Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, Je-ha had flashed an incredibly sly smile as he said that.
Was my vision getting blurry?
No. Both eyes were working just fine.
Has he just… suffered too much these past 20 years?
Or maybe he’d gone so long without guiding that his instincts kicked in, and he’d unconsciously developed some sort of… prey-luring skill?
A hundred different thoughts raced through my head.
“…What?”
Caught off guard, I reacted dumbly, and Je-ha quickly returned to the neat, composed expression I was used to.
“Just kidding.”
“…Jeez, you scared me.”
“I just got jealous. Felt like you were caring too much about your temporary Espers up there.”
“Caring, my ass. They’re just business partners I’m collaborating with as ‘Yeon Yu-jin.’ If I had any care to spare, I’d have given it to you.”
“Right?”
I was just stating the obvious, yet Je-ha looked beyond satisfied. His mood, which had seemed low earlier, visibly stabilized—his internal flow smoothed out again.
Was he… that lonely?
He looked like a puppy wagging its tail in joy after reuniting with its owner.
“Drop me off over there, will you?”
It’d be weird to just pop up in front of the dorm entrance, so I had him land a bit farther away.
Before his invisibility effect wore off, he slipped back into a hidden spot. I waved toward him.
“See you again sometime.”
“…Yeah.”
Je-ha kept turning back to look at me, again and again, like a traveler in a desert double-checking that the oasis wasn’t a mirage.
I watched him too, until he completely vanished, reaffirming to myself that this wasn’t a dream.
Potato had stayed quietly tucked in my pocket the whole time I was with Je-ha, but now it poked its head out.
[You two are like star-crossed lovers or something.]
“…What are you talking about?”
[Ugh, you clueless human.]
“Why are you insulting me when you’ve been quiet this whole time…?”
[Just get inside already. Didn’t they say everyone was waiting for you? I’m tired too. I wanna go rest.]
“Are you my power or my damn boss?”
[Move!]
“Yes, yes, sir.”
Grumbling, I headed into the dorm with Potato still nagging in my ear.
“I’m home.”
Four pairs of eyes immediately locked onto me.
Black. Pale green. Yellow. Light gray.
All sorts of eye colors bore into me like they were trying to burn holes through my skin.
“Uh, right…”
The intensity of the “welcome” left me frozen.
Shin Tae-boem muttered darkly.
“You’re late.”
It hadn’t even been that many hours, even counting travel time, you asshole.
But Cha Si-yoon and Seo Yoon-chae had similar reactions.
“You’re late.”
“You came back late.”
Their expressions were eerily similar to how they looked when I first woke up as Yeon Yu-jin.
Annoyed by the injustice, I snapped back.
“It’s not even sundown yet, alright?”
I cut things short even though there was still so much I wanted to talk about with Je-ha, you know.
Je-ha was right—this really did feel like I was a cheating husband.
Embarrassed, I ended up sounding even more curt than usual.
“What’re you all staring at? If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Don’t just glare at me like that—it’s pissing me off.”
Then, from behind the kitchen table, Ra Ho-yeon spoke in a low voice.
“…So, what was it you had to do?”
“Oh, that. I thought I saw an old friend and ran after them. But when I got close, it turned out it was just someone who looked like him. Not my friend after all.”
“…That was dangerous.”
“What?”
“The intruder who broke into the Bureau’s testing center disappeared less than an hour ago. What if he hadn’t gone far? What if he was hiding nearby, waiting to hurt you?”
What he said wasn’t wrong. If it had been another Guide or Esper, I’d have ordered them home right away.
But I had seen Je-ha. And based on how that intruder fled after sensing Je-ha’s presence, it was safe to assume he’d already taken off to somewhere far.
Still, I held my tongue and gave an excuse that referenced the Bureau.
“If he were still hiding nearby, Bureau staff would’ve found him. That bastard might’ve snuck in like a drizzle, sure, but if he underestimated them, that’s on him. Government agents don’t get their titles for nothing.”
“But that guy already slipped past the Bureau’s eyes once. What makes you think it won’t happen again? You’re not even an Esper—you’re a Guide. What if something had happened to you? We…”
Ra Ho-yeon’s emotions surged—he even stood up.
“We what?”
I asked, and the fire blazing in Ra Ho-yeon’s eyes suddenly fizzled out.
“…Forget it.”
He sat back down in the chair—this time facing forward. In other words, turning his back toward me.
What’s this guy’s deal now?
He was acting like a sulking kid, and it was honestly ridiculous.
“Why stop mid-sentence?”
“Because I don’t wanna talk anymore.”
“So basically, you were just worried. Then why not just say that?”
“Even if I did, it’s not like you’d listen to us. You always do whatever you want. Just like today. It’s obvious you don’t care about any of us.”
“…What?”
Still trying to process that, I heard Seo Yoon-chae chime in from the sofa. The guy with the narrow, slanted eyes gave me a sharp glare.
“That story about running after an old friend—isn’t that a lie?”
“…What are you getting at?”
“That person wasn’t just a friend, right? They’re someone you like.”
“…What?”
“Come on. No one runs off with that kind of desperation just because they saw someone they used to know. One look at your face, and it was obvious they weren’t ‘just a friend.’”
“…Wow.”
Look at these little shits.
I could’ve forgiven the whole “we were worried” routine. Sure, it was unexpected and kind of awkward, but I could’ve brushed it off as cute in a weird way.
But this? Acting like needy kids craving attention even though they’re all grown-ass adults? That was a different story.
And judging from Shin Tae-boem and Cha Si-yoon’s silent reactions, they were in full agreement with Ra Ho-yeon and Seo Yoon-chae.
Which meant I was completely alone in this room.
“Hey.”
I strode over and spun Ra Ho-yeon’s chair to face me. He looked startled by how easily it turned, but I didn’t care.
“Am I your guardian?”
“…What?”
“You know I’m not. So why are you expecting me to care about you?”
To me, this group called Secreti was just a team formed through contractual obligation.
Even the old Yeon Yu-jin had seen it that way—his phone memos and journals made that painfully clear. He’d felt isolated and excluded even before he became the group’s black sheep. Now that the real Yeon Yu-jin was dead, these guys had the nerve to scold me for lacking awareness and ask me to show more concern?
Fury boiled over, and I shouted at Ra Ho-yeon.
“If you were so damn worried, maybe you should’ve given a shit before. This sudden change in attitude is only because I’ve become useful now, right? Am I wrong?”
Ra Ho-yeon’s face froze like stone. And the others didn’t look much different.
“…Watch your mouth. We only said that because we care about you—”
Seo Yoon-chae approached me, but I swatted his hand away coldly.
He was the one picking a fight, and yet he looked all hurt like I’d just broken his heart.
What, like I wasn’t hurt too?
“If you’re going to say it’s out of concern, maybe try not sounding like assholes. And you guys started this, not me. You’re the ones who pissed me off.”
“…Hey.”
“And love? Seriously? I can’t believe you’d even suspect I’ve got a secret lover stashed somewhere. If I had one, don’t you think they would’ve come running when I got hurt? Or that I would’ve looked for them? You say you’re ‘worried,’ but what you really mean is, ‘Don’t mess up Secreti’s momentum—sit down, shut up, and don’t cause a scene.’ Right?”
I was boiling inside.
I really thought maybe I could get along with these guys. What a goddamn fool I was.
In my past life, I’d seen Espers just like these.
They’d look down on Guides just because they ranked lower or had “less efficiency,” treating them like possessions. But the moment those Guides tried to break free, they’d blow up or manipulate them, trying to keep them leashed with twisted affection.
To me, the Secreti members weren’t all that different.
If you weren’t useful, they didn’t treat you like a person. But the second you became even a little valuable, their pathetic possessiveness kicked in.
The whole room went dead silent after my words. The air felt heavy.
Shin Tae-boem tried to speak in a hurry.
“That’s not what we meant—”
“Shut up. You’re noisy.”
Maybe I overexerted myself guiding Je-ha to lower his corrosion. My head spun.
Even though I told them to shut up, I could still see their mouths moving—saying who knows what—but I couldn’t make out the words anymore.
I’d dumped too much guiding energy into Je-ha, then got all riled up by this confrontation. No wonder my body and mind were fried.
Potato shouted from over my head.
[You need to rest right now! You might pass out at this rate!]
Yeah, no shit.
I barely held my balance and stumbled toward my room.
Thankfully, Yeon Yu-jin had a room to himself. I could finally be alone.
Their voices no longer registered—they were just noise. Muddled syllables droning in my ears.
I scowled deeply and turned back to the Secreti members.
“I’m going to bed. Do what you want. If any of you wake me up being loud, I’ll kill you.”
SLAM.
I shut the door behind me and collapsed onto the bed.
Ugh. Dammit. I’m starving.
After being drained of guiding energy like that, I should be stuffing my face right now.
But I’m so tired…
Huh. My forehead felt kind of warm too.
Ah… screw it. Whatever happens, happens.
Wrapped in a damp, aching fatigue, I blinked once… then drifted off into sleep.
