“Guide Choi Jiwoon.”
“Huh? M-me?”
“Yes. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize. For everything that’s happened up until now—I’m truly sorry.”
Lee Tae-rim bowed at a full ninety degrees. What, you think you’re the only one who can bow? I can bow too!
“Ah… O-okay.”
“From now on, I won’t have anything to do with Esper Kwon Hae-beom. Please… have a happy relationship.”
“Th-thank you….”
When Choi Jiwoon looked up, his face was flushed. Must’ve gotten embarrassed at the phrase happy relationship. Tae-rim scoffed internally, but outwardly, he offered a pleasant smile and gave a polite nod to both of them.
“We may never be close, but let’s at least be the kind of people who exchange greetings when we run into each other. We’ll be going now—we’re running late.”
As Tae-rim took the lead, Seon Juho quickly followed and slipped his fingers naturally between Tae-rim’s.
“Hyung, wait for me.”
Once they left the scene behind like pros, a car was already waiting. The two of them climbed in right away.
“But hyung, why’d you apologize?”
“Because I did something wrong to Guide Choi Jiwoon.”
“What kind of wrong?”
“You sure you won’t get jealous if I tell you?”
“…Nope. I’ll be jealous no matter what. It’s your past—of course I’ll be jealous. I’d get jealous over anything.”
Seon Juho replied without a hint of shame. Tae-rim couldn’t help but laugh.
“You probably heard this already, but I fell down the stairs, and the impact made me lose my memory.”
“…….”
“Apparently, before that, I used to have a thing for Esper Kwon Hae-beom and chased him around like a lovesick idiot. I hated Guide Choi Jiwoon and gave him a hard time because of it.”
“…You did?”
“Hard to believe, huh?”
“Honestly? Yeah.”
“Hahaha. I’m with you on that. What the hell did I even see in him that made me follow him around like that? I don’t remember a thing, so I guess I’ll never know.”
“…….”
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am!”
Seon Juho’s cheeks puffed out in a sulky pout. Tae-rim reached over and affectionately ruffled his hair.
“Well, I don’t remember any of it now, so who cares? And besides, I’ve got my hands full raising my puppy these days.”
The fake sulk on Seon Juho’s face quickly softened. Seriously, too cute for words.
When the car stopped, the two of them got out. The scene was looking better than yesterday. Seon Juho immediately flew off toward the contaminated zone. Once he disappeared into the distance, Tae-rim made his way into the S-rank Guiding Room.
“You’re here?”
“Did you stay the night?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Yeong-jun had noticeable dark circles under his eyes.
“You should get some rest. I’ll take over here.”
“Nah, nah. Compared to someone who passed out mid-Guiding yesterday, this is nothing.”
“Please don’t joke around. You really look exhausted.”
“I can still Guide just fine. Still, I’m low on sleep, so I’ll nap over there. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
Lee Yeong-jun headed behind the partition. Tae-rim had never been back there, but judging by where Yeong-jun was going, there was probably a bed.
Wait—that bed… wasn’t that the one those two always used? And now he’s sleeping in it…? His head briefly filled with complicated thoughts, but he quickly shut them down. Sleep came first. Yeah. That’s what mattered. No point overthinking.
Tae-rim sat down and opened his browser. As soon as he clicked into the portal site, the homepage was flooded with headlines. Everyone was in an uproar over the seven Gates that had opened yesterday. People were demanding more S-rank Espers be assigned to District 1, saying it was no longer a safe zone.
There were already seven S-ranks—what do they mean “add more”? According to the novel he’d read, this event only happened once. It existed solely to kick off Choi Jiwoon’s infamous frustration arc.
Now, what was the next event again? Tae-rim leaned back, deep in thought. He’d read so many novels that they were starting to blur together. This episode belonged to this story, that one to another… As he mentally organized the plots, the memory clicked into place.
The next scene was Lee Tae-rim slapping Choi Jiwoon across the face in a public place. What kind of conversation led up to that slap again? He couldn’t remember, nor did he care. He wasn’t going to slap Choi Jiwoon anyway.
In the novel, Kwon Hae-beom had flown into a rage after finding out Choi Jiwoon had been slapped. That one slap turned Tae-rim into public enemy number one inside the entire Center.
Kwon Hae-beom strongly urged the Center Director to have Lee Tae-rim reassigned, but the higher-ups weren’t about to let go of an S-rank Guide so easily. They rejected the request again. With no other option, Kwon Hae-beom was forced to let it slide—but his obsession with Choi Jiwoon only grew worse. He became even more overprotective, treating Jiwoon like delicate glass, constantly hovering out of fear that he might get hurt.
After that, Tae-rim temporarily disappeared from the story. As a result of the incident, everyone at the Center started keeping a close eye on him, and he couldn’t even get near Choi Jiwoon. What happened after that again? Honestly, all these Guide-centered novels start to blur together. Still, that confusion was part of the fun.
While lost in thought, Tae-rim finally remembered the next episode: K.
After Tae-rim exited the story for a bit, K made his appearance. For some reason, K targeted Choi Jiwoon. The reason behind it was never clearly revealed—the plot fizzled out after K was killed by Kwon Hae-beom. Still, that’s how it unfolded.
K was an Esper with a unique ability called Darkness. Anything that touched his Darkness simply vanished. It resembled an erasure-type ability, but it wasn’t quite the same. While “erasure” completely wiped something out, K’s Darkness swallowed everything whole.
You could argue that being devoured into nothingness still counted as erasure, but hey—the author said it was different, so it was different. End of discussion.
K attempted two kidnappings. The first happened out in the field. The second took place inside the Center.
During the first attempt, K and his subordinates tried to abduct Choi Jiwoon and escape from District 1. But before they could make it out, Kwon Hae-beom showed up just in time and rescued him.
The second attempt was more successful. Operatives planted in the Center by the anti-government organization Molt managed to kidnap Choi Jiwoon and smuggle him outside. But even then, Kwon Hae-beom, driven by the power of love, tracked Jiwoon down, killed K, and brought him back. That night, their love deepened, sealed by a passionate and unforgettable evening.
So let’s not get in their way. Let them burn in their fiery romance. As long as none of it spilled over onto him, Tae-rim had no intention of getting involved.
Tae-rim was playing a game when Jung Jae-heon entered the room looking absolutely drained. He must’ve pulled an all-nighter too. Tae-rim offered him a hand and suggested he catch some sleep. Jae-heon took his hand and promptly collapsed onto the table, out like a light.
Thirty minutes later, Jae-heon woke up looking slightly more refreshed and headed back out to the contaminated zone. But honestly, he still looked dead on his feet.
Tae-rim was about to say a little prayer, hoping that a well-rested Seon Juho was out there showing off and doing great—but the only image that came to mind was a puppy yapping at a monster. Is my sweet baby doing okay out there…?
As it turned out, Tae-rim needn’t have worried—Seon Juho was on a rampage at the scene.
He was still seething with jealousy over yesterday, when Tae-rim had guided Kwon Hae-beom so hard that he’d collapsed. Sure, saving lives came first, but that man already had his own dedicated Guide. With a sour expression, Seon Juho tore through monsters. He wanted to experience one of those heart-pounding Guidings for himself.
Yesterday, he’d only said Tae-rim smelled nice—and somehow, they’d almost ended up in separate rooms. He just wanted to be honest about how good Tae-rim smelled. But apparently, Tae-rim was sensitive about the scent around his neck.
And honestly, if he ever let slip that the scent was even stronger when his head was resting in Tae-rim’s lap… yeah, that would be the end of lap pillows forever. No way was he risking that.
Watching Jung Jae-heon come and go for Guiding irritated him even more. He looked more refreshed than earlier. That just made Seon Juho burn. Tae-rim hyung is mine.
There was only one way Seon Juho could make Tae-rim his and his alone: Imprinting. Unless Tae-rim became completely unable to Guide other Espers, monopolizing an S-rank Guide was practically impossible.
Everyone seemed to be tiptoeing around it, but Seon Juho was starting to suspect the truth. Why was Tae-rim the only one who could Guide him?
He wasn’t totally sure, but it really felt like he couldn’t be Guided by anyone else. No one had even mentioned checking his Matching Rate with other Guides—not once. That was weird, wasn’t it? Everyone else treated Matching Rates like life or death.
He’d wondered for a moment if it was an Imprint—but Tae-rim was still Guiding other Espers just fine, so that probably wasn’t it. Still, Seon Juho moved through the battlefield with a sulky expression, sweeping the area. Would it kill someone to just tell me the truth? Why does everyone keep hiding things…?
To Seon Juho, Tae-rim was non-negotiable—someone he absolutely had to have. He needed him so badly, the thought of sharing made his skin crawl. He wanted to keep him entirely to himself.
Tae-rim was the one who’d saved him from agony. Maybe it was natural that he’d imprinted, like a baby duck latching onto the first thing it sees. But even beyond that, there was something more. Every time Seon Juho looked at him, possessiveness and obsession tangled together in a dizzying mess.
And then there was that scent.
The scent that clung to Tae-rim’s body drove Seon Juho to the edge.
Every time he caught it, a deep, desperate thirst surged inside him. He wanted to bury his face in Tae-rim’s skin and breathe in only that scent.
It was sweet—like perfectly ripened fruit—and it made him feel like he was going insane. He wanted to lock Tae-rim away, bind him down, and unleash every twisted desire he kept buried in his head. He wanted to break the man who treated him like a pet—make him cry, ruin him completely.
Girl calm your tits