“Still, people have to go on living, even after everything—and that’s the hard part for Espers.”
At Kim Hyo-il’s comment, Yoon Ye-rin let out a dry laugh.
“If it were that easy, would they even be called Espers? Even Guides lose their minds when something happens to their own Esper.”
“Oh. Really?”
The words slipped out before Tae-rim could stop himself, drawing everyone’s attention. At first, the others looked at him like they couldn’t believe what they’d just heard, but soon their expressions softened with pity.
“Today’s the first time I’ve really felt how deep your amnesia runs.”
“Same.”
With nothing else to say, Tae-rim could only smile awkwardly.
“You think an Imprint just happens on its own? It takes love—real love—from the Guide for it to form.”
“Ah, right. That’s true…”
“Ah, right, he says? Aigoo, this kid. I’m starting to feel bad for Esper Seon Juho for Imprinting on you.”
“Seriously. It’s not even mutual—it’s one-sided. I don’t know how he puts up with it. The guy’s a saint.”
“Haha…”
Tae-rim let out another awkward laugh. The truth was, Seon Juho had a dual Imprint—both as an Esper and as an Alpha. Tae-rim felt a pang of guilt just thinking about it.
“Anyway, I didn’t like Choi Jiwoon to begin with, but after what happened to Esper Kwon Hae-beom? I like him even less. He’s selfish to the end. Though the person who sent him out there like that is honestly the worst.”
“If he truly loved Esper Kwon Hae-beom, he should’ve told the truth from the start. Then at least the Center could’ve done something about it. Tsk.”
No one at the Center knew that Choi Jiwoon’s Matching Rate had been fake. That’s why no one understood why he’d kept quiet.
Even so, everyone agreed—Choi Jiwoon was selfish. If he’d really loved Kwon Hae-beom, he should’ve left the moment he realized his feelings. Either gone back to Molt or come clean. If he had, maybe Kwon Hae-beom wouldn’t be living like he had no reason to keep going.
“That’s just… so irresponsible.”
The words slipped from Tae-rim’s mouth before he could think. He surprised even himself—but he didn’t take it back. Because he meant it.
“Yeah. Totally irresponsible.”
“But he’s only twenty-four. It’s not that strange to be irresponsible at that age. And I doubt Choi Jiwoon ever wanted things to turn out this way.”
“True. Even if he came back to his senses right now and begged Esper Kwon Hae-beom to stay alive, do you think he’d actually listen?”
“At this point, the only thing he can do… is stay alive for as long as possible.”
Ah… that’s right. Choi Jiwoon was only twenty-four. Just twenty-four. And if he’d been a test subject for Molt, he’d probably been locked up since he was a kid. He probably never had a chance to live like a real person until he escaped. So that first taste of love—how sweet must it have been? Of course he wouldn’t want to let go.
But that didn’t excuse his irresponsibility. At the very least, Tae-rim thought Choi Jiwoon owed it to Kwon Hae-beom to stay alive—at least until he found someone new.
While they were still chatting, Tae-rim’s watch buzzed with a notification. He glanced down and saw Choi Dong-ha’s name pop up. Letting out a deep sigh, he checked the message.
“A Guiding request?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what’s with the big sigh?”
“I just don’t get Esper Choi Dong-ha.”
The message said he’d be coming by in thirty minutes. Tae-rim tapped to accept.
“He’s not even fond of me.”
“Yeah… we’re a bit confused about that too.”
“Right?”
“You make it very obvious how uncomfortable you are around him, and yet he insists on getting Guiding from you. The A-rank folks talk about it behind his back—they say it’s shameless.”
“Esper Jung Jae-heon started coming to the A-rank Guiding Room more often after Choi Jiwoon disappeared. Honestly, that makes sense. He usually doesn’t come to you unless he’s completely wiped. But Esper Choi Dong-ha? He only looks for an A-rank Guide after he can’t get you. Two of the Guides who work with him ended up blocking him.”
“What? You can do that?”
“Of course you can. So can you.”
“No, I mean… can you really block someone without any reason?”
“Why wouldn’t you have a reason? ‘I don’t want to’ is a reason.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“I’m not joking. You really can. You’re S-rank, so you’d need approval from higher up, but blocking someone is still your right as a Guide.”
“If blocking him feels like too much, talk to Esper Jung Jae-heon or Guide Lee Yeong-jun. Ask if they can reduce how often Esper Choi Dong-ha comes to you for Guiding. It’ll probably work.”
“They’re not just any Espers—you’re handling two S-rank Espers on your own. There’s absolutely no reason you can’t say something. You’ve already got two people who can only be Guided by you. If someone else keeps pushing in on top of that, it’s definitely going to become a problem.”
Now that she mentioned it, Tae-rim realized that Jung Jae-heon really had been coming by less frequently. But Choi Dong-ha? His visits hadn’t changed at all—not from the beginning until now. That realization left Tae-rim feeling more than a little resentful.
Honestly, his Guiding skills had come a long way. Compared to when he’d first started, he’d improved tremendously. He’d never really asked anyone for feedback, so he wasn’t sure how good he actually was, but if Jung Jae-heon and Choi Dong-ha were still coming to him even after his ESP levels had dropped 10%, then he was clearly doing something right. He didn’t even have issues with uncontrolled Energy Overflow anymore.
Lately, even Guiding Seon Juho had become significantly easier. So even if the other three came in every day, it wouldn’t be a problem. But with Kwon Hae-beom in the state he was in, Tae-rim still couldn’t rest easy. He was constantly worried that Kwon Hae-beom might go into Rampage out of nowhere, driven by the way he was living like each day could be his last.
More than anything, Tae-rim was terrified that if Kwon Hae-beom did go into Rampage, he wouldn’t have enough Guiding energy left to bring him back.
“If it’s hard to bring it up directly, just ask someone to check your Guiding log. Actually, it might be faster to talk to Esper Jung Jae-heon. He’s already stressed out because of Esper Kwon Hae-beom—he’ll understand right away.”
“You’re right. That sounds like a good idea.”
“Yeah. If Esper Kwon Hae-beom snaps, you’re the only one who can stop it.”
“It’s honestly kind of unbelievable. If he knows what Kwon Hae-beom is going through—as a fellow Esper—how can he act like this?”
“If he does know, then he’s even worse. Either he doesn’t care what happens to Kwon Hae-beom, or he thinks it’s okay to run you into the ground.”
Yoon Ye-rin was furious. She called it two-faced—pretending to be so righteous while screwing others over.
After seeing the three of them off, Tae-rim sat in silence, deep in thought. Stay quiet and you’ll get treated like furniture. That saying had never felt more accurate. If he’d known he could say no, he would’ve done it a long time ago. But he’d always assumed being S-rank meant he didn’t have the right to refuse.
Even after they’d left, Tae-rim kept turning it over in his mind, trying to figure out the best way to handle it.
When the time came, Choi Dong-ha walked into the Guiding Room with his usual cold expression. Tae-rim Guided him as he always did—quietly, without a word. But just as the session ended and Choi Dong-ha began to rise, Tae-rim finally spoke up. There was no need to go through Jung Jae-heon or Lee Yeong-jun. When it came down to it, saying things directly was always best.
“As you probably know, Esper Kwon Hae-beom’s condition isn’t stable.”
“…Yes.”
“There’s a chance he could enter Rampage and be brought in for emergency Guiding.”
“…Understood.”
“So I’d like to ask you to reduce the number of times you come to me for Guiding.”
As soon as Tae-rim finished, Choi Dong-ha stared at him like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Then his face turned bright red, and he shot to his feet.
“Are you saying I’m some heartless bastard who doesn’t care about my teammates?!”
“There are two S-rank Espers who can only be Guided by me.”
“That’s—!”
“If you’re not sure what would be a reasonable frequency, you can ask Esper Jung Jae-heon.”
“……!”
Choi Dong-ha’s face was nearly glowing red, trembling with suppressed anger. He didn’t say another word—just turned around and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Tae-rim let out a heavy sigh.
That’s not going to work. That face—he knew he was in the wrong but still refused to admit it. Tae-rim immediately sent a message to Jung Jae-heon, asking him to come in for Guiding if he hadn’t already. Jung Jae-heon replied, asking if Tae-rim was sure, and said he’d be there in two hours.
Tae-rim updated the group chat, letting the others know he’d spoken to Choi Dong-ha directly. All three of them praised him and said he’d done the right thing.
Two hours later, Jung Jae-heon arrived for his session. It was the first time in four days that Tae-rim had seen him. Judging by his easygoing smile, he clearly hadn’t heard anything from Choi Dong-ha yet.
As Tae-rim began Guiding him, he recounted everything that had happened earlier with Choi Dong-ha. The moment he finished, Jung Jae-heon’s expression twisted in frustration.
“Wait—seriously?”
“Yes. You can check the logs. He’s been coming every day.”
Jung Jae-heon looked like he was at a total loss. Like he had a hundred things he wanted to say but couldn’t even start. And more than anything—he looked furious.
“So that’s how it’s been, huh…”
The way he kept muttering it under his breath made it clear he’d been holding in his own frustrations for a while. Tae-rim hadn’t wanted to stir up anything bigger than it had to be, but if this blew up in Choi Dong-ha’s face, well… he’d brought it on himself.
“Thanks for telling me, Tae-rim. And for everything else too. I’m sure the whole situation with Hae-beom’s been weighing on you… You’ve been doing a great job holding it together.”
“I can’t really say it’s not my problem, when it comes to Esper Kwon Hae-beom.”
“Hah…”
Even as they moved on to other topics, Jung Jae-heon would fall quiet now and then, eyes fluttering shut for long stretches. The longer he sat with it, the more it clearly festered.
Just what the hell had gone down between those two?
