As I brought the petition form from Alpha Team’s office and escorted Yu-geon to the administration office, he followed with an unusual calmness. Unease crept in as I wondered what scheme he might be plotting, and I tightened my grip on his arm. Yu-geon looked down at my hand on his forearm, his gaze unhurried.
“I’m not planning to run, you know.”
“And why should I believe you?”
I’d been caught off guard by him too many times before to underestimate him now. Being an S-Class Esper, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down, even for a second.
“Are you really going to cancel our pairing?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that what you truly want?”
“Yes.”
He looked at my face as we walked. His gaze felt piercing, almost tangible, but I refused to meet his eyes.
The past few days had been consumed with tracking him down, and I’d exhausted myself so much that the reasons behind canceling our pairing didn’t even matter anymore. I just wanted this over with. The frustration and weariness had piled up, and ending this pairing felt like it might finally clear the stifling weight pressing on me. Afterward, I could go back to my calm, normal life.
“I want to ask you something.”
As we waited for the elevator to the administrative office in Building B, he spoke up, breaking the silence that had felt as strained as his lingering glances.
“You once said that you thought this was all due to a high guidance compatibility.”
It took me a moment to understand, and then I remembered what I’d once mentioned, about how his jealousy and suspicion toward other Espers might have stemmed from our pairing.
“So what if nothing changes even after we cancel it? If I keep feeling like this even without guiding?”
“It won’t happen. Don’t say such nonsense.”
The elevator arrived on the ground floor, and as people exited, we were the last to get on. With only the two of us going up, the silence seemed even more pronounced in the confined space.
“Right. Because you know everything so well…”
His tone was oddly resigned. As the elevator doors closed and I pressed the button for the sixteenth floor, only a few seconds remained until I could officially cancel our pairing and be free from him.
But those few seconds dragged, my heart inexplicably uneasy. My eyes traced the floor numbers as they ticked upward, and in my restlessness, I started to pick at my fingertips. Then, out of nowhere, he murmured something I hadn’t expected.
“Lately, whenever I see you, I get nervous.”
I looked at him, my expression hardening at his sudden confession.
“My heart races, and even a touch feels…strange. When you say we’re through, my mind goes completely blank.”
His voice was void of its usual playfulness, filled instead with an unfamiliar confusion.
“When I heard you were fighting again, I came here without thinking. It wasn’t even something I could control.”
He let out a bitter laugh, seemingly amused by his own helplessness, while my own expression grew stiffer.
“And if I don’t stop feeling this way about you, even without the guiding… then…”
The thought trailed off, his words swallowed as if he couldn’t bear to say them aloud, or perhaps, he couldn’t accept what they meant.
For a moment, he fell silent.
“Actually, maybe this is for the best. If we’re no longer paired and I stop receiving guidance, then if I still treat you well, you won’t just chalk it up to the pairing.”
He sounded almost as if he were convincing himself, reiterating what he’d once told me before—that he was kind to me not because of our pairing, but simply because he wanted to.
Yet his words about how he now felt nervous around me, about his heart racing and his inexplicable reactions—those couldn’t be so easily dismissed.
My mind whirled, trying to piece together his intentions. I thought long and hard, trying to parse his meaning.
‘Is he trying to maintain the pairing by any means? Or is he saying that if we stop, he’ll only end up liking me more? Is that what he’s getting at?’
Thinking back to the day I stormed into his room, my anger had clouded my judgment, but over time, I started to realize that his actions toward me likely hadn’t been purely due to guidance.
The intense look in his eyes during our kiss, the way he offered himself to me despite my mistrust, only to refuse guidance—it all suggested something deeper.
Although I still couldn’t fully define what stirred within me when I looked at him, I couldn’t shake the thought that maybe I’d misjudged him back then.
Today, too, Yu-geon hadn’t come to me because of a guidance prompt, but simply because he’d heard I was in trouble.
He’d shown up in a hurry, his hair disheveled, one foot in a slipper and the other barefoot.
His gaze was filled with concern, devoid of any trace of the calm he usually wore, as though it had never occurred to him he might get caught.
His actions piled up over time, each one adding a layer, until the vague outline in the mist began to take shape.
“Hey, don’t fall for me,” I said, slicing through the tension, whether he was joking or being serious.
“I haven’t exactly said I liked you yet.”
“Are you messing with me right now?”
I scowled at his ridiculous wordplay.
“Why? Because I’m Han-gyeol’s brother?”
Yu-geon held my gaze, his transparent eyes fixed on me.
“Why can’t I like you?”
I wasn’t sure if he was being sincere, but I knew exactly why he couldn’t feel that way.
“I’m a Cremon.”
“So?”
The lack of hesitation in his response was like a heavy stone settling in my chest.
“…”
“Your face says it all.”
I lost control of my expression for a second. Embarrassment, despair, confusion, nervousness—a whirlwind of emotions flashed across my face.
Seeing my reaction, he smiled as if amused and looked back at the floor numbers climbing on the panel. A month ago, when things were bad between us, I’d have brushed off this kind of cryptic behavior from him without a second thought.
But maybe I shouldn’t have dismissed it so easily. I should have doubted him, kept my guard up. How had it come to this?
More importantly, why did he even like me? Did he really? After all the fighting and arguments—why would someone like him be interested in someone like me?
While I wrestled with my thoughts, the elevator dinged, arriving at the sixteenth floor. Yu-geon stepped out first, then turned to me as I stood still.
“Aren’t you coming?”
A few steps would take me to the office where I could cancel our pairing.
What would happen if I did? If he genuinely liked me, he’d no longer need guiding or have a pairing with me, but he might push even harder to stay close.
Knowing Yu-geon’s personality, he wouldn’t hold back if he became fully aware of his feelings. If he wanted something, he’d barrel forward without restraint.
Realizing that, I couldn’t bring myself to move. But keeping the pairing wasn’t a simple option, either; that would only increase our chances of colliding.
I felt cornered, trapped by walls on every side. No decision felt right, like there was no path forward.
Seeing me standing frozen, Yu-geon broke the silence.
“Trying to figure out how to get rid of me?”
It was like he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. I figured you’d break down like this.”
“Then why say it? Are you just trying to get on my nerves?”
“Who would be so petty? I don’t like making you feel bad.”
His words stirred something in my chest. The pressure in my heart tightened, and I bit my lip, hoping he didn’t really like me.
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter what you choose.”
With a strange look, he re-entered the elevator. His words—like I didn’t have any real choices—made me frown slightly.
The door began to close behind me, but the elevator suddenly jolted downward. Yu-geon clicked his tongue, letting out a wave of energy, and the elevator shuddered, then halted, swaying slightly. Losing my balance, I stumbled, and Yu-geon caught my arm, his grip strong and steady. Reflexively, I grabbed onto his shoulder with my other hand, as if he were a lifeline.
After the elevator finally stilled, the corner-mounted CCTV sparked and popped, then fell silent. The lights flickered briefly before returning to normal. It was utterly quiet around us.
I could feel the lingering energy in the air—he’d stopped the elevator with telekinesis. Supporting me, he looked down, his gaze serious.
“Pair or no pair, my attitude toward you won’t change.”
What he meant was that even if I ended the pairing, he’d still cling to me and meddle in my life. This was, without a doubt, the worst-case scenario.
“When you’re in trouble, you might find I come in handy. I’m more useful than you think.”
Did he stop the elevator just to show off?
“I don’t need your help—”
“You’re always on edge talking to me outside.”
“…”
I couldn’t argue. Whenever we spoke at the center, I was constantly on edge. Even if he canceled the pairing, he’d said his attitude wouldn’t change—this was something new for him.
Yu-geon had never really cared about my unease before. I’d thought he only cared about his emotions and our guiding compatibility.
“If you don’t need me for anything else, you could always call when you’re ‘hungry.’ I’ll lend a hand if you can’t make it to a meal.”
“Stop saying nonsense…”
“I’m just saying, whatever happens, I’ll be on your side. Know that.”
After his nonchalant teasing, he suddenly looked at me with an intensity that took me by surprise. His gaze held both strength and warmth. Faced with that, I found myself momentarily at a loss for words.
“I just hope knowing that makes you feel a little more at ease. I won’t make things hard for you anymore. I should have done this from the start…”
His expression looked lighter somehow. The idea that he wanted me to feel comfortable around him…
In this absurd situation, I couldn’t seem to tear my gaze away from him. He flashed his usual smile, warm as spring sunlight.
Stunned, I couldn’t react, and he gently pulled away.
“This distance should be good.”
His tone was matter-of-fact, as if he wanted to reassure me, with no hidden motives.
“For both of us.”
Then he pressed the sixteenth-floor button. As the energy dissipated, the elevator resumed its smooth ascent.
From there, we went to the administration office and submitted the form to cancel our pairing. And just like that, the brief partnership between Yu-geon and me came to an end.
When asked if he needed guiding, he declined. He said the brief contact in the elevator had been enough and that he could last a day. Tomorrow, he said, he’d find another guide.
