The next day, the rumors exploded. People were in an uproar, saying they’d never seen Jung Jae-heon lose his temper like that. No one had heard exactly what was said, but from a distance, it looked like Jae-heon was mercilessly mocking Choi Dong-ha. Apparently, Dong-ha just stood there, face flushed red, unable to respond—crying.
Mocking, huh… What the hell did Dong-ha do to piss Jae-heon off that badly?
“Do you not see anyone as a person other than yourself? You didn’t know two people are already depending on to Tae-rim? No, there’s no way you didn’t know—just look at Hae-beom. Everyone’s constantly on edge, never knowing when he might go into Rampage. There’s a limit to selfishness, you know. And why are you only getting Guiding from Tae-rim? If I get Guiding from an S-rank Guide, I’m some shallow status-chaser, but if you do it, it’s fine? Huh? Why aren’t you answering? Did you know two A-rank Guides blocked you because they couldn’t stand your behavior? Didn’t I warn you not to act in ways that would put you on the Guides’ blacklist? Unless you’re Imprinted with a Guide, the number of Guides who can work with you is literally tied to your survival—how many times have I told you that? And yet you’re getting blocked? If two have blocked you, it means every Guide already knows how you’ve been acting. You’re not some clueless kid, so you just thought my warnings were a joke? Do you want to be transferred?”
Lee Tae-rim swallowed hard. Seon Juho’s delivery was eerily realistic. But more than that, it was incredible that he’d been the only one to hear the exchange when everyone else missed it. He even memorized the whole conversation.
“And then Dong-ha started crying and shook his head. That’s when Jung Jae-heon—sunbae-nim—said this: ‘You think I didn’t know you got bullied in District 5 for acting all high and mighty during training, so you begged your parents to transfer you here to District 1? Must be nice to have rich parents who can pay your way in. But me? I don’t let insults slide. From now on, unless you’re actively in Rampage, you’re banned from getting Guiding from Tae-rim. I already discussed it with Yeong-jun and the higher-ups. So stay away from the S-rank Guiding wing. I’m letting you off with this, but Yeong-jun hates guys like you even more than I do. He’ll seriously transfer you to another district, so if you want to avoid that, stay the hell off his radar.’”
“Wow… that’s terrifying…”
Tae-rim murmured in a daze. Seon Juho gave him a proud look, clearly fishing for praise. Tae-rim chuckled and reached out to pat his head.
“You’re impressive, Juho. How’d you memorize all that?”
“Because it’s about you, hyung.”
Juho shrugged, puffing up with pride. So he really did memorize the whole thing. Maybe not word-for-word, but close enough. One thing was certain: Jung Jae-heon was terrifying when angry. His insults were sharp—far sharper than anyone expected. He looked like the kind of handsome, polished upperclassman who’d still be polite even when mad… but that clearly wasn’t always true.
Honestly, Tae-rim had thought that because Choi Dong-ha had the second-highest Matching Rate with him, they wouldn’t outright ban him. But Jae-heon must’ve been furious. Calling him a shallow leech who only cared about S-rank Guides—and then going to an S-rank Guide himself every day? Even Tae-rim had to admit that was beyond hypocritical.
For Espers, gravitating toward a Guide with a high Matching Rate was pure instinct. If that Guide also happened to be high-ranking? Even better. So if someone sought that out more than others, that wasn’t being shallow—that was just being honest. It was a survival-driven instinct.
Maybe among Espers things were different, but Tae-rim had never gotten the sense that Jung Jae-heon was obsessed with S-ranks. Sure, he didn’t hide his interest completely. Sometimes he gave Tae-rim this subtle look—like, I hope you’ll choose me—but it was faint. Just enough to show he cared, but never pushy or uncomfortable.
It was the kind of look that said, I know the odds aren’t in my favor, but still… There was something a little pitiful about it, honestly.
Besides, Jung Jae-heon had a 73% Matching Rate with Tae-rim. Not mind-blowingly high, but definitely not low. Normally, people only start talking about becoming exclusive Guides when the rate hits 80%, but for two S-ranks, even breaking 70% was rare. Thinking about an exclusive partnership at 73% wasn’t strange at all.
Especially when S-rank Guides were so few and far between. Cases like Tae-rim and Seon Juho were extremely rare.
Tae-rim also had the kind of compatibility that allowed him to work with a wide range of Espers. His Guiding coverage was broad. Just looking at the S-rank Espers in District 1—he had over 60% compatibility with all of them. An Esper looking to get Guided by Tae-rim was bound to have rivals, and unless someone was already Imprinted with him, monopolizing his Guiding was practically impossible.
Which only made Jung Jae-heon’s situation more frustrating. He’d finally found a Guide he matched decently with—73% with an S-rank—and yet, rivals were everywhere. On top of that, the highest-matching Esper had a 90% rate. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he had an Incomplete Imprint and was a powerful S+ rank on top of it. Jae-heon didn’t stand a chance.
So Tae-rim genuinely felt bad for him. He wished someone with an even higher Matching Rate than himself would show up for Jung Jae-heon’s sake. That would be best for everyone.
Honestly, Jae-heon was handsome and had a decent personality, so why was he still single? Maybe others saw it differently, but to Tae-rim, it was a complete mystery.
If Jung Jae-heon had been an Alpha, he probably would’ve been a hit with Omegas. A gentle, considerate Alpha like him would’ve been popular anywhere.
So why did people here think he seemed like some out-of-touch old man? Tae-rim couldn’t figure it out.
Anyway, the fact that even the higher-ups agreed to restrict Choi Dong-ha was unexpected. Yeong-jun’s influence must really be that strong. Or maybe it was because, among the S-rank Espers, Dong-ha was the weakest?
If—by some miracle—another S-rank Esper were to show up, Dong-ha would definitely be the one getting transferred. He probably knew that too. That’s likely why he didn’t even try to talk back when Jung Jae-heon laid into him.
Or maybe he just couldn’t—Jae-heon had hit him with nothing but facts. There was nothing to argue.
Either way, it was clear that Dong-ha wouldn’t be coming to Tae-rim for Guiding anymore. And honestly, in peaceful District 1, the odds of someone going into Rampage were slim to none—unless they were the protagonist of some over-the-top novel.
The main lead with the unhinged eyes only came in for Guiding every few days, which was why his Rampage levels kept rising and falling like a roller coaster. But truthfully, a Rampage was meant to be a rare event—more like an accident than something that happened regularly. It wasn’t supposed to occur so easily.
Normally, Espers sought out Guides when they felt physically unwell. After all, it was their own body—they’d know better than any watch when something was off.
In that sense, Tae-rim really wished Kwon Hae-beom would pull himself together. It would be nice if he stopped acting like he’d die the moment Choi Jiwoon did.
Anyway, the rumor about Choi Dong-ha spread among the Guides with lightning speed. Considering two Guides had already blocked him, his reputation taking a nosedive wasn’t all that surprising.
Some of the sharper ones had even pieced things together based on how brutally Jung Jae-heon had mocked him—suggesting that maybe Choi Dong-ha had been pretending not to be into S-rank Guides while actually chasing after them behind the scenes.
That made people hate him even more. Acting all clean and noble, only to turn out worse than the rest? It was the classic case of the pot calling the kettle black—except the pot was covered in shit.
“Hyung, Choi Dong-ha was making things hard for you, right? I can’t stand seeing you suffer. So I told the Center Director that if they didn’t block him, I’d request a transfer. Cool of me, huh?”
“What?”
Tae-rim pressed a hand to his forehead. So that’s another reason the higher-ups decided to drop Choi Dong-ha. Watching Seon Juho beam proudly, Tae-rim couldn’t help but feel both touched and exasperated.
“I never liked him anyway. He always looked at me like I was beneath him. Like I disgusted him.”
“What?!”
“He’s probably been that way since the beginning. I guess having a former test subject around rubbed him the wrong way.”
“Ha… unbelievable…”
Tae-rim was speechless. If that really was the reason, then Choi Dong-ha was just a piece of shit. How could he look at a victim—someone rescued after ten years of torment—with eyes full of contempt? Tae-rim gently patted Juho’s head.
“You did good. Honestly, even giving that guy Guiding in the first place was too generous.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, and another thing—I think he was jealous. Maybe he thought I only got strong because of the experiments.”
“Ha… seriously…”
From that moment on, Tae-rim quietly started praying for Choi Dong-ha to be transferred to another district. If he really saw Juho as someone who became powerful through nothing but artificial means, then forgiving him was out of the question. It’s not like Juho chose that life.
Thinking back, Tae-rim regretted being so soft that day. He should’ve shut him down with words sharp enough to leave a scar.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I don’t care about anyone else but you, hyung.”
Even if Juho said that, there was no way to know what he was really feeling inside. Tae-rim pulled him into a hug.
“If someone like that shows up again, tell me right away. I’ll deal with them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe.”
Juho melted into Tae-rim’s embrace, rubbing against him affectionately. His cheeks flushed pink as he looked up at Tae-rim, then quietly closed his eyes.
