Chapter 143: Side Story – Monday Blues Have Disappeared (13)

Yi Jun rinsed the dishcloth again at Seung Ho’s instruction.

Seung Ho caught Yi Jun, who was about to take the cloth to the table without wringing it out, and personally twisted it to remove the water.

He wrung it with so much force that it seemed he was trying to completely dry it.

Yi Jun, who received the neatly folded dishcloth, meticulously wiped the table as Seung Ho commanded.

Those gathered in the living room stopped looking at the presents and focused on the unfamiliar scene.

It was amazing that Han Seung Ho was skillfully handling the dishwasher, and it was even more awkward that Kang Yi Jun was diligently wiping the table.

‘To think I’d live to see Han Seung Ho and Kang Yi Jun cleaning.’

“Hyung. Unwrap mine too.”

Yi Jun, who had sensed Bodam’s gaze, pointed to the large picture frame he had brought.

Even Seung Ho, who had just finished cleaning the kitchen and come out, stared at the frame hidden by the wrapping paper.

Everyone was curious about its contents.

“I’ll unwrap it for you.”

Yi Jun, who had lifted the frame that was too heavy for Bodam and placed it on the table, tore the wrapping paper without hesitation.

Inside the roughly torn white wrapping paper was a surprisingly ordinary painting.

“Wow. It’s pretty.”

The painting, a three-dimensional mix of blue and white paint, looked like both the sky and the sea.

With a moderately bright and unobtrusive tone, it was a painting that would look good anywhere in the house.

Even though it was a combination filled only with similar colors, it strangely caught the eye.

Ji Oh, who knew a thing or two about art, crossed his arms and scanned the neat, frameless picture up and down.

“Whose work is it.”

Even though he knew almost all the famous domestic artists, it was a style he was seeing for the first time.

Wondering if it was a foreign artist, he narrowed his eyes and tried to find the artist’s signature, and Yi Jun answered with a satisfied smile.

“My work.”

“You drew it?”

Bodam, who was admiring the painting from the front, let out a surprised voice.

He had naturally thought it was the work of a professional painter.

Yi Jun, who nodded his head while watching hyung’s reaction, showed a slightly unfamiliar smile.

A hint of shyness was contained in the corners of his mouth, which hovered as if about to go up.

At that unfamiliar expression, Ji Oh contorted his face as if he were about to throw up what he had eaten.

“Did you learn to paint? You’re really good.”

Following Bodam, Team Leader Kim and Yeon Yeok also praised Yi Jun’s painting.

Ji Oh and Jo Yeon, with their arms crossed, pretended to have lost interest but couldn’t take their eyes off it, and Seung Ho examined the frame intently.

“But is it the sky? Or the sea.”

“What does it look like?”

Bodam, who had carefully examined the large painting with sparkling eyes, said it looked like the sky and the sea combined.

To this, Yi Jun answered that that was correct.

He probably would have said yes even if Bodam had asked if it was a sunset.

Since he had drawn it while thinking of hyung, hyung’s interpretation was the answer.

“Do you like it?”

“A lot. Hey, you have talent. You should try this.”

Bodam, who was surprised by Yi Jun’s unexpected talent for painting, praised him seriously.

He also thought that Kang Yi Jun would suit the arts and physical education field well.

Moreover, if he were a painter who worked alone, it seemed like a particularly fitting profession for him.

“I’ll try it.”

Yi Jun decided on his career path without a second thought.

He was ready to do whatever hyung told him to do.

Bodam accepted that attitude more gladly than the gift.

He was relieved that he seemed to have the will to do something.

“Thank you. I’ll hang it in my room.”

“Guide-nim, give it to me.”

Team Leader Kim approached Bodam, who was trying to lift the frame.

He, who had received Seung Ho’s eye signal, said he would move it himself to take a closer look at the frame.

Since it was a gift prepared by none other than Kang Yi Jun, he carefully inspected it in case there was a listening device.

“Don’t you have anything, hyung?”

Ji Oh, who had become sullen at Bodam’s reaction of overly liking Yi Jun’s gift, attacked Seung Ho.

Now it was Seung Ho’s turn to give his gift last.

But Ji Oh and Yi Jun, who were puzzled, seeing Seung Ho who had brought nothing, asked at the same time.

“Don’t tell me you came empty-handed? Is this your first time at someone’s house?”

“Is Seung Ho-hyung having a hard time these days?”

Bodam, who blocked the two’s rude questions, which were asked as if genuinely curious, quickly changed the subject, saying they should eat dessert.

When he had invited them, he had told everyone to come empty-handed.

But even so.

“It’s not easy to come to a housewarming empty-handed.”

Even Jo Yeon, who had passed by Seung Ho, didn’t miss the timing to chime in.

Since Seung Ho always showed a perfect image, everyone welcomed his flaw and jumped on him.

If Team Leader Kim had been by his side, he would have coolly added a word too.

***

The waiting room, which had become Attack Team 3’s dorm, was unusually dark.

Because Tae Hwan had drawn all the curtains, day and night were indistinguishable.

He had also thrown the clock out of the waiting room.

Without a single one left.

Tae Hwan, who had turned the interior, which had been intentionally designed to let in a lot of sunlight, into a den of darkness, was lying in Bodam’s bedroom.

It wasn’t that he had made the inside dark because he was in a particularly low mood today.

In fact, he often did this.

When Bodam wasn’t at the Center, Ji Oh and Seung Ho would sleep in their respective dorms, and Tae Hwan would remain alone in the empty waiting room, waiting for Bodam to return.

With the surroundings made so dark that he couldn’t even tell night from day, just like now.

This was the only way time passed quickly.

Tae Hwan didn’t want to wallow in self-pity alone, but if Yoon Bodam wasn’t in front of his eyes for more than a day, he had no motivation for anything.

He couldn’t even fall asleep because his appetite and his desire for sleep would both evaporate.

He just spent the whole day trying to suppress the maddening emptiness and anxiety, searching for traces of Bodam.

“Why do Sundays even exist. So useless.”

He repeated the words that would get him in big trouble if an office worker heard, burying his face in the blanket scented with Yoon Bodam’s smell.

He had thought about going to Sector 4 to torment the demoted ajumma and destroy some gates, but had decided against it.

Usually, he would at least move his body to soothe his depression, but today, he had no interest in even that.

“……”

Tae Hwan was once again realizing his gloomy situation.

He, who had once enjoyed a freer life than anyone in the vast land of America, felt anew the injustice of being trapped in this tiny Center.

His frustration was doubled now that Yoon Bodam had entered his reality, which he had already accepted.

He was sad that there weren’t many things he could do with him.

He was worried that Yoon Bodam would get bored by his side, who was repeating the same routine like a hamster on a wheel.

‘It’s not like I wanted to be an Esper.’ It was just an ability forced upon him, not a power he had gained out of his own greed.

‘But why the hell do I have to live my life just killing creatures?’ ‘What sin did I commit in my past life?’

“Wow, this is fucked up.”

Tae Hwan, who had snickered, turned over to face the ceiling and beat his chest hard.

After the first year of his manifestation, he had lived without thinking at all.

When he opened his eyes, he would smash gates and kill creatures until the anger piled up inside him was released.

If he hadn’t, he would have gone crazy long ago.

“Ha-.”

Tae Hwan, who had furrowed his brow at his stuffy breath, slammed his chest even harder.

But his breathing was still uncomfortable, and his expression grew more and more grim.

Then, at the sound of his phone ringing, he immediately got up from the bed and answered the call.

Feeling as if he had died and come back to life.

– What are you doing?

At Bodam’s voice, which asked urgently as soon as he answered the phone, his tightly blocked airway cleared.

Tae Hwan, with a smile on his face, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and answered.

“I’m just here.”

– Don’t be funny! You went out to a gate, didn’t you?

Bodam, who was worried about Tae Hwan’s wavelength, which had suddenly gone up by 3%, scolded him, telling him to rest quickly.

It was reasonable not to trust Tae Hwan, who would lie that he wasn’t hurt even when he was.

“Okay. I won’t do anything. Really. I swear.”

– Don’t you move a muscle. I told you I’d set limits on the guiding if you get hurt again. I’m not just saying that.

Bodam’s nagging voice calmed Tae Hwan’s anxiety.

The voice that warned him to live with his head on straight sounded like a lullaby to Tae Hwan.

– Have you eaten?

“I ate earlier. You?”

– I’m eating now too. What did you eat.

“I just had a meal.”

Even though he hadn’t touched food since yesterday, Tae Hwan lied as easily as he breathed.

Because he knew Bodam was particularly sensitive about meals, it had become a habit to always answer that he had eaten.

– I’ll pack you something delicious, so look forward to it.

Tae Hwan rubbed his eyes, feeling a renewed sense of relief at the words that Bodam was coming.

He firmly believed it was sincere, because unlike him, Yoon Bodam couldn’t lie.

He would definitely come tomorrow.

Just one more day.

Just one.

– Lee Tae Hwan.

Bodam, who had lowered his voice, whispered to Tae Hwan, who was regretting the call that was about to end.

In a ticklish voice, as if he were whispering a secret in his ear.

– It’s less fun because you’re not here.

And then he hung up after spitting out words that made his heart flutter.

Bodam held and let go of the S-class Esper’s heart with just a single phrase.

“Wow.”

Tae Hwan’s heart, which had been dead until a moment ago, pounded loudly, announcing its presence.

It was a beat that Bodam had revived.

The corners of Tae Hwan’s mouth, who had buried his face in his palms, were also lifted wide by Bodam.

Now, all his senses reacted only to Bodam.

Lee Tae Hwan lived looking only at Yoon Bodam.

He wondered how he had lived before.