GOY SS 1

1. That Esper’s Story

After graduating from high school, Lee Yeon-soo entered the Esper Academy.

Because the middle and high schools Lee Yeon-soo attended were specialized schools for Guides, he had few opportunities to come into contact with Espers—except for national subjugation missions or a few specific events—and it was easy to use people to block them.

However, once he entered the Esper Academy, it would be harder to prevent Espers from approaching him.

Joo Seung-hyuk graduated high school a year early and entered the Academy.

It wasn’t simply because he wanted to be wary of Espers approaching Lee Yeon-soo.

As seven years had passed, his longing for Lee Yeon-soo had reached its limit; he could no longer endure it.

He didn’t even dare hope to stand by Lee Yeon-soo’s side, but he wanted to watch over him from as close a distance as possible.

Since Joo Seung-hyuk had consistently expressed that the high school curriculum was meaningless, no one found it suspicious when he graduated early.

Leading up to his admission to the Academy, Joo Seung-hyuk was inwardly excited.

If they were in the same space, he would naturally run into Lee Yeon-soo, and perhaps they might even become acquaintances who exchanged light greetings.

But reality was cold.

On the day of the Esper Academy entrance ceremony, Joo Seung-hyuk and Lee Yeon-soo stood side by side on the podium as the representatives for Espers and Guides.

However, throughout the preparation for the freshman representative pledge, Lee Yeon-soo didn’t even make eye contact with Joo Seung-hyuk, and as soon as they stepped down from the podium, he left as if fleeing. One would think representatives might exchange formal pleasantries, saying they worked hard.

The person who was polite and kind to everyone was the exception only for Joo Seung-hyuk.

He really doesn’t change. He’s always been like that.

‘Lee Yeon-soo hates me.’

He knew it; he had known from the beginning that the other didn’t like him, yet it still hurt.

Even after the entrance ceremony, Lee Yeon-soo blatantly avoided Joo Seung-hyuk, and the Academy took special care to ensure the two—who were publicly known as rivals—did not cross paths.

Joo Seung-hyuk was indifferent to others. He didn’t care what other people thought of him. But Lee Yeon-soo was the exception.

At a single glance or look from him, his heart raced and his emotions surged.

‘It’s better this way. I must keep my distance from Lee Yeon-soo until I deal with Ju Jeong-han and Ju Tae-han. That’s the right thing to do.’

He tried to steady his heart this way, but every time he saw Lee Yeon-soo avoid him as if he were a bug just by making eye contact, his emotions wore down.

It seemed these days would continue until unauthorized copyhe [stolen content]dealt with stolen contentJu Jeong-han and Ju Tae-han. And perhaps even after that…

Then, an incident occurred.

It was the day of the freshman welcome party. As a sophomore, Lee Yeon-soo originally had no intention of attending. However, because the ranks of the new students had dropped miserably, and the reactions of the seniors had hit rock bottom as a result, the student council put Lee Yeon-soo forward.

They set up a plausible pretext, calling him the representative of current students, but the purpose was obvious. They intended to host the welcome party using Lee Yeon-soo as bait.

And the overly kind Lee Yeon-soo could not refuse the seniors’ request.

As soon as the news of his attendance spread, alumni who had notified their absence did a complete 180 and expressed their intent to attend, and it was said that the insufficient party sponsorship funds were fully covered within thirty minutes.

Hearing this news, Joo Seung-hyuk attended the freshman welcome party while suppressing a surge of rage.

The freshman welcome party was, in a word, a spectacle. For starters, it wasn’t even a “freshman” welcome party.

Normally, it should have been a place where freshmen and alumni gathered to build networks and exchange scout offers, but the alumni’s interest this time was solely on ‘Lee Yeon-soo.’

Sure enough, as soon as the congratulatory speeches ended, the seniors began to swarm Lee Yeon-soo.

Joo Seung-hyuk watched their behavior while sipping wine.

“Yeon-soo, you should drink the alcohol your senior is giving you.”

“Hey, are you ignoring me because you’re S-Class? [stolen content]You think a B-Class isn’t Read on Read BL Novelseven worth calling a senior?”

It was disgusting to see trash, who wouldn’t even be able to speak to Lee Yeon-soo once they entered society, hitting on him under the guise of being seniors.

They probably intend to get him drunk and then do something reckless; should I just blow this whole place away?

As he tightened his grip, Lee Yeon-soo, who had been drinking, staggered.

Joo Seung-hyuk used his mana to lure Lee Yeon-soo into falling toward him. Then, he naturally caught him.

For a moment, the auditorium fell silent. It was a natural reaction. Everyone knew Joo Seung-hyuk and Lee Yeon-soo were rivals.

All eyes were on them at once, but that didn’t mean he could leave Lee Yeon-soo here. It was tedious, but if he acted as if he were reluctantly taking a drunk classmate back to his room, no one would find it particularly strange.

Even if some people did find it odd, it would just be a brief topic of gossip.

The problem now wasn’t the gaze of others, but Lee Yeon-soo. If he refused to go back with him…

At that moment, something completely unexpected happened. Lee Yeon-soo suddenly grabbed Joo Seung-hyuk’s neck in a hug.

“Wow, you’re really handsome.”

“…”

Though Joo Seung-hyuk always maintained a poker face, his expression crumbled unconsciously.

“Am I handsome?”

“Yeah. Very handsome. I’m jealous.”

Lee Yeon-soo gave him a beaming smile and then lost his balance again, staggering. As Joo Seung-hyuk tried to hold him again, a strange scent suddenly brushed past the tip of his nose.

‘No way…!’

Flustered, Joo Seung-hyuk scanned the surroundings. However, everyone was merely worried about Lee Yeon-soo, who was held in Joo Seung-hyuk’s arms; it seemed no one noticed the faint scent emanating from this S-Class Guide they were all targeting.

He had to get out of here first.

“Senior Park, it seems Esteemed Student Lee Yeon-soo is drunk. I’ll escort him back to the dormitory.”

Joo Seung-hyuk spoke to Park Ji-hee, who was closest to Lee Yeon-soo. He had already figured out his social circle.

“Ah, yeah. Do that.”

“Esteemed Student Lee Yeon-soo, let’s go.”

Joo Seung-hyuk whispered into Lee Yeon-soo’s ear. Then, Park Ji-hee suddenly shouted.

“Wait, wait! I’ll go too!”

“No need. Senior Park, please stay here.”

Joo Seung-hyuk spoke firmly and headed toward the dormitory with Lee Yeon-soo.

Joo Seung-hyuk hurried. He had shown himself to be overly favorable toward Lee Yeon-soo in front of many people, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

The strange scent coming from Lee Yeon-soo. This might be a sign of Manifestation.

He took Lee Yeon-soo toward the dormitory.

However, by the time they arrived at his room, no scent could be felt from Lee Yeon-soo.

‘Was I imagining things…?’

Perhaps he had mistaken the pheromones of another Omega at the party for Lee Yeon-soo’s because he was drunk. Or perhaps the desire to be with Lee Yeon-soo had triggered a phantosmia?

In any case, it didn’t seem like Lee Yeon-soo had manifested.

That was a fact that was neither good nor bad. To begin with, Joo Seung-hyuk had never been interested in Lee Yeon-soo’s trait. It didn’t matter if he was a Beta or an Omega. Even if Lee Yeon-soo manifested as an Alpha, Joo Seung-hyuk’s feelings would not change.

Joo Seung-hyuk looked around Lee Yeon-soo’s dormitory room. He couldn’t find any of the expensive items commonly seen with High-ranking Ability Users, but it was a cozy space, decorated neatly and cleanly.

It resembled its owner.

He probably wouldn’t have a reason to come to this room for a while… because he had to keep his distance from Lee Yeon-soo until he dealt with Ju Jeong-han. And after that, would he be able to come…?

Joo Seung-hyuk let out a low sigh.

It was no time to be sentimental. As he supported Lee Yeon-soo and walked toward the bed, the other suddenly burrowed into Joo Seung-hyuk’s embrace.

“Ha-eum. Uu…”

Watching Lee Yeon-soo mumble like a child, intoxicated by sleep, Joo Seung-hyuk froze on the spot.

He had always watched Lee Yeon-soo from a step away.

And from a distance, Lee Yeon-soo was always quiet and calm. He was consistently kind to everyone except himself, but that didn’t mean he was a pushover. Rather, he was the type who was firm, sturdy, and had a clear boundary of his own.

The evaluations of Lee Yeon-soo he heard from others were also consistent.

They said he was basically gentle, but somehow haughty and built a wall against others, making them not dare to approach.

But the great Lee Yeon-soo had such a cute side?

Joo Seung-hyuk stared blankly at Lee Yeon-soo, who kept burrowing into his arms while making incomprehensible sounds.

‘I wish time would stop [stolen content]just like this. I want to be with him until Read on Read BL Novelsdaybreak. unauthorized copyI want to make Lee Yeon-soo mine right now.’

The desire he had barely suppressed began to leak out. But not yet.

Barely holding onto the thread of his reason, he pulled Lee Yeon-soo away from his embrace.

“You have to go to bed.”

“Nooo.”

Lee Yeon-soo shook his head. His pronunciation was slurred, likely because he was very drunk.

“You’re very drunk. Please go to sleep.”

“Uuung. Nooo.”

He blindly shook his head and complained.

‘Is this a drinking habit? Does he act this aegyo-ish when he’s drunk? That means other bastards might have seen him like this. Why didn’t that bastard Kang In-ho report this?’

Rage surged, but he couldn’t show his anger in front of Lee Yeon-soo.

“You need to sleep.”

“Won’t sleep.”

Joo Seung-hyuk first took the whining Lee Yeon-soo to the bed.

“Here, please sleep.”

“I don’t want to…”

He complained and refused to lie down on the bed. As Joo Seung-hyuk tried to get him to lie down somehow, that strange scent suddenly penetrated the tip of his nose again.

And before he could identify the nature of this scent, Lee Yeon-soo’s face drew close.

Startled, Joo Seung-hyuk grabbed his shoulders. However, Lee Yeon-soo grabbed Joo Seung-hyuk’s hand and tried to kiss him.

“Esteemed Student Lee Yeon-soo, please don’t do this.”

“Why?”

Lee Yeon-soo asked back with wide eyes. Seeing the expression that looked wronged and sorrowful, despite having suddenly tried to kiss him, was absurd.