* * *
“Uh… excuse me, Team Leader.”
Unsure how to address her, he hesitated with a vague “excuse me” before hurriedly adding her title.
Holding up the document, he placed it on the desk and pointed to the part that had caught his attention.
“What part are you confused about?”
“There’s something weird written here… I think it’s a mistake.”
Jin Seyoung glanced at where he was pointing and smiled pleasantly.
Haebom felt even more unsettled at her sudden grin.
“It’s not a mistake. That document states exactly what we’re offering you, Haebom.”
His confusion quickly turned to shock.
He had assumed it was an error—there was no way it could be right.
But the reason for his shock was simple: the Center was offering him the role of a Guide.
As someone who had read novels, there was no way Haebom didn’t know what a Guide was.
In the stories, the female protagonist was a Guide, and detailed explanations were given about them.
A Guide was the only one who could stabilize an Esper, whose body accumulated residual energy each time they used their abilities—leading them to eventually lose control.
Not just anyone could become a Guide.
Like Espers, Guides had to awaken.
And once awakened, they would develop what was known as guiding energy.
But Haebom couldn’t be a Guide.
He wasn’t from this world, so there was no way he had awakened as one.
A Guide could sense their guiding energy the moment they awakened, but Haebom had never felt anything like that.
This document had to be wrong.
“There’s an S-class Esper involved in this matter. It’s classified information, but since this concerns you directly, I have no choice but to tell you.”
“What? Wait—hold on…!”
Haebom was still reeling from shock when Jin Seyoung spoke again.
The words “classified information” sent a chill down his spine.
He immediately tried to stop her.
Classified?
He had no interest in knowing government secrets.
In his mind, he could already picture a scenario where someone pulled out a gun—Bang!—followed by, “You’ve learned too much.”
“Ever since he became an Esper, Wonho has suffered from side effects due to a lack of proper guiding. Recently, he was even diagnosed as being on the verge of losing control. The Gate you and he entered last time… it was meant to be his grave. Inside, he chose to go berserk alone. If it weren’t for you, he would have lost his life, and South Korea would have suffered a massive loss.”
Though she spoke calmly, Jin Seyoung’s brows furrowed as she recalled Wonho walking into that deathtrap.
There had been Guides with a high compatibility rate for him, and even minimal physical contact guiding would have prevented his breakdown.
That much would have at least allowed him to endure the side effects, even if it was painful.
But it had been Wonho’s decision not to pair with a Guide.
However, the real reason for that wasn’t Wonho himself.
Jin Seyoung clenched her teeth, thinking of the person who was supposed to be his Guide.
“But Wonho didn’t lose control after coming out of the Gate with you. His readings showed he reached the threshold of a breakdown, yet he didn’t go berserk. Why do you think that is?”
There was only one reason an Esper wouldn’t lose control—because they had received guidance.
The only person Wonho had encountered was Haebom.
But Haebom didn’t believe that was enough to prove he was a Guide.
“…Maybe it just settled on its own? That doesn’t mean I’m a Guide….”
“That’s correct. However, the condition of Esper Wonho after emerging from the Gate is a phenomenon that often occurs when an Esper receives their first guiding session after awakening. If a guide with an excessively high compatibility rate provides deep-contact guiding, a newly awakened Esper may be unable to withstand the pleasure and euphoria, ultimately losing consciousness. And even while unconscious, they instinctively cling to the guide, refusing to let go.”
Ah. Haebom let out a small sigh.
That was a rather thorough explanation of why Wonho hadn’t wanted to let go of him.
So, he was a real guide?
Him?
Haebom’s head spun.
As if it weren’t absurd enough that he had ended up in another world, he had now awakened as a guide on top of that…
But when?
Of course, unlike Espers, whose awakening was obvious, guides often didn’t realize they had awakened at all.
That was why the Center had established a law requiring periodic guide awakening tests for all citizens.
In the novel, the female protagonist had undergone one of those tests and discovered that she was a guide.
But since Haebom had come from another world, that law didn’t apply to him.
“By any chance, did you kiss Esper Wonho inside the Gate? Or… go even further than that? I apologize if this question is inappropriate for an ordinary citizen like you, Yoon Haebom, but for an Esper, this is a matter of life and death, so we need to be precise. Of course, once you adjust, we won’t have to ask you so directly like this. But given the current situation…”
Ahhh! Haebom screamed internally at Jin Seyoung’s question.
He had kissed him.
Wonho had even touched him all over…
Just thinking about saying it out loud made the back of his neck heat up.
Kissing a man was already shocking enough to make his head spin, but now he had to talk about it?
He wanted to cry.
“I see. That answers my question. While you were asleep, we checked Esper Wonho’s energy levels, and they had noticeably stabilized. Most importantly, we were able to detect guiding energy flowing from your body, Yoon Haebom.”
Why didn’t they just say that from the start instead of circling around the topic?
Haebom could tell now—there was no escape.
In this world, once a person awakened as a superpowered being, they became the property of the state.
Espers and guides alike.
That meant being tied to the Center for the rest of his life.
But Haebom wasn’t from this world.
Didn’t that mean he had a place to return to?
Until he figured out how to go back, he had no choice but to stay here.
Whether he was a guide or an Esper, if the Center could help him with things beyond his control, he had no option but to accept that help.
Haebom let out a small sigh.
Now that he thought about it, the Center offering him employment, giving him a new identity, and even providing a salary had all seemed too generous.
He sighed again at his own naivety.
To be honest, this was an offer he should have welcomed with open arms.
The only reason he hesitated… was because, from the way things were unfolding, the Esper he would be guiding appeared to be Wonho, the sub male lead of the novel he had read.
And the fact that Wonho was a man.
* * *
