* * *
At some point, Joo Youngha’s cold fingers touched Seo Jaewon’s shoulder.
Then, with his other hand, he grabbed Seo Jaewon’s wrist.
The touch was light, almost like a feather.
“Your heart’s racing. And your hands are a bit cold, too…”
Joo Youngha played with Seo Jaewon’s hand curiously, turning it over as if studying it.
Every time he whispered near Seo Jaewon’s ear, the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
He still smelled nice — clean and fragrant, like fresh soap.
But there was barely any trace of the human scent people normally give off.
Instead, he carried the cold scent of high altitudes, like the air of a winter season — lifelessly clean.
“…Cute.”
With a low laugh, his breath tickled Seo Jaewon’s neck, and then he gently pulled Seo Jaewon’s hand upward.
What is he playing at?
Just as Seo Jaewon reflexively stepped back—
“……?!”
A disgusting sensation hit him.
Joo Youngha buried his nose in Seo Jaewon’s palm and inhaled deeply.
As if sniffing him.
“You’re out of your—!”
Is he insane?!
A chill ran down his spine.
Disgusted, Seo Jaewon instantly reached out and grabbed Joo Youngha’s face.
“You creep! Don’t call me cute! You saying weird things like that freaks me out!”
Then he shoved him hard.
He pushed with all his strength, but the guy didn’t budge an inch.
“Ow…”
“You’re not even hurt, I know it!”
Only then did Joo Youngha let out a helpless laugh and step back.
‘What the hell is he thinking…?’
This guy was seriously impossible to drop your guard around.
Still, if there was one good thing about Joo Youngha’s bizarre behavior, it was that it snapped Seo Jaewon completely back to his senses.
‘Yeah. If I’m gonna manage this guy, I better stay sharp from now on.’
Other people’s stares were nothing compared to the walking time-bomb that was Joo Youngha.
He couldn’t afford to get caught up in past memories.
He brushed Joo Youngha off and adjusted the supply box he had cradled in his arms.
Then he reached for the doorknob to the conference room, where Strategy Team 4 was waiting.
“Hoo…”
Seo Jaewon took a deep breath to calm himself.
Nothing happened here.
Right now, Seo Jaewon was not a traitor.
He hadn’t killed Joo Youngha.
He wasn’t some public enemy.
What did it matter how the others reacted?
They all had their own thoughts and positions.
As long as he was alive and breathing, that was enough.
With resolve, Seo Jaewon opened the meeting room door.
SLAM!
The moment the door opened, a chair flew past his head.
“……?!”
What the hell?!
He was too shocked to even scream.
A woman with long hair and panda-like heavy metal eye makeup stormed toward them.
She casually picked up the chair and set it upright, then greeted him like nothing had happened.
“Oh hey, Seo Jaewon.”
This was Hwi Sara — an A-rank esper in charge of combat for Strategy Team 4.
“What… was that?”
Seo Jaewon asked blankly.
She responded as if it were no big deal.
“Oh, I was just testing if chair shots work in dungeons. But you—”
Her wild eyes gleamed between tangled strands of hair.
Feeling the threatening aura, Seo Jaewon instinctively took a step back.
But before his slow human reflexes could kick in, she staggered forward at lightning speed and reached out.
“Lemme see if you’re really a guide now~.”
She looked just like a drunk on the subway.
“Ah, back off!”
Seo Jaewon recoiled in horror.
Worrying about awkwardness had been so stupid.
It was just the same as always…!
Sara pouted dramatically, clutching empty air with disappointment.
“Jaewon, I’m hurt. I carried you when you collapsed, remember?”
“You took three steps and dumped me on Yeongha.”
A calm, low voice cut in.
A man with pale skin and silver-rimmed glasses stepped in — completely different vibe from her, but with similarly thick eyebrows and a slightly curved nose.
This was Hwi Saul, Sara’s older cousin by a year.
It was hard to believe they were related.
His voice carried intellect and composure.
Maybe the glasses — rare among espers — added to the effect.
He’d started wearing them after an injury in a dungeon affected his eyesight.
Unbothered by her cousin’s tone, Sara immediately snapped back.
“Nope, he stole you.”
“Jaewon, are you alright now? You’re really a guide?”
Hwi Saul asked gently, ignoring his cousin completely.
Overwhelmed, Seo Jaewon blurted out awkwardly.
“Uh, yeah.”
Even as he said it, he felt embarrassed. Like he needed to explain himself.
It’s just, well… it kind of happened.
It’s not like I wanted to be one.
I’m honestly a pretty useless guide, you know?
I probably won’t even help the team much…
But no matter how he spun it, it all sounded like excuses.
So he just quietly admitted it.
“Yeah… it ended up that way.”
To his surprise, Hwi Saul took it in stride.
“Is it true the guide dorm has a free snack bar?”
“What? I don’t know, I haven’t been there yet…”
Is he too calm?
Their teammate just became a guide…
“I see. Well, have a seat.”
Saul even pulled out a chair for him.
“Uh…”
It was the seat Seo Jaewon always used — the one at the end of the rectangular table.
Basically the head seat.
From there, you could see everyone and talk easily.
It was also closest to the whiteboard, so it was unofficially the team leader’s spot.
Ever since Joo Youngha scared off three team leaders in a row, the seat had always been Seo Jaewon’s.
Officially, he’d only been a temporary leader, but in reality, he’d stayed in charge until Team 4 was basically wiped out thanks to Joo Youngha.
Seo Jaewon blinked in confusion.
“But I’m a guide now?”
As far as he knew, guides didn’t lead strategy teams.
The team leader was the core of a strategy group.
That’s why it was a given that the leader had to be an esper.
You couldn’t entrust combat decisions to someone who couldn’t fight.
Guides were allowed to sit in on meetings, but their input rarely mattered.
Even in actual combat, guides only stepped up when it was time to regroup.
Otherwise, staying neatly out of the way was considered a virtue.
Seo Jaewon had let go of all expectations for his role long before showing up here.
Sure, deep down, there was still some resentment.
In his past life, he’d led even bigger teams.
It had always been a struggle due to lack of trust, but despite the hardships, his results weren’t bad.
All thanks to the sweat and effort he’d poured into it.
And now, he was back 15 years in the past?
Of course he felt confident he could do better than anyone.
He knew about dungeons that would appear in the future, newly invented strategies…
Plus, with cooperative (or soon-to-be cooperative) teammates, he didn’t even need to say it out loud.
…Well, in theory.
Any talk of past-life experience would just get him labeled delusional.
All the strategies he’d studied and the experience he’d built as an esper — now worthless.
The bitter taste in his mouth reminded him: this wasn’t something he could change.
So even if it was unfair, even if it hurt, he’d come here resolved to endure.
And hey, just because he wasn’t the team leader didn’t mean he was useless.
He had a new goal now — fixing up Joo Youngha.
That alone made this second chance worth it.
A brief silence fell over the meeting room.
Then—
“If not you, then who else is gonna lead the team?”
“You’re going to be the team leader?” Saul asked again.
At the unexpected comment, Seo Jaewon was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Uh, well…”
He looked back and forth between Sarah and Saul.
When Sarah met his gaze, she recoiled and yelled, horrified.
“I don’t want to do it!”
She pointed accusingly at both Seo Jaewon and Saul, who was quietly sitting in his seat.
“There’s no bonus for being the team leader, all the paperwork piles up, I get called in and yelled at all the time…”
Selfish, sure—but understandable.
“And you think Joo Youngha would even listen to me?”
Youngha didn’t so much as glance her way.
As usual, he just stood quietly beside Seo Jaewon.
He never greeted them—not once.
Sarah practically exploded with frustration as she shouted at him.
“Look at him! He wouldn’t react even if a dog barked in his face!”
This was nothing new.
To Joo Youngha, everyone besides Seo Jaewon might as well not exist.
No hierarchy, no camaraderie—just that dull expression, as if the existence of others didn’t even register.
Of course he didn’t listen to anyone.
That’s why Team 4’s lineup had changed several times already.
Most of those changes were due to people being unable to handle Youngha.
Sarah and Saul were independent enough to somewhat coexist with him.
Their dynamic with Youngha resembled cats and dogs living in the same house—ignoring each other, barely tolerating the other’s presence.
Until the day Joo Youngha killed them.
Anyway.
“Just do it yourself. It’s either you, my brother, or the new guy. And I don’t want to take orders from my brother. Even worse from some rando.”
Saul didn’t argue with his cousin.
He just smiled.
…Was that his way of saying he didn’t want to be team leader either?
It seemed like it.
Seo Jaewon let out a sigh.
He felt slightly deflated.
His teammates hadn’t changed.
His position hadn’t changed.
Maybe things wouldn’t change as much as he thought.
He’d grown too used to not expecting much—especially from his team.
A little sheepishly, he admitted:
“Well… there’s no rule that says a Guide can’t be team leader.”
“Exactly. And you’ve been doing fine so far, haven’t you? There are lots of non-Espers in the tactics team anyway,” Saul said with a smile.
The warmth in his voice made Seo Jaewon smile too.
Sarah slouched back in her chair with a scowl.
“So Jaewon’s still the leader? Great. Let’s get this meeting started. I’ve got plans tonight and need to get out of here early.”
“…Right.”
As Seo Jaewon sat down, Joo Youngha naturally took the seat beside him.
Across from them were Saul, and next to him, Sarah.
Familiar spots. A familiar space.
A strange sense of nostalgia stirred.
He had missed this more than he’d realized.
Shaking off those thoughts, he pulled up the presentation on the screen.
He had to take responsibility—not just for Youngha, but for the whole team.
He had to do better.
Take better care of Youngha, support their dungeon raids from the shadows…
“By the way, Sarah noona, didn’t you say someone new was joining us?”
“Oh, right. But of course it had to be while you were out. Like I’m the only one who ever gets stuck with anything.”
“Ah.”
Seo Jaewon felt a bit relieved.
Aside from Youngha, Seo Jaewon had the highest rank on the team.
Saul’s abilities leaned toward support, and Sarah would’ve had a hard time managing things on her own.
“That’s a relief. I was worried it’d take forever to replace me.”
High-ranked combat Espers were always in demand.
Even though their team had an EX-rank like Joo Youngha, Jaewon had feared they’d get bumped down the priority list.
But apparently, the replacement had come quickly.
Saul explained the rest.
“You know the person. And there’s also going to be a new Guide.”
“We’re getting a team Guide too? That’s actually pretty good.”
Sarah, fiddling with her phone and half-tuned out, looked up.
“Whoa, so now we have two Guides? They never gave us one when we asked, and now we get two?”
She still didn’t know that Seo Jaewon was now Joo Youngha’s exclusive Guide.
“Ah, well, I…”
He was about to explain when a pale, cold hand gently touched the back of his neck.
“He’s mine. Not giving him to anyone.”
* * *
