Chapter 80: Alright

Tae Hwan couldn’t focus on work.

Ever since he hugged Yoon Bodam and received guiding, his wildly acting heart showed no signs of calming down.

Even though he’d been so restless that he’d spent the night awake and come to the field since the crack of dawn, the gate didn’t register in his eyes.

He even spared a monster’s life when he was about to strike its neck, because Yoon Bodam’s face came to mind.

If something seemed to have just eyes, nose, and mouth, it was all Yoon Bodam’s white face superimposed.

He missed him.

[Are you not going to contact me?]

Ten minutes after asking if he could go see him, he sent the next message.

Even though he sent the message at an appropriate time for Bodam to be awake, the ‘read’ receipt hadn’t disappeared.

“Is he still sleeping…”

Tae Hwan, who had sent his eighth KakaoTalk message starting with “Did you eat breakfast?”, seemed ready to climb into his phone.

His expression grew darker and darker, wondering if he had been blocked again.

The attack-type Espers around him, who were dealing with monsters in his stead, couldn’t even approach Tae Hwan, thinking something serious must have happened to him.

They wondered if someone had ripped him off and disappeared.

That’s how terrifying Tae Hwan’s expression was as he stared intently at his phone.

“Haa—damn it,”

Tae Hwan, his face deeply scrunched, tore his gaze from his phone and gritted his teeth.

He wanted to go to him right away, but he had no good excuse.

He poked his forehead with his phone, earnestly racking his brain.

He pondered how to visit without being turned away at the door.

If he had his way, he wanted to stay by his side all day.

“Esper Lee Tae Hwan! Watch out behind you—”

Tae Hwan subdued the charging monster in an instant, rendering the urgent warning from the attack-type Esper meaningless.

He grabbed the enormous monster’s neck with his bare hands, not psychokinesis, and squeezed it with sheer grip strength.

He even instantly cut off the monster’s breath, sending it flying far away as it let out grotesque screams.

Reactions of admiration followed from those around him at the sight of Tae Hwan, who had sent the monster, which three Espers had struggled with, flying with a mere sigh.

Tae Hwan, uninterested, only looked for the next monster to vent his anger on.

He was so angry that his neck felt hot.

It was anger directed at no one but himself.

“Ah—I’m seriously going to die.”

Tae Hwan, who had been to heaven with Bodam’s reply of ‘I’ll think about it’ when he asked to be friends, now felt like he had swallowed hellfire.

He worried if he had been blocked again with a needless comment.

All his attention was on Yoon Bodam and the phone waiting for his reply.

Screeeech!

The unpleasant scream of the monster felt like it was speaking for his own insides.

At this moment, he felt he could do anything if someone would just turn back time.

If he could just return to the moment he first met Yoon Bodam, he would truly do anything.

“Everyone out.”

Tae Hwan, standing alone in front of the gate, which was spewing out monsters, ordered the surrounding Espers.

One or two monsters would never be enough to relieve his anger.

Since he couldn’t rip apart himself for wasting half a year that could have brought him closer to Yoon Bodam, he relentlessly tore the monsters’ bodies to rags.

***

Ji Oh, who had lost consciousness after being slammed into the wall, opened his eyes with a string of curses.

The guides, startled by his harsh language, dropped their hands and sprang up.

Ji Oh, who had been laid on a guiding bed by Seung Ho’s order, emitted his intense displeasure through his wave, chasing the guides away.

‘f*ck.’ The headache that had been pressing down on his head due to lack of guiding had disappeared, but he felt like shit.

The unfamiliar guide’s wave permeating his body felt repulsive.

“Yoon Bodam…”

It was the guiding rejection reaction that Ji Oh periodically experienced.

It was one of the chronic conditions often seen in Espers sensitive to environmental changes.

The symptoms, which had subsided around last autumn, were starting again.

He, who had avoided not only guides but also medicine and machines, saw his rejection reaction disappear around the end of last autumn.

He wondered if he was finally adapting to guiding, but he wasn’t.

“Yoon Bodam, f*ck.”

It was because of that guy.

It was Yoon Bodam’s guiding that made it possible for him to receive it in abundance.

“Yoon—”

Ji Oh, who rose from the bed and stumbled, was about to use teleportation immediately but almost ripped his body apart.

Using his ability hastily in an unprepared state naturally led to accidents.

Among those unskilled in teleportation, not a few had one of their limbs badly damaged.

Ji Oh, who had almost committed a terrible mistake that only fools would make, opened his eyes wide.

He clearly recalled the destination he needed to arrive at, properly conscious.

He vividly pictured the place where his last memory was cut off.

“Yoon Bodam.”

Ji Oh, who arrived in front of the familiar hospital room, sought the name that clung to his lips.

He rushed towards the barrier Espers, who were sticking close to the door, guarding the hospital room, with a serious face.

“Where’s Yoon Bodam?!”

The gatekeepers, watching his peculiar behavior of forcefully banging his forehead again even after hitting the transparent protective shield, looked as if to say, ‘What’s wrong with him?’

As an A-class Esper, he should be able to read the barrier’s aura, but the way he rushed in frantically looked like he had a screw loose.

“Is Yoon Bodam okay?!”

He indeed had a screw loose.

He couldn’t grasp the situation because his body had been sent flying in the midst of being preoccupied with Bodam, whom he had seen for the first time in two months.

All his attention was so focused that he hadn’t even registered Tae Hwan’s psychokinesis.

“f*ck, is Yoon Bodam okay?!!”

Ji Oh, thinking he had been attacked, yelled, his neck veins protruding.

A person capable of sending him flying like that didn’t seem like an ordinary guy.

Being suddenly attacked and knocked out, it was understandable that he would mistake it for an ambush.

Drag.

Just then, Ji Oh, startled by the sound of the door opening, gasped and opened his eyes wide.

His eyes narrowed sharply again at the sight of the bulky barrier Esper, not the face he had hoped for.

“Our regular customer has come again.”

Team Leader Kim, who had closed the door and stepped out, stood in the middle of the gatekeepers.

His words were light, but his low voice was even deeper than usual.

He looked extremely unwell at first glance.

Of course, in Ji Oh’s eyes, he just looked like an annoying barrier team leader.

“Is Yoon Bodam inside?! Is he alright?!”

“Shhh.”

Team Leader Kim, covering his lips with a finger, silenced Ji Oh.

He then issued a warning that prevented Ji Oh from opening his closed mouth again.

“If you want to be permanently banned from access, keep talking.”

Ji Oh’s mouth, which had been open as if to curse, froze.

He couldn’t even utter a squeak at the low warning, filled with sincerity.

His head, which was so full of Yoon Bodam it was rigidly fixed, automatically obeyed the warning.

But he couldn’t just be driven away again without properly seeing Yoon Bodam’s face.

Ji Oh, glaring with eyes full of suppressed curses, chewed his lower lip, then finally spat out a curse that erupted from his throat.

The call notification ringing on his watch made him unable to help but curse.

Ding-a-ling ding-a-ling, even with the repeatedly ringing notification, his feet wouldn’t move.

Team Leader Kim, watching him, gave a final warning.

He had gotten used to dealing with Min Ji Oh, whom he had seen so often that he almost felt familiar.

“If you’re not gone by the count of three, it’s a permanent extension.”

The gatekeepers standing on either side of Team Leader Kim wondered if such a warning would actually work.

They worried that irritating him might just escalate the commotion.

Having often heard rumors of Attack Team 3’s notorious hothead, they watched nervously.

“One.”

Team Leader Kim counted the number, accompanied by the loudly ringing call notification.

Ji Oh alternately glared at his watch and Team Leader Kim, then looked up at the ceiling with a mirthless laugh.

The gatekeepers, anticipating the situation would escalate from Ji Oh’s truly enraged aura, let out a sigh in advance.

‘Surely Min Ji Oh wouldn’t—’

“Two.”

They hadn’t expected him to disappear before the next number was counted.

“…He’s gone?”

“He really left…”

Team Leader Kim instructed the gatekeepers, who were staring blankly at the empty space where Ji Oh had been, to deal with noisy behavior this way in the future.

The more he saw him, the more he realized he was surprisingly easy to handle.

Even when he was screaming in frustration, he would just barely manage to stay within the lines he shouldn’t cross.

It was also funny how he diligently showed up without even knowing what he truly wanted.

Anyway, he was just a rich fool.

A rich fool with a handsome face.

…Putting it together, it seemed like a compliment, so he decided to omit the ‘handsome face’ part.

“Well then, good work.”

Team Leader Kim, sweeping his hand over his fatigue-ridden head, opened the hospital room door and went back inside.

There was a person inside who bothered him much more than Min Ji Oh.

Although he often pulled all-nighters, Team Leader Kim, dragging his unusually weary body to open the refrigerator, inwardly clucked his tongue.

He chugged a cool vitamin drink in one go and looked at the sofa with a displeased expression.

‘Someone’s pulling an all-nighter standing guard, and now…’

“Team Leader Han.”

Team Leader Kim whispered softly to avoid waking Bodam and placed the cold drink bottle on Seung Ho’s shoulder.

He utterly disliked the sight of Seung Ho sitting on the sofa, holding Guide Yoon in his arms and sleeping.

He also hated seeing him stiff as a statue, not even nodding off, only with his eyes closed.

“Get up now.”

Team Leader Kim, who couldn’t disturb Bodam’s sound sleep, as Bodam was holding onto Seung Ho’s collar, made Seung Ho sit on the sofa, not the bed.

He absolutely did not let them lie in the bed together.

They sat facing each other on the sofa, Team Leader Kim having a somewhat private conversation and waiting for Bodam to wake up.

Once, he tried to let Bodam go again, but Bodam’s crying expression made him decide to wait a little longer.

Repeating “just a little more” like that, dawn broke.

“Your watch is going crazy, are you alright?”

Team Leader Kim asked, pointing to Seung Ho’s relentlessly flashing watch.

He must have put a barrier around his wrist, as there was no sound.

He must really want to be with Guide Yoon.

“Guide’s face is going to have a hole in it.”

He snorted, shaking his head, sarcastically commenting on Seung Ho, who was staring at only one place again the moment he opened his eyes.

His gaze was still cold, but Bodam could feel that he was pouring all his thoughts and senses into that one place.

It was tiring to say now, but he wondered if that was really Han Seung Ho.

“When he wakes up, have him examined first.”

Finally, as if intending to withdraw, Seung Ho rose from the sofa and headed towards the bed.

Team Leader Kim, who had tried to persuade him throughout the night, only replied, “Alright.”

Naturally, Guide Yoon would want to return home, and since he was even offered a new home in a safe zone, it was not a bad offer.

If the external issues were resolved, it would certainly seem like an opportunity to seize without hesitation.

However, for now, it was dangerous.

Seung Ho rested Bodam’s face on his right shoulder, supported his body with one arm, and pulled back the blanket.

Team Leader Kim watched him make a place to lie down, shaking his head repeatedly at the unbelievable sight.

Seung Ho, who had neatly arranged the pillow, tried to remove the hand that was gripping his collar, when—

“Mmm…”

A whimper immediately followed.

At that sound, Seung Ho paused his action for a moment, then, supporting Bodam as if stroking his back, got onto the bed with him.

Team Leader Kim was about to grab Seung Ho’s neck but let it slide when he only lifted his knees.

Seung Ho lowered his upper body, which was pressed against Bodam’s, so that Bodam’s limp head rested on the pillow.

He released the hand that had been wrapped around Bodam’s back and grasped the back of Bodam’s white hand, which was still gripping his clothes.

Ignoring the texture that was exactly as it looked, he pulled to detach the hand.

Even with the very slight force, the guide’s hand came away limply.

“……”

He slowly placed Yoon Bodam’s detached hand onto the bed.

He slowly distanced himself, even slower than he had placed the white hand down, and tried to pull the blanket over him.

“Kang…”

Before he could, Bodam, who had woken up, opened his mouth.

“Kang—”

He painfully blinked his still heavy eyelids and made a sound.

Seung Ho only moved his eyes to look at Bodam.

Bodam, who slowly closed and opened his unfocused eyes, tried to continue speaking but burst into a wet cough.

Seung Ho’s hand, which hadn’t managed to pull the blanket, tried to reach for Bodam.

“Yi Jun… is he awake?”

Before that, the voice, submerged in tears, asked.