Chapter 66: 3 Months?

Just one sip of water, Bodam calmly placed the glass back on the table.

Team Leader Kim, who had mentally replayed the name he couldn’t have misheard, answered one beat late.

“You can go see him, but why?”

At a face that seemed genuinely curious, Bodam replied spiritedly.

He felt energized thanks to having eaten and feeling full.

“I can’t just stay like this forever.”

“…To guide him?”

Lee Tae Hwan’s absurd confession and Han’s demand for his guiding were swiftly dismissed from his mind.

Whatever those guys babbled, it was none of his business.

Hearing something so completely unexpected, it felt unreal.

But Kang Yi Jun was different.

“First, I’ll check his condition.”

He couldn’t just ignore Kang Yi Jun.

Their senses were connected.

He even appeared in his dreams tirelessly.

His form wasn’t visible, but he could feel a persistent aura and a voice desperately seeking him.

He couldn’t hear it, but that bastard’s emotions were clearly transmitted.

“Don’t overexert yourself.”

“The doctor said there’s nothing wrong with my body.”

Bodam’s attending physician said that the temporary symptoms of throwing up blood and his eyes suddenly closing, along with the onset of sleep, were all due to Esper Kang Yi Jun’s influence.

Thus, the doctor emphasized that Bodam’s body had no problems, only stressing stress management and sufficient rest.

Bodam felt deeply relieved by the doctor’s standard explanation.

It meant all problems would be resolved if Kang Yi Jun recovered.

The one in pain wasn’t Bodam, but Kang Yi Jun.

“His wavelength levels are still dangerously high. Try it after they stabilize a bit more with the guiding machine.”

“I want to go home quickly.”

Team Leader Kim, for whom the Center had been more familiar than his own home for a long time, immediately ceased his persuasion at Bodam’s words.

He lightly scratched his chin and just smiled, feeling as if he had said something unnecessary to a Guide who naturally wanted to return home.

Bodam also smiled back at him.

He thanked him for his concern and also said it wasn’t necessary.

“I’m good at guiding.”

Bodam, an A-class high-tier Guide coveted by countless Espers, spoke confidently.

Especially when guiding an Esper with a 96% matching rate, it was even more of a given.

He was confident he would succeed in guiding this time.

It was for his own safety.

“Then shall we go now?”

“Just let me put on my coat! I borrowed it from Jo Yeon. It’s a bit big, though.”

“Take your time.”

He worried that if he went home in this state, he might throw up blood again due to Kang Yi Jun’s worsening condition.

He was anxious about his mother and Bomi possibly seeing him like that.

Anyway, he had time to spare and no urgent fire to put out.

He was willing to wait until Kang Yi Jun’s wavelength dropped to 85%.

Bodam, who couldn’t trust his physical strength but firmly believed in his skill, decided to lower the wavelength in less than a month.

“Three months, what—.”

“Huh?”

Bodam, who had inadvertently mumbled to himself, shook his hand at Team Leader Kim, saying no.

Han Seung Ho, whose control bracelet had shattered, added a final remark before leaving Bodam’s room.

To stay for just three months.

Naturally, Bodam chewed on his words with a blank expression, as if a dog were barking somewhere.

‘Seriously, three months?’

While Bodam was scathingly disparaging Han Seung Ho in his mind, he had already approached Kang Yi Jun’s room.

Bodam, wearing Jo Yeon’s oversized coat, felt at ease thanks to the familiar scent, even if it looked like he had secretly put on his dad’s clothes.

Feeling like he was with Jo Yeon, his stomach was full, and his heart felt secure too.

“Just a moment.”

Before opening the door to the widest hospital room where Yi Jun was lying, Bodam took a deep breath.

He regulated his breathing to achieve a state of inner calm and read the energy of his body.

He mentally prepared himself, anticipating his blood pressure would rise upon seeing Kang Yi Jun.

“There’s also research suggesting that natural imprinting stems from psychological instability,” Team Leader Kim, who had been patiently waiting for Bodam, suddenly spoke.

“They say that when a Guide who has always been close disappears, the Esper feels excessive anxiety and enters a rampage crisis, which might reveal natural imprinting.

Furthermore, since you were Esper Kang Yi Jun’s first Guide, his attachment would have been even stronger. And the matching rate is formidable.”

Bodam cautiously asked about the intense aura trying to pull the Guide, which resembled imprinting.

Kang Yi Jun’s obsession didn’t seem likely to fade easily.

“Then… it won’t resolve?”

“No. It means there could be a clear solution.”

Team Leader Kim quickly added an explanation to Bodam, who had stepped away from the door.

“They say if the wavelength enters a stable range and the mind becomes at ease, the natural imprinting is more likely to break faster. To be honest, all the cases we’ve found so far have ended with genuine imprinting, so I couldn’t tell you.

But there are also cases where the connection gradually faded over time and then naturally broke. True to its name. Naturally.”

Bodam’s expression lightened at the surprisingly simple solution, and he clenched his fist.

It was a fist filled with energy to give him strength.

“Then stabilizing his wavelength comes first, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But why are you telling me now?”

No one had given him this explanation until now.

Even though Bodam had been unconscious or asleep for more than half the day since entering the medical center, he wasn’t in a state where he couldn’t have heard this much explanation.

“I just heard it too. Han Seung Ho asked me to tell you.”

Team Leader Kim added that it was new information he had just found out.

Bodam nodded slowly and thanked him for letting him know.

And then he took a step towards the door again.

His goal had become even clearer.

***

Fire ants the size of a small child poured out of the gate.

Their danger level was low enough for a well-built Guide to catch them with bare hands. However, each time they appeared, they came in swarms of hundreds, making their suppression take a long time.

Of course, in Sectors 1 and 2, which had A and S-class Espers, they would be dealt with in an instant, but this was Sector 3’s gate.

“Jo Yeon Yeok. Don’t overdo it.”

Jo Yeon said to Yeon Yeok, who had consecutively grabbed and broken the necks of two fire ants.

Yeon Yeok, ignoring him, pouted and pulled out the short sword from his waist, definitively cutting off the fire ant’s breath.

“I told you, if you hold the sword like that, you’ll hurt your hand.”

Jo Yeon, who had psychokinetically pulled out the sword Yeon Yeok was holding, demonstrated.

‘Hold the sword hilt to avoid straining the wrist, and use the body’s weight, not just the arm—.’

“I know that.”

Yeon Yeok openly turned his back on Jo Yeon, who was trying to teach him how to use a sword.

Though his physique was mature, Jo Yeon Yeok, the Guide who had worn a school uniform until just the other day, at 18 years old, was sulking at his team leader and cousin.

“I said I’m sorry, you brat.”

“No. What do you have to be sorry for, Hyung? Don’t apologize. I won’t accept it.”

Yeon Yeok, waving his arms and saying he was fine, truly didn’t look okay.

Though he seemed lighthearted, he was surprisingly sensitive and easily influenced by others.

“What? Are you two fighting?”

Gabi, who happened to teleport to find Yeon Yeok for guiding, asked.

True to her nature, raising eight-year-old twin brothers above her youngest son, she mediated with familiarity.

“Just hit each other once and get it over with.”

Yeon Yeok avoided reconciliation, looking for a place to sit for guiding.

‘He wanted to stay sulking a little longer.’

‘How could he say such a thing to him, who worked harder than anyone?’

‘How could he tell him to leave the team—!’

“Hey. Your hyung said he was wrong.”

Yesterday afternoon, sitting face-to-face in the common waiting room during the snack time Jo Yeon had procured, a dagger pierced Yeon Yeok’s heart.

Jo Yeon had spoken too hastily to Yeon Yeok, who was diligently trying to cheer up his cousin and assigned Esper from his depressed mood.

“Do you want to leave the team?”

Yeon Yeok, who spoke to a rock large enough for Gabi to sit on, mimicked Jo Yeon’s soft voice, showing his hurt feelings.

It was what Jo Yeon had said to Yeon Yeok.

He had asked yesterday if Yeon Yeok had any thoughts of transferring to another team.

At first, Yeon Yeok took it as a casual remark he always made, replying, “I’d be thankful.” Then, seeing his hyung’s happy reaction, he realized he was serious.

‘My goodness.’

Yeon Yeok almost cried.

“Yeon Yeok.”

Jo Yeon approached Yeon Yeok, who was even taking his frustration out on a rock, and tried to soothe him, telling him to just hit him instead.

He knew well that Yeon Yeok, though uncomfortable with contact with his relatives, had already grown fond of and deeply attached to his good-natured teammates and the comfortable atmosphere.

That’s why it was hard to bring up the subject.

But yesterday, filled with thoughts of Bodam, he had hurt Yeon Yeok.

The more he thought of Bodam in his hospital gown and the worsening situation in civilian areas due to unregistered users, only one thought came to mind.

‘He wished Bodam would come back to their team.’

“Hyung, I… almost every day, without fail, I think about and worry about our Espers.

The reason I take multivitamins I didn’t use to eat, and take care of my health more than during my physical education college entrance exams, it’s all for our Espers!”

Yeon Yeok, who stopped speaking and sighed deeply, grew emotional.

“What if they, shit, rampage when I’m not there! I try to maintain my best condition every day!”

After that, he confessed numerous large and small subtle considerations that the Espers hadn’t noticed, expressing his resentment.

He was a much more diligent guy than expected.

Gabi and Jo Yeon were more confused than touched by his confession that he even used hand cream to avoid discomfort when holding hands.

“…Who told you to go that far?”

“If I do well, they complain! If I don’t, they complain! The world is just—!”

Yeon Yeok, who was filling his passion for sports, put on hold by his Guide manifestation, with voluntarily excessive workload, was on the verge of tears at his hyung’s attitude, who didn’t understand his feelings.

At this, Gabi approached him, saying “I know,” and tried to comfort him.

Even while huffing, Yeon Yeok, who had grabbed Gabi’s hand and started guiding, spoke nonsense due to his heightened emotions.

“Try to obsess over me a little, Hyung. Like other Espers, earnestly desire me, and tell me you can’t do without me!”

When he asked if he was asking for too much, Gabi couldn’t bring herself to answer and just shrugged and smiled.

It was behavior sometimes seen in new recruits taking on their first dedicated team assignments.

The desire to make a good impression on their first colleagues, and pouring excessive passion into their first job receiving a salary as an adult.

The more diligent and kind they were, the more that passion burned excessively.

He was a Guide they couldn’t help but adore.

‘Because of Guide Yoon?’

Gabi, who had started to focus on guiding, mouthed the question to Jo Yeon without making a sound so Yeon Yeok wouldn’t hear.

Jo Yeon, nodding to the quick-witted Gabi, rubbed the back of his neck.

He was sorry for speaking too hastily and hurting Yeon Yeok.

“Tell him to come as a backup Guide.”

To this, Gabi bluntly replied.

“Team assignments won’t be exactly as he wants, but he can apply. If he’s backup, there won’t be much burden, and our Guide’s workload will decrease.”

Jo Yeon, taking his hand off his stiff neck, gaped.

“Ah,” a silent exclamation of admiration escaped him.

There was a way to have Bodam with them without having to let go of their current dedicated Guide.

A backup Guide.

“But this pay is too little, though.”

Gabi, pressing her thumb and forefinger together to indicate money, wore a bitter expression.

It seemed Guide Yoon Bodam, who had resigned, was looking for a job again, but the pay for a backup Guide was almost halved.