* * *
Haebom, who had been stabbing a well-sliced piece of steak with his fork, looked up at Kim Jihyun.
Their eyes met unexpectedly.
They’d been chatting over various topics throughout the meal, but this one came out of nowhere.
He tried to think which of the three of them was dating their Pair, then turned his gaze to Lee Taeyoung as he remembered.
But Taeyoung was already looking at him.
In fact, all three—Jihyun, Taeyoung, and Yoon Geonwoo—were looking at Haebom.
It wasn’t Taeyoung they were talking about…
“So? How is it? Nice, right? Taeyoung’s been with his Pair so long, they’re basically a married couple now. Like, really old married couple vibes. I wanna hear about fresh, flirty dating, not married life.”
“What are you talking about? We’re dating, okay? Not married yet.”
“Yeah, yeah. You do you. Whether you get married or not, I couldn’t care less. I’m not interested in Taeyoung’s dating or marriage life. What I do wanna know is…”
Haebom, blinking his big eyes at the situation, tilted his head in confusion.
If it wasn’t about Taeyoung, then who?
Even someone as oblivious as Haebom couldn’t deny they were talking about him.
Still, he was trying very hard to ignore it.
Dating? With his Pair?
No way…
“Guide Haebom!”
“…Huh? Y-Yes? Me?”
He had already guessed they’d call on him from the moment they all started staring, but when his name was actually said, Haebom flinched and jumped in surprise.
His fork slipped, clattering loudly on his plate.
The noise startled him so much he hiccuped.
Lately, he’d been hiccupping way too often.
All because of Wonho.
The hiccups, these misunderstandings—everything.
“Whoa, you really were startled. Here, drink some water first.”
Yoon Geonwoo handed him a glass.
Haebom gulped it down in one go, trying to stop the hiccups.
He let out a loud puff of air.
But even as he drank, the three pairs of eyes stayed glued to him.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you.”
“N-No, it’s okay.”
“Great, now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to the topic. When did you two start dating? Everyone knows Guide Haebom’s been tagging after Esper Wonho forever. I thought it’d take longer for anything to actually happen.”
What was that supposed to mean?
He knew rumors had spread among the Guides that he was constantly chasing after Wonho.
What confused him was Jihyun saying she thought it would’ve taken longer for them to start dating.
Haebom just blinked, startled and speechless.
Jihyun, seeing his reaction, clapped her hands in realization.
“Ah! So it’s not dating, it’s just flirting! That’s even better! Flirting’s more exciting. Most Pairs just skip that and jump straight into relationships since sex-guiding is possible, but you two are adorable. Maybe it’s ‘cause you’re still young?”
Jihyun grinned mischievously, answering her own question.
Even if they were near the Center and this was a restaurant that saw a lot of Espers and Guides, she still said words like sex out loud like it was nothing.
Haebom’s face turned crimson.
“Jihyun, watch your words. We’re in public.”
“Okay, okay! I just got excited seeing something so cute. You know I get hyped around cute things.”
“Jesus. You perv.”
Taeyoung wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered dramatically.
To think he hung around someone like this—must mean he had bad luck with people.
Well, except for his Pair.
He muttered that to himself, then chuckled and added that Haebom shouldn’t take it personally either.
Haebom looked like the only one losing it.
Everyone else acted like this was totally normal.
“W-We’re not dating or flirting. We’re not like that…”
Haebom managed to mumble a protest through his embarrassment.
The issue wasn’t the inappropriate word choices echoing in a public place—it was that they were wrong.
He and Wonho weren’t like that.
If someone asked if he wanted to date Wonho… hmm.
Honestly, he’d never thought about it.
For one, Wonho didn’t like him.
He’d been head over heels for Choi Yoonseo for over a year.
Even if the guiding was good, you don’t just flip your feelings overnight like flipping a pancake.
Haebom figured Wonho wouldn’t appreciate these rumors either and thought he should make that clear.
“There’s no way. But… I saw it.”
“Saw? What did you see?”
He was about to say, “We’re not like that. Wonho likes someone else.”
It felt weird to talk about someone else’s feelings, but this much should be okay—most Guides who followed Yoonseo probably already knew.
But Jihyun’s words caught him completely off guard.
Saw? Saw what?
“This morning~ kiss! So sweet I got a cavity just watching. I mean, you live together—you could’ve done it at home. But no, you had to do it in front of the Guide building at the Center, basically announcing to the world that Haebom belongs to Esper Wonho.”
Ack.
Weird noises were escaping his mouth again.
And he hadn’t even realized he made one.
The only person he’d seen this morning was Yoonseo… though, to be fair, he hadn’t been fully aware of his surroundings.
She had such a strong presence, he didn’t even think to look around for others.
“Ah, young love.”
“So pure. I can’t remember the last time Hyunjoon and I kissed innocently like that… I’m gonna go home and just kiss him nonstop tonight.”
Seeing Haebom blush even harder than before, Geonwoo and Taeyoung teased him with playful murmurs.
Haebom had insisted there was no romance or flirting, but to everyone else, it was obvious.
Taeyoung tilted his head, puzzled by how someone could deny something so obvious.
“Guide Haebom, do you not like Esper Wonho? I thought you did.”
When Haebom had just become a Guide and started trailing after Wonho, Taeyoung had assumed it was because he liked him.
And honestly, he wasn’t wrong.
Haebom had liked Wonho.
After all, he was a character from a novel Haebom had read—a character he’d found kind and endearing.
Seeing him in real life, how could he not like him?
But it wasn’t like that.
Not romantically.
More like… fanboying.
Yeah, that felt more accurate.
But it’s not like he could say that out loud.
This world was based on a novel.
Choi Yoonseo was the female lead.
Saying that kind of thing would land him in a psych ward real quick.
And besides, Haebom didn’t even technically exist in this world.
He was about to deny it again when the words caught in his throat.
“Do I really not…?”
His head was full of question marks.
“Well, even if Guide Haebom doesn’t know, it’s obvious that Esper Wonho likes him.”
“Totally. I didn’t see what happened today, but a few days ago I saw them together. Esper Wonho looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself ‘cause Guide Haebom was just too cute.”
‘What now?!’
He was already flustered enough, unsure how to process his own feelings.
And now they were saying Wonho found him cute and didn’t know what to do with himself?
“You sure you’re not just dying to tease him?”
The three who saw Haebom rolling his eyes around with a face flushed bright red all broke into amused, knowing smiles.
Ah, youth. Nothing more entertaining than someone else’s love life…
* * *
