“Hmmm…”
“Juho’s still too young to really understand.”
“We’re only two years apart, though.”
“…Two years is a big difference.”
“Oh, come on.”
Lee Tae-rim was twenty-eight years old. Sure, his body might’ve gotten younger all of a sudden, but that didn’t mean his mind had followed suit. Seon Juho looked at him like he’d just said the dumbest thing in the world. Tae-rim cleared his throat with an awkward cough.
“Guiding’s done.”
“Hmph.”
“Off you go.”
“…I wanna stay a little longer.”
“Uh-uh.”
“It’s just a bunch of nobodies out there anyway…”
“And it’s your job to make sure that ‘bunch of nobodies’ doesn’t grow.”
“Pfft.”
Tae-rim managed to coax Juho out the door, even walking him all the way to the hallway despite the kid whining the whole time about not wanting to leave. As soon as he shut the door, Tae-rim stretched, his body stiff and sore. Sitting in the Guiding Room all day was no joke.
“Whew. Look at you, Mr. Powerhouse—Guiding two S-rank Espers back to back.”
“You’re here?”
“Yeah. I stopped by, but waited since Esper Seon Juho was still inside.”
“Come on in.”
Tae-rim stepped back inside the Guiding Room with Yoon Ye-rin and Lee Jae-hwa.
“Mmm… A-ranks are fine, but S-ranks? Chef’s kiss.”
Ye-rin sipped her coffee—one of those high-end brews delivered directly from a famous private café—and looked thoroughly satisfied. The A-rank Guiding Room might serve name-brand franchise coffee, but here? Only the best.
“Is Esper Kwon Hae-beom still holding out today?”
“Yeah.”
“God, everyone in the field’s on edge and he still won’t just accept a Guiding? What, does love pay the bills now?”
“Well, love can affect your appetite.”
“Is this really the time for jokes?”
“Haha.”
“…Love might be more important for some people.”
“What, you too?”
“Not really. I just think everyone’s got different priorities.”
“Fair enough.”
“There’s about ten days left, right?”
“Yeah. If he snaps again, the Center Director’s gonna lose it…. Choi Jiwoon’s been crying so much, he walks around looking like a goldfish.”
“Poor guy.”
“Still, I bet deep down, he’s kind of glad it’s turned out this way.”
“Wait, what?”
“Think about it. If it were really dangerous, would you just cry and ask him to get Guided? If it were me, I’d drag either the Esper or the Guide in front of the other and beg—on my knees, if I had to—to make it happen. The fact that he knows exactly what kind of shape Kwon Hae-beom is in and still isn’t doing anything means his own feelings matter more. That’s selfish, plain and simple.”
When she put it like that, it made sense. Tae-rim thought about it—if Juho were in danger and refusing to get Guided, he’d do whatever it took, even beg another Guide to step in. This wasn’t some minor inconvenience. This was about Guiding—something that could mean life or death.
At 70% danger level, the pain had to be unbearable. No matter how much Kwon Hae-beom insisted he was fine, there was no way he actually was. And Choi Jiwoon probably didn’t believe it deep down either. Ye-rin was right—he just wanted to believe Hae-beom was okay because he couldn’t deal with the alternative.
“And did you know he’s mostly Guiding C-ranks?”
There weren’t any rules saying a B-rank Guide couldn’t work with C-rank Espers, but usually, B-ranks were paired with higher-level partners—other Bs, or even As. So the fact that he was focusing on C-ranks was strange.
“Rumor has it he dumped all his Matching Rate into Esper Kwon Hae-beom. He barely syncs with anyone else, so the only way to get decent numbers is to work with people ranked lower than him. And it’s not just been a week—it’s been two months now of sitting among the B-ranks like that. Word is, even the other B-ranks are starting to get annoyed. I mean, sure, they’re all the same rank, but it’s only natural to feel resentful when someone’s clearly coasting while you’re grinding. Even if you know it’s irrational, you can’t help it.
“On top of that, the guy’s stamina is trash. I heard he’s already had to get IV drips five times. If he’s that weak, shouldn’t he be working out or something?”
The only kind of “exercise” Choi Jiwoon ever did in the novel was the kind he did at night—with Kwon Hae-beom. Like in most romance novels, that alone was more than enough to leave him too exhausted for anything else. After all, the gong always had to be a stamina monster.
“There’s even talk he should be re-evaluated.”
His Matching Rate really was suspicious. In the novel, Jiwoon was assigned exclusively to Kwon Hae-beom, an S-rank Esper, and he Guided no one else from beginning to end. But that didn’t explain why his compatibility with other Espers was so abnormally low.
If he was primarily Guiding C-rank Espers, then that meant his Matching Rate with B-ranks had to be under 10%—which was practically useless.
“That is weird.”
“Huh? What is?”
“Guide Choi Jiwoon didn’t start out Guiding only Esper Kwon Hae-beom, did he?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Then was he already focused on C-ranks back then too?”
“Hmm?”
The novel never mentioned anything like that. If Jiwoon had been born with such a limited range, Central would’ve assigned him to Kwon Hae-beom right from the start.
But back when the two were still getting close, Jiwoon had been Guiding other Espers just fine. It never said what ranks they were, but if no one had found it odd, then he must’ve been handling things like any normal B-rank Guide.
“Now that you mention it… yeah. That’s suspicious.”
Yoon Ye-rin fell into deep thought. Tae-rim decided he needed to steer the conversation elsewhere before she started digging too far. He wanted no part in whatever mess this might stir up. Especially not one that could spread through him. The last thing Tae-rim wanted was to get tangled up in anything involving those two.
“Do either of you have an Esper you sync especially well with?”
“Not really. I usually hover around 70%, give or take. Pretty average—I haven’t found anyone with a special connection yet.”
“I’ve got someone at 82%, but he’s in a relationship, so I almost never get assigned to him.”
“Yeah, 80% really seems to be the tipping point.”
“Totally. Once it goes above 80, people immediately start thinking about exclusive Bonds. That’s why I get where Esper Seon Juho’s coming from. If I had someone at 90%, I wouldn’t just want to date them—I’d want to devour them.”
“Noona… Juho’s only twenty.”
“Oh, please. Twenty’s old enough to know what’s what. He’s been through Esper training too, so I bet he knows way more than you think.”
“Honestly, twenty’s peak hormone season.”
“And aren’t you twenty-two? You’re in your prime too, so why are you acting like Juho’s some innocent kid? Pfft. You’re hilarious.”
His body might be in its prime, sure—but mentally, he wasn’t some fresh-faced youth. Tae-rim was twenty-eight, an age where people kept nagging him to just settle down already.
“Anyway, Juho’s still young.”
“Keep saying that and you’re gonna regret it. Just because you say he’s a kid doesn’t magically make Esper Seon Juho any less of a man. What you’re doing is straight-up denial.”
“……”
Ye-rin really knew how to hit where it hurt.
“Want me to really break it to you? Guides are suckers for pretty faces.”
Tae-rim clutched his chest. Another direct hit. His HP was dropping fast.
If you had eyes, there was no denying that Seon Juho was good-looking. Tae-rim knew it too. He knew Juho wasn’t just some baby-faced brat. Sure, he was acting innocent because that’s what Tae-rim seemed to want… or maybe not. Juho had been clingy from the very start, so it was hard to picture him any other way.
“…Hey, isn’t it getting kind of noisy out there?”
“Yeah, sounds like something’s happening.”
“Think someone got hurt?”
The three of them exchanged looks and stood up from their seats. They stepped out of the Guiding Room to find several Guides already gathered outside, the atmosphere tense and uneasy.
“What is it? What happened?”
Ye-rin walked over to where the A-rank Guides were clustered and asked. Tae-rim followed her lead, offering polite nods to the unfamiliar faces.
“Guide Choi Jiwoon said he was stepping out for a quick break, but it’s been over an hour and he still hasn’t come back. They’ve been trying to contact him, but he’s not answering. Now the Espers are freaking out, trying to find him.”
At those words, Tae-rim couldn’t help but remember it. The kidnapping incident. So this was the moment it finally happened.
Kwon Hae-beom would rescue him, of course—no doubt about that. But still… right now, Hae-beom wasn’t in a good state. A heavy sense of dread settled in Tae-rim’s gut.
And as always, his instincts were right.
While the A-rank Guides were still murmuring among themselves, Tae-rim’s watch vibrated. He checked it.
[URGENT: Report to the infirmary immediately.]
“I’ll go check it out.”
He bowed quickly and took off running toward the infirmary.
“Tae-rim! Hurry!”
The moment he burst through the doors, it was a complete mess. Some beds were smashed, equipment scattered like someone had gone berserk. The medical staff had formed a loose circle around one bed, frantically trying to shield themselves from the waves of wild Wavelengths erupting from it.
Tae-rim’s eyes locked onto Jung Jae-heon, who was straining to pin down the man writhing on the bed. It was Kwon Hae-beom.
“Grrgh—ah!”
Kwon Hae-beom was clearly in pain. Tae-rim rushed to his side, pressed his hands to the man’s chest, and aimed directly for his heart. No way in hell was he kissing him, so he tore open his shirt and fired off full-power Guiding.
“What’s his level?!”
“Seventy-seven percent! It’s dropped a lot!”
He was still at 77%? Even after all this? Tae-rim shot the medics a look of disbelief—but there was no reason for them to lie. He closed his eyes and focused all his attention on Guiding.
This guy… he had to have already crossed the pre-Rampage threshold. He’d probably lost it the moment he realized Jiwoon was missing. But where was Jiwoon now? Had they seriously not found him yet?
Gritting his teeth, Tae-rim poured out everything he had.
At least it wasn’t as bad as last time, when Hae-beom had a hole in his side. Through sheer force of will, Tae-rim managed to bring his levels down to 30%—right before passing out.
His guide is useless
Damn dumb people by the way