Chapter 37: First Meeting

The appearance of Lee Tae Hwan, accompanied by a Teleport Esper, drew the eyes of everyone standing at the Zone 3 Gate.

They wondered why an S-class ability user had come to this easy area.

Tae Hwan, who only went to high-danger Gates, had no reason to set foot in Zone 3.

He came all the way here to see some *sshole with a ridiculous name.

F*ck, what kind of person is named Jo Yeon? And Jeon Jo Yeon at that.

As soon as he heard it, he could only let out a hollow laugh at the three characters of a name that seemed to have been carelessly thrown together.

What was so good about someone called by such a name?

‘Hey, get up.’

For Tae Hwan’s birthday, someone had once sent an excessive dessert set to his home.

They were all troublesome foods that had to be eaten and discarded on the same day.

Tae Hwan, with an annoyed expression, was about to throw them away still packaged but hesitated for a moment and thought he should feed them to Yoon Bodam instead.

He hadn’t even received his guiding for the day yet anyway.

So Tae Hwan went to the waiting room with the gigantic dessert box and, without explanation, dragged Bodam, who was reading a book on the living room sofa, into his room.

As usual, Bodam’s face, full of worry, blinked in admiration at the desserts that completely filled the table.

He rolled his large eyes, seeming to want to ask if he could eat them.

It was annoying to see him just glance at the food that was clearly laid out to be eaten.

His mood also soured more at Yoon Bodam’s hungry expression, his stomach rumbling after 2 PM.

‘If you’re not going to eat it, I’m throwing it away.’

‘Why would you throw this away?’

‘I’m throwing it away.’

Bodam, who shot up after Tae Hwan as he stood up with the cake box, shouted, ‘I’ll eat it!’

And he really ate it deliciously.

He savored the taste and ate well enough to make Tae Hwan’s mouth water, despite Tae Hwan detesting sweet foods.

He quickly finished the small dessert as if someone was going to take it away, then his speed suddenly slowed down.

His stomach felt like it was getting sick from eating all that sweetness without coffee.

Tae Hwan belatedly remembered coffee and took out his phone to open the delivery app that only operated within the Center.

Just because I wanted to drink it.

‘Hey.’

Bodam called Tae Hwan, who was adding various types of coffee to his cart while parched.

He wiped his greasy lips with a tissue and looked around again, trying to gauge the mood.

He stared irritably at Yoon Bodam, who was eating well just moments ago but was now acting frustratingly.

Perhaps intimidated by Tae Hwan’s gaze, Bodam’s voice grew small, and he mumbled, looking down.

‘Can I take this home?’

‘If not, never mind…’ The words added afterward were barely audible.

In a fit of pique, he almost re-ordered all the dessert menu items and sent them straight to Yoon Bodam’s house.

A sudden, absurd laugh burst out at his own thought.

To an outsider, it was nothing but a sneer.

Bodam, whose mood soured, put down his fork.

His mouth, which had been stuffing in slices of cake, sagged, tightly shut.

‘Take it.’

‘No, it’s fine.’

‘Take it.’

‘Oh, it’s fine. I won’t eat it.’

‘I was just laughing.’

Tae Hwan said.

He felt like he was on a sugar rush, even though he hadn’t eaten a single cookie.

He had the mental restraint to put up with the moderately annoyed Guide.

He wondered if he was just excited because it was his birthday, which hadn’t been special since he got stuck living in the Center.

‘Because your face is so f*cking funny.’

Bodam, tired of arguing and squawking with Tae Hwan, who was suddenly picking a fight, said his sugar levels were dropping and finished eating the cake.

That was so f*cking funny that he kept chuckling, and then they fought again, with Bodam telling him to stop laughing at him.

Yoon Bodam had a knack for making him want to pick fights.

His huffing and puffing when poked was like an enraged hamster.

‘Take it.’

Even after raging, he handed the cake box to Yoon Bodam, who was leaving after finishing all the guiding.

It was the most elaborately decorated mini round cake.

He hadn’t even touched it, just admired it, as if it were too precious to eat, so Tae Hwan thought he was going to set up a memorial rite with it.

When Tae Hwan personally packed the box and handed it to him, only then did Bodam hum and snatch it from his hand with an attitude that implied he would accept it.

‘I ate well.’

He even managed to say goodbye nicely amidst all that.

For the first time in a long while, he spent his birthday, which had been terrible ever since he awakened as an Esper, grinning foolishly.

Only after Yoon Bodam left first did Tae Hwan think of coffee again and went to the living room.

Seeing that Yoon Bodam wasn’t where he expected to find coffee, he assumed he went to the cafe.

There were no urgent Gate incidents, so he went down to the cafe where Yoon Bodam always spent his time.

It was the largest and noisiest cafe with cheap coffee.

Whenever he asked Yoon Bodam where he was, he was always at that cafe.

He wondered why.

It seemed it wasn’t just because of the cheap coffee.

Next to Yoon Bodam, who was chattering with a rare, wide smile, sat an Esper he had never seen before.

They looked f*cking close.

Yoon Bodam was showing off the cake Tae Hwan had given him to the Esper, taking pictures, and urging him to eat it quickly.

Watching their ridiculous squabble over who should eat more made him curse involuntarily.

That was the first time he saw that Esper.

He didn’t know who the f*ck he was, but he looked like someone who would live up to his name.

“Jeon Jo Yeon?”

Jo Yeon looked up toward the voice calling him.

It was a familiar and famous face.

Especially among psychokinesis users, there was no one who hadn’t seen S-class Lee Tae Hwan’s field videos.

Jo Yeon was also a psychokinesis Esper like Tae Hwan.

Though their ranks were completely different.

“Yes.”

Jo Yeon put his phone in his pocket and stood up.

Na Un, who had been lounging like a sloth that had lived its whole life, and the surrounding Espers all also stood up.

Though young in age, Lee Tae Hwan was part of a higher-ranking team and an S-class Esper revered by the Center.

Even Espers who had lived decades longer than him all treated Lee Tae Hwan with utmost respect.

Tae Hwan, who suffered greatly from the heat, wiped the sweat from his forehead and scanned his surroundings.

Those who met Tae Hwan’s irritable gaze politely moved out of his way.

The group of Espers, who had been gathered in threes and fours even in the stifling heat, instantly disappeared.

Only Tae Hwan and Jo Yeon remained.

Jo Yeon’s moist eyebrows, which were just as sweaty as Tae Hwan’s, furrowed.

It was his first confrontation with an Esper from Attack Team 3, whom he had only heard about.

Seeing him in person, his impression was even worse than what Bodam had told him, far uglier than in videos.

If he hadn’t awakened as an Esper, he would have been a piece of trash that could easily become a big shot in the underworld.

Regardless of how he looked, his overall aura was the worst.

Moreover, his height was abnormally tall.

He looked even bigger due to his ridiculously broad shoulders.

Bodam, who was petite and had to face such an Esper, suddenly seemed both impressive and pitiable.

‘Why did this fcking bstard come here?’

He glared at Lee Tae Hwan, who, despite showing up out of nowhere and chasing away all the resting Espers, wouldn’t say a word.

He exuded an intimidating aura that suggested he would curse immediately, yet his actions didn’t match his appearance.

Lee Tae Hwan only moved his lips and glared with beast-like eyes.

As if he was choosing his words.

Jo Yeon, who maintained silence, played along with the staring contest Tae Hwan initiated.

Even when the Gate showed signs of reopening, Lee Tae Hwan remained silent.

Finally, Jo Yeon spoke first.

“Didn’t you come here to say something?”

“If not, I’ll be going now.”

Jo Yeon finished his words, dropping the precious water bottle as if throwing it on the ground.

Jo Yeon’s team members were already heading towards their assigned Gate.

Judging by the Gate, which was vibrating enough to make the ground rumble, it seemed large monsters were involved this time.

“Is he sick?”

Lee Tae Hwan asked.

Jo Yeon, who was about to disengage from the meaningless staring contest and go do his job, turned to face him again.

“He must be sick.”

Jo Yeon replied with a cold gaze and voice.

He carefully observed Lee Tae Hwan’s sharp reaction to the mention of illness.

“Bodam hasn’t been well since he joined Attack Team 3.”

He continued, saying.

Everything was the unexaggerated truth.

Boom.

The Gate, which had already settled, swelled with noise.

Espers in combat stance hardened their relaxed expressions and tensed up.

Perhaps sensing the S-class Lee Tae Hwan, the energy of the converging monsters was rapidly increasing.

Jo Yeon, who was reading the flow from afar, assessed the situation and thought he should exempt the exhausted Na Un.

Since the fiery Esper Jin Beom was still perfectly fine, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to remove one team member.

Before that,

“You must be pleased.”

Jo Yeon, who zipped up his combat uniform, said sarcastically.

“Since you went to all that trouble to drain his lifeblood. You must feel relieved now that he’s gone.”

It was sarcasm that would only be complete with a wide smile, but Jo Yeon couldn’t bring himself to force a smile.

Seeing the son of a b*tch who neglected the Guide he was supposed to protect in the field and pushed his already weak body to its limits right in front of him, his blood pressure rose.

The most infuriating thing was him asking about Bodam’s well-being now.

“Hey, Jo Yeon.”

Just then, Tae Hwan suddenly raised his thick arm and brought his hand close to Jo Yeon’s right ear.

The moment Tae Hwan, his dark eyes filled with curses, firmly gripped his widely spread hand,

KWAANG—!

A tremendous noise echoed from the various Gates, where dozens of attack teams had been facing off with tension.

It was the sound of forcibly extracted monsters bursting simultaneously like firecrackers.

The monsters, pulled out like strings of minced meat, were instantly torn into red flesh.

The debris of firecrackers falling from the sky soiled the ground with thick liquid.

The stunned Espers couldn’t even think to dodge and were hit directly by the soft flesh and hard shells.

Exclamations close to horror came next.

Jo Yeon didn’t even have to turn around to grasp the situation at the Gate.

Monsters that they would have barely been able to clear within half a day by attacking as a team were being dealt with in a single gesture.

Lee Tae Hwan’s face, glaring as if to kill him without averting his gaze, didn’t waver.

He looked perfectly fine, as if this much power wasn’t even considered exerting himself.

“Tell him to contact me if he needs money. Or anything else he needs, even if it’s not money.”

Tae Hwan said, dropping his clenched fist down to press on Jo Yeon’s shoulder.

His low, thick voice, befitting his large stature, snarled fiercely.

“It’s not a challenge, so convey it nicely. I—.”

He stopped speaking, only moving his lips, and turned his gaze from Jo Yeon.

He finished his own words as if spitting them out and turned away.

Then, with a single nod, he called the Teleport Esper and disappeared.

Espers rushed to Jo Yeon, who was left alone, showering him with questions about whether he was friends with Esper Lee Tae Hwan.

The same loose mouths that had been cursing Attack Team 3 minutes ago began praising Tae Hwan’s abilities and appearance.

Jo Yeon distanced himself from them and merely picked up the water bottle he had thrown down.