# Chapter 28
“I’m Aiden Jung. I’m S-grade and haven’t been manifested for long, so there might be parts I’m still inexperienced with, but I look forward to…”
“Do you want to be a Guide?”
At Nox’s voice, who still wasn’t looking at him, Aiden nodded slightly. Dressed perfectly in black from head to toe today as well, perhaps because he liked the color, his voice seemed black too.
“Why?”
“Because I can help Espers.”
“…Did anyone ask for your help?”
At those words, tossed down like something thrown to the floor, Aiden couldn’t approach any closer. The radiative guiding that he had carefully released, trying not to irritate him, was circling around Nox without being absorbed, as expected.
Aiden couldn’t answer Nox’s question that touched on something he’d never considered before. No Esper had ever asked him for help. But in the mandatory Guide training, they were always taught that Guides should help Espers.
“Personal Guide?”
The moment his eyes met Nox’s, who had been looking elsewhere, Aiden couldn’t move. His mouth went dry, and his heart started beating wildly. In response to the slight raising of his chin, as if asking for an answer, Aiden’s head moved slowly up and down.
Hyukjin watched Aiden’s back as he stood facing Jaehwi while wearing sensors in the testing room. The other Guides who had entered earlier sat in the chairs as instructed, but after putting on the sensors, Aiden immediately approached Jaehwi and tried to get his attention.
[I’ll raise the readings now, so record it properly. It won’t be fun if you delete it like before.]
Hearing Jaehwi’s voice coming from somewhere, Hyukjin quickly turned his gaze to the monitor, where the first thing he noticed was Aiden’s change. He already knew that Aiden was attracted to Nox. But why Nox? Shifting his gaze from the monitor to the testing room, Hyukjin’s eyes met with his.
“The readings…”
The researcher’s words beside him were less concerning than Jaehwi’s gaze directed at him. From the control room, they could clearly see into the testing room, but from the testing room, that wasn’t the case. Only the beautifully arranged garden that helped calm the mind was visible.
Yet Jaehwi had looked precisely into his eyes, and now he was staring intently at someone sitting next to Hyukjin, chewing on their index finger. Moreover, even Raon, whose gaze met Jaehwi’s, wasn’t avoiding his look.
“What about the readings?”
“Besides the stabilization readings, the compatibility is 65 percent.”
“Stabilization?”
“It’s slow, but it’s still increasing.”
“Huh? Increasing? Then… that’s good, right? We found one, right? Who? The Guide who just went in, ah…”
While Raon jumped up and went to the researcher, Hyukjin’s gaze locked with Jaehwi’s again. With one corner of his mouth slightly raised as if he had never been tired or struggling, he unfolded his arms and shrugged, showing his hands.
“Aiden Jung… 20 years old, S-grade.”
“If we’re getting this level with radiative guiding, contact guiding would probably be a perfect match. Is there even any point in testing further?”
Hyukjin put his hand to his forehead as he listened to the excited researchers. He couldn’t read Jaehwi’s mind. A small wrinkle formed between Raon’s eyebrows as he took Aiden’s file that had been in front of Hyukjin.
One minute until test completion? It hadn’t even taken 30 seconds.
“Send this Guide to my office. I need to hear his opinion too.”
Raon, who Hyukjin thought would be happier than anyone, left the control room after saying this in an indifferent voice.
As Hyukjin headed directly to Raon’s office with Jaehwi and Aiden, he glanced at the two following silently behind him. Unlike Aiden, who kept glancing at Jaehwi with slightly flushed cheeks, Jaehwi’s expression remained the same as usual.
Indifference and boredom.
This was always how Jaehwi looked without Raon. Never hurrying, never stepping forward. Everyone was curious about the Nox from the rumors, and when he was in the training room or fitness center, people naturally gathered. Jaehwi always wore a black mask, as if covering his face was a habit.
Only when he was with Raon could his face be fully seen.
There were also people who asked him for photos or autographs. Sometimes someone would cross the line and ask him to take off his mask, but Nox ignored such requests.
That didn’t mean he built walls and stayed alone. If there were teams from Team A to Team B that wanted to train with him, he would readily join them. Whether they pretended to be friendly, were jealous, or tried to test if he really was S-grade, Jaehwi was indifferent to everything.
Without even making a loud noise, he willingly fell into the traps they set. Instead, he thoroughly dismantled them and stepped on them just short of killing them.
Hyukjin couldn’t understand Jaehwi’s intentions—he never asked for a Guide first and only came to him demanding stabilizers when he truly reached his limits. If nothing else, he clearly showed a different reaction only to Raon.
And he didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding that obvious difference. After opposing having a Guide, what changed his mind to readily participate in the test? It was all incomprehensible—the readings that showed no change before were now adjusted according to his will to keep Aiden by his side.
“Where we’re going now is simply called the Management Team, but its official name is the Esper and Guide Management Team, which can be considered the actual center of the MK Center. Please note that even if your grades are similar and compatibility is high, a contract may not be formed without the permission of the Management Team. Before we go in, is there anything you’re curious about?”
Stopping in front of Raon’s office, Hyukjin looked at Aiden, who was trying to reduce his anxiety and nervousness by clasping his hands in front and flicking his thumbs.
“Are you saying that I might not become his exclusive Guide even though I heard the compatibility and stabilization readings were good in the testing room just now?”
Hyukjin confirmed this in response to Aiden’s question, which suggested he hadn’t just followed along without thinking.
“That was radiative guiding, and with contact, the readings could be even higher.”
“We’ll discuss that with the team leader when we go inside. We need your opinion, Aiden, but we also need to hear clearly what Nox thinks about this.”
By the time Hyukjin turned around, Jay, who had been guarding the door, had already opened it, and Jaehwi was already entering the team leader’s office.
“Huh? Hey!”
From the moment of contracting with Jaehwi, they had started searching for a Guide, and a contract for Jaehwi’s Guide had already been prepared for a quick selection, regardless of who it was. Although there could be some adjustments depending on the selected Guide’s situation, Raon’s body staggered as he was getting up from his seat, gathering the file that wouldn’t have many changes.
“……”
Jay had just informed them of their arrival and opened the door, but Raon, somehow already in Jaehwi’s arms, hit his arm that was tightly wrapped around his waist.
No sooner had Raon said, “Come in and sit down,” to Hyukjin and the Guide, than he stroked Jaehwi’s head, which was burying his face in Raon’s neck.
“You too, let go and go sit over there. What are you doing with people around?”
“So it’s okay if there are no people?”
Though his words were muffled and soft since his face was buried in Raon’s shoulder, Raon caught and heard them all, sighing deeply.
“E1101S Min Jaehwi Esper. Let’s separate public and private matters clearly.”
Only after speaking coldly while picking up the file containing the contract did Raon gain his freedom. He slightly adjusted his disheveled clothes and sat across from Aiden and Hyukjin.
“Hello, G0613S Aiden Jung Guide. I’m Kang Raon, Team Leader of the MK Center Management Team.”
As Raon greeted him first, he slightly kicked Jaehwi’s foot as he tried to sit next to him, but as if determined to be thick-skinned, Jaehwi ignored it and sat beside him anyway.
“Hello. I’m Aiden Jung.”
Raon briefly observed the young Guide who bowed his head and upper body simultaneously in greeting, then picked up the coffee cup in front of him.
“You just had some earlier.”
“Huh?”
“Drink something else.”
Before he could even drink the coffee, Raon looked at the large hand that took the coffee cup from him at these words that came suddenly from beside him. Then, as if familiar with the situation, he couldn’t stop Jaehwi from calling Jay, who was on standby, and saying, “Please bring lemon water.”
“You don’t have to form an exclusive relationship or contract based solely on high compatibility readings and guiding efficiency. Above all, since this work involves spending a lot of time together and developing an intimate relationship, the opinions of the Esper and Guide must be given absolute priority, which is the company’s position…”
“Lie.”
Raon stopped speaking at the word that came from Jaehwi’s mouth, who was comfortably leaning back on the sofa, crossing his legs, and just poking Raon’s waist with his fingertips, as if uninterested in the ongoing contract-related conversation. Raon couldn’t understand why he was grumbling now, after readily coming forward and even taking the test.
With a stabilization level exceeding 50% from receiving guiding, Jaehwi should have been in a good mood—there was no reason to be upset—yet he was acting like a child.
