"I taught Jun some guiding theory. Didn’t hold hands.

He gave me chocolate as thanks. A pack of five Ferrero-RoX."

I sent the message to Joo Seunghyuk. It had been quite some time since the mess in the guiding room, but I was still reporting my daily life to him.

When would I finally be able to stop doing this?

The problem was... I was getting used to it. At this rate, I might end up like Kim Jun from the original story, feeling comfortable in a confined life.

I had to get away from Joo Seunghyuk before that happened.

Still, Kim Jun really is cute. When did he even prepare the chocolate? I’m just glad he didn’t get involved with Seunghyuk. If he had, his days would’ve turned grim.

Not that I can talk, since I’m the one who got entangled with him...

I took one Ferrero-RoX out and popped it into my mouth. Now that I think about it, Geonwoo hyung brought these once, too...

***

After that, I kept running into Park Geonwoo.

Since I was the teenage Guide representative and Park Geonwoo was the Esper representative, we often ended up attending state events together—public service campaigns, gate raids, and so on.

This never happened in the original work. In Swamp of the Guide, Lee Yeonsu belonged to Sungan as soon as he got imprinted, and he did everything with Joo Seunghyuk.

Even though he was a once-in-a-decade S-rank Guide, the government didn’t bother looking for someone already affiliated with a corporate guild.

But when I rejected the exclusive contract with Joo Seunghyuk, things changed.

I was trying to stay away from the main lead, and somehow ended up getting tied to the second lead. The sheer force of the original story’s narrative gravity was terrifying.

To make things worse, to the public, Park Geonwoo and I looked like the perfect couple.

Even just locking eyes at official events would start dating rumors. If we wore the same items, people would call them couple items and post about it online.

At first, we kept denying every article that came out. But there was a limit to how much we could refute. After a while, no one believed us no matter how firmly we denied it.

Instead, people got annoyed—“Why are they trying so hard to deny it?”—or acted like they knew better, saying, “They’re obviously hiding it.”

The rumors got even worse once we started high school.

Because of all this, things got increasingly awkward between us.

And that day was especially awkward—peak awkward.

The night before the gate raid, a TV program ran a Valentine's Day special on celebrity couples people wanted to see get married. Park Geonwoo and I were ranked number one.

“People are ridiculous. What kind of marriage are they expecting from a kid who’s just starting 12th grade? You must think it’s absurd too, Yeonsu.”

“Well, Geonwoo is twenty this year. That’s probably why they’re saying it.”

Sure enough, when I entered the guiding tent, everyone was talking about it.

I hesitated in front of the tent, reluctant to go in. Kang Inho went in first.

“Hello. Sorry for being late.”

“Sorry we’re late.”

Even though it was winter break, the school still held guiding classes once a week.

Kang Inho and I had come straight from school after class, using the school-provided shuttle bus, so we arrived later than scheduled.

“Oh, Yeonsu! Hey!”

“Hi, Chaea noona.”

Chaea noona greeted us warmly. When I returned her greeting, Kang Inho bowed politely as well.

“Hello.”

“Yeonsu’s still so pretty. Inho, still cool as always.”

“Our Yeonsu’s here!”

Hyeokjin hyung came running at me with open arms. Just as he was about to hug me, Kang Inho blocked him.

“Don’t be indecent.”

“Inho, don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh on hyung?”

“Guess you don’t value your life.”

“You’re so heartless.”

Chaea noona, Hyeokjin hyung, and even Park Geonwoo were supposed to be here. Most of the other Espers and Guides were A-rank or higher, too.

Since it was an A-rank gate raid, the team was stacked. But no one seemed especially tense. For them, this was easy work. And honestly, they were right.

“Yeonsu, Inho—have some chocolate.”

“Chocolate?”

“Yeah. Geonwoo brought it for Valentine’s Day. He’s got such good sense, doesn’t he?”

Chaea noona took a box off the table and pulled out a pack of Ferrero-RoX—five pieces in one bag.

“Huh? Why is there only one left? Geonwoo said he brought enough for everyone. Hyeokjin, did you eat one?”

“No, I didn’t! And hey, Chaea, I think you’re forgetting—I'm a year older than you.”

“So what? Did you eat the chocolate?”

“I said I didn’t!”

While the two bickered, Kang Inho silently grabbed the last one.

“...Ah.”

Chaea noona looked flustered as the chocolate slipped away. But Inho just sat in the corner and casually popped one into his mouth.

He’s not usually like that... maybe he really likes chocolate.

“...Now Yeonsu’s the only one who didn’t get any.”

“I’m fine.”

“Still, I’m sure Geonwoo wanted to give you one...”

She looked dejected, like it was her fault. But it wasn’t, not even remotely.

“It’s okay. He probably brought it for everyone.”

“Geonwoo...”

Just then, Park Geonwoo entered the tent.

“Yeonsu didn’t get a chocolate because there was one missing.”

Chaea noona explained the situation, and Geonwoo froze.

“Oh, it’s not that it’s missing... Yeonsu, come here. Yours—no, there’s one more.”

“Okay.” 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Geonwoo walked over to the Esper tent, and I followed him.

Since everyone else was in the guiding tent, this side was quiet.

Inside the empty Esper tent sat Joo Seunghyuk, alone. So he was participating in this raid too...

He’d been fighting in real missions since ninth grade. Chairman Joo tried to stop him, but it seemed he insisted.

In the original timeline, he’d been forced to participate in gate raids due to the chairman’s pressure. This was a much better situation, but still—end result was the same: he was thrown into battle too early.

Seunghyuk glanced at us, then turned back to his phone. I deliberately avoided eye contact.

“Yeonsu, over here.”

“Okay.”

Geonwoo opened a black backpack sitting on the table. Then his eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“The chocolate’s gone.”

“What?”

“Hold on.”

He started rummaging through the bag in a panic, but didn’t find anything.

“Maybe you miscounted?”

“No, I’m sure I left it here. Where could it have gone?”

Here we go again...

He was always like this. A flawless person in every other regard, but when it came to me, he kept making mistakes.

Things like forgetting my share, just like today.

I never knew if it was a genuine mistake, a lack of interest, or if he was trying to subtly tell me he didn’t like me.

“It’s fine. I’ll just share with someone else.”

“No, that’s not it...”

As he kept digging through the bag, Joo Seunghyuk walked out of the tent.

“Geonwoo, let’s go.”

Then Hyeokjin hyung’s voice came from outside. I guess the raid was about to start.

“You should go.”

“Yeah... Yeonsu, can you wait for me until the raid’s over? I have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

“Yeah.”

His expression was serious. What on earth was he planning to say? Was it something important?

“Okay. I’ll wait. Please be careful out there.”

***

The gate subjugation didn’t end until past midnight.

“We were supposed to do it over two days, but that punk Seunghyuk wouldn’t listen. Teenagers are terrifying.”

Chaea noona grumbled through the guiding process. Even for an S-rank Esper like her, this raid must have been exhausting.

“So the raid’s over?”

“We left the boss room for tomorrow. The mining team’s coming in.”

“That sounds like a lot for tomorrow.”

“I mean... maybe Seunghyuk can handle it on his own? That kid’s a monster—in a good way.”

Chaea noona was gentle and warm, but when it came to work, she was more sharp and analytical than anyone else.

She could tell that Joo Seunghyuk was more capable than Park Geonwoo. Despite being close to Geonwoo personally, she stayed objective in her judgment.

“Getting guided by you, Yeonsu, really helped me survive.”

As I let go of her hand, I bowed my head.

“You worked hard.”

“You did too. Staying up this late.”

“I just sat still, really.”

“That’s harder.”

“Not really.”

“We’re done with guiding now, right? Want to head back to the hotel together?”

“No, I’m going to wait for Geonwoo hyung.”

Geonwoo hadn’t come out yet—he must still be inside handling post-raid cleanup.

But Chaea noona looked startled by my answer.

“Oh? Geonwoo already left...”

“What?”

He left? He told me to wait because he had something to say...

She glanced at me nervously, lips parting slightly. Just then, Hyeokjin hyung chimed in.

“You’re waiting for Geonwoo? That guy dashed off the moment the raid °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° ended.”

“...Really?”

I guess he left too fast and we missed each other.

“Yeah. Were you assigned to guide him today? Maybe he ran off to avoid getting guided by—ow!”

“Do Hyeokjin! You’re dead! I swear to God!”

Chaea noona kicked him in the shin, then unleashed a flurry of smacks to his back.

She chased him out of the tent, landing a final kick to his butt, then turned back to me with a gentle smile.

“Geonwoo must’ve been really tired today. He was on the front lines, after all.”

“...Yeah.”

So tired that he left without even getting guided? Am I really that unimportant...?

He said he had something to tell me. Was that just his way of turning me down?

He didn’t give me chocolate. He stood me up. Maybe that was his way of dropping a hint.

Park Geonwoo isn’t the type to say harsh things. Maybe this was his way of saying it without actually saying it.