As the Espers entered the gate, the reporters swarmed around me.

“Are you currently dating Esper Joo Seunghyuk?”

“Even beasts seem to lose their strength in front of a beauty.”

“Seeing how he gifted you an S-rank treasure, you two must not be in an ordinary relationship.”

“Is it true that he swept the entire special auction just for Guide Lee Yeonsu?”

My face flushed bright red as I recalled the items he had bought at the special auction. How could they ask such shameless questions with a straight face?

Of course, they probably had no idea—but I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even lift my head.

“I’ve been covering him for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen Esper Joo Seunghyuk smile. Is this the power of love?”

“So you really are dating, right?”

They unleashed all the questions they hadn’t dared ask when Seunghyuk was around. Clearly, they thought I was an easy target.

But suddenly, a reckless thought flashed through my mind.

What if I said we weren’t dating?

...He’d probably lock me up, right? Or maybe I’d be forced into a surprise wedding press conference.

It was obvious how it would end. Rebelling without a plan would only raise his obsession meter.

That’s how it went in the original, too. The more you tried to escape, the deeper and darker the swamp became.

“...We are currently in the middle of the Gate Raid training exercise for the Ability Academy. I ask that you refrain from personal questions.”

Instead of answering, I bowed politely.

“The Guide students should begin preparing for guiding. All non-participants must move outside the guiding tent area.”

The assistant stepped in to clear the situation. Normally a professor should be handling this, but Professor Oh didn’t seem the least bit inclined.

So the poor assistant had to do all the heavy lifting alone.

The reporters all moved outside the tent. Aaron shot me a glare, then got into his car. Professor Oh glanced at Aaron, then followed him into the vehicle.

Just what kind of scheme had those two cooked up?

Aaron wants Joo Seunghyuk. I want to run away from Joo Seunghyuk. Our interests align—so why is he so hostile toward me?

Besides, I’m human too. With how underhanded Aaron was acting, my desire to help him end up with Seunghyuk was quickly fading.

Honestly, Seunghyuk is too good for that guy. Even if he is a possessive psycho.

“You did good, Yeonsu.”

Jihee noona patted my shoulder.

“No... I’m the reason everyone else is suffering.”

“No, it’s not you. It’s that damn Professor Oh. And why did he bring so many reporters?”

“Wait—Professor Oh brought them?”

“Yeah. Most of them are his buddies. That Choi Younghwan guy from Goryeo Daily? Basically blood brothers with Professor Oh.”

It wasn’t unusual for reporters to show up at practical training. But today there were way too many, and now I knew why—Professor Oh again.

Why was he going so far for Aaron?

Sure, if he succeeded in getting Aaron to naturalize, he’d be recognized for it. But still, the way he catered to Aaron’s every whim felt suspicious.

“Aaron’s ridiculous too. Why’s he chasing someone who’s already taken? Like Seunghyuk would bat an eye at that.”

“......”

“Don’t worry. Seunghyuk’s completely into you. That’s why he bought you that treasure. Guys like him are surprisingly loyal, you know. It’s always the mid-tier faces and talents who cheat.”

Jihee noona said terrifying things with the gentlest face.

“...I’m not worried.”

I wasn’t worried about Seunghyuk cheating. The opposite was the problem.

“Exactly. He only looks at you—worrying about that would be dumb.”

Noona, it’s because he only looks at me that I’m worried....

But I couldn’t tell her what I was really thinking, so I changed the subject.

“...By the way, what’s up with this tent today?”

“Right? Weird, huh?”

Guiding was an intimate act. That’s why the guiding tents near gates were usually as enclosed as possible.

A proper guiding tent would have walls on all sides, with a chair in the center and partitions around it—to ensure no one could see what was happening.

But today, there weren’t even partitions. Just a wide-open space with a single chair under a roof. It was ridiculous.

“Assistant, what is this? Are we seriously supposed to do guiding here?”

“This is going too far.”

The senior Guides voiced their complaints, and the assistant rubbed his temples awkwardly.

“It was Professor Oh’s orders... I couldn’t really do anything...”

So this was Oh’s doing too.

If Seunghyuk and Aaron ended up guiding together, he probably planned to show it off to the reporters.

That guy just loves a performance, doesn’t he?

“Yeonsu, what do you want to do? Wanna go rest on the bus until the raid’s over?”

“I want to... but I think I need to stay here.”

It was best for Guides to rest and recharge their mana while the Espers were raiding the gate. Compared to this tent in the blazing sun, the bus was a much better place to relax.

But the reporters were still watching me. They’d stepped outside the tent, but with no walls around us, they could still see everything.

If I left now, I’d probably become their next clickbait.

“Selfish S-rank Guide lounges in the bus while Espers risk their lives”—I could already see the headline.

Whether I liked it or not, I represented the new generation of Guides. If I slipped up, it would reflect on all of us. I had to be extra careful.

“Yeah, who knows what kind of fiction those vultures will write. I’ll stay too.”

Jihee noona sat down in the guiding chair. I took the seat across from her.

“When’s Professor Choi’s seminar ending? He needs to come back fast so we can be done with Oh Seokgwang’s dictatorship.”

I agreed with her a hundred times over.

“Seriously. I miss Professor Choi.”

Please come back soon, Professor Choi. Lately you’ve been annoyingly oblivious—giving me thumbs up and trying to marry me off to Seunghyuk—but you’re still a hundred times better than Oh.

“By the way, about Kim Jun—he’s got talent.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. Good instincts for guiding. And his sync rate is high. Way better than some random C-rank.”

Looks like the main uke buff is working as intended. But then why is the main seme’s sync rate so disastrous...?

“Jun’ll do great.”

I was worried Jihee noona might start asking questions about Seunghyuk. But maybe she noticed I was uncomfortable, because she didn’t push it.

I appreciated that.

“He’s sweet and diligent and all—but he’s a bit clueless.”

“...He is?”

“Yeah. Says weird things sometimes. I don’t think it’s on purpose, though.”

“Ah...”

Even in the original, he acted so clueless you’d wonder if he wanted to get locked up by Seunghyuk.

I thought he was just “dense-only-for-the-main-seme,” but turns out that’s just his base personality.

“Lee Yeonsu.”

I ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ turned my head—Kang Inho had appeared.

“Here.”

He handed me a cold drink. The sun was beating down hard, and we were in full uniform. I had just been thinking I was thirsty.

“Thanks.”

“Here too, Senior Park.”

“You’re giving me one too? Thanks!”

With his usual blank expression, he nodded slightly and began handing out drinks to the other Guides in the tent.

“Kang Inho’s surprisingly thoughtful. I thought he’d be the indifferent type.”

“He takes care of people. He was class president in middle and high school too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He didn’t want to, but everyone kept nominating him...”

“Ah, I get it. He has that ‘on top of things’ vibe. Must’ve been popular too?”

“Yep. Especially with the girls.”

“Of course. Guys with glasses are always in demand. You don’t see that type often—unlike guys like you or Seunghyuk who are totally out of reach, he feels almost attainable. That makes him more frustrating, you know? You get it?”

Jihee noona launched into a passionate speech. I wanted to agree, but her description was so vague I could only tilt my head in confusion.

We chatted while sipping our drinks—until the voices of reporters reached us.

“He’s coming out!”

“Here he comes!”

“It’s Joo Seunghyuk!”

Joo Seunghyuk stepped out of the gate. Already finished with the raid? It hadn’t even been two hours.

“Hyung.”

He approached me with a radiant smile, looking as fresh as if he’d just gone for a walk in the park.

“You’re back quick.”

“Yeah. I missed you, so I hurried.”

“What about the others?”

“Dunno. They’ll find their way.”

Even that answer was unnecessarily cheerful.

One by one, the other Espers began emerging from the gate. As soon as they stepped out, they shot dirty looks at Seunghyuk.

“Joo Seunghyuk! You were way too fast!”

“Seriously, why’d you do everything yourself?!”

Because his uniform was black, the monster bloodstains weren’t obvious—but if you looked closely, you could see patches of gore.

The other Espers were clean. Aside from a bit of blood on Seonwoo sunbae’s sleeve, they looked exactly the same as when they entered.

Looks like Seunghyuk had cleared the gate by himself. Even if it was just B-rank, solo-clearing it in this short time—very on-brand for the strongest in the original.

“So what?”

“What do you mean ‘so what’?”

“My hyung was waiting for me. What, you expect me to keep him waiting while you idiots drag your feet?”

He responded to their complaints with complete confidence.

...Thank god the reporters had retreated behind the tent. If they’d heard this conversation, I’d have to leave the country.

“Hyung, guide me.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Since he’d cleared the gate solo, he must’ve depleted a lot of mana. As I reached out to guide him—someone stepped in.

“Wait a moment.”

Of course, it was Aaron. After sulking in his car the whole time, he reappeared the moment Seunghyuk came out—dragging reporters along with him.

“I’ll be the one to guide Esper Joo Seunghyuk.”