* * *
Raon had a sinking feeling that once they got home today, his body would be completely exhausted.
It was just a hunch—but he was almost sure of it.
His smiling lips twitched slightly.
“Anyway, continue with your training.”
“Yes, sir!”
Now that he felt a little less worried, Raon stepped away from Dasom and Jamie.
But then Siwoo approached with a piercing gaze and asked in a low voice:
“Are you really going to guide him?”
“I was just being polite, that’s all.”
“Why would you say that kind of thing out of politeness?”
Trailing right behind him, Siwoo grumbled like he was scolding an irresponsible partner guide.
Raon was dumbfounded.
But… Siwoo did have a point.
As his paired guide, Raon was supposed to exclusively guide Siwoo when outside the gate.
Jamie wasn’t even part of Alpha Team 1.
“…Okay, fine. It was a slip of the tongue.”
“Don’t go around saying stuff like that to other espers from now on.”
“I got it, alright?”
Apparently, Siwoo had been holding in a lot because he was oddly sensitive about it.
Raon had to spend quite a bit of time soothing him afterward.
“Hey, Yoon Siwoo!”
“Siwoo!”
“…!”
Just then, Yeojoon and Hamin waved over at Siwoo.
Come to think of it, their training had been delayed quite a bit too.
“Go on. I have to get back to training as well.”
“Okay.”
Siwoo nodded and turned back toward Yeojoon and Hamin.
Raon, now thinking of the other guides he had to manage, quickly resumed walking.
“Team Leader, welcome back!”
“Yes, nothing much happened, right?”
“Well…”
“…?”
At Raon’s question, Juwon hesitated for a moment and glanced off to the side.
Following his gaze, Raon turned his head as well.
The guide team’s training grounds were divided between Espers and Guides.
Technically, they shared the same space—just kept at a slight distance.
Normally, outsiders came and went freely, but currently the area had been completely sealed off for security reasons.
Yet, an outsider was lingering around the restricted zone.
It was someone Raon knew very well. With a sigh, he walked over to him.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Young Master!”
It was Jeon Yeongho, one of Myunghoon’s secretaries.
As the youngest of them, he also served as a liaison between Raon and Myunghoon.
“Haha, I’m sorry. You haven’t been picking up your phone, so I thought something might have happened…”
“And you think that justifies showing up here?”
“My apologies.”
Yeongho apologized, but not a hint of remorse showed on his face.
Raon sighed again at his shameless demeanor.
The only reason Yeongho could have made it in here was because he, too, was once from the Center.
And no doubt the spies Myunghoon had planted here opened the door for him.
Raon figured he’d need to clean house sometime soon.
“Please don’t be so angry. Did you know the Chairman is still in the hospital? Why on earth haven’t you been answering his calls?”
“……”
To top it off, Yeongho had the gall to question him like that.
Raon stared at him in disbelief.
But if he thought back to the original story, this behavior wasn’t out of character.
In fact, this was the natural order of things.
Raon was the unnatural one for avoiding contact.
Raon gave a short, bitter laugh.
Since the system hadn’t shown up yet, he had no intention of being dragged around by Hanmyung like in the original.
He was doing just fine without their help.
“As you can see, I’m busy with the guide team. I’ll be entering the next gate too. There’s a lot to handle.”
“Ah—regarding that, the Executive Director and Managing Director said they have something to discuss with you.”
“The brothers?”
“Yes.”
“What about Father? Is his condition really that serious?”
“W-Well, not exactly…”
“Hm.”
Something about Yeongho’s attitude felt off.
Raon narrowed his eyes, watching him squirm.
The incident where the CEO’s office had flooded due to Siwoo’s powers, landing Myunghoon in the emergency room, had made the news—even Raon had seen it.
It wasn’t live, but the footage was clear enough.
Raon had been dodging their annoying calls ever since, but the fact that Myunghoon hadn’t recovered after all this time seemed suspicious.
‘Don’t tell me… those bastards—?’
The Executive Director and Managing Director Yeongho mentioned were Myunghoon’s sons, Han Juwon and Han Minwon.
Unlike Raon, who was a bastard child, they were legitimate heirs born from the legal wife.
He’d heard they were running the company while Myunghoon was hospitalized.
As far as Raon knew, Yeongho, though officially Myunghoon’s secretary, was actually aligned with Juwon.
Raon didn’t know whether the two were scheming together to divide the company, or if it was the doing of one person—but he couldn’t care less.
What pissed him off was how shamelessly they were trying to snatch up his achievements.
If the system had forced them into being allies, it’d be one thing—but in the current situation, they were just obstacles in his way.
“Well, either way, this isn’t the place to talk. I’ll contact you later.”
“Haha, of course. Sorry to bother you while you’re busy.”
As he bowed awkwardly, Yeongho’s eyes swept over Raon’s face and body one last time.
The disgusting gaze made Raon scowl before he even realized it.
Maybe it had been too long, but it felt even more unpleasant than usual.
Yeongho, a former E-Rank Esper, had once been nothing more than a grunt in the army before being deemed useless and dumped at the Center.
There, he got lucky and wormed his way into a connection with Hanmyung’s cronies, which eventually landed him the secretary job.
The bastard had nothing but luck going for him.
In the original, Raon had been forced to keep in touch with Yeongho, so he deliberately maintained ties with him.
As a villain, Raon used Yeongho to carry out shady deals.
In order to manipulate him better, he occasionally gave him guiding sessions.
Even E-Rank Espers were still Espers, and Yeongho fell for Raon hard, completely losing his grip on reality.
Just remembering those gross hands pawing at him like a dog left Raon frowning.
The times he’d had to endure those touches because of the system were the absolute worst.
There was no way he was ever doing that again.
‘I’ll have to get rid of him soon too.’
Muttering to himself internally, he turned away.
Seeing the stiff look on Raon’s face, Juwon anxiously approached.
“Team Leader, are you alright?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Should I report this to the Director?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Raon recalled how Seokhyeon had gone berserk after just a brief reverse-guiding session.
If he asked for help, Seokhyeon would no doubt do everything in his power to protect Raon from Hanmyung.
But Raon didn’t want that.
Seokhyeon had too much to lose by getting involved.
Raon couldn’t ask him to bear that burden just to fight Hanmyung.
“I’ll handle it.”
Raon smiled, gently patting Juwon’s shoulder.
Though still worried, Juwon seemed reassured by the strength Raon had shown as team leader and didn’t seem likely to run off to Seokhyeon just yet.
Feeling slightly relieved, Raon exhaled and calmly began organizing his next steps in his mind.
After training, Raon returned home with Siwoo.
When he lived in the Center dorms, they’d eat dinner at the cafeteria, but Siwoo insisted on having dinner at home now.
Raon didn’t really care either way, but to Siwoo, it seemed to matter a lot.
“Mmm.”
Where did he find the time to make all this?
Every time Raon came out of the shower, the table was packed full with a feast, enough to make anyone’s jaw drop.
“Thanks. I’ll eat well again today.”
“Eat up before it gets cold.”
Raon sat down and took a bite of the perfectly cooked tteokgalbi.
Fresh off the grill, it was warm and tender.
As he bit into it, rich meat juices filled his mouth.
“This is seriously delicious.”
“Does it suit your taste?”
“Of course. You made it.”
Strangely enough, everything Siwoo made matched Raon’s taste perfectly.
Without pause, Raon kept eating, fully satisfied.
“That was great. I’ll do the dishes.”
“Okay, I’ll go take a shower then.”
“Sure.”
They used to argue about dishes all the time, but now Siwoo easily let Raon take care of it and headed off to the bathroom.
Raon glanced around, suddenly feeling like he was tiptoeing.
Was he really not upset about what happened earlier?
Raon had casually said he’d guide Jamie as a courtesy, and Siwoo had seemed super sulky…
Or so he thought?
Maybe he was the only one stewing over it.
Raon felt a little embarrassed at the thought.
As he scrubbed the dishes, he frowned, feeling like he’d just added another reason to kick off the blanket in his sleep tonight.
“Phew, alright. If it’s really nothing, that’s good.”
It’s said that the stronger the Esper, the more obsessively attached they become to their paired Guide.
Raon knew that well from reading the novel.
But Siwoo only got adorably pouty or threw a small tantrum when drunk.
That was still better than nothing, but even so…
“What the hell have I been thinking about since earlier?”
“Why? What is it?”
“Gah!”
Siwoo was suddenly standing behind Raon—already washed and done, it seemed.
Raon turned around in surprise, holding his breath.
“Something wrong?”
“Ah, no. Nothing.”
Raon tried his best to act nonchalant in front of Siwoo’s curious gaze.
He laughed awkwardly and turned around.
“You’re all done? Want to do a quick guiding before bed?”
“…”
As Raon extended his hand, Siwoo gave him a strange look.
He didn’t take his hand—just stared at it.
What now? An ominous feeling hit Raon, and he swallowed hard.
Then Siwoo opened his mouth.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I lock you up?”
“…What?”
Caught completely off guard, Raon stupidly echoed the question.
* * *
