Chapter 54: Imprinting

Team Leader Kim, sweeping his hair back, hummed.

His mind was filled with question marks.

All of Attack Team 3’s actions not only exceeded expectations but were truly flying off the rails.

Lee Tae Hwan tried to kill the research director who had dragged a Guide, still needing recovery, and made him touch Kang Yi Jun.

Research Director Park Jin Tae, his jaw trembling from the S-class Esper’s killing intent, explained the situation in a semi-panic.

He whined that he had no choice but to proceed quickly due to Esper Kang Yi Jun’s severe condition.

He insisted, his eyes welling up, that because Bodam was the Guide most likely to have imprinted with Yi Jun, he had simply attempted a very basic physical contact test with confidence.

‘Shut up.’

Tae Hwan, even more infuriated by the old pig’s whining, genuinely swung his hand.

If not for Seung Ho’s barrier, the research director’s neck would have literally flown off, not metaphorically.

He tried to lean on Seung Ho’s back, his stumpy legs trembling, but Seung Ho’s broad back immediately put distance between them, causing him to fall.

With his nose broken in front of all the researchers, and disoriented by the S-class Esper’s genuine death threat, the research director resigned on the spot.

He fled the Center before Esper Lee Tae Hwan could really tear his body apart as he threatened.

Team Leader Kim merely clicked his tongue inwardly and did not intervene in the situation.

While it was probably due to pressure from above, the circumstances of intimidating and forcibly guiding the dazed Guide Yoon were clear, so it was just desserts.

Recklessly touching an exclusive Guide when a team Esper’s eyes were bloodshot was akin to saying, ‘Come on, cut off my plump neck.’

Oh, of course, he wasn’t exclusive anymore, but.

“Ha, well, this is something.”

Team Leader Kim, letting out a small hollow laugh, sat on the sofa and drank a vitamin drink.

Even while quietly drinking the beverage, a hollow laugh escaped him.

To think Attack Team 3 would be like this.

Who could have possibly predicted it?

Team Leader Kim, whose intuition was second to none, synthesized what he had learned from observing Attack Team 3.

First, the Attack Team 3 “babies” have an attachment to Guide Yoon Bodam.

Second, the Attack Team 3 “babies” include Han Seung Ho.

Third, that Han Seung Ho has developed an attachment to the Guide.

“Have I lived too long?”

The corners of his mouth kept turning up at the surprising change in his 29-year-old peer.

He was a person who seemed like he would never show interest in anyone his entire life.

He was such an oddball that one might even wonder if he was truly human.

To see such a person rush over at the news that a Guide was hurt.

Team Leader Kim couldn’t believe it even with his own two eyes.

The most interesting point was that he had healed Guide Yoon’s cracked wrist at the time of his resignation.

When Bodam threw down his resignation, he noticed the wrist moving perfectly fine.

He had thought it strange then, but since it was Han Seung Ho, the leader of Attack Team 3, a gathering of peculiar individuals, he hadn’t attached much significance to it.

Trying to find meaning in the actions of such guys only led to bigger question marks.

Now, those question marks had gathered to form a period.

Attack Team 3 likes Guide Yoon.

“How cute.”

He mumbled a sentiment that, if Bodam had heard it, would have made him furious, shouting, ‘Where did such crazy nonsense come from!’

It became a situation where not just Kang Yi Jun, but all of Attack Team 3, needed to be watched closely.

No, perhaps things might even be resolved more easily than expected.

He, sitting on the visitor’s sofa, watched Guide Yoon, who was deeply asleep after receiving a sedative.

From his first impression, he had thought Bodam was a Guide who could disarm an Esper.

After having a few conversations, he had wondered why they couldn’t open their hearts even to such a Guide, and now…

“You’re truly going through a lot, Guide Yoon.”

Team Leader Kim, who had decided to focus solely on Guide Yoon Bodam’s protection for the time being, slowly nodded his head.

He kept his spot, smiling with a refreshed expression as if his questions had been answered.

Wishing for Guide Yoon’s recovery.

***

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Min Ji Oh, his eyes and mouth wide, said.

Tae Hwan, sprawled on the long sofa, slammed his head against the back of it.

Still fuming, he kept pounding the innocent sofa.

Water gathered at the tips of his hair, fresh from washing his face with cold water, scattered.

Han Seung Ho, Lee Tae Hwan, and even Min Ji Oh, who rarely gathered in one place except for the Friday regular meeting, converged in the waiting room.

Tae Hwan, unable to calm down, had been dragged away by Seung Ho after trying to wring the Director’s neck, and Ji Oh had entered the waiting room on his own accord.

Even to Min Ji Oh, who had no friends, the rumors about Bodam were already circulating.

“What imprinting? What quack bastard is spouting such nonsense?”

Ji Oh, who had been cursing like poetry behind Seung Ho as he made coffee, sat at the table and continued his tirade.

Yoon Bodam, suspected of imprinting with Kang Yi Jun, had been transported to the Medical Center and was now recovering.

From this brief explanation heard from Seung Ho, only curses came out.

Imprinting, really. What imprinting?

Tae Hwan and Ji Oh both showed the same reaction.

Seung Ho, who had heard the imprinting story first, also held the same opinion, though his reaction was different.

They very firmly denied the imprinting between Kang Yi Jun and Yoon Bodam.

Naturally, if Yoon Bodam had imprinted with another Esper, they would have noticed right away.

If it were any other team, maybe not, but Tae Hwan and Ji Oh, who received mucosal guiding almost every day, were certain.

If Yoon Bodam had done it with Kang Yi Jun, they would have immediately known from the strong lingering Esper waves.

Even just from Lee Tae Hwan hugging Bodam like a body pillow and receiving guiding, a strong scent would linger.

If they had intertwined bodies, even showering wouldn’t have removed the Esper’s waves and scent for several days.

And above all.

“Unless Yoon Bodam went crazy, he wouldn’t allow it. He’d bite his tongue and rather die than do it with Kang Yi Jun.”

“f*ck.”

Tae Hwan, cutting off Ji Oh’s endless cursing, took over the baton of profanity.

“Watch your mouth.”

Tae Hwan, sitting on the living room sofa far away, glared at Ji Oh and said.

Those were words he should never have said.

Ding-dong.

At the sound of the bell ringing in the waiting room, Tae Hwan and Ji Oh, on the verge of a fight, turned their gazes to the door.

They had never known there was a bell in this house.

The always-open door swung open, and an unpleasant voice was heard.

“May I come in for a moment?”

As the secretary opening the door stepped back, the Esper Director walked out.

He entered with the dull sound of his cane hitting the floor, sweeping his gaze across the waiting room.

“It’s been a while. Esper Lee Tae Hwan, Min Ji Oh.”

The two, who never rose from their seats even for the Esper Director’s visit, merely wore annoyed expressions.

Han Seung Ho was already standing to get coffee cups.

He alone slightly bowed his head in greeting and asked.

“What is the matter?”

The Director, smiling as he did in front of the Center Director, walked over, pressing his cane against the floor again.

He looked alternately at Ji Oh and Tae Hwan, who were sitting separately at the table and in the living room, contemplating where to sit.

“Chair.”

“Yes.”

At the Esper Director’s brief command, the secretary moved quickly, bringing a chair from the dining table.

The Esper Director, placing the chair in the center of the waiting room, which had a long corridor stretching from it, settled into his seat and gestured with his hand.

Then, a man in a white coat, who had still been standing outside the door, walked in quickly.

“This is Chief Researcher Jo Gyu Jin. Greet him.”

“Pleased to meet you. I am Jo Gyu Jin.”

Slurp. Only the sound of Han Seung Ho sipping his coffee continued amidst the chilling silence.

Min Ji Oh rolled his eyes, and Lee Tae Hwan shook his wet hair.

The team atmosphere was a complete mess.

‘This is why the higher-ups need to be clean,’ the Esper Director, cursing inwardly, continued the conversation.

“Guide Yoon Bodam must have been very startled by Director Park’s unilateral actions. Fortunately, I hear he is stabilizing now.”

All sharp gazes, which hadn’t even spared a glance at the three names coming from the old man’s mouth, now converged.

Finally the Esper Director, with all attention on him, displayed a calm smile.

He lifted his chin, imitating a benevolent smile that he would never have worn in his younger days when his teeth were sound.

“Go on and explain.”

The Esper Director, passing the word to Chief Researcher Jo, who stood beside him, calmly met the gazes of Lee Tae Hwan and Min Ji Oh, who were glaring as if to devour him.

The researcher, pushing up his angular glasses and squaring his shoulders, began his report.

His posture and voice were optimized for presentations.

He was the one who had guided Bodam to Kang Yi Jun with a trustworthy projection and a gentle voice that anyone could easily believe.

“As you’ve all heard, it has been confirmed that Esper Kang Yi Jun and Guide Yoon Bodam’s senses are partially connected.

At the same time as Esper Kang Yi Jun’s first seizure, Guide Yoon Bodam also reportedly lost consciousness due to excessive bleeding and was transported to a general hospital.

Afterward, Guide Yoon Bodam quickly recovered and continued his daily life, with no abnormalities in his body confirmed to the extent that he could undergo intense weight training.

It was a temporary symptom.”

At the part where Bodam was said to have received weight training, the three Espers, losing credibility, simultaneously twitched their eyebrows.

“Next. Along with the second seizure that occurred at 11:30 AM today, Guide Yoon Bodam also showed the same symptoms and was admitted to the Medical Center.

And then, as you well know, this afternoon—”

“Do we have to keep listening to this?”

Tae Hwan, propping his feet on the living room table, asked Seung Ho.

Seeing that he hadn’t put down his coffee cup, it seemed he wasn’t paying attention to the chief researcher’s babble either.

“I apologize. I’m used to reporting, so the introduction became long.”

Chief Researcher Jo immediately cut short his words and brought up the main point that would likely capture their interest.

He was certain that it would be a story of interest to them, given their rare attachment to Guide Yoon Bodam.

“It’s not imprinting.”

At the following content, Lee Tae Hwan’s and Min Ji Oh’s expressions gradually contorted.

Han Seung Ho also had a similar reaction, though to a different degree.