I stayed with him, guiding until dawn, then crashed from exhaustion after a shower. I had fully intended to sleep the whole day away, but the relentless buzzing of my phone and the chirping doorbell startled me awake.
“What the hell is going on?”
My head was pounding. I rubbed my temple as I sat up and turned toward Han Ju-oh, who was barely keeping his sweatpants up on his hips. Fresh from the shower, water dripped from his hair and trailed down his shoulders and chest in a way that was… something else.
“What is it?”
Han Ju-oh didn’t even flinch as water continued to drip down him. His eyes were glued to his phone.
“Han Ju-oh? I said, what is it?”
He didn’t respond. Either he didn’t hear me or was ignoring me.
“What could possibly be so important that you’re not—what the—hey.”
I caught a glimpse of his screen and immediately leaned in, shocked. I pressed right up against him, completely naked—but the feel of his bare skin against mine didn’t even register. That wasn’t what mattered right now.
“Why the hell am I on the news?”
I looked up at Han Ju-oh with a stunned expression. We just came out of the dungeon yesterday. I didn’t do anything wrong. How did I end up plastered all over the news overnight?
“Look more closely.”
He didn’t bother explaining. He just handed me his phone. I grabbed it in a rush, nearly dropping it before realizing it was upside down and flipping it.
“The ‘ace among aces’ Baek Yeol-jin spoke of…”
Something felt off. My words trailed off.
“Esper Kim Jun-hyuk, but the real hero was someone else.”
Was this based on an Esper interview? What’s with these headlines…?
“It says I broke the stereotype that only Espers can be leaders. Ju-oh, can you even believe this?”
Even after understanding the context, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Was this really happening? Ju-oh, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered.
“Why wouldn’t I believe it?”
He seemed genuinely confused at my reaction. Maybe I should’ve felt a little hurt at his lack of sympathy, but now wasn’t the time.
“You’re incredible.”
A hand brushed down my spine, and only then did I realize—too late—that I was stark naked. But Han Ju-oh didn’t seem interested in giving me space.
“You didn’t give up just because of a low matching rate. You kept going, kept seeking out Espers, doing everything you could.”
His hand slid from my back over my shoulder and cupped my chest. His fingers circled around my nipple between his index and middle finger, making my shoulders jerk up involuntarily.
“While everyone else sat back waiting for Espers, you took action. That’s what shaped who you are now.”
“You mean… even when I was that pathetic Guide with just a 3% matching rate…”
My body was quickly growing too hot to handle, too sensitive to stand on my own. I leaned into Ju-oh for support.
“You weren’t pathetic. From the start until now, you’ve always been a good Guide.”
His hand slid down and wrapped around my heated cock, slowly twisting and stroking it. I thought I was drained after going all out yesterday, but cruelly enough, my body was already getting ready to climax again.
“You thought I was toying with you through Guiding, and now you’re calling me a good Guide…”
My forehead pressed against Ju-oh’s shoulder, and I breathed heavily, voice shaking with resentment. I meant how bad the first impression was, but my body kept leaning on him, making these helpless little noises.
“If I’d still misunderstood you, I wouldn’t have been able to love you. Baek Seo-ha, the one who made the biggest difference in this dungeon—was you.”
The tenderness hidden in Ju-oh’s flat words hit me hard. My lips clamped shut and my whole body went stiff as I climaxed, fluid spurting out.
“Haa… It’s morning, for fuck’s sake…”
I came in his hand while the doorbell kept chirping and my phone buzzed nonstop like chaos itself.
“Should we go outside?”
My eyes, still hazy from the afterglow, fluttered in answer.
***
I slipped out the window and leaned against the wall, cautiously peeking around the edge. A crowd had gathered outside the door—people with cameras, microphones, notepads, each clearly there for some purpose. I clicked my tongue.
“Good thing we didn’t use the front door.”
No wonder the doorbell was going nuts—there were people piled up two, three layers deep, craning to see past the gate.
“Seriously, why did everyone have to name-drop me and stir up this mess?”
I grumbled, but I wasn’t exactly resentful. They’d followed my plan in the dungeon, and someone must’ve said good things to the reporters. A Guide leading a team full of ace Espers—it made for a juicy headline.
“Whatever the case, we shouldn’t go back in today.”
Ju-oh, knowing full well that the reporters wouldn’t give up easily, grabbed my wrist.
“Let’s go.”
I let myself get dragged along, wrist dangling in his grip, half-resigned to it all.
“Yeah, well—might as well turn this into a date now.”
***
Long story short, the date was a total bust.
“Nothing in this damn world ever goes the way I want.”
We’d planned to grab food first. I thought we’d hit a nice café for brunch, but we had to turn right back around at the entrance because people recognized me and started asking for pictures.
After that, we tried two more places, but the same thing happened. By the time we gave up and walked out, I wasn’t even hungry anymore. Who cares about food when people are stopping in the street to stare and reporters are showing up out of nowhere? I ended up fleeing into a high-rise building just to breathe.
“Good thing you can just fly around like it’s nothing. If not, we’d still be stuck out there, swarmed by people.”
“So, how does it feel to be famous?”
Only now did I finally take a breath and try to reflect calmly.
“Among Espers and Guides, I was already kind of known, so having strangers recognize me isn’t all that weird…”
But knowing that those stares didn’t hold dismissal or mockery—it left this weird, ticklish feeling, like someone was brushing over a spot I couldn’t reach.
“It’s all just so strange. No way it stays like this forever, right?”
“The Center will handle it.”
Han Ju-oh answered so nonchalantly that I just nodded, remembering my phone was dead in my pocket. I hadn’t even contacted Director Kim Beom-hak yet. But knowing him, he’d probably already taken action.
“I guess I better tell them to hurry it up.”
“You don’t exactly look like you want this to die down fast.”
He called me out, and he wasn’t wrong. He’s never been the type to sugarcoat anything, but still—couldn’t he pretend not to notice for once?
I glared at him before finally just letting it out.
“Yeah, fine. When would I ever get a day like this again? Honestly, I want to make up for all the times I had to endure being treated like crap.”
It wasn’t anyone’s fault. But it wasn’t mine either. It wasn’t like I could control my matching rate—but everyone made it feel like it was my own personal failing.
“Then stop doing anything. Just enjoy it.”
“Should I? Maybe I should indulge a bit.”
I leaned in toward him, feeling half-tempted.
“You know this is all your fault, right?”
I ignored the low murmur about how heavy I was and pushed in closer, rubbing my head against his shoulder.
“Meeting you turned my entire life around.”
I couldn’t see his face with my head resting on him, but I just knew he was smiling. Somehow, being in his arms like this made me feel at ease all over again.
“Because you caught me and pulled me into the air, I got my matching test, found a partner. We ended up smashing our lips together, and my rate spiked—and everything since then has just been one thing after another.”
Before I turned in my resignation, time used to crawl by like it was stuck in mud. But after meeting Han Ju-oh, every single day flew by like an hour.
“Who could’ve imagined I’d end up Imprinting?”
After the whirlwind of moments with him, I’d finally found some peace.
“You live long enough, and anything really can happen—wait, what’s with that look?”
I turned my head mid-sentence and met Han Ju-oh’s burning gaze. The words caught in my throat.
“What kind of look do you think I’m giving you?”
“The kind that says you’re about to strip me down and eat me alive.”
He didn’t deny it. I pointed urgently around us.
“We’re on a rooftop. You do realize that, right?”
I flailed my arms to make my point—this wasn’t the place to get eaten alive. But he caught one of my hands mid-swing.
“Guiding isn’t something you stop to check the setting for.”
“Don’t even try using ‘Guiding’ as an excuse.”
I snorted. Unreal.
“I was talking about holding hands…”
“So I’m the only one thinking about penetration?”
Trying to lead me into a trap, are you?
“No way someone with eyes that hungry is just thinking about holding hands.”
“True.”
And then he kissed me—cool and unapologetic.
Our lips met, breath mingling sweetly, and as the kiss slowly faded, he whispered.
“I told you, I’m your fate. So don’t ever let go, Baek Seo-ha.”
“Is that how this works?”
“Look only at me. Love only me.”
“You’re seriously one weird bastard, Han Ju-oh.”
And I ended up falling for that bastard.
Laughter mingled into the kiss, and just like that, the moment between us melted into something soft and warm.
This story was lovely. Thank you for translating!
Awwwwwh this was so good