* * *
“I’ve told you time and time again! You must form a pair with Seo Dojin!”
“……”
He’d heard that exact line so often over five years that it felt etched into his skull.
Raon’s gaze turned distant.
It had been around 20 years since the first gate appeared and Espers and Guides began emerging.
The national structure built over decades had collapsed, and everything changed.
Korea, in particular, was one of the countries that underwent rapid transformation in a short period.
But even with all that change, one thing remained: the hunger for power.
Raon looked at Myunghoon, who was yelling with veins bulging in his neck, with sheer disdain.
Around twenty years ago, a gate had opened in the middle of Seoul, and countless people lost their lives.
When it became clear that only Espers and Guides could stop the gates, Korea’s leading corporations poured support into the national Ability Association to survive.
Among them was Hanmyung, which originally wasn’t even a particularly influential company.
But whether due to bloodlines or something else, strangely powerful ability users began awakening among the children of Hanmyung’s chairman.
Especially in the Guide category, where rare and highly compatible talents were even more valuable.
Among them, S-rank Guide Han Raon was considered Hanmyung’s crowning jewel.
That’s why Myunghoon pinned his excessive hopes on Raon.
He constantly pressured Raon to form a bond with Seo Dojin, the president’s nephew who awakened as an S-rank Esper around the same time.
Of course, with Raon’s personality, he would’ve refused if he didn’t like Dojin—no matter how hard Myunghoon pushed.
Unfortunately, Dojin happened to be Han Raon’s ideal type.
So he tried. Countless times, he tried to obey his father’s orders.
But now, with Raon possessing Han Raon’s body and freed from the system’s constraints, he had gone and paired with Siwoo instead of Dojin.
That must’ve been what sent Myunghoon flying into a rage and charging over like this.
“Just hear me out, Father.”
Raon decided to soothe him for now and send him off.
He was never someone you could reason with.
During the time Raon had spent pretending to be the real Han Raon, he’d suffered enough to know that all too well.
Besides, if Myunghoon got upset, who knew what kind of outrageous pressure he might try to put on the Association?
“I stepped back on purpose. Even if Guide Lee Hamin is said to have a 95% match rate with Esper Seo Dojin, he’s still just a B-rank Guide. He won’t be able to handle it alone.”
“So?”
“So I paired with Esper Yoon Siwoo and stepped back for a bit. I’ll wait for things to fall apart between them. Before, I got too involved and caused interference.”
“Hm.”
“Just wait and see. Eventually, Seo Dojin will run into problems due to Lee Hamin’s lack of ability. Then the pair contract will be terminated, and I’ll step in as his exclusive Guide.”
Raon shamelessly spun a ridiculous tale.
Myunghoon’s expression began to shift slightly.
Raon added the final blow.
“Don’t you know about push and pull? If pulling doesn’t work, sometimes you have to push them away.”
“Hmm…”
Myunghoon began to be persuaded, bit by bit, by Raon’s calm, steady logic.
He didn’t even realize that this wasn’t how Raon usually spoke.
“That… does sound plausible.”
“Exactly.”
“You’re not thinking of anything else, right?”
“Of course not.”
Raon waved his hands in protest, feigning shock.
Then, with ease, he curved his lips into the kind of sinister smile the real Han Raon would wear.
“Just trust me, Father. I’ll bring you good news soon.”
“Hmm…”
Still skeptical, Myunghoon gave Raon a long, suspicious look.
But he seemed at least half-convinced, and in the end, he gave a nod.
“Fine. I’ll go for now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Raon answered with confidence.
Myunghoon didn’t drop his doubtful gaze until the end, but he seemed willing to wait and see.
‘Phew. I bought some time.’
It wouldn’t be long before someone as sharp and suspicious as Myunghoon figured things out.
But that didn’t matter.
The system would re-activate eventually, and Raon would once again be forced to live Han Raon’s villainous life.
So technically, what he’d just said wasn’t entirely a lie.
Raon smiled bitterly.
“Raon!”
“……?”
On his way to the training room to stretch out a bit, Raon stopped at the sound of someone calling him.
He turned his head to see Hamin hurrying toward him.
“What is it?”
“Well… Oh!”
As Raon asked in a neutral tone, Hamin looked up at him—then gasped in shock.
“Raon, your face—!”
“Oh.”
Seeing Hamin flinch in alarm, Raon casually rubbed his still-stinging left cheek.
That damn man hit harder than expected.
No wonder it had swelled up to the point of alarming others.
Clicking his tongue, Raon answered like it was no big deal.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing! Who did this to you?!”
“……”
Looking down at the furious Hamin—who resembled a yapping Pomeranian—Raon almost burst into laughter.
Come to think of it, Hamin was always like this.
No matter how cruelly Raon treated him, he kept coming back like the sun—bright, cheerful, and unyielding.
Even when Raon tried to kill him, even when Raon was dying, Hamin still looked at him with pity in his eyes.
‘Is it really okay to be this kind…?’
Well, he is the main bottom of the novel, so nothing bad will happen to him.
And since the main lead, Dojin, will thoroughly protect him, there’s no need to worry.
With that halfhearted thought, Raon turned his head and answered casually.
“Even if you find out who it is, there’s nothing you can do, Guide Lee Hamin.”
“Ah, b-but if we tell the Director…”
“Him too.”
“Oh…”
Unlike espers, guides weren’t part of the military.
That’s why, to Hamin, the most authoritative and approachable person was Director Seokhyeon.
But if this was beyond even his ability to handle, it likely involved the higher-ups in the military.
So Hamin immediately backed off.
Raon looked at the crestfallen Hamin and asked,
“So, what’s going on?”
“Ah, well…”
At this point in the story, Hamin shouldn’t have been approaching Raon so easily.
No matter how sunny and sweet he was, it would’ve been hard to approach someone who openly displayed hostility like Raon did.
But maybe because Raon had recently started responding to his small greetings without much thought, Hamin had gathered up the courage to come closer again.
Raon quietly observed Hamin, who was fidgeting like a little hamster.
“You were heading to the training room, right? If it’s okay, I’d like to join you.”
Hamin asked shyly.
As expected of the story’s main bottom—he had that sweet, adorable face that could tug at the hearts of any top.
Letting that kind of charm go to waste on a villainous sub-bottom trying to steal the main bottom role was a real shame.
Every time Raon acted as Han Raon, he’d felt frustrated by it.
‘But I don’t have to act like Han Raon anymore.’
Come to think of it, Raon’s original type had always been someone like Hamin.
Small, delicate, pretty, and adorably boyish—exactly the kind of person Hamin was.
That’s why he used to read the novel from the tops’ perspective.
But ever since getting possessed by the completely opposite type of character, he’d forgotten all about that.
“Sure. Let’s go together.”
“Really?”
Hamin asked, his face lighting up. Raon nodded, expressionless.
He wanted to stay away from Dojin, the main lead, but there was no need to distance himself from Hamin.
Walking side by side, Raon headed toward the training room.
“Guide Lee Hamin, Guide Han Raon—identities confirmed.”
A training room staff member checked their identities via their watches and let them into an empty room.
Unlike espers, guides didn’t have to undergo high-intensity training.
Especially during this peaceful period without much activity from the gates.
It was rare for guides to even enter the gate nowadays.
Still, since emergencies could happen at any time, guides regularly did physical training and virtual simulations.
Of course, Han Raon had always been known for avoiding training like the plague.
He hated anything that involved hard work.
So the staff glanced at him with surprise—he had been showing up more often lately.
“Actually, I’ve wanted to train with you, Raon.”
“With me?”
“Yes. You’re an S-rank guide. I’m sure there’s a lot I can learn fro—”
“Hamin!”
Just as Hamin was shyly smiling and speaking, a loud voice cut between them.
Raon frowned and turned his head.
Someone was stomping toward them—and upon seeing who it was, Raon’s expression twisted even more.
* * *
