“Reporter-nim, you must be easy to scam.”

“...What?”

“Esper Joo Seunghyuk has never attacked me. On the contrary—he saved me when I was being attacked by an S-rank monster. Esper Joo Seunghyuk is the man who saved my life.”

At that moment, all eyes turned toward Park Geonwoo. There had never been an official statement, but everyone had assumed it was him who saved me, so their surprise was natural.

Park Geonwoo, too, couldn’t hide his look of shock as he stared at me. I ignored his gaze and continued.

“And I understand that Esper Joo Seunghyuk played a major role in defeating the Horaitron Gate’s boss monster.”

“But at the time, Guide Lee Yeonsu, you were injured, weren’t you? You couldn’t have seen him defeat the boss yourself.”

Another reporter spoke up. He was right—I hadn’t witnessed the scene directly. I’d heard it from someone else. But if I named the Esper who’d told me, it could cause them a huge problem.

Biting my lower lip in hesitation, I suddenly heard a familiar voice from my right.

“I saw it.”

It was Senior Moon Seonwoo.

He gave a small bow to the reporters and introduced himself.

“Hello. My name is Moon Seonwoo. I’m an A-rank Esper at the Ability-User Military Academy and a member of KN Guild.”

The students buzzed. Not because it was Seonwoo speaking up—but because of what he’d just said.

Most of the Academy’s high-ranking ability users might have contracts with guilds, but officially, they were still listed under the Academy.

And here, right in the middle of the Academy, in front of reporters no less, he’d openly declared that he was a corporate Esper.

It wasn’t a serious offense, but it gave the reporters an easy opening to nitpick if they wanted to. It was unlike the usually serious Moon Seonwoo to make such a slip.

“Esper Moon Seonwoo, you’re saying you witnessed the scene yourself?”

Given the circumstances, the reporter didn’t pick at that point and instead followed up with a direct question. Seonwoo nodded.

“Yes. I did. I participated in the Horaitron Gate subjugation two years ago and saw everything through to the boss fight. At the time, every second counted. Without Esper Joo Seunghyuk’s actions, that S-rank Gate would have opened.”

An Esper from KN Guild—Seonghan’s rival—was defending Joo Seunghyuk. That carried far more credibility than me, his lover, saying the same thing.

Seonwoo must have anticipated that. Even knowing the reporters could latch onto it, he’d revealed his KN affiliation just to strengthen the impact.

And with those successive statements, the atmosphere in the hall shifted. The reporters, confronted with testimony that directly contradicted the narrative they’d prepared, fell silent in momentary confusion.

I turned toward them for my closing words.

“Right now, false rumors about Esper Joo Seunghyuk are spreading without restraint. The full truth will be revealed soon. Until then, I earnestly ask the public and the press to wait just a little longer.”

I bent so deeply that my head nearly touched the floor. When I straightened again, a heavy silence had settled.

“The mock battle training will begin shortly. As there are parts that cannot be shown publicly, we ask the reporters to please step outside.”

The staff seized the moment to usher the reporters out. The mock battle was the pride of the Academy, a showcase of Korea’s most advanced technology. While the Academy was cooperative with coverage, that didn’t mean showing everything. The reporters knew that, and though dissatisfied, they left.

Once they were gone and the doors closed, Professors Jeon and Choi stepped down from the platform and spoke in low voices. Staff from the Center, here for the mock battle, also approached, and since the discussion looked to be lengthy, they all went into the waiting room.

They were likely discussing how to proceed with the battle and what coverage to allow, given the sheer number of reporters who’d shown up. If this had been a purely routine press event, they could have just followed the usual manual—but today was different.

Once even the professors left for the waiting room, my tension eased and my shoulders slumped.

“Yeonsu, you okay?”

Kang Inho came over immediately to steady me. Now that I thought about it, he always seemed to be there the moment I needed support.

We weren’t close, and it wasn’t as if he had personal interest in me, so back then I’d just vaguely assumed it was his responsibility as class president. But now, I knew—it had all been under Joo Seunghyuk’s orders.

“Yeonsu, our Yeonsu, you were amazing just now.”

Jihee noona came up, offering praise meant as comfort.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You were just like Joo Seunghyuk.”

“....”

“Why the face?”

I loved Joo Seunghyuk, but looking like him was... a bit of a problem. Especially in a situation like that.

“...Did I really come off that rude?”

“No, I said you were amazing. What do you take your boyfriend for?”

She laughed warmly.

It had to be a genuine compliment... right? Yeah, coming from Jihee noona, it couldn’t have been sarcasm.

Feeling a bit more relaxed, I went over to Moon Seonwoo.

“Senior, thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing. I just told the truth.”

“Even so. It can’t have been easy to step in at a moment like that.”

Even if my words made it into print, it probably wouldn’t change much. More people would likely just be disappointed—saying I was no better than Seunghyuk after all.

Public opinion, already swept up in frenzy, wasn’t going to turn easily. And defending him could even cause trouble for Seonwoo himself.

“You’re my lifesaver, Yeonsu. Saying a few words for the person who saved me—that’s nothing.”

“Still.”

“I told you, it’s fine. And don’t worry about Seunghyuk. The guy’s rough around the edges, but he doesn’t hold grudges. He’s not the type to bother with something like that. He’ll clear his name soon.”

“Thank you.”

To be honest, Seunghyuk hadn’t been the best junior—he’d clashed heavily with the Espers in the first semester. And yet Seonwoo was still speaking up for him.

I was genuinely grateful.

“All right, attention!”

Professor Jeon was back on the platform, microphone in hand.

The students straightened their backs again, and I turned to return to my spot. That was when I caught sight of Park Geonwoo’s stiff expression. He was looking at me, but I passed by without acknowledging him and went back to my place.

“For the second semester, I will now announce the team assignments.”

The atmosphere, still restless from earlier, instantly focused.

Everyone turned their attention to the central screen, hoping to be placed in a good team and, for a moment, forgetting about me and Seunghyuk.

Team 1

S-rank Esper Park Geonwoo

S-rank Esper Joo Seunghyuk

S-rank Guide Lee Yeonsu

The briefly stilled room began to stir again.

“Ah, so much for first place.”

“Seriously. You can’t put three S-ranks in one team. Those two were first place last semester, and now with Geonwoo-sunbae? Totally unfair.”

“Did they do it because of Lee Yeonsu? He used to be Park Geonwoo’s partner, right?”

“Not partner—boyfriend.”

“Wow, guiding your ex and your current boyfriend at the same time? I’d never agree to that.”

“Are you sure you even broke up properly? Sounds like a half-assed reverse shoe situation.”

“Say what you will, but Lee Yeonsu’s something else. He’s a beta, but S-rank dominant alphas keep chasing him.”

“He’s S-rank too, you know.”

“Didn’t he have a thing with David in Aquilus?”

“With Aaron’s brother? How? After that whole mess with Aaron?”

“Exactly. Acts all reserved but totally a trainwreck.”

Baseless chatter flew from all directions. I burned to explain, to deny it—but with so many voices speaking at once, there was no way to refute anything.

Maybe I should have said earlier that I’d never dated Park Geonwoo...

“Shouldn’t they take Joo Seunghyuk out of the team? He’s been arrested.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s been convicted. And Yeonsu says it’s not true.”

“Maybe not the drugs. But didn’t he try to kill {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Geonwoo-sunbae?”

“Nah, I don’t buy that. Why would Seunghyuk bother? He’d just fight him. If it’s only the matching-rate drugs, like Yeonsu said, he’ll be out soon.”

“Even if he gets out, he’ll just go right back in. If he sees Yeonsu guiding his ex in the middle of the mock battle, he’ll kill someone.”

“I’d be pissed too. Yeonsu’s his partner. Who wants to see their own Guide working with another guy? What were the professors thinking putting them together?”

“They said it was temporary, right? Guess his term as partner’s up.”

That was true. I might be in a relationship with Joo Seunghyuk, but that wasn’t a factor in guiding. Even married people often guided others.

Unless you were a dedicated or imprinted Guide, you had to guide other people. And I was only Seunghyuk’s temporary partner.

Now that Park Geonwoo was back, it was natural for me—someone with a high matching rate with him—to be assigned as his Guide. This semester, the Esper Department had made the team assignments.

As an S-rank already slated for the Center, Park Geonwoo was the Academy’s most valued asset. Of course the Esper Department would prioritize building a team around him, just like Professor Choi had assigned based on Guides last semester.

So me being on a team with Park Geonwoo was entirely predictable. Sooner or later, I’d have to guide someone else anyway. And I’d originally wanted to be a free Guide, so it shouldn’t have been a problem.

So why did it feel this way?

Just the thought of guiding someone other than Joo Seunghyuk made it hard to breathe.