“I don’t care about ranks, so feel free to use this locker room. Just take it off.”

“Ah... okay.”

Kim Jun hesitated for a moment, then started unbuttoning his shirt again. A solid, toned physique came into view.

Of course, it wasn’t as perfectly sculpted as Joo Seunghyuk’s body, like it had been carved from marble—but that was just because my standards had gotten too high. After seeing Seunghyuk’s body every day, my eyes had become spoiled. Still, objectively speaking, Kim Jun had a well-balanced, impressive figure.

“You’ve got a great body.”

“A-ah, no, not at all.”

Kim Jun waved his hands, flustered.

“Do you work out?”

“Yes! Since I was young.”

“Right. You’re aiming to become a combat-type Guide, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I don’t know if I’ll make it, though.”

Kim Jun had high average matching rates and rapid mana recovery.

In the original novel too, he aimed to become a combat-type Guide to make the most of his strengths.

Combat-type Guides directly participated in Gate raids and provided guiding support to Espers mid-battle.

In reality, they weren’t a preferred type unless under special circumstances.

No matter how talented a Guide was, their combat abilities were lower than even a low-rank Esper’s, and if the team had to slow down to accommodate the Guide, it was a net loss.

But Kim Jun was a main uke. Even his burdensome actions were viewed as endearing.

He’d follow you into Gates saying he wanted to help, then drag everyone down—and yet, you couldn’t get mad at him no matter how frustrating it got.

Eventually, both Joo Seunghyuk and the sub-seme Park Geonwoo would fall for him, captivated by his efforts to overcome his weaknesses.

Meanwhile, Lee Yeonsu was portrayed as an unlikeable jerk who relied solely on his natural talent.

Kim Jun and Lee Yeonsu stood at polar opposites in every aspect. Yeonsu existed solely to highlight Kim Jun’s virtues by contrast.

“Hyung, don’t you work out?”

“Just basic weight training.”

I’d planned to train seriously this year, but all that went out the window once I got involved with Joo Seunghyuk.

And besides... I was worried.

In the original novel, Seunghyuk often complimented Kim Jun’s solid, well-built body. Whereas Yeonsu? He said he was too skinny and that it didn’t feel good during sex.

If I worked out and improved my body, I might end up hitting Seunghyuk’s preferences.

He was already this obsessive. If even my physique matched his type, then I’d truly have no way to escape.

Wait. That’s it!

I’d been racking my brain trying to find a way to reject Seunghyuk—when what I really needed was to make him reject me.

If I could get Seunghyuk to lose interest and dump me, I could escape the obsession, the marriage, and the imprisonment crisis.

***

Looking back, the original story didn’t matter at all. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

There was no reason Seunghyuk had to love Kim Jun. There was no need to force him to pair up with some villainous sub-uke #2. I just needed to get myself discarded.

In the novel, Seunghyuk was actually pretty cool-headed. Whether it was a one-night stand or a partner, once he dumped someone, he forgot them cleanly. As long as they didn’t cling to him, he wouldn’t go out of his way to harm them.

That’s what I needed to become. Just one of the many people who passed through the yandere seme’s life and got discarded. If I could get downgraded to that level, all my problems would disappear.

And getting dumped by Seunghyuk was simple.

In the original, he despised Lee Yeonsu. The guy was a walking checklist of everything Seunghyuk hated. If I just mimicked those behaviors, he’d be sick of me in no time.

I clenched my fists with determination.

Starting today, I was going to become the Yeonsu from the original novel! Of course, if I went full “villain,” I might really die—so I’d tone it down a bit.

In other words, I was going to be a “nuisance.”

Yeah. Starting today, I’d become a nuisance uke!

***

Since we were practically glued to each other every day, I’d naturally come to know Joo Seunghyuk’s class schedule.

He had training during periods 3 and 4 today.

I deliberately made my way toward the Esper wing just as his third-period training was ending.

The Lee Yeonsu from Guide’s Swamp had a selfish, attention-seeking personality. He loved flaunting the fact that he was Seunghyuk’s Guide and would constantly barge into the Esper wing, screaming at Seunghyuk and throwing fits.

Even when Seunghyuk told him not to come, he wouldn’t listen.

I was going to do the same. Show him what real nuisance behavior looked like.

My mistake from the start had been acting too meek.

I never once said no to Seunghyuk. The strongest thing I ever said was, “I’m tired.”

You never knew what a yandere seme would do if you said no.

But maybe that submissiveness had backfired, leading to all this marriage talk.

So if I threw a scene today, Seunghyuk would definitely get turned off.

Putting on the most arrogant expression I could muster—just like the original Yeonsu—I marched into the Esper wing.

Unlike the Guide curriculum, which emphasized theory, the Esper program was almost entirely training-based. The wing had its own exclusive training grounds, and most students were wearing black uniforms or training gear.

Since I rushed over here during the break, I was still in my white uniform.

So naturally, in the sea of black, I stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Lee Yeonsu!”

“Hello, Seonwoo-sunbae.”

As I was glancing around the hallway, Moon Seonwoo called out to me. He was still wearing a protective brace on his arm.

He must still be suffering from the aftereffects of the Red Root Flame shock.

“Sunbae, how’s your arm?”

“It’s healed. After tomorrow’s check-up, I think I can take this thing off.”

He gave the brace a shake and smiled.

“That’s good to hear.”

“All thanks to you.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“Don’t say that. You saved my life, you know. I honestly don’t know how to thank you.”

He still felt guilty, thinking I’d been dragged into something awful because of him—even though it was Aaron’s fault, not his.

“Please don’t worry about it. I was just doing my job as a Guide.”

“If you ever need anything, just say the word. I’ll do anything for you.”

“No, really, it’s fine.”

If I accepted something like that, there’s no telling what the yandere seme would do. It wouldn’t just be me—Seonwoo-sunbae would be in danger too.

“Alright. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t push. But seriously, if anything comes up, let me know anytime.”

“Okay. I will.”

“By the way, what brings you to the Esper wing, Yeonsu?”

“Oh, I just had something to do. Were you in training, sunbae?”

He was wearing his training clothes.

“Ah, not for me. I’ve been coaching the juniors.”

He pointed to the group of underclassmen behind him. Since he couldn’t participate due to his injury, he must’ve been supervising them instead.

“These guys are the new rookie Espers. And this—well, you all know him, right? This is S-rank Guide Lee Yeonsu. Everyone, say hello.”

“Hello, Yeonsu-sunbaenim!”

The freshmen chorused enthusiastically when introduced.

“Ah, hello.”

“Um, sunbaenim, may I... may I shake your hand?”

One particularly tall underclassman blushed and stammered, even among the towering Espers.

He was so shy and earnest that I couldn’t help smiling.

“Of course.”

“Wow, thank you so much!”

When I extended my hand, the freshman bowed deeply and shook it.

“Wow... this is the hand of an S-rank Guide! It’s an honor! I’m never washing it again!”

“No need for that.”

“No, really! This is the best day ever.”

“Ah! Sunbaenim, me too!”

“Me too, just once!”

The others started crowding in for handshakes too.

“Alright, alright! That’s enough!”

Seonwoo-sunbae tried to settle them down and gave me an apologetic look.

“Sorry. These kids are kinda rural.”

“It’s fine. Everyone’s like that at first.”

“Still, just one handshake—whoa!”

One freshman who reached out got flung to the floor.

It was Joo Seunghyuk’s doing. The rookies froze in place, too terrified by his killing intent to even think about complaining.

“Seunghyuk...”

He looked down at me with a cold face, then grabbed my hand and pulled me into an empty classroom.

“What are you doing here?”

His face was full of irritation.

He barged into the West Building all the time, but the moment I stepped into his domain, he got annoyed.

Just like in the original, where he couldn’t stand Yeonsu showing up in the Esper wing. What a hypocrite.

“I came to see you.”

“If you needed something, you should’ve messaged me. Why would you just show up here?”

“What do you mean why? It’s our school.”

“Next time, message me. I’ll come to you.”

His tone was icy. It was terrifying.

Even if he’d softened a little lately, Joo Seunghyuk was still Joo Seunghyuk. He’d even gone so far as to petite-imprison me.

I started to wonder if I’d made a mistake by coming—but I had a critical mission: I had to get rejected by Joo Seunghyuk.

“S-s-so what! I missed you!”

I tried blurting something out. I’d drawn the sword; now I had to slice a radish. No backing down now.

“What did you just say?”

“I said I really missed you!”

In the original, Yeonsu was always yelling emotional lines like this. But if I copied it too closely, I might actually get killed—so I softened the tone and whined instead.

“......”

“I’m basically your exclusive Guide now, aren’t I? And I missed you. Am I not allowed to just come see you?”

“...Even so, message me. I’ll come.”

“But if I messaged you, you wouldn’t have come. You’ve got a class coming up.”

I said it as rudely as I could manage.

“You knew I had a class?”

“Yup. I knew. But I want to go somewhere with you right now. Come with me.”

“Where?”

“I’m hungry. Let’s get lunch.”

“You came here because you were hungry?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to eat alone.”

In the original, Yeonsu never respected Seunghyuk’s time or space. He always did whatever he wanted.

He used the fact that Chairman Joo favored S-rank Guides to try and control Seunghyuk. Eventually, Seunghyuk grew completely sick of being manipulated.

He also hated having his routine disrupted more than anything.

So the next line should’ve been obvious:

“You bothered me over something that trivial?”

He was definitely going to snap at me. Then I’d just whine a little and retreat.

I didn’t actually plan to skip training and eat lunch.

I was smiling to myself when Seunghyuk finally opened his mouth.

“...What do you want to eat?”