* * *
“Ha, knew it’d turn out like this.”
Scratching at his unevenly grown stubble, Enten spoke in an odd mix of regional dialects.
He had likely grown up in the countryside, making it difficult for him to adopt standard speech.
Even when he tried, it was obvious, so he didn’t bother hiding his natural way of speaking.
“Well, uh, I figure you might already know why I’m here….”
Of course, Haimar could read his thoughts.
Enten trailed off, but Haimar remained silent, waiting for him to speak.
Even if he already knew the reason, he had a long-standing habit of letting others voice their thoughts first.
It was a useful tactic—helpful both for pretending to be polite and for later manipulating them.
After all, in normal conversations, people didn’t usually assume the other person already knew everything.
“The Director is pleased, and well, this is quite the occasion, ain’t it? We ran the tests, but just looking at you, you seem fine. I’d say it’s exactly as you expected.”
Pulling out a few sheets from his stack of documents, Enten read through them hesitantly before pausing.
Though he, as a mere Deputy Director, couldn’t claim to have all the answers, Haimar had reportedly been on the verge of exploding like an unstable bomb before being contained.
Yet now, there wasn’t a single trace of that instability.
It almost seemed like a lie—but at the same time, the fact that Haimar appeared completely fine was proof in itself.
“Anyway, we got approval to run it through the main Central database, and sure enough, it came back as an ‘Irregular Partner’ case. Ben Plaskun is an Irregular Guide. In short, it’s a type of bond that no matching algorithm or genetic profiling could have predicted. No wonder you never found a Guide before.”
Irregular Guide.
A rare anomaly among the already rare F-rank Guides, who made up less than one percent of all Guides.
Generally considered inferior due to their extremely low compatibility rates with Espers, F-rank Guides had only one exceptional case—the Irregular Guide.
A Guide whose compatibility with a specific Esper couldn’t be determined by any high-performance scanner or genetic analysis.
The conditions for discovering one were notoriously difficult:
First, Irregular Guides only appeared for Espers ranked A+ or higher.
Second, they could only be identified through direct physical contact.
And lastly, even if the Esper had a previous Guide, they had to be unbonded at the present moment for an Irregular Guide to emerge.
Despite the rarity of such matches, when they did occur, they were virtually perfect.
The bond went beyond normal compatibility, reaching a level that was nearly imprinted into their very existence.
However, due to the scarcity of A+ rank Espers and the overlooked status of F-rank Guides, finding such a match was nearly impossible.
Not even machines or systems could detect them, reducing the chances to near zero.
Even within [Integra], only a handful of cases existed worldwide.
Haimar, an SS-ranked Esper with no compatible Guide, had long suspected the possibility of an Irregular Guide.
But if they had been easy to find, he wouldn’t have needed to lock himself away.
“In conclusion, congratulations on finding a Guide. As for what happens next, well, that’s out of our hands. I’m sure you’ll handle things with him just fine.”
“…I don’t think so.”
His words, sharp as a blade, were followed by a slow, drawn-out, “Are you serious?”
Despite the angelic smile and gentle gaze, there was an undeniable chill beneath them.
Enten shifted his eyes away awkwardly but didn’t argue—he understood all too well.
That Guide was now absolutely essential to Haimar.
And, for the sake of not just Enten’s own safety but the world’s, that Guide needed to get along with Haimar.
Even if the Guide had terrible luck, there was no choice.
Because for Haimar Eilec, an SS-rank Esper with no other match, Ben Plaskun wasn’t just a Guide—he was the only Guide in the entire world for him.
“Not like I have a say in it. Orders are orders.”
Enten was smart enough to know his place.
As an Esper himself, he understood how precious a Guide was.
And an Irregular Guide—Haimar’s first and only Guide?
There was no way he’d ever let him go.
“Anything else?”
“Uh, well, while you were in containment, there was news from Main Central—”
…What the hell?
Just a moment ago—no, not even five minutes ago—he had been sound asleep.
Now, Ben Plaskun was drenched in nervous sweat, desperately pretending to still be unconscious.
To be completely honest, he wasn’t trying to eavesdrop—it was just that the conversation sounded so serious that awkwardly waking up in the middle of it felt… inappropriate.
But the more he listened, the more he realized—
This situation was ridiculous.
Irregular Guide?
Him?
He is an irregular guide—one of the rarest types among F-rank guides.
If anything, he should be the epitome of mediocrity, yet here he was, an irregular guide of all things.
The odds of this happening are about as slim as winning the lottery.
Regardless of his thoughts on the matter, Ben clenched the bedsheet anxiously, trying to suppress his unmanaged expression while eavesdropping on their strictly business-like conversation.
“Oh, really?”
Flinch.
Beyond the sheet that he had pulled up to cover his face, a languid voice responded.
For some reason, he felt the sheet being gently tugged downward.
Ben released his grip and buried his face into the pillow, pretending to toss and turn.
If only this weren’t so awkward.
Lacking any real talent for acting, he could only squeeze his eyes shut and pray no one noticed.
“If you’re done, would you mind leaving? I’d like to wake my guide.”
“M—Ah, yes. Understood. I’ll inform you again if there’s anything urgent.”
No, don’t wake me up! I’m already awake!
Ben’s head spun at Haimar’s abrupt dismissal of the other person.
They had been conversing just fine a moment ago, so what sudden impulse made him issue such a curt farewell?
He couldn’t risk opening his eyes, but beneath his lids, his pupils darted frantically.
Not that it made a difference—just because his eyes moved didn’t mean he could see through them.
Feeling cornered, Ben entertained the absurd thought that maybe he should just fall asleep for real.
“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave~.”
Regardless of Ben’s inner turmoil, Enten obediently exited the room, leaving behind an awkward silence.
Just as Ben was racking his brain for a way to wake up naturally without seeming embarrassed, a smooth, unhurried voice whispered by his ear.
“Are you going to get up? Or should I wake you with a morning kiss?”
“No! I’m up! I’m awake!”
His voice was mesmerizing enough to be spellbinding, but the sheer impact of his words shattered any attempt at maintaining the act.
Ben hastily tossed aside the blanket and snapped his eyes open.
Now that he saw him clearly in the daylight, Haimar looked even more radiant than he had in the dimly lit container.
If people were born with halos, this must be what it looked like.
His perpetually drowsy expression, the way he perched effortlessly on the edge of the bed—his lean, elegant frame exuded the air of a feline predator.
Silken platinum-blond hair, tinged with sunlight, swayed in the faint breeze, tickling his nape.
And those vivid blue eyes locked onto Ben with an unwavering gaze.
It took a moment for Ben to adjust to the sheer inhuman beauty before him.
But once he did, he glared.
Damn it, this bastard knew I was awake!
That smirk tugging at his lips, the way he teased him—it was all deliberate.
He must have known from the start.
As if reading his irritation, Haimar chuckled softly before speaking.
“Do you understand the situation now?”
In hindsight, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed.
With his enhanced senses, Ben’s pathetic attempt at pretending to be asleep wouldn’t have fooled him for a second.
Cursing his own stupidity, Ben answered bitterly.
“I don’t want to believe it, but yeah, I get it.”
“So, what will you do?”
“Do I even have a choice?”
An irregular guide.
A guide that only appears to certain espers.
And out of all possible matches, his esper had to be this man.
It was absurd.
Ben had a rough understanding of what guides did, but theory and practice were entirely different matters.
He had always thought of guiding as something that had nothing to do with him.
“You probably don’t,” Haimar said, as if confirming it.
Ben exhaled heavily, though only in his mind.
Guides exist to support their matched espers.
Their primary role is guiding, which usually involves physical contact.
And given the nature of their bond, it wasn’t uncommon for guides and espers to develop romantic relationships.
Across the world, same-sex pairs weren’t seen as unusual, and Ben himself held no prejudices.
But physical contact with a total stranger?
That was another matter entirely.
At least in Ben’s world, it was difficult to accept.
* * *
