Choi Taehun is feeling deeply that the phrase “I can’t raise my head in shame” comes from a certain origin. Always the upright listener, he now lowers his head and sighs, his posture expressing his current feelings more than anything else.

The neatly dressed middle-aged man sitting opposite the guide continued speaking with a slightly weary face.

“We’re not that stubborn of people, really.”

“…Yes.”

“We’re known for thoroughly protecting the privacy of our actors. No interference, nothing like that. Truly.”

“…Yes.”

The man’s voice, boiling with anger, burst out.

Thanks to that, Ji Gwanyeong, who had been sitting next to Choi Taehun, sipping coffee leisurely, briefly glanced at the man before returning to the book in his hands. The middle-aged man, seemingly even more upset, continued.

“When Ji Gwanyeong’s drama ends, we have a truckload of scripts waiting for him. We’re even planning to have him star in Director ○○○’s project. You know that the dramas have already been exported to China and Japan, right? After each episode airs, subtitled videos are already circulating the next morning.”

“…”

“Is that all? The range of roles is now several times broader, and we’re getting an overwhelming amount of offers from overseas for Esper roles. This is the time to build a career like never before.”

Choi Taehun, unable to find the will to respond to the man’s words, simply nodded gravely. The manager of Ji Gwanyeong’s agency, whose face had darkened from sleepless nights, found courage in the guide’s attitude and began raising his voice.

“Love?! Fine, that’s fine. Who would stop a grown man in his thirties from dating? But! But!”

From Choi Taehun came a small cough.

Damn ‘love’!

The word he had wanted to tear apart had finally appeared.

Love. Love. Damn love. Fucking love. Choi Taehun felt the blood rushing to his face as he tightened his grip on his hands. This entire situation started with that damn word.

“Why! Why! Are you saying you’ll go public with your relationship? Even that?!”

“…”

“Coming out as gay, what kind of chaos is this! Please! Please! Choi Taehun, stop him! I want to quit my job, run away, and go mad!”

“Write your resignation letter.”

“Aaaahhh!”

At Ji Gwanyeong’s words, which overturned everything with five simple letters, a groan escaped the exhausted man’s lips from the overwhelming workload. In the end, Choi Taehun nodded briefly to the team leader of the agency, then dragged his esper into another room. Of course, Ji Gwanyeong, with his spotless face, looked as though he had done nothing wrong. Choi Taehun, seeing that relaxed expression, found the words he had intended to scold him with losing all their sharpness and awkwardly trailing off.

“You’re not gay, are you?”

“Now, both you and I are gay.”

With that arrogant declaration that instantly defined a sexual identity he had never been swayed by in 28 years, Taehun found himself at a loss for words, his neck turning red as he furiously rubbed it.

Now, Taehun had no way to deny those words. If he had disliked it, he should have said something “that day, at that time.” He remembered how, when Ji Gwanyeong had asked him to date him, he had awkwardly stuttered, “How could you say that?” like a fool, and the esper had replied, “What’s wrong with that?”

Having fully gained the upper hand, Ji Gwanyeong, now glancing at his pair, who was flushing red and roughly running his hand through his hair, continued as if driving in a nail.

“You need to hold a press conference to make sure you can’t say such crazy things again.”

“…Ah, come on!”

Honestly, Taehun had to be cautious about even speaking out of anger in front of that nasty esper. Ji Gwanyeong, with his stubbornness about words like “another esper” and “marrying someone else,” would endlessly bring them up, throwing examples in his face. Taehun, still unable to cool his frustration, grabbed the sneering man’s hand tightly while raising an eyebrow.

“Can’t we just meet secretly without a press conference or anything, and I’ll promise I won’t say anything?”

“Why?”

“If I’m tired, that’s one thing, but what about my family? Especially my younger siblings, they’re still young and often meet people outside. It’s already been a mess because Ji Gwanyeong is known as my esper.”

…Look at that?

Ji Gwanyeong, noticing Taehun’s increasingly flustered words, silently chuckled to himself. He could clearly see the guide’s actions, trying to coax him like a tongue in his mouth with a polite face.

In fact, even if Taehun kept trying to stop him, it was nothing more than Ji Gwanyeong doing whatever he pleased. With a single text, reporters with cameras and laptops would come running. The real problem was that, despite seeing through such a shallow trick, Taehun had no will to resist it.

Ji Gwanyeong tilted his head loosely, fell into thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Then, can I tell Ji Hyun?”

“…Ji Hyun? My fourth sibling?”

“Yeah. Choi Ji Hyun. The first-year English major at ○○ University.”

Without even mentioning it before, Ji Hyun’s profile spilled from the full, plump lips in a sweet way. Taehun blinked in confusion, then hesitantly asked.

“H-how do you plan to talk to Ji Hyun?”

“I know her phone number.”

“How do you know?”

“We exchanged numbers when she came to visit the dorm last time. By the way, I also know Choi Woojin’s contact info. He monitors the drama every week.”

The guide froze, mouth slightly open.

Taehun had never imagined such a secret connection between his younger siblings and the esper. As he looked at the neat, white teeth of Ji Gwanyeong, his lips slightly parted, he suddenly had the urge to kiss them.

“No, absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not. No way!”

“No press conferences, no family. What’s allowed? Convince me why it’s not possible.”

Ji Gwanyeong, arms crossed, looked at Taehun, shaking his head, as he insisted that it couldn’t happen. His attitude was so nonchalant it was almost infuriating. Taehun, now glaring at the man who had become his lover with a tearful stare, carefully chose his words.

“Do we really have to tell my younger siblings? There’s no need to do that.”

“Not good enough. Try a more convincing excuse.”

Is this really the kind of conversation that couples have?

Every time Taehun saw the faint smile around Ji Gwanyeong’s eyes, he felt like he was losing. But there was no way out. It was his fault for falling for such a man.

With a playful smile, the esper continued to hold the guide’s hand, leaning it so that it touched the floor fully, and teasingly started playing. Taehun, feeling some strange shivers from the playful physical contact, awkwardly avoided looking at him.

“I really don’t want my family to know. It would be weird.”

“Why’s that?”

“Ah, well, I mean… it’s not that I hate it, but it’s just… well, you know?”

Sorry to say, but Taehun’s discomfort seemed pretty amusing to Ji Gwanyeong.

His usually sharp eyes slightly lowered, and his previously composed expression melted into one of confusion, unable to hide his emotions in this unexpected situation.

The esper, pulling Taehun’s hand toward him, softly kissed the edge of his lips and said in a low voice.

“So, to put it simply, you don’t want to tell your family because it would cause trouble for them, right?”

“…”