Chapter 139: The Things I Couldn’t Say Properly

“In an emergency, people’s intelligence drops to that of a goldfish, they say.
Looks like that applies to you too, Team Leader.
Why are you wandering around alone so stupidly?”

The person who suddenly appeared, picking a fight out of nowhere, was Song Jihan.

True to his reputation as an S-class wind-type, he showed up in an instant.

I nearly embedded a light bomb into him the moment he appeared, but I barely managed to stop myself after recognizing his familiar aura.

He’s damn lucky.

“Today isn’t a day for jokes.
Why don’t you just go wherever you were headed?”

I wouldn’t say my relationship with Song Jihan is good.

If anything, it’s closer to bad.

On a normal day, I’d either brush off his provocation lightly or play along, but today was different.

In a situation where every second matters, blocking my path for no reason was enough to make my blood boil.

“Who said anything about joking?
Did you really think I wouldn’t worry about ‘my friend’?
I’m heading out to find my best friend, Jin Sehyun.”

I really want to punch that smug mouth of his.

He’s definitely got a natural talent for getting under people’s skin.

That’s how I ended up getting tricked by this bastard into confessing to my brother back then.

“There should’ve been a separate order from Na Dongchan.”

“Hannam-dong?
Do you think we’re insane enough to go there?
We bolted out after hearing all that bullshit about insubordination and whatever.”

“We?”

“We.
The entire team went out to look for Jin Sehyun.”

Song Jihan spoke lightly, as if it were no big deal.

But this wasn’t a light matter for everyone.

Ordinary agents could face severe punishment for disobeying orders, or be forced to pay absurd amounts in compensation.

If things went really badly, they might even lose their special-ability licenses.

I could afford to challenge that kind of injustice.

But not everyone was in the same position.

Knowing they might have to pay the price and still going out to look for my brother…

He always pretends not to care about others, but it seems he’s been living far more properly than I ever realized.

That’s a relief.

“…Thanks…”

“What are you even saying?
I’m going to save my friend, so why the hell are you thanking me?
Anyway, get over here and listen to the plan before moving.
Yueden’s actually using his brain.”

I think I get why my brother likes Song Jihan.

Before I could even finish saying thank you, he shut my mouth for me.

Judging by how flustered he looked, face turning red, he’s got a surprisingly kind side.

When he first joined our team, I never would’ve imagined I’d evaluate him this way.

‘I’m not interested in performance scores or promotions, so I don’t want to get dragged into pointless power struggles.
I came here for a different reason.
There’s someone I absolutely have to meet.’

Song Jihan.

What a strange bastard.

He was rattling off things no one asked about during his very first meeting with the team.

When I first met him, he seemed fairly normal, but now that I look closer, he doesn’t seem quite right in the head.

‘Who said something to make him talk like that?’

Park Bomyeong leaned in close to Yueden’s ear and whispered loudly.

I couldn’t tell if he was trying to keep it secret or deliberately letting Song Jihan hear.

Knowing Bomyeong, it was probably the former.

He just has no sense of volume control.

‘I’m already in trouble if he starts showing interest this early…
There’s already someone who’s completely fallen for me and followed me all the way from Busan, haha.’

Haah…

My head already hurts.

I’d recruited Song Jihan because, as an S-class esper, I thought he could handle some annoying gate work.

But I have a bad feeling about this.

Maybe I shouldn’t have recruited a new team member at all.

Regret washes over me.

I don’t even care about his personal story, so why does he keep going on about it?

Still, even with flaws like this, as long as he fights well, it doesn’t really matter.

We’re not here to make friends.

Just as I was about to wrap things up quickly, annoyed by the long introductions, my brother walked into the office.

‘Perfect timing.
This is our team’s dedicated guide, Agent Jin Sehyun.’

Even if we already knew each other, a formal introduction was necessary.

But Song Jihan’s reaction was nothing like I expected.

“Sehyun!
I told you I’d be back soon, right?
I kept my promise!”

He waved his hands wildly and strode toward my brother.

Like someone reuniting with a long-lost friend.

“Hahaha, surprised?
Look at your face, it’s gone pale.”

My brother glanced back and forth at me with a strange look.

And just from that moment, I understood who Song Jihan had meant.

The person he had to meet.

The one who had fallen for him.

Jin Sehyun.

Why did my brother lie to me about only knowing him by face?

And why did Song Jihan say my brother liked him?

My head throbs as emotions swirl violently inside me.

Confusion.

Anger.

Disbelief.

And more than anything, fear.

What if what Song Jihan said was true?

What if my brother really… liked him?

What if that was why he hid their relationship and helped him join our team?

What if… I was the only one who misunderstood that my brother liked me?

I endured it.

Endured it.

Endured it again.

My brother insisted there was nothing between them, but to anyone watching, it looked like there was something.

Song Jihan didn’t even try to hide his desire for my brother.

He went so far as to provoke me deliberately.

Only my oblivious brother seemed unaware of it.

When I finally reached the point of thinking, “Maybe it’d be better to just kill that bastard,” things exploded.

“I told you it’s fine if you don’t know.”

“I’m not eating it.
Take it back.”

“I’m telling you to eat it.
It’s not something the team leader brought.”

“Really?
Then where did it come from?”

Ha.

This is ridiculous.

Listening to their conversation through the door, a hollow laugh escapes me.

Song Jihan was throwing a tantrum, and my brother was soothing him while feeding him Petra.

And they say there’s nothing between them?

It’s hard enough enduring my brother’s lies, but the fact that every single one of them is about Song Jihan makes it worse.

Why should the Petra I brought back from the gate be fed to that bastard?

If I’d known it wouldn’t be my brother eating it, I would never have brought it back.

That Petra was something he used to save just for me.

And now he’s giving it to Song Jihan.

As the atmosphere inside grew more playful, I moved.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I believe I told you not to engage in unnecessary conversations in the guiding room.”

As expected, Song Jihan already knew I was outside the door.

The only one startled by my sudden appearance was my brother.

Seeing him flinch like someone caught at a crime scene only made me angrier.

Was he trying to hide this from me?

“The team leader might not know since you’re young, but when I was team leader, I valued harmony between members above all else.”

A sharp pain.

Song Jihan hits me exactly where it hurts.

That word I hate so much—younger—aimed precisely at me.

As if mocking me for not wanting to seem like a child in front of my brother.

I fired back a few words at Song Jihan, but my anger wouldn’t subside.

My mind kept filling with disgusting fantasies of what the two of them might have been doing in here.

Song Jihan left before I completely exploded, but this wouldn’t end here.

I was trying to calm myself down, determined not to show an ugly side in front of my brother.

That’s when he lit the fuse.

“Why are you so eager to tear our Jihan apart?”

That probably wasn’t the exact wording.

But to my angry ears, that’s how it sounded.

My brother was openly taking Song Jihan’s side.

After spending a rut together.

After preparing a ring to confess.

How could he do this to me?

My tone turned sharp without me meaning to.

For the first time, my brother’s voice matched mine.

It was shocking.

Why was he getting this angry at me just to protect Song Jihan?

What is that bastard to him?

Did they really become something more?

Am I supposed to hand my brother over to Song Jihan…?

The thought makes me dizzy.

Anger surges, followed immediately by fear.

A life without Jin Sehyun.

It’s something I’ve never even imagined.

“Why does it have to go that far?”

Fear beyond what I could bear blew away all the tension of my planned confession.

The words came out half-angry.

“I was first.
I liked you first, more than anyone.
So you’re obviously mine.”

And just like that, I said I love you in the worst possible way.

Like an idiot.

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