After ending the call, I cautiously asked,

“Seunghyuk... did you, by any chance, destroy the testing center?”

“Yes.”

He answered without hesitation.

“Why?”

“Professor Jeon kept nagging me to do a matching rate test. I already have a Guide, but he kept trying to shove some other bastard at me, so I just destroyed it.”

You destroyed a building for that reason? Sure, the Han Testing Center was smaller and cozier than the other buildings, but that didn’t mean you could just demolish it....

“Did he tell you to test with Aaron?”

“Yeah.”

Right. No matter how politically adept Professor Oh was, there’s no way he could’ve set all this in motion on his own when he was only the temporary advisor.

He must’ve gotten approval from the Esper Department too. If an S-rank Guide ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) like Aaron were to naturalize here, the Espers would’ve welcomed him with open arms.

“Aaron is an S-rank Guide. His whole family’s a royal lineage of S-ranks. So I’m sure Professor Jeon didn’t mean anything bad by suggesting it...”

“What the hell is Aaron, anyway? Do you like that bastard or something?”

As Joo Seunghyuk’s mana began to ripple again, I quickly shook my head.

“No! I don’t like him! I was just curious since everyone calls him the world’s number one.”

“Number one, my ass. That’s just media spin. There’s no Guide better than Lee Yeonsu.”

“...Thanks.”

“What are you thanking me for? It’s not flattery. I’m not saying it because you’re my lover or anything. I’m saying it objectively — as an S-rank Esper.”

Seunghyuk took my hand and looked straight into my eyes.

“I’m proud that you’re my Guide.”

“....”

My heart suddenly dropped and then started pounding fast.

What the hell is this? Is my heart broken from too much fear of the yandere?

Trying to calm the weird feeling, I hurriedly held his hand back.

“I’ll guide you. You must’ve burned a lot of mana smashing that building.”

“Haha. You’re guiding me? Not scolding me?”

“How could I ever scold you...”

And die?

“Why can’t you scold me?”

Because unless I’ve gone completely insane, there’s no way I’d dare point out the faults of a possessive maniac...!

But I couldn’t say that. Brutal honesty would only make things worse.

“Because... you’re my Esper.”

“I’m your Esper?”

“...Yeah.”

I nodded carefully, and Seunghyuk broke into a wide smile.

The innocent, childlike smile made my heart drop once again.

***

By the way... where are we going?

He hadn’t told me the destination, and I didn’t have the courage to ask.

And since the yandere didn’t rely on navigation or anything, I had no way of knowing.

Every time I saw a wedding dress or tuxedo shop through the window, I got a bad feeling. Please don’t tell me we’re headed to wedding street.

Afraid to even look at the scenery outside, I turned my eyes forward — and happened to catch sight of a huge LED screen mounted on a tall building. It was broadcasting a live news report.

BREAKING NEWS – Supernatural Academy Building Collapse

Along with the bold headline, footage of the Han Testing Center was shown.

The small but solid white building was now completely unrecognizable.

When I guided Seunghyuk earlier, his mana flow had seemed stable. That made me think Jihee noona might’ve exaggerated about the destruction.

But now that I was seeing it for myself, it was far more devastating than I imagined.

“S-Seunghyuk, is that really your doing?”

He glanced at the screen and responded casually.

“Yeah. Must be peace on earth these days, if that counts as breaking news.”

You psycho! That’s absolutely breaking news, peaceful world or not!

“Seunghyuk, that was really too—”

“Too weak?”

“...Huh?”

“I should’ve blown it all up instead. Then they’d stop talking shit for good.”

“H-haha...”

If I’d said it was too much, I might’ve died. I forced an awkward laugh and shut my mouth.

Once again, I etched it into my heart: villainous sub-uke #2 may be annoying, but the yandere tears down buildings.

***

The car stopped at the special parking lot of the Ability User Department Store.

Unlike regular department stores, this one was run jointly by the Center and the Ability User Association, selling treasures, weapons, potions, and mana stones refined from gate loot.

I was scared he might take me to some luxury jewelry shop famous for wedding rings — but this was even worse.

“Get out.”

“S-Seunghyuk...!”

I quickly grabbed his arm as he was about to get out of the car.

“I really don’t wear rings! It’s not that I hate couple rings — I just genuinely don’t wear them!”

“Why the sudden change? What happened?”

Seunghyuk’s fingers pressed against my earlobe — hard enough to hurt.

The hand that had just destroyed a building applied force, and I was instantly filled with fear.

His mood was crashing fast. In times like this, honesty was the best policy.

I laid my heart bare with zero lies.

“IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE!!!”

“Pfft—!”

Seunghyuk burst out laughing. But regardless of whether he laughed or not, I was serious.

At the Ability User Department Store, even the most elite luxury brands looked cheap in comparison.

Everything started in the millions, and high-grade equipment cost billions.

I absolutely did not want to match couple rings with the yandere that cost tens of millions of won.

“You’re worried about the price?”

“Yeah. This place is way too expensive. If we’re gonna get couple rings, can’t we go somewhere else?”

“Get out.”

Seunghyuk gently stroked my cheek and got out of the car.

He was out — I had no choice but to follow.

“It’s Joo Seunghyuk!”

“Lee Yeonsu’s with him!”

“Hey hey, look! It’s S! It’s S!”

The moment we entered, the department store erupted in chatter.

In this world, ability users were like celebrities or sports stars. Walking down the street, you often got recognized. Usually, people just whispered to themselves.

The Ability User Department Store wasn’t much different. But today, the buzz was especially loud.

Wondering what was going on, I looked around — and saw a poster for a KN Guild fan signing event.

Apparently, there was a fan event scheduled in thirty minutes, which had attracted a crowd.

These kinds of events happened here from time to time — but why today, of all days? What rotten luck.

People were snapping photos of us. Not just fans — there were also reporters covering the fan signing event.

At this rate, rumors of me going on a date with the yandere were going to spread across the country.

I looked at Seunghyuk. He hated stuff like this. There was even a scandal once when he broke a paparazzo’s arm.

I hoped he’d unleash his usual yandere aura and shatter every camera in sight.

But instead of getting mad, Seunghyuk smiled sweetly and laced his fingers through mine. Screams broke out from all directions.

“Hyung, it’s crowded today. Gotta be careful not to lose you.”

Careful my ass — what am I, a child?! And hand-holding, really? What the hell are you doing in front of all these people!

I wanted to yank my hand away right then and there, but I knew that would lead straight to captivity, so I just nodded silently.

“Mm.”

“This way.”

“Yeah.”

We took the elevator up to the fifth floor.

The fifth floor was quiet and mostly empty. At a glance, there were more employees and security guards than customers. The atmosphere had completely changed just from moving up a few floors.

From the fifth floor up, they sold rare treasures, weapons, and ultra-high-end items — only ability users or those with special authorization were allowed access. Because everything here was so expensive, even among Espers, not many came up here.

Back in high school, I’d visited once out of curiosity and fled in shock after hearing the prices.

We passed the weapons section and headed toward the item area.

Unlike Espers, Guides didn’t place much importance on weapons or gear. No matter how good the equipment was, it didn’t make your guiding dramatically better.

Still, my eyes were drawn to the display of handguns.

‘They’re pretty...’

Up until now, I’d only used the standard school-issued training pistol. I rarely entered gates, so I never had a reason to use high-end gear.

Besides, those kinds of weapons were more for Espers who used guns as their primary weapon.

“Hyung, if you see something you like, just tell me.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m a Guide. I don’t need stuff like that.”

“What does that have to do with anything? If you want it, it’s yours.”

“...Is that so...”

If I said I wanted a gun, Seunghyuk would buy it for me. But I didn’t want to be indebted to him, so I stubbornly kept walking.

“Esper Joo Seunghyuk, Guide Lee Yeonsu, welcome.”

A staff member greeted us politely as we entered the accessories section. Seunghyuk returned the greeting with equal politeness.

“Where are the couple rings?”

“Right this way — we have sets specifically designed for Espers and Guides.”

The area they indicated was full of neatly displayed couple rings.

“Hyung, which one do you like?”

Seunghyuk asked with a big smile.

‘I don’t like any of them.’

That’s what I wanted to say, but we’d come this far — we’d have to buy something, right?

At a glance, they looked like normal jewelry, but they were embedded with mana stones, so they were surely insanely expensive.

I picked a simple-looking ring that seemed like it might be relatively cheap.

“How much is this one?”

“That ring increases mana by 0.7%, rated C-class, and it’s 56 million won.”

“...Oh, I see.”

It looked like a 56,000 won ring — but it was exactly a thousand times more expensive. And the effect was underwhelming. Who would pay that much for just a 0.7% increase in mana?

I’d heard accessories were the most overpriced category when it came to gear, but this was beyond anything I imagined.

“You like that one?”

“Ah, no... I don’t think I really have a preference...”

I laughed awkwardly and shook my head. Even if we had to buy a couple ring, not from here.

“Got it.”

He replied calmly. Looked like we’d just leave after all.

As I began to relax and let my guard down, Seunghyuk said to the employee:

“I’d like to see the A-rank ones.”

...A-rank?

C-rank was already 56 million, and he wants to buy an A-rank?!