Chapter 6: Classroom Encounter

Energy had definitely flowed between them, and even though it was slow, the scratches on his skin had healed cleanly.

So yes, Jung Lee Chae was a guide.

But he wasn’t like any guide Haejin had ever met.

He didn’t shrink because he was low-rank.

He talked about his poverty like it was nothing.

He didn’t use his guiding ability as a weapon against espers, nor did he kiss S-class ass to climb the ladder.

He was… normal.

Just a regular guy.

That was Haejin’s honest impression, and it felt brand new.

Haejin closed his eyes.

Even though he’d just come back from a fight, his body felt refreshed, as if he’d slept twelve hours straight.

Light, like he was melting into the air.

That was the afterglow of his first real contact guiding.

Haejin was in the Legion private building, the only official student organization at Awakened Management University.

Technically on campus, but the facility was better than most luxury hotels.

Everything paid for with money Haejin earned running gates because he wanted nothing to do with his family’s wealth.

He basically lived here.

He woke up and stared at his own body in disbelief.

Even a D-class guiding is still guiding, huh?

The scrapes from yesterday’s explosion were gone without a trace.

Fine, that part made sense.

But why the hell did he feel like a horny teenager again?

Haejin laughed at the absurdity and dumped ice-cold water over himself.

It didn’t help. The heat stayed.

Maybe he wasn’t fully awake.

Maybe it was that Jung Lee Chae guy messing with his head.

He was brewing coffee when the door slammed open.

“Cha Haejin, you still alive?”

Haejin didn’t even turn around.

“I could already tell who it was.

“You could hold a funeral for me and I still wouldn’t die.”

“Look at this mouth.”

Jinwoo strolled in and stole the coffee Haejin had just made.

“I thought a cyclops ate you. You vanished right after the fight.”

Haejin sighed and started a new cup.

Jinwoo’s eyes raked over him, full of suspicion.

“What the hell?”

“What?”

“You’re weird. You barely got guided, yet you look brand-new.”

“If I got hurt fighting those shadows, I wouldn’t deserve to be called an esper.”

“Stop bullsh*tting me.”

Jinwoo looked ready to explode.

He was annoying, but at least he was honest and didn’t hide his feelings; one of the few friends Haejin actually enjoyed teasing.

“You should’ve seen the scout kid’s face yesterday. Looked like he saw a hundred cyclopes. Kept crying ‘What do we do about Haejin-hyung is dying~’ But here you are, glowing. You didn’t just ditch the cleanup, right?”

Haejin clicked his tongue, giving Jinwoo a pitying look.

“Would I run?”

“No way. The campus would be in chaos if you did… Wait.”

Jinwoo blinked, eyes wide, shook his head.

“No f*cking way.”

Then he stared at Haejin’s body again and gasped.

“You got guided? How hurt were you that Cha Haejin actually accepted guiding?”

“Maybe I held out so long heaven took pity and evolved me into a no-guide-needed esper. Monsters aren’t the only ones who get to evolve.”

“Yeah, that could— Wait, evolve? You piece of—”

Jinwoo, grinding his teeth, threatened to rip Haejin’s head off and display it in the middle of the lecture hall.

That’s when a voice came from the open door.

“God, why do you keep walking into punches? I really don’t get you, Jinwoo-hyung.”

Jaehyung, the scout, strolled in giggling.

Normally Jinwoo would’ve smacked him, but not today.

“Perfect timing. You saw it, right? You were monitoring the whole time.”

Jaehyung grinned meaningfully.

“Hmm, did I? Did I not?”

“Every last one of you Legion bastards needs manners lessons.”

Haejin sipped his coffee and cut in.

“Who was the one who suggested skipping ethics class again?”

“Ugh, let’s not.”

While Jinwoo clutched his forehead, Jaehyung narrowed his eyes.

“I saw it. Hyung getting guided. Haa… it wasn’t even porn, but damn… it was hot. So all that ‘I hate contact guiding’ stuff was a lie, huh?”

“You little—”

Jinwoo’s eyes lit up like fireworks.

“Wait. Yoon Jaehyung. This guy really doesn’t take contact guiding. He f*cking despises guides. And his matching rate is trash anyway. Hold on… if someone did guide him, they’d have to be S-class, right? But an S-class guide would’ve sensed that mess and never been outside in the first place. Something’s fishy.”

Jaehyung, “Aaaah~” and laughed like he’d just solved a puzzle.

Haejin pressed a finger to his lips; shh.

Jaehyung smiled innocently.

Jinwoo, realizing he was the only one not in on the joke, lost his mind and threatened to kill them both and drag them to hell with him.

Jinwoo, gaped when Haejin actually showed up to class.

He had never once seen Cha Haejin attend this lecture since they became friends.

S-class + filthy rich from gate runs = nobody could force him to come.

Professors practically begged for his post-mission reports.

He came and went as he pleased.

And today’s class? Taught by Kim Jung-mi, S-class guide.

Haejin’s mother.

The woman he hated most in the world.

No reason on earth for him to be here.

Jinwoo, eyes huge:

“I must be dreaming. Cha Haejin in this classroom?”

Haejin ignored him and claimed the very back row.

“Not here for you, so shut it.”

He kept checking his watch and the door with a blank face.

Then the moment a certain someone walked in, his expression softened like spring.

Jung Lee Chae entered slowly.

Neat clothes, aloof face, walking like he was the only person in the room.

And hugging his textbook to his chest like it was sacred scripture.

What a ridiculous guy.

Ridiculous guy took the very front seat.

Haejin immediately moved to the spot with the best view and kept watching.

Lee Chae sat down, tilted his head back, and rubbed his neck tiredly.

The white column of his throat flashed under the collar.

‘…F*ck. Did I hold out too long? I’m getting hard over nothing.’

Even Haejin thought he was pathetic.

The guy wasn’t stripping or spreading his legs; just stretching.

Yet here he was, reacting like a virgin.

Jaehyung’s words echoed in his head.

‘It was so hot…’

So everyone else saw it that way too?

The thought made him feel filthy.

He suddenly wanted to cover that neck so no one else could see it.

He was halfway out of his seat to go over when some sleazy-looking guy sat right next to Lee Chae.

Haejin’s eyes narrowed.

“Jung Lee Chae guide, right?”

The pickup line was so obvious Haejin’s ears nearly bled.

‘Please don’t fall for that garbage…’

Relief hit when Lee Chae didn’t even glance up from his book.

But the guy didn’t give up.

“Hey. You deaf?”

Annoyance crept into his voice; definitely an esper.

Lee Chae finally scowled and answered, clearly fed up.

“Look, I’m not interested in being anyone’s exclusive guide. I can’t even if I wanted to; I’m D-class. And I’m definitely not looking to date. We done?”

The rejection was so smooth it sounded rehearsed.

The guy smiled like a creep, but Lee Chae never looked away from his textbook.

How many espers had hit on him that he had a whole script ready?

Haejin’s mood turned black.

He was about to wedge himself between them when the guy opened his mouth again.