Chapter 125: Clashing Egos

Thwack!

With a loud impact, the protective pad in Song Jihan’s hand flew into the wall, slamming into it and making a racket.

Crash!

Immediately after, the glass sealed container Jaeyul had been holding struck the exact same spot and shattered.

Ah… that was a newly discovered monster sample we were supposed to deliver to the lab.

Looks like someone will have to head back into a gate to collect another one.

“Are you throwing a tantrum right now, Agent Song Jihan?”

“No? Team Leader Seon Jaeyul. My hand slipped, you know?

Or are you trying to recreate that fear-inducing atmosphere you use inside gates?”

“What, don’t like it? Then get out.

I can send you away anytime.”

What should I eat for dinner tonight?

I kind of want to sneak out without Jaeyul noticing and eat something spicy and刺激적인 for once….

No, maybe I’ll use Poppy as an excuse and go out for beer and fried chicken.

Thinking about late-night food is making me want to go home already.

“Hey, if I apply for a center transfer, which one do I go to?

Seoul First Center?”

What is he even talking about now?

Why is he asking me that?

“Transfer my ass.

Bomyung, you still have a ton of contract time left.

It’d be faster to just quit and find another job.”

“Haa… then maybe I should take sick leave for a while….”

I get it.

When two whales like Song Jihan and Seon Jaeyul clash, it’s the shrimp that get crushed.

Anyone would want to stay out of it.

They’re like this even in the office—no need to imagine how bad it is inside a gate.

From one corner, you can still hear threats about killing each other, but no one pays attention anymore.

It’s become familiar white noise.

At first, I thought it was just a typical power struggle.

Jaeyul might be young, but he’s an SS-rank esper and the team leader.

Jihan’s rank is slightly lower, but he has tons of real combat experience and insane instincts.

They’re both top-tier fighters anywhere you put them, so an early clash of egos was expected.

But I didn’t think they’d keep this childish nonsense going for this long.

At this point, I’m not even sure it’s about hierarchy anymore.

Bickering, bickering.

Why don’t they just grab each other by the hair and fight already?

“What’s funny is, even while they’re fighting like that, their coordination is insane.

Honestly, these days Eden and I are basically just baggage.

The moment monsters show up, those two rush in and wipe everything out, so we don’t even get to fight.

Next time I should bring popcorn and just watch the monster slaughter show.”

“Be careful.”

“About what?”

Our cute little Bomyung still doesn’t get it.

“They’re trying to kill each other right now, sure.

But what do you think happens if they actually start working together?

Like, say Jaeyul stays team leader and Jihan becomes vice leader.”

“…….”

Thankfully, it looks like Bomyung understood.

I’ve heard Jaeyul is usually detached with team members, and even inside gates he lets everyone fight freely according to their own judgment.

Jihan, on the other hand, is normally kind and a bit scatterbrained, but inside gates he becomes razor-sharp.

He never lets even small mistakes slide.

If Jaeyul is fire, then Jihan is ice.

Two people with polar-opposite temperaments.

Now imagine getting grilled from both sides at once.

That’s what I meant.

“The real hell starts then.”

Ah… did I scare him too much?

Bomyung looks like his soul left his body.

Just imagining it is draining him.

Well, tough luck.

If you want to run with strong people, you have to put up with this much discomfort.

“Damn it… this is pissing me off.”

Looks like today’s ego battle finally ended.

Jihan ran a hand roughly through his hair and walked over to us.

Judging by his flushed, irritated face, he lost again today.

“Then why do you keep picking fights that won’t even go anywhere?

Today you crossed a line.

No matter what, you can’t just throw things around in the office.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose!

My hand really slipped!

What kind of friend doesn’t even believe me?!”

Since I didn’t take his side, Jihan started whining like a five-year-old.

At this rate, he’ll be rolling on the floor any second now.

“Anyway, just stop fighting already.

You are provoking him on purpose.

Even if you’ve got more experience, you can’t act like that toward the team leader.”

“…I don’t care.

I f*cking hate that bastard.

Team leader or not, he’s got no respect.

Rude as hell.”

Should I rip his mouth open?

Who the hell are you calling ‘bastard’?!

That’s my bastard, you asshole.

“If you’re going to fight like that, don’t come whining to me.

Figure it out yourselves.

I’m not taking sides.”

“Wow, that’s cold.

I came all the way to Seoul just for you—

you should be on my side no matter what!”

Jihan shouted so loudly the whole office echoed.

Has he actually lost his mind…?

Why is he suddenly yelling like this?

“You even said it was love at first sight—ack!”

I panicked and clamped a hand over Jihan’s mouth, yanking his head down.

Yeah.

I really might have to kill him today.

“You insane bastard, when did I ever say that?!

Why are you still spouting that nonsense?

Do you want to die?!”

I hissed quietly so no one else would hear.

Honestly, this was my mistake.

I should never have tried to be friends with someone like this.

In this life, he’s been absolutely useless to me so far.

“Oh, are you two dating?

Why are you clinging to each other like that?”

What the hell is he talking about now?

Bomyung’s teasing completely killed my mood.

How could he even connect me with this guy?

“Hah… this is getting troublesome again.”

I didn’t get a chance to respond.

Jihan suddenly stood up, putting on a dramatic, seductive tone as he walked toward Bomyung.

“W-What…?

Hey, what are you doing?!”

Bomyung clearly sensed danger as Jihan approached him.

Jihan ignored it and stopped right in front of him.

Then he gently lifted Bomyung’s chin, forcing him to meet his gaze.

Gulp.

Bomyung’s throat bobbed hard.

“I knew it from the start.”

“Knew… what?”

“Don’t play dumb.

The way you look at me—that’s the look of someone in love.”

“What bullshit—!”

“Shh.

You don’t need to force an excuse.

Muscle-brained alphas aren’t really my type, but… you’ve got a certain charm.

So don’t bother fishing around about my relationship with Sehyun.”

…I’m done.

My eyes are going to rot.

Song Jihan’s delusions are getting worse.

He already pulled this stunt with Eden, and now it’s Bomyung.

His dating pool is impressively wide.

No—does he just go after anyone with a pulse?

“Anyway, I’ve got dinner plans with Sehyun, so I’m out.”

If I listen to him pretending to be cool any longer, I’m going to throw up everything I ate for lunch.

“What do you want to eat?

I’m kind of craving meat today.”

Why is he casually making dinner plans?

When did we ever agree to eat together?!

He’s so natural about it I almost went along.

…Come to think of it, I haven’t properly eaten a meal with Jihan since he came to Seoul.

Maybe going out together wouldn’t be so bad.

It’s just about time to get off work anyway.

“You’ll have to eat meat alone.”

Jaeyul, already done getting ready to leave, tapped my shoulder.

“Our hyung has something important to do at home with me.”

…What?

Even after work hours, has Jaeyul ever called me “hyung” in front of others like that?

And he’s never mentioned anything about home before.

“Let’s go, hyung.”

Jaeyul lightly tugged my wrist, urging me to head home.

What exactly is this “important thing” we’re supposed to do?

Is there actually something planned?

Or did he tell me already and I forgot…?

I don’t know.

Eating with Jihan isn’t urgent, so following Jaeyul is probably the right move.

I told Jihan we’d eat later and followed Jaeyul out of the office.

Behind me, I could practically feel scorching flames rising.

Meanwhile, Jaeyul’s steps were absurdly light.

Looks like those two will keep their ego battle going all the way until quitting time.

“Explain.”

“…Explain what?”

I waited for Jaeyul to start explaining on his own.

But even after getting in the elevator and reaching the parking lot, he said nothing.

I couldn’t stand the curiosity anymore.

“What’s this important thing we have to do at home?

I seriously can’t think of anything.”

I’m not kidding.

What’s so important that you’d call it that?

Unless we’re moving or remodeling or something.

Wait—are we moving?

“Ah… that.”

Yes, that what?

The way he says it, there’s clearly something.

“We need to bathe Poppy today.”

“…What?”

“Poppy. Bath.”

…Is he insane?

How is that important?

“Today isn’t Poppy’s bath day.

And since when did we bathe Poppy on weekdays?”

We always did it on weekends, and if we were lazy, we’d even push it to the next one.

Honestly, Poppy could probably clean himself just fine.

Anyway, Poppy’s bath definitely does not qualify as an important task.

“Is that so?

Guess I got confused.

Then since we thought of it, let’s just bathe him today together.

Poppy is our dog, so we should take good care of him together.”

What…?

You can really get something that simple mixed up?

Hard to believe.

Well, people mess up sometimes, and Poppy is family.

Still… why does it feel like he’s emphasizing something weird?

Is it just my imagination?