Chapter 94: Hugging

Seung Ho, who had been desperately clutching Bodam’s hand, finally passed out.

His body, which had been staggering yet leaning forward towards Bodam without resting his back, collapsed onto the bed.

Bodam, who had stopped the guiding, was about to help Seung Ho up when he was startled by the surrounding noise that had been blocked by the barrier.

“Guide-nim! Are you alright?”

As Seung Ho’s barrier disappeared with his loss of consciousness, the voices of several Barrier Espers who had been watching them became audible.

Bodam, who had been focused on guiding, hadn’t even realized that the number of Barrier Espers who had come in response to the request for backup had increased.

That was how much he had been pouring all his attention into Han Seung Ho.

“To the medical center, no, could you call a doctor here?”

The Espers, whose eyes were sharp even in the dark, belatedly turned on the lights and called for a doctor as Bodam requested.

The bleeding had already stopped, and Seung Ho’s wavelength was stabilizing, so a simple check-up seemed sufficient.

He felt that unnecessarily moving him around would only interfere with his rest.

The Barrier Esper offered to take Bodam to a hospital room, but Bodam, his gaze fixed on the limp Seung Ho, said he would stay a little longer.

Just a little longer.

He decided he would return after stabilizing the wavelength reading to just 60%.

He wanted to do at least that much for him.

He was concerned about the unhinged man who had shown behavior completely different from his usual self.

Even when his wavelength reading was much higher than now, Han Seung Ho had never once lost his reason.

Seeing Han Seung Ho cling to him like a child, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

Swaaaa.

He entered the bathroom to wash Seung Ho’s blood off his body.

He intended to at least quickly wash his face and hands while he was being examined.

The moment he turned on the lukewarm water and looked in the bathroom mirror, Bodam flinched at the sight of his own flushed face.

Frightened by his own reflection in the mirror, looking like a dazed person, he lowered his eyes.

“Anyone who saw this would think I was the one bleeding.”

He muttered to himself pointlessly and washed all the places Han Seung Ho had touched.

As he wiped his neck, which had suffered the most persistent torment, the blood flowing down into the sink grew darker.

Bodam also meticulously splashed water on his arms and scrubbed his skin hard.

Han Seung Ho’s touch remained all over his body.

That sensation, which was both hot and cool.

“……”

Bodam, who had been focused on washing his body, finally noticed what was on the counter and froze.

‘Why would he have so much of that piled up?’

“Mouthwash…?”

He tilted his head, looking at no less than five bottles of mouthwash lined up.

‘Isn’t one or two usually enough?’

He had thought he might have mysophobia, but he hadn’t imagined it would be to this extent.

He began to wonder if, beyond simply disliking contact with people, he was extremely sensitive to viruses.

‘Could there be more?’

“Wow…”

On the off chance, he took the liberty of opening the cabinet, and there was even more inside.

It was an amount that a person living alone could use for at least a year.

Looking back, he thought there was always a cool scent whenever he performed mucous membrane guiding with Han Seung Ho.

Though he definitely hadn’t stored it in his memory.

After carefully closing the cabinet, Bodam slowly took a step back.

He leaned his exhausted body against the bathroom wall and dried himself with a towel.

The more he observed the space and objects imbued with Han Seung Ho’s personality, the more thoughts came and went.

The homeowner’s personality was clearly visible in the dark but immaculately managed bathroom.

Han Seung Ho was Han Seung Ho-like, even down to the space he occupied.

Knock, knock.

Bodam, who had been spacing out, jolted his shoulders in response to the knock.

“Guide-nim. It’s me.”

At the welcome voice that followed, Bodam threw open the bathroom door.

“Team Leader Kim-niiiim!”

***

Inside Yi Jun’s hospital room.

The Barrier Espers, who had not yet been informed of the external situation, were contemplating the dinner menu with very serious faces.

They were divided into a faction that wanted something spicy and a faction that wanted a clear soup, engaging in a meaningless debate about which was more delicious.

In any case, they took their breaks in shifts and ate separately.

They were just exchanging idle chatter to kill the tedious time.

“Want to get a taste of the red spice of stir-fried pork?”

Screech.

The door opened at the exact moment the most useless words were uttered.

At the sound of a heavy cane thudding, thud, against the floor, the Barrier Espers surrounding Yi Jun’s bed straightened their postures.

Hoping to God that he hadn’t heard their food debate.

“What is his condition.”

The voice of the Esper Bureau Director, who seemed to be in a very low mood, echoed.

The Barrier Esper who had wanted clear galbitang calmly reported on Yi Jun’s condition.

At the words that he would likely remain asleep for the time being, the Esper Bureau Director’s cane came flying.

Whack!

The cane, swung with enough force to make a loud noise, embedded itself in the bed frame.

Everyone was bewildered by the Esper Bureau Director’s action of suddenly venting his anger on the bed where Yi Jun lay.

He, who usually maintained a relatively calm demeanor in front of many eyes, was fuming to the point of being short of breath.

The bed swayed from the force of him roughly pulling out the cane stuck in the frame.

The Esper Bureau Director’s eyes, glaring at Yi Jun who was sleeping peacefully even as his body was shaken, were full of rage.

It was a time when the power of a mind-type Esper was needed more than ever.

They had to find out the inside story of the unregistered individuals who were running wild, not knowing their place, even a day sooner.

Not only did a gate open in a civilian area, but a series of Esper rampage incidents had also occurred.

There was no way the two incidents could have overlapped by mere coincidence.

It was clear that those homeless bastards had pulled a trick.

‘With what power, for God’s sake.’

“Report immediately when Esper Kang Yi Jun wakes up.”

“Yes. Understood.”

The Esper Bureau Director shot a fiery gaze, wishing Kang Yi Jun would jump up from the bed right this instant.

He wore a disgusted expression as if the thing lying on the bed were an insect, not a person.

He imagined grabbing the collar of the bastard who was sleeping so soundly even in that state and shaking him.

‘If I could just split open that fist-sized head and extract only the mind-type ability, I would stab it hundreds of times.’

It was frustrating to the point of his stomach turning that such a precious ability was being used only for hunting creatures.

Among mind-type Espers, those who could even perform mind control were extremely rare.

In many cases, they could do no more than read others’ thoughts.

“Pathetic fools…”

If he could just control Kang Yi Jun, mopping up the group of unregistered individuals would be more than enough in a week.

The outstanding mind-type that had manifested just so happened to be a guy who had nothing to be particularly desired.

Not only could he not be persuaded with money, but Kang Yi Jun himself had so many mental defects that they couldn’t even attempt to handle him.

‘If only I had a weakness to hold over him.’

“Summon Team Leader Han.”

He said to his secretary, straightening his cane.

Finally, he scanned Yi Jun up and down, his murky eyes flashing.

‘This is why young ones are… Tsk.’ Muttering a cliché criticism, he finally left the hospital room.

“You, spicy stir-fried pork, head on the ground.”

“You were the one who brought up food first.”

The Barrier Espers, who felt pricked by the Esper Bureau Director’s muttered words “pathetic fools,” blamed each other.

They moved the bed back to its proper position and continued their meaningless conversation.

Even in that noisy atmosphere, Yi Jun remained submerged in unconsciousness, letting out only shallow breaths.

***

‘Having a big house isn’t all good, I see.’

Bodam, having finished the guiding, let go of Seung Ho’s hand, who was laid out on the sofa, and stood up.

He put the energy bar Team Leader Kim had given him to replenish his sugar in his pocket without eating it.

The only thing to put in his mouth in Seung Ho’s house was water.

“Guide-nim.”

Team Leader Kim called to Bodam, who was looking around the house that seemed empty beyond its quietness.

He asked, “Shall we go now?” confirming Bodam’s intention.

“Yes.”

Though he answered immediately, Bodam’s gaze was still directed at Seung Ho and his spacious house.

A suffocating silence, as if the sound had been deliberately blocked out, hung in Han Seung Ho’s house.

‘Does a space also come to resemble its owner?’

“A guide cannot stop all Esper rampages.”

Team Leader Kim said to Bodam, who couldn’t take his eyes off Seung Ho.

He could feel Bodam’s mood, which had visibly sunk.

Team Leader Kim, who had a partner, was not ignorant of a guide’s psychology.

Having been briefed on the entire situation, he had anticipated that Guide Yoon would be intimidated by the news of the rampage of the Esper he had helped.

He just hadn’t known that that unnecessary guilt would extend to Seung Ho.

“Don’t worry about it too much.”

Bodam quietly nodded his head instead of answering.

He tried to let go of the Esper who had looked to be about Team Leader Kim’s age.

“Let’s go now.”

When he briefly closed and opened his eyes, he saw a familiar hallway instead of Seung Ho’s bedroom.

Team Leader Kim, who had teleported Bodam to the front of his hospital room door, said he would be back after getting some guiding.

Bodam, who waved his hand telling him to go quickly, let out a huge, silent yawn.

As the tension eased, sleepiness washed over him.

Today had been another long day.

“Yoon Bodam!”

At the voice that appeared like a bonus at the end of that long day, his closing eyes flew open.

“Oh, Jo Yeon-“

“You! Damn, you!”

Jo Yeon, who came out of Bodam’s hospital room, raised his voice fiercely, his face flushing red.

A startled Bodam stuttered, “Uh, I, what did I do.”

‘What did I do to Jo Yeon?’

“Why, haa… didn’t you answer your phone.”

Jo Yeon, who let out a deep sigh of relief, looked Bodam over.

He grabbed his shoulders, checking for any injuries on his intact limbs.

Only then did Bodam realize he had left his phone at Han Seung Ho’s house.

“Your neighborhood, they said it was in chaos… How much I, really, I.”

Startled by Jo Yeon’s uncharacteristically stammering and rambling state, Bodam tried to calm him down.

“I’m fine. My family is fine too.”

It seemed Jo Yeon had heard that the location of the gate incident, which must have already spread throughout the Center, was his neighborhood.

‘He must have rushed over as soon as he heard the news.’

He understood how shocked Jo Yeon must have been to see the empty hospital room.

If the situation had been reversed, Bodam might have burst into tears in Jo Yeon’s empty house.

“I’m sorry. You were surprised, weren’t you. Are you crying? You’re not crying.”

Bodam babbled, hugging Jo Yeon appeasingly while avoiding his genuinely angry eyes.

Hoping to improve his mood, he playfully pushed his head in and raised the corners of his mouth.

He belatedly realized the seriousness of the situation because of the rapid beating of Jo Yeon’s heart against his chest.

‘He was really surprised.’