Chapter 54: The Lunatic Who Was So Exhausted He Could Barely Stood

“Maybe I shouldn’t have demanded that 9+ evaluation score.”

It had been a whole month since the yacht trip, and Lee Chae could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Haejin’s face. The guy who used to stalk him 24/7 suddenly going radio silent should have felt great—but it didn’t. Even though his daily routine was exactly the same, something felt missing. He was restless, unmotivated, and had no appetite.

Is he playing hard to get now?

They’d only kissed once—there was no way Haejin was already bored. Yet he kept using “busy” as an excuse and didn’t show his face. Lee Chae was dying inside.

Of course, Haejin’s interest hadn’t disappeared—he still sent a Legion espers as bodyguards whenever Lee Chae went to the cleanup crew. The problem: it was always the Yong-yong/Jae-hyung couple, which only made Lee Chae miss Haejin more.

Who asked for bodyguards? If he was going to do this, why say all that stuff about “entrusting my time”…

Grumbling, Lee Chae trudged off the bus toward the cleanup crew—and immediately sensed something off. He knew the recent attacks were keeping Haejin busy, but this vibe was different from just “a lot of work.”

Low-rank espers crowded the place as usual, but instead of guiding, the guides were lined up like soldiers. Why a roll call all of a sudden? We always skip this when it’s busy…

He cautiously opened the treatment room door and apologized first.

“Um… s-sorry I’m late.”

Tap, tap. A man in his late twenties approached. The insignia on his uniform screamed A-rank guide.

Why is an A-rank here?

The man circled Lee Chae once and stood in front.

“Guide Jung Lee Chae?”

“Yes.”

“Is this how you usually show up to work? Always late?”

“N-no! I’m part-time, not full—”

The man’s eyes bulged at the excuse.

“Who’s asking because they don’t know you’re part-time? Part-time or not, lives are on the line—how do you justify being late?”

“I’ll correct it!”

He’d stopped by Legion hoping to see Haejin and ended up late—his mistake. Falling for romance and neglecting work was exactly what he’d done. He was 100 % wrong; apologizing was right.

The man nodded once and eye-signaled the end of the line. Lee Chae took his place. The man continued,

“A-rank guide Lee Kang-wook from headquarters. From now on I’m in charge of the cleanup-crew guide team. No matter how you’ve worked until now—get your act together.”

Headquarters suddenly sending an A-rank to a place they never cared about…

Lee Chae couldn’t grasp what was happening. —but a D-rank part-timer couldn’t exactly ask an A-rank from HQ “Why are you here?”

Kang-wook rattled off new rules: no dating among staff, limits on number of pads used, even dress code. The only good news: slight pay raise. (Which obviously meant they’d work them harder.)

“Follow the rules and get back to work.”

The roll call ended in suffocating tension. As soon as Kang-wook left, the guides started whispering—who was he, why was he here? Lee Chae listened for info but got nothing useful.

After that, he guided the endless stream of espers, then checked his phone.

[You super busy lately?]

No reply.

Before the trip, Haejin answered instantly. He’s probably swamped… Lee Chae tried to reassure himself. Grades and evaluation will be out soon—if he wants contact guiding he’ll call me himself.

But the anxious thoughts, once started, wouldn’t stop.

Walking home, irritation finally boiled over. If his fingers weren’t broken, ignoring messages this long was just rude. He’d made such a fuss about carrying a phone, only to ghost him—Lee Chae was furious.

Fuming, he turned into his alley—and there was Haejin leaning against the broken wall under the streetlamp, waving with a huge grin like some playboy.

He hadn’t texted all day, yet acted like nothing was wrong.

Lee Chae couldn’t believe he’d spent the day worrying about this guy. He’d missed him so much when he wasn’t around, but now that he saw him, he just wanted to punch him. He tried to storm past—Haejin grabbed the back of his neck.

“Hey babe, hi! I missed you so much I thought I’d die.”

Drama king. Anyone would think he was the one waiting desperately.

“Should’ve died then.”

“That’s harsh. You sulking because I didn’t text? I came straight here after the fight ended.”

“Then why no “fight’s over” message?”

Haejin sheepishly pulled out his phone. Lee Chae sucked in a breath. Even without looking closely, it was shattered into pieces.

“Right when the fight started, a monster hit it—boom, gone. I’d rather it broke my arm than my phone… ow, why hit me?”

“You think that’s something to say? Be glad it didn’t hurt you instead of the phone!”

Lee Chae felt like an idiot for resenting him all day without knowing the phone was destroyed. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have cursed him so much inside… He felt sorry remembering all the awful things he’d thought while worrying about the sudden increase in attacks.

Haejin’s energy felt different—weaker, like he’d collapse without guiding any second.

He knew Haejin used meds instead of guiding, but skipping even the mandatory post-battle guiding? Shocked, Lee Chae asked,

“You didn’t get post-battle guiding?”

“Duh. Why would I let anyone else guide me when I have my own guide? One kiss from you and I’m healed.”

He’d just pushed him away saying no skinship until scores were out, but seeing Haejin this wrecked without meds or guiding softened his heart.

So Lee Chae slowly stepped closer. Haejin’s usually perfect uniform collar was folded inward. He reached to fix it—Haejin’s lips curved up like it felt good.

Under the streetlight, those lips looked especially red. A sudden curiosity hit him. Was it true that just simple contact changed Haejin’s energy even without proper guiding?

He wanted to test it.

He placed a hand on Haejin’s chest over the shirt. Haejin’s breath caught. One button, two, three… Finally the last one. Haejin lifted his torso to help take the shirt off— Lee Chae pressed his shoulders down.

“Stay lying down.”

“Weren’t you going to take it off?”

“N-no! Just stay like this. I’m kinda in a hurry too?”

“…!”

What is happening right now…

Good deeds really do get rewarded. All those times he held back were paying off. Stroke, stroke… Lee Chae’s hand roamed over his chest, and it finally started feeling real.

“Close your eyes. It’s embarrassing.”

Haejin shut them tight, heart about to explode with anticipation. How intense would this contact guiding be?

A moment later, a warm touch landed on his chest.

“Hnngh…”

It was soft, moist, warm… But weirdly, the electric jolt from earlier was missing. Lee Chae was touching him, yet that was all?

Suspicious, Haejin snapped his eyes open.

“AAAAAHHH!”

He screamed loud enough to bring the whole Legion down. Where Lee Chae should have been sat Jin-woo, grinning like a devil.

“The hell are you?!”

“What do you mean? Substitute guide.”

“Why the f*ck are you substituting? Where’s Lee Chae?!”

He sat up—Lee Chae was outside the door, sticking his tongue out and laughing. Jin-woo immediately scolded,

“Idiot. If you’re going to scheme, do it in moderation. You think Lee Chae wouldn’t notice? The second he walked in here he teamed up with me.”

“And you just went along with it? Traitor.”

“I’m saying this as your friend: with that brain you’ll never get anywhere with Japchae, so give up. I’m pretty sure he has zero intention of doing that stuff with you.”

The bastard poked exactly where it hurt and laughed. No wonder his love life was a mess with a friend like this.

“Says the guy who’s gonna end up in a dress at Quickel’s wedding.”

Haejin hurled the worst insult he could think of and stormed out. No reason to stay in a room without Lee Chae.

Desperate for a cigarette, he stepped onto the balcony— Lee Chae was leaning on the railing, staring at the sky.

Haejin opened his mouth to say, No matter how much I love you, letting Jin-woo touch my chest is unforgivable— But the moment he saw Lee Chae looking like a painting, the words vanished.

Lee Chae suddenly whipped his head around.

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“Do you want contact guiding that badly?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know? You’re not just teasing me?”

Haejin sighed deeply. He wasn’t even asking for imprinting—just one more contact guiding like before. Was that really so hateful?

Lee Chae’s lips glistened under the streetlight.

So annoyingly pretty. If he were even a little less beautiful… I could’ve played hard-to-get at least a hundred times…

He shook his head. No—a hundred rejections would be too much. And anyway, Jung Lee Chae being less pretty was impossible.

“You don’t get it—I’m only treated like trash by you. If it were anyone else, I would never have tolerated today.”

Lee Chae turned only his head, then finally spoke.

“I’m not treating you like trash. I wish I could.”

Silence fell. They gazed at the night sky together. The earth could crumble, but the sky stayed black, and the stars sparkled beautifully. Look at Lee Chae, look at the stars—repeat until his neck stiffened.

“Hyung.”

“I’m right next to you—why do you keep calling me?”

Lee Chae sighed with a complicated expression, like he had something hard to say.

“I hate when people who don’t know you talk shit about you.”

Suddenly? Haejin narrowed his eyes, wondering what sweet trap this was.

“You take on all the hardest fights alone, you’re kinder to civilians than anyone, yet people call you a spoiled thug—it stresses me out every time I hear it.”

Lee Chae pouted, scrunching his nose—angry yet adorable.

“I don’t care what others think of me, but you’re different. I think I’d care.”

He blinked up at Haejin.

“Look at you right now—understanding people who think differently. You’re more mature than they realize.”

Only for Jung Lee Chae, but he didn’t correct him.

Maybe it was the eye contact, the sweet words, or the night air— Every syllable made Haejin’s heart race.

“So… is there anything you want from me? Because there’s something I want from you.”

“What is it?”

“I asked first, so you go.”

Words flew out before thought.

“Marriage!”

“Not something centuries away—something we can do right now. Opportunities like this don’t come often.”

Holy shit—Jung Lee Chae was asking what he wanted. A miracle he couldn’t have dreamed of weeks ago. Haejin felt this was his once-in-a-lifetime chance and examined his heart.

Should I say imprinting? Too fast. Should I ask him to never leave and just stay in my room?

The more he thought, the more he imagined Lee Chae freaking out and running.

He didn’t want to disappoint the guy who thought he was understanding, yet he couldn’t miss this chance.

He tried his best to sound reasonable.

“I want to raise the level of skinship… with imprinting as the eventual premise.”

Lee Chae’s eyes shot up. Too much? Haejin hurriedly corrected,

“Not saying imprint right now—just… move things forward a bit. You never know what’ll happen, so deeper guiding normally would help in emergencies.”

Even as he spoke, he had no idea if this would work. He was already preparing for disappointment when Lee Chae opened his mouth.

“…Okay.”

“Huh? Okay?”

“If it’s not imprinting right now and just moving forward… I’m okay with that too.”

Haejin blinked several times, unable to believe how easily it came out. He asked three times if he was serious before finally relaxing.

Opportunities must be seized. Pretending to be normal worked, huh?

He updated his mental “Lee Chae” file and immediately fired back.

“Your turn. I’ll do anything—no matter how hard—as long as it’s not breaking up.”

Lee Chae hesitated, cleared his throat a few times. What on earth was he about to say?

Haejin waited patiently.

“4.0 or higher out of 4.5 GPA.”

…Is he insane?

“And at least 9 out of 10 on the headquarters esper evaluation.”

Are those scores humanly possible?

“What the hell does that have to do with anything? There’s a reason you’re saying this.”

“I told you—I hate when people think you’re a personality-broken esper. I’m pissed they call Legion a thug group. You do all the hardest fights—why should you be treated like that?”

Lee Chae’s voice was thick with anger. That fury was insanely sexy; Haejin couldn’t even retort against the impossible demands.

From his expression and words, he could feel it— Just how much Lee Chae liked him and Legion.

Haejin stepped closer, lightly grabbing Lee Chae’s shoulders. Lee Chae’s lips parted as if to speak, then closed, then opened again. Already enchanted, and now the lips too—what was he supposed to do?

Lee Chae leaned against the railing with a sly smile. He was gorgeous just standing still, but striking model poses was scattering Haejin’s brain.

Haejin almost yelled, “I’ll do it!”

Of course, even without skinship or contact guiding, if Jung Lee Chae asked him to act mature and proper, he would.

The problem was those scores were practically impossible.

He stayed silent, thinking— Lee Chae asked again,

“So, will you do it? Or not?”