After getting thoroughly lashed with words like a verbal whip, Julian Moore’s sharp demeanor completely collapsed. Like an overripe fruit that had rotted from the inside, he softened all the way through.
But just because he’d quieted down didn’t mean his gaze toward Lee Han-seo had eased. If anything, it grew heavier and more lingering with each passing day. No one told him to, yet he kept gazing at Han-seo with a wistful, almost yearning look, all on his own.
At least he had some basic sense. Whenever Han-seo was with Park Woo-jun, Julian didn’t even hover nearby. He might’ve already crossed the line once, but it seemed he’d finally realized that pushing any further would land him in real trouble with Han-seo.
So instead, his intense and stubborn gazes came pouring out whenever Han-seo stepped out for his few hours of required daily outings.
“…So. That’s him, huh?”
“Yup.”
“Seriously, you…”
“Hm?”
“Forget it. Just eat.”
Han-seo happily devoured a waffle stacked with two scoops of ice cream, his face bright with innocent joy. Lee Hye-soo, who had just returned from back-to-back dungeon expeditions and was finally getting updated on everything she’d missed, could only shake her head in disbelief. It amazed her how he managed to attract such hopeless idiots everywhere he went.
Two tables behind them sat Julian Moore. It was technically their first “encounter,” even though no words had been exchanged. But his unfiltered emotions were practically radiating off him—and so foul that Hye-soo instinctively frowned.
Park Woo-jun, familiar with her abilities, would usually avoid meeting her when his mind was unsettled. Even when he couldn’t avoid it, he’d at least try to rein in his thoughts. It didn’t make much difference—Hye-soo could still pick up on the deepest corners of the subconscious—but at least it spared everyone some discomfort. Julian, on the other hand, had no idea what kind of ability she possessed. He probably assumed she was just some friend of Han-seo’s and wasn’t even trying to filter his mind.
He was thinking about locking Han-seo up and getting Guiding from him whenever he pleased. Or how he wanted to ruin that bright, smiling face Han-seo was showing to someone else—some random stranger he’d never seen before.
Hye-soo recoiled, appalled, as she picked up on Julian’s thoughts—how even that simple, innocent hug Guiding had felt incredible. And now he was fantasizing about how euphoric it would be to invade Han-seo completely, to dominate him inside and out, experiencing the Guiding from within. She shuddered, reaching out and snatching Han-seo’s hand without thinking.
“Hey, hey. Give me just a little Guiding. Just a little bit.”
“Wow, you said you didn’t need any.”
Maybe he’d gotten a little sulky from being brushed off all the time—Han-seo pouted a bit before quietly sending a stream of Guiding her way. Julian, watching from behind, reacted with another storm of unclean thoughts—but Hye-soo no longer cared. Now that her Guiding need had been met, she could control her ability properly again.
“But seriously… if he keeps that up, he’s really gonna do something.”
Hye-soo lowered her voice to a whisper, already aware that Julian understood Korean just fine. She wasn’t joking—she was genuinely concerned.
Plenty of Espers had hit on Han-seo before. He was an S-Class Guide, after all. But in Korea, he and Park Woo-jun were so publicly acknowledged as a Bonded Pair that no one dared to be this brazen. Sure, even if a few creeps did show up, Han-seo never let anyone throw him off balance. That was one of the things that made him so impressive—he always stuck to his pace and handled things his own way.
Still, Julian’s gaze was too much. It dripped with raw desire—far beyond what could be written off as just “affection.” The fact that Han-seo could brush off that kind of creepy look so casually was… honestly awe-inspiring, in a terrifying sort of way.
“Even if he tries something, what can he do?”
Han-seo replied with a lazy snort, like it was no big deal. Hye-soo blinked, momentarily stunned.
He calmly continued talking as he broke off pieces of the ice cream-drenched waffle.
“You know I got that broken skill now. Doesn’t matter how powerful an Esper he is—if I drain all the Guiding out of him, he’s done. Damn, this is good. Should we order another?”
At least he wasn’t spouting some deluded nonsense like Woo-jun’s stronger, he’ll protect me, or he likes me, he wouldn’t hurt me. That was a relief.
Hye-soo didn’t know whether to praise him for being realistic or scold him for being careless. But he had a point. Unless a Guide with the same purity—or miraculously higher purity—than Han-seo appeared out of nowhere, there wasn’t a single Esper out there who could hold their own against him. Sure, it was useless against monsters. But against Espers? Han-seo was practically a natural weapon now.
“Are you seriously just gonna sit there being that naive? He’s a ranged type! What if he attacks you from a distance—no contact needed!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just leak a little Guiding here and there. Tease him a bit. He’ll come crawling all on his own.”
“…”
It was a cocky, almost arrogant declaration—that no Esper could resist the pull of his scattered Guiding. Hye-soo was so dumbfounded she couldn’t even speak.
What made it worse… was that he might not be wrong.
Lee Hye-soo barely held back the sigh climbing up her throat. Why was this kid always so recklessly confident? No, that wasn’t quite it—he wasn’t entirely thoughtless. He did have a plan… sort of.
One guy was annoyingly overconfident, the other suffered from a chronic lack of it. Together, they kind of balanced each other out. Maybe between the two of them, they added up to one functional person. The moment she pictured Lee Han-seo and Park Woo-jun standing side by side, her emotions tangled in a confusing mess.
“Wrap this up as soon as you can. The way he looks at you, and the crap leaking out of his head… No wonder Park Woo-jun’s stressed out.”
“Yeah, that’s the tricky part. I already signed off to be Julian’s temporary Guide until we find someone with a higher Matching Rate. I’ve been helping them scout, but so far—nothing. Not even close.”
“Obviously. He hasn’t even been here a year. If a high match were that easy to find, why do you think we all went through hell for so long?”
“I don’t know. Just because there wasn’t one in the U.S. doesn’t mean there isn’t one in Germany. And anyway, he’s only into me because I’m his Guide, right? Once his real Pair shows up, he’ll ditch me on his own.”
“Hmm…”
Hye-soo left the rest unsaid, sipping her coffee. That might’ve been true when Julian first got interested in Han-seo—but from what she was picking up now, that wasn’t the whole story anymore. He seemed completely tangled in that cliché mindset of You’re the first person who’s ever treated me this way, flailing around in it like he couldn’t breathe. No one had asked him to wrap himself up in it, but he’d done it anyway—and tightly. That kind of self-inflicted mess? Honestly, a talent in its own right.
“Oh! I’m out of time. Noona, I gotta run. See you next time!”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve got money—buy me something good next time.”
“Tch. Waffles are the best, though. Fine, I got it. I’m leaving!”
Hye-soo gave a limp wave toward Han-seo’s round little head as he dashed out of the café. She was skeptical—very skeptical—that some miraculous Guide, the kind who could pop up out of nowhere and completely rewrite a person’s personality, would actually show up now of all times…
“Ugh, whatever. He’ll figure it out.”
This was Lee Han-seo, after all. If the sky collapsed and there wasn’t a single hole to crawl into, he’d just dig his way out with a damn excavator. Her doubts? Probably pointless.
***
The very next morning—
Bleary-eyed, Lee Han-seo groaned as his phone rang nonstop, finally answering with a sleepy, irritated voice.
“Huh? C-Could you… sorry, could you say that again?”
The thing they’d all thought was impossible… actually happened.
— “Ah, yes. We ran a G-Test using DNA samples and found a Guide with a very high Matching Rate with Esper Julian Moore. We tried contacting Mr. Moore directly to request a visit to the lab, but he hasn’t picked up. Would you be able to pass the message along?”
“O-Of course! I’ll bring him in right now!!”
The Guide they’d been searching for all this time—Julian Moore’s ideal match—had finally been found.
