Even if he had, the fact that we were acting like this in the front row must’ve been annoying.

I straightened my back and looked toward Park Geonwoo.

Our eyes met again. This time, it wasn’t my imagination. He looked straight at me—then began the lecture in earnest.

The lecture was excellent. This type of talk often devolves into self-praise or heroic exaggeration.

But his wasn’t like that—it was calm and honest. He explained the situation objectively, but added enough engaging anecdotes along the way to keep it from becoming dull.

He covered the root cause of the African Gate crisis, the methods used to clear it, and even proposed response strategies in case something similar happened in Korea. The content was solid.

It didn’t feel like a rushed assignment. More like he’d spent years preparing a thesis.

They say geniuses are often bad at teaching others—but I guess he was the exception. As expected of the perfect second male lead.

Even the students who’d come just to see his face were soon completely absorbed in the content.

But among all the focused audience members, there was one person who wasn’t paying attention—Joo Seunghyuk.

He’d been fiddling with my left hand the entire time.

“If you’re bored, just play with it.”

I tried to ignore him, thinking that—but then he grabbed my pencil case.

“Hey, that’s my favorite one...”

I’d used it since middle school, and it had been a fan gift. If he broke it, I’d be devastated. I watched nervously as Seunghyuk opened the zipper, pulled out a name pen, and placed the case back neatly.

Okay. Even a yandere wouldn’t destroy my pencil case for no reason, right?

Just as I was about to relax, he began doodling on the back of my hand with the name pen.

Is he testing my patience right now?

That’s a name pen!

I couldn’t speak during the lecture, so I scribbled a message on my notebook and showed it to him. He wrote back underneath it.

Yes.

And resumed doodling.

No, that wasn’t the point—I didn’t ask because I didn’t know. I was trying to say don’t do it because name pen doesn’t come off easily... 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

But Seunghyuk had already gone full-artist mode.

“Fine, do whatever you want.”

The rights to this body had long since passed into the hands of the yandere. If he wanted to draw on it, so be it.

I turned my attention back to the lecture—but the sensation of the pen brushing my skin made it impossible to concentrate.

Before I realized it, I was watching him draw.

“He’s really doing art now.”

In true perfect-human fashion—everything but his personality—Seunghyuk was annoyingly good at drawing too.

A rose bloomed on the back of my hand. It was delicate, almost like graffiti but refined. Now that I thought about it, wasn’t my birth flower the wild rose? A reporter had told me that during an interview once.

No way he knows that, right? Probably not. He must’ve just drawn it randomly.

I was watching the nearly finished drawing when the sound of applause rang out.

Ah. The lecture was already over. I’d been so distracted by Seunghyuk I hadn’t caught a single word of the ending.

As soon as it ended, high-ranking government and Center officials approached Geonwoo first, and the reporters began snapping photos in earnest.

They were staking a claim—announcing ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ that Park Geonwoo belonged to their side.

Guildmasters, top-ranked Espers, and other students stayed behind to talk to him. Many students even took out their phones to take pictures.

“Hyung, let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

We got up from our seats. I wanted to thank Geonwoo before leaving, but he was surrounded. It would be better to speak to him another time.

As we headed for the exit, I heard someone calling me from behind.

“Yeonsu!”

Park Geonwoo was pushing through the crowd to reach me. Did he have something to say?

“Hyung.”

“Did you enjoy the lecture?”

“Yes. It was amazing. I heard you prepared it last-minute, but it was so well done—it really surprised me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried you might get bored since it was mostly focused on Espers.”

“No, I—”

“Why’d you call him over if you already knew?”

Seunghyuk cut me off coldly, his voice sharp as a blade. A deep wrinkle formed on Geonwoo’s brow.

“You’re still an arrogant little punk, I see.”

“And you’re still insufferable as ever.”

Seunghyuk shot back without hesitation.

So there was something going on between them. In the original story, they hadn’t shown any strong feelings toward each other until Kim Jun entered the picture and things escalated into a full-blown rivalry.

Also, Park Geonwoo wasn’t the type to let personal grudges show during public events. If even he was openly hostile, then clearly something serious had happened between them.

Could you two please fight when I’m not around?

Everyone—including reporters—was watching us. Some of them probably thought they were witnessing a fight between my ex and my current boyfriend.

None of us wanted that kind of misunderstanding. I certainly didn’t want Espers throwing punches over me.

“Haha... I-It’s a nice day, right? No fighting, please.”

I forced an awkward laugh, trying to shift the mood.

“Seunghyuk, let’s go.”

This was Park Geonwoo’s day. Better to drag the yandere out before things got worse.

“Okay.”

Thankfully, Seunghyuk obeyed without resistance.

“Geonwoo hyung, we’ll head out now. The lecture was really great.”

I was about to leave with Seunghyuk when Park Geonwoo grabbed my hand.

“Yeonsu, can we talk for a—”

Before he could finish, Seunghyuk slapped his hand away.

“Get your filthy hand off him.”

“There’s a limit to how rude you can be, Joo Seunghyuk.”

“Same goes for you, asshole.”

Their mana flared violently, colliding in midair.

People gasped. Even the reporters froze, despite sensing a front-page scoop—because the power rolling off the two Espers was enough to make ordinary people lock up in fear.

If two S-ranks fought in here, the auditorium would get leveled.

I didn’t want the Great Lecture Hall to get destroyed on top of the Han Testing Center—all because of me.

I grabbed Seunghyuk’s arm in a panic.

“Seunghyuk! We’ll miss the movie!”

Damn it... I just told a room full of people we were going on a movie date...

But it worked. The black haze of mana surrounding him began to dissipate. Before he could flip back into yandere mode, I quickly tugged him away and called out to Park Geonwoo.

“I have plans with Seunghyuk, so we’ll be leaving first.”

“Yeonsu!”

Park Geonwoo called after me. At that moment, I thought of the original.

If this were the original Kim Jun, he would’ve hesitated, turned back, and chosen Park Geonwoo. Then gotten immediately imprisoned by Joo Seunghyuk.

I had no intention of repeating the protagonist’s mistakes.

I kept my eyes straight ahead and walked out of the lecture hall.

***

“That lecture was that good?”

Seunghyuk’s cold voice hit me the moment we got in the car.

If I said yes now, I’d become “clueless Yeonsu.”

“No. Honestly, I didn’t hear most of it. I was too focused on you...”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You were drawing on my hand the whole time. I couldn’t look away. You’re a really good artist, Seunghyuk.”

“Really?”

“Totally. You could be a professional.”

I looked down at the rose he’d drawn on my hand. I wasn’t just saying it—it was genuinely well done.

“I don’t want to draw anything unless it’s on you.”

...Was that his way of saying I was the rose?

“Haha. I’m honored. So, what did you think of the lecture?”

“I didn’t listen either.”

“Figures.”

Even if he had, he wouldn’t have liked it.

Park Geonwoo was an idealist who believed in unity across all ranks. Seunghyuk, on the other hand, considered that kind of talk hypocrisy.

Today, Geonwoo shared his experience working with a lower-ranked teammate during the Akar Gate subjugation. The audience had been moved by his story. But if Seunghyuk had listened, he probably would’ve called it stupid and inefficient.

He would’ve only built a team of people who could pull their weight.

Aside from being S-rank Espers, the two were opposites in every way.

“And from now on, if you’re curious about Espers, ask me. Don’t go to some other bastard.”

That’s a bit much... Honestly, you’re terrifying.

Besides, Seunghyuk was so outside the norm, his advice probably wouldn’t help me understand other Espers anyway.

“Okay. I will.”

Instead of saying that out loud, I just smiled.

***

It must’ve been Friday night—because the movie theater was packed.

“So many people.”

“Yeah.”

“I already booked the tickets.”

“Then I’ll get the popcorn.”

“Okay.”

We headed straight to the snack counter.

“What flavor do you want?”

“Whatever you want, hyung.”

The worst kind of answer. Now I had to choose.

What kind of popcorn would a yandere like? I had zero data.

Strawberry? Out. Melon? Definitely not. Banana? Hell no. Seriously, why were these even on the menu?

Consommé was better than strawberry but still kind of risky. Onion and cheese were also iffy.

Caramel was out of the question, obviously. ...But I liked caramel.

“C-Caram... Or should we go with the classic?”

I accidentally said part of it out loud and quickly corrected myself. No way would a terrifying Alpha like caramel popcorn.

“Let’s get caramel.”

“...You sure?”

“I’m fine. But hyung—you really do have a sweet tooth.”

“Ah... yeah. I’ve got a kid’s palate, I guess.”

“From now on, only eat sweets in front of me. Don’t eat things other guys give you.”

Was he talking about the chocolate Kim Jun gave me? Classic yandere—he couldn’t even tolerate a junior’s gift.

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

I answered with an awkward smile. It was our turn to order. I paid for the popcorn and drinks with my debit card.

Not the one connected to Seunghyuk’s account—a separate one.

As we picked up the snacks, he leaned in and whispered:

“Hyung... you’ve never used the card I gave you, not even once.”