Chapter 14: Jealousy and Defense

Haejin’s eyes sparkled with pure joy at Lee Chae’s bluff.

“Krrrr… As expected from my guide. That’s the level I need to make chasing worthwhile.”

“Do your worst.”

“Alright, you gave permission—so from now on I’ll work even harder. Everything until now was just the trailer.”

Lee Chae turned coldly and headed home.

Haejin followed like a loyal dog, but—for once—he kept his distance.

No more ear-bleeding nonsense, no random touching.

If he had tried, Lee Chae really wouldn’t have stayed quiet.

But only footsteps echoed behind him.

It felt… weird.

Back at Legion, and now again—Haejin always scratched nerves to the very edge of explosion, then stopped right before the breaking point.

Most espers were slaves to instinct and zero self-control.

This was different.

S-class really is different… wait, what the hell am I thinking again?

Must be because today was exhausting.

The next day, Haejin proved he could get even more perverted.

In the middle of campus he shouted:

“My exclusive guide Jung Lee Chae! You touched my body—you have to take responsibility! Why are you walking away alone?!”

If he yelled like that, Lee Chae wouldn’t be able to ignore the stares.

He’d come back blushing, cover Haejin’s mouth, just like he wanted.

Haejin stood there, heart racing, waiting.

And waiting.

Lee Chae never even glanced back.

Something was wrong.

Haejin sprinted, grabbed Lee Chae’s shoulder.

Finally eye contact—but the eyes were empty.

Like looking at a total stranger.

So this is what he meant by “do your worst”?

He’d taken a solid hit, yet all Haejin could focus on was how eerily fascinating that blank expression was.

People can ignore each other sometimes.

Getting mad over that meant you didn’t deserve to love.

If Lee Chae wanted to ignore, Haejin would just wait until he reacted again.

Lee Chae shook the hand off and walked away—not toward a lecture hall.

He stopped somewhere else.

And started whispering sweetly with some guy in uniform, fresh from training.

He won’t even look at me, but he’s chatting with another esper?

The guy who crashed into his life at the worst moment, gave him the most intense first contact ever, said he couldn’t date because life was too hard—then turned around and got all cozy with someone else?

Haejin’s mouth went dry with rage.

He’d chased too aggressively because of new feelings, sure.

But this punishment was too cruel.

He suppressed his aura completely and crept close enough to hear.

“Hyung, thank you so much. I’ll never forget this favor.”

Hyung? Favor? What the hell did that bastard do for him?

“Tomorrow at 10 a.m., right? Don’t worry, I’ll be at the practice building on time.”

The practice building—where guiding students brought espers for lab classes.

He’s doing the practical with someone else, not me?

They stood face-to-face across a desk.

The esper’s expression was anything but innocent.

Panic twisted Haejin’s gut—he felt like Lee Chae was being stolen right in front of him.

The esper was clearly trying to seduce him: Have you eaten? Need anything? Just say the word, I’ll help.

Thankfully Lee Chae only repeated that tomorrow’s experiment was enough, then turned to leave.

Haejin watched him head to class, then sprang into action.

Time was tight.

First, dig up info on the esper.

Then “accidentally” run into him.

Then—politely, desperately:

“If you come within one meter of my exclusive guide from now on, you’re dead.”

“Huh? Esper Cha Haejin-nim has an exclusive guide?”

He wanted to beat the guy senseless, but Lee Chae might find out later.

So he smiled.

“You stared at him for seven whole minutes drooling earlier, remember? You ruined my mood, so you should at least remember your crime.”

No punching, no cursing—just a smile.

Yet the guy trembled, speechless.

Probably moved by Haejin’s deep consideration.

Even if Lee Chae heard about it later, it would be fine.

Mission one: complete.

Next, contact the guiding lab TA, then visit the professor in person to get his name on the list.

He blew off the rest of his classes, went back to Legion, did two hours of push-ups, and took a bath three times longer than usual—just in case they told him to strip tomorrow.

Preparations for tomorrow: perfect.

Guiding Practice was one of the classes Lee Chae was most confident in.

He’d done real guiding at the cleanup crew countless times.

As long as he didn’t get nervous, he’d ace it.

The only problem: his esper-phobia.

He needed a volunteer esper, and rumors said D-class practice could strain the body, so finding one was hard.

Then the professor—who’d always liked Lee Chae’s diligence—introduced B-class esper Park Yoochan.

An esper, professor-recommended, and B-class?

Everything was falling into place.

Lee Chae arrived thirty minutes early, wiped the pads spotless, closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and steadied his breathing to be as helpful as possible to the kind esper.

Students started trickling in; the room grew noisy.

He kept his focus, ignoring it.

Tiny worry: what if Park Yoochan stood him up?

But the professor recommended him—no way.

“Look, these days someone actually lets a D-class touch them?”

“Where? …Oh, no one’s here. Probably just pretending.”

Open mockery.

Lee Chae blocked his ears.

He was used to it.

But the next words he couldn’t ignore.

“Be careful—he’s the one rumored to be Cha Haejin’s exclusive guide. That’s why he can do practice. Maybe Cha Haejin himself is showing up today?”

Cha Haejin—again?

Come to think of it, the stalker who’d followed him everywhere had vanished since yesterday afternoon.

Had acting like a total stranger actually worked?

“No way. Has Cha Haejin lost his mind? He turns down S-class guides—why would he take an exclusive? He probably started the rumor himself.”

“Look at that face, though. Better than most S-classes. Cha Haejin’s still an esper—he probably just wants to play a few times and—”

Lee Chae slammed the desk and stood.

Cha Haejin was a crazy bastard who only did insane things, yes.

But he was also the only esper who had ever turned down Lee Chae’s “let’s sleep together once” offer.

He couldn’t let trash talk him like that.

“F*ck, I can’t listen to this filth anymore.”

“What? This b*tch wants to die?”

Lee Chae turned toward the voice.

A guide’s face was red—pissed at being cursed by a junior.

Beside her, her esper glared, face twisted.

High-rank guide or not—physically, Lee Chae could take her.

And espers knew attacking a guide meant headquarters.

He wasn’t scared at all.

He continued, calm and cutting.

“What? Guilty conscience? I never said it was you, sunbae-nim. Looks like you’re the one with the dirty mouth.”

“Hey, what year are you? A D-class should be grateful to even breathe the same air as me—where do you get off glaring and cursing?”

Lee Chae smirked, deliberately slouching, looking down.

The guide’s lips trembled.

Pathetic—couldn’t control even a tiny slight, yet acted superior because of rank.

“Speak properly. If you failed and had to retake the class, you should sit quietly so you don’t disturb your original year. Making a scene like this—really?”

Soft voice, polite words—but dripping with mockery.

The guide looked ready to explode.

Her esper started moving.

Fine. Hit me. Worst case, I die.

Lee Chae braced himself.

The esper got closer.

His eyes shut tight on instinct.