Guiding the Obsessive Yandere, Childhood Friend, and Nerd — Chapter 6
Is that… Lee Seo-ah?
When Eun-chan arrived at the gate, his eyes narrowed. The moment he spotted Seo-ah loitering at the entrance, not yet aware of his presence, every stray thought that had been crowding his head vanished without a trace.
He'd been thinking about her so much that for a second he doubted his own eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.
When he'd first been told about the guide matching, he'd had no intention of doing any guiding. How was he supposed to have sex he didn't even want? She was just a required element for gate entry, nothing more and nothing less—or so he'd told himself.
But the moment he saw that familiar figure standing before the human gate, his mind changed completely.
"Team Leader. Is that person over there my matched guide?"
"Ah, yes. That's her. The one standing there is your guide, Esper Kang Eun-chan."
At Kim Han's words, Eun-chan curled his lips into a grin and stared down at her.
"Ah, this is going to make headlines."
He muttered it with a look of utter confidence, and Kim Han, standing beside him, tilted his head at the non sequitur.
"Esper Kang Eun-chan?"
Kim Han called out to him as if checking his condition. Despite having heard every explanation back at the office, Eun-chan asked him again anyway.
"Team Leader, you said guiding is absolutely essential for espers, right?"
Now that he knew the guide in question was Lee Seo-ah, guiding was no longer an unnecessary hassle for Eun-chan.
"It is. When you use your power, the wavelengths spike and your core destabilizes. But like I said before, minimal contact should be enough to—"
"But to get a really solid effect, you'd need direct contact, right? Ah, well, nothing to be done about it."
No, wait—weren't you the one refusing to be guided? Or did you not understand a word I said? They said he was mixed-race—maybe he lived abroad longer than I thought? Is his Korean shaky? Right, that must be it. Korean is a subtle language—one syllable off and the meaning changes completely. That has to be why he's having trouble understanding.
Kim Han shook his head and tried again.
"No, minimal contact—"
"There's no other option, so I guess I'll have to do it."
"……"
"Don't worry. I won't forget to do it."
Oh, for god's sake. Espers really are impossible to talk to.
Seo-ah narrowed her eyes at the figure approaching alongside her team leader, and before she knew it, she'd taken a stumbling step back.
"……What the hell?"
No matter how she looked at him, it was Kang Eun-chan.
Why is he here?
So that blond head I glimpsed at the Management Bureau earlier really was him after all.
How did he even get in here? And who's that next to him—another team leader?
None of it made sense.
Even if some emergency had brought him here to see her, no one in their right mind would escort an unawakened civilian all the way to the quarantine zone where the human gate was located.
Then Seo-ah's gaze caught on Eun-chan's neck, glinting in the dim light.
Why is he wearing a staff badge…….
Worse, it had a silver trim.
A silver trim means…… A-class?
It was strange enough that Eun-chan, an unawakened civilian, was here at all, but seeing that silver-trimmed badge around his neck sent her thoughts spiraling.
He awakened? And as A-class? That's impossible.
No way. No. He's probably just here to say hi.
Just that morning, Seo-ah had received orders: a newly awakened high-rank esper had been matched with her, and she was to accompany them through gate entry. She'd accepted with giddy anticipation and come to the human gate to welcome her esper, fully prepared to greet him with her brightest smile.
So why, of all people, was her childhood friend Kang Eun-chan standing next to her team leader?
And besides the two of them, there was no one else.
No way.
No…… nah.
The moment the two of them stopped in front of her, Seo-ah's expectations crumbled to dust.
"Team Leader. This guy isn't my matched esper… right?"
Please, PLEASE say no.
"……"
Seo-ah looked at Kim Han with desperate, pleading eyes. But Kim Han, catching the look, quietly averted his gaze. And instead of him, it was Eun-chan who answered her question.
"Probably."
"How are YOU my partner?!"
This is insane!
How am I supposed to have sex with a friend? The universe is clearly, obviously, personally out to screw me over!
Seo-ah despaired in silence.
"That's how it worked out," Kim Han said.
She took another step back. This scenario had not been in any of her plans.
"I refuse to enter that gate."
Can't do it. How am I supposed to go in there with him?
Seo-ah had fully anticipated that entering a human gate would lead to complications—and complications, naturally, meant guiding was required, and guiding meant the glorious image of outdoor sex (!). That had been the whole picture in her head.
But with Kang Eun-chan as her partner? That changed everything.
Her enthusiasm didn't just flag—it evaporated on the spot.
"You'll be more comfortable with me than with a stranger."
Eun-chan dropped a hand on her shoulder and grinned.
"……You have no idea."
"I know you better than anyone, Lee Seo-ah."
No, you really don't. You have no idea how much I looked forward to this.
You can't even imagine all the filthy, elaborate sex I was planning to have in there!
The guy who used to flinch at the mere suggestion of a massage—there's no way he'd mix bodies with me.
Then again, Seo-ah had never once imagined having sex with Eun-chan either.
She slapped his hand away and heaved a long sigh. Faced with such vehement refusal, Kim Han wore a troubled expression as he spoke up.
"You've both already consented to entry, and the report's been filed. Unless there's an unavoidable emergency, you have to go in. Esper Kang Eun-chan's ability is top-tier among combat types, so nothing dangerous will happen."
Useless bastard. And his ability is top-tier, on top of everything else. Of course it'll all go smoothly without a single hitch.
As it turned out, the scenario she'd painted for herself was never going to happen anyway.
"……Then I'll suppress it as fast as possible and come out."
With sex now sunk without a trace, there was no reason to linger in there anyway.
"But really—is he seriously my partner?"
Praying it had all been a dream, Seo-ah asked one more time. When Kim Han nodded, her head dropped.
It was time to accept it.
That romance and sex alike were both dead to her in this life.
"Let's go. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can clock out."
Seo-ah walked into the gate. Eun-chan followed. Tall and long-legged, he caught up to her side within a few strides.
"Sounds like someone wasn't actually planning to rush in and out."
"When did you even awaken? You never said a word to me."
"Got my rank and ability assessment today. Been awakened less than a week. Was planning to surprise you in person."
"And why, of all possible people, were you matched with me?"
Seo-ah kept her eyes forward as she walked. It was her first time inside a gate, but she wasn't scared at all.
A top-tier combat ability? He'll clear an ungraded gate no problem.
Eun-chan had been an athlete even before awakening. He'd gone through a sports academy and was a promising young boxer, on top of it all.
Great physique, plenty of strength, experienced in close combat—he'd have no trouble putting down whatever monsters were in there.
"Hey, Lee Seo-ah. Hold up. I heard something really interesting after I got here."
Eun-chan suddenly overtook her and leaned his head in close.
"Wh-what the hell? Why are you shoving your face in here?"
"Guess you're not curious what I heard, then."
"Not really."
Whatever it was, his face was absolutely brimming with mischief, so not hearing it seemed like the safer bet.
"I heard about you."
About… me?
Seo-ah's eyes rolled back into her head as she mentally catalogued the assorted rumors about her that she herself knew circulated.
"I heard you reject partners based on dick size, Lee Seo-ah."
Of course Eun-chan heard that one too.
"All kinds of stories float around the center. Tons of them are exaggerated, and plenty more are outright false."
"So? Exactly how big does it have to be?"
"Why the hell would YOU care?"
What a clown.
Seo-ah glared at him through slightly narrowed eyes. He stretched up from his leaning position, holding her gaze, the corner of his mouth tugging upward.
"Why wouldn't I? I'm your partner now. I should know."
"None of your business. Drop it."
"How is it none of my business?"
"Because. Can you have sex with a friend?"
She tossed the question out without thinking. To her, guiding meant sex, period, so it followed naturally.
No answer came back. Only the look he gave her from above deepened, turning heavy and unreadable.
Then Eun-chan spoke, low and quiet.
"Why couldn't I?"
Is he insane? No—this lunatic has finally, actually lost it.
Seo-ah looked at him with open disgust.
"A friend, sure. But I can't do it with a manwhore. Your lower half is filthy."
At her shameless declaration, Eun-chan's expression went from flabbergasted to something else entirely.
"Even if it's big?"
"……I mean, how big could it possibly be."
Doesn't matter. Still a manwhore.
"Even if it's fucking huge?"
"……And exactly how big is 'fucking huge,' supposedly?"
She said it dismissively, but her eyes had already drifted, all on their own, toward his lower half. Catching the glance, the corner of Eun-chan's mouth curved up slowly.
"Ah. So Lee Seo-ah is fine with a manwhore, as long as he's fucking huge."
"Are you even any good?"
Something in her eyes shifted.
"Find out yourself if you're that curious."
At his provocation, Seo-ah fixed her gaze shamelessly, openly, right on his crotch.
Hm. This boy's a right-side packer, I see.
She made zero effort to hide the way her eyes followed the shadowed ridge of his silhouette.
Wait. That's… bigger than I expected.
The outline ran halfway up his thigh inside the fabric.
No…… that's a LOT bigger?
Manwhore, huge, AND good in bed—and we're matched, too. Might be worth trying at least once……
Ordinarily she'd never have entertained the thought, but having resigned herself to a life without the romance or the sex she craved, Seo-ah was in a state of pure, defiant abandon.
"Well then, why not? We have to do the guiding anyway."
He doesn't know yet that high-ranks don't have to do sex guiding, does he? Then maybe I can take advantage of that.
Truth be told, Seo-ah thought of her friend Eun-chan as considerably more of an idiot than he actually was.