Chapter 129: Sobering Up

Huh.

Bodam opened his eyes on the bed in his room in the waiting area.

He was pretty sure he had been talking to Han Seung Ho and Lee Tae Hwan.

“What the…”

Bodam, who was staring blankly at the curtain where bright light was seeping in, tilted his head.

‘Why am I holding a restaurant fork?’

Puzzled by the fork he was clutching in his hand, he kicked away the suffocating blanket that was covering his body.

As he wracked his still-drunken brain to recall what had happened, he suddenly remembered Min Ji Oh taking him to his bedroom.

He seemed to have nagged him for a while to quit smoking.

‘Should I just let him sleep like this? His clothes.’

‘Don’t wake him up. Just lay him down carefully. I said lay him down carefully.’

‘Stop it and come out.’

He was also slowly starting to remember the voices of the Espers whispering around him.

‘When did I fall asleep?’

He touched his dizzy forehead as he tried to piece together the fragmented memories, which seemed to have been cut out by someone.

‘I can’t remember, I can’t.’

“Ah, whatever.”

Bodam, who was still drunk, gave up trying to think and lay down with his limbs spread out.

First of all, he was so thirsty.

He didn’t have the strength to go get water.

‘My stomach hurts like hell, I should call Lee Tae Hwan first.’

Naturally thinking of Tae Hwan, he took out his phone from his heavy pocket.

Bodam, who was about to call Tae Hwan for help, paused and frowned.

“What is this now…”

This wasn’t his phone.

He examined the unfamiliar phone with a strange doodle on the lock screen instead of the picture of Dobby proclaiming his freedom.

He wondered what the doodle was, but then realized it was a drawing he had made.

A composite sketch of Aram, who was now imprisoned in the Esper detention center.

‘Lee Tae Hwan, give me your phone!’

For a moment, the scene of himself threatening Tae Hwan with a fork and snatching his phone flashed through his mind.

Not only had he taken his phone, but the memory of having beaten him up was also trying to surface.

“Wow.”

‘I did every drunken shenanigan imaginable.’

Knock, knock.

Bodam, who was holding his head and rolling around on the bed, lifted his head at the sound of knocking.

“Yoon Bodam. Are you awake?”

It was Lee Tae Hwan.

Lee Tae Hwan, whose phone he had snatched and who he had beaten up to his heart’s content.

“…Come in.”

Tae Hwan, who had been pacing the living room and the second-floor stairs, checking for any sign of Bodam, quickly opened the door as soon as permission was granted.

Seeing the blanket on the floor and Bodam’s spectacularly messy hair, he immediately went to the mini-fridge.

“Want some water?”

Tae Hwan, who had brought out a bottle of water before Bodam could even nod, perched on the edge of the bed.

He watched Bodam, who was repeatedly rubbing his puffy face and drinking water, for a moment before cautiously opening his mouth.

“You don’t remember yesterday, do you?”

“Pfft-.”

Bodam, who had spewed out the water he was holding in his mouth, coughed.

The memory of his drunken antics with Tae Hwan was still vivid.

‘I think I even grabbed him by the collar. Wait, was that not Lee Tae Hwan…?’

“Drink slowly.”

Bodam, who was flustered, avoided the eyes of Tae Hwan, who was wiping his wet mouth with his bare hands.

Perhaps because he had become accustomed to his touch, he didn’t push him away again.

Tae Hwan, examining his face, which was more swollen than ever, gently pressed Bodam’s cheek.

He wondered if he was still not sober.

Judging by his lack of reaction even when his cheek was touched.

“Just change your clothes and get some more sleep.”

Tae Hwan gently stroked his soft cheek one last time and pulled up the blanket.

He even asked Bodam, who seemed to have no intention of getting up, where his pajamas were.

Bodam, instead of answering, timidly held out his phone.

“Your phone…”

As Bodam, who had returned the phone while mumbling, continued to avoid his gaze, Tae Hwan deliberately didn’t take it.

“It’s yours now.”

He wanted to make eye contact with Yoon Bodam.

“You said you were going to take it.”

“…I don’t remember.”

Tae Hwan, who chuckled at the expected answer, finally took the phone back.

It was understandable that he would have blacked out after chugging so much kaoliang liquor.

‘Because Yoon Bodam is a guide. A guide, not an Esper like us.’

“What did I do…?”

Bodam asked, hoping that the image of himself waving a fork and causing a scene, demanding a second round, was just a dream.

As time went on, the fragmented memories were coming back one by one.

Just like when he had given Lee Tae Hwan an intense mucosal guiding in a drunken state.

“You said you would stay.”

Tae Hwan, who slowly got up from the bed, relayed the conversation that Bodam hadn’t yet remembered.

“That you would continue to be the dedicated guide for Team 3 if we just got rid of all the shitty people.”

At this, Bodam’s lips parted wide.

‘I said that?’

He seemed to remember cursing out the Esper Director and Attack Team 1.

“D-did I really say that?”

Tae Hwan, who nodded at the stunned Bodam who was even stuttering, was strangely calm.

‘Why? If I said I would stay… shouldn’t he be happy?’

“You don’t have to worry about it. I just let it go.”

“Huh?”

“You said it because you were drunk, so I’m not thinking too deeply about it.”

Tae Hwan, who had slowly moved away from the bed where Bodam was lying, seemed to have no more lingering attachments.

Even though he had been so annoying.

He even turned towards the door before he was even told to leave.

“Keep sleeping. Call me if you need anything.”

At the sight of Tae Hwan’s coolly departing back, Bodam’s lips parted.

‘Is he angry because I hit him? And because I took his phone without permission?’

“Are you angry?”

‘So… is that why you’re not trying to keep me?’

At Bodam’s out-of-the-blue question, Tae Hwan shrugged his shoulders, saying what was there for him to be angry about.

However, Bodam, who was still tipsy, ignored his answer and persistently questioned him.

“You are angry.”

“I told you I’m not angry.”

“Then why are you like this?”

“Like what?”

“Why is your expression like that?”

“Do I look angry?”

“You look like shit.”

Tae Hwan, who lightly massaged the back of his neck, approached the stubborn Bodam again.

It seemed that yesterday’s drunken antics were not the end.

“So you don’t like it?”

Tae Hwan, who sat down facing Bodam with a plop, asked gently.

‘What kind of expression should I make to satisfy Yoon Bodam? If I smile, he’ll probably find it even more annoying.’

Bzzzt—.

Just then, as Tae Hwan was contemplating his expression and Bodam was confused by his own sensitive emotions.

Lee Tae Hwan’s annoying phone rang again.

‘Calling in broad daylight.’

“Don’t answer it.”

‘It’s definitely the new dedicated guide.’

“I said don’t answer it.”

Tae Hwan’s hand, which was holding the phone, was blocked by Bodam.

Bodam, who had grabbed both of Tae Hwan’s hands and pulled him hard, showed no sign of sobering up.

Even when Tae Hwan nodded, saying he understood, he was not satisfied and repeated his words.

“Don’t contact any other guides.”

Bodam, who was even sending out his guiding and holding on to Tae Hwan tightly, was angry.

He wanted to hit Lee Tae Hwan, who was exchanging calls and messages with a guide other than him.

He felt like a fool for having avoided Yeon Min Sung’s texts with the excuse that he was busy.

‘This guy was already talking to a guide with a pretty name day and night. Even though he said he liked me.’

“…Who is Yeon Min Sung?”

“What?!”

‘How does he know Guide Yeon Min Sung?’

“You’re the one who said it.”

Bodam, whose eyes widened, was saying his thoughts out loud again.

In fact, it was a drunken habit that only Jo Yeon knew about.

The habit of saying his thoughts as they were.

“You don’t need to know.”

“A guide with a pretty name… Don’t tell me it’s Lee Hyo Rin?”

‘That’s right, Lee Hyo Rin. It sounds pretty even when I hear it again. If you say it backwards, Rin-hyo-i. It’s still pretty. I’m,’

“Dambo-yoon… shi…”

“Yoon Bodam. Should I get you some medicine to sober up?”

Bodam, who was in a bad mood, squeezed the hands he was holding with Tae Hwan so hard it was almost a pinch.

As his stomach started to churn along with his rising emotions, he buried his face in Tae Hwan’s shoulder.

‘Maybe I should just throw up on him.’

“If you feel sick, throw up. It’s okay.”

Tae Hwan, who had experienced this once before, cupped his hand under Bodam’s chin and waited.

Bodam, whose face flushed again at Tae Hwan, who was even patting his back as if he would really catch it if he threw up, made a “uwek” sound for no reason.

Fortunately, nothing came out.

As he pretended to throw up, his head started to spin, and he ended up leaning completely against Tae Hwan’s body.

It was a big and sturdy body that was disgustingly good to lean on.

‘This is why I keep wanting to lean on him.’

Tae Hwan silently watched Bodam, who had thrown a tantrum and then gone limp in his arms.

‘Seriously, a person. Is it okay to be this lovely?’

The more he looked at Yoon Bodam, who was becoming endlessly cute, the more his future seemed bleak.

‘What if he really gets kidnapped somewhere? Shit, before that, I should just kidnap him myself.’

“You… don’t drink from now on.”

Tae Hwan, who had cut off his thoughts, pushed Bodam deeper into his arms and muttered.

As expected, Bodam responded with a curse filled with denial.

For Bodam, who was as serious about alcohol as he was about food, forcing him to fast or abstain from alcohol was a declaration of war.

“Okay. Okay. Drink. You drink it all.”

Tae Hwan, who was earnestly soothing Bodam, who was panting just because he had told him not to drink once, held back his laughter.

The stress he had received from his sister completely vanished at the warmth of Bodam’s body clinging to him.

Although Bodam’s words that he had come to the Center because of Han Seung Ho were still stuck in his chest.

The blow was lessened because he already knew that Yoon Bodam liked Seung Ho-hyung.

“Yoon Bodam, I.”

Tae Hwan, who had become timid in front of Bodam, just wanted to be disliked less.

He just hoped that Yoon Bodam’s dislike for him would decrease.

He was afraid that he would not be able to let go of Bodam, who was leaving the Center, and would end up clinging to him.

“Even if you’re not here, I won’t forget your words.”

Because he felt like he would really die if he was disliked any more than this, Tae Hwan prepared his heart to let him go.

He steeled his heart every day so that he could calmly send him off on the day Bodam left the Center.

“I’ll live my life doing only what you tell me to do.”

He just hoped that Yoon Bodam would be happy.

Not to live trapped in the Center like him, and not to be held back by an Esper like him anymore.

Freely.

“You just live your life doing only what you want to do.”

‘What I want to do.’

Bodam, who was focused on the low voice, mulled over Tae Hwan’s words and met his eyes.

‘What I want to do right now. I wanted to kiss Lee Tae Hwan too. To the point where I kept thinking about my last mucosal guiding with him.’

He didn’t dislike him.

The embrace that enveloped his body so that he couldn’t move an inch was just cozy.

The more his loud heartbeat was transmitted, the faster his own heart beat.

‘I want to kiss him.’

Bodam muttered.

Looking up at Tae Hwan with his round, sobered-up eyes.