"What are you doing?"
Finding Rim Young standing suspiciously close to the office window, Wi Hajoon immediately questioned him, his sharp gaze narrowing slightly as he looked him over. Rim Young stiffened on the spot. Before he could even force out an explanation, the situation changed again. Hyeong Ki suddenly walked past Wi Hajoon and casually grabbed Rim Young by the hand, smoothly pulling him away from the window as if rescuing him from the awkward situation.
"I was actually just thinking of bringing you to my office. Since it's your first time officially guiding someone, we shouldn't be using the guiding room anyway."
Hyeong Ki was right. He didn't even particularly want to guide anyone to begin with, much less do anything overly intimate with an Esper. And the guiding rooms...
Just thinking about them made him feel strange.
In a way, they resembled motel rooms more than medical facilities, fully designed and equipped with practically everything people might need once the atmosphere during guiding sessions escalated. Because Espers could become extremely clingy and uninhibited around Guides during proper guiding. Maybe that kind of setting was necessary for the development between the male lead and the main character in the original novel. But Rim Young personally wanted absolutely nothing to do with that kind of environment right now.
"Guiding? What are you talking about?"
Wi Hajoon abruptly cut into the conversation, clearly displeased at being ignored while watching Hyeong Ki cling so closely to Rim Young. His gaze swept over the two of them before settling on Rim Young, noticing almost immediately that he looked slightly uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Rim Young himself felt cornered.
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to reject this without sounding rude or overly dramatic. Technically, Hyeong Ki wasn't saying anything wrong. Since Rim Young wasn't officially paired with any Esper yet, it was normal for him to guide different Espers when necessary. That was simply part of the job. But even knowing that...
His eyes unconsciously drifted toward Wi Hajoon standing only a few steps away from him. And the thought surfaced naturally. He only ever wanted to guide Wi Hajoon.
"If you don't want to use my office, you can choose the place yourself. I'll put it into the records properly even if we don't do it here at the Center."
The moment Wi Hajoon noticed Rim Young looking at him and their eyes met directly, Rim Young immediately glanced away first.
Almost instinctively, he tightened his grip around Hyeong Ki's hand before stepping forward and answering in a hurried voice.
"It's alright. Your office will do, Sunbae."
Just treat it as practice. Let's gain experience and get better first. That way, when Wi Hajoon actually needed a Guide someday, he would at least be capable enough to properly guide him. Repeating that reasoning internally, Rim Young walked past Su Iseul's office door, which had been left partially open. But the moment he saw Hyeong Ki following right behind Rim Young toward the hallway...
"Hey, what about Su Iseul? You're going to do this behind his back?"
Wi Hajoon stepped out of the office as he spoke, his hand firmly gripping Hyeong Ki's arm before he could continue walking any farther. The way he called out "hey" so casually would have sounded rude to anyone else, considering Hyeong Ki was both a year older than him and technically his senior at work, but neither of them seemed particularly surprised by it. Still, the atmosphere immediately became tense enough that Rim Young instinctively grew nervous. Carefully watching the two of them, he couldn't help but worry they might genuinely start arguing.
Even if Wi Hajoon didn't particularly care about him, Rim Young knew very well that Wi Hajoon cared deeply about Su Iseul. And unfortunately, Hyeong Ki happened to be the person Wi Hajoon was most sensitive toward regarding that issue. Strangely enough, in that sense, Wi Hajoon and Rim Young were actually in very similar situations.
"Work is work. What exactly am I doing wrong?"
Hyeong Ki replied calmly without pulling his arm away from Wi Hajoon's grip.
"I know your compatibility rate with Su Iseul is the highest, so I'm not asking you to find another Guide. But I don't think Su Iseul should be taking care of both of us alone. It's hard on him too."
"So you're going to let him guide you from now on?"
Wi Hajoon lifted his thumb and pointed toward Rim Young without even bothering to look at him properly, as if Rim Young was simply a reference in the background of the conversation rather than an actual person standing there. Hyeong Ki responded with a casual shrug, entirely unfazed.
"If it works and we're compatible, then yes. B-Class Guides are fully capable of guiding an S-Class Esper. He guided you before this too, didn't he? And it's hyung, you punk."
Wi Hajoon clicked his tongue immediately.
"Right. Only eight months apart and suddenly you're a fossil. Did you even tell Su Iseul?"
"Mind your own business."
There was a faint irritation in his voice now as he attempted to end it by lightly pushing Wi Hajoon aside and continuing forward, as if that alone would close the topic. The truth, however, was far less simple. Su Iseul didn't even know Hyeong Ki was actively looking for another Guide.
Because Su Iseul himself had been trying to take matters into his own hands, personally moving around, checking compatibility records, and attempting to find suitable Guides not only for others but specifically to manage Wi Hajoon's pairing situation in a way that wouldn't strain anyone involved. And Wi Hajoon knew all of it. That was why his expression darkened slightly as he stepped forward again, his voice becoming deeper.
"Wait for Su Iseul to come back."
Yes, let's wait for him!
Rim Young silently expressed himself. He was nowhere near the kind of protagonist who could smoothly step into the middle of an argument like this and resolve it with a few calm words. In fact, situations like this were exactly the reason they usually never escalated into open conflict whenever Su Iseul was present because somehow, his presence alone kept everything from reaching this point.
But right now, Su Iseul wasn't here.