“You can sign here.”“……”The pairing contract with Siwoo proceeded in a stiff, airless silence.Raon skimmed the document lazily, then signed where the staff member pointed. The line of ink was thin and hurried. He glanced down at his own signature, then looked up.“I’ll continue to oversee the other Alpha-1 espers as well, aside from the Team Leader.”“Do that.”Director Jang still eyed him with suspicion, but there was no reason to object. Even after forming a pair with Siwoo, Raon would still manage the other Alpha-1 members on the side.Dojin, with Hamin as his guide, wouldn’t need any attention anyway, and Taegun only required the occasional radiative guiding when his self-hypnosis slipped. Now that Raon was officially paired with Siwoo, the rest didn’t matter much.“What about Siwoo?”Raon glanced at the contract. Siwoo’s name and signature were already written there. Apparently, he’d reviewed and signed before Raon arrived. Unlike Raon’s sharp, slanted handwriting, Siwoo’s rounded signature looked unexpectedly soft—almost cute.Raon nearly smiled at the contrast, but he kept his tone even as he turned to Jang. It was about time the espers began returning from their missions.“He’s probably resting in his quarters.”“Then should I guide him right away?”“...I’ll summon him.”Jang nodded, tapping at his wrist device—then paused.“I may have rushed into the contract, but since you two are now officially paired, how about checking your match rate again?”“Huh? Why?”“The last test you two took was two years ago, wasn’t it? Rare, but there can be changes over time.”“Hmm.”He had a point. Raon had joined Alpha-1 around the same time as Siwoo—two years ago. Their initial match rate had been measured then, and they hadn’t retested since. It wouldn’t hurt to do another scan. Raon nodded agreeably.“All right, sure. Schedule it when you can.”“Good.”It wouldn’t make much difference either way—both were S-rank, and unless something had gone wrong with their powers, the numbers should be similar.Raon left the Director’s Office and headed to the Guiding Room where Siwoo was supposed to meet him. Jang’s summons would have gone through by now, so Siwoo should’ve been on his way.“...What’s taking him so long?”But no matter how long he waited, no one came.Raon paced the empty Guiding Room, frowning.“He couldn’t have missed the summon… no, impossible.”Any esper ranked A or higher was prohibited by martial law from removing their wrist device. Guides had a bit more freedom—they could take it off while sleeping—but espers couldn’t.Which meant Siwoo had definitely received the call. If he hadn’t shown up… the answer was obvious. He’d ignored it.“For fuck’s sake.”Ignoring a guide offer when he was the one who needed it most?Annoyance flared hot in Raon’s chest, but he forced it down.He had avoided Siwoo for years—under the System’s command, pretending to be the villain. It wasn’t like a single pairing contract would erase all that resentment overnight.Raon exhaled heavily and shook his head.“Guess I’ll just have to wait for now…”He muttered, slumping into the guiding chair. His eyes lingered on the empty seat across from him, its silence heavy.Beep. Beep-beep!“...!”The shrill alarm from his wrist device made him jump. It was rare for a Guide’s device—especially one who didn’t enter Gates—to sound like that.“What the—”Raon stared at the display. The screen was flooded with red, and one name glowed across it.[ Yoon Siwoo – Contamination Level: Critical ]The device was programmed to trigger when any managed esper’s contamination dropped below 30%. For S-rank espers, the tolerance was slightly higher, but once it dipped past 15%, they were classified for termination.Raon shot to his feet.“That idiot!”He couldn’t just sit there waiting for Siwoo to walk in. At this level, Siwoo probably couldn’t even move.In the previous timeline, his wrist device had also screamed like this more than once—but the “villainous sub-bottom” Raon hadn’t gone to him. The script didn’t allow it. He’d known Siwoo never went berserk in the novel, so he’d forced himself to stay away, teeth gritted, pretending not to hear.Not this time.Now that the System was silent, he wasn’t going to let Siwoo’s energy collapse.Raon rushed out of the Guiding Room, locating Siwoo’s position through the device. Thankfully, he wasn’t far—his quarters.“Pair Guide for Esper Yoon Siwoo, Han Raon! Emergency situation!”He barked the words to the guards stationed outside and strode past them into the quarters. His gaze swept the wide, bare interior.The place was as bleak as its owner—nothing but the essentials.Raon hurried deeper inside.“Siwoo!”Siwoo lay collapsed in the center of the room. Raon darted to him immediately.“Yoon Siwoo! Wake up!”“……”Sweat poured off him in sheets, soaking his pale face. Raon crouched, alarmed.Scattered across the floor were white pills—dozens of them. Raon recognized them instantly: contamination-suppressant drugs.But S-rank espers were notoriously resistant to medication. To increase the drug’s effectiveness, manufacturers mixed in compounds that temporarily suppressed immune function. In short, poison—lethal to an ordinary human.“Damn it.”So Siwoo had chosen to medicate himself instead of accepting guiding—and passed out because of it.“...Ah…”“Siwoo, hey—can you hear me?”Raon gently took his wrist, channeling a pulse of guiding energy. Siwoo twitched, a faint sound escaping his throat.“Siwoo?”His eyes cracked open, black irises unfocused and glassy. He stared up at Raon blankly.There was no more time to waste. Raon began guiding immediately, letting his energy flow through the contact point.“Ugh—”Even unconscious, Siwoo’s body resisted, strained by the sudden surge. Years without proper guiding had left his channels brittle. It was only natural that the energy felt overwhelming.Worse, the drug had weakened his body at the molecular level—his mind and cells collapsing in sync. Raon watched him tremble violently, heart clenching.“Han… Raon?”“Yeah, Siwoo. It’s me.”“……”Siwoo’s lips moved sluggishly, his tone dazed. Raon kept one eye on his wrist device; the screen’s red hue had begun to fade slightly, but the numbers were still dangerously low. If he stopped now, Siwoo could spiral again instantly.“What… are you doing…”“Your levels are a disaster. I need to keep guiding you—”“Stop.”“……”Siwoo’s brows drew together as {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} he slapped Raon’s hand away. Even weakened by the drugs, his strength as an S-rank esper was enough to break the grip of a mere human.Raon frowned sharply.“Yoon Siwoo, this isn’t the time to be stubborn. You’re—”“I said stop.”“……”Like a child repeating the same phrase, Siwoo shoved him weakly, still refusing help even as his body failed.Something boiled inside Raon—rage, guilt, he couldn’t tell which. Furious at Siwoo’s foolish pride, or disgusted at himself for letting it come to this again.He raised his hand and flicked Siwoo’s forehead with a sharp snap.“Ah—”“Don’t talk back to me.”“Wh—what…”“Stay still.”Raon’s tone hardened as he seized Siwoo’s hand again. It was still ice cold.Beep. Beep-beep.“...Shit.”The contamination level was dropping faster than his guiding could stabilize it. The warning tone blared again, and Raon clenched his jaw.This won’t work at this rate.As he hesitated, his gaze fell on Siwoo’s lips—pale and trembling. His breathing came in shallow gasps; he didn’t even have the strength to push Raon away anymore.If contact guiding wasn’t enough, he had to move to the next stage.Mucosal guiding.Raon looked down at him, voice low.“Siwoo.”“...?”“Trust me, all right?”

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