Lee Yeonsu sat down on the bench and let out a deep sigh.

As the wind blew, a shower of blossoms rained down over his head. But even the beautiful scenery of a spring day couldn’t bring him any comfort.

For god’s sake. Now it’s not enough that I’ve got a yandere clingy top—my professor’s trying to marry me off too! How could Professor Choi do this to me?!

Yeonsu felt like crying.

Several people from a short distance away were watching him. Some even quietly snapped pictures of him with their phone cameras.

As the times changed, the popularity of ability users had skyrocketed, and countless celebrities had emerged.

The Esper Academy was also home to many famous names. Among them, the biggest star by far was Lee Yeonsu.

“Yeonsu-oppa looks gorgeous today too. I can’t tell if he’s a person or a flower.”

Soeun, a B-rank Guide affiliated with the Changwi Guild, whispered admiringly as she sneakily took a photo on her phone. Standing beside her, Kim Jun furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Oppa? Did he say you could call him that?”

He still referred to Lee Yeonsu as sunbae. The words Yeonsu-hyung only lived silently inside his heart.

But seeing Soeun call him oppa so casually sparked a strange pang of jealousy.

“No.”

Ah, thank god. She didn’t have permission. Kim Jun felt a wave of relief.

“But can I call him oppa anyway?”

“I’ve been calling him oppa since middle school. Do I really need permission? Everyone in our class did.”

“You went to the same middle school as Yeonsu-sunbae?”

Instead of answering, Soeun shot Kim Jun a glare. As the atmosphere suddenly turned tense, Dongseok, a B-rank Esper and also from the Changwi Guild, quickly cut in.

“Jun, don’t be so clueless. It’s not like that. It’s the same as calling a celebrity or sports star oppa or hyung even if you don’t know them.”

“Why do people call celebrities hyung when they don’t even know them?”

“Well, because....”

As Kim Jun questioned something that seemed entirely normal to everyone else, Dongseok was thrown off. While he hesitated, Soeun snapped at him.

“You’re so clueless, Kim Jun.”

Hearing that twice in a row, Kim Jun drooped slightly.

Thanks to Lee Yeonsu, Kim Jun had been able to team up with Park Jihee for mock combat training. That team included several Changwi Guild members, so he naturally became friends with the other first-year students affiliated with the guild.

And with rumors spreading that Kim Jun was favored by Yeonsu and always seen around Changwi members, the bullying had all but disappeared.

“Am I really that clueless?”

“You really don’t get it? It’s not your rank that’s the issue—it’s your total lack of awareness. I knew it the moment you opened your mouth to talk to Yeonsu-oppa.”

“Why? Is it wrong to talk to Yeonsu-sunbae?”

“You don’t know about the ‘Yeonsu Agreement’?”

“What’s that?”

Just the name made his face scrunch in confusion.

“A peace treaty between Espers. The higher-ranked Espers were fighting too much over Yeonsu-oppa, so Gunwoo-oppa proposed it.”

“Park Gunwoo the Esper?”

“Yeah. The idea was to just receive clean guiding from Yeonsu-oppa without bothering him. No clinging, no contracts or imprints or pressuring him with personal offers. Just wait until he chooses someone himself. Isn’t that cool?”

What exactly is cool about that? Kim Jun couldn’t understand any of it.

“But that’s between Espers. Doesn’t have anything to do with Guides, right?”

“Well, things turned out that way. Even the Guides started going along with it. Seniors are a different story, but classmates and underclassmen don’t dare talk to him.”

“Yeah. One of our classmates has a sister who went to the same school as Yeonsu-sunbae, and she said it was basically a war zone. If someone even tried to get close, people would flip out. They acted like their own attempts were pure and anyone else was a clout-chasing opportunist trying to cozy up to an S-rank. There was even a rumor that Yeonsu-sunbae didn’t treat anyone like a person unless they were high-ranking, so no one could talk to him.”

“Yeonsu-sunbae isn’t like that at all! He was so good to me!”

Kim Jun protested fiercely.

Yeonsu-sunbae had helped him when everyone else turned away. He never looked down on him for being F-rank—instead, he complimented his talent and kindly answered even the most basic questions without a trace of annoyance.

Saying someone like that was discriminatory? Total nonsense.

“That’s right. I never believed it either. No way someone with such a kind face could have a bad personality.”

When Soeun agreed passionately, Dongseok asked,

“Does that logic apply to Joo Seunghyuk too?”

“...Seunghyuk just has a rotten personality. His face and pheromones didn’t do anything wrong.”

Joo Seunghyuk’s cold and abrasive nature was so infamous, it was known not just in Korea but around the world. Still, thanks to his looks and powerful alpha pheromones, plenty of people secretly crushed on him.

Just then, from the direction of the East Building, a strikingly handsome man strode toward them with long, purposeful steps.

Joo Seunghyuk didn’t spare a glance for anyone else—as if no one else existed. His eyes were fixed solely on Yeonsu.

And then, from behind, he pulled Yeonsu into a tight embrace.

“No, wait. [N O V E L I G H T] There’s one more thing he’s guilty of. Monopolizing Yeonsu-oppa.”

As popular as he was, Yeonsu had just as many people who hated or envied him.

They accused him of judging people by their rank or slacking off during guiding just because he was naturally gifted.

But Yeonsu had been kind to Kim Jun, even though he was F-rank. And during the mock battle training, he’d risked his life to stop Seunghyuk’s rampage.

At the time, the entire student body had gathered in the gym. If Seunghyuk had lost control and brought the building down, there could’ve been massive casualties. Yeonsu had essentially saved everyone’s lives.

That incident completely changed how people saw him. Even those who used to dislike him began openly praising him.

The rumors that had surrounded him quietly faded away.

Yeonsu’s popularity only continued to soar. But even after the misunderstandings were cleared, no one dared approach him.

Because standing beside Yeonsu was Joo Seunghyuk.

There wasn’t a single person brave enough to break through the barrier of an S-rank among S-ranks just to talk to Yeonsu. On top of that, Seunghyuk had practically slathered his pheromones all over him.

People were so overwhelmed by the dominant alpha pheromones that they didn’t even try to get close.

Even yesterday, the Espers hadn’t started the fight right away.

The A-rank Espers had wanted to resolve things peacefully.

They believed Yeonsu’s guiding was a public resource, and they wanted to preserve the fragile truce brokered by Park Gunwoo. They planned to politely request Yeonsu’s cooperation in running matching tests with other Guides.

But after the mock battle incident, Seunghyuk had begun marking Yeonsu with his pheromones. The high-ranking Espers had also intended to formally protest that.

Whether the two were actually dating was unclear. But Yeonsu was a Free Guide—even if Seunghyuk was his partner, it was only temporary.

Even if they were lovers, coating a Free Guide with pheromones was just bad manners.

Joo Seunghyuk, I can smell your pheromones on Lee Yeonsu. Did you get his permission? If you took advantage of the fact that he’s a beta and can’t sense pheromones to secretly shower him in yours...

But before Moon Sunwoo, an A-rank Esper, could even finish his sentence, Joo Seunghyuk hurled mana at him with a curse: “Go fuck yourself.”

It was a preemptive strike.

Seunghyuk launched a barrage of attacks, and the A-rank Espers entered battle mode—but they couldn’t even lay a finger on him.

As the sudden bloodbath broke out, the Guides were thrown into chaos.

Soeun, a B-rank Guide, had to be summoned from the dorms and run to the East Building.

“Just thinking about yesterday pisses me off!”

“Didn’t you spend all day yesterday swooning about how cool it was?”

Dongseok looked at her, baffled. She had gone on and on about how amazing it was.

“Well, it was cool yesterday! Espers battling it out for a single noble flower blooming on a cliff’s edge! It was like a movie!”

Some Guides had complained about the chaos Yeonsu caused, but others, like Soeun, saw it as romantic or at least thrilling.

More than a few people found it amusing to be part of such a historic moment—taking proof shots or posting anonymously online.

“So what’s the problem? Why are you suddenly pissed off?”

“The problem is that Seunghyuk won the fight yesterday! I’m on Team Gunwoo!”

S-rank Guide Lee Yeonsu and S-rank Esper Park Gunwoo. Both were uncontracted ability users, around the same age, and ridiculously good-looking.

Tons of people across all age groups wanted them to get together, and many already believed they were dating.

They were practically the nation’s favorite couple—and Soeun was one of their biggest fans.

But while Gunwoo was deployed overseas in Africa, Joo Seunghyuk—flawless in looks, pheromones, power, and money but lacking in every other department—swooped in and snatched Yeonsu away.

Plenty of people were weak to Seunghyuk’s rugged appeal, but Soeun wasn’t one of them.

Ugh. Yeonsu-oppa, this isn’t it. Don’t just look at the face—look at the personality. You’re going to regret this later. A good boyfriend needs to be kind. Gunwoo-oppa’s handsome too, you know!

Soeun seriously wanted to chase after Yeonsu with a packed lunch and talk him out of it.

Kim Jun also stared at Yeonsu and Seunghyuk with a stiff expression.

But there was one crucial thing they were both missing.

No one in this world knew just how dangerous Joo Seunghyuk really was—more than anyone, Lee Yeonsu knew best.