“So that’s why you didn’t take the Matching Rate Test?”

In the original novel, even though Joo Seunghyuk was obsessed enough to lock Kim Jun up for the entire vacation, he still tried getting guided by Aaron when he showed up. Out of curiosity about S-rank Guides.

But this time, Seunghyuk rejected Aaron from the very beginning. Maybe it was because he already knew Aaron was addicted to Dust.

Joo Seunghyuk stared at me and pinched my cheek.

“Ah!”

“There you go again, running that wicked little mouth.”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant....”

I tried to sit up and explain myself, but he gently pushed me back down again.

“I didn’t care what that bastard was or wasn’t. I just didn’t take it because he wasn’t Lee Yeonsu. I don’t need anyone who isn’t Lee Yeonsu.”

“...Okay. But how did you know?”

“I brushed past him once a while ago. Just a slight touch of his hand. And without any guiding skill at all, he immediately started pushing out his mana. Disgusting.”

“I see....”

In truth, people who could completely block their mana like me were rare. Most Guides automatically started guiding the moment there was physical contact. That’s why some wore gloves on purpose to avoid it.

But if you learned how to control mana, you could adjust the output.

No matter how untrained or inexperienced Aaron might’ve been, he still came from an S-rank ability user family. He would’ve learned the basics of mana control.

So there’s no way he accidentally pushed out that much mana just from a brush of contact.

Then... did Joo Seunghyuk detect Aaron’s Dust addiction from just a small amount of mana?

Something felt off.

Of course, Seunghyuk was a top-tier Esper, so him sensing the Dust wasn’t that strange in itself.

But then why didn’t he notice it in the original story?

In the novel, Joo Seunghyuk received guiding from Aaron multiple times, but he never realized Aaron was using Dust. In fact, he said Aaron’s mana was more useful than Yeonsu’s and seemed rather satisfied.

So why didn’t he sense it back then?

Granted, a lot of things are different now from the original plot. Maybe the Aaron who appeared in Guide’s Swamp wasn’t using Dust yet. Still... something didn’t sit right.

“Forget that bastard. You’ll never have to deal with him again.”

“Yeah.”

His long fingers slid into my hair. He gently tousled it and then slowly combed it back down.

The warm sunlight of May, the soft breeze, the scent of grass, the soothing way he was playing with my hair...

With the embarrassment and the sudden questions drifting away, I quietly closed my eyes.

***

The flood of articles about Aaron and Professor Oh, which had been coming out in fierce competition, started to slow down.

There weren’t any more major developments, and even the furious public seemed to be getting bored—they wanted something new.

And the “new” story they latched onto was... the marriage rumors between me and Joo Seunghyuk.

When I checked the news on the portal site, it was plastered with headlines about me and Seunghyuk getting married—again.

Out of nowhere, the ring Seunghyuk gave me was suddenly the center of attention.

A few days ago, a famous YouTuber who specialized in Ability User gossip uploaded a video about my ring.

They claimed, “Lee Yeonsu, who never wears accessories, is suddenly wearing a ring. It must be Joo Seunghyuk’s proposal ring.”

The video spread rapidly through social media, and journalists jumped on it.

And then specific testimonies started coming out.

That Joo Seunghyuk had commissioned a world-famous Swiss jewelry designer for a proposal ring, and that the ring—set with a transparent mana crystal—was worth over 2 billion won.

[Joo Seunghyuk ♥ Lee Yeonsu, 2 Billion Won Proposal Ring!]

[Wedding Imminent for Joo Seunghyuk ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) and Lee Yeonsu!]

[Which Swiss Designer Did Joo Seunghyuk Choose?]

I sighed as I looked at the top-ranking articles.

That ring wasn’t made by some Swiss designer. And it’s not just 2 billion—it’s way more expensive.

But I couldn’t correct them. That ring was the first treasure Seunghyuk ever obtained, and he’d kept it hidden without even reporting it to the country—just so he could give it to me.

I’d been afraid the truth about the ring might be discovered, so in a way, it was a relief that people thought it was some foreign designer’s work.

The only issue... was the whole “proposal ring” rumor.

Should I ask Seunghyuk to sue the journalists for spreading false rumors?

Seunghyuk had already sued a huge number of people who left hate comments about me. The numbers were massive, and now apology letters were popping up across every forum.

Not just for this incident—he sued people for the nasty comments they made in the past, too.

But he probably wouldn’t sue over this. The moment I even brought it up, I’d probably be entering Phase 2 of confinement.

And actually... it was starting to feel like he might be the one who leaked this story.

Spreading marriage rumors naturally, while keeping the ring’s true identity under wraps.

I clicked on the article ranked #1.

Proposal ring, Swiss designer, 2 billion won... It was all the same as the others. But I hadn’t come here for the article itself anyway.

I took a deep breath and opened the comment section.

I usually avoided reading comments for my own mental health, but this time was different—my entire life might be at stake, so I had no choice.

If there was a strong enough public opinion against it, I might be able to use it as an excuse to talk to Seunghyuk.

yeonsuwalkonlyflowerpath:

If it’s Esper Joo Seunghyuk, I’d trust him with Yeonsu! Congrats on the wedding! May you be together forever!

‘yeonsuwalkonlyflowerpath’... you say flower path, but this is a damn curse!

ssuedropoflove:

Congrats, Yeonsu. And Esper Joo Seunghyuk, I was really touched by how you stayed by Yeonsu’s side through everything. Please continue to protect him.

He didn’t protect me—he imprisoned me.

codkcodk3:

If it’s 2 billion won, I approve lol

It’s way more expensive than that....

steadfastGeonwoo:

I’m a Park Geonwoo fan, but I support you. All the Geonwoo fans are sending their blessings, too.

Even Geonwoo-hyung’s fans are supporting this now?

JustAPasserby:

Is this place a hate-comment-free zone or what?

Thanks to Seunghyuk’s mass lawsuits, there weren’t any hate comments. But even though everyone was cheering and saying nice things... I felt like I was suffocating.

More and more people were supporting this so-called marriage between me and Joo Seunghyuk.

I let out a sigh—then my little sister Jisoo called me.

What is it?

Jisoo usually preferred texts or messages. She rarely called.

“Hello?”

—“Oppa.”

“Jisoo? What’s up?”

—“Ah, it’s nothing big. I just had something to ask.”

Her voice was unusually careful.

“Okay. What is it? Go ahead.”

—“Oppa... are you getting married to Esper Joo Seunghyuk?”

“...What?”

—“Mom told me to ask. If you are, bring him over so we can meet him....”

“...Wait, she’s not against it?”

Her son’s only 21 and she’s okay with him getting married already?

—“No, she’s happy about it. He helped us last time, remember?”

Back when I was hospitalized in Daejeon, Seunghyuk had called our house. He apparently told them I wasn’t really sick, just avoiding training, and that he’d arranged for me to rest in the VIP suite.

And when Aaron dropped that fake article, he’d reassured them it would all blow over soon.

Ever since that, my whole family had come to fully trust Joo Seunghyuk. Completely unaware that I’d been under petite imprisonment the whole time.

***

Now it wasn’t just Geonwoo-hyung’s fans—even my family was supporting this marriage to Seunghyuk.

To calm my nerves, I headed to the shooting range.

But even the loud bang of gunfire couldn’t clear the mess in my head.

Am I really getting married?

No. No way. Just being entangled with a yandere seme is terrifying enough—marriage?! I couldn’t let one mistake between the sheets become a whole wedding.

But I couldn’t outright say no, either. If I did, it’d be back to lockdown. And not the petite kind—full-blown imprisonment.

Everything I’d done so far to avoid being locked up would all be for nothing.

Isn’t there some way out of this? Some clever way to refuse?

My bullets missed every target. With a sigh, I set the pistol down. At this rate, I was just wasting ammo.

***

As I left the range and headed toward the locker room, I ran into someone I hadn’t expected at all.

“Yeonsu-sunbae.”

“Jun-ah? What are you doing here...?”

The Ability User Academy had lots of locker rooms.

They were divided by gender, Guide vs. Esper, and even by secondary attributes. Most places grouped Alphas and Betas together, separating Guides. But at the Academy, everything was meticulously divided.

This one was the exclusive locker room for male Guides & Betas. So there was no reason for an Omega like Kim Jun to be here—

Ah! Wait, that’s right.

Kim Jun was still pretending to be a Beta.

He didn’t reveal he was an Omega until the second semester, when the main story of the novel kicked off. So right now, it made sense for him to be using this locker room.

I was about to correct myself, but Kim Jun apologized first.

“Sorry. I meant to go to the West Building locker room. I just figured no one would be here this late....”

“Why the West Building? That one’s far.”

“Because lower ranks aren’t allowed to use this one.”

“Lower ranks aren’t allowed?” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“I heard that was the rule....”

Was there a rule saying lower-rank students couldn’t use the Central Building locker rooms?

The Academy was filled with all kinds of hierarchy-based discrimination. Guess the locker rooms were part of that too.

So that’s why I’d never run into Kim Jun before.

Seeing me, Kim Jun hesitated and started buttoning his shirt back up. He must’ve thought I was being territorial.

“It’s fine. Just take it off.”

“Huh? Wh-what?!”

He looked visibly flustered. Why was he reacting like that?

“I don’t care about rankings or whatever. You can use this locker room too. So go ahead and change.”