“The Teacher immersed himself in that research as soon as the center was established. He poured nearly half of the center’s budget into it every year, and the research team, including myself, turned a blind eye to it… It wasn’t until we saw so much blood that we were able to stop it.”

Her expression was filled with every possible emotion. The face reflected feelings that words like regret couldn’t fully capture, and some of the researchers even lowered their heads. Taehun, who had been observing her, decided to ask a question that had been lingering in the back of his mind for days, like an unresolved tangle of threads.

“Excuse me, but may I ask how that was even possible? The idea of a guide matching with any Esper… isn’t that impossible?”

Guide Lee Hansol. He had once openly declared Ji Gwanyeong to be “his Esper.” He even said that he could make him his pair.

This had been bothering Taehun for a while, and after coming to his senses, he even subtly tested Ji Gwanyeong. Of course, Ji Gwanyeong dismissed it as nonsense, and after that, Taehun kept quiet about it.

The center director stared at Taehun’s face for a few seconds before speaking in a slightly tired voice.

“Would it be easier to understand if I said he was a guide who was once an Esper?”

“Once an Esper?”

“Completely mutated, having had all his abilities stripped away, and living solely for Espers… In the end, he became a being that was neither a guide nor an Esper. We… We created such a being.”

Ji Gwanyeong glanced at my guide, who looked a little pale. Someone who, with such strong integrity and goodness, could be moved by something that others might have done casually.

Espers often thought that when they saw Taehun so close, if there was something he had to protect in a guide, it might be these expressions.

“Lee Hansol is the only child who survived out of the thousands and tens of thousands of experiments.”

The center director concluded in a slightly bitter voice.

The matching rate dropped.

To be precise, the minimum matching rate dropped. “85.7.”

Of course, that was still a number that ranked among the top pairs, but Taehun couldn’t help but furrow his brow at that number. The maximum matching rate had soared over 150, even reaching 170 percent, but because of that, the gap between the maximum and minimum numbers had become too large.

The matching rate was extremely delicate, so Miyeon’s words that it fluctuated depending on condition didn’t bring any comfort to the guide. Ji Gwanyeong, who had come for a quick test during a break from filming, immediately noticed it in that brief moment.

Recently, Taehun, my pair, hadn’t been in the best condition. Espers subconsciously called for their guides.

“Taehun.”

“…Yes.”

His shoulders, which usually stood upright, were now slumped. He seemed to want to say something. His usually vibrant dark brown eyes looked a bit tired.

Ji Gwanyeong trailed off slightly.

“Well, just… something.”

Whenever facing the people of the center, words that were sharp and perfectly composed seemed to spin around aimlessly when standing before his guide, as if stumbling awkwardly.

Ji Gwanyeong couldn’t shake the thought of Taehun, who seemed weak during the entire time they were filming. Was it because of the matching rate? What was the big deal? After all, looking at the maximum value…

Espers, with all sorts of thoughts running through their minds, only realized just before the shot was about to be taken, “I should’ve just asked if something was wrong.”

Even with his sharp mind, he finally realized that he had been doing something pointless instead of taking the easiest route. Ji Gwanyeong was bad at dealing with relationships, especially those he cared about.

He thought about Taehun the entire time during filming. He considered calling during the break to ask, but he forcefully suppressed that urge. After all, it seemed better to wait until the filming was over and then go find his guide, rather than contacting him for just a few minutes.

He was lucky to be an Esper. His body could easily handle a schedule that would exhaust an ordinary person.

Meanwhile, guide Taehun was completely in a low mood, just as the Esper had guessed. However, what Ji Gwanyeong would never know was that the reason for his down mood was because of himself.

Taehun lay sprawled on the bed, staring at the matching paper he brought from the center, then crumpled it up and tossed it away.

Taehun lacked confidence right now. He hadn’t realized how heavy the title of ‘guide’ was. Since his first manifestation as a guide at five years old, he had never thought that being a guide was something so grand that it could create and sacrifice so many people.

But now, he was the guide to the pair with the best matching rate. He was told that Ji Gwanyeong, the strongest Esper, was his.

In reality, that man was terrifying. He disregarded others’ opinions, arrogantly doing things his way. The only person he held hands with was Taehun, laughing… kissing him.

How long had he been lying there, staring blankly under the blanket?

His phone alarm blared loudly. It was time to go for his mental care session at the center. Guides were required to see a counselor twice a week for mental care. There had been times when Taehun thought maybe he could stop going, but right now, he felt like he wanted to talk to someone.

Taehun slowly dragged his unmoving body up.

The mental care system for guides at the center had only been established recently. The idea behind the system was that if an Esper found mental stability through their guide’s presence, then the guide should also have something equivalent to support them, which was, in a way, a clever reverse thinking. The interesting thing was that it was the Espers, not the guides, who first supported this idea.

“You certainly have a troubled look on your face today.”

Taehun, lost in thought for a moment, was startled by the low voice directed at him and looked up. The mental care counselor was a middle-aged man with a calm, friendly smile.

This man was also the only one who had smiled kindly when Ji Gwanyeong kissed Taehun in the middle of the hallway, breaking the icy atmosphere.

“Ah, yes, it’s nothing… it’s just that the pair matching rate has dropped a little.”

“Oh? The pair with the highest matching rate at the center? How much has it dropped?”

“The low score used to be in the high 90s, but now it’s in the mid 80s… I guess it sounds like a spoiled complaint.”

Taehun hesitated before answering, then let out a small, self-deprecating laugh and added some regretful words. The counselor looked at him with a serious expression for the first time in response to that laugh.

“Didn’t it drop to the 60s at one point?”

“Ah, yes. It happened briefly.”

That was when his Esper, who hated people intensely, was pushing him away. Taehun realized that event now felt like a distant memory, and he chuckled lightly. Now, Ji Gwanyeong, who needed to pull him close and hug him whenever they looked at a script, but thinking back, there was such a time.

“Actually, the matching rate is a very sensitive number. Even catching a cold can make it change a little. That’s why when it’s tested, thousands or even tens of thousands of figures are extracted, and a standard point is calculated… Well, I’ve heard that your pair’s score shows up immediately.”

“Yes, Researcher Miyeon said the same.”

“Oh, now I’m even more curious.”

Taehun didn’t immediately understand the counselor’s words and tilted his head slightly. The middle-aged man, with a gentle smile, added leisurely:

“Since the numbers that didn’t matter before are now starting to bother you, there must be a reason, right?”

Taehun involuntarily swallowed dryly. The counselor had hit the nail on the head. He looked directly at him, then quickly glanced around and chose his words carefully.

“Well, that is…”

“You can take your time. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

The counselor spoke softly.

However, Taehun couldn’t open his mouth easily. Instead, he kept clenching and unclenching his fist, hesitating for a long time. The man didn’t rush him, simply waiting patiently. After a while, Taehun’s mouth cautiously opened. He didn’t speak in his usual clear and formal tone, but his voice was somewhat different this time.

“…I…”

Taehun paused to take a breath, then quietly confessed, as if admitting to a terrible sin.

“I… am the problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“I’ve become too fond of Ji Gwanyeong.”

The counselor was momentarily at a loss for words and closed his mouth. However, there wasn’t a hint of jest or falsehood in Taehun’s composed appearance and low voice. It was clear that Taehun truly believed this was a problem. The counselor raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking about how to handle this well-mannered young man.

“Why do you think liking Ji Gwanyeong is a problem? The closeness between pairs is actually an important factor, isn’t it?”

“Of course, but…”

Taehun bit his lip slightly, carefully choosing his words before continuing slowly.

“The affection Ji Gwanyeong has for me, and the affection I have for him… I think they are a little different.”

It was quite common for pairs to become romantic partners. Esper and guide were probably the easiest people in the world to fall in love with each other. The counselor fully understood the gist of Taehun’s dilemma.

Taehun was an ordinary man who had lived his life as a heterosexual. What he was experiencing now was probably the confusing pain of being drawn into a same-sex relationship due to the pair bond, and getting closer to his Esper, almost like lovers, for the first time.

The counselor was about to comfort him by mentioning some typical cases, but Taehun spoke before that.

“Yes, it’s definitely different. But because I know it’s different… I’ve become greedy.”

“Greedy?”

Taehun’s lips pressed tightly together again. He even slightly furrowed his brows as if deep in thought. The counselor was now genuinely curious, as the word “greedy” seemed out of place for someone like Taehun.

Up until now, in counseling, Taehun had shown a nearly perfect guide personality. The rough assessment charts he received while undergoing the care system consistently described him as upright and proper, an ideal guide who would get along well with any Esper.

Of course, that was just based on analyzing Taehun’s personal tendencies. Unfortunately, in over ten years of matching tests, he had never found an Esper who was compatible with him, except for Ji Gwanyeong.

The guide took a deep breath as if to signal the start of something.

“I’ve never met someone with such a bad personality in my life.”

If an Esper had heard this, they would never have smiled. But Taehun had been holding onto many thoughts by himself recently, and the dam of his emotions had finally burst.

“They say actors don’t even skim through the dramas they filmed, and for movies, they just show their face at premieres and watch them only when they have time. What’s the point in watching, right? And when I ask for a favor at the center, he immediately frowns. Just recently, during an important briefing at the center, he was being completely irritable with Researcher Oh Yeon. I was so embarrassed, I got scolded. I’ve never seen someone speak so bitterly in my life.”

“….”

“On the surface, he seems like a person with a wide network, but he doesn’t even have twenty contacts in his phone. I checked the other day, and the whole call log was just me. I really have no idea how he does his job as an actor. When I asked him when he meets his friends or acquaintances, he says he doesn’t meet anyone. I really think there’s something seriously wrong with his social skills. But when I look at other interviews or articles about him, no way! He looks so polite and like such a good person. It’s like a national-scale scam. No, it’s fraud!”

Taehun’s voice grew louder as his sentences sped up, but it was the mental care counselor who calmed him down. Taehun, noticing the counselor’s surprised expression, smiled and raised his hands to calm himself down, then sighed deeply again.

Taehun wasn’t naturally talkative. The last time he spoke this quickly was when his younger brother, Choi Woojin, had broken up with his girlfriend and cried for three days, refusing to eat, and that was almost a year ago.

“…Hoo. But really, why? Even though we’re paired together, I can’t understand why I ended up liking someone whose heart must be a million times more complicated than mine.”

“Haha. Wow, this is the first time I’ve heard so much from you, Taehun. So, after thinking about it, what’s your conclusion?”

Instead of answering, the guide smiled and lowered his head.

In a way, Taehun was a somewhat difficult client. Even though he should be expressing his negative thoughts openly, he almost instinctively hides them. He’s more than willing to share positive feelings, but negative emotions are always suppressed deep inside.

However, now, it seemed that Taehun was trying to break free from the shell he had been wearing. The counselor waited patiently, without interrupting him. After a long wait, Taehun’s words were, in the end, not much different from what the counselor had guessed.

“Ji Gwanyeong is really good to me.”

“Hmm, yes. I’ve heard that from rumors, and I’ve seen it for myself too. Haha.”

At the counselor’s laughter, Taehun continued, now speaking in a voice that seemed a little sad.