Baek Seo-ha, initially flustered, quickly grasped the situation and let out a sly grin.
“You’ve got sensitive ears, huh?”
It wasn’t just his ears that turned red—Han Ju-oh’s entire face flushed. The skin around his eyes especially burned, and seeing that, Seo-ha scratched at the front of his shirt. Why did his chest feel so tingly?
“Hands off.”
Knowing the guiding session was over, Han Ju-oh spoke in clipped syllables through tightly clenched teeth. Seo-ha flinched at the threat in his tone and quickly withdrew his hand.
“I was just trying to guide you, that’s all. …Sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand.”
He had no excuse—he’d touched his ears without permission. If Han Ju-oh got angrier, Seo-ha was ready to quietly accept it. Of course, he had no intention of stopping himself from touching those ears in the future.
“If that’s what you think guiding is, then I guess I’ll do the same.”
“Huh? You want to touch my ears? Sure. Go ahead.”
Seo-ha fiddled with his own ear. Han Ju-oh’s words sounded like he meant to give him a taste of his own medicine, but Seo-ha wondered—would touching them actually do anything? People had different sensitivity zones, after all, and he doubted his would react much. If he didn’t feel anything, would Han Ju-oh get frustrated? But then again, that wasn’t really Seo-ha’s problem.
He was thinking he’d let Han Ju-oh take the lead in the next guiding session when suddenly the man’s hand appeared in front of him. Before he could even react, he felt fingers brushing his ear.
“The guiding session is over.”
“Just a checkup, for confirmation.”
Hearing that, Seo-ha could no longer stop him. Honestly, he had touched Han Ju-oh without permission first—letting him do this much was only fair…
“Ugh.”
Seo-ha shuddered, wrapping his hands around his ear and leaning his upper body away. His eyes were wide in surprise—what the hell was that?
“Pretty sensitive, aren’t you?”
“Me? No way.”
Seo-ha immediately shook his head but then caught a glimpse of Han Ju-oh’s face and bit his lip. He’d been so sure he wasn’t sensitive at all, but the moment Han Ju-oh scratched down the curve of his outer ear, a chill shot straight down his spine.
“We seriously need to be careful.”
Seo-ha scratched his ear hard as he muttered like he was complaining.
“We’ve gotta be on high alert when guiding. If we zone out even a little…”
He glanced down between his legs, then quickly looked away—but Han Ju-oh caught the shift in his gaze. Seo-ha was clearly worried that if things slipped out of control, he might get too aroused to stop himself.
Their bodies were built the same, after all—if one got excited, it’d be obvious for both.
“Go on, get to training. I’ll hang back here for a bit.”
When Han Ju-oh rose from the sofa, Seo-ha followed him to the door as if seeing him off. He even gave a little wave at the threshold, and Han Ju-oh gave him a sidelong glance before walking away.
Even after Han Ju-oh disappeared from view, Seo-ha remained standing in place and mumbled as if speaking to him.
“You’re probably wondering what I’m gonna do, but there’s no need.”
He’d find out eventually anyway.
Seo-ha stepped back inside, sat at his desk, and opened a drawer. He pulled out a notebook and pen, flipping past the first few pages. The handwriting was so messy it was barely legible—practically doodles.
Familiar with his own mess, Seo-ha flipped to a blank space near the back, pen in hand.
“The energy that entered through the ears increased slightly. But when we kissed yesterday, there was no change.”
The notebook was Seo-ha’s brainstorming tool. He used it to jot down whatever thoughts came to mind, fishing out ideas. Lately, this had become his primary focus. For the first time, the steady energy flow had shifted. It wasn’t enough to catch up to others, but energy that had been stagnant was finally starting to move—and that mattered. So he wrote it down.
“I wonder if the same energy fluctuation would happen with another Esper.”
He was only allowed to guide Han Ju-oh, since he was his contracted partner, but that didn’t stop him from being curious. Resting his chin on his hand, he tapped the notebook with his pen.
“Not like I can test that.”
Checking out of personal curiosity wasn’t something he’d do to Han Ju-oh. Maybe if their contract ended someday, he could try it. Until then, the idea was shelved.
“Once he’s done with training, what’s the best way to guide him next?”
He’d held his hand. They’d kissed. He’d tried a back hug. He’d even slid his hand under Han Ju-oh’s shirt. Sure, there were still countless things left to try, but for Seo-ha, every step was a research opportunity. He had to be careful. His top priority was reducing Han Ju-oh’s danger level. That was the only thing he focused on.
“I need restraint. I must not cross the line. I am a rational, self-controlled human being.”
Seo-ha recalled the feeling of Han Ju-oh’s hand and scribbled furiously in his notebook, venting through the pen. It was the kind of thing he’d be embarrassed to show anyone, so he kept the notes messy on purpose. He wouldn’t dare write this in a tablet app—what if it leaked? This was his secret research journal.
***
Even as he sparred with a large, strong Esper who lacked finesse in power distribution, Han Ju-oh’s mind was elsewhere all day.
Baek Seo-ha filled every thought—
Eating together.
Drinking beer together.
Dragging himself to work the next day, clearly exhausted.
Every time the alarm on Baek Seo-ha’s phone rang, he would drag himself over—groggy and half-asleep—to perform a guiding session.
Perhaps because he couldn’t channel much energy in one go, Seo-ha became obsessed with not letting the danger level rise again. He even showed up once in the middle of the night, claiming the alarm had woken him. That didn’t last long, likely because his own sleep affected the quality of the guiding. Instead, he began coming over at dawn.
Han Ju-oh’s danger level was currently at 45%. Dropping it below 50% made an incredible difference in his stability. That was thanks to Han Ju-oh keeping his power under control, and Seo-ha guiding him consistently.
At one point, he had dismissed Seo-ha’s 3% guiding potential as useless. But now, seeing how that same Guide had obsessively, almost manically, driven the number down, it wasn’t Han Ju-oh who felt proud—it was Baek Seo-ha.
“You can push me a little harder!”
The Esper who had been holding his ground between them shouted determinedly at Han Ju-oh. Fired up and eager, he insisted he could endure more, but Han Ju-oh’s eyes were indifferent.
“No.”
The gust of wind that had been pressing against the Esper vanished. Caught off guard, the man looked confused, but Han Ju-oh turned away without hesitation.
“W-wait, where are you going? The training session’s not over.”
“Figure it out yourself.”
Training the Esper didn’t matter to Han Ju-oh in the slightest. It had been almost two hours since his last guiding session. He’d only entertained the match to try and kill some time—knowing that once the next alarm went off, Baek Seo-ha would come looking for him.
***
The phone wedged between the sofa cushions barely made a sound when the alarm went off.
The one it was desperately trying to reach was currently slumped over a desk, fast asleep.
Han Ju-oh looked down at Seo-ha’s sleeping figure with an expression of disbelief. So this was why he told him to go on ahead to the training room?
The same guy who rang the doorbell incessantly at dawn, practically vibrating with energy, was now so deep asleep that he didn’t even sense Han Ju-oh standing right over him.
“Should I wake him up?”
Mischief sparkled in Han Ju-oh’s eyes. He imagined rousing Seo-ha, who had failed to show up, and demanding a guiding session.
But instead, his hands carefully lifted Seo-ha’s body. He carried him to the bed in the adjacent space, hidden by a partition wall. Seo-ha didn’t even stir; he simply rolled onto his side and got comfortable.
His body, now uncurled, looked visibly more at ease. He even let out a soft snore. Watching him, Han Ju-oh let out a quiet chuckle.
Reaching out, he touched the imprint on Seo-ha’s cheek. Something from the notebook had transferred onto his skin—perfectly stamped like a seal.
[Han Ju-oh, ears, cute guy.]
“……”
Why being sensitive in the ears translated to cute was beyond him, but now he knew what Seo-ha had been doodling before falling asleep. Han Ju-oh looked down at Seo-ha’s face.
“I wonder if the Esper being pushed to the brink helped Baek Seo-ha’s energy flow in.”
He recalled the doctor’s words. For an Esper to be pushed into an extreme situation— That was practically the same as entrusting the Guide with their final moment. Seo-ha had firmly refused to go that far again, but still… It was worth considering.
“To put your life on the line.”
That was what caught Han Ju-oh’s attention.
Before being an Esper, he was a person. And death, to any person, was an unknown abyss—a terrifying loss of self. To charge toward it willingly meant only one thing.
“Love.”
Han Ju-oh gently poked Seo-ha’s nose.
He accepted it—he’d fallen for Baek Seo-ha.
When he’d saved him, he didn’t care what happened to himself. He had always lived without much attachment, but this time, the desire to protect Seo-ha completely had overwhelmed everything else.
“There’s no point in denying it now.”
He enjoyed spending time with Baek Seo-ha. Found himself drawn to the unexpected sides of him. It had gone beyond a mere crush—realizing it made the world feel like it had shifted.
“Mmm.”
As Han Ju-oh’s finger touched Seo-ha’s nose, he startled and pulled back. Something familiar—something warm—had just surged into his hand.
Before he could figure out what it was, Seo-ha’s eyes fluttered open and met his.
“…What?”
Seo-ha frowned, rubbing his nose.
“There was a spark.”
He meant static electricity, but Han Ju-oh—who’d been touching him the whole time—knew it was something else entirely.
As he pondered what that sensation might have been, Seo-ha, now fully awake, rubbed his nose and glared at him.
“Put on lotion. That’s how you stop static buildup. Drink more water, too…”
Despite having just napped during work hours, Seo-ha shamelessly scolded him as he sat up. And as if that weren’t enough, he cupped both of Han Ju-oh’s ears in his hands.
“If I guide you like this, covering both ears, d’you think you’ll be able to hear teeny-tiny sounds too?”
Apparently finding his own joke hilarious, Seo-ha snickered as he began the guiding session.
Energy flowed from his fingers, circling Han Ju-oh’s earlobes and outer ears, then slowly soaking into his head.
As a wave of clarity settled in his mind, one truth cemented itself in Han Ju-oh’s heart.
He was in love with Baek Seo-ha.
And not just a little—he was head over heels.
