‘This isn’t actually a hopeless situation... if anything, it’s a good thing, isn’t it?’

Professor Oh pretending to care about me and bringing up “knowing my place” was irritating, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t all that bad.

In the original novel, the matching rate between Joo Seunghyuk and Aaron was 69%. Considering they were both S-rank, that was a fairly high score.

In fact, Joo Seunghyuk had once evaluated Aaron’s guiding as pretty decent. Not as good as Kim Jun’s, but way better than Lee Yeonsu’s “garbage-level guiding,” he had said. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

I looked at Aaron again.

He took heavily after his American mother — skin so pale it almost looked sickly, big eyes, freckles, small lips. Overall, he had a soft, round, and cute impression. His nickname was “Shih Tzu,” and it suited him perfectly.

He was also a bit shorter than me. Not quite 170 cm? Maybe just barely over?

He was the complete opposite of Kim Jun in looks, build, and personality, but that should be fine. At the very least, it seemed like Joo Seunghyuk’s taste in appearance had changed from the original story.

Anyway, Aaron had been so cute since he was a kid that he’d produced a whole army of virtual aunties and uncles online. On top of that, he was an S-rank Guide and ridiculously rich. And to top it all off, he was a dominant Omega.

On paper, he was flawless. And he liked Joo Seunghyuk.

To be honest, when I was trying to hand Seunghyuk off to Kim Jun, I felt guilty. Even though I knew Kim Jun had a bit of a masochistic streak, I still felt bad — like I was ruining an innocent kid’s life.

But with Aaron, there was no need to feel guilty. If he wanted to screw up his own fate, what could I do to stop him?

Besides, even if he ended up getting locked up, his brother or family would surely step in to stop it.

The more I thought about it, the more they seemed like a match made in heaven.

This was the perfect chance — I’d pair the obsessive possessive type with the #2 villainous sub-uke, and make my escape!

“Why are you smiling? Do I look funny to you?”

Guess the sense of liberation showed on my face. I needed to be more careful not to be too obvious.

“No, I’m just happy to meet you, Guide Aaron. I’ve been a fan of yours since I was little.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes at me. Was he trying to read my true intentions? I gave him the most harmless, innocent smile I could muster.

‘I’m not your rival. If you want the yandere, take him. I have no intention of getting between you two.’

Maybe he picked up on my sincerity, because he gave a cheerful smile.

“I was disappointed, actually.”

“Sorry?”

“You. I heard rumors that you were some homme fatale who toyed with every Esper in Korea, so I expected someone a bit more... seductive. But seeing you in person is a relief.”

Apparently, my sincerity didn’t come through at all.

“Sounds like you heard some wild rumors. ‘Toying with Espers’ is a ridiculous exaggeration. It’d be disrespectful to them, too.”

“You don’t look the type, I’ll give you that.”

“...Ah, I see.”

He gave me a side glance and said curtly,

“My Korean isn’t very good. If I mess something up, please understand. I just don’t know better.”

“No, you speak really well.”

His skill at insulting people was maxed out. His Korean wasn’t just good — it was practically fluent.

“Guide Aaron, I’ll show you around the school. Should we start with the West Wing?”

“This is the West Wing?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t see any Espers around.”

“Guides have classes in the West Wing. Espers are in the East Wing. Joint training happens in the Central Building, and mock combat training is done at the KR Building in the north. The place where the whole school gathered earlier was—”

“I know all that.”

Aaron cut me off flatly, mid-sentence.

“...I see.”

I was starting to understand why Lee Yeonsu hated Aaron in the original story. Experiencing it firsthand was way more infuriating than reading it in a novel.

No. Don’t empathize with the villain. Just hold out until I can hand him over to the obsessive ML.

“There’s not much to see here. Let’s go to the East Wing.”

So he wants to meet Joo Seunghyuk. That works for me, too.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

When I replied without resistance, Aaron’s eyes widened. I guess he didn’t expect that reaction.

“Confident, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You must be sure I won’t steal Joo Seunghyuk from you.”

“Is Seunghyuk a possession now? Something to steal?”

And honestly, if he did take him, I’d be thrilled. Please, by all means, take him.

I gave another harmless smile, but Aaron snorted.

“You’re a Beta, right?”

“Yes.”

“People say ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the power of S-rank Espers is tied to their pheromones. That’s why most S-ranks are dominants. My whole family’s dominant, too. Even an S-rank Guide being just a regular Omega is rare — but a Beta? That’s definitely unusual. Maybe your test results were wrong.”

So he was attacking what he thought was my weak point.

And it was true — the S-rank Espers like Joo Seunghyuk, Park Geonwoo, Do Hyeokjin, and Kim Chaea were all dominant Alphas. In the original, Yeonsu had suffered a ton of stress over being an S-rank but still a Beta. But unlike him, I really didn’t care. I felt no shame about it at all.

“My grade is accurate.”

“It was checked with a Korean machine, right? Don’t you think there might’ve been an error?”

What, is he saying anything Made in Korea is unreliable? He wasn’t just insulting me now — he was dissing the whole country.

Unbelievable. Maybe back in the day when his grandfather defected, sure, but South Korea’s current tech is world-class.

“That’s right. Most machines used by the Center are made by Sungan. They’re known for high accuracy — their matching rate scanners are considered the best in the world.”

“Maybe it was an old model.”

“Guide Aaron.”

I dropped my smile and said his name calmly.

“What?”

“I’ve guided many Espers.”

“Is Free Guiding something to brag about? How trashy.”

He sneered.

There was a stigma that Free Guides were vulgar compared to bonded or exclusive ones. In our parents’ generation, they were even treated like prostitutes. Things were slowly changing, and people weren’t as open about it anymore — but prejudice still lingered.

My parents had always supported me no matter what, but they did worry about me living as a Free Guide.

They once said they didn’t care about money or rank — they just hoped I’d sign an exclusive contract with a decent, respectable Esper.

It was because of the prejudice around Free Guides.

Everyone said Korea was conservative and that foreigners didn’t have the same biases, but I guess that was just a lie.

“I’m afraid I can’t agree with your view, Guide Aaron. I respect Free Guides. There are far fewer Guides than Espers. Without Free Guides, we would’ve seen chaos.”

“Pfft. Respect? Birds of a feather.”

Lots of people look down on Free Guides — but I’d never met someone so blatantly rude. Especially another Guide.

I’d never liked Aaron to begin with, but whatever little tolerance I had just evaporated. I said bluntly,

“Guide Aaron, you’re being extremely rude. And for the record, not a single Esper has ever questioned my rank. If what you’re saying is true — that my rank is wrong — then all the Espers I’ve guided would have to be idiots who can’t even recognize their Guide’s grade.”

It’s said that Espers can sense the difference in a Guide’s rank when being guided. If I were only A-rank and pretending to be S-rank, they would’ve noticed immediately and asked for re-evaluation.

“Are you saying you look down on South Korean Espers?”

“T-That’s not what I meant. My Korean isn’t great, so... I’m sorry if it came off that way.”

Among the Korean Espers I’d guided was Joo Seunghyuk. Realizing that he’d just insulted Seunghyuk too, Aaron panicked and apologized. Then he threw in the ridiculous excuse that his Korean was lacking.

If this were just about me, I might’ve let it slide. But he’d insulted others too, so I had to say one more thing.

“Please be more careful. What you said was disrespectful — not just to me, but to others as well.”

“But you are unusual, aren’t you?”

Aaron pouted. It hadn’t even been 30 seconds since he apologized.

“What do you mean, unusual?”

“I heard both your parents are commoners.”

“...Excuse me?”

Did I hear that right? ‘Commoners’? What is this, a historical drama?

“...Did you mean to say ‘civilian’?”

That was also rude, but miles better than ‘commoner.’ Even though I gave him a chance to correct himself, he just got annoyed.

“No, I meant it. Nobodies with zero ability. ‘Useless commoners.’ Don’t you understand the term?”

So he really did mean “commoners.” I was speechless.

“So ability makes someone nobility now? I didn’t realize America had a caste system.”

“Don’t twist my words. You’ve got no sense of humor, huh? Seriously, I don’t get how you’re popular.”

“Guide Aaron, I suggest you refrain from rude remarks.”

I’d tried my best not to antagonize him — for the sake of following the original plot. But once he brought my parents into it, my patience ran out.

“Does Esper Park Geonwoo know you’re cheating on him?”

“...Cheating?”

What kind of bullshit is this now?

“Isn’t it sad? Park Geonwoo’s working hard in Africa while you run around with another Alpha’s pheromones all over you. Imagine how devastated he’d be.”

He was proudly spouting baseless gossip.

“Guide Aaron, I think you really are bad at Korean. ‘Cheating’ implies a romantic or marital relationship. I’ve never dated Esper Park Geonwoo. If anything, he’d be shocked to hear that rumor himself.”

Even after I clarified, Aaron snorted.

“Oh, so you’ve fully switched over to Joo Seunghyuk?”

“When did I say that? Please don’t twist my words. There’s nothing between me and Esper Park Geonwoo.”

“Well, Seunghyuk does beat him in looks, money, and power.”

He kept sneering.

“Guide Aaron, please stop making rude remarks. Both Joo Seunghyuk and Park Geonwoo are outstanding Espers.”

“It’s not rude — it’s just the truth. This industry is all about ability, isn’t it?”

“But you weren’t just talking about ability, were you?”

“What did I say that was wrong? You made your calculations and switched sides, didn’t you?”

Sigh...

A deep sigh escaped me. Repeating myself over and over was exhausting. I’d never met a wall thicker than this one.

“I’ve said this already — I’ve never dated Senior Geonwoo.”

I’d planned to match Aaron with Seunghyuk... but now I was having second thoughts.

Even if Seunghyuk’s a possessive maniac, he’s too good for someone like this.

“Please stop spreading these ridiculous rumors. They’re disrespectful to both me and Esper Park Geonwoo.”

“Well, if you deny it that strongly, I guess I can’t argue.”

He still sounded mocking. Looks like he planned to keep insisting I was dating Park Geonwoo.

Was this his scheme — accuse me of two-timing and steal Joo Seunghyuk away?

I wanted to get away from the yandere, but that didn’t mean I was about to suffer through ridiculous slander.

I was about to say one last thing, when—

A deafening boom echoed out, shaking the ground beneath us.