When the Princess Arrives

Mintae’s hand, rummaging through his contacts, suddenly froze.

The moment that grandiose name came into view, a shiver ran through his entire body, like he’d just been doused in ice water.

“Hyung you live with?”

At Mintae’s words, the first to react was Seongpil, his expression oddly ambiguous.

“Uh… Jaeyoung lives with his fr— friend’s hyung.
They’re close, so…”

Mintae pulled a pained face.

He wanted to bite off the tongue that had so casually said Saheon and Jaeyoung were close.

“Living with a friend’s hyung…?”

The fact that it wasn’t even a friend, but a friend’s older brother, made Seongpil’s expression grow stranger.

In the span of a few seconds, he smiled, then frowned, then smiled again.

What mattered was that none of it felt pleasant.

“Really?
That’s unusual.”

“Yes, yes.
So I’ll just make a quick call and come right back.”

Mintae lifted his phone and gently nudged Jaeyoung toward Minju.

Even then, he couldn’t bring himself to leave easily, unease lingering in his chest.

“There’s no need to go out of your way.”

“I’ll take him.”

A low, rough voice sounded from behind Mintae.

Startled, Mintae whipped around.

Behind him stood Seohun, trailed by a cluster of fans like the Pied Piper.

Once he confirmed the owner of the voice, Mintae only grew more confused.

“You?”

“Why you?”

It wasn’t strange he’d react that way.

Seohun and Jaeyoung had no real point of contact.

And yet here he was, saying he’d take Jaeyoung home the moment he arrived.

“I just stopped by to say hello.”

“I brought my car, so I can drop him off on the way.”

That didn’t answer the question of why him.

As Mintae stood there baffled, wondering if they’d known each other without his knowledge, he suddenly remembered that Jaeyoung had wanted to keep being a Guide a secret.

“Ah— no.”

“I’ll take care of him.”

“That’s fine.”

Mintae even shook his head, showing firm resolve.

Seeing that, Seohun didn’t push further.

“…Alright, then.”

“Okay.”

“So Jaeyoung goes home with Mintae.”

Minju replied lightly, gripping Mintae’s shoulder tightly as if applying pressure.

It was clearly also meant as a warning toward the suspicious Seongpil.

“Got it!”

“Should I get up too?”

Seongpil, who’d been sitting still with his eyes darting around, slowly lifted his hips.

That dubious movement made it clear Minju’s concern wasn’t overblown.

“Sunbae!”

“You’re leaving already?”

“You came all this way— you should at least stay for the second round.”

Minju grabbed Seongpil’s arm as he tried to follow Mintae out.

It was a desperate sight, truly.

Watching that, Mintae practically bundled Jaeyoung up and carried him outside.

No matter how cute Jaeyoung looked, he was still a freshly adult man.

Which was to say— he was disgustingly heavy.

“Why did I ever end up in the same department as a glutinous rice cake?”

Bursting out of the bar like he was fleeing, Mintae was drenched in sweat.

The people he envied most in the world right now were Haewoon, enjoying freedom in another department, and Dongjun, who’d gone to a completely different school altogether.

“I was naive.”

“Believing that being in the same department would be convenient because we could study for exams together and split assignments…”

Knowing envy wouldn’t change reality, Mintae sighed and tapped his phone screen.

Since he’d shut it off in shock earlier, Saheon’s contact immediately appeared.

– Why you.

He hadn’t even had time to properly hear the signal.

The call connected and immediately cut off, replaced by a low, sunken voice.

“Yes!
Seo Mintae speaking!”

While hoisting Jaeyoung, who was melting down his body like liquid sludge, Mintae stiffened and introduced himself at full volume.

Minju, who’d come out worried after seeing Mintae rush off, widened her eyes in surprise.

– Put Kim Jaeyoung on.

Saheon repeated himself sharply, as if he didn’t care about anything else.

Even Mintae, who usually missed social cues, could clearly feel his irritation.

“He’s, um— Jaeyoung’s pretty drunk right now.”

Even though he wasn’t the one who’d made him drink, Mintae was panicking.

Minju looked at him like he was strange.

“Th— then will you come in person?”

Mintae hesitated as he asked.

He couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘Jaeyoung wouldn’t like that…,’ so he muttered softly instead.

– I’ll park nearby.
Bring him out.

After a brief silence, Saheon hung up, leaving only a curt instruction to keep an eye on his messages.

Mintae tilted his head at the even colder tone than before.

“Ah…”

Only then did it hit him.

There was no way an S-class like Saheon hadn’t heard his whisper.

“I really want to just leave him here.”

Mintae murmured, staring at Jaeyoung with pleading eyes.

“Ah, but why didn’t he ask where we are?”

Mintae tilted his head again.

Then he nodded to himself.

It was Jin Saheon, after all.

While he was on the call, the girls had gathered around Jaeyoung, talking to him.

“Jaeyoung, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“If it’s really bad, should I go grab a hangover drink?”

“No, I’ll be fine soon.”

Jaeyoung answered each one with a spinning smile, not realizing how contradictory his replies were.

“I got in touch with him, so he’ll be here soon.”

“I’ll wait over there.”

Mintae didn’t intend to announce to the world that Jaeyoung lived with Saheon, so he tried to move them somewhere darker and less crowded.

“Why?”

“You must be tired.
Just wait here.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s seating over there.”

The girls pointed to the chairs outside the convenience store across the street, clearly reluctant to let Jaeyoung go.

“No.”

“The hyung coming to get him is re— really shy, so it won’t work.”

Mintae barely managed to finish the sentence.

Trying to attach that description to Saheon made him feel nauseous.

“Hyung?”

Barely able to stand straight, Jaeyoung tilted his head.

The slow blink of his eyes made it clear no specific face was coming to mind.

Mintae grew anxious that Jaeyoung might blurt out Saheon’s name.

“Then we’ll get going!”

Mintae hurried away before anyone could stop him— and before Jaeyoung could utter that terrifying name.

“Mintaeaa.”

“Where are we going?”

Jaeyoung pressed his face toward Mintae, grinning as he tugged on his arm.

Mintae let out a deep sigh at the way Jaeyoung clung to him.

As if he wasn’t affectionate enough sober, his drunken habit was to broadcast it to the world.

“Does that hyung even know about this brat’s drinking habits?”

Among friends, they knew each other’s limits and quirks well enough to drink until they completely lost it, using ‘we’re together’ as an excuse not to cause trouble.

The videos from those nights were treasured blackmail material.

“He won’t just toss him aside, right?”

Mintae muttered uneasily.

“Well, hyung does dote on Jaeyoung a lot.”

“And Jaeyoung’s his Guide, too…”

Mintae listed reasons Saheon couldn’t possibly abandon him.

Unable to endure the anxiety, he tucked the now-sleeping Jaeyoung under his arm and searched about Guides and Espers.

He felt a bit reassured reading that Espers treasured their paired Guides because they were so hard to find.

“Wait— am I the one in danger here?”

He froze on a line stating that Espers’ obsession and possessiveness toward their Guides were equally strong— and that it got worse the higher their rank.

“…Still better than letting him cling to strangers.”

Muttering in a voice thick with unease, Mintae shook his head and sat down wherever he could.

All he had to do was wait, yet he felt exhausted enough to collapse on the spot.

Saheon appeared in a car Mintae didn’t recognize.

It was expensive, but far below what someone of Saheon’s income would usually drive, which made Mintae eye it with curiosity.

“Hyung!”

Spotting Saheon as he got out of the car, Jaeyoung called out and threw his arms wide, clearly expecting a hug.

His voice overflowed with cloying affection.

Mintae could clearly see Saheon’s brow crease.

“Are you insane?”

“That’s the princess!”

Mintae shrieked and grabbed Jaeyoung from behind like he was restraining him.

“You’re the one who’s lost it.”

Saheon pressed Mintae with a voice gone icy cold.

“H— hhk!”

Noticing Saheon standing only a step away, Mintae gasped for breath.

Saheon shot him a look of open disgust.

Then he peeled Jaeyoung away from Mintae, who was struggling to hold him back.

The moment he was free, Jaeyoung dove straight into Saheon’s arms.

His friend’s roughly shoved-away arm didn’t matter at all.

“Hey— hey!
Kim Jaeyoung!”

“Even if you’re wasted, you should know where you’re allowed to lie down!”

Mintae worried Jaeyoung might end up rolling onto the ground like his discarded arm.

He reached out to pull him back, only to be blocked by Saheon again.

With no one stopping him, Jaeyoung rubbed his face against Saheon’s hard chest.

“I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, you were here.”

Jaeyoung had been asleep, leaning on Mintae while waiting.

With eyes that still wouldn’t fully open, he nuzzled closer and wrapped his arms around Saheon’s waist.

“Should we kiss?”

Unaware of his friend behind him, wounded and on the verge of tears, Jaeyoung lifted his chin and puckered his lips.

As Saheon held Jaeyoung by the waist and lowered his head, his eyes landed squarely on Mintae, frozen in sheer horror.

Saheon stopped at a distance where their lips would touch if he moved even slightly.

Feeling like he was about to witness something he truly shouldn’t, Mintae’s face drained white.

“Your friend’s watching over there.”

“Are you really going to do it?”

Saheon murmured as he looked into Jaeyoung’s eyes.

He himself wouldn’t hesitate even if the audience were his parents, but Jaeyoung was different.

He had no desire to indulge him now only to hear later that skinship was banned for a while or some other nonsense.

“I— it looks like you’ve gotten really close to Jaeyoung.”

Saheon raised an eyebrow at Mintae’s stuttering voice.

His gaze asked what he meant.

“N— no.”

“When he’s drunk, he clings, but asking for k— kissing…”

“That’s a first.”

“Clings when he’s drunk?”

Saheon’s expression twisted sharply for the first time.

“Th— that’s his habit.”

“You haven’t really drunk with him before, have you.”

As Saheon’s face grew more and more murderous, Mintae lowered his voice.

He might lack social awareness, but his survival instincts were razor sharp.

“I— I should get going.”

“My parents will worry…”

Since his university was close to home, living alone had never been an option.

He’d hated it at first, but now he was grateful for the excuse.

In truth, his parents hardly cared whether their not-so-cute son came home late or not at all.

Saheon nodded irritably.

Mintae vanished before he could change his mind.