Chapter 74: Friends

“Is it serious? Is something wrong?”

Bodam, who had completely turned his body towards Jo Yeon, asked.

Tae Hwan, who was now looking at Bodam’s light brown hair, let go of his left shoulder, which he had been needlessly clutching.

With his size, feigning pain probably wouldn’t work anyway.

There was no reason to flinch if someone he disliked was in pain.

Tae Hwan’s sharp eye corners drooped.

“It’s not serious, but it’s important.”

Jo Yeon, who had relaxed his grip on Bodam’s shoulder as Bodam turned to face him, replied.

His previously subdued expression also loosened.

Thanks to Bodam turning around immediately, his mood improved.

But this was only for a moment.

“Is it urgent?”

Jo Yeon’s lips closed as he saw Bodam asking with a worried face.

He could feel Bodam’s attention directed behind him.

He was a guide who couldn’t just pass by a suffering Esper.

He thought Attack Team 3 would be an exception.

Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!

While he was deliberating his answer, his watch rang.

Jo Yeon, turning off the loudly ringing call notification, closed and opened his eyes.

Since he was in a position where he couldn’t refuse the call, he had to return to the field immediately.

He had come out during a short break and only intended to feed Bodam chicken before leaving.

“Do you want me to take you?”

Tae Hwan asked Jo Yeon abruptly.

He could summon a teleport Esper at will.

If Jo Yeon had a higher rank and money, it would be possible for him too.

Tae Hwan, who wanted Jo Yeon to leave quickly, seemed ready to summon a teleport Esper right away.

However, Jo Yeon ignored him and only met Bodam’s eyes.

“You’re not being forced to guide, are you? Like someone ordered you to.”

“No one ordered me. And I’m not doing it by force.”

“You’re doing it because you want to, right?”

Jo Yeon’s hand on Bodam’s shoulder kept trying to exert pressure, so he completely let go.

Bodam, grabbing Jo Yeon’s wrist as it moved down from his shoulder, replied with a clear voice.

He wanted to convey that he wasn’t just doing it like a pushover for no reason.

“I’ll only do it once. I’m concerned because he got hurt because of me.”

“I see. There must be many places for him to receive guiding.”

Jo Yeon glared at Lee Tae Hwan’s face, which was tilted, then, with his usual smiling face, told Bodam not to overexert himself.

He wasn’t the type to question Bodam’s decisions.

“Eat your chicken quickly before it gets cold. Be careful of Espers.”

“Go quickly, you’ll be late. I’ll enjoy the chicken.”

“Be careful of Espers.”

“Alright. I’ll be careful too.”

‘Despite being an Esper himself.’

Tae Hwan’s expression as he listened to Jo Yeon and Bodam’s conversation was murderous.

Hearing their conversation so closely, he felt like he was going crazy.

Jo Yeon, aware of his sharp gaze, spoke to Lee Tae Hwan one last time.

“Let’s keep our word.”

After these short words, he greeted the barrier Espers and quickly walked away.

It was all Jo Yeon could do.

Bodam, watching his retreating back as he walked towards the exit, sighed spontaneously.

He felt sorry that Jo Yeon had to go to work without even eating chicken.

He was also grateful that Jo Yeon had accepted his actions, even though he probably didn’t understand them.

‘Our Jo Yeon, who is as kind as me…’

“Hey, Lee Tae Hwan.”

“Yeah.”

“How do you know Jo Yeon’s name?”

Bodam asked, glaring sharply at Lee Tae Hwan, who even knew Jo Yeon’s family name.

It was a completely different look than when he faced Jo Yeon.

Tae Hwan, who welcomed even the deliberately sharp glare, scratched his chin and replied.

“It was unique, so I memorized it.”

“When did you hear it?”

“You told me.”

“…I did?”

Bodam, seeing Tae Hwan confidently nod, wondered if he really had, then entered the hospital room.

He contacted Jo Yeon every day and met him whenever he had a chance, so he might have mentioned it coincidentally.

He was, at least, on speaking terms with Lee Tae Hwan.

“Come in.”

Bodam said to Tae Hwan, who was clenching his jaw with an unreadable expression.

His reduced chatter indicated that his condition truly seemed unwell.

He looked down at the floor, then sighed heavily towards the ceiling again, and followed Bodam into the hospital room.

Bodam’s hand immediately went up at the sight of him gesturing to the barrier Esper to close the door.

“Don’t you have arms? You close it.”

Tae Hwan, biting his lip inward, obeyed, closing the door immediately at the scolding voice, which pinched his perfectly fine right arm.

He smoothly pushed the sliding door with his fully functioning arm, without using psychokinesis, following Bodam’s words.

He was desperately trying to suppress the upward curve of his lips.

Bodam, standing in front of Tae Hwan who had closed the door and returned, held out his palm.

“Are you going to do it right away?”

“Checking levels.”

“Ah.”

Tae Hwan quickly extended his hand and watched Bodam calmly put his watch against his own to check his wave levels.

He sharpened his already sensitive hearing, catching even Bodam’s subtle breaths.

He even subtly narrowed the half-step between them, moving closer.

His long eyelashes, pointing downwards, tickled.

He wanted to touch them.

“Hey.”

“Sorry.”

As Bodam sharply lifted his head, Tae Hwan, who had widened the half-step he had narrowed, quickly apologized.

However, Bodam had a different reason for opening his eyes wide.

“Are you really not well?”

He asked, re-checking the stable 59% wave level.

It was a level that didn’t require guiding.

Lee Tae Hwan only nodded silently.

“How are you not well? Tell me in detail.”

“Hmm, can’t I speak sitting down?”

Tae Hwan coughed lightly, as if his throat was dry, and wore an expression that suggested he was dying from pain, though Bodam didn’t know where.

In Bodam’s eyes, it was just an angry face, but he decided to humor the guy who claimed to be in pain.

Standing face to face with the tall Lee Tae Hwan also made his neck ache.

“Can you eat this kind of thing? Shouldn’t you be eating hospital food?”

Ignoring Lee Tae Hwan, who dared to speak of the nourishing roasted chicken as if it were harmful, he placed his hand on the foil to check its temperature.

It wasn’t cold yet.

“Didn’t you eat dinner? What time is it?”

“Lee Tae Hwan.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

“……”

“Be honest.”

Lee Tae Hwan, whose sharp aura had calmed down the moment he entered the hospital room, even looked brighter.

Seeing him walking and talking normally, he seemed even more energetic.

Bodam, leaning back deeply on the sofa, let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Are you joking?”

Bodam, even more upset at the thought of Jo Yeon leaving without chicken, glared at Tae Hwan.

He felt ridiculous for worrying about a monstrous S-class Esper who hadn’t even changed color despite bleeding so much.

“I didn’t say I was hurt…”

Lee Tae Hwan, whose voice trailed off, avoiding Bodam’s gaze, seemed to have some conscience despite his brazenness.

He stayed seated, clinging to the sofa, as if he had no intention of leaving, even while watching Bodam’s expression anxiously.

He was nervous that Bodam might tell him to leave immediately.

Bodam, staring at him quietly, sighed deeply again and rubbed his forehead.

“Did you eat?”

Bodam, having released the tension from his nerves that had been on edge to read his wave, asked.

Tae Hwan, for a moment, doubted if the question was directed at him, and slowly replied.

“I didn’t eat.”

It was strangely fascinating to see Lee Tae Hwan, who had bled profusely and hadn’t eaten, still moving around vigorously.

Still, people needed to eat.

Bodam gestured towards the chicken, which still had hot steam rising from it, and said.

It was too much to eat alone.

“Eat and just go.”

Tae Hwan hesitated, wondering if he should be happy at the voice tinged with deep fatigue, but the corners of his lips were already turning up.

He hadn’t expected to sit and eat together.

Just like Yoon Bodam, an angel after all.

He tore open his chopsticks, suppressing his utmost happiness, and followed Bodam, who was preparing to eat.

Bodam, whose energy had been drained by the two Espers, needed chicken.

He gripped a drumstick with his plastic-gloved hand and used chopsticks to separate the meat.

Inside the plump roasted chicken, sticky rice awaited.

He swallowed his saliva at the smell and sight that revived even a lost appetite, and said to Tae Hwan.

“Tell Jo Yeon I ate well.”

After saying it, he realized they probably wouldn’t meet due to the rank difference.

Most importantly, he quickly corrected himself, fearing Jo Yeon would dislike his greetings.

“No. Just don’t. Don’t even speak to him.”

“Alright.”

Tae Hwan, who had been silent when told to greet, replied immediately this time.

He tore off a sturdy chicken leg and offered it to Bodam.

However, it was immediately rejected.

“I don’t eat legs.”

“Then what do you eat?”

“Breast meat.”

Bodam, who had spread out chicken breast meat to make it easy to eat with chopsticks, tore off the leg he was holding and pushed it towards Tae Hwan.

‘He looks like he only eats legs.’

“You don’t like wings either?”

Bodam, who put sticky rice and lean meat onto a spoon and took a big bite, nodded.

He felt sleep coming on again, so he savored the taste to keep himself alert.

This damned Kang Yi Jun was turning a perfectly normal person into a patient.

“Eat all of this.”

Tae Hwan said, tearing off the other chicken breast and arranging it in the same way Bodam had torn his.

Bodam, rubbing his eyes and mumbling, replied firmly.

“I’ll eat it myself.”

And so, the two quietly ate the chicken, picking at it.

While Bodam ate half a chicken, battling sleepiness, Tae Hwan, with permission, devoured a chicken and a half.

He must have been hungry.

“If you’re sleepy, sleep.”

At Tae Hwan’s words that he would clean up and leave on his own, Bodam just stared blankly, his face dull.

At his silent expression, as if lost in deep thought, Tae Hwan remained still, only breathing quietly.

He felt something unpleasant was about to be said.

“You don’t like me.”

Bodam, hitting Tae Hwan’s prediction accurately, calmly opened his mouth.

He spoke, recalling Lee Tae Hwan’s actions of watching him and obediently following his words.

At this, Tae Hwan’s heavy breathing briefly ceased.

“It’s just that you’re the first dedicated guide I’ve worked with for a long time, so I feel attached.”

“Our matching rate is only slightly above average, so you’ll change immediately if you meet a higher-ranked guide.”

“You probably won’t even remember my name.”

Bodam, who had experience speed-reading Esper psychology books, accepted Lee Tae Hwan’s confession as a temporary phenomenon.

Even if he truly liked him, he knew well that it wouldn’t last long.

Esper love cooled as quickly as it burned hot.

They tended to gravitate towards others based on matching rates.

Lee Tae Hwan’s matching rate was 68%.

It wasn’t low, but it wasn’t high enough to consider imprinting.

“You don’t have an aversion to guiding like Min Ji Oh or the team leader, so you’ll find someone quickly.”

“Try meeting several guides.”

Lee Tae Hwan listened silently to Bodam’s voice, not even breathing.

With his mouth shut and his aura quieted, Bodam just picked up the open water bottle and drank.

He had said everything he wanted to say.

“You don’t have to clean up, just go.”

Bodam, losing his sleepiness as he spoke, closed the water bottle and said.

Lee Tae Hwan was still silent.

He only looked down at the remaining chicken bones, which he had eaten deliciously.

Then, before Bodam grew uncomfortable, he opened his mouth.

He began by softly calling Bodam’s name.

It was, as expected, a voice filled with suppressed sincerity.

“Since you don’t like me…”

Tae Hwan met his gaze, prepared to be kicked out.

He felt a foolish sense of relief that Bodam’s large, clear eyes were directed at him.

“Can’t we even be friends?”

‘Ah, I’m such an idiot.’

“I’ll really do well.”

He couldn’t even say, ‘Much better than that bastard Jo Yeon,’ for fear of never seeing Yoon Bodam again.

He held back, afraid of being expelled from Bodam’s life forever.