Chapter 56: Open

After checking Bodam’s condition, Team Leader Kim closed the hospital room door and came out into the corridor, speaking firmly.

“You cannot.”

Min Ji Oh, facing his firm stance, let out a long sigh.

The annoyance seeping heavily from his breathing was sharp.

However, he didn’t curse.

“It’ll only take a moment.”

“No.”

“Ah! Just! Damn—…I’ll just look at his face and leave.”

Ji Oh’s face reddened as he abruptly raised his voice, suppressing the curse that tried to burst out.

He opened and closed his mouth, searching for words, but only scratched his head nervously.

He had been standing in front of Bodam’s hospital room for 30 minutes now.

“I’ll give you ten million won per minute.”

Team Leader Kim’s eyebrow rose slightly at the deal Ji Oh blurted out.

To this, Ji Oh quickly pressed on.

“I’ll give you fifty million, just give me 5 minutes.”

“It seems there’s nothing more than that, right?”

“How much do you need?”

“Hmm. Ten billion won?”

“Hey!!”

Team Leader Kim, who had cast a barrier in front of Min Ji Oh, who yelled loudly, twitched the corner of his mouth.

He waved his hands, as if calming a tantrum-throwing child, signaling him to step back.

“You shouldn’t display your waves like that in front of a sick patient’s room.”

Ji Oh, with veins bulging in his neck, closed his gaping mouth.

Team Leader Kim’s laughter quietly escaped him at Ji Oh’s rough, heaving breaths, as he tried his best to suppress them.

Ji Oh, his entire attention focused on the hospital room, had no time to mind Team Leader Kim’s mockery.

He simply thought of a way to get inside, even for a moment.

“Then just open the door. Watching from here is fine, right?”

“Esper Min Ji Oh.”

“One minute. No, goddammit, 30 seconds!”

“What do you intend to do by looking?”

Team Leader Kim, boasting a dependable physique that filled the hospital room door, asked.

The waves of the angry A-class Esper filled the corridor in the Guide-exclusive ward.

To the patients and medical staff timidly standing at both ends, unable to pass through the corridor, Team Leader Kim smiled gently, telling them to pass.

His skilled barrier concealed even the Esper’s waves.

Even as Guides and doctors quickly passed behind him, Min Ji Oh couldn’t come up with an answer.

It wasn’t in his mind.

“I’m really just curious, but.”

Team Leader Kim, opening his mouth again, made a serious expression.

Min Ji Oh, his mind gone blank, only stared with his eyes, which curved upwards.

His cluelessness was such that he might as well re-enroll in elementary school.

“You often hear people say you don’t think much, right?”

Ji Oh’s expression crumpled at the words he’d never heard in his life.

Having lived only hearing praise, these were words he had never encountered.

“Wha—”

“It might be difficult, but try to think for once.”

“What are you talking about?”

“How frustrating would it be if someone you dislike keeps hovering around? He’s already sick, do you want to make him mentally ill too? Especially someone so weak.”

Team Leader Kim picked up his incessantly ringing phone, checked the piled-up messages, and ended the conversation.

He reinforced the barrier and re-entered the hospital room.

His phone rang incessantly.

“Oh. Text me.”

He briefly hung up the phone after checking on Bodam, who was soundly asleep, and patted his rumbling stomach.

As the Medical Center was large, the Guide ward and Esper ward were thoroughly separated.

They didn’t provide meals for Team Leader Kim, an Esper, here.

Team Leader Kim, who had eaten Bodam’s meal in his stead, found the portion insufficient.

It was an amount that would require three times the tray a Guide received to feel full.

He opened the refrigerator door, took out another vitamin drink and drank it, slowly reading the piled-up messages.

Just as he was thinking he should order delivery if he was really hungry, he felt waves knocking on the barrier again.

Hah, they really don’t understand.

He opened his phonebook to pass the bothersome task to Team Leader Han, but paused.

The waves of the new visitor were not Min Ji Oh’s.

He tilted his head at the low-grade Esper’s aura and opened the door.

“Who?”

“I am B-class psychokinesis Esper Jo Yeon.”

The Esper, wearing a combat uniform and catching his breath as if he’d just come straight from the field, spoke.

He emphasized that he was Bodam’s friend, and also repeatedly stated his low rank.

He sweated, claiming that as a B-class, his waves wouldn’t affect the Guide.

“Come in.”

Team Leader Kim, remembering the photos of Jo Yeon that Bodam had enthusiastically shown him on his phone, opened the door.

Thinking that he looked much better in person than in photos, he grabbed Jo Yeon, who was about to rush straight to the bed.

“Cleanliness is important in front of a patient.”

He pointed to the restroom for Jo Yeon, who clearly looked like he had been rolling around in the field.

His entire body was covered in monster blood, and dust fell off him with every step.

Jo Yeon, turning his head to check on Bodam’s steady breathing as he lay soundly asleep in bed, quickly went into the restroom.

“I’ll give you clothes, so wash up.”

Team Leader Kim, who detested traces of monsters, knocked on the restroom door and spoke.

After confirming the sound of the shower, he teleported back with clothes in just 3 seconds.

Since their builds were similar, his own clothes probably wouldn’t be too big.

Jo Yeon, having cleanly washed and changed into new clothes, approached Bodam.

Looking down at Bodam, who was asleep in the exact same position as before, without moving, he stifled a sigh.

If it weren’t for his soft breathing, Jo Yeon’s heart would have sunk.

His already pale face was deathly white, proving that the rumors he had hoped weren’t true were indeed factual.

“Did he… vomit blood again?”

Jo Yeon asked.

He had rushed over immediately upon hearing that Bodam had appeared at the Medical Center, bleeding profusely.

At first, he had been denied entry, told they couldn’t reveal the room, so he just stood at the desk, pacing anxiously.

Then, absurdly.

“How did you find your way here?”

Instead of answering, Team Leader Kim asked first, handing him a bottle of vitamin drink.

He also pulled over a visitor’s chair, telling him to sit.

He thought very highly of the Esper whom Guide Yoon Bodam had praised endlessly.

There weren’t many Espers who could befriend a Guide.

“…Team Leader Han Seung Ho told me.”

“Team Leader Han?”

“Yes.”

Surprisingly, it was true.

Team Leader Han had suddenly appeared before him, standing with his head bowed at the desk.

‘Room 1901.’ He had briefly stood there, dazed, watching Team Leader Han turn back the way he came after only stating the room number.

Then, unable to wait for the elevator, he had rushed up the emergency stairs.

“Is Bodam okay?”

Jo Yeon asked Team Leader Kim, who was covering his jaw with a large hand and making a serious expression.

Bodam’s even breathing was stable, but thinking he had again vomited blood like that day made it hard to calm his own waves.

“No. He’s not doing well.”

Team Leader Kim lowered the hand covering his jaw, cleared his throat once, and replied.

He walked to the opposite side of the bed, watching Jo Yeon, who couldn’t speak with his mouth agape.

As Bodam’s personal protection officer, he was aware of every current situation.

Perfect protection was only possible if he knew the Guide’s condition.

He had heard reports from the research team and was also receiving calls from the directors.

Furthermore, even Han Seung Ho had informed him of the situation via text.

Because the stories coming from various sources differed, Team Leader Kim had to determine which was true.

It was highly probable that what Han Seung Ho said was the truth.

Natural imprinting, he thought. It was a phenomenon he had never heard of.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot tell you, as it is still confidential.”

“No, why—”

“I’ll just say there’s a reason he was brought to the Medical Center and not a general hospital.”

He, standing opposite Jo Yeon, briefly offered all the hints he could give.

A quick-witted ability user would understand enough with this much explanation.

Fortunately, Esper Jo Yeon seemed to be the quick-witted type.

If it had been Min Ji Oh, he would have just squawked words ending in curses.

“It’s not a situation without a possibility of recovery, so don’t make such a devastated face.”

“His body… is naturally weak. Much more so than other Guides.”

Jo Yeon, sweeping his entire face with his hand, leaned his arm on the end of the bed.

Due to his rapidly beating heart, it became increasingly difficult to suppress his waves.

He pushed his damp hair back and tried to stand up.

For a Guide with weakened immunity, an Esper’s sharp waves were even more dangerous.

“Just sit down. I’ll put up a barrier for you.”

Team Leader Kim gestured for the commendable Esper, who was trying to distance himself, to sit down.

Jo Yeon, grasping his hands tightly in gratitude, asked a question he didn’t expect an answer to.

“It’s not imprinting, is it?”

Team Leader Kim averted his gaze, crossed his arms, and looked down at Bodam.

Then he changed the subject.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Guide Yoon Bodam.

He often boasted that you were the only colleague he became close with during his six years at the Center.”

Jo Yeon, nodding his head weakly, swallowed his frustrated breath.

It was already something to be grateful for, just being allowed to sit beside Bodam.

If he was brought to the Medical Center, it must mean it was a problem caused by waves.

Only imprinting came to mind, but he immediately denied it.

There was no way Bodam would imprint with those bastards.

“It’s rare for an Esper and Guide to maintain a relationship without exchanging guiding.

And he must have a separate assigned Guide now.”

“It’s because we’re close as people. Regardless of Esper or Guide.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Team Leader Kim, with a gentle smile, looked alternately at Bodam and Jo Yeon.

He continued the conversation, gazing intently at Jo Yeon, who looked like a typical Esper.

“Does he usually open his heart easily to Espers?”

“Yes?”

“Guide Yoon, I mean. I’m asking because I’m his personal protection officer.

I want to know his personality in detail.”

“Ah.”

Jo Yeon told him as much as he could for Bodam’s safety.

They had a brief conversation, but the Barrier Esper seemed like a good person.

Team Leader Kim’s impression of him seemed even better, thanks to Bodam’s endless praise of the Barrier Esper.

“He’s just so kind. He says he isn’t, but he trusts people easily.

Especially if someone is hurting, he just can’t pass them by. And it’s even more so for Espers who need guiding.

He isn’t without caution. He’s been hurt a lot.”

Jo Yeon, trailing off, looked down at Bodam and let out a sigh.

Seeing Bodam’s white face, tasting his lips with a smacking sound in his sleep, deepened Jo Yeon’s bitter smile.