It was as if everything had been meticulously prepared for this moment. Hanseo was certain that this outcome was inevitable, given Gu Jei's lack of alternatives.
Yet Hanseo froze momentarily.
"Mr. Yeo Hanseo?"
But the moment he met Gu Jei's cold, emotionless gaze, his frozen body thawed as if released from a spell, and his mind began to function normally again. Without further hesitation, Hanseo nodded.
"Yes! I'll do it. I'll marry you."
Gu Jei's gaze lingered on Hanseo for a moment before he continued with a calm explanation.
"As I mentioned before, Espers and Guides in a marital relationship can serve as exclusive Guides. If you agree to become my exclusive Guide, I intend to compensate you generously."
Gu Jei pulled out the paper beneath the marriage registration form and placed it on top.
This contract, entered into by Yeo Hanseo (hereinafter referred to as "Party A") and Gu Jei (hereinafter referred to as "Party B") through mutual agreement, stipulates that both parties shall faithfully adhere to the following terms throughout the contract period:
Below this, dense lines of text continued.
"Mr. Yeo Hanseo, if you accept this contract and become my exclusive Guide, I've listed what I can provide on my end, as well as a few mutual obligations we must uphold."
Hanseo pretended to skim the document before nodding.
"Yes, that sounds good. Let's do it this way."
"Please read it properly."
Gu Jei flipped the page and pointed to a specific sentence. Hanseo awkwardly lowered his gaze. Before the words registered, his eyes were drawn to the straight, slender finger. A man with hands as large as his height naturally had fingers far longer than average.
The tip of his finger rested on the black letters on the paper. Only then did Hanseo slowly begin to read.
Party A and Party B shall not engage in physical contact without mutual consent.
This clause clearly demonstrated that their relationship was a transaction, not a marriage.
Hanseo subtly glanced up at Gu Jei.
"But sometimes physical contact is necessary for Guiding..."
"Guiding will be conducted solely through emission."
Emission Guiding refers to a method where the Guide emits their Guiding energy outward without physical contact. However, this method is generally less efficient than other Guiding techniques.
"Violation of any contract terms will result in immediate termination of the agreement."
"But what if... what if a truly critical moment arises? There could be unavoidable circumstances, like what happened at the center."
"An incident like that is unlikely to happen again, but temporary exceptions are permitted in emergencies."
Unlikely to happen again? Hanseo scoffed inwardly, knowing full well what awaited Gu Jei in the future.
Of course, as long as he was there, it wouldn't happen. More precisely, he intended to make sure it didn't. But seeing Gu Jei's uncooperative attitude, he sensed this wouldn't be an easy task.
And I can't exactly tell him to cooperate just because I know the future.
Even if he confessed outright that he was from the future, that suspicious bastard wouldn't believe him. It was understandable, considering even Hanseo himself didn't know exactly how he'd returned to the past.
In a world where people could fly through the sky and conjure flames from thin air, but a book that could send the dead back in time? He'd never heard of anything like it.
He considered making a more plausible claim, like having the ability to see the future. Espers with precognitive abilities weren't uncommon. But since he didn't actually possess such powers, his lie would quickly be exposed. More importantly, he couldn't risk revealing that he was both an Esper and a Guide.
Well, I never expected it to be easy. When has Gu Jei ever been easy?
Lost in thought, Han Seo must have been staring too intently at Gu Jei. The indifferent expression on Gu Jei's face gradually turned icy. Only then did Hanseo realize his mistake and awkwardly averted his gaze, but the once-frozen expression never softened again, as if some misunderstanding had taken root.
"However, that was an exceptional circumstance. Otherwise, you must never Guide me or make physical contact without permission."
Gu Jei's voice was cold, as if Hanseo had already violated the contract. His eyes, so dark that they seemed bottomless, stared down at Hanseo.
"This marriage is purely a transaction based on mutual necessity. I have no feelings for you, Mr. Yeo Hanseo, and I never will."
His tone was resolute, as if he intend to sever all ties without leaving even the slightest possibility for doubt.
"If you're considering signing the contract, Mr. Yeo Hanseo, I would appreciate it if you could abandon any feelings you might have for me as soon as possible. It will only make things uncomfortable for both of us."
Technically, according to the contract, Hanseo held the upper hand as the Guide, while Gu Jei was in the subordinate position as the Esper. Guides can survive without Espers, but Espers can't live without Guides. Yet Gu Jei didn't even bother trying to impress his only Guide—a truly Gu Jei-like move.
Gu Jei's behavior stemmed partly from his inherent nature, but it was also likely because he feared that beating around the bush might give Hanseo false hope. As if Hanseo couldn't already sense that Gu Jei harbored no feelings for him, even without such blunt declarations.
Even a child could tell from that cold, emotionless gaze.
If Hanseo was truly the tenderhearted Yeo Hanseo who harboured a one-sided love for Gu Jei, he might have been hurt by his indifference.
But Hanseo wasn't the real Yeo Hanseo. Since he wasn't genuine, there was no reason for him to feel hurt.
"What will you do?"
Hanseo glanced down at the contract before picking up the pen beside it.
"I'll do it."
"......"
"And I'll try to... let go of my feelings."
Though there were no feelings to let go of in the first place.
He understood why Gu Jei was acting so coldly, so his attitude didn't particularly bother him. Perhaps it was also because he knew Gu Jei genuinely wanted to marry someone he loved.
Gu Jei had said something similar in his past life, though it never came to fruition.
Well, you can do it after you divorce me later. As long as you're alive, you can do anything.
Just as Hanseo was about to sign his name, the contract beneath his hand slid across the table in the opposite direction. Hanseo stared at Gu Jei in disbelief.
"What...?"
"You sign a contract after reading it thoroughly."
Gu Jei seemed to sigh, but his expression remained completely impassive. Hanseo wondered if he had imagined it.
"Do you understand?"
"Huh? Yes, I do."
"Then let's start from page one. I'll read it aloud. Ask if anything is unclear."
Gu Jei's low voice began reading the contract. It was a deep, resonant tone that always sounded pleasant.
Hanseo felt strangely dazed.
We've done this before.
When Hanseo first met Gu Jei in his previous life, he couldn't read. The research institute provided its test subjects with balanced meals and exercise, but they never taught them to read. They likely believed literacy was unnecessary for their purposes.
As a result, Hanseo remained illiterate until his mid-twenties. Yet there were always times when he needed to read. In their remote village, Gu Jei would read for him whenever necessary—just like now.
Hanseo raised his hand.
"I don't understand this part."
He continued to ask about every difficult word, and Gu Jei patiently explained each one until Hanseo fully grasped it, never once showing irritation.
This situation felt eerily similar to their past life, making Hanseo feel weirdly unsettled, even though the man before him remembered nothing of it.
In truth, Han Seo's failure to properly read the contract wasn't due to naivety, as Gu Jei mistakenly believed.
While the Hanseo who had just escaped the research lab in his previous life might have lacked worldly knowledge, the current Hanseo possessed basic common sense, even if he didn't know all the technical terms. He understood the fundamental principle of carefully reviewing contracts.
The reason he hadn't scrutinized this particular contract was because he instinctively knew it had been drafted in a way that wouldn't disadvantage him.
"...That's what it means. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand."
Exploiting the naive Yeo Hanseo would have been easy. But the man before him was someone who would never stoop to such tactics.
Whether in his past life or now, Gu Jei had always been that kind of person.
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