Chapter 130: Goodbye, Everyone!! (END)

Park Jin Tae, former head of the research institute.

He, who had almost had his neck snapped by Tae Hwan for the crime of forcing Bodam to come into contact with the bedridden Yi Jun, suffered from nightmares as if it were a trauma.

Even though it had been months, he couldn’t forget the face of Tae Hwan, which had been filled with murderous intent.

After stepping down from his position, he had attached himself to the Esper Director and continued the research that was being conducted in secret, and he had recently achieved successful research results in the Crow sweep operation.

The green-colored poison that had extinguished the Crow’s powers had been completed through his hands.

Park Jin Tae, who had successfully completed his role, was probably thinking of enjoying a comfortable life in his old age, but in fact, he was destined to rot for the rest of his life in the underground research institute managed by Attack Team 1.

To prevent the risk of the fact that he had conducted ruthless human experiments on unregistered individuals from leaking out.

– The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check the number and try again—.

Ha.

A faint smile hung on the lips of Team Leader Baek, who had called Park Jin Tae.

Park Jin Tae, who had disappeared without a trace last night, had vanished like a ghost.

Four missed calls had piled up on the Esper Director’s phone.

“I’m fucked.”

Team Leader Baek, who had even received a summons from the Center Director, foresaw her ominous future.

Her hidden precognitive ability, which was unstable and therefore mostly unknown, showed her a scene from a future that had changed overnight.

In the future she had seen until recently, the person sitting in the Esper Director’s seat was herself.

“So you were a tiger cub. Han Seung Ho.”

‘It was supposed to be me, not some rude little brat.’

She calmed the veins popping on her neck with a deep breath, erased her emotions, and knocked on the door of the Center Director’s office.

As she had expected, the first thing that caught her eye was Han Seung Ho, who occupied the seat closest to the head of the conference table where the Center Director sat.

She just stood at the far end of the table.

***

Ji Oh, who had brought a piping hot bowl of crunchy bean sprout hangover soup with sliced cheongyang peppers in a large earthenware pot, was on the verge of flipping the table.

He, who had prepared lunch to coincide with the time Yoon Bodam would wake up, had received a call from Seung Ho to wake Bodam up, and had mustered up the courage to knock on the second-floor bedroom door.

Knock, knock. Thump.

Startled by the sound of someone falling off the bed, he had flung the door open without permission and entered, only to turn to stone.

His thoughts had stopped, so not even a curse came out.

Just a dazed expression.

“Come out… and eat.”

He had muttered blankly and gone back down the stairs he had just come up.

Even after seeing the disheveled Tae Hwan sprawled on the floor and Bodam’s flushed red face as he kicked him.

No curse came out.

Not a single curse.

“It’s hot. Let it cool before you eat.”

‘That son of a b*tch.’

Ji Oh gripped the leg of the table as he watched Tae Hwan feed Bodam the hangover soup he had bought as if he had prepared it himself.

If Yoon Bodam hadn’t been sitting there, he would have flipped it long ago.

“Does it hurt?”

“It hurts? Where?”

Tae Hwan and Ji Oh rushed over as Bodam, who had taken a big mouthful of the hot soup, frowned.

Bodam, who was silently focusing on his soup out of embarrassment, pressed his left cheek and grimaced.

“I told you to get it pulled. It hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Pull what? His tooth?”

“It’s okay. It’s just because I chewed too much yesterday.”

Bodam, who licked the inside of his sore mouth with his tongue, started eating again.

He was already embarrassed to death, and now with the stinging gazes on him, he was on the verge of getting indigestion from his soup.

He mumbled to the constantly concerned Tae Hwan to just let him eat, trying to divert his attention.

He had almost done more than just kiss that guy, swept away by the atmosphere.

He had only intended to kiss him…

“You’re really not going to get it pulled?”

Bodam, who had ducked his head as if he would dip his reddened face into the earthenware pot, nodded.

He insisted that it was fine if he just chewed on the right side to Tae Hwan, who was scaring him, saying it would rot.

It wasn’t just one or two, but four.

Four wisdom teeth.

He was scared of getting them pulled one by one, and he didn’t have the courage to get them all pulled at once.

As long as he didn’t eat a lot at once like yesterday, his mouth wouldn’t get hurt.

It was enough to just take good care of them so they wouldn’t rot.

“Where did the Team Leader go?”

Bodam changed the subject and looked for Seung Ho, who wasn’t there.

At this, Tae Hwan and Ji Oh, who had exchanged glances, showed a similar reaction and replied that they didn’t know.

It was something Yoon Bodam didn’t need to know.

Because it would all be taken care of anyway.

“I was supposed to go see Kang Yi Jun.”

“You’re really going?”

“It’s raining outside. Why would you go?”

Bodam, who had checked the living room clock that had passed noon, quickly finished his soup.

He had said that Kang Yi Jun was leaving at one o’clock, so Han Seung Ho would come to pick him up before then.

‘I should get ready quickly.’

“Let’s all go together. Lee Tae Hwan, you get ready to go too.”

Tae Hwan and Ji Oh, who had looked as if they had been slapped, soon tucked their tails at Bodam’s firm gaze.

It was better to go together than to send Yoon Bodam alone.

“Ah, wait a minute.”

Tae Hwan stopped Bodam, who had finished his soup and was about to go up in a hurry.

He shook his phone and said something out of the blue.

To Ji Oh, it didn’t make any sense.

“She’s my older sister. Lee Hyo Rin.”

Bodam, his mouth wide open, looked back and forth between the phone and Tae Hwan, then blushed and ran away.

He even got annoyed for no reason, telling him to hurry up and change his lock screen.

“…What’s with you two?”

Ji Oh, who had been watching the scene in a daze, asked Tae Hwan.

He waited for Lee Tae Hwan’s answer, swallowing hard, but he didn’t open his mouth.

He just shrugged his shoulders slightly and went into his room.

He didn’t have the luxury of talking to Min Ji Oh.

He, too, was as hot all over as Bodam, whose face was flushed.

‘Lee Tae Hwan. Keep protecting me.’

His heart felt like it would burst at the sound of Yoon Bodam’s voice, which had escaped between his ragged breaths.

His head, which was already full of him, was on the verge of overloading.

‘I’ll protect you too.’

Bodam, who was sober, had accepted Tae Hwan’s vow and had made a vow of his own.

The more the burning hot body temperature was transferred, the more his confused heart calmed down and he felt a sense of certainty.

His gentle tone and actions, and his honest expressions had tilted his wavering heart.

He liked Lee Tae Hwan’s warmth.

So much so that he didn’t want to be separated.

***

 Long sedan arrived, breaking through the gently falling rain.

It was the car that Yi Jun would soon be getting in.

The black sedan that he had also ridden in when he first came to the Center had the chief of staff in it.

He had been taking care of Yi Jun’s messes for a long time.

‘No one is here.’

Bodam, who had expected the barrier team to be there, found the rear gate entrance where the sedan was parked to be empty.

Well, Kang Yi Jun was no longer considered a dangerous person at the Center, so there was no reason to be wary of him.

“Tell me if you’re cold.”

Seung Ho, who was sitting across from Bodam on the gazebo-style bench, opened his mouth while on his phone.

Bodam was already wearing Tae Hwan’s coat and even holding a cup of hot black tea that Ji Oh had packed.

In this weather, with summer approaching.

“I’m hot, so hot.”

“Don’t take it off. It’s chilly because of the rain.”

While stopping Bodam, who was flapping the jacket he had been forced to wear, Tae Hwan fanned him with his hand, asking if he was very hot.

‘If you’re going to do that, you might as well just let him take off the jacket.’

“What’s that?”

Ji Oh, who had been glaring at Tae Hwan and Bodam sitting close together, cut in.

He glanced at the paper bag Bodam was holding and wondered about its contents.

Seung Ho and Tae Hwan were also subtly watching the paper bag.

“I’m giving it to Kang Yi Jun.”

Bodam, who had left a short answer, got up from his seat.

He was about to open his umbrella, telling the Espers to stay on the bench since it was raining a lot.

Before that, Seung Ho put up a barrier.

“Let’s go together.”

Seung Ho, who had blocked the rain with a barrier, walked with Bodam.

The two noisy combo remained in their seats so as not to disturb Bodam, who wanted to say his last goodbyes to Yi Jun.

The two just watched Kang Yi Jun, who had appeared with a teleport Esper, with a skewed gaze.

Yi Jun, who slowly opened his eyes in the rain, was about to look at the sky but his gaze stopped in front of him.

He saw Dam-i hyung, who was bigger and wider than the sky.

“Hyung.”

He took a step forward, taking in the face that he couldn’t see even in his dreams, no matter how much he begged.

“Hurry up and come in.”

Bodam waved his hand at Yi Jun, who was coming in the rain without an umbrella.

At this, Yi Jun’s pace slowed even more, and he wiped his rain-soaked face and entered Seung Ho’s barrier.

He had forgotten all the words he had prepared at his hyung’s first words.

“You don’t have an umbrella? It’s going to rain all day today.”

‘What was I trying to say?’

An umbrella flew, thwack, into the head of Yi Jun, who was trying to find the words he had prepared.

It was Ji Oh’s umbrella, thrown by Tae Hwan.

When Bodam glared at the bench after he had thrown it, Tae Hwan glared at Ji Oh along with him.

“Are you okay?”

Bodam was worried about Yi Jun, who had been hit by the umbrella.

‘To throw something so hard at a kid who isn’t even an Esper anymore.’

“How have you been?”

Yi Jun, whose words had actually come back to him thanks to being hit by the umbrella, smiled.

He had wanted to ask first if his hyung was doing well now.

Bodam, who looked up quietly at Yi Jun, who still seemed to have a large emotional swing, nodded his head.

He habitually checked his condition as he faced Yi Jun’s paler, whiter face.

Even though he was no longer an Esper and he couldn’t feel his wavelength.

“And you?”

Yi Jun’s smile brightened even more at the conversation that Bodam had continued, and he brought out his prepared answer.

He smiled, saying that he was receiving treatment well and taking his medicine.

He particularly emphasized that he was living quietly.

“You’re doing well.”

Bodam also smiled along with him.

Although he still didn’t look stable, he looked the calmest he had ever seen, as if he were taking his medicine well as he had said.

His face, which held a strange tension, even looked human.

“Dam-i hyung.”

Yi Jun called out his hyung’s name sparingly and extended his arm.

A shopping bag was hanging from his fingertips.

It was a gift box with a luxury logo on it.

“You can throw it away.”

He had thought he would dislike it more if he gave him all the gifts he had prepared, so he had only chosen one.

He was going to hang it around the Crow’s neck and give it to him.

“Can I really throw it away?”

Bodam asked back at Yi Jun, whose gaze had dropped to his hand.

With a face that was asking him to accept it.

Yi Jun, who met his hyung’s gaze again, shook his head with a faint smile.

He whispered, as if engraving his light brown eyes into his mind.

“When I’m done with my treatment, can I come and see you, hyung?”

Yi Jun smiled lightly, but his voice was suppressed.

He was definitely smiling, but he looked sad.

Bodam, who quietly met his gaze, soon extended his arm as well.

He took the shopping bag hanging from Yi Jun’s hand and instead hung the paper bag he had brought in its place.

It had somehow turned into a gift exchange.

Yi Jun, who was dazed by the unexpected gift from his hyung, watched as if hypnotized as Bodam took out his gift and showed it to him.

Bodam had gifted Yi Jun a black hardcover notebook that he had spent quite a lot of money on.

It was a new notebook that he had only opened to use sparingly.

“It’s black like your insides.”

Bodam, who pointed at the pocket-sized black cover, smiled playfully and opened the notebook.

“It’s white when you open it.”

He wanted to give this notebook to Yi Jun, who was leaving the Center.

He hoped that he, who still had a long life ahead of him, would live his life enjoyably, as if on a journey.

So that he would no longer have gloomy thoughts.

“Write down everything in here whenever you’re having a hard time. Try to soothe your heart by writing down why you’re having a hard time. It might not seem like much. But once you try it, it actually gets a lot better.”

Yi Jun, whose expression had hardened even more than when he had received the gift, couldn’t easily open his mouth.

Raindrops that had not yet dried were falling little by little on his face.

Then, “hyung,” he called out his name again.

He was trying to call it sparingly, as if it would wear out.

“You are… my first and last guide.”

With those last words, Yi Jun took a step back and let the rain fall on him.

He turned around, muttering the confessions and apologies he had repeated countless times with the emotions connected to his hyung.

Then.

“Goodbye, Yi Jun-ah.”

His head turned reflexively at his hyung’s voice.

He could see Bodam waving his hand, Tae Hwan and Ji Oh sitting on the bench, and Seung Ho, who was guarding Bodam’s back, all at once.

Yi Jun awkwardly waved his hand, following his hyung.

From afar, Tae Hwan gave a nod of his chin, his own way of saying goodbye, and Ji Oh, who pretended to wave his hand, told him not to be a wimp and gave him the middle finger.

Seung Ho, as was his way, maintained his expressionless face and upright posture.

“See you again.”

Yi Jun, who had broken down at Bodam’s last words, continued to walk.

With his face soaked in rain, clutching the notebook his hyung had given him.

And so, receiving the farewells of his hyungs, the youngest left the Center.

“Yoon Bodam.”

This time, Seung Ho called Bodam.

Bodam was watching the car disappear down the rainy road.

“Do you remember our conversation yesterday?”

Bodam, who flinched at the question he had also heard from Tae Hwan, was contemplating his answer when Seung Ho continued the conversation first.

“You said you would protect me.”

“I did…?”

Seung Ho, who, like Tae Hwan, had expected Bodam not to remember, showed a calm reaction.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t remember.

He was going to ask him a favor anyway.

“Give me just one chance.”

He was going to beg him if he refused.

“I’ll do well.”

After that, Seung Ho said he would do anything.

He would change the environment until it met his satisfaction, and if he still didn’t like the Center headquarters, he said they could move somewhere else.

So please, stay, he held on to Bodam.

It was the first time he had known that Han Seung Ho could talk for so long.

“….”

Bodam just looked up at the sky for a moment.

It had been raining like this that day too.

The day he had thrown his resignation letter in that face.

“Do as you please.”

Tae Hwan said.

He had gotten up from the bench at some point, broke Seung Ho’s barrier, and approached Bodam, holding his umbrella over him.

Ji Oh, who had been told by Lee Tae Hwan that he had thrown his umbrella, tried to stick close to Bodam, pretending to avoid the rain, but was sent flying by Tae Hwan’s psychokinesis.

“Come on!”

Bodam, who had slapped Tae Hwan’s back at this, fairly took away his umbrella as well and let him get wet.

As he was glaring at Tae Hwan and Ji Oh, who had become like drowned rats, to keep them from fighting, Bodam belatedly discovered the rain-soaked Seung Ho.

Seung Ho was not putting back the barrier that Tae Hwan had broken and was just waiting for Bodam’s answer.

Bodam let out a light sigh like a laugh and looked around at the soaking wet Espers.

The coldly falling rain felt warm.

Thanks to the clothes of Tae Hwan wrapped around his body, the black tea Ji Oh had given him, and Seung Ho’s concern.

It felt like it wouldn’t be cold even if the middle of winter came.

“Let’s get along, shall we?”

Bodam, who had put the gift from Yi Jun in the inner pocket of Tae Hwan’s jacket, folded his umbrella and got wet in the rain with them.

He felt relieved to have sent Yi Jun off with a smile.

He was also pleased with Team 3, who had gathered in one place at his word.

“Use the umbrella.”

“You’ll catch a cold!”

“I don’t want to.”

Something he wanted to do had appeared.

He wanted to become the free dedicated guide of a cool team that would be a model for everyone.

To Bodam, who said he would spend money like water, leave work after lunch, and go on trips whenever he had the chance, his Espers said to do as he pleased.

Anything and everything.

“Just come back.”

Tae Hwan, who had told him to do as he pleased, casually took Bodam’s hand, and Bodam, who playfully shook it off, ran quickly and fearlessly down the rainy road.

A playfulness always welled up when he was with comfortable people.

“Don’t run! You’ll fall!”

“Lee Tae Hwan. You stop him.”

“Just leave him. He’s running well.”

Tae Hwan, who was prepared to catch him with his psychokinesis if he fell, burst out laughing at the sight of Bodam, who couldn’t run for long and turned around, panting.

Ji Oh, who thought Bodam might run away, just followed him at a distance, and Seung Ho kept his mouth shut.

Bodam, who raised one hand high with a smile that brightened the cloudy weather.

‘Goodbye, everyone! I will be staying here.’

He shouted a playful greeting in his mind, recalling the moment he had thrown his resignation letter.

“Let’s go now!”

Then he waved his hand at his Espers, telling them to hurry up and go back.