Translated by Levia
It was a rare weekend where even the 1st Raid Division had the day off.
As usual on their days off, Eunseok sat in the cafeteria chatting with Moon Bora and Kwon Eunchae. Despite being Hunters themselves—or perhaps naturally so—they were deeply curious about the Guide Training Center. What the training involved, whether the Guides were keeping up, how long it would take to complete the program… The two took turns bombarding him with questions.
“When the first cohort of Guides completes their training, the entire dungeon strategy paradigm is going to change.”
Moon Bora spoke with a faint flush of excitement on her face.
“Right? Right? We still have to wait quite a while before we can bring a Guide along, but the 2nd and 3rd Divisions are already losing their minds. They won’t stop pestering me every chance they get, asking about every little thing—from tips for working with Guides in dungeons to the pros and cons. It’s driving me nuts.”
Kwon Eunchae nodded as she chattered on, her tone teetering somewhere between bragging and complaining.
There was definitely a buzz of excitement in the air—not just within the Guild, but across the whole nation. The media was flooding the airwaves with detailed predictions and analyses of what might happen once Guides were actively deployed into dungeons.
Every mid-to-large guild was scrambling to get in early, fighting tooth and nail to scout the Guides currently enrolled in the training center.
Some of the Guides still affiliated with the Bureau of Ability Users were already overwhelmed by the flood of recruitment offers, saying it was giving them headaches.
Of course, the influx wasn’t just from the Guilds. The number of Guides inquiring about how to enroll in the training center was skyrocketing. The Bureau even had to set up a separate office just to handle those requests.
“A few years from now, having a Guide with you in the dungeon might become the norm,” Moon Bora mumbled as she chewed slowly on a macaron.
“Seriously. We might even reach a point where raid teams without a Guide can’t get dungeon assignments at all. In that sense, we’re ahead of the game—since we already have Eunseok Oppa.”
Kwon Eunchae beamed proudly as she gave Eunseok a big thumbs-up.
Eunseok just let out a soft chuckle.
He lifted his coffee cup, when suddenly—click! The shutter sound of a camera.
Kwon Eunchae had quickly snapped a photo with her phone.
“Got a paparazzi shot of the ringed hand!”
Grinning brightly, she brazenly admitted to the sneaky photo, then glanced sideways at Eunseok to gauge his reaction. Almost immediately, she began tapping away at her phone—probably uploading the photo to one of her bustling social media accounts.
“You’re still going to ask for permission before posting it, right?”
Moon Bora nudged Eunchae’s arm with her elbow in a light reprimand.
“Oh, come on, unnie. Since when do paparazzi ask before uploading photos?”
Kwon Eunchae giggled, playing innocent with a cheeky grin. Once the upload was complete, she held out her phone to show Moon Bora the screen. After stealing a quick glance at Eunseok, Moon Bora looked at the post and began to giggle.
“How is it?”
“Oh wow. The retweets and likes are blowing up. The reaction’s insane.”
“Right? Right? This is why I love posting on social media! Especially after you two got engaged—Guild Leader-nim’s been showing off that ring everywhere. But there are barely any photos of Eunseok Oppa wearing his, so of course this blew up. You wouldn’t believe how many people have been begging me to post a ring shot of him.”
Kwon Eunchae puffed up her chest proudly, clearly basking in the attention.
The photo had already been taken. And it had already been posted.
This wasn’t the old days, back when their identities and faces were kept under wraps. So Eunseok just let it slide.
“Eunseok Oppa, can I take just one more photo?”
Eunchae looked at him with a pleading face, completely transparent in her intentions.
“…Again?”
“There’s this photo of Guild Leader-nim brushing her hair back and showing off her ring. I want you to do the same pose—just once, okay? Please? Pleeeease?”
Eunchae begged with the persistence of a child demanding candy, not even trying to hide it.
Eunseok shot a look at Moon Bora, silently asking her to step in. But she only shrugged as if to say, Do what you want. No help there.
“Oppa, just once. I swear. One shot.”
Eunchae held up a single finger for emphasis as she pleaded again.
If ever there were a textbook definition of a bratty younger sister, this was it.
Eunseok eventually gave a soft laugh and nodded.
With his permission granted, Eunchae quickly whipped out her phone.
Eunseok turned his gaze slightly to the side, looking off into the distance, then slowly brushed his hair back with his ringed left hand.
Click click click. Click.
The shutter fired in rapid succession.
“Got it! Thank you, Oppa! I’ll upload the best-looking one!”
Eunchae chirped cheerfully and leaned in close to Moon Bora, the two of them huddling together as they picked out which photo to upload.
As Eunseok quietly sipped his iced Americano through a straw, he watched the two with mild amusement—until both suddenly lifted their heads and looked past him.
Just as he was about to turn to see what caught their attention, a large hand clamped down on his shoulder.
Whoever it was had deliberately hidden their presence to sneak up on him. Had it been anyone else, Eunseok’s instincts would have launched a counterattack on the spot. But he already knew who it was.
“As your fiancée, I’m just wondering—is it okay to leave me alone for this long?”
Choi Hanseo murmured in a low voice right by his ear.
“Oh my god. Did you hear that? He said fiancée!”
Kwon Eunchae let out a high-pitched squeal and did a little happy dance on the spot.
Eunseok stood up, still holding his to-go coffee cup. If he lingered any longer, Eunchae was absolutely going to start begging for couple photos. And Hanseo would, without a doubt, say yes.
“I’ll be heading out now,” Eunseok said.
Moon Bora gave him a knowing nod, fully understanding.
As he turned, Hanseo naturally moved in step beside him. The moment their eyes met, Hanseo flashed that rich, melting smile of his.
Lately, every time their eyes locked, Hanseo would smile like that—as if he were on the verge of melting into pure sugar.
Even in the candid paparazzi shots online, and in formal press photos, Choi Hanseo always had at least the faintest trace of a smile on his face.
People had started teasing him, calling him Happy Virus Choi Baekho, saying he looked like a man bursting with joy 24/7.
Honestly, Eunseok couldn’t really disagree.
“If you don’t have anything else planned… how about we just head home now?”
Choi Hanseo leaned in slightly and whispered against his ear, his fingers giving Eunseok’s shoulder a soft tap.
Unless they were alone, Hanseo never initiated any kind of physical contact. That was a relief. Sure, they’d publicly announced their engagement, but any sort of public displays of affection? Absolutely not.
“What do you think?”
When no answer came, Hanseo asked again.
Eunseok stared straight at him.
In Hanseo’s gaze burned a heated invitation—undeniable desire. It was obvious what would happen if they went up to the penthouse right now. It was still early in the afternoon. Not exactly the ideal time for something so… heated. But it wasn’t just Hanseo who was drunk on the magic of being engaged.
Eunseok, though more reserved about it, also harbored that same craving—a constant, simmering urge to get tangled up with Hanseo at every opportunity.
“…Let’s go up.”
Eunseok finally murmured.
Hanseo’s eyes gleamed with a deeper smile. Still holding his gaze, he pressed the elevator button.
Guild members coming and going from the first floor caught sight of the two and—reading the mood—quietly redirected themselves toward a different elevator.
In the end, they had the ride to themselves.
Eunseok tensed ever so slightly, wondering if Hanseo would try something in the elevator—but thankfully, he didn’t.
Ding—
The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open.
Before Eunseok could take a single step, a hand grabbed him.
Choi Hanseo seized his hand tightly and strode toward the bedroom with determined steps.
“Wait… Hanseo-ssi, can you slow down a little?”
Eunseok was practically being dragged behind him, trying to get him to calm down.
But Hanseo, fired up beyond restraint, acted as if he didn’t hear a word, pulling Eunseok all the way into the bedroom.
“Hold on, let me shower fir—”
He twisted to free his wrist, but the grip only tightened. Then suddenly—his body lifted off the ground.
In the blink of an eye, he was thrown onto the bed.
“…Ugh?!”
He barely had time to process what happened.
More than the landing itself, what shocked him was that he hadn’t even had time to react, let alone brace or roll with the fall.
It made one thing painfully clear—Hanseo had been seriously holding back until now.
“…Sorry. I’m just… really desperate right now.”
Hanseo muttered as he ripped open his shirt and climbed onto the bed, bracing a knee against the mattress.
They’d already crossed this line before, but the sudden intensity still caught Eunseok off guard. Not that it mattered for long.
The moment Hanseo grabbed the back of his neck and pressed their lips together, that brief flicker of hesitation vanished like it had been conjured away.
“…Hnn… mmn…”
A kiss, fierce enough to devour him, crashed down.
When Hanseo said he was desperate, he hadn’t been exaggerating—his mouth was hot, hungry, almost frantic. He sucked and bit at Eunseok’s lips, igniting sparks along every nerve. The firm, muscular weight of Hanseo’s body pressed down on Eunseok, steady and unyielding. That sheer mass alone made his lower abdomen tense involuntarily.
Eunseok responded to the kiss with growing passion, savoring the sensation of that well-trained body gliding beneath his hands.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
