Kim Gwonseok, looking at the most famous pair in the center these days, loudly shouted.

“Wow. Ji Gwanyeong and his boyfriend!”
“……Gwonseok hyung!”

Taehun let out a faintly sulky voice at the awkward term he still hadn’t gotten used to. However, the Esper decided to forgive the slightly rude attitude of the unfamiliar man. He quite liked the nickname that his guide was embarrassed by.

“Can you give me your autograph?”
“Yes, of course. What’s your name?”

Ji Gwanyeong skillfully signed on the palm-sized notebook that Gwonseok hurriedly extended.

“I’m Kim Gwonseok… Oh, but if you could make it out to Yoo Jinyoung, I’d be grateful.”
“Hyung, is this for your girlfriend?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Seeing Gwonseok, who looked as if he owned the world with that one autograph, Taehun let out a deflated laugh. Kim Gwonseok was indeed a man with rich expressions. Though he was older, at times, he reminded Taehun of his younger brother, Choi Woojin. Gwonseok, who had carefully inserted the signed notebook into his file folder, rubbed his nose and spoke casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“By the way, do you get care from this counselor too?”
“Every other week, I alternate. There are about two more of them.”

“Really?”

Kim Gwonseok scratched his chin, as if thinking.

The pair and Gwonseok were coincidentally facing each other right in front of the counseling room. Taehun, noticing Gwonseok’s somewhat strange expression, asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… this person, doesn’t he seem a bit odd?”

There were hundreds of counselors at the center. Taehun had met quite a few of them, and among all those people, this middle-aged man was one of the counselors Taehun liked quite a lot.

Taehun tilted his head and responded.

“I get along with him well. Is there something wrong?”

“Well, if that’s the case, I guess there’s nothing to say. Never mind. Oh, wait! Could you take a quick look at this?”

Kim Gwonseok pulled out a small square box from his hoodie pocket.

“Ta-da. What do you think?”

“Wow.” Taehun’s eyes sparkled as he let out a soft exclamation.

What Gwonseok showed him was a ring. It was a neat platinum ring with a small diamond sparkling in the middle. It had an elegant design that wasn’t too flashy but unmistakably screamed “proposal.”

“She’ll really love it. It’s beautiful.”

“Hehe, right?”

Ji Gwanyeong, standing a few steps away from the two guides, tilted his head as he saw Taehun’s eyes glued to the sparkling little ring. It reminded him of the time when his guide had immediately mentioned marriage during their argument. Clearly, this upright man had envisioned building a family like that.

The Esper momentarily got lost in thought.

“Alright. Let’s meet again later! Wish me luck!”

Taehun smiled at Gwonseok, who was happily walking away. He thought to himself that this must be what it felt like to feel happiness just from someone’s back.

“Ji Gwanyeong, I’m going in now. You must be bored, so you can go somewhere else.”

“……Alright.”

Esper, sitting on the sofa right in front of the counseling room door, answered a bit slowly, as if lost in thought. The guide, seeing him, couldn’t help but smile slightly, picturing him sitting there, motionless, waiting for just him despite what he said.

Today, Taehun had finally managed to schedule a counseling session to coincide with Ji Gwanyeong’s free time.

“You look cheerful this time,” the counselor said.

Taehun, lost in thought for a moment, was startled and widened his eyes before sheepishly squinting them. It had been nearly a month since he’d last seen this middle-aged counselor, having been scheduled with a different counselor for a while.

“I’ve heard the rumors. You’ve managed to win over the hearts of everyone, huh?”

“…Well, how did that happen?”

Taehun’s voice, almost shy and reluctant, gave away that he was a young man who had just fallen deeply in love.

The counselor laughed heartily at the sight, finding Taehun’s behavior rather cute, and handed him a mug. The coffee smelled so good that it made Taehun’s eyes widen when he first stepped into the room.

“So, what would you like to talk about today, Taehun?”

Taehun, rolling his hand together and casting his eyes around, took a moment before speaking rather calmly. Of course, his words couldn’t completely hide the slight excitement within.

“Things have been pretty good lately.”

“Good. Very good. Haha, must be thanks to Ji Gwanyeong, right?”

Taehun hadn’t expected the counselor to bring up Esper so quickly, and the mention of his name made him flush slightly, pursing his lips.

Dating someone whose name is known by everyone can be quite embarrassing at times. The guide spoke slowly and clearly, with a touch of recognition.

“…Yes.”

“Oh. You’re quite confident now, huh? You seemed really uneasy before, especially about the matching rate.”

Taehun hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

In fact, the guide still had a bit of lingering insecurity. It was only natural. From the age of five until now, at twenty-eight, Taehun had never once proven that he was a guide. The only person who called him a guide and acknowledged him as such was his current partner, Ji Gwanyeong.

“I’m not entirely at ease yet, but I’ve started to think a little differently.”

“What kind of thought?”

“I think even if I weren’t a guide, he would still treat me the same way… Ah, is that too hopeless?”

The counselor chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. The answer, as always, could only be known by the person involved.

The guide reclined slightly in the comfortable chair, looking up at the pristine white ceiling. Taehun, as the client, was certainly much more at ease compared to the previous times. He had been staring lazily, almost intoxicated by the coffee aroma, when suddenly, as if recalling something, he spoke in a soft voice.

“Now that I think about it, there are some things that have become so natural to me.”

What might he be doing right now? Is he sitting on the sofa, looking at his phone? Or is he just staring at the door, waiting for him? Taehun continued speaking as he thought about it.

“Do you know that Ji Gwanyeong would never bend down to pick up something that someone else dropped?”

“Huh?”

“He can casually bow for a stage greeting, but he would never pick up someone’s bag or place a spoon when going out for a meal. At first, I thought he was just doing it on purpose, but now I realize he doesn’t even consider those options. Isn’t that funny?”

Somehow, this conversation felt similar to the last counseling session. However, instead of the usual complaints, there was a faint smile mixed in, as if he was telling an amusing story.

“Not long ago, I went to Ji Gwanyeong’s drama set.”

“Yes, I heard that you decided to stay together for the time being.”

The counselor cleverly avoided mentioning Esper, Oh Jinwoo, the cause of the situation, and let Taehun’s words flow. The guide, still somewhat immersed in a pleasant memory, didn’t notice this.

“Actually, Ji Gwanyeong… how should I put it… seems like someone who doesn’t care about what others think, but in some ways, he’s very much a person who lives within himself.”

“From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem that way.”

Taehun chuckled softly at the counselor’s confused question and squinted his eyes as he replied, “Well, that’s true.”

“To be honest, at first, I really hated following him around all day. Going to the drama set and sitting there among all those people, I felt like I was just in the way of everyone.”

“Haha.”

“Anyway, I was really nervous. There was… something that happened there. Everyone was just staring without saying a word. But despite that, I could feel the way people around Ji Gwanyeong were being cautious around him, and I realized just how important he is. I couldn’t even breathe properly at first.”

Taehun sighed, remembering the “incident” on the set. When he thought about the moment when Ji Gwanyeong playfully kissed him on the lips in front of all the people, the hairs on the back of his neck still stood up.

But aside from that, the drama set had actually been quite fascinating to Taehun, who had always lived in a world so far removed from such experiences. The expressions Ji Gwanyeong showed only there were interesting, and what truly filled Taehun’s heart was something else.

“Anyway, I ended up playing the king all day in that place.”

“King play?”

“Ji Gwanyeong served me, and I was the king. That kind of king play.”

It really had been that way.

By the end, even Ji Gwanyeong’s manager had gotten flustered, saying he’d take over because Ji Gwanyeong couldn’t stop taking care of him. Whenever Taehun got up to stretch due to a sore back, the eyes of those focusing on the shoot followed him, causing several NGs.

Taehun laughed a little more loudly as he recalled that time. At the moment, he had been so surprised that he felt a chill from head to toe, but looking back now, it was undeniable that every little thing showed Ji Gwanyeong’s attention toward him.

“You could tell how much he cared. After the shoot ended, when I looked around, I found myself surrounded by a circle of stuff.”

Here was a book, over there a tablet, and on the other side, plenty of food. Cushions, phone chargers… Taehun softly traced the air as if recalling the scene. Strangely, time with Ji Gwanyeong was always clear and unclouded.

“Even that proud man followed me to the bathroom and stood by the door, waiting. I honestly got worried and asked him if it was okay to do that, especially since he’s the leading actor.”

“And what did he say?”

“…I got scolded.”

It was a short but revealing statement with a lot of background behind it.

In reality, Taehun never talked about such personal matters with any of the other researchers. Revealing moments with his partner felt awkward and embarrassing.

But once he started speaking, it became easier to share things that had been kept bottled up. Taehun felt lucky that he had at least one person to talk to.

After speaking with the counselor, it felt as though all the complicated thoughts in his mind were being sorted out. The guide took a sip of the now perfectly cooled coffee.

However, today’s middle-aged counselor didn’t seem to have any intention of being a helpful companion for Taehun. The man tilted his head, pondering for a while, and then, almost as if talking to himself, spoke up.

“That’s really strange. Really strange.”

“Sorry?”