“Siwoo, hey—welcome.”Hamin was the first to greet him, flashing a bright, unguarded smile.Siwoo gave a faint nod and started walking over.For some reason, the closer he came, the tenser Raon felt.Damn it. What’s wrong with me?His heart was pounding out of rhythm.Maybe because, in his final moments, Siwoo had been the only one who’d tried to save him.He hadn’t cried, but that desperate voice still echoed clearly in Raon’s ears.Scrape—The sound of a chair pulling out made Raon glance up.Siwoo sat down across from him with his usual blank face, eyes deliberately turned away.Come to think of it, their relationship at this point had been the worst.Raon’s relationships were equally bad with everyone, but with Siwoo, there was extra resentment.The guide who should’ve been his partner had instead chased after another esper, half-assing their sessions.If he were Siwoo, he’d probably want to tear that person to pieces, too.Still… he’s a good kid.Maybe he’d just given up, but as far as Raon remembered, Siwoo had always been that way—expressionless, quiet, withdrawn.When he’d joined Alpha-1 two years ago at eighteen, he’d already looked like that.Whether that was just his nature or something else behind it, Raon didn’t know.Either way, even while suffering from chronic guiding deficiency thanks to Raon,Siwoo had never once lashed out.He’d simply ignored him with that irritated detachment he wore now.And in the end, he’d called Raon’s name like he didn’t want him to die.That alone made him far kinder than anyone else who’d despised and rejected him.Raon stared quietly at Siwoo’s profile, at the calm, indifferent line of his face.“Let’s begin the meeting,” Dojin said evenly.What happened around this time again?Raon searched his memory.When he’d first joined Alpha-1, he’d been too overwhelmed by acting as Han Raon and keeping up with the system’s control to remember details.A year passed, then two. Eventually, he’d adapted—humans always did.Right. Around now, those two hadn’t formed a pair yet.Dojin, the main top, and Hamin, the main bottom.Despite their overwhelming match rate of 95%, they still weren’t officially paired.Of course, that was thanks to the villain—Han Raon—interfering.Back then, Hamin hadn’t ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) reawakened yet.He was just a B-rank guide—far too weak to properly guide an S-rank esper.Even so, their match rate was so high that the Association had recommended pairing them.But Raon had stubbornly opposed it, claiming it was unacceptable for a B-rank guide to pair with an S-rank esper.Ironically, the Association had taken his side.Not because Han Raon’s family was influential, but because even they couldn’t quite trust a pairing that extreme.And so, Hamin had joined Alpha-1 as an assistant guide instead—working under Raon’s strict supervision, guiding Dojin while enduring his constant nitpicking and sharp tongue.Thinking about it now… I really owe him an apology.Even if it wasn’t genuine at the time, Raon remembered every cruel word, every petty act toward Hamin.With the system gone, at least for now, he wanted to do better—if only for a little while.“Han Raon, focus.”“Ah.”When he looked up, he found Dojin’s cool, turquoise eyes fixed sharply on him.Caught daydreaming, he bowed his head at once.“Sorry.”“…”Dojin’s stare lingered for a moment—cold enough to sting—then drifted away.He continued the meeting as if nothing had happened.Whew.Raon’s nerves still tingled.It wasn’t just now.Every time he faced an S-rank esper, his skin prickled, his hair stood on end.They were too powerful—too overwhelming, even for him, an S-rank guide.And because they all hated him, they never bothered to rein in their presence around him.The pressure pressed down mercilessly, and Raon exhaled quietly through pale lips.Even without the system, Han Raon was still Han Raon.The reputation he’d built wasn’t going to change overnight.He half-resigned himself to it and waited for the meeting to end.“Alright, that’s all. Dismissed.”“Yes, sir!”At Dojin’s curt command, Taegun shot up from his seat with a loud reply.They called it a meeting, but really, it was just Dojin issuing orders and mission assignments.Raon stood as well.The espers would soon head out on duty.Guides rarely followed to the field unless it was urgent.Raon, too, usually stayed inside the Center—and thankfully, this was one of those times.“Yoon Siwoo!”“…?”Just as Siwoo was leaving with the others, he turned at the sound of his name, puzzled.Raon approached him.“You’re going on assignment now, right? I’ll guide you first.”“…”“There should be an open guiding room—”He tapped his wrist device, scanning for availability.Then a low, hard voice cut him off from above.“What’s your angle?”“…Huh?”Raon looked up to see Siwoo gazing down at him, brow faintly furrowed, expression cold.“Out of nowhere? You’ve never offered first before.”“Ah…”He blinked slowly at the wary tone.Fair enough. After avoiding Siwoo for years, suddenly approaching him must’ve seemed suspicious.He probably thought Raon was trying a new manipulation tactic.Raon shook his head.“No, it’s not like that. I really just wanted to guide you—”“Don’t need it.”“But your numbers are terrible right now—”“…”As Alpha-1’s exclusive guide, Raon could monitor each esper’s condition through his wrist device.Thanks to Hamin’s careful if nervous guiding, Dojin’s levels were always stable.Taegun, being a psychic type, could manage on his own for a while.But Siwoo, a natural-type esper, was at rock bottom—his readings flashing red across the screen.If he went out like that, it could end badly.In his previous life, Raon remembered that Siwoo had never once lost control or gone berserk.He’d probably pushed himself to the limit, relying on medication to suppress his state.But that took a toll on the body.Now that Raon was free from the system’s control, he wanted—at the very least—to set Siwoo right.It felt like the only way to atone.“Fine. Let’s do it.”“O-oh… okay.”The moment Raon mentioned the numbers, Siwoo’s tone shifted, voice sinking into something quiet and steady.He turned and walked off without hesitation. Raon hurried after him.Without even checking the room availability, Siwoo somehow found an empty guiding chamber and pushed the door open.Thud—he shoved Raon inside with more force than usual.“Ah.”Raon let out a faint sound at the roughness of the gesture.Maybe it had just been a while since their last session, but Siwoo seemed unable to suppress his own tension.“Just hold out your hand.”“…Alright.”Siwoo sat down in the guiding chair, turning his body slightly so they wouldn’t face each other.That had been Raon’s rule before—he’d refused to even look at Siwoo during guiding unless it was Dojin.Swallowing a sigh, Raon took the opposite seat and reached out, choosing instead to look directly at him as he grasped his hand.Siwoo’s body flinched, trembling sharply.Raon slowly channeled guiding energy into the contact point.He’s a mess…Siwoo’s hand was cold—cool and damp, like his energy.Inside, his flow was chaotic, tangled, badly damaged from years of neglect.Raon didn’t even know where to begin fixing it.Back when he’d been acting the part of the real Han Raon, his “guiding” had always been perfunctory—never long enough to sense this much.Guilt welled up in his chest; he bit his lip.“Ugh.”As the session deepened, beads of sweat formed on Siwoo’s brow.He was struggling—this was probably the first proper guiding he’d ever received.His grip on Raon’s hand tightened almost painfully.When Raon softened his energy, smoothing the jagged currents as gently as he could,Siwoo suddenly jerked to his feet and tore his hand away.“Stop it!”“Ah…”Black eyes glared down at him, burning with anger and confusion.Face flushed red, breath uneven, Siwoo looked utterly shaken.Raon froze, staring at him, the first time he’d ever seen him lose composure like this.“What are you doing, suddenly acting like this?! Do you think this changes anything—?!”“…”“Do you have any idea how much I—!”His voice cracked, raw with pent-up resentment.The room echoed with it.Raon lowered his gaze, listening in silence.Siwoo’s anger was justified.He had every right to be furious.“I’m sorry.”For the first time, Raon spoke those words to him—and meant them.

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