* * *
Having a conversation with Wonho, who kept trying to escape whenever they were together—was that even possible?
Jin Seyoung must have thought that Wonho would try to run, which was why she had made sure to warn him against it.
Wonho muttered something under his breath and then clamped his mouth shut.
It seemed he had no intention of talking.
“Um, so… I have a question. Can I ask?”
Haebom hesitated, rolling his eyes nervously as he glanced at Wonho.
Since Wonho spoke informally to him, he figured it wouldn’t matter if he did the same.
If Wonho complained, he’d just argue back—it wasn’t a big deal.
At the sound of Haebom’s voice, Wonho shot him a glance before looking away again.
Since he hadn’t outright refused, Haebom took it as a sign of agreement.
“Wasn’t your hair white before? Did you dye it?”
To be honest, ever since Wonho had opened the door to the compatibility testing room earlier, Haebom had wanted to ask him this question.
After all, in the novel, the signature traits of the sub-male lead, Wonho, were his bright red eyes and white hair.
Some people had even said that combination made him look like a rabbit…
Though in reality, he was less of a cute bunny and more of a burly, muscle-bound monster rabbit.
Still, his hair had definitely been white inside the Gate.
Since the novel hadn’t mentioned much about his hair color, Haebom had assumed that, like certain mental-type espers whose eye color changed upon awakening, Wonho’s hair must have turned white when he awakened.
“…Do you know me?”
“Huh? No, I wouldn’t say I know you….”
“Then don’t talk to me. I don’t need guiding, so just keep your mouth shut and live quietly. Like you don’t exist.”
…Huh? Haebom tilted his head to the side.
The female protagonist had always described Wonho as kind and gentle whenever she talked about him or expressed her feelings for him.
Of course, Haebom never assumed that Wonho would be nice to everyone, but did he really have to be this prickly?
Haebom furrowed his brows.
Had he done something wrong?
He tried to think, but nothing came to mind.
The only thing he had done was guide Wonho.
So was guiding the problem?
If the compatibility rate was high, guiding was supposed to feel really good—but maybe Wonho didn’t think so?
That thought made Haebom feel a little discouraged.
Wonho had run away from the hospital room, and earlier, in the compatibility testing room, he had shaken off Haebom’s hand and tried to escape.
Given all that, it was hard not to think that the guiding hadn’t been pleasant for him.
And so, Haebom’s misunderstanding—both about his guiding and about Wonho—only continued to deepen.
“Haa…”
A small mound on the round table in the middle of the busy research lab rose and fell with each sigh.
The researchers, hurrying about, occasionally cast glances at the white mound.
Jin Seyoung let out a small sigh and approached the table.
“Why? You couldn’t do it today either?”
“Ugh… Yeah… Forget doing it—I didn’t even see his face.”
Haebom, who had been lying face-down on the table forming the mound, groaned and sat up.
It had already been a full week since he transmigrated in this novel.
From the moment he signed the contract as Wonho’s pair guide, he knew it wouldn’t be easy, but this was beyond ridiculous.
After signing the contract and receiving what could only be described as a threat from Jin Seyoung, Wonho had taken Haebom to his home.
Haebom had assumed that since he already had the key card, Wonho would just give him the address and let him figure it out himself.
But surprisingly, Wonho had led him all the way to his house.
Not that there was much guidance involved—Wonho simply walked ahead while Haebom followed behind.
The house was only about five minutes away from the center.
The place they arrived at was a two-story detached house.
As soon as Haebom stepped inside, he let out a dry chuckle.
The house was absurdly spacious, easily several times larger than his one-room apartment.
But the reason Haebom laughed wasn’t because of its size.
Normally, when you enter a home, you expect to see shoes scattered at the entrance, a sofa and TV in the living room, maybe some shelves or cabinets.
However, there were only two pairs of shoes—Wonho’s and Haebom’s—and the living room was eerily empty.
Literally empty.
It was like someone had just moved in, or rather, had just moved out.
Wonho left Haebom standing there, confused, and immediately went upstairs.
Once Haebom snapped out of his daze, he followed suit.
“Hey, you know—”
The second floor had an even larger living room than the first floor, but only one visible door.
Figuring that must be Wonho’s room, Haebom swung the door open without thinking.
Normally, he would have knocked or announced himself first, but the whole situation was so bewildering that he reacted impulsively.
The moment he opened the door, something forcefully pushed him back.
Then—BANG!—the door slammed shut.
Stunned, Haebom blinked repeatedly.
He had experienced something similar inside the gate, but this was clearly Wonho’s ability at work.
There was no way that Wonho, who had been standing in the middle of the room, could have physically shoved him all the way to the doorway.
It was illegal for espers to use their abilities on regular people—especially on guides.
Wonho, having spent years at the center, would obviously know this.
But the fact that he had still used his ability must mean he was truly caught off guard.
Haebom decided to let it slide—just this once.
The door, which had slammed shut with a loud noise, slowly creaked open again.
This time, Wonho was standing right in front of it, his face scrunched up in irritation as he glared at Haebom for invading his space.
“…Don’t come up to the second floor. Use the first floor.”
And with that, the door slammed shut again. Right in Haebom’s face.
Haebom let out a deep sigh.
The monkey that had clung to him inside the gate had disappeared, replaced by a grumpy gorilla.
Rather than waiting for Wonho to come back out and personally throw him downstairs, Haebom obediently went down on his own.
He had intended to ask which room he should use, but before he could even bring it up, Wonho had already “kindly” informed him to stay on the first floor.
That meant he could just pick an empty room.
Given the state of the living room, he didn’t expect the room to have anything in it either.
For a moment, he debated what to do about clothes.
At least he had moved on from wearing the same T-shirt and shorts from the previous day.
Jin Seyoung had brought him some clothes.
The first floor had a kitchen, a living room, and two doors.
One was a bathroom, and the other was an empty room.
The room was completely bare.
Haebom spread out the padded jacket Jin Seyoung had given him on the floor and lay down on it.
And just like that, his first night as an uninvited guest in someone else’s house passed.
Haebom swore to himself that he would find a way back home.
* * *
