Chapter 79: Send Him Home

Knock knock.

Team Leader Kim, who had returned a step late to Bodam’s hospital room, knocked.

It was the sound of him knocking not on the hospital room door, but on Seung Ho’s solid barrier.

“Team Leader Han.”

He lightly rubbed his aching neck at the sight of the barrier Espers, stationed outside the door, amicably bound by a restraining barrier.

There was nothing more humiliating than a barrier Esper being trapped in someone else’s barrier, so he had nothing to say to his juniors.

No matter that it was Han Seung Ho, he hadn’t expected him to easily subdue two A-class barrier Espers.

“Team Leader Han, why don’t you turn around?”

Team Leader Kim, whose stamina hadn’t yet recovered enough to break Seung Ho’s barrier, first warned him verbally.

He was on his way back after dealing with an unregistered group’s attack while removing a gate that had appeared in a civilian area.

An attack in a safe zone, no less, right in front of Attack Team 1’s base.

As the only team leader-level Esper on site, he had no choice but to exhaust all his reserves.

Thanks to that, there were no casualties, but he was more fatigued than he had been all year.

Bang! Team Leader Kim punched the air, making the barrier vibrate, and asked with a sharp smile.

“Should I put handcuffs on you? Or will you put them on yourself?”

Only then was the restraining barrier, which had bound the barrier Espers, released.

Team Leader Kim only told them to close the door and leave, adding nothing else.

He didn’t even have the strength for a long conversation.

With the sound of the door closing, Team Leader Kim chuckled mirthlessly.

He couldn’t help but laugh at the astonishing sight that had initially left him speechless when he first entered the hospital room.

Team Leader Kim knocked on the barrier again and asked Seung Ho.

“What are you doing?”

He was holding Bodam.

That Han Seung Ho was sitting on the bed, tightly embracing the guide who was softly breathing in his sleep.

He was even bending his usually straight back and bowing his head to look down at the guide.

At first, he had tried to break the barrier, even if it meant overexerting himself, but Guide Yoon, nestled in Seung Ho’s arms, looked so utterly peaceful that he couldn’t bring himself to move.

Despite Seung Ho’s muscular body, which should have been hard, Bodam was sleeping soundly, leaning against him so much that his round cheek was pressed flat.

“He fell asleep quickly.”

“…And?”

Team Leader Kim tilted his head at Seung Ho, who was acting unexpectedly and even saying something more surprising.

“Let him sleep more.”

“He can’t sleep without you?”

“……”

“He’ll sleep more comfortably. Let’s put him on the bed and get up.”

He spoke, resisting the urge to observe Seung Ho’s uncharacteristic behavior further, and thinking of the guide.

If he had his way, he would just stand by and watch how many more new behaviors this bastard would display.

“Just a little more.”

‘Good heavens.’

Team Leader Kim, raising his hand, blackened with dirt and ash from field work, to cover his lower face, suppressed his reaction.

Han Seung Ho, who was stalling for time with such ambiguous words without setting a clear time, felt very unfamiliar.

His feelings for Guide Yoon seemed much more sincere than expected.

“Hmph…”

The ambiguous sigh, neither a gasp nor a groan, belonged to Bodam.

Bodam, who had taken a deep breath in his sleep, reached his arms around Seung Ho’s back and hugged him like a body pillow.

Team Leader Kim, who gazed at the utterly comfortable-looking white face, decided to ‘wait and see for a little longer.’

He folded and unfolded his tired legs, picked up the chair that had fallen to the floor, and sat in a position to keep watch.

Han Seung Ho was sitting with his back turned, looking only at Guide Yoon.

He wondered if Seung Ho himself was aware of his persistent demeanor.

“What exactly do you want to do?”

Team Leader Kim stretched, his lengthy posture making the chair back creak, and asked.

He placed his clasped hands above his head and waited for Seung Ho’s reply.

He didn’t expect a satisfying answer from such an exasperating guy, but he wanted to hear it.

What exactly was he thinking as he lived?

“Kang Yi Jun is awake. He’s asleep again now.”

“Asleep?”

It wasn’t the answer he expected, but he was still interested in Kang Yi Jun’s condition, which he had also been curious about.

He was flabbergasted by the news that he had fallen asleep peacefully even after doing such things and being in such a state.

“He’ll have limited awake time for a while.”

“Ah, is he making up for lost sleep then? He was awake for almost two months, wasn’t he?”

“Lee Tae Hwan.”

Seung Ho, who suddenly brought up an irrelevant name, closed his mouth for a moment.

“Lee Tae Hwan?” Team Leader Kim repeated, waiting with interest for what would follow.

“Why did he come?”

Team Leader Kim’s eyebrows rose towards his forehead.

Seung Ho seemed to be asking about the contents of the text message he had sent him last night.

It was about Guide Yoon allowing Esper Lee Tae Hwan to visit, and the two having a rather long conversation alone.

For him to ask about it a day later was…

“Well, I wouldn’t know the details of their conversation.”

“He was giving him guiding.”

“They say he rushed over with an injured body. Because Guide Yoon called him.”

Team Leader Kim had learned about what happened in the hospital room while he was away through reports.

Since Han Seung Ho had his back turned anyway, he freely let his lips curve into a smile and added.

The guy who seemed like he wouldn’t shed a single drop of blood now even looked cute.

“Esper Lee Tae Hwan wants to be removed from the access restriction list now.”

He chuckled softly, recalling the text message he had received separately from Guide Yoon.

He had been so devoted, and now, with the fiercest expression, he seemed to have melted the heart of the kind guide.

Team Leader Kim, recalling the snacks Esper Lee Tae Hwan had sent every day, intently observed Seung Ho.

“If the guide says okay, I might scout him as a gatekeeper.

What wall could be as dependable as an S-class Esper?”

He spoke nonsensical words out of pity for his juniors, who were completely powerless in front of Han Seung Ho.

Since Kang Yi Jun was also awake, there was indeed a need to strengthen the barrier now.

“Or would you like to do it?”

Team Leader Kim, who casually threw out a remark he didn’t mean at all, propped his chin up.

Seeing the unfamiliar side of his old colleague, he kept wanting to prod him.

“What should I do then?”

He gasped, his mouth agape, at Seung Ho’s reaction, which readily bit into his casually thrown words.

He was about to ask if it was really Team Leader Han, but then he just continued to smile at the words that followed immediately.

“What’s needed for an opponent who refuses conversation?”

Han Seung Ho asked for the advice Team Leader Kim had stopped halfway through.

His flat, dry voice didn’t sound curious at all, but Team Leader Kim readily answered.

To think he would be having such a conversation with Han Seung Ho, whom he first met when he was twenty.

“What else, an apology.”

“……”

“Don’t be stingy with your knees.”

Team Leader Kim, patting his own knee, rose from the chair and stretched his tightly bunched lower back muscles.

It seemed he needed to go get guiding.

Checking the late hour, he let out a ‘tssk’ sound and raised his veined arm.

As he punched the intangible barrier, visible only to the barrier Espers, the small items around the bed swayed.

Broken glass fragments even flew far away.

“Get up now.”

Team Leader Kim, who had torn through Seung Ho’s barrier and entered, clapped, saying it was time for everyone to sleep.

Han Seung Ho, who seemed to be in his own spacetime, was unmoving.

He only opened his mouth in an infinitely subdued voice.

“Send him home.”

“What?”

“Yoon Bodam. Send him home.”

Seung Ho, who had slowly picked up Bodam and stood, turned around.

Team Leader Kim, whose face was etched with fatigue, wore an expression that seemed to say, ‘What is this now?’

“You know the situation outside isn’t good right now.”

“Move him to a safe zone. I’ll find a home for him.”

“I just got battered in that safe zone you’re talking about.”

Team Leader Kim, pointing to his dust-covered self, rubbed his brow, which had furrowed again.

“It was right near Attack Team 1’s base. Those unregistered bastards are out of their minds right now. You should know best.”

Team Leader Kim, who had just dealt with their attack, personally felt that the external situation was worsening.

The groups of unregistered individuals were trying to announce their existence.

Judging by their increasing incidents in civilian areas, they seemed to be trying to emphasize their presence, having lived in hiding until now.

The reason for their forceful attacks, which yielded no gain, seemed to be a warning.

A warning for whom, and for what?

“Have him examined tomorrow, and you go with him.”

Han Seung Ho, who couldn’t possibly be unaware of the external situation, only showed a resolute attitude.

He was, as expected, an incomprehensible person.

“Are you serious?”

“I’ll contact you when the address is decided, so wait.”

“Do you really want Guide Yoon to leave?”

Team Leader Kim asked persistently.

His attitude was as persistent as Han Seung Ho’s gaze fixed on Guide Yoon.

“Then let him go now.”

Team Leader Kim said, pointing to Bodam, who was nestled in Seung Ho’s embrace.

He had said to send him home, yet he was holding him as if he would never let him go.

“He has to be let go to leave.”

At this, Seung Ho’s dark eyes fell back onto Bodam’s white face.

He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the deeply sleeping face, which was making small movements with its mouth, yet he turned his body towards the bed.

Seung Ho calmly organized his thoughts, as usual, with a serene expression.

Yoon Bodam had said he wanted to go home, and he didn’t want him to cry anymore.

He left only short, clear thoughts and erased the bothering, lingering emotions.

He had already spent too much time in one place.

Seung Ho tried to release the hand supporting Bodam’s back to lay him on the bed.

Then, Bodam moved.

“……”

A small, white hand fumbled and gripped Seung Ho.

The more Seung Ho tried to relax his arms holding Bodam, the more strongly Bodam clung.

His thin arm stuck tightly to Seung Ho’s back and showed no sign of letting go.

The thin body, which had raised Seung Ho’s cold body temperature, touched his chest again.

He couldn’t let go anymore.