Chapter 39: Uneasiness

“Tell your dog to get back home.”

Team Leader Kim said to Seung Ho on the phone.

He was reporting the situation while adding a barrier around the backyard of Bodam’s apartment.

He hung up the phone after Han Seung Ho’s affirmative reply.

Team Leader Kim took a long drag from his e-cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke, then scratched his forehead with the edge of his phone.

He wondered why these b*stards were acting so uncharacteristically.

The brats of Attack Team 3, famous for being indifferent to Guides and for not getting attached, were showing completely unexpected behavior.

“How strange.”

He let out an absurd, hollow laugh, put away his e-cigarette, and checked that no one was passing by.

Still, just in case, he cast another layer of safety barrier, then entered the barrier his team had set up.

“Ah, f*ck, seriously!!”

As soon as he stepped inside the thick barrier, a torrent of curses assaulted his eardrums.

It was a voice so loud that if they hadn’t blocked the sound from going outside, all the neighborhood residents would have gathered.

“He just wants to see his face!!”

Min Ji Oh, bound by the restraint barrier, shouted.

He had collapsed from lack of guiding after his last call with Bodam and was immediately transferred to the emergency guiding center.

Thanks to his common ability and rank, Min Ji Oh’s guiding absorption rate was average.

However, he was a case where his terrible personality was so severe when he was conscious that he showed guiding rejection.

Taking advantage of his loss of consciousness, three Guides simultaneously held his hands and feet to calm his wavelength.

Under Team Leader Han’s command, after receiving a report on the situation, they stabilized his wavelength to the point of being fluid using a guiding machine.

He had been unconscious for three days, hooked up to expensive equipment that some people found difficult to endure for even 10 minutes.

He was now in a condition where he wouldn’t need guiding for a while.

While all sorts of rumors surrounding Attack Team 3 spread throughout the Center, Min Ji Oh, who had been sleeping soundly, immediately looked for Yoon Bodam as soon as he opened his eyes.

He called out his name, eyes blazing, as if he was going to catch him and beat him up.

Yoon Bodam. Yoon Bodam. F*cking Yoon Bodam.

“You cannot.”

Team Leader Kim said, approaching Ji Oh, who was trapped in the restraint barrier.

The subsequent stream of curses from Min Ji Oh made the barrier team members cover their ears.

“Good voice.”

Team Leader Kim, who was standing directly in front of him, poked his tingling ear with his pinky finger.

If he had his way, he would have teleported him out and slammed him somewhere, but Min Ji Oh was also a teleport ability user.

Unless he was unconscious, teleportation wouldn’t work.

But to make him unconscious?

“Release the barrier.”

“Guide Yoon Bodam has requested personal protection. Everyone in Attack Team 3 is a restricted access target.”

“Release it.”

“What you’re doing now is a violation of the rules. You should know very well that Espers A-class and above can only enter civilian areas with permission.”

Ji Oh’s eyes, glaring at Team Leader Kim, who was subtly shortening his sentences, were on the verge of losing it.

Like a young master furious that things weren’t going his way, he delivered a very clichéd line.

“What’s your name?”

“Hwang Gyu Tae.”

From behind Team Leader Kim, who answered without hesitation, the real Hwang Gyu Tae called out, “Team Leader!”

“Oh, Gyu Tae, you were here. Sorry, just kidding.”

“You son of a b*tch. Hey!!”

Min Ji Oh’s shouts, tormenting the Esper’s excellent hearing, resumed.

Although he was carefully bound by the barrier, his mouth was not gagged.

It was the unanimous opinion of the barrier team to try and reason with him gently and send him away.

No matter how unruly Min Ji Oh was, like a wild dog, he wasn’t someone who would cross the line enough to warrant confinement like Kang Yi Jun.

There was a possibility of getting on the wrong side of the superiors if they mishandled Min Ji Oh.

The only people who could handle the Center Director’s grandson were Attack Team 3.

It was safer to call Team Leader Han and just deliver a warning.

If he continued to come after that, given Team Leader Kim’s personality, he wouldn’t just stand by.

“If he wasn’t an Esper, he’d have vocal cord nodules right now.”

Team Leader Kim shook his head and covered the area around Ji Oh’s head with a membrane, blocking his noisy voice.

A question mark was forming in his mind due to the unexpected turn of events.

Did Attack Team 3 have an attachment to Guides?

He never expected Min Ji Oh, not even Kang Yi Jun who was known as a madman, to come all the way here.

Min Ji Oh, in particular, was an Esper notorious among Guide groups for treating Guides roughly.

There were even rumors that he deliberately burned them out to prevent them from joining Attack Team 3.

Well. He didn’t think he would intentionally do something that would bring no benefit to an Esper, but they were such eccentric people that it was impossible to know what was going on in their heads.

Team Leader Kim’s watch vibrated.

It was a GPS tracking alert for Han Seung Ho, whose movement range had suddenly increased.

An additional alert window displayed Bodam’s movement path as well.

Bodam, who had gone out briefly to buy snacks with his cousins, was returning.

Before that, Han Seung Ho arrived first.

Seung Ho, who appeared with a Teleport Esper, entered the barrier.

His sharply precise footsteps never seemed to rush.

Team Leader Kim grumbled, watching Seung Ho approach.

“Why don’t you just hurry up? He even has a dedicated driver.”

Ji Oh, who had been defiant, quieted down a little at Team Leader Han’s arrival.

The curses spewing from his mouth, however, remained the same.

Han Seung Ho approached Min Ji Oh and broke the barrier with his bare hands.

“Huh.”

Even though it was just a lightly placed membrane to block sound, the eyes of the surrounding barrier users widened at the sight of him easily breaking Team Leader Kim’s barrier, which was one of the most powerful among A-class abilities.

Team Leader Kim merely laughed in disbelief.

“Do you have too much time on your hands?”

Seung Ho looked down at Ji Oh, who was still bound by the barrier, without releasing his body.

He couldn’t understand Min Ji Oh using his teleportation ability for unnecessary matters.

Since he wanted Yoon Bodam to leave more than anyone, it should have been welcomed.

He had gone to all the trouble of subduing him with guiding, only for him to waste his power in a useless place.

“If you have nothing to do, then work.”

“What about Yoon Bodam?”

Ji Oh asked.

“Why is he suddenly cursing and acting like a madman? Do you know, Hyung?”

He couldn’t fathom the reason for his deliberate departure from the Center, to the extent of requesting personal protection.

If there had been any indication, he would have thought he finally left, but Yoon Bodam had been acting as usual until recently.

He couldn’t come up with any reason why a person’s personality would change overnight.

“A new Guide will be coming next week. Your matching rate is 76%.”

Seung Ho ignored Ji Oh’s question and offered a beneficial answer.

This time, the Guide was chosen with Min Ji Oh’s matching rate as the top priority.

Since it was a position he wouldn’t be in for long anyway, they selected Guides primarily to silence his frequent complaints.

“Come along quietly.”

Ji Oh, who had been silently looking up at the Team Leader’s attitude, which implied he should be satisfied with this, opened his mouth.

“F*ck.”

Seung Ho only met Ji Oh’s gaze coldly as he cursed.

A 76% matching rate was a Guide that should be sufficiently satisfactory.

Yet, Min Ji Oh cursed.

He, who had managed Yoon Bodam mostly in the field and cut off his contact with Teleport Espers so he would leave on his own, was now showing incomprehensible stubbornness.

It was not a reaction one would expect from Min Ji Oh, unless it was Kang Yi Jun.

“Are your ears plugged? I’m looking for Yoon Bodam. Not those other b*stards, Yoon—.”

“Yoon Bodam.”

Min Ji Oh’s mouth froze open.

A small voice, heard from afar, clearly settled into the Esper’s ears.

It reached him as distinctly as if he were speaking right next to him.

“Try to repeat it. Yoon Bodam.”

“Yoon Bodam!”

“You’re handsome.”

“You’re handshome!”

Yoon Bodam and the children’s voices were heard from just below the low hill in the apartment backyard, where the barrier was cast.

Hidden by the rusty fence and abundant trees, only their voices could be heard.

“You’re cool.”

“You’re cool!”

“Cough.”

“Cough!”

Yul-ri and Yoon-suk, who even imitated Bodam’s cough, had a lisp because they each had one front tooth missing.

That sight was so cute that Bodam kept talking to them more.

Team Leader Kim strengthened the barrier and kept an eye on Min Ji Oh.

He only turned his head in the direction of Bodam’s voice but showed no signs of lunging forward.

Seung Ho, standing in front of him, also had his head tilted towards the sound.

All the Espers present listened intently to the quiet conversation between the former Guide and the children.

“Kids, just a moment.”

Bodam, whose hands were full with large bags because he had swept up a lot of snacks at the supermarket, smiled coolly, suggesting a short break.

“Hyung. Are you tired? Is it heavy?”

“No. It’s because the weather, cough, the weather’s nice. Let’s just stand here for a bit and then go.”

“I’m cold.”

Yul-ri, clinging to Bodam’s leg, whined.

Following him, Yoon-suk also clung to his leg.

Once their shyness wore off, their cuteness overflowed.

Bodam, with a melting smile, took off his outer jacket and put it over Yul-ri.

It was getting colder outside as the sun was setting.

“Princess Yul-ri, aren’t you cold anymore?”

“Me too. Hyung, me too. I’m cold too.”

“Hyung is cold too.”

“Then carry me on your back.”

“Ahem. Hyung will carry you when he gets over his cold. If you two catch a cold, Auntie will scold Hyung.”

As a small breeze, strong enough to shake the tree branches, blew, Bodam’s cough intensified.

Bodam, carrying the bags, said, ‘Let’s go now,’ but soon stopped again, saying the weather was really nice.

He was immersed in imitating the image of a rich and powerful adult.

Eventually, he squatted down, saying, ‘Let’s rest for just one minute.’

It was cold, but he had exerted himself a bit, so he was sweating.

The children, leaning against Bodam who had slumped down, pulled his sleeve and wiped his forehead.

Even with a stuffy mask on, his bright, happy laughter, bursting forth, was conveyed clearly and loudly without obstruction.

He laughed very loudly.

Yoon Bodam was laughing out loud.

“Release it.”

Ji Oh, who had been listening intently to Bodam’s unfamiliar laughter, said.

“Release it. I’ll leave.”

Seung Ho, who had been silently watching him, eventually turned his head and gestured to Team Leader Kim.

As Team Leader Kim raised his hand, the barrier users simultaneously lifted the restraint barrier.

At the same time, Min Ji Oh disappeared.

Han Seung Ho also called the Teleport Esper and prepared to move.

In that fleeting moment, Team Leader Kim saw it.

Han Seung Ho’s expression, his eyes subtly narrowing at the deepening sound of Guide Yoon Bodam’s cough.

‘Did something get into his eye?’

Team Leader Kim shrugged, dismissed the barrier users, and continued smoking his cigarette.

Soon after, a small voice approached from behind him.

“This is a non-smoking area.”

Bodam, who had peered out from behind the apartment building, following the smell of cigarettes, said.

He had sent Yul-ri and Yoon-suk up first and mustered the courage to catch the person smoking.

Fortunately, it was someone he knew.

“Ah, I’m sorry. There are a lot of cigarette butts on the ground.”

Team Leader Kim, who had turned off his e-cigarette, smiled apologetically.

As he said, short cigarette butts were piled on the ground.

Bodam sighed deeply, took a tissue from his pocket, and picked up the cigarette butts.

Team Leader Kim also helped Bodam pick up the butts.

“But why are you out here?”

“Sometimes I patrol.”

Bodam nodded and thanked Team Leader Kim, who was going through trouble because of him, and offered him snacks from the supermarket bag.

“Is the Center very busy these days?”

“Was there ever a day it wasn’t busy?”

Team Leader Kim, who was probably hungry, immediately tore open the snack and ate it, replying with a smile.

Bodam agreed, saying, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Why?”

“I have a friend at the Center who can’t get a day off. Even though they used to always take at least one day off on weekends, it seems they have more work these days.”

“Hmm. The Guide section shouldn’t be that strict.”

“He’s not a Guide, he’s an Esper.”

“You’re friends with an Esper?”

“Yes. He’s the team representative.”

A smile formed on Bodam’s lips as he proudly introduced his friend.

“The friend you were talking to on the phone on your way here?”

“Ah! That’s right! Should I show you a picture?”

“Yes, sure.”

Team Leader Kim, who unexpectedly saw pictures of his only best friend—kind, cheerful, tall, and even funny—followed Bodam’s lead and his lips curled into a smile.

He was a Guide who became more interesting the more he saw him.