“Because I hate other bastards touching you, whether it’s for guiding or anything else—don’t do it anymore.”

Just when I thought he’d calmed down, the air froze over in an instant.

Seeing Joo Seunghyuk that furious instantly brought the original story to mind.

There was a similar scene in Guide’s Swamp.

When Kim Jun tried to team up with sub-Male Lead Park Geonwoo during Instructor Lee’s training session, Joo Seunghyuk had blown up.

But this wasn’t even a semester-long team assignment. It was just a part-time job.

I thought even in the original novel, Joo Seunghyuk had tolerated Kim Jun guiding people besides the sub-ML...

Either way, I couldn’t just let this go. I wasn’t about to live the rest of my life sucking my fingers while tiptoeing around a yandere Dom.

“But the money...”

I mumbled, voice barely above a whisper.

No matter how deranged he was, surely he’d ease up a little if I mentioned my family’s livelihood was on the line?

Joo Seunghyuk stared at me silently, then took a black card from his wallet and held it out to me.

Even at a glance, the metal card screamed luxury. It had Joo Seunghyuk etched into it in English.

“...What’s this?”

Why was he giving me his card?

“Use it.”

“What?”

“If you need money, use this.”

“N-No way!”

I recoiled in shock and shook my head.

“And give me your bank account too. I’ll transfer some over.”

“No, seriously—it’s fine. That’s not what I meant at all.”

I hurried to hand the card back to him.

I just wanted to keep doing my part-time job without being harassed. I had zero intention of receiving financial support from a yandere Dom.

“Take it.”

“I can’t.”

“We’re going to get married, aren’t we? Everything of yours is mine, and everything of mine is yours. There’s no need to feel burdened.”

“...Married?!”

I shouted, completely caught off guard. But Joo Seunghyuk looked unfazed.

“Yes. Married.”

“We’re...?”

“Yes. Hyung said you’d take responsibility for me.”

“......”

When did I say that?

As I stood there speechless, his eyes turned icy cold.

“Hyung, don’t tell me... were you planning to just use me and throw me away?”

“...What?”

“You took my virginity and now you’re going to pretend like none of it happened?”

“......”

“If that’s the case, then you’ll have to pay the price.”

As his mana began to radiate with lethal intent, I reflexively blurted out:

“O-Of course I’ll take responsibility!”

“Really?”

“Y-Yeah.”

The moment I sensed that denying it would lead straight to a confinement ending, I nodded—for my survival.

***

After desperately doing everything I could to avoid upsetting Joo Seunghyuk, I was finally able to return to my dorm safely.

But that didn’t mean I could let my guard down.

I sighed as I stared at the black card.

In the end, I’d accepted it. If I’d refused any longer, I had a feeling he’d start setting wedding dates.

Boyfriend wasn’t enough—now he wanted marriage? What the hell was going on?

Even the original novel didn’t go this far.

Joo Seunghyuk wasn’t someone who thought in terms of dating or marriage.

He had grown up in a miserable home and had an emotionally stunted childhood. He didn’t understand love.

To him, love was a lie, romance was a joke, and marriage was something he outright despised.

In Guide’s Swamp, he never truly loved Kim /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Jun—not even at the very end.

His obsession and possessiveness had simply exploded out of control. That’s why the two of them ended up not in a relationship or marriage, but in confinement and bondage.

There was one mention of marriage in the novel, but that was a political marriage—completely transactional.

And yet this Joo Seunghyuk had brought up marriage first.

And I wasn’t some noble heir or power figure offering a political match—I was just a normal civilian.

He said he believed in premarital purity, and since we had sex, he had to take responsibility and marry me?

That was way too logical to be coming out of a yandere Dom’s mouth. And that’s what made it even scarier.

What was Joo Seunghyuk thinking?

Was it a joke? It had to be. Please let it be.

At first, I really thought he was teasing me. Like when he brought me that abalone porridge—it had been a little confusing, but I figured he was just playing around.

But as it kept happening, I started to wonder if maybe... he was serious.

Sure, the premarital purity thing was probably fake. And the "first time" stuff too. But if he really intended to marry me... what then?

I imagined us walking hand-in-hand into a wedding hall where everything was pitch black.

And I broke out in goosebumps all over my body.

No. Absolutely not!

I shook my head violently. Just then, my phone buzzed.

What now? Please don’t let it be a message from Joo Seunghyuk.

"Ugh!"

I shrieked the moment I read it.

It wasn’t from Joo Seunghyuk—but it was worse.

It was a deposit alert from the bank. The amount: 10,000,000 won. Sender: Joo Seunghyuk.

How many zeroes even is that? A hundred... no, a thousand!

Why would he send that much?! And how did he even get my bank account info?

Even in the middle of that confinement scare, I’d made sure not to tell him.

I had to call him. No matter how scary Joo Seunghyuk was, I couldn’t accept that kind of money.

Just as I was about to hit the call button, my eyes caught the clock.

Class was about to start.

To be honest, my head was a mess—I wasn’t in the mood to sit through a lecture.

I’d already missed all my morning classes, and I was sorely tempted to skip the rest too. But of all things, the next class was Guiding Ethics.

It was a required course for Guides, and the grade was based entirely on attendance. There was no way I could miss it.

So I dragged myself toward the lecture hall.

***

“Kang Inho.”

When I arrived, the professor was already calling roll.

Since we were still on the Ks, I must’ve made it just in time. Just barely dodged being marked late.

I quietly slipped into the nearest seat by the door.

As I pulled out my textbook and pens to prepare, a name I couldn’t ignore pierced through my ears.

“Kim Jun.”

It was the name of Kim Jun, the main bottom of Guide’s Swamp.

“Yes!”

A cheerful voice answered, followed by a man raising his hand high. He was sitting in the very front row.

In the novel, he was always portrayed as getting stepped on by others, so I’d imagined him as gloomy and fragile.

But my expectations were completely wrong.

He was bright and full of energy—his presence practically radiated good vibes.

Guiding Ethics was a class graded solely on attendance, so most people didn’t even bother pulling out their textbooks.

But Kim Jun sat right up front, eyes sparkling.

In the novel, the author described him as ordinary-looking but with a face that somehow drew attention.

Yeah, right. Ordinary, my ass. Maybe the author’s eyes were up in the clouds.

Sure, he wasn’t a glamorous head-turner like Joo Seunghyuk, but he was undeniably good-looking.

Not “ordinary but noticeable”—he was just naturally magnetic.

And that bright, kind guy... was going to be ruined by the obsessive Dom.

Up until now, I’d been too focused on dodging the plot myself to think about what Kim Jun was going through.

Even if the story followed the original events, I told myself it couldn’t be helped—it was just how this world was written.

But now that I’d seen the main bottom’s face in person, I felt genuinely bad.

As I stared at Kim Jun’s face, he suddenly turned and made eye contact with me.

I gave him a small nod in greeting.

His eyes widened—and then he immediately turned away.

Guess he doesn’t like me.

I was used to it.

Lee Yeonsu was a hated character in the original story. Sure, I’d been trying to live decently here, but the narrative’s inertia made sure people stayed away from me.

Everyone either avoided me or kept their distance. Occasionally someone would approach first, but it was always out of curiosity about my S-class status—not out of affection for me as a person.

After finishing roll call, the professor cleared his throat.

“Before we begin today’s class, I have an announcement.”

What now? Is he going to welcome the freshmen?

But his expression was too serious for that.

“We’ve received reports that illegal part-time work is spreading among Esper Academy students.”

I was so shocked I dropped my pen.

It rolled off the desk and clattered to the floor. Kang Inho, sitting in front of me, picked it up and handed it back.

“Thanks,” I mouthed silently. He gave a small nod in reply. I clenched the pen and looked toward the podium.

“The Academy prohibits students from engaging in economic activities. We will now be strictly enforcing this policy. Any student found violating this rule will face serious disciplinary action. No exceptions will be made—even for high-ranking Guides. Consider yourselves warned.”

This was definitely Joo Seunghyuk’s doing.

Sure, technically the rules restricted part-time work, but students had always done it quietly—and the school had always looked the other way.

For them to suddenly crack down like this meant someone had applied outside pressure.

He pressured the school just to stop me from guiding part-time.

I bit my lip.

The obsessive Dom had me in his sights.