Chapter 65: Advice

Before noon, Team Leader Kim, who had returned to Bodam’s hospital room, raised his voice for the first time in a long while.

Esper Hwang Gyu Tae, who had made the mistake of letting a no-approach target inside, couldn’t lift his head.

After thoroughly reporting the situation as it was, he stood next to the two B-class Espers and was scolded for a long time before being chased out.

Team Leader Kim, frowning at the retreating figures of his juniors, let out a long sigh.

Even though Han Seung Ho had worn the control bracelet, he was flabbergasted by the action of allowing a no-approach target to meet an unconscious Guide.

Still, since he was also responsible for not being reachable, he merely gave a severe verbal warning and ended it.

Due to the shortage of personnel, there was no leeway for disciplinary action.

“Team Leader Han.”

Han Seung Ho, who had apparently intended to meet Guide Yoon with full preparation, even bringing a control bracelet, had left the room on his own when the control device broke.

After that, he stood in front of the closed door without a word, waiting until Team Leader Kim arrived.

He had even broken through the guards’ flimsy barrier and put up his own shield.

“Bored?”

Team Leader Kim approached Seung Ho, adding a layer to the firm, precise barrier, conveying his wish for him to leave.

It was a silent conversation among barrier users.

“If you have time to discourage your juniors, why don’t you help out with field work? You know perfectly well that the barrier division is in an emergency, so why are you doing this?”

He was dumbfounded that the gentleman who always adhered to the rules was acting in a way even Min Ji Oh wouldn’t.

What was even more infuriating was the content of the conversation between Han Seung Ho and Guide Yoon.

“Teach your juniors properly.”

Team Leader Kim, who almost spat out his nicotine gum at Seung Ho’s sudden remark, stroked his face.

Seung Ho pointed out the clumsy handling by Esper Hwang Gyu Tae and the two B-class barrier users, and even added a directive to strengthen their double barrier training.

Team Leader Kim, whose blood pressure rose on top of his already fatigued body, gently wagged his finger at the colleague who had helped him with his low blood pressure.

“Who do you think is the cause of that problem right now?”

“If it hadn’t been me, but Lee Tae Hwan or Kang Yi Jun—.”

Seung Ho, unconcerned by the wagging finger, shamelessly continued.

“They looked like they would open the door even without the control bracelet. Perhaps the personal protection team doesn’t realize they’re barrier users.”

“Ah. I really hate you, seriously.”

Team Leader Kim, cutting off the conversation that was even more infuriating because it wasn’t wrong, warned him that he would report him to higher-ups.

However, given the chaotic Center atmosphere due to the unregistered Esper issue, it was highly likely that he would only receive a warning.

Since he had voluntarily worn the control bracelet, maintained a certain distance, and only attempted a short conversation, it seemed even that warning might be omitted.

“Don’t loiter around Guide-nim anymore. Don’t even think about contacting me. Information sharing is over now.”

Team Leader Kim, facing Seung Ho with displeasure, delivered the punishment instead of their superiors.

Seung Ho, who took out his phone that was vibrating insistently in his pocket and checked the piled-up messages, replied very dryly, “Understood.”

“Hey, Han Seung Ho.”

Team Leader Kim called Seung Ho by his given name instead of his usual team leader title.

It was a name he had occasionally used during their fresh-faced training camp days at twenty.

Not often.

“Do you really want Guide-nim to come back?”

“None of your business.”

“Then why do you only do things that make him lose affection?”

He looked at Seung Ho, who didn’t deny it, with a pathetic gaze and deliberately let out a louder sigh.

He strongly conveyed that seeing him made his breath heavy with frustration.

The content of Guide Yoon’s and Han Seung Ho’s conversation, as told by Gyu Tae, didn’t seem problematic on the surface, but the fact that it was Han Seung Ho speaking was a big issue.

He was someone with a remarkable talent for making people feel like crap, even when saying the same words.

“What do you hope to achieve by actively destroying the little affection there already is?”

If he truly wanted the already deeply wounded Guide to return, he should have approached him twice as carefully.

First, he should drop that commanding tone.

“Esper Lee Tae Hwan is running bread errands. He hasn’t missed a day of sending strange gifts since the hospitalization.”

Han Seung Ho, who was likely already aware of his team members’ movements, was told specifically.

Guide Yoon hadn’t refused Lee Tae Hwan’s gifts and even allowed them directly into his room.

He didn’t seem to dislike the effort.

Or perhaps he disliked Lee Tae Hwan less.

“What have you been doing all this time?”

Team Leader Kim, in his combat uniform directly from the field, folded his thick arms and tilted his head.

In truth, Team Leader Kim saw Han Seung Ho’s concern for the Guide.

If others heard it, they might suggest he get his eyes checked, but he sensed Han Seung Ho’s own sincerity.

Han Seung Ho had kept his distance as the Guide wished, and had even protected him in front of the Center Director, stating that the imprinting evidence was uncertain.

This felt like the utmost expression he was capable of.

Though it was far from enough.

“Why do you think Guide-nim resigned? Huh? Why would he?”

Team Leader Kim, repeatedly pointing at Seung Ho with his chin, smiled gently.

He spoke slowly, articulating carefully as if addressing a child, to make sure he understood.

“Guides are people too. Just as you, an Esper, are a person.”

It was an obvious truth that didn’t need to be stated, but sometimes Espers living within the Center forgot it.

The gate sites, unimaginable to ordinary people, and the predetermined future of Espers occasionally made them forget they were human.

They had to control their powers to prevent their body, like a ticking time bomb, from exploding, and live their whole lives with physical contact with someone who wasn’t their lover.

To call them the same as ordinary people living diverse lives in civilian areas was a bit… harsh.

“And they’re not machines that provide guiding based on how much you pay.”

Team Leader Kim, speaking slowly, raised the hand with his watch and pointed to the hospital room door.

He moved the hand from the door to Seung Ho, then pointed to himself interchangeably, saying,

“No matter how special, they’re not monsters, but people. Do you understand?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“People need conversation, don’t they? What would someone need from an opponent who refuses to talk, Seung Ho?”

Team Leader Kim stopped speaking, raised his eyebrows, waiting for him to answer.

Seung Ho only took out his vibrating phone and checked the backlog of messages.

Team Leader Kim’s exasperated sigh continued once more.

“Alright. I talked too much.”

Team Leader Kim, extending his arm towards the hallway, suggesting that His Busy Excellency should depart, then turned his back.

Seung Ho, who had been listening with his ears even while looking at his phone, opened his mouth as Team Leader Kim was about to open the door.

It was already time for his next appointment, but—

“Kim Cheol Su.”

Instead of heading to the exit, he merely called out his old colleague’s name.

There were still things left to convey.

***

“Were you eating?”

“Oh, Team Leader-nim.”

Bodam, who was focused on the meal laid out on the table over his bed, looked up.

He was in the middle of cleanly finishing the lightly seasoned hospital food.

Surprised by Team Leader Kim’s unfamiliar combat uniform, which he had never seen before, he shook his spoon as a greeting.

“Do you do field work too?”

“Sometimes. If we’re short-staffed, I get called in.”

Even as a freelancer, where one couldn’t easily choose their work, if the department they belonged to faced an emergency, they had to follow the Center’s orders.

Above all, a team leader with a wide range of abilities was even more obligatorily conscripted.

“When you dress like that, you really look like an Esper.”

Bodam, who had been watching Team Leader Kim while eating, said.

He already exuded an aura like a soldier or athlete, and seeing him in a combat uniform was quite intimidating.

To Bodam, who was newly impressed by his large physique, Team Leader Kim smiled, asking how he could say such a harsh thing.

“It must have been an outside job.”

“Oh. How did you know?”

“Because your clothes are clean. If it were a gate site, even with a barrier, you’d get dust and dirt on you.”

“Guide-nim, you have good observational skills.”

Team Leader Kim, who had complimented Bodam, first washed his hands in the bathroom and then walked to the bed, sitting on the stool.

In the meantime, Bodam was diligently chewing on the rolled omelet that desperately needed salt or ketchup.

“But are you eating lunch already? It’s not even 11 yet.”

“Because I’m hungry.”

Bodam, holding his soup bowl and smiling with his eyes, slurped down the minimally seasoned seaweed soup.

He had deliberately asked for an early meal.

Team Leader Kim, quietly observing this, lowered his voice and spoke.

“I’m sorry, Guide-nim.”

“Huh? For what?”

“For letting Team Leader Han in.”

“Oh, no. Team Leader Kim wasn’t here, were you? And nothing happened anyway.”

Bodam, placing down his emptied soup bowl, replied that it was fine.

He immediately picked up his chopsticks and gathered the remaining side dishes all at once, eating them heartily.

“I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again next time.”

Team Leader Kim, who poured water and handed it to Bodam, said firmly.

He promised he would ensure that not even a hair of Han Seung Ho would be seen.

Bodam thanked him for his concern and smiled.

He also repeated that he was fine.

On the surface, Guide Yoon truly seemed fine.

Seeing him actively asking for and eating his meals, his appetite seemed to have returned, and the sight of him scraping and eating every last grain of rice even made him look bright.

It was a face he hadn’t seen since he entered the medical center.

His condition seemed good, but—

“Eat slowly.”

“I’ve finished eating. See?”

“Then at least drink your water slowly.”

Bodam, proudly showing off his clean dishes and nodding, slowly drank the lukewarm water as Team Leader Kim instructed.

Hmm, he seemed a little excessively bright, somehow.

“Team Leader Kim,”

“Yes.”

Team Leader Kim, who had been carefully observing Bodam, immediately replied.

He wondered what he would say.

Reviewing Guide Yoon’s yesterday and today in a short time, he tried to anticipate what would come next.

Would it be related to Han Seung Ho?

Or Lee Tae Hwan?