He had decided to meet with Kim Sol two to three times a week.
Ideally, it would be best to study as much as possible every day for his sake, but since Kim Sol was an S-Rank Guide, he was understandably busy. Compared to Espers, there were far fewer Guides, and in Kim Sol’s case, aside from Cha Jae-woo, he matched fairly well with most Espers, making him even busier. It made Lim Haeyul feel almost guilty, as if he were stealing Kim Sol’s valuable time.
Today, he had just arrived at the Guide Center for the first time in three days. When someone offered to escort him to the training room, he politely declined this time. He had a good sense of direction and had already memorized the way, so there was no need for guidance.
He walked slowly, taking his time to look around the Guide Center. When he reached what looked like a lounge—one he had seen before—he noticed people gathered here and there in small groups.
‘Are they Guides too?’
Or were they, like the person who had offered him directions, employees doing other work? Curious, he tilted his head slightly and found his gaze lingering without realizing it.
Maybe his stare had been too intense. Before long, he locked eyes with one of the people in the group.
“……”
Feeling awkward, he smiled clumsily and offered a small bow. But there was no response. Instead, the other person’s face twisted sharply, as if disgusted by something unpleasant.
Their obvious show of dislike right to his face made the situation unbearably awkward. Even worse, when the man whispered something to the people around him, they all started to look at Haeyul, making him even more uncomfortable.
‘……What the hell? The atmosphere’s weird.’
It was the first time he had encountered people who showed such open hostility upon first meeting.
But why? Why were they acting like that? Was he imagining it? No—it definitely wasn’t his imagination. The raw hostility from these strangers made cold sweat bead on his back.
He hesitantly took a step back. He wasn’t bold enough to confront them, asking why they were looking at him that way, or whether they knew him. He just intended to quietly leave the area.
“Must be nice, huh? Scored the jackpot all of a sudden.”
“And then it’ll blow up again like before. Guides end up getting blamed for crap like that.”
But the voices—loud enough for him to hear—stopped him in his tracks before he could move away. They clearly wanted him to hear them. It was obvious they were talking about him, but he couldn’t understand what they meant. None of them avoided his gaze either; they stared at him openly.
Thanks to them, now everyone in the lounge was looking at him too. And shockingly, the majority wore hostile expressions.
“Maybe it’s already started. Cha Jae-woo’s…”
The man who had first made eye contact with Haeyul sneered, maintaining direct eye contact. Haeyul stayed still, trying to listen carefully to what the man was about to say. He was desperate to understand why they were acting this way.
“Haeyul!”
However, the man’s words were cut off by a sudden voice coming from somewhere else. It was a familiar voice, and when Haeyul turned his head, he saw Kim Sol, smiling brightly just like the last time they met.
Haeyul quickly smiled and nodded.
“Hyung.”
“What are you doing here? I was waiting for you and had to come find you.”
“Huh? It’s not time yet—”
“Hurry up. You slacking off? We’ve got a mountain of stuff to cover.”
“Ah, Hyung, I wasn’t slacking off……!”
Kim Sol grabbed Haeyul’s wrist and started moving quickly. Although he was a bit shorter than Haeyul, his strides were so fast that Haeyul was nearly out of breath trying to keep up.
Thankfully, the training room wasn’t too far away. After practically sprinting there, Kim Sol quickly grabbed a seat.
Though he was smiling as usual, something about him felt off, stiff. Even someone as dense as Haeyul could tell—Kim Sol had interrupted on purpose, preventing him from hearing the rest of that conversation.
“Hyung.”
“So, did we already check your mana levels last time? Were you able to do it successfully?”
“……”
“You couldn’t do it? Hm, that’s the basics though…”
Kim Sol’s voice was cheerful, but his gaze subtly drifted away. It seemed he was the type who couldn’t lie or deflect very well. Haeyul was similar, but Kim Sol was even worse.
Haeyul sat down across from him and chuckled quietly.
“Hyung. It’s obvious, you know.”
“Huh? …What do you mean?”
“It’s obvious you’re trying to change the subject. You’re worried I’ll ask about those people, aren’t you?”
It almost sounded like he could hear Kim Sol’s big round eyes rolling in panic. Kim Sol blinked rapidly and licked his dry lips. It was painfully clear he didn’t know how to respond or where to start.
“If it’s too much trouble, I won’t ask. I’ll just think of them as weird people and leave it at that, okay?”
“Haha…”
“And I did check my mana level. It’s seriously low. Like, barely a speck…”
“Yeah. You’re right. It’s tiny. You checked properly.”
Kim Sol, who had been laughing awkwardly, immediately agreed with him. It stung his pride a little, but since it was true, Haeyul couldn’t exactly argue.
Realizing he might’ve been a little too blunt, Kim Sol laughed again. It seemed laughter was his go-to defense mechanism in uncomfortable situations.
“Still, confirming it is half the battle. Once you know how much you have, it becomes easier to control.”
“So I tried practicing mana control.”
“How? You can’t do that alone.”
“Ah, right. So, I practiced with Cha Jae-woo-ssi…”
“What? Cha Jae-woo?!”
“Yes. Since we live together. But as soon as we made contact, my mana just vanished…”
“Haeyul!”
The smile vanished from Kim Sol’s face. Did he say something wrong? As Haeyul replayed their conversation in his mind, Kim Sol suddenly smacked him hard on the shoulder. Despite his delicate-looking hand, the force was enough to make Haeyul’s shoulder feel like it sank.
“Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”
“Are you crazy? Why would you practice with Cha Jae-woo?! Of course your mana disappears the second you touch him! That guy’s basically a black hole right now!”
“Huh? What? A black hole?”
“Yeah. He’s at the stage where he’ll suck up anything and everything without thinking.”
“Uh…?”
“Until you can guide properly, don’t make contact with Cha Jae-woo. If he loses control, it’s game over. You could end up never opening your eyes again.”
Haeyul had no idea what he was talking about.
He understood that making contact with Cha Jae-woo instantly drained his mana. The black hole metaphor made sense too. They had said he was on the verge of going berserk, so it figured he would greedily absorb any guiding he could get. Haeyul had already experienced his strength being drained completely in a matter of seconds.
But the idea that Cha Jae-woo might lose his sanity—that part, he didn’t understand.
‘Lose control? Why?’
He seemed completely normal. Aside from looking a little annoyed from the lack of guiding, he had seemed the same as usual.
“Uh, but… after the first day of training, Cha Jae-woo-ssi hasn’t asked for guiding again.”
As he retraced Kim Sol’s words, Haeyul realized something. Even though their contract specifically stated he was supposed to provide a set amount of guiding every day, Cha Jae-woo hadn’t shown up once since that first day.
Thinking about it, he realized he hadn’t given it any thought—he had been too focused on checking his mana levels all this time.
“That bastard must know how dangerous he is too.”
“Huh?”
“Haah… Anyway, first thing’s first—you need to learn how to block guiding.”
“Not control it?”
“Block it. Make sure guiding doesn’t happen. Focus. I’m not letting you go home until you master it today.”
Kim Sol’s eyes blazed like fire. Haeyul had no idea how things escalated so suddenly, but judging by Kim Sol’s intensity, he figured he should just nod for now.
***
“…I’m dying.”
He was completely drained.
When Kim Sol had first warned him, he hadn’t taken it seriously. He had only been a Guide for a few days, and Cha Jae-woo, who everyone claimed was on the verge of losing it, had seemed perfectly normal to him. He had assumed things would be fine, that Kim Sol was exaggerating.
But he had been completely wrong.
Kim Sol was the kind of person who took his words seriously. He didn’t let up until Haeyul could block guiding perfectly. Apparently, mental strength was tied to physical stamina, because all Haeyul had done was sit still and concentrate—yet his entire body was trembling from exhaustion.
‘What the hell happened to my stamina?’
Up until just a little while ago, the strange things Kim Sol had said and the people he had seen in the lounge had been swirling around in his head, but now he was too tired to even think. All he could focus on was getting to his bedroom and collapsing into bed. The house, already absurdly large, made the bedroom feel even farther away today.
“Ah.”
He had barely made it halfway when a sharp, prickling sensation spread across his entire body. It was a feeling he had experienced only a few times, but it was already familiar—Cha Jae-woo was nearby. He could feel the irregular ripples of Cha Jae-woo’s aura.
Haeyul lifted his head and looked around. As expected, Cha Jae-woo wasn’t far. He was sitting on a sofa, his head leaning against the backrest, eyes closed.
“……”
The moment he spotted him, Haeyul found himself walking not toward his room, but toward Cha Jae-woo instead. There was no purpose, no conscious thought behind it—his body simply moved on its own.
Sensing Haeyul’s presence, Cha Jae-woo opened his eyes. At the same time, Haeyul’s index finger brushed against his cheek—a brief, light touch. Cha Jae-woo’s face instantly twisted in displeasure at the contact.
“You didn’t feel anything, right?”
Maybe it was because he had been pushed to his limits by Kim Sol all day, but even seeing Cha Jae-woo’s grimace didn’t snap Haeyul out of his daze. Instead, he only felt proud of himself for managing to touch Cha Jae-woo without collapsing.
A silly, vacant smile spread across his face. Cha Jae-woo looked him up and down, unable to hide his bafflement.
“I learned how to block guiding today……”
“……”
“So even if I touch you like this—”
He poked Cha Jae-woo’s cheek again with his fingertip. His stamina didn’t drain. His mana didn’t get sucked away. All that hard training with Kim Sol had paid off.
“It’s fine now……”
“Hah.”
Cha Jae-woo let out a short, incredulous laugh. Haeyul chuckled along with him and slowly turned back toward his room. All he wanted now was to crawl into bed.
“Good night……”
Oh, right. He was supposed to train again tomorrow too.
Just thinking about it already exhausted him. His shoulders felt impossibly heavy. It really felt like he had ended up with an overly passionate teacher.
