Chapter 72: The Lunatic Who Got His Official Exclusive Guide

Lee Chae lightly punched Haejin’s shoulder and laughed.

“If you’re sorry, treat me better.”

“Don’t I already?”

“I don’t know. We’ll see from now on.”

Haejin gave him a sleazy look and stared.

“Why’s your face red? What were you thinking?”

You never get tired of that line, do you? Lee Chae had heard it before…

“What do you mean? I was thinking whether you’ll actually keep those grades and evaluation scores. I said I hate hearing my esper get trash-talked.”

Haejin’s arm slid around his waist. The contact stung sweetly; Lee Chae squirmed. Haejin leaned in and whispered against his ear,

“Grades and scores are the only thing I have to maintain? Really?”

He obviously wanted a dirty answer, but no chance. Lee Chae mirrored him, lips brushing Haejin’s ear, blowing softly.

“The most important thing is coming back alive from every fight.”

Haejin’s shoulders flinched.

“You entrusted me with your time—so take proper responsibility.”

Haejin looked touched, swallowed hard. The bobbing throat looked unfairly sexy. Just the tiniest skin contact and Lee Chae’s body reacted again—seriously problematic.

If this kept up, they really would ruin Legion’s reputation like Jin-woo warned. Lee Chae covered Haejin’s mouth.

“Not outside.”

Even with his lips blocked, Haejin somehow cursed—the vibration tickled Lee Chae’s palm. Laughing, Lee Chae pressed harder; Haejin retaliated by yanking him closer by the waist. Then suddenly gasped and locked eyes.

“Wait, honey—now that we’re legally registered, we should fix the way we call each other.”

“Call each other?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Chae tilted his head. Please don’t let it be something weird.

“What do you want me to call you?”

Haejin half-closed his eyes and dragged the word out sleazily.

“Huuusbannnd~♡”

“You’re insane. Goosebumps.”

“Then hubby?”

Lee Chae sighed dramatically.

They walked on, bickering about pet names for over an hour— something Haejin could never do seriously. Still, walking beside him felt comfortable in a way Lee Chae had never known. Even the fact that the guy he once thought was a lunatic now felt cute little by little— that he’d handed over his entire time because he loved being with him this much— that he’d changed his carefully planned future— all of it started with Cha Haejin.

“I love you.”

Instead of answering with words, Lee Chae grabbed Haejin’s cheeks and kissed him lightly. Something inside the churning stomach finally felt full.

One week after official registration.

Lee Chae rubbed his aching wrist and sighed. Only morning classes today, then five straight hours of guiding at the cleanup crew—no break. His wrist was killing him.

Finally a gap—he checked his phone. A mountain of messages from Haejin.

[Honey, should I call your mom? Tell her I’m keeping you tonight for “homework”?]

Lee Chae almost choked. He scrolled frantically.

[No reply]

[You didn’t tell your parents you got a son-in-law, did you?]

[Should I call?]

“Crazy bastard?!”

He sucked in a breath and immediately dialed. Haejin picked up fast.

—Thought I’d die waiting.

“D-did you actually call my house?”

—I was going to, but I waited like a good boy. Reward?

You almost gave my mom a heart attack and you want a reward?

Lee Chae finally exhaled.

“I have to go home tonight. Need to drop off money.”

—family stuff.”

—Then we go together, give it, and come back. Easy.

“No training? No battles?”

—What, disappointed there aren’t any?

“No, that’s not—”

He got the clinginess—early-relationship stuff, wanting to be together 24/7. Lee Chae felt the same.

But Haejin was on another level.

Every day he showed up at the cleanup crew, clocked in together, waited after work, escorted Lee Chae home to deliver money, then brought him back to Legion. It should’ve been annoying, but Haejin never complained once—Lee Chae only felt guilty.

Maybe one night is fine… I gave them a lot yesterday…

While he hesitated, Haejin laughed—soft, enveloping.

—Why so conflicted? I just want to sleep together tonight.

“You seducing me?”

—Yes.

Lee Chae was about to say fine when—

“Guide Jung Lee Chae, got time to spare?”

Lee Kang-wook’s voice. He glanced at the clock—rest time had ended one minute ago. Talking to Haejin made him lose track.

“I’ll call you later.”

He hung up fast, grabbed the pads, and sneaked a look at Kang-wook. Luckily the man was busy elsewhere. Getting on his bad side meant endless hell—Lee Chae had been careful. Today he’d messed up over one minute.

Please don’t mark me… just one minute… I wanna go home already.

His mind was already halfway out the door. He forced focus back to guiding.

Exclusive guides usually only handled their imprinted esper, but Lee Chae couldn’t afford that with family to support. Haejin understood and never told him to quit, but it still weighed on him.

“Lee Chae-ssi, your guiding feels different lately…”

The esper on the bed snapped him out of his thoughts. The graph was stable—nothing wrong. Confused face must’ve shown, because the esper smiled.

“Not bad—better, actually.”

“That’s a relief.”

He placed pads on the wounded area. C-rank, so recovery was slow.

“Seems like everyone’s requesting you these days.”

Come to think of it—work had increased since Yeo-jun disappeared. Monster attacks were more frequent, sure, but something felt off. New low-rank guides had been hired under Kang-wook, so workload should’ve dropped… yet only his kept rising.

“Maybe. Any idea why?”

The esper glanced at another bed and lowered his voice.

“Why do you think? Everyone’s curious about the guide famous Cha Haejin chases.”

Lee Chae’s hand froze mid-motion.

Because of Haejin…?

He didn’t know how to react.

“Why so shocked? Rumors about you have been all over the cleanup crew. Just take it as a compliment.”

“Yeah… turn over please.”

The esper flipped and muttered,

“Well… you’re D-rank, so exclusive is probably impossible, but more work because of Cha Haejin isn’t bad for you, right?”

The fact that the exclusive registration news hadn’t spread yet was oddly relieving. Lee Chae forced a laugh. “Guess so.”

After that, the flood continued. The C-rank was right—tons of espers specifically requested his bed. He should’ve noticed sooner, but he’d been too distracted.

He barely finished guiding through the pain.

Worse than guiding was the closing report. Please let it end fast… I’m exhausted today. He sighed, cleaning pads, when Kang-wook’s voice rang out.

“Everyone gather.”

Cold sweat ran down his temple. He wiped his forehead and lined up at the very back, hands politely clasped. Kept his head down to avoid eye contact. Kang-wook’s footsteps echoed loudly as he passed.

He always got nervous around the man, and getting caught on the phone during break made it worse.

“Today’s work report ends here.”

The full-timer finished.

Finally.

Desperate to go home, Lee Chae shifted weight, watching for dismissal. Normally they’d bow together and leave, but today Kang-wook paced without saying “good work.”

What now?

He stopped right in front of Lee Chae.

“Guide Jung Lee Chae, show me your hands.”

“…Yes?”

“Can’t you hear? Hands. Out.”

Every guide in the room held their breath. Kang-wook’s glare could kill. It reminded Lee Chae of an esper activating their ability—pure intimidation.