“Huh? What’s going on? Why are you here alone? Where’s Ho-yeon?”
The hospital room door swung open without hesitation. Inside, Choi Jae-won sat by himself, casually flipping through a book. He was surrounded by a ridiculous mountain of shoujo manga, reading them like he was on a mission. Without even glancing up, he muttered, “He said he’s stopping by the lab for a bit.”
Unbelievable. His older cousin had just walked in, and this punk couldn’t even bother to look up? Han-seo almost smacked the back of his head on instinct—but stopped when he noticed the hospital gown still draped over Jae-won’s otherwise perfectly healthy-looking body.
The Research Director had managed to delay her presentation to the very end of the conference, which was the best she could do before flying back to Germany. Fortunately, Ryu Ho-yeon had woken up just in time.
As always, Park Woo-jun had immediately been dragged off to another dungeon, and rumor had it Ryu Ho-yeon would be getting formal mission assignments starting this week, thanks to his combat training record. Once Ho-yeon got busy, Jae-won’s lazy days would be numbered too. With that in mind, his smug little face—usually irritating—actually looked kind of pitiful.
Han-seo rummaged through the plastic bag dangling from his hand and began unloading snacks onto the small table. When he split a pair of wooden chopsticks with a loud crack and offered them, Jae-won visibly flinched like he’d just witnessed a crime.
“Tteokbokki? Where the hell did you get this? Don’t tell me it’s from one of those sketchy street stalls. Hyung, does Aunt even know you eat garbage like this?”
“What did you just say, you little—?”
He’d forgotten for a second. Unlike Han-seo, who’d been on his own since he was fifteen and had tasted every delivery menu in the city, this brat had probably never eaten anything outside of a three-star gourmet restaurant. Still had that spoiled chaebol palate, untouched and untested.
“This place happens to be Ho-yeon’s favorite, okay? They don’t even do delivery, so I went in person. Just say thank you and eat it.”
“You should’ve led with that. So, what’s the name of the place?”
“Tch. Ungrateful little shit.”
Moments ago, Jae-won was acting like the food would kill him, and now he was fussing about letting it get cold, insisting they wait for Ryu Ho-yeon. As if Han-seo was going to fall for that.
“Shut up and eat,” Han-seo said, jamming a piece of tteokbokki straight into his cousin’s mouth.
The poor kid’s eyes widened in shock. There was no way he’d been prepared for the face-melting spice level—this place was notorious for it. His pupils practically screamed betrayal.
“What the hell?! Is this even food?! My stomach’s already on fire!”
“Yup. Your precious Ho-yeon hyung downs that stuff like candy.”
“Tsshhh… Hold up. I think there’s milk in the fridge…”
Knew it. Han-seo cackled wickedly as he kept shoveling tteokbokki into his mouth. Jae-won, stubborn as always, refused to give up. He kept trying to adapt to Ho-yeon’s tastes—painfully chewing through tiny pieces like it was some kind of endurance test. The sight was honestly hilarious.
“Oh right. That Esper you’re paired with—Park Woo-jun.”
“What the hell kind of tone is that? ‘Your Esper’? Park Woo-jun?”
It had been nearly two months since they’d even seen each other because of the combat simulation, and that’s how he referred to him? What a warm, respectful greeting.
“Okay, then what should I call him?”
“Ho-yeon thinks you’re a decent guy, you know. If you don’t want me to beat the manners into you, call him Team Leader.”
“Fine, fine. I was talking about Team Leader Park Woo-jun.”
“Team Leader-nim.”
“Yeah, yeah. Team Leader-nim. Happy?”
“Good enough.”
Sure, people talk trash behind others’ backs—but doing it in front of Lee Han-seo? About Park Woo-jun, no less? That was a one-way ticket to getting your ass handed to you. Han-seo gave his pretty boy cousin a sharp look, silently daring him to say something stupid. One wrong word, and he’d whack him right then and there.
“Honestly, I used to think he was kind of slow. Like… kind of an airhead. Team Leader Park, I mean.”
“Slow? Are you asking to die?”
“God, will you let me finish?”
Han-seo slowly lowered his threatening chopsticks. Fine. He could decide whether to kill the kid after hearing him out.
“Anyway. I always thought he was just this guy who smiled no matter what—like, nothing fazed him, right? But when shit got real, he was scary as hell.”
“Scary? Him? Are you sure we’re talking about the same Park Woo-jun?”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s S-Class, so of course he’s good in combat. But this one time in the dungeon—right near the end—someone tried using Touch-Free Guiding on him. And he just froze, turned around, and stared at the Guide. Didn’t say a word. Just looked.”
“……”
Nope. Killing a valuable source of information would be a global loss. Even if this punk still didn’t know how to say Team Leader-nim properly, Han-seo decided to cut him some slack and keep listening.
It all made sense now. There were always a few bold idiots who’d poke at what they couldn’t have—especially when they knew someone was already in a Bonded Pair with an Imprint.
“Man, even with the visor on, the tension was intense. I’ve never seen Espers freeze up like that. It was worse than when a monster showed up, I swear.”
“Mmhm, mmhm. My poor baby cousin’s mouth still on fire, huh? Here, have a shrimp tempura. So? Do you know who the Guide was?”
“I dunno. A Guide for some A-Class healing Esper that got paired recently. Don’t remember the name. But like… was it really that big a deal? From an Esper’s side, isn’t any Guiding a good thing?”
Wow. Spoken like a true civilian with zero clue about what an Imprint means. Han-seo was tempted to launch into a lecture on the sacred boundaries of a Bonded Pair, but instead, he stuffed another tempura into the kid’s mouth and let it go.
Ryu Ho-yeon and Choi Jae-won’s Matching Rate was barely high enough to qualify them as a Pair—talking about an Imprint was laughable. Bringing it up would just be a waste of breath.
Just like a Guide with an Imprinted Esper could still technically guide others, an Esper with an Imprinted Guide could also receive Guiding from someone else. But the efficiency was so poor it was practically useless—and in most cases, it felt downright repulsive to the Esper. So no, there was absolutely no reason to do it.
“I’m heading out.”
“Hyung, Ho-yeon’ll be here soon. You’re not gonna wait for him?”
“Nah. Something came up. You two enjoy the food.”
Figures. Things had been too quiet lately. As Han-seo stormed out of the hospital room, he was already pulling out his phone. “Hey, Jung-hyuk hyung. You free right now? I need to talk—urgently.” His eyes burned with fury, as if ready to ignite.
***
“Train me.”
“…What?”
Lee Jung-hyuk had shown up because Han-seo sounded like the world was ending. And now, out of nowhere, this?
Still groggy from sleep, with pillow marks etched across his cheek, Jung-hyuk adjusted his cap and gave Han-seo a baffled look. Han-seo swallowed hard, then spoke again.
“I said, train me. I need to start entering dungeons too.”
Then, like a stubborn kid about to throw a fit, he balled both fists and declared—
“I’m going into the dungeon!”
“Alright, alright, I hear you. Just lower your voice…”
“Hyung, please. You’re the only one I can ask. I’m serious—please, train me—ow!”
His voice was cut off by a sharp pinch to his cheek. He looked up, eyes watering, and found Kim Joon-young standing nearby, holding a tray with one hand and wearing a half-amused, half-exasperated expression.
“What the hell’s gotten into you? You suddenly start acting like a thug?”
“Ow! Damn it, that hurt! I’m suing for Guide abuse!”
“Go for it. Please. Maybe I’ll get suspended and finally go on that trip with Jung-hyuk.”
“You think I won’t?! I’ll call my dad right now—!”
“Haah… Both of you, cut it out already.”
Seriously, where had all those years gone? They were fully grown adults now, both with respectable careers, yet every time Han-seo and Joon-young were in the same room, they reverted to acting like kids—nine and twenty all over again.
And it wasn’t just one of them being immature—they both were.
Exhausted from being run ragged until sunrise, Jung-hyuk rubbed at his eyes with a deep sigh.
“You’re beat, huh. Told you we should’ve just ignored it and gone to sleep.”
“Says the guy who caused all the drama in the first place.”
“…Sorry.”
As Han-seo chugged the watermelon juice Joon-young had brought, the other two slipped into their own little bubble. Han-seo didn’t mind—he was the same when Park Woo-jun was around. He decided to just get to the point.
“Listen, hyung. Look, I get it. I understand why you’re all against me entering the dungeon. You’re worried. Fine. But if that’s the case, then he should act accordingly too. I just found out that in the last dungeon, Park Woo-jun accepted Guiding from another Guide.”
“What?”
“He’s not Pairless, right? So why the hell is he taking Guiding from someone else when I’m right here? Hyung, imagine if Joon-young did that to you. You’d lose your mind, wouldn’t you?”
“……”
“……”
The two older men fell silent at the same time, lips pressed tight. Han-seo had no idea, but years ago, Kim Joon-young had secretly sought out other Guides behind Jung-hyuk’s back.
Sure, this situation was different—what happened with Park Woo-jun wasn’t exactly by choice—but Han-seo wasn’t interested in nuance. He had a strategy: if he got Jung-hyuk on his side, Joon-young would follow. And if the two of them backed him together, then even Park Woo-jun’s stubbornness would eventually crack.
“What’s the point of being a Pair, then? You think I don’t have any pride?”
Honestly, compared to how Jung-hyuk had silently suffered for years, never saying a word even while knowing what Joon-young had done, Han-seo’s reaction was… refreshingly healthy. Assertive. Honest.
Jung-hyuk had been ready to shut it down, tell him to go talk to Park Woo-jun and come back. But now… now, he was wavering. Because he knew exactly how much it hurt—when your Esper accepted someone else’s Guiding without saying a word.
“What the hell did I even teach my junior if he ends up pulling shit like this…”
“…Sorry.”
And just like that, with both Guides standing united, Kim Joon-young suddenly looked like the only criminal in the room.
