PARADOX 11

“I’m not dreaming right now, am I?”

Pyo Myeongho rechecked the test results several times. He even went as far as pinching his own cheek to see if it really wasn’t a dream.

It’s not that his behavior was incomprehensible. Even Hanseo, who had guessed the matching rate would be high, was a bit surprised when he actually saw the numbers with his own eyes.

In a world where even 90% is labeled with grand modifiers like “destiny,” a matching rate nearly reaching 100% was unheard of. He knew it would be high, but frankly, he hadn’t expected it to be this much.

Hanseo glanced sideways at Gu Jeyi. A fine crack had formed on that expressionless face, which always looked as if he were wearing a mask.

‘Is that it? Be a little more surprised.’

As if he had heard Hanseo’s inner thoughts, a fuss immediately broke out.

“Wow, I feel like I’ve seen this kind of thing in a drama!”

It came from Pyo Myeongho.

‘Well, it is like something out of a drama.’

A world-class S-rank Esper who suffered because he had no matching Guide, and then one day, a fated Guide appears before him… Summarized like that, it sounded even more plausible.

In reality, however, it was all part of Hanseo’s plan.

Of course, as is often the case with human affairs, there was one thing that had deviated from the scope of his plan.

‘Because I—I like you, Esper Gu Jeyi!’

Thud!

“Wh-what a surprise! Are you okay?”

“Ah, there was a bug.”

“A bug… why with your forehead?”

Ignoring Pyo Myeongho’s puzzled muttering, Hanseo pulled his forehead away from the wall, but he felt a gaze from above.

He knew it was Gu Jeyi without even looking. Since it would be troublesome if Gu Jeyi thought of him as a strange person, Hanseo made another excuse.

“I did it without thinking because I felt I had to catch it. Hahaha.”

Hanseo laughed as if embarrassed while looking at Gu Jeyi. Gu Jeyi didn’t laugh back; he simply shifted his gaze back to Pyo Myeongho.

His heart grew cold at that reaction.

‘Don’t tell me he already thinks I’m a weirdo?’

Well, he had just blurted out a confession of love… out of nowhere.

But at that moment, it was the only thing he could think of.

‘It’s all because you pressured me, Gu Jeyi!’

When an S-rank Esper releases his aura with the intention of being intimidating, how on earth was he supposed to withstand it?

It was even worse because he had an experience where he almost died at Gu Jeyi’s hands. Although his head knew Gu Jeyi was only threatening him, his body wouldn’t cooperate. Overlapping with the time he almost died from having his stomach pierced, his mind had momentarily gone blank.

By the time he came to his senses, he had already shouted those words.

‘…But for something blurted out, it was a decent excuse.’

This wasn’t self-justification; he meant it. If he had said nothing or made up a different excuse in that situation, it would have been difficult to avoid Gu Jeyi’s suspicion.

‘Then everything in the future would have gotten tangled, Gu Jeyi would have died, and I would have faced a miserable future once again.’

On the other hand, although he blurted it out in a daze, his confession of love… was more effective than any other excuse. In the first place, the reason Gu Jeyi suspected him was because he risked his life to save him, and since he gave “liking him” as the reason, what more could Gu Jeyi dig for?

Even if he didn’t stop suspecting him, it was easy to prove that he did it because he liked him. All he had to do was pretend to be passionately in love with Gu Jeyi…

“…”

“Ahem, Mister Hanseo?”

“Ah, yes.”

Pyo Myeongho cleared his throat, bringing Hanseo’s focus back from his wandering thoughts.

“I’ll ask just a few things. You don’t have a matched Esper yet, right? Since you’re a trainee, you wouldn’t have been officially registered as a Guide at the center either.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You’re 20 years old, and still unmarried.”

“Yes.”

“Good, that’s it then! So, how much do you like Jeyi? Enough to want to marry him?”

“Ye-yes…?”

Isn’t the content of the questions getting a bit strange? When Hanseo instinctively took a step back, Pyo Myeongho stepped forward by that same amount. Only then did Hanseo look at Pyo Myeongho properly.

‘This guy’s eyes are weird!’

He felt like a full-course dinner placed in front of a starving person.

Behind the glasses, eyes shimmering with a strange madness stared intently at Hanseo.

“By any chance, do you have any intention of becoming Jeyi’s exclusive Guide?”

“Director.”

Gu Jeyi intervened, but Pyo Myeongho only looked at Hanseo as if he couldn’t hear him.

“An exclusive Guide…?”

“I’m talking about an exclusive Guide contract where you guide only Jeyi, and no one else.”

Pyo Myeongho began to explain for Hanseo, who seemed to know nothing.

“Usually, Guides belong to the center and provide guiding to several Espers deemed suitable through matching rate tests. To put it simply, it’s a position similar to a team doctor.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But! The problem is the method of guiding. Radiation guiding is one thing, but contact guiding, which has high guiding efficiency, can naturally feel repulsive if done with multiple people.”

“Th-that’s true.”

“So, in the case of Espers who have the means, they tend to sign an exclusive contract with a Guide. It’s comfortable for the Guide, and good for the Esper because they can receive guiding whenever they need it without waiting. Of course, not just anyone can sign an exclusive Guide contract; there are special conditions.”

Pyo Myeongho paused for a moment and then smiled broadly at Hanseo.

“If you agree to become Jeyi’s exclusive Guide, Mister Hanseo, I will provide whatever you want. No, I shouldn’t just say this with words. Wait a moment!”

When Pyo Myeongho, who had disappeared for a moment, returned, he was holding several sheets of paper in his hand. It was a provisional contract he had drafted in an instant.

“These are the things we can provide when Mister Hanseo becomes Jeyi’s exclusive Guide. Take a look and tell me if there’s anything else you need.”

Hanseo stared intently at the contract. There were many words.

“…”

“…”

“Ah, I’ll explain it to you. If you look here…”

When he didn’t move past page one for a long time, Pyo Myeongho seemed to realize something and belatedly began to explain verbally. Hanseo’s earlobes flushed red.

“…And the down payment is set at double the amount a Guide usually receives.”

It was an enormous amount of money, enough to make him forget his embarrassment.

Hanseo was engulfed in agony. It wasn’t a concern about whether or not to sign the exclusive Guide contract. He had created this situation to guide Gu Jeyi from the very beginning. Since an exclusive Guide would be able to stay closer to Gu Jeyi, there was no reason to refuse the offer. Above all, becoming a team Guide was a direction Hanseo didn’t want either.

So, the reason he was agonizing was something else.

‘If I play hard to get once here, the conditions will get even better, right?’

The one in a hurry isn’t me but Gu Jeyi, so even if I set ridiculous conditions, he won’t be able to refuse. In the relationship between a Guide and an Esper, the Guide was always the one in the superior position.

Recalling that fact made him feel a thrill.

‘Gu Jeyi, whom I can handle however I want… the best…’

“No, I won’t do it.”

The contract that was on the table flew into the trash can, crumpled on its own without anyone touching it.

“Jeyi!”

Pyo Myeongho was horrified. Hanseo was also startled and looked at Gu Jeyi.

At first, he thought it was a bluff, but he knew it wasn’t after seeing the look in Gu Jeyi’s eyes.

‘This guy is serious.’

Whether Pyo Myeongho noticed the same thing, he began to make excuses desperately.

“What’s wrong with him? Ah, I see. Jeyi, you’re very tired right now, aren’t you? I’m sorry, Mister Hanseo. He hasn’t slept for a long time, so he’s not in his right mind.”

“My mind is perfectly fine. In fact, it’s in the best state it’s been in the last few years. Director, isn’t it your memory that has worsened because you’ve been cooped up in the lab too much? Seeing as you aren’t explaining what the conditions for becoming an exclusive Guide are.”

“Ah, no, I was just about to explain that.”

Pyo Myeongho smiled awkwardly while glancing at Hanseo.

‘Now that I think about it, Pyo Myeongho also mentioned earlier that there were certain conditions for an exclusive Guide contract.’

Whatever it was, it was clear that Pyo Myeongho had intentionally left it out. It would have been better for negotiations to push the gains first and then state the conditions once the person was enticed.

Indeed, if becoming an exclusive Guide were an easy task, most Guides would have chosen it. It’s more comfortable to focus on managing one person than guiding multiple people.

Just what on earth was that condition?

As if he had read Hanseo’s thoughts, Gu Jeyi immediately provided the answer.

“Mister Yeo Hanseo, to become an exclusive Guide, you must be in a marital relationship with the Esper.”

…What?

Hanseo couldn’t be sure if he had understood those words correctly.

Toward Hanseo, who looked confused, Gu Jeyi drove the point home.

“And I have no intention of marrying someone I have no feelings for—especially a man.”