Yoon Seoh had returned to the mansion. Song Taejoon had asked Park Sungmin, the Esper Center director, to send him back the same way he had come, through teleportation. By rights, in a case like this the Guide was supposed to wait at the base, but Taejoon’s condition was better than it had ever been, so it was possible.

“What got into you?”

“What do you mean?”

Park Sungmin looked at Song Taejoon with a meaningful gaze. Taejoon had his legs stretched out and was lounging half-reclined in his chair.

Song Taejoon asking for something for a Guide ? It was something Park Sungmin had never even imagined. He could understand if Taejoon was silently pressuring him to bring the Guide back, but a request that carried such a strong sense of protection still didn’t make sense to him.

“You sent your guide back.”

“My guide?”

“Who else? Yours. Not mine.”

“……”

Song Taejoon, who usually smiled even if it was only for show, looked unusually lost in thought today. At the words your guide, he frowned slightly, but the expression vanished almost at once.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“…I don’t know.”

It really was an “I don’t know.” Yoon Seoh’s matter was still wandering around in his head. Song Taejoon stared blankly at the ceiling and thought back to just a little earlier.

The meeting had been underway to wipe out a hideout belonging to an anti-government group. Because of the nature of the mission, they had to maximize the Espers’ strength, which meant they needed a Guide ‘s cooperation. So they had called in Kang Mingyu, the Guide representative, but he had reacted lukewarmly to the request to guide before the mission.

It was possible he simply didn’t feel like guiding. Even so, shouldn’t he do his job properly? He should have looked before he leaped instead of acting however he wanted at a crucial moment, and that had put him in a foul mood.

And it was even more aggravating because he knew the very Esper standing in front of him was the one who had lifted them all to the summit of the power structure they loved so much.

He felt like he had hit his limit of patience, as if he had forgotten that without Espers, Guides were meaningless too. If Sungmin hadn’t noticed something was off and told him to go take a break for a while, he might really have started something big.

If the Guide had also been in danger, he wouldn’t have been so uncooperative. Even after coming out to the field, he was still acting like that. Whether it was because he lacked any sense of crisis or because he had no reason to feel one, Song Taejoon was infuriated when he said he wouldn’t do it even after a proper explanation was given for why they needed guiding first.

Even after he had gone outside, he was still in a foul mood, thinking about whether he should go back in and turn the whole place over when he sensed three presences not far away, behind a building in a tucked-away spot.

There was no way a place that other people didn’t go would not be suspicious in more ways than one. After a moment’s hesitation, he headed there first, just in case anti-government operatives had sneaked in.

What he found there, however, were Yoon Seoh and two unknown Espers.

He had already heard that Lee Jaeun had brought Yoon Seoh here at Park Sungmin’s order. Hearing that Seoh had come right away without any sign of resistance, Song Taejoon had thought he was finally going to do his job as a personal guide properly. But it turned out he had come out looking for another Esper.

So he had changed his mind after resting for a few days, had he? No matter how much he liked one person, he probably didn’t want to be tied to just one. Old habits died hard, so this was exactly what he had expected.

And yet he couldn’t understand why he kept thinking of that guiding, that touch, and that downcast face. Just when a wave of unbearable irritation was about to surge up, he heard Yoon Seoh’s voice refusing to guide.

He said that now he was a personal guide, he couldn’t do it anymore.

The feeling then was bizarre beyond words. Even while the Esper was spewing bullshit and pressuring him, Yoon Seoh refused, saying he didn’t want to do it with anyone else. Neither guiding nor sex.

Even if he had taken a liking to him, even if he had decided not to return to the Guide Center because of that, if he really was a male prostitute, he shouldn’t have passed up a chance like this. Especially not Yoon Seoh, who had been a Guide that enjoyed clinging to Espers while breaking the rules. There was no way one person would be enough for him.

That’s why Song Taejoon couldn’t understand it at all. What was he thinking when he said he wouldn’t guide another Esper? Was he just holding his breath for a bigger prize?

How many masks was he wearing under that gentle face of his?

Right in the middle of all that confusion, he saw Yoon Seoh struggling in someone’s grasp. It looked like he was trying to get away from an Esper who was forcing himself on him. He had wondered if it was an act, but the pale face, the eyes full of fear, the desperate little sound in his throat, and the way he twisted his body with all his strength, none of it looked fake.

He really was rejecting them with his whole body, saying he didn’t want to be forced into it.

“……”

Why?

Up until now, Yoon Seoh had not only used his body however he wanted, he had even gone looking for Espers himself. So why now?

And what was that about not appearing unless Song Taejoon found him? There wasn’t even the slightest hint that he had fallen for him, and there was no sign of any obsessive need to satisfy his sex drive. Just a little while ago, hadn’t he been the one to come up first, pressing his lips together and rubbing against him? Now he felt like a completely different person.

Could it be… some trick to get attention?

After saying all that, once Taejoon was actually home, was he going to hover in front of him with one excuse after another?

What kind of person was he, anyway? The more Taejoon looked, the less he understood him. He wouldn’t stay alone somewhere full of Espers, and then when told to go back to the mansion, he acted pleased. With behavior that kept flipping back and forth, Taejoon couldn’t define what sort of person Yoon Seoh was at all.

Song Taejoon let out a long, frustrated sigh.

“What are you thinking so hard about by yourself?”

Park Sungmin, who had been watching him, asked. Taejoon hadn’t answered any of his attempts to get his attention, lost in his own thoughts as usual, and now he was sighing all of a sudden. Was he thinking about Yoon Seoh? Park Sungmin stared at him for a moment before nudging him.

“Come to think of it, what do you think of Guide Yoon Seoh?”

“What about him?”

“What kind of person does he seem like? There’s so many rumors about him.”

Only then did Song Taejoon turn his head toward Park Sungmin. Judging by the way he said it, Park Sungmin didn’t seem to have actually seen Yoon Seoh in person either.

There was almost no Esper or guide who didn’t know Yoon Seoh. Of course, that was in a bad way.

Even for someone like Taejoon, who didn’t pay much attention to Guides, to have heard of him meant the rumors were truly widespread. How depraved did he have to be for rumors like that to spread? Using Espers for his own filthy lusts was exactly what a Guide would do.

But after meeting Yoon Seoh in person, he wasn’t what Taejoon had expected. When Taejoon first saw him, he hadn’t seemed especially striking in appearance, and his personality looked quiet and timid, so Taejoon had wondered if he really was a male prostitute. But he knew better than to think that what he saw was all there was, so he hadn’t wavered.

Sure enough, Yoon Seoh had tried to guide him however he wanted. First through skin, then through a kiss. The rumors were true. He couldn’t seduce men with an ordinary face, so he was using the advantage of being a Guide to lure Espers in. That was what his actions looked like.

But the feel of his guiding was nothing like that. If he really had that kind of mindset, the energy should have felt murky or sticky, but Yoon Seoh’s guiding…

Why was it so gentle and warm?

“Taejoon?”

“Ah.”

He must have drifted off again. Song Taejoon ran a hand over his face and gathered his thoughts.

“Are you going to be okay today?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Yoon Seoh is bothering you that much?”

“……”

If it had been anyone else, he would have been grinning and arguing back, but the guy had his mouth pressed shut, and something about that was off.

“Why, is there a problem?”

“Not a problem, exactly…”

“Then tell me.”

“It’s just his guiding energy and his behavior.”

“Just?”

“They’re inconsistent.”

“Inconsistent? What do you mean?”

Song Taejoon didn’t explain in detail. He just tapped the table with his finger. Park Sungmin immediately sensed that Taejoon wasn’t going to say any more. If that was the case, he shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place. He was making people curious on purpose.

“At least answer this, is it in a good way or a bad way?”

“Hmm. Maybe somewhere in the middle?”

“What kind of answer is that?”

“I know. It’s vague.”

“…Are you messing with me?”

“Of course not.”

Only then did Song Taejoon grin, returning to his usual self. When Park Sungmin looked at him suspiciously, he simply shrugged.

Park Sungmin shook his head and sat down, forcing down the frustration in his chest as he checked the documents. No matter what kind of person Yoon Seoh was, all he needed to do was guide Taejoon properly. If it had been an ordinary guide and Esper, there might have been some development between them, but that was impossible with Song Taejoon.

They still hadn’t figured out everything about each other, so for now it was just a matter of observing them, but it was obvious Taejoon would lose interest first. A guy who hated Guides wasn’t going to open his heart easily.

When he glanced at the guy, Taejoon was once again staring blankly into space, clearly lost in thought. His condition seemed good, but was his mind actually okay if it was wandering off like that? He was completely somewhere else.

Park Sungmin clicked his tongue softly in his head and focused on the papers again. Today’s mission had to succeed, and the arrangement of the Espers was more important than anything else.

Behind Park Sungmin, who was busy with the work, Song Taejoon was still staring into space. Then his eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze drifted somewhere.

It was toward the mansion, where he was currently using a private room.

And it was also where Yoon Seoh was.