Chapter 1 : To be preyed upon

There are relationships like that.

Too distant to be called friends, yet too familiar with each other to be just alumni—an ambiguous relationship.

That’s precisely how Jihan viewed his relationship with Sekyeom.

The two were originally what you’d call childhood friends.

They shared a long history, having built their friendship since elementary school.

Although they grew apart for a while when they attended different middle schools, their bond strengthened when they went to the same high

school.

However, a certain incident turned their relationship into something worse than strangers.

During high school, Jihan was a quiet student who blended into the background, almost invisible.

In contrast, Sekyeom was the type of student who drew everyone’s attention just by standing still.

Truthfully, having already surpassed 180cm upon entering school, his head naturally stuck out wherever he stood, making him hard to miss.

His striking looks and playful, friendly personality were enough to make him the object of envy among many students; consequently, to put it

mildly, even a sneeze could start a rumor about him.

Sometimes, rumors were even fabricated out of thin air.

Among the many topics surrounding him, the most talked-about was his manifestation as an S-rank Esper at the young age of eighteen.

Becoming the most , Esper in South Korea at such a young age brought him nationwide attention.

Thanks to this, Jihan’s school days were quite exhausting.

If they happened to run into each other in the hallway and exchange greetings, chaos would erupt around Jihan.

Even people he didn’t know would approach him, pretending to be familiar, asking how he knew Sekyeom, revealing their shallow intentions

of trying to get close to Sekyeom through him.

Moreover, throughout his three years of high school, he was more often called ‘the kid close to Shin Sekyeom’ than by his own name, Yoon

Jihan.

It was also common for people to go through Jihan whenever they needed a favor from Sekyeom.

Because such incidents were so frequent, Jihan inevitably got hurt.

He reached a point where even if someone showed interest in him and approached kindly, he hesitated to form deep connections, wondering

if it was just because of Sekyeom.

As a result, the high schooler Yoon Jihan suffered from a deep-rooted distrust of people and developed a severe pessimistic outlook.

Despite their starkly different personalities, it was an undeniable fact that the two were close back then.

They had been friends since elementary school, seeing each other through thick and thin, fighting one day and making up the next.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Sekyeom, having manifested as an Esper, transferred to a training academy-style school, allowing Jihan to

spend his crucial senior year of high school in peace.

Of course, some friends occasionally asked about Sekyeom, but that was a daily occurrence and didn’t pose a significant problem.

Anyway, their friendship, sustained by Jihan’s patience, continued steadily, and they kept in touch even after graduating high school.

They occasionally met up when their schedules aligned, usually with the busy Sekyeom contacting Jihan first, and Jihan agreeing.

Whenever they met, they avoided public places out of consideration for Sekyeom, whose face was well-known.

Even for casual drinks, they stuck to Sekyeom’s house or private rooms.

When they wanted to see a movie, they would enter after the lights went down completely and leave before the ending credits rolled.

However, the friendship they had painstakingly maintained came to an abrupt end when Sekyeom unilaterally cut off contact.

At 23, while agonizing over his career path before university graduation, Jihan manifested as a Guide, almost as if to solve his problems.

It would have been better if he were an Esper, but Jihan accepted that he had become a B-rank Guide.

Of course, it wasn’t like that from the beginning.

The moment he found out he had become a Guide, Jihan thought of Sekyeom first.

Sekyeom, too, upon receiving a tearful call, dropped everything and rushed over.

They spent the whole day drinking together, and Sekyeom comforted Jihan.

Then, almost as if mocking him, Sekyeom cut off all contact afterward.

At first, Jihan, not knowing the reason, tried calling and leaving messages.

Worried that something might have happened, Jihan even searched for news articles under Sekyeom’s name daily.

Eventually, he started wondering if he had done something wrong and began to self-reflect.

However, the moment he realized Sekyeom was deliberately avoiding his calls, all his worries and concerns turned into anger.

Feeling disillusioned with human relationships, Jihan stopped trying to reach Sekyeom, and the two slowly drifted apart.

Three years passed like that.

And then, they reunited after three years at a classmate’s wedding hall.

Facing Sekyeom’s still-handsome face, Jihan vividly remembered how upset he had been back then.

He hadn’t realized it because they hadn’t seen each other, but the moment their eyes met, he felt a surge of anger and resentment welling up

inside him.

“Haha, doesn’t it feel like we’ve gathered after a really long time? Good to see you guys.”

Jihan and Sekyeom weren’t the only ones who knew each other since elementary school.

There was Changsu, the friend who got married today, Homin, who went to the same university as Jihan, and Hyeonwoo, who had kept in

touch consistently even after high school graduation.

After the chaotic wedding ceremony of Changsu, filled with many guests, Hyeonwoo stopped Sekyeom, who was trying to leave before the

crowd gathered.

The two were among the few friends who had attended elementary, middle, and high school together and still kept in touch.

And this was the after-party, where Homin, seemingly conspiring with Hyeonwoo, had dragged a reluctant Jihan.

As Homin mentioned it felt like a long time, it was indeed the first time the four of them had gathered in the same place since their high

school entrance ceremony.

“Right. Was the last time we gathered the high school entrance ceremony? Homin, you skipped your school’s ceremony and came to ours,

didn’t you?”

“That’s right. I was really loyal back then.”

Trying to break the awkward atmosphere, Homin and Hyeonwoo actively led the conversation.

However, Jihan couldn’t stand Homin glorifying his embarrassing past.

“Loyal, my foot. You were the one crying your eyes out because you were the only one who got into a different high school.”

“Hey! Who said I was crying my eyes out?!”

Homin, angered by Jihan’s comment, glared fiercely as if telling him to stop talking nonsense.

The problem was that Jihan wasn’t the only one who saw it.

It was bad enough that even Sekyeom, who had been sitting silently swirling his drink, spoke up.

“You did cry really hard that day. We went to a PC bang to play a game, and we almost got kicked out because they suspected we were

bullying you, since you were crying so much.”

“Sekyeom, why are you doing this too? When did I…!”

“Shh, Homin. I know it’s embarrassing, but is this something to brag about, having Sekyeom here? We deliberately chose a place with private

rooms. The walls are thin here. Don’t say his name so loudly.”

Hyeonwoo, sitting opposite, quickly raised his hand to stop him.

Homin, still looking wronged, glared a few more times before his shoulders slumped helplessly.

“Ah, damn it. What glory did I think I’d gain trying to reconcile these two? Hey, forget it. Just let them live like this forever. Trying to get

those two together will only make us tired.”

“Hey…”

As Homin grumbled, waving his hand dismissively, Hyeonwoo looked troubled, glancing between Sekyeom and Jihan.

Beside him, Homin just kept sighing deeply.

The problem was that Homin’s remark had struck a nerve with Jihan.

“Reconcile? What reconciliation?”

At the sharp tone, Hyeonwoo and Homin quietly shut their mouths.

Glaring at the two who avoided his gaze by pretending to drink, Jihan turned towards Sekyeom with a menacing aura and asked.

“Shin Sekyeom, you tell me. Are we the kind of people who need to reconcile?”

“If I had actually fought with you before hearing this, I wouldn’t feel so wronged. But reconcile? Ha!”

Jihan scoffed loudly and crossed his arms like someone angry.

But Sekyeom showed no reaction.

He simply emptied his glass silently and looked down at the empty cup.

Hyeonwoo patted Sekyeom’s shoulder as if to encourage him and picked up the liquor bottle with concerned eyes.

After pouring a drink into Sekyeom’s empty glass, Hyeonwoo tried to soothe Jihan in a soft voice, seemingly to ease the tension.

“Jihan, don’t be like that. Let’s just drink this and make up. Huh?”

“Yeah, he probably had his reasons. Let’s just drink ourselves silly today and let it go.”

Homin, surprised by Jihan’s stronger-than-expected reaction, forgot his grumbling and extended his glass towards the center as if proposing

a toast.

Hyeonwoo, watching cautiously, quickly held out his glass too.

He then quickly grabbed Sekyeom’s wrist, forcing him to extend his glass.

Jihan stared intently at Sekyeom, who reluctantly raised his glass, then leaned back deeply into his chair, arms still crossed.

It was a clear sign he had no intention of joining the toast.

“Jihan…”

“Ah, that prickly guy holding a grudge again.”

Despite Homin’s rebuke, Jihan didn’t uncross his arms.

Sekyeom also lowered his hand and silently watched Jihan.

Their eyes met across the table, each gaze filled with different emotions.

Seeing Sekyeom’s seemingly composed appearance, Jihan gently bit the inside of his lip.

Even his calm demeanor, just like usual, was infuriating.