He’d been absolutely furious that night. He’d vowed to give Seon Juho a serious scolding. The overwhelming pleasure had been so unbearable that every sort of thought had raced through his head. But when it was all over, so much for the scolding—his anger had melted away, leaving only a softened heart.
Maybe it was thanks to the IV and injections, but after some time, his body started to feel better. His eyes slowly began to open, and after sipping some warm honey water, even his sore throat eased up. Bit by bit, Lee Tae-rim’s condition improved—but Seon Juho, on the other hand, was steadily deteriorating. Tae-rim sighed as he looked at Juho’s tear- and snot-streaked face.
He might’ve lost the urge to get angry, but he was still a little annoyed. So just to be petty, he stayed silent and didn’t respond to anything. And now Juho’s eyes looked like they were about to swell shut from crying. In the end, Tae-rim had no choice but to speak up.
“Hyuhng… hiiiing.”
“Quit it.”
“Hyung!”
Tae-rim reached out and gently patted Seon Juho’s round head. His soft, silky hair slipped through Tae-rim’s fingers like fine threads.
“Are you going to do that again?”
“……”
“Can’t promise me, huh?”
“I-It’s not like I wanted to do it…!”
“I know. You were losing your mind, just wanting to give in to the impulse, right?”
“Y-Yeah…”
Seon Juho looked at him with wide eyes, as if wondering how Tae-rim could possibly know that. Tae-rim pinched Juho’s cheek and tugged it out gently.
“That’s why I told you. Ruts are dangerous.”
“T-That was a rut?”
“No. It wasn’t. If that had been a rut, there’s no way it would’ve ended with just that. I’m a Beta—if a real rut had hit, I probably would’ve collapsed and been rushed to the hospital.”
“……”
Juho’s face went pale with shock. Tae-rim spoke with a solemn look.
“I don’t think it was a full rut, but it was probably right on the edge. I’ve never experienced one myself, so I can’t say for sure, but an Alpha’s rut isn’t something a non-Omega can handle.”
“……”
“When a rut or heat hits, you completely lose rationality. All you can think about is sex. In severe cases, you might even lose your memory. It’s like your body becomes nothing but pure instinct.”
“Mm…”
“It’s not something you can control through willpower. So I really hope you understand why I’m so wary of ruts.”
If the other person were an Omega going into Heat at the same time, maybe it’d be different—but a Beta would never be able to withstand it. The only outcome was getting carted off to the hospital.
And Seon Juho was an Esper. At least Alphas were still human. If one tried to escape from an Alpha, they could probably make it. But if Seon Juho tried to restrain him, there was no way Tae-rim could ever run.
“Hyung. If it happens again, just start Guiding.”
“Huh?”
“If I start acting like that again, give me an intense Guiding session—hit me with it hard. Then while I’m overwhelmed, you run. I don’t know, to… Jung Jae-heon’s room or something…”
“Ah…!”
It hadn’t even occurred to him. Guides had Guiding—an incredibly powerful weapon. He didn’t know how effective it would be in a situation like that, but it wasn’t a bad plan.
“I should make some restraints.”
“Huh?”
“Ask someone to design restraints I can wear, like a bracelet. I’ll keep them on whenever I’m with you.”
“W-Wouldn’t that be going too far?”
“Nope.”
Seon Juho’s face was deadly serious. The sheer intensity of it left Tae-rim a little stunned.
“And we should talk to Dr. Oh. Right now. Tell him we both react strongly to each other’s pheromones, and that the scent heightens our arousal to a dangerous level. We need to prepare in advance. I really hate the thought of you getting hurt.”
Even if Tae-rim were to object, Juho looked like he wouldn’t back down. Tae-rim did feel a bit of resistance to the idea of disclosing his physical sensitivities to others, but in the end, he gave a slow nod. Juho was right. If they could prepare, they should.
Over the weekend, the two spent their time syncing up on what to say. Thanks to Tae-rim heading to the infirmary early and getting treated right away, he was back to full health by Monday morning.
As for the whole “divine aura” around Seon Juho—Tae-rim had decided to let that one go. No matter how much he tried to confirm it, it was impossible. Whatever. It was Juho’s birthday. People would just chalk it up to that.
They’d agreed to talk to Dr. Oh that afternoon after Juho finished training. No reason to delay—strike while the iron’s hot.
Just like any other day, Tae-rim showed up for work. He’d already received Guiding requests first thing in the morning, so he sent messages telling three people to come by later. The first unexpected visitor, bright and early, was Jung Jae-heon. His ESP levels weren’t particularly high, but they were in that ambiguous range—not high enough to ignore, but not low enough to leave alone either. So, he came for a session.
“But Esper Jung Jae-heon.”
“Hm?”
“You’re not going to do something like what Esper Kwon Hae-beom did… right?”
“…Huh?”
“I mean behavior like his.”
“……”
Whether Jung Jae-heon received Guiding from someone or not was entirely up to him. Tae-rim had no right to object. Still, he couldn’t hold back and brought it up anyway. There was no guarantee Won Hwa-jun wouldn’t become the next Lee Hae-il.
“I want to be on good terms with Guide Won Hwa-jun.”
“Ahem…”
An awkward expression appeared on Jung Jae-heon’s face. Tae-rim frowned, as if he genuinely didn’t get it.
“It’s just Guiding—what’s the big deal?”
“……”
“And isn’t Guide Won Hwa-jun kind of admirable? I heard the first thing he did after Awakening was look for you, Esper Jung Jae-heon.”
“……”
“Then it’s okay if I send Guide Won Hwa-jun a message every time you get Guided by someone else, right? Like, when you get it from an A-rank Guide, I’ll text Ye-rin noona, Hyo-il hyung, and Jae-hwa hyung…”
“Ah—no! You can’t!”
“And why not?”
“Ahem, well… he’s way too young…”
What difference did one year make—ten or eleven, it was practically the same. Tae-rim thought back to how Jung Jae-heon had once thrown subtle flirtations his way. Maybe his expression showed a little too much, because Jung Jae-heon suddenly looked flustered and glanced away. Tae-rim didn’t let him off the hook and kept chasing his gaze with relentless persistence.
“Well, think about it after the Guiding.”
“No… if I do that, it’s over…”
“Why?”
“It’s 88%! And he’s an S-rank!”
“That’s great. That kind of Matching Rate is almost impossible regardless of age. Why would you pass up a chance like that?”
“…Haa. Yeah, I know.”
Jung Jae-heon flopped forward onto the table with a helpless expression.
“I honestly don’t even know what’s wrong with me, Tae-rim. Do you think I’m maybe… just shy?”
“How would I know?”
“Ughhhh…”
Jung Jae-heon let out a series of groans throughout the Guiding session. They sounded more like sighs than anything else.
“Haa… I shouldn’t have told him my name that day…”
“And then what? Let someone else snatch away that 88% chance of a lifetime?”
“…You’ve gotten so savage since hanging out with Guide Yoon Ye-rin.”
“Ahem.”
“Honestly, it is a good thing… but still, it’s just… so embarrassing! What if he has some huge fantasy about me?”
“I don’t think the fantasy someone has about their savior is gonna shatter that easily.”
“But I’m actually really pathetic, you know…”
“Well, now that I’m looking, I can kind of see that.”
“Tae-rim… that hit me right in the chest.”
“Ahem. Just don’t run from it. At least meet him once. You know running away from the very first meeting just makes you look even more pathetic, right?”
“Ugh…”
Tae-rim managed to coax Jung Jae-heon out the door. At least he wasn’t the type to dig in his heels like a mule—so if Tae-rim’s words got through to him, he wouldn’t just avoid the situation.
The moment Jung Jae-heon left, three more people burst into the Guiding room. They were visibly excited.
“They say Guide Won Hwa-jun looks even hotter in person! Better-looking than most Espers!”
“Seriously?!”
That kind of thing wasn’t easy… But still, it wasn’t impossible. And this rare heartthrob wasn’t just any Guide—he was an S-rank, and he was actively pursuing an older S-rank Esper in public. The whole situation was dripping with drama.
“I heard he moved into the dorm yesterday. You didn’t see him?”
“I’m a homebody, remember.”
“Nah, it’s probably ’cause you were sick and couldn’t go out.”
“……”
So the rumor had spread. At Kim Hyo-il’s comment, the other two’s eyes widened in concern.
“You were sick? What happened? And how do you know?”
“Wait—Hyo-il, are you saying he went to the infirmary? How bad was it? Are you okay now?”
Their eyes sparkled with worry. Tae-rim couldn’t bring himself to lie when faced with that kind of concern.
“I was sick, but… um… Juho got a little too, uh, excited…”
“Ah…”
“Ah…”
A brief, awkward silence fell over the room. But Yoon Ye-rin was quick to break the tension.
“But you’re okay now, right?”
“Yeah. I got an injection, and I was totally fine after that.”
“I figured it was fine since there wasn’t any glowing aura coming off Esper Seon Juho today…”
“Maybe he felt so guilty for pushing Tae-rim too hard that he backed off and shrank into himself.”
“I didn’t scold him, but… yeah, his confidence definitely took a hit.”
“So he made a mess and now he’s gone into self-reflection mode, huh?”
“Probably…”
He’d cried buckets of tears, nose and all. His eyes had puffed up so much they looked like a goldfish’s.
“Still, at least Esper Seon Juho has the decency to feel guilty. Some Espers don’t. Being sexually vigorous is practically seen as a badge of honor for men.”
“Ah…”
“That’s why the infirmary always hands out muscle relaxants to Guides so casually. It’s not just one or two cases.”
Tae-rim could bet everything he had that Seon Juho had the strongest libido of them all—but at least he wasn’t suffering alone. That explained why the staff were so adept at prescribing painkillers tailored to specific muscle conditions…
