Chapter 126: Join Team One

“Did you take your medicine?”

Bodam, who had instinctively sent out guiding while holding Tae Hwan’s hand, asked.

The artificial energy unique to guiding pills was mixed in with his wavelength.

“I took one in the afternoon.”

“Why?”

Why? He probably took it because his readings were high.

Bodam was flustered at himself for asking such an obvious question.

Tae Hwan also blinked and searched for an answer, reacting a beat too late.

“…Should I not take it?”

“No, take it. I’m glad you did. Keep managing it like that in the future.”

Bodam, who belatedly gave his praise, awkwardly drank his tea.

He wasn’t even far away in Sector 4, so why did he take a guiding pill when he knew I was in the waiting room?

When there was a dedicated guide right here.

As Bodam didn’t let go of his hand first, lost in thought, the happy Tae Hwan focused on the sensation of their clasped hands.

However, this happiness was also short-lived; as he recalled the reason Yoon Bodam had gathered them at the restaurant today, he suddenly became gloomy again.

Even though it was to return Min’s bastard’s money, there was no need to buy a meal for Seung Ho-hyung and him as well.

He must have something to say.

“I’m going to fulfill the entire contract period.”

Bodam, who was soothing Tae Hwan’s wavelength with his guiding, said bluntly.

Just by looking at his expression, which had gone from laughing to downcast in an instant, Lee Tae Hwan’s thoughts were easy to read.

He, too, seemed to be under the same misunderstanding as Han Seung Ho.

“I just called everyone to have a meal. You said you’ve never had a team dinner.”

Bodam, who chuckled at Tae Hwan’s brightening face, added.

“You all worked hard to catch the Crow this time.”

It was the first time he had seen them, who always eliminated gates with ease, fight for their lives.

Bodam was no longer afraid or resentful of Espers.

Along with a sense of pity, he even felt a sense of gratitude as he watched the process of them struggling to catch the Crow.

So, before he parted with them… again.

“Order everything you want to eat. It’s on me! With Min Ji Oh’s money.”

He wanted to end things on a good note.

“And try to get along with each other. You’re a team that will continue to be together.”

Bodam, who had thought that the Espers got along relatively well with each other, realized as he watched the process of Kang Yi Jun’s dismissal this time.

They had no attachment to the team.

They were so indifferent to each other that they didn’t care much whether someone left or not.

Their only interest was in him.

“Cough.”

Bodam, who was stunned by his own train of thought, choked on his tea.

“Are you okay?”

Tae Hwan wiped Bodam’s wet lips with a napkin and rubbed his back.

At Tae Hwan’s touch, as he carefully wiped his mouth with a light hand, Bodam felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

“I’ll do it.”

He was too close to Tae Hwan, who had leaned in to wipe up the spill.

However, he only muttered in a hushed voice and didn’t back away.

Tae Hwan, who was startled that Bodam might have been burned by the tea, didn’t hear Bodam’s voice.

“Good thing the tea was cool. Your neck is wet too.”

As he was wiping his damp throat, his head naturally lifted, and they ended up in a kissing position.

“Shit…”

At that moment, Ji Oh, who had come through the private room corridor and entered the entrance, revved up his curse.

Because from his perspective, it looked as if Bodam was having his lips devoured by Tae Hwan.

And so, the long, long saga of Ji Oh’s tantrum began.

***

The sky had been cloudy since morning, and eventually, the rain poured down.

The rainy season was already approaching.

In the gloomy ruins where unregistered Espers often hid, Espers in black raincoats moved busily.

They were Team Leader Baek’s direct subordinates.

This old ruin, which was once a clothing factory, was a piece of land that had been abandoned after an unregistered Esper, who had been hiding like a rat, went on a rampage.

“Do you have plans later?”

Team Leader Baek, who was standing on dead weeds, called Seung Ho, who was checking his watch, closer with a nod of her chin.

She put up a barrier to block the sound, so the conversation wouldn’t leak out.

“It won’t take long. I’ll send you back in five minutes.”

Due to the increased number of attack-type Espers dispatched to civilian areas, the demand for barrier users and teleport Espers to accompany them was also increasing.

Seung Ho was also called out to civilian areas quite often.

As a barrier user, not a healing ability user.

“Come join Team 1.”

Team Leader Baek, who had created a chair by stacking broken concrete with her psychokinesis on the damp ground, began to speak.

As if she had expected Seung Ho’s reaction of not even bothering to reply, she didn’t wait for an answer.

“You don’t have to use your healing ability anymore. Just do it until the end of this year and leave Team 3.”

Team Leader Baek made a scouting offer to Seung Ho on the condition that she would hand over the Team 1 team leader position to him.

Of course, she couldn’t hand over the team leader position right away, but she promised to promote him after a few years, including a team adaptation period.

“You must have received an offer for the director position.”

Seung Ho replied, ignoring the chair that Team Leader Baek had made for him to sit on.

“I did, but it’s not the right time yet.”

After successfully eliminating the Crow, Team Leader Baek had refused the Center Director’s offer to take over the Esper Director position.

She was not so inexperienced as to snatch up the position that the old fox with deep-rooted experience was desperately guarding.

“It’s dangerous to leave the old man unchecked. We have to prevent a second Crow from emerging.”

She laughed, saying that a power-hungry person like the current Esper Director had to be thoroughly crushed so that he would step down on his own.

“You have to keep him on a leash, treat him moderately, and watch him. I’ve told you before. You shouldn’t make too many enemies. No matter how strong you are.”

Team Leader Baek subtly glanced at the left arm that had grown quite a bit under Seung Ho’s uniform jacket.

She wanted to make Seung Ho completely her own.

“I heard about Team Leader Han’s test results.”

Seung Ho, who had not set foot in the medical center at all, had recently undergone the regular check-up that Espers had every year.

Because Bodam had insisted that he get it.

“They say there’s a high probability that your S-class barrier will remain even if your healing ability disappears. First of all, congratulations. You’ll be able to continue living at the Center. We wouldn’t be able to live in civilian areas even if we were told to now.”

It had been almost 10 years since Seung Ho had belonged to the Center.

Having spent more than half of each day tearing monsters to pieces, it wouldn’t be easy to adapt to a civilian’s life.

“With your barrier, you can go in and out of civilian areas or wherever you want without anyone touching you. Come join our team, live freely, and then become a team leader again.”

Team Leader Baek, who was aiming for the Esper Director position, had marked Seung Ho as the person to succeed her.

There was no one like him.

An S-class ability user, and a smart and stubborn guy who absorbed everything he was taught without filtering.

“You have no lingering attachments to Team 3. Why would you clean up after those brats when Guide Yoon is leaving too?”

“I won’t.”

As expected, Seung Ho refused flatly.

She had thought so, but still.

“At least think about it, you punk.”

Seung Ho, who had ignored his former superior’s words, broke through her barrier and left.

Team Leader Baek shook her head at the sight of her rather sturdy barrier shattering like glass.

She had known from the beginning that Seung Ho’s ability was destined to disappear, so she had only thought of him as a disposable card.

Therefore, she hadn’t even considered recruiting him for Team 1.

Even though she knew that the young Seung Ho had wanted to belong to Team 1, following his first superior.

“I didn’t know he’d grow this much.”

‘I should have tempted him sooner. Damn it.’

***

“We’ll reset the table for you again.”

The manager, who had rushed over thinking something serious had happened at Ji Oh’s shout, personally cleared the messy tableware on the table.

He also said that he could move them to another room, but Tae Hwan refused because it was a place Bodam liked.

Ji Oh had his head bowed as punishment for losing his temper and throwing all the plates.

Fortunately, the plates hadn’t broken thanks to Tae Hwan’s psychokinesis.

Only Bodam’s mental state was slightly cracked.

“Let’s never have a team dinner again.”

Bodam, who was still covering his ears which were ringing from Ji Oh’s loud voice, said, suppressing his anger.

He had tried to set a nice mood in an expensive place, and what a good mood it had been.

Min Ji Oh, that bastard, had ruined everything.

“I won’t do it again. …I won’t shout… and I’ll curse less.”

“Kneel down too.”

Ji Oh, who was whispering while glancing at Bodam, actually got up from his seat at Tae Hwan’s words.

Seeing Bodam glare at Tae Hwan before his knees could touch the floor, he realized that this was not it and quickly returned to his chair.

“Eat quietly and then we’ll all go our separate ways.”

Bodam growled lowly at Ji Oh as he sat back down in his chair.

He had originally planned to go for a second round.

“Are you going alone?”

“Yeah.”

Although Ji Oh was the one who had caused a ruckus, his words came out coldly to Tae Hwan for no reason.

And so, Tae Hwan and Ji Oh waited for the team leader to arrive while enduring Bodam’s sharp glares.

Although he wasn’t the type to change the mood, it seemed better than nothing.

‘Ah, he’s here.’

Seung Ho’s characteristic, steady footsteps could be heard from the room corridor.

Bodam, whose senses were sharpened from hunger, also perked up his ears, following the sound.

“You’re here.”

Seung Ho, who had arrived exactly at 6 o’clock, slowed his steps for a moment at the room’s interior.

“Is it still raining outside?”

“Yeah.”

Seung Ho placed his neatly folded umbrella against the wall and sat down.

He had just refused the staff’s offer to take his umbrella, as he didn’t like others touching his belongings.

“It looks like it’ll rain until night.”

Seung Ho, who had sat in the seat next to the tight-lipped Ji Oh and diagonally across from Bodam, replied at length.

Bodam, who had drunk all his tea out of hunger, suddenly thought that Seung Ho’s expression was quite bright.

To others, it would look like his usual expressionless face, but to Bodam’s eyes, he looked to be in a good mood.

‘Is it because of the rain?’

“Everyone’s hungry, right?”

Strangely enough, Bodam’s mood also brightened at Seung Ho’s expression.

Seeing the usually emotionally stoic Han Seung Ho brighten up naturally raised his spirits.

“Yeah, I’m hungry. Should we ask for more tea?”

“I’m starving to death…!”

Tae Hwan and Ji Oh spoke up as if they had been waiting as Bodam picked up the course menu, and Seung Ho gave a small nod.

Bodam’s lightened face also brightened up again.

His heart pounded at the endlessly long menu.