The instructor tried her best to restore the atmosphere, but she seemed a bit dazed herself. For almost an hour, both the speaker and the audience appeared lost in thought, and it was only much later that things finally settled down.

“Honestly… I was so embarrassed today I spent the entire time with my head down!”
“Your neck must hurt. Want me to massage it?”

Though it was phrased as a question, Ji Gwanyeong didn’t wait for an answer. He moved closer to Taehun, who was still wrapped in the blanket, and pulled him into an embrace. As promised, he began massaging the stiff back of Taehun’s neck with a perfectly satisfying pressure.

Choi Taehun made a decision in his mind.
‘I must not let this go easily. If I just forgive him now, this man will do it again!’

But honestly, the hands massaging his tense shoulders and neck while occasionally brushing soft kisses against his ear felt really good. It was addictive, the thought that a man who bowed to no one would treat him with such devotion.

“…I’ve gotten a weird nickname because of you.”
“Nickname? Relax and just lean on me.”

If only they could have been like this from the start.

As Gwanyeong traced his fingers over the taut muscles of the guide who had made him fret for so long, he asked softly. The sight of Taehun’s well-proportioned arms and legs peeking out from beneath the blanket made him wonder how graceful he’d look handling a basketball.

“Why? What’s weird about it?”
“It is.”
“Do the others at the center let guides give each other nicknames like that?”
“It’s weird, but… it’s not exactly untrue.”

The cryptic answer made the Esper raise an eyebrow. Taehun, gazing straight at Gwanyeong, suddenly reached out and tugged his head closer.

Their foreheads bumped lightly with a small thud.

“…Choi Taehun?”
“Ji Gwanyeong’s boyfriend.”
“What?”
“‘Ji Gwanyeong’s boyfriend’—that’s my nickname. Can you imagine how humiliating that is?”

The Esper repeated the five words he’d just heard, slowly and deliberately, like a robot processing unfamiliar input. Ji Gwanyeong’s… boyfriend?

Taehun, seeing the bewildered expression on his Esper’s face, felt slightly self-conscious. Somehow, the word “boyfriend” felt oddly light for someone with a name as distinctive as Ji Gwanyeong. But now it was the guide’s turn to be startled.

Gwanyeong, holding him tightly, suddenly began shaking with soft laughter. Taehun widened his eyes at the unusual sight.

“Ji Gwanyeong?”
“Pfft… Hahaha! What did you just say? ‘Ji Gwanyeong’s boyfriend’? That’s your nickname?”

Instead of answering, Taehun nodded with a blank expression, his mind momentarily wiped clean of all thoughts and words. How could it not be?

Gwanyeong laughed.

Not his usual slight curve of the lips or quiet chuckle, but a full, genuine laugh. With his eyes crinkling and his shoulders shaking, he radiated pure joy. Taehun, looking at this perfect man smiling so openly, found his mouth dry and his head spinning.

Good grief, this is too much. The way his eyes curved like that was beyond anything he’d seen in dramas or movies. This wasn’t Ji Gwanyeong the actor, or Ji Gwanyeong the Esper—just Ji Gwanyeong laughing.

Taehun felt his fists clenching involuntarily and his heart pounding hard.

“Ah, I see. That’s right. ‘Boyfriend.’ So you’re my boyfriend, huh? This is driving me crazy.”
“You don’t think it’s strange? I thought you’d be offended.”
“Why would I be offended? Compared to the nonsense I’ve heard recently, this is nothing.”
“…‘Ji Gwanyeong’s boyfriend,’ though?”

The Esper chuckled again at Taehun’s question.

His eyes curved so deeply that they disappeared, creating a smile that was both stunning and endearing. Taehun could only gape at his lover, unable to form coherent thoughts, as if merely staring was all he was capable of.

Gwanyeong gently brushed Taehun’s slightly overgrown bangs aside. The soft strands grazed his fingers, revealing Taehun’s round forehead. While Gwanyeong liked the way Taehun looked with his bangs, he thought the clean, fully revealed face suited him even better.

“You know, Choi Taehun, you even cursed.”
“When did I do that?”
“‘I’m totally screwed. Ah, damn it.’”

The harsh words, when heard, almost sounded like they were not curses at all, flowing out in a pleasant voice. Taehun scratched his chin.

“I didn’t expect a model guide to curse like that.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard you curse, Ji Gwanyeong.”

As if they had been waiting for it, their lips lightly met. It was a sweet kiss. Thanks to that, Taehun let out a relaxed sigh, then suddenly, as if remembering something, he exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Gwanyeong, you only slept for two hours, right?”

It was true that Ji Gwanyeong had only slept for two hours, but he didn’t require much rest to begin with. He hadn’t exerted himself, and even after a regular day of filming, that amount of sleep was sufficient. The Esper, in order to distract his guide, playfully bumped his lips together. But Taehun was looking quite serious.

“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not fine!”
“Then you need to eat.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“You’re not fine.”

The stubborn couple stood their ground, refusing to yield even an inch. After about a minute of silent confrontation, Ji Gwanyeong and Taehun finally agreed to wash up, have a meal, and then get some rest.

Ji Gwanyeong, seeing his “boyfriend” drag him with no mood to wash up, briefly considered initiating sex, but ended up smiling lightly instead.

* * *

Taehun finally had a “guide friend.”
It was Kim Gwonseok, whom he had met during training. Gwonseok was thirty-one, three years older than Taehun. He was mischievous and immediately started teasing Taehun as soon as they met again at the center, but someone like Gwonseok, who wasn’t constantly with researchers, was exactly what Taehun needed.

“So, Gwonseok hyung works at the center?”
“Yeah. He’s in charge of the Esper training area.”
“Wow, that sounds really complicated. You’re amazing. I’m still training for guide education, and I’m still not sure what’s what…”
“Looks like you’re sharp. You know the center well too. Ugh, that’s just not for me.”

Kim Gwonseok really enjoyed his meals. Taehun, even though they were eating the same thing, felt oddly satisfied just watching Gwonseok eat like it was the best meal in the world.

The two guides sat side by side at the center’s restaurant, quietly focused on their meals. After a while, Gwonseok suddenly spoke as if remembering something.

“Hey, just so you know, I’m in charge of Section A.”
“Excuse me?”

Taehun tilted his head, not fully understanding the meaning behind the statement. Gwonseok flashed a slightly mischievous grin.

“So when your Esper turned the A-1 section into a mess and you were crying while working overtime, remember that, right?”
“…I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“Of course, you should be. Honestly, I thought Ji Gwanyeong was completely nuts, but when I saw him that time, he was actually pretty polite. And his face is tiny.”

The topic Taehun never wanted to remember—the “that time” incident—came up naturally, as if it flowed like water. Taehun focused on the stir-fried pork rice bowl he had ordered, pretending he didn’t hear Gwonseok’s words.

“No, no. If you try to do things like that with your guide in a dark, secluded, and secretive place, with hundreds of people around… it’s just not normal…”
“Hyung!”
“Haha!”

Gwonseok, seemingly enjoying teasing his younger brother, didn’t give Taehun a break and continued his playful banter. Taehun, his face turning bright red, grumbled in protest.

Gwonseok laughed heartily at Taehun’s reaction, took a sip of water, and then, still with a hint of laughter in his voice, spoke again.

“Hey, you know what? That’s actually a good thing, you know.”
“What do you mean?”

“Your pair Esper and you, you’re inseparable, right? You’re so close.”
“Isn’t that the same for you, hyung?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I can’t live without my lady.”

Taehun chuckled as he thought of the cute-faced woman that Kim Gwonseok had proudly shown off on his phone earlier that day.

“But you know, when you really think about it, there are some pairs that stick together because they can’t live without each other more than you’d expect.”
“Can’t live without each other…?”

Taehun asked, slightly uncertain at the sudden use of such a harsh phrase. Kim Gwonseok sighed a little and continued.

“There were a lot of guides who envied you and Ji Gwanyeong that day. You didn’t notice because you were too embarrassed to even look up, but there were even some guys hanging around trying to talk to you.”
“…Ah.”
“Some of the ones I know, because of matching rates, meet up a couple of times a month. Some others are so crazy about their Espers that they just can’t get enough. Honestly, while being close with your pair is kind of inevitable, it’s not always the case for everyone.”

As he quickly finished the small yogurt that had come as dessert, Kim Gwonseok’s words were calm, but the underlying meaning was different. On the way back to the residence, Taehun pondered Kim Gwonseok’s words.

If they are a matched pair, it creates a situation where the Esper is likely to develop some affection for their guide. This is inevitable due to the nature of the Esper’s abilities. The more an Esper uses their powers, the more sensitive they become, and their heightened senses can only be stabilized through their guide.

“Perfect calm.”

This feeling, when an Esper comes into contact with their guide, is often described in related books in such terms. Because of this, Taehun sometimes found himself wondering what it felt like for Ji Gwanyeong when he made contact with him.

“‘Can’t live without each other’…”

Taehun repeated Kim Gwonseok’s words aloud.

Suddenly, the memory of an Esper from Itaewon, who had grabbed him recently, came to mind. The man had been with his guide but had remained pale throughout. The younger brother of Oh Yeon, who was involved in a guide murder case ten years ago, may have even harmed his own guide.

At that moment, drops of rain began to fall from the sky, which had been slightly stuffy all day. As Taehun walked, his thoughts became heavier. He hurried towards the residence building. However, the rain had suddenly intensified, so staying completely dry was impossible.

The guide, who hated feeling uncomfortable, began unbuttoning his damp shirt as soon as he entered the elevator after leaving his fingerprint. By the time he fully opened the door to his residence, he had already thrown his wet shirt onto the floor from the hallway.

Outside the large window, thunder roared along with the storm. Taehun clicked his tongue as he watched the bright lightning.

“Wow. What kind of weather is this, suddenly?”

The guide was about to head to the bathroom. This was a space where being alone was the norm, so there was no need to check if his younger siblings were home.

But right now, Taehun had stopped in his tracks.

He had just seen something in the middle of the living room. It was no exaggeration to say that the guide’s residence was a place where all of the center’s security technology was concentrated. Access to outsiders was strictly controlled.

Unless you were the pair Esper, no one could come and go freely. For outsiders, if they weren’t immediate family members of the guide, they couldn’t even pass through the barricades without the center’s permission. Even for immediate family members, they couldn’t step into the guide’s “personal space” unless the guide was present and had given permission.

Even Ji Gwanyeong had to undergo iris recognition and fingerprint verification every time he came here. The concrete structure of this residence was so complex that even trying to “see far” made your eyes hurt. It had been meticulously designed as a space exclusively for the Esper.

But now, someone was inside Taehun’s residence.

The guide felt goosebumps all over, as though his hair was standing on end, and took a slow breath. The sound of him swallowing nervously was clear. In that moment, Taehun’s mind went blank, and he quickly pictured what he had to do in his head.

One button.