Chapter 19: Blocked

Sweet things.

Something so sweet it makes my tongue ache.

Bodam’s brain, having just left the bank, ordered his eyes and legs.

It told them to find the most appealing cafe and enter immediately without hesitation.

Bodam, who usually loved sweet foods, would often curb his cravings for snacks outside by waiting a bit and then eating the cookies or chocolate he kept at home.

He always warned himself that small expenses could never be ignored.

He clutched the eco-bag, which held his bright future, to his chest and busily searched for a cafe.

He felt like he would get car sick if he got in a car right now, and more than anything, he strangely craved something sweet.
He needed enough sugar to really wake him up.

“Let’s go there….”

He mumbled a faint monologue, barely moving his lips, and decided on his destination.

Inside the transparent glass window, warm lighting resembled gold.

He also liked the giant chandelier in the center, which was visible at a glance.

Bodam, who would rather eat beef on payday than spend money on dessert, truly felt as if he were possessed, seeking sugar as he entered a cafe where a single cup of coffee would likely cost over fifteen thousand won.

Click.

As he stepped through the cafe’s automatic doors, the Esper detection sensor installed at the entrance chimed.

At the familiar mechanical sound, Bodam held up the QR screen he had already opened on his wrist watch and scanned it on the reader prepared right at the entrance.

In regular cafes or restaurants, people would install an app on a spare phone to scan for Esper QR check-in, but good heavens.
This place had a dedicated black QR check-in device with a subtle glow.

He had heard that only good hotels did things this way.

“Beep-. Authentication complete. Usage time may be limited due to an indirect wavelength level of 53%.”

Thinking even the identical announcement sounded luxurious, he headed towards the order counter.

Espers had to go through a check-in process if they left the living area centered around the Center and entered civilian zones.

Whenever they entered any indoor facility, including cafes and restaurants, they were required to authenticate their Esper wavelength level.

In the case of guides, their ‘indirect wavelength level’ would fluctuate between 60-70% when they had frequent contact with Espers.

Bodam, whose average level was in the ‘70s, had dropped to the ‘50s thanks to staying home all day on Sunday.

“Welcome, customer. Have you completed your QR check-in?”

A staff member with a sophisticated smile, standing at the counter some distance from the entrance, checked Bodam’s wrist watch and asked.

To Bodam’s eyes now, everything inside this grand cafe seemed luxurious.

“Yes, I’m a guide.”

“Thank you. Please wait a moment.”

Bodam, who had lowered the hand that was tightly gripping his eco-bag strap, slowly looked around the cafe.

This place, which also resembled a hotel lobby, had all the staff dressed in suits, and even the small decorative items scattered around looked quite expensive.

It was a space with an atmosphere that would make one naturally leave if they had entered by mistake.

Bodam felt he had truly chosen well to come here.
Because it was his first meaningful expenditure.

The staff member, who had pressed the POS machine a few times to confirm Bodam’s identity and wavelength level through the check-in app, asked.

“Your usage time is limited to an hour and a half, is that alright?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Thank you for your understanding. I will guide you to your seat.”

“Ah… yes.”

He wondered why they were even guiding him to a seat just for a cup of coffee, but he silently followed behind the staff member.

He looked around like a country mouse who had just arrived in Seoul, showing expressions and reactions of “Heh~” and “Wow~”.

In any case, there were hardly any other customers besides Bodam.

“Is a window seat alright for you?”

“Yes. I’d like to sit here.”

The tables were all spaced far apart, so it seemed like any seat would be good.

However, the excellent window seat the staff member guided him to was good because it offered a clear view of the open sky.

It would also be fun to watch the cars and people busily moving under the setting sun.

In response to Bodam pointing at a chair and saying he wanted to sit there, the staff member curved their lips into a smile that transcended capitalism.

They even pulled out a chair for Bodam to sit, solidifying the image that this was a very expensive place.

Bodam awkwardly walked between the chair the staff member had pulled out and sat down, only then realizing something.

“I will assist you with the menu for a moment.”

‘Ah, this is a restaurant.’

Bodam blinked at the unexpected variety of soups and pasta he was being introduced to.

From the point about “traditional French something-or-other,” his ears had tuned out, so he hadn’t properly understood anything.

“Um… is it okay if I only order dessert?”

Bodam, who wasn’t hungry but only wanted to replenish his sugar levels, asked cautiously.

At a table in a distant corner, a foreign gentleman was reading a newspaper and only drinking coffee.

If he hadn’t been there, Bodam might have gotten swept up in the atmosphere and ordered escargot.

The staff member, of course, said it was possible and went to get a separate dessert menu.

He felt a little apologetic for making them go on at length explaining food he wouldn’t eat, but thinking about coming back to eat them another time made him feel even better.

The dining out cost was one where he would have had to remove a ‘0’ from each price on the menu to match his average food budget, but now.

‘I should come here sometimes when I want to treat myself.’

He thought that even if he brought all his family and relatives here about once a year to enjoy the atmosphere, it wouldn’t make a dent in his bank balance.

Or he could use that money to go on a domestic trip.

An overseas trip would still be too much… .

‘A trip.

Yes, I should go on a trip.’

Bodam, who again covered his mouth and muttered a tiny monologue, couldn’t bring himself to put the eco-bag down from his lap.

He felt like taking out the new bankbook from his bag, placing it on the opposite chair, and even making a toast.

He forcefully held back, thinking he might look too much like a crazy person.

First, he decided to contact his mother when he got home that evening.

He planned to calm his exploding insides, first make a call like a casual greeting, and then just say he would visit home sometime this week.

He couldn’t convey this miraculous good fortune, which would surely never come again in his life, over the phone.

His heart pounded just thinking about surprising her in person.

He plugged the portable charger he always carried into his phone and turned it on.

He hadn’t even realized the battery had drained and turned off.

‘Crazy… how many calls are these….’

Bodam doubted his eyes at the list of 46 missed calls from a truly crazy person.

He had been so busy during the day that he hadn’t even realized so many had accumulated.

Moreover, there were almost a hundred KakaoTalk messages.

If it had been an emergency, such as a rampage crisis, his watch would have vibrated his wrist bone to signal an urgent call, so this was clearly just him messing around.

‘Oh dear.

How truly sorry I am.’

Bodam took a refreshing sip of the lemon water in the beautiful glass, then widened the corners of his mouth with a look of regret.

Naturally, it was not the face of someone who was sorry at all.

Just then, at an impeccable timing, a text message arrived from Lee Tae Hwan.

[Are you outside?]
[17:41]

‘Yeah, I’m outside.

You f***ing psycho.’

Bodam, who had cursed under his breath, blocked Lee Tae Hwan’s number, fearing another call from him.

The KakaoTalk notifications piling up were ridiculous, so he just turned off individual alerts.

At the bank, he had intentionally only shown his indirect wavelength level on his watch and substituted the QR check-in with a manual written entry to keep his movements private.

However, here he had overtly scanned his QR, clearly announcing “I’m out having fun.”

His location would have been transmitted to the Center.

[Yoon Bodam, did you block me?]
[17:42]

“Kuh-hup.”

Bodam, who had choked while drinking water and looking at Lee Tae Hwan’s KakaoTalk preview window, searched for a napkin.

He unfolded the fortune cookie-shaped napkin placed on the plate and wiped his mouth.

“I will prepare the menu for you.”

The staff member came forward, holding a menu, to Bodam who was wiping the water that had dripped down to his chin with a napkin.

The clean white paper, without a cover, had scribbled letters on it that he couldn’t even read.

The staff member smiled sweetly, asking if they should recommend some dishes so the cute customer wouldn’t be flustered.

“Yes. Something very sweet. Please recommend something that comes in a large portion.”

The words “I want the most expensive one” he buried deep in his fantasies along with his embarrassment.

His lips, hidden beneath the white cloth, wouldn’t easily drop as the KakaoTalk notification screen continued to blink.