"Ah, fuck. I could really use a cigarette."
Huiyeong sat in silence beside Taeseong on the bench, both staring straight ahead.
His leg bounced restlessly.
Ah... fuck. Did I really have to stick my nose into this? I probably could've just walked away...
Come to think of it, wasn't this whole mess because he'd caught this bastard passionately kissing the teacher?
And now he was saying he liked someone else?
Kids these days, seriously...
What was the point of applying common sense in a world this messed up?
I should've just left...
Huiyeong regretted getting involved.
This was the problem with getting older.
Whenever you saw a young person brooding right in front of you, your mouth started itching to give them a piece of advice.
It had to be hardwired into middle-aged men's DNA.
Guess that's how everyone turns into an old fart.
A nostalgic expression crossed Huiyeong's face.
Even with Huiyeong fidgeting noisily beside him, Taeseong remained utterly dejected.
Sneaking a glance at him, Huiyeong forced a smile.
"Oi... what's your deal? What's your name again? Whatever. Quit looking like someone just died and say something. A handsome guy like you—how the hell is your love life this hopeless?"
"...Ha. My name is Seong Taeseong."
Taeseong answered politely.
Satisfied, Huiyeong nodded.
At least he had better manners than certain little shits who insisted on talking down to adults until the day they died.
"Yeah, good. Seong Taeseong. Talk. What's your mouth for? If you're not gonna say anything, I'm leaving."
Thinking this was his chance, Huiyeong immediately sprang to his feet.
His face had brightened instantly.
Seeing him smiling so cheerfully, Taeseong finally spoke.
"Th-There's... a Guide I want as my partner..."
"Oh? Talking already? Oh... kid, you really don't have much pride, do you?"
Looking utterly miserable, Huiyeong plopped back down onto the bench.
Wait... weren't you partnered with the teacher?
Ah... so you're paired with the teacher but like someone else more?
Well... the teacher's a man. Maybe he prefers women.
But then why the hell was this bastard kissing him in broad daylight and ending up in a full-blown brawl with me?
Seriously... what the fuck is wrong with this guy?
Are all Espers actually insane?
Huiyeong narrowed his eyes and stared at Taeseong with complete disbelief.
"That person..."
"They rejected you?"
"No!"
Taeseong shot to his feet and shouted.
His face had gone bright red from how worked up Huiyeong's assumption made him.
"Hey, if they didn't, then they didn't. Why're you yelling...? Fine, fine. Then what's the problem?"
"They don't dislike me. It's just... their beliefs...!"
"Their beliefs? They don't date because of their beliefs? Sounds like an excuse."
"No!"
Taeseong shouted even louder.
Seeing his furious expression, Huiyeong answered lazily.
"Yeah, yeah. Got it. My ears are gonna fall off. Sit down."
Taeseong trembled with humiliation under Huiyeong's dead-fish stare.
Still...
Someone he could honestly confide in simply didn't exist.
He didn't want to let this precious opportunity slip away.
Even if...
...the only thing this guy seemed genuinely talented at was calling him "old man" and pissing people off.
Taeseong was desperate.
Haram had been rejecting him for over four years now.
His unrequited love had gone on so long he felt like he was dying of thirst.
Even if the rope hanging before him looked rotten, he had no choice but to grab it.
The other person was a Guide.
Worse, he was the matched Guide of that lunatic Han Shinyul.
But Taeseong couldn't help himself.
Even if Huiyeong wasn't his type, someone with that face claiming he'd dated a lot sounded believable enough.
And the perspective of a Guide who had already formed a pair bond with an S-rank Esper was extraordinarily rare.
Looking uneasy, Taeseong continued.
"They hate the idea of having a partner, not me. Their Guiding wavelength has exceptional compatibility, so they're compatible with most Espers. That's why they want to remain a Center Guide. Even though the gap has narrowed, Guides are still rarer than Espers, and not every Esper has a partner. Please don't slander their kindness."
"Oh... really? That's admirable. Then respect their wishes."
"I... I'd like to. But as you know... an Esper's possessiveness isn't something that always obeys reason..."
Embarrassed by his own inability to respect Haram's wishes, Taeseong rambled on.
If they became partners, he could treat Haram even better.
The workload would become lighter.
Generally, if compatibility was high enough, becoming an Esper's partner instead of remaining a Center Guide was the normal path.
No matter how he explained it, though...
...it all sounded like excuses for his own selfish desires.
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Huiyeong answered with obvious exhaustion.
Only then did Taeseong finally stop talking.
Apparently ashamed of himself as well, his face turned bright red.
Huiyeong sighed.
"Oi. You don't have to act so pathetic. What's love, huh? It's nothing but a giant pile of pathetic, selfish feelings. Right? Lift your damn shoulders, kid! You thought love was something pure and beautiful? Young people always have those kinds of fantasies. Nothing's filthier or uglier than love."
Like every middle-aged man before him, Huiyeong's voice rose and fell melodically, almost like he was singing a trot song.
Those casual, offhand words somehow comforted Taeseong.
Which, strangely enough, bruised his pride even more.
"Then don't become partners. Just date."
"...What?"
What kind of bizarre suggestion was that?
A pair bond was a form of relationship.
Ever since the government legally recognized Esper-Guide partners as legal guardians of one another, society had endlessly debated whether pair bonds should be considered a form of marriage.
Some praised them as love destined by fate.
Others criticized them as nothing more than an animal mating system.
The arguments never stopped.
Eventually, the government reached the utterly lazy and irresponsible conclusion that a pair bond should simply be accepted as... a pair bond.
After that, "pair" became recognized as just another type of relationship.
Completely unaware of any of this, Huiyeong only looked confused.
Taeseong stared at him in utter shock.
"Ah, fuck's sake. What's wrong now? What's this world's problem?"
Frowning irritably, Huiyeong suddenly stood up.
Then he shouted at Taeseong.
"Oi! Oi! Just tell 'em that's how it is!"
Taeseong looked back and forth between Huiyeong...
...and someone behind him.
His face suddenly turned pale.
"Th-There..."
"And you've already got a partner anyway. Last time, what was it... you were kissing Teacher Haram. Aren't you two partners? This whole fucking mess happened because of that. You don't need that woman to Guide you and nobody else can, right? Then why keep clinging to someone who already said no?"
As Huiyeong barked at him, Taeseong's anxious expression instantly turned blank.
"...Huh? The person I'm in love with is Haram."
"What?"
"...Huh?"
"What do you mean, 'huh'? Oi? What'd you just say?"
"I know, right? What the hell?"
"AAAH!"
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Startled out of his skin, Huiyeong jumped straight into the air.
Shinyul effortlessly caught him mid-jump and wrapped him in his arms.
The moment he recognized the familiar embrace, Huiyeong unconsciously relaxed against him.
Fuck... scared the shit out of me...
Thought my heart was gonna stop...
As Huiyeong pressed both hands against his pounding chest, Shinyul looked at him with concern before gently bumping his forehead against Huiyeong's.
"Aww... Did I scare you?"
"Of course you did! Damn it... just show up like a normal person for once! Just once!"
"My princess is the one who's wrong... What're you two doing? I don't accept Esper friends or Guide friends."
The warm smile Shinyul had been wearing for Huiyeong disappeared instantly.
He looked at Taeseong with icy eyes.
Taeseong's face had gone ghostly white.
Sweat poured down his forehead.
In truth, he'd spotted Shinyul approaching from a long distance away.
From that very moment he'd become increasingly restless.
The instant their eyes met and he saw that chilling gaze, Taeseong had wanted nothing more than to stand up and flee.
But leaving now would only make things look even more suspicious.
He'd been trying to calmly explain the situation...
...when Huiyeong started saying something completely insane.
"Es... what's that supposed to mean? Hey, wait, put me down first. Who'd you say he likes?"
"Hm?"
"You said he likes the teacher? Then what the hell was that counseling session just now? Weren't they kissing?"
"What the hell is the problem then?!"
Huiyeong shouted.
Apparently unhappy that Huiyeong continued focusing entirely on Taeseong even after he'd arrived, Shinyul hugged him even tighter, rubbing his cheek against Huiyeong's neck as he whined.
"Princess... I came all this way, and you're still talking about him?"
"You have any idea?! I practically wasted my whole damn afternoon because of this!"
As Huiyeong cried out in injustice, Shinyul clicked his tongue.
Judging by Huiyeong's expression, there was no way he was letting this go.
Readjusting Huiyeong comfortably in his arms, Shinyul answered.
"Mhm. The person that piece of trash likes is your teacher."
"Piece of trash?!"
"If you're secretly meeting another Guide behind your partner Esper's back, you're trash."
Hearing Shinyul's icy words, Taeseong quietly closed his mouth.
He'd prepared himself for this from the very beginning.
Still...
Compared to everything he'd endured...
He'd gained almost nothing.
It was enough to make him feel wronged too.
"Hey, wait a second... They were kissing. Weren't they just Guiding?"
"...Yes. We were Guiding."
"But you're not partners?"
"Ah..."
Only then did Taeseong realize what he'd completely overlooked.
He hadn't known that this Guide's mental condition involved lacking even basic social knowledge.
He let out a long sigh.
Watching Huiyeong stare with wide eyes as though none of this made any sense was so adorable that Shinyul couldn't help smiling.
"No. Guides without partners are called Center Guides. They mainly provide Guiding to Espers who don't have partners."
"I thought if compatibility was high enough, they became partner Guides."
"They usually do."
"Then if the compatibility's high, why's the teacher still a Center Guide instead of becoming someone's partner?"
Just how the hell did this Center even function?
Huiyeong genuinely couldn't understand it.
This time, Taeseong answered first.
"The Center prioritizes the Guide's wishes. If a Guide doesn't want to form a pair bond, or wants to become the partner Guide of someone other than the Esper with whom they have the highest compatibility, the Center respects that decision. So even if compatibility is high, they don't necessarily become partners."
"...Then what the fuck about me?"
Why the hell didn't I get any choice before being mortgaged to that lunatic?