Chapter 73: Come Inside

‘…Did I knock too hard?’

Tae Hwan, who had knocked as usual, flinched at the sound of the door, which resonated louder than he expected.

He had never been conscious of it before, but for the faint-hearted Yoon Bodam, it was a startling sound.

Knock knock knock. He regulated his strength and knocked on the door one more time.

It was a moderate force.

“Are you sure he’s inside?”

He leaned his ear close to the door, which showed no sign of movement despite his knocking, and asked the barrier Espers.

They had already received word from Bodam and were not preventing Tae Hwan’s visit.

Bodam felt that Tae Hwan, who had gone for treatment, would come back to the hospital room.

He had told the barrier Espers that Lee Tae Hwan was fine and they didn’t need to block him.

He was curious about his condition.

“Yes. He’s inside.”

Tae Hwan, after hearing the barrier Esper’s words, paused before knocking on the door again, lost in thought.

If Yoon Bodam was sleeping, he didn’t want to disturb his rest.

He had been delayed because he had to discard his blood-soaked combat uniform and change into new clothes.

The thought that Bodam might have fallen asleep in the interim made him hesitate to knock.

But he didn’t want to just leave either…

Drag.

Fortunately, the door opened.

Yoon Bodam, with his pale face, was visible through the narrowly opened crack in the door.

In the instant his gaze met the light brown eyes, Tae Hwan felt such welcome that his heart stopped and then pounded again.

It felt as if he hadn’t seen that face in years.

Even though it was clearly only the second time he had seen that face today.

“Do you need guiding right now?”

Bodam asked as soon as he opened the door.

Tae Hwan’s expression, which had been focused on Bodam’s pale face, gradually hardened.

It wasn’t because Yoon Bodam was asking if he needed guiding.

A disturbing wave could be felt through the narrow gap in the door.

He remembered that bastard’s presence.

“Are you not good?”

Bodam narrowed his eyes, observing Tae Hwan’s suddenly darkening aura.

The wave didn’t sting his skin, but it was sharp.

He thought he had given him enough guiding.

It seemed a lot of energy was being consumed for recovery due to the severe injury.

“What’s your level? Let me see your watch.”

“Come inside and see.”

Tae Hwan stepped closer to Bodam, who had extended his arm, asking to see the wrist with the watch.

He was making an effort not to let his voice sound sharp.

He tried to relax his expression, aware of Yoon Bodam’s meticulous gaze dissecting him.

Seeing that awkward face, Bodam concluded that Lee Tae Hwan’s condition was serious.

“Hey. For now, take your medicine. Or get sedated by a machine.”

“You said to come if I needed it.”

“I didn’t expect you to come right away.”

“I’m coming in.”

Tae Hwan, clenching his fist, spoke in a low voice, watching Bodam flinch as he reached for the doorframe.

The barrier Espers standing on either side of the door wondered if Esper Lee Tae Hwan was threatening them and debated whether to set up a barrier.

Surprisingly, no one realized that Lee Tae Hwan was trying to speak softly at that moment.

“I didn’t come here by force, did I?”

Tae Hwan gritted his teeth, trying to speak gently once more.

The barrier Espers, certain he was getting angry, prepared to cast a barrier.

The moment they were about to signal Guide Yoon to step back, the door opened completely.

“It looks like you are trying to force your way in.”

Jo Yeon said, fully opening the door that Bodam had intentionally only opened slightly to show his face.

“If you’re made to stand outside the door, you should understand the hint.”

Jo Yeon met eyes with Lee Tae Hwan, whom he was confronting for the second time.

He was still a guy with a fierce and intimidating look.

Veins stood out on Jo Yeon’s hand gripping the doorknob.

“Uh…”

Bodam, standing between Tae Hwan and Jo Yeon, felt as flat as a sandwich filling.

The waves emitted by the two Espers made him feel suffocated.

Bodam knew well that Jo Yeon utterly disliked Attack Team 3.

It was, of course, because of him.

Every time he saw Bodam feeling unwell, Jo Yeon would step forward and curse out those bastards from Attack Team 3 on his behalf.

Therefore, it was a hundred percent understandable why Jo Yeon was on edge seeing Lee Tae Hwan for the first time.

That’s why he had tried to send him away instead of letting him in.

He didn’t want to needlessly anger Jo Yeon.

“Hey, Lee Tae Hwan.”

Bodam, taking about half a step towards Tae Hwan, called him.

Even if Jo Yeon was revealing his wave, there was no reason for Lee Tae Hwan’s wave to intensify.

Therefore, Bodam thought he was in a state where he couldn’t properly control his body or his powers.

The wave of the much higher-ranked S-class Esper was overwhelmingly growing in volume.

First, he felt he needed to calm Lee Tae Hwan down.

“Take your medicine first. I’ll go to your hospital room.”

“Why go? I came here.”

“Just go and wait.”

The A-class Espers, preparing their barriers again, expected Esper Lee Tae Hwan certainly wouldn’t back down.

The two were exchanging signals with the barrier Esper and were just about to form a shield.

If he took just one more step closer, they intended to raise the barrier’s grade with reinforced walls.

However, Esper Lee Tae Hwan…

“When are you coming?”

He was looking into Guide Yoon’s wide eyes, his voice subdued.

‘Good heavens.’

“……”

Bodam, with a stern expression as if to put his hands on his hips, pondered.

Tae Hwan, skilled at control, couldn’t suppress his wave even with a face that wasn’t even angry.

It was impossible to predict the extent of his shoulder injury because it was covered by his clothes.

Seeing that he wasn’t even flinching, it seemed his stamina had also dropped.

They said it was more dangerous for someone to look fine and then suddenly lose consciousness.

“Jo Yeon.”

Bodam turned his head and met Jo Yeon’s eyes.

He was a little surprised to see him harboring a fiercer aura than expected.

He wondered if he had ever seen Jo Yeon’s face that angry.

Jo Yeon was an Esper too, after all.

“First, it’s true that I called him.”

“……”

“That is, he got injured in the field while contacting me—”

“He contacted you?”

As he spoke, Jo Yeon’s expression darkened, and Bodam couldn’t continue.

Jo Yeon looked as if he couldn’t understand anything he was hearing.

That was understandable.

Bodam himself felt newly dumbfounded by his own actions of not only calling Lee Tae Hwan but also contacting him.

“Um, yeah. So…”

“Yeah. So.”

The words about going to guide Lee Tae Hwan for a moment didn’t come out.

If he said any more, he felt Jo Yeon would explode in anger, telling him to get a grip.

He didn’t want to be shouted at, especially by Jo Yeon.

“Is she your mom?”

Tae Hwan, who suddenly interrupted Jo Yeon and Bodam’s conversation, extended his clenched fist and leaned it against the door.

Without a thud or a bang, he simply rested his hand on the door.

“Do I need your permission to meet Yoon Bodam?”

Lee Tae Hwan’s face, as he slightly pulled his chin back and raised one eyebrow to ask, looked genuinely like a thug.

He had seen it for six months, but it was an expression he never got used to.

When he deliberately tried to pick a fight, he was truly scary.

Bodam, worried that Jo Yeon might also get caught in the crossfire, put his hands on his hips.

It was a habit ingrained in him from confronting Bomi.

He bit his lower lip, made a stern expression, and lifted his head.

Bodam shifted his gaze from Jo Yeon to Tae Hwan, intending to issue a warning.

Bodam’s weapon was guiding.

“Lee Tae Hwan, you—”

“Please, just let me.”

Bodam, who had been about to warn him that he wouldn’t guide him if he was noisy, was stunned.

Jo Yeon, who was also listening, seemed to have lost his words.

Even the barrier Espers, whose eyes darted back and forth.

“I like Yoon Bodam so much that I would never do anything to hurt him.”

Only Lee Tae Hwan’s voice echoed down the long corridor.

“Nor would I ever scare him.”

Every short word he uttered carried a suppressed intensity.

“Let me interrupt your little playtime.”

Lee Tae Hwan, his neck veins protruding, finished speaking.

With a threatening face, he spoke words that sounded like a request, confusing those who heard him.

It felt like he was warning them that if they didn’t listen, he would hurt them and scare them.

“Please, Esper Jo Yeon.”

If he hadn’t added that last line, it might have been taken as a threat.

To put his words mildly, Tae Hwan was asking for them to yield their time with Bodam.

Even throwing in a confession of liking him, naturally.

“Bodam.”

Jo Yeon, breaking the focus on Tae Hwan, placed his hands on both of Bodam’s shoulders.

Bodam, startled, turned his head to Jo Yeon.

“Your chicken is getting cold.”

Bodam’s eyebrows furrowed even more in surprise.

He even let out a short sigh as if he had missed something very important.

Even so, he didn’t turn his body away from Tae Hwan.

Jo Yeon, who knew well that Bodam was an excellent guide to the core, tightened his grip on Bodam’s shoulders.

“I also have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

Bodam, who thought Jo Yeon had just come to see him as usual, tilted his head.

When he was about to turn back to Jo Yeon, who said, “Yeah.”

“Ah.”

Lee Tae Hwan, clutching his injured shoulder, made a ‘tssk’ sound with the tip of his tongue.

It seemed to be a casual expression of pain.