’s archives, poring over every report, every file he could get his hands on. And there, he’d come to a brutal realization.
The world he lived in—the one he thought he knew—was a sheltered, utopian dream compared to what lay outside.
The flood of information had even included details about William Brown’s past.
Even after learning the truth, Han-seo still couldn’t accept the idea that everyone had to follow one extreme solution. That there was only one way, and it had to be this. But if those who had power—real power—could just shoulder a bit more of the burden, even just a little… then the number of lives saved could increase in a real, meaningful way. That much, he couldn’t deny.
And as far as Han-seo knew—and probably everyone else too—there was no one on Earth better at Guiding, no one more powerful or efficient, than himself.
It wasn’t about giving up on Park Woo-jun’s Guiding completely. And it wasn’t about giving Julian what rightfully belonged to Woo-jun.
If it was just about using the extra strength he had… just a little more, for someone else… then maybe that was something he could do.
Han-seo had been marked as a Guide before he even had the chance to think about the future. To him, Guiding had always been useless—except as the one thing that had brought Park Woo-jun into his life.
No matter how many people called him incredible, praised him as a prodigy, it didn’t matter. To Han-seo, his Guiding ability was nothing more than the ball and chain that had tied him to the Esper Affairs Center. A burden. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Lee Han-seo had never once thought of using his ability to protect others or save a world racing toward its own destruction. That had never been his concern.
All that ever mattered was saving one person—Park Woo-jun. That was it.
But maybe… just maybe, he’d reached a point where that alone wasn’t enough anymore.
No matter how perfectly he managed to protect Park Woo-jun, what did it matter if the world they lived in collapsed first? Wouldn’t the end result be the same?
That thought had started to change something in him. For the first time, he wanted to take action. Not just react. He wanted to defend this world—with his own will, with intention.
Accepting Julian under the ambiguous title of “Secondary Pair” was part of that shift.
Of course, it had only happened after he’d received firm assurances on every last condition: that no physical contact beyond a hug would ever happen unless it was a true emergency like a Rampage; that Park Woo-jun would always take absolute priority in Guiding; that no one, in any form—verbal or otherwise—would ever pressure him to break his Imprint with Woo-jun; and that the career advancement contract they’d agreed on would remain unchanged. Only after all of that had been confirmed—down to the last detail—did he allow it.
“Yaaawn… Ugh, why is everyone up so early? We don’t even have training today.”
“Right? Guess that’s the perk of being young—endless energy.”
It was just around the time Han-seo and Woo-jun were finishing up their bowls of rice. The door beyond the kitchen creaked open, and two sleepy figures stumbled out, rubbing their eyes.
They were the A-Class Guides assigned to handle Julian’s primary Guiding.
Since they didn’t have permanent Pairs and their total Guiding capacity was high, they’d been tasked with Julian’s initial Guiding and now shared the same dorm with the trio.
The system was pretty simple: the two A-Class Guides would perform the first round of Guiding to fill Julian’s total capacity, and then Han-seo would step in as the secondary Guide to raise the purity of the waves. It worked out surprisingly well—especially since the two were engaged and didn’t like Guiding other Espers unless absolutely necessary. Doing it together, in tandem, to the same Esper was a setup they could live with.
And it wasn’t just Julian. Sometimes, Espers without Pairs—or even those who had Pairs but were in critical condition—would show up at their dorm like it was some sort of emergency room.
“We thought you two would sleep in. Want to eat?”
“Oh? There’s food left for us?”
“Of course. I hope it suits your tastes.”
Where had Woo-jun gone—the one who just moments ago had been cheerfully pointing Julian toward the bread?
As the two Guides made their way into the kitchen, Woo-jun was already moving. He scooped steaming rice from the cooker, laid out spoons and chopsticks with care, and ladled generous portions of stew into their bowls like it was second nature.
“Tch. Seriously? Being this petty over breakfast?”
“Hmm? What was that? I didn’t catch it.”
Julian grit his teeth in frustration. Woo-jun just smiled, bright as ever.
And right in the middle of that awkward tension, Han-seo leaned back and sighed contentedly.
“Mmm… Baby. Don’t we have dessert? I’m kinda craving fruit.”
Now that he was full, life just felt easy. He was relaxed, even indulgent, throwing out casual requests like someone without a single burden.
“Oh! I’ll wash some strawberries. Hold on!”
Of course, the real issue wasn’t that Han-seo made the request.
The real issue was that someone was always willing to answer it with a smile.
