Chapter 125: Unblock

Worried by the unusually unstable state of the Espers today, Bodam first took Seung Ho’s hand.

“First, get some guiding.”

He gripped Seung Ho’s right hand, which had developed an uncharacteristic habit, with both of his and began guiding.

Seung Ho, caught off guard, became the first to receive guiding.

However, he didn’t seem particularly pleased.

Although his face was naturally expressionless, from Bodam’s perspective, his mood seemed to have sunk.

“How’s your arm?”

Wondering if his aversion to guiding had resurfaced, he deliberately continued the conversation.

He tried to chat naturally while closely examining Seung Ho’s left arm, which he checked every single day.

It hadn’t healed for the longest time, but now it had already regenerated up to the elbow.

“Does it not hurt?”

Bodam carefully placed his hand over the left arm and sent out focused guiding.

Seung Ho had told Bodam, who was concerned about his injury, that he could look at it and touch it as he pleased.

Before that, Bodam would narrow his eyes and just roll his pupils to glance at the injured area during every guiding session.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

Bodam asked about the state of Seung Ho’s arm every time and always checked if there was any pain.

He asked every day, undeterred by the consistently same answer.

He knew that the medicine he sometimes took was a painkiller but pretended not to know.

Just.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

He quietly checked his condition, suiting Han Seung Ho’s personality, and focused on guiding.

And so, the two continued their guiding in a quiet stillness.

Guiding with Ji Oh was never calm due to Bodam’s nagging, and with Tae Hwan, it had become comfortable enough to have casual conversations.

Especially when he was with Tae Hwan, he even laughed often.

It was an atmosphere that was unimaginable before.

In the past, he had barely spoken to them, wanting to avoid their criticism.

The reason he was silent in front of Seung Ho now wasn’t because he was uncomfortable, but because he was creating a guiding environment that suited the Esper’s disposition.

Bodam maintained his silence so that the calm and quiet Esper could receive guiding comfortably.

Without ever dreaming that Seung Ho was paying attention to it.

“Is it uncomfortable?”

Bodam, who was looking out the living room window at the sky that looked like it would rain, looked up at Seung Ho.

‘Uncomfortable? What all of a sudden.’

“If there’s anything you don’t like while staying here, I’ll improve it, so tell me.”

Bodam, who was even more puzzled by Seung Ho, whose grip on their joined hands had tightened, wondered what he was talking about.

‘There’s no way there’s anything I don’t like when I’m playing, eating, and sleeping all day.’

“If my guiding is uncomfortable, you don’t have to give it to me.”

Seung Ho, whose gaze was fixed on his coffee cup, couldn’t see Bodam’s puzzled expression.

However, he could feel, without looking, that it wasn’t the expression Yoon Bodam made when he was with Lee Tae Hwan.

He had always made everyone uncomfortable.

From his childhood until he became an adult.

“Just stay.”

‘What should I do? To keep you.’

Seung Ho swallowed the words swirling inside him and held Bodam’s hand.

Emotions that couldn’t be contained in his one and only shabby right hand leaked out as a wavelength.

“Team Leader.”

Bodam calmly called out to Seung Ho, making him lift his head.

And then, he got to his real point.

“Let’s have a team dinner today. All of us.”

***

Boom! Kwoong-!

The roar of gates breaking in succession echoed.

They had to eliminate the unexpectedly series of gates in advance before the monsters came out.

It was a red-code gate that was difficult for even the A-classes stationed in Sector 1 to handle, so it was a struggle without Tae Hwan’s power.

“Esper Lee Tae Hwan! Please take it easy!”

The Espers, who had been watching in a daze at the incredible sight of him destroying the gates with his bare hands without using psychokinesis, tried to calm Tae Hwan down one by one.

They had expected him to be angry after being summoned.

But Tae Hwan, who had rushed towards the gate and started rampaging as soon as he arrived on the scene, had a half-crazed look in his eyes.

Then, he suddenly stopped in mid-air and, out of the blue, checked his watch and chewed on a guiding pill.

He was trying to control his wavelength so that it wouldn’t exceed 60%.

Since he didn’t have the confidence to face Yoon Bodam right now, he had to manage it so that there would be no reason for him to be called.

If possible, he hoped to just look at Yoon Bodam’s face for a while and not have a conversation.

‘Ah, should I pretend I can’t hear?’

“You crazy bastard! Go slow!”

Ji Oh, who thought Tae Hwan was overdoing it because he wanted to receive guiding, yelled at him.

It was something Ji Oh himself often did.

Before a fight could break out with Tae Hwan, who had retorted that he should get lost if he had nothing to do, Ji Oh’s phone vibrated.

“Yeah, what is it.”

– You’re with Lee Tae Hwan, right?

Ji Oh, who had replied yes to Seung Ho’s calm voice, regretted it, thinking that he might be relaying Bodam’s words.

‘Shit. I shouldn’t have answered.’

As Ji Oh had feared, Seung Ho relayed Bodam’s words.

“…What did you say?”

Ji Oh just asked back in a dazed voice at Seung Ho’s words to pass it on to Lee Tae Hwan.

“S-say that again.”

Seung Ho, who didn’t indulge Ji Oh for making him repeat himself, hung up the phone abruptly.

Tae Hwan, who had finished eliminating the gate in an instant, glared at Ji Oh’s blank expression.

Just as he was contemplating whether to hit the dazed Min Ji Oh and clenched his fist, Ji Oh fortunately opened his mouth before he could be hit.

“He says let’s eat.”

“What?”

“Yoon Bodam says he’s buying…”

Bodam had intended to treat them to a meal after the regular meeting today.

If they didn’t want a meal, they could have a drink instead.

“…Why?”

It was to settle the six million won he had to pay back to Ji Oh with this.

It was a large amount for just the two of them to eat, and he had arranged the gathering knowing that Attack Team 3, who had been together for six years, had never had a team dinner.

‘No matter how much they tend to do their own thing. How could they not have had a single meal together in six years? Seriously, what a persistent bunch.’

Ji Oh, who had delivered the message to Tae Hwan, quickly disappeared, and Tae Hwan, left alone, was in a daze.

‘He’s buying a meal? Is he suggesting a farewell party? Already?’

“Haaa-.”

He let out a deep sigh that came out reflexively and wiped his face.

Just as a gloomy feeling was about to well up, he got a text.

He checked it immediately, thinking it was Yoon Bodam, but it only ruined his mood further.

[Unblock me when I’m telling you nicely]

As he deleted the text from the unsaved number, another text came from a different number.

[Unblock me and answer your phone right away. Before I come and find you, you bastard]

Before he could even finish reading the text, Tae Hwan’s phone rang.

To Tae Hwan, the vibration sounded louder than the roar of the shattered gate.

Tae Hwan, who finally answered the phone, started with a string of curses.

To his third older sister, who was two years his senior.

***

Saryungwan.

This Chinese restaurant, which was frequented by high-ranking officials mixed with superhumans, exuded a magnificent aura from its exterior.

It was the kind of place you would be drawn to by its fancy exterior to get in the mood, only to be surprised by the prices and leave after eating only the cheapest jjajangmyeon.

Therefore, the three Espers, who had been notified by Bodam to come to Saryungwan by 6 PM, all thought of leaving their cards at the counter as if on cue.

Since it was a restaurant frequented by Espers, the price range and level were different from what Yoon Bodam was thinking.

As the portions were double, the price was also double.

“Why aren’t you coming?”

Bodam turned around when Tae Hwan, who had arrived at the restaurant entrance with him, stopped in front of the counter.

Seung Ho and Ji Oh were coming separately as they had to finish their previously scheduled appointments.

“Hey, Lee Tae Hwan.”

Bodam’s eyes narrowed at the card in Tae Hwan’s hand, and he grabbed his arm and dragged him to the reserved room.

“I said I’m buying. Me.”

“I want to buy too.”

“I told you I’m buying with the money to pay back the six million won.”

“I’ll pay it back.”

“Who are you to do that?”

Bodam, who had shown a slight annoyance at Tae Hwan, soon broke into a wide smile, surprised by the interior of the room they were guided to.

A painting decorated with fresh flowers filled one wall, and the glass floor was filled with fine sand, making it feel as if one were walking on a beach.

“Wow, this is crazy…”

On the black table that centered the magnificent background, bowls set according to the number of people were overturned like sandcastles.

Bodam, who had sat down following the waiter who had pulled out his chair, repeatedly exclaimed in admiration, hitting the arm of Tae Hwan who had taken the seat next to him.

In fact, Tae Hwan had been here before, but he followed Bodam’s lead and pretended to be impressed, looking around.

The overly flashy and elaborate interior was not to Tae Hwan’s taste, so he had stopped coming after visiting once.

“Have you been to places like this often?”

Bodam, who had come back after gently touching the fresh flowers on the wall, asked Tae Hwan.

Tae Hwan, who had ordered cold water instead of the warm tea prepared by the waiter, replied that he often ate out with his family.

So that means he usually ate out at restaurants like this.

‘Lucky bastard.’

“I’ll recommend some good places in Seoul. There are many places like this.”

Bodam nodded his head and slowly drank his tea, savoring it.

It felt strange that Lee Tae Hwan, who would usually try to tag along wherever he went, didn’t say he wanted to go with him.

It was often like that when he talked about civilian areas like that.

He didn’t feel it when they were living together, but when he thought about the day he would leave the Center, he was reminded of the plight of an Esper who had to stay inside for the rest of his life.

‘I take back what I said about being envious.’

“Why. Does it taste strange?”

Tae Hwan was about to call the staff, watching Bodam who had gone quiet while drinking his tea.

“No. It’s delicious, so don’t call them.”

Then, he was about to press the call bell again, telling him to drink more if it was delicious.

Bodam held Tae Hwan’s hand and bared his front teeth, telling him to please stay still.

Tae Hwan’s lips twitched at that lovely expression, and he smiled.

As if trying to engrave the face that made his heart flutter anew every day into his mind, without taking his eyes off him for a single moment.