Chapter 95: If I Cry

Meeow!

The shrill cry of a cat whose resting place had been stolen echoed through the alley.

A Teleport Esper, appearing as he knocked down a pile of wooden crates stacked haphazardly against a shabby wall, collapsed to the ground.

The woman who had been tightly holding his hand fell down with him.

“Jinhyuk, are you okay?”

The woman, who opened her eyes as the teleportation ended, checked the chest of the Teleport Esper, where a spear was lodged.

The Esper’s body, which hadn’t been able to focus on healing due to using his ability to escape, was growing cold.

“You.”

Even though he was the one pouring out blood, the Esper was worried about the woman instead.

The woman, trying to gather the blood she couldn’t even scoop up with both hands and put it back into the wound, was out of her mind.

“Aram.”

“You’re, you’re bleeding so much…”

“Aram. Stop it.”

“The blood… why, why won’t it stop.”

“Park Aram.”

The Esper, grabbing the woman’s hand, spoke in a calm voice.

The two, huddled in the narrow alley, looked to be of a similar age.

Both were Espers, yet neither wore a watch.

She was the woman Tae Hwan was currently grinding his teeth looking for.

The unregistered person who tried to kidnap Bodam.

The bastard who touched Yoon Bodam’s face.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you.”

The smell wafting from the Chinese restaurant building pricked the noses of the hungry unregistered individuals.

Dried noodles and broken mussel shells were scattered on the floor where greasy dregs had pooled.

The woman shook her head and replied that she wasn’t hungry.

“I’m hungry.”

The Esper, who seated the woman on his own lap instead of the dirty floor, leaned on her thin shoulder and caught his breath.

“So, let’s go quickly.”

At the Esper’s request to wait quietly so he could focus on healing, the woman silently shut her mouth.

She spread her blood-soaked arms and hugged the Esper tightly, waiting for his bleeding to stop.

“Today’s menu is jajangmyeon.”

“…I’ll have jjamppong.”

“Alright. Sounds good.”

The Esper, who chuckled at the woman’s response, took out a wet wipe from his back pocket.

Due to his lack of healing ability, just stopping the blood took a long time.

“Wipe it.”

“Okay.”

The woman, taking the wet wipe, looked down at her red palms.

It was a hand stained with the blood of various Espers.

The blood of the Teleport Esper who had saved Bodam was mixed in as well.

“Why…”

The woman muttered as she pulled a white wet wipe from the shiny plastic.

Seeing the untainted, pure white wet wipe, she thought of that guide.

‘W-why, should I.’

The guide who was so pale he was almost white.

‘Why do I have to, go.’

His last conversation with him echoed in her mind.

“He asked why he had to go…”

“Hmm?”

“That’s what he asked. Why he had to go with us.”

“…That guide from earlier?”

The Esper’s lips moved as he watched the woman slowly nod, but instead of saying anything, he wiped her hand for her.

The clean tissue was quickly covered in red stains.

The Esper, who was persistently wiping the woman’s firm skin, continued the conversation.

“The ones inside don’t know anything.”

“……”

“We’re helping them. We’re getting them out of the Center.”

The tissue, too dirty to wipe any more, finally tore.

The Esper, rubbing the woman’s hand with the tattered piece of tissue, said they should go back and wash up.

Too much blood had stained her hands.

“Did you kill that man too?”

“Who?”

“The man who was next to the guide you mentioned.”

“Ah…”

The woman, who had been staring blankly, opened her mouth wide as if she remembered.

A dry expression was all that was on the woman’s face as she answered with a short, “Yeah.”

The two continued to have a conversation that only they could understand.

After that, the woman would think of the guide whenever she saw something white.

She couldn’t forget the feeling of his face against her hand.

***

The Esper Bureau Director, who had been smoking a stubby cigar, threw it at the window and suppressed a shout.

He stuffed the surging indignation down his throat and straightened his tie.

He had been on his way to attend an emergency meeting, only to be turned away at the door right in front of the conference room.

“How dare they…”

He had been kicked out of a meeting convened due to the gate opened in a civilian area and the mysterious rampage incident, simply for being an Esper.

Nausea rose at the thought of the Center Director’s face, who had pretended to be looking out for him and recommended he rest.

‘Those things would have been food for the creatures long ago if it weren’t for the Espers.’

“They don’t know whose grace they’re living by, clinging to their lives.”

Feeling his wavelength get tangled up in his unabating anger, he immediately chewed and swallowed a tranquilizer.

It was the memory that would last the longest among all the humiliations he had received in his life.

He would remember this moment for the rest of his life, being driven out by the bastards who just sat at their desks and ran their mouths.

Crack, he clenched his fist until the bones made a sound, then released his grip and took a deep breath.

In just one day, three Espers had died from rampages.

And without any relation to their wavelength readings.

“Come in.”

The Esper Bureau Director, who had checked his condition with his watch, summoned his secretary.

As a throbbing headache started, his hand naturally went to his cane.

“Is Team Leader Han Seung Ho still out?”

“Yes. It seems unlikely he will regain consciousness until tomorrow at the earliest.”

“And Guide Yoon Bodam.”

“I have received a report that he has just returned to his hospital room.”

The Esper Bureau Director was monitoring all of Bodam’s movements, including Seung Ho.

He had also been informed through the doctor in charge of Seung Ho’s examination that his recovery would not be easy.

That doctor seemed to have overlooked Han Seung Ho’s healing ability.

Han Seung Ho would have his missing left arm restored to its original state before the sun even rises tomorrow morning.

He would appear with that handsome face of his, looking as perfect as ever.

‘Yes. He will. He has to.’

“Guide Yoon Bodam was at the scene too?”

“Yes. It is presumed that he was with the Teleport Esper who first rampaged.”

At the secretary’s last words, the cane that had been striking the innocent floor went still.

“He was with him?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

The golden eyes flashed as they listened intently to the secretary’s detailed report that followed.

An opportunity to corner Yoon Bodam had arisen.

***

“Hey! I’m fine! Don’t cry! No!”

Bodam explained the situation he had been through to Jo Yeon as briefly as possible.

He ended up spilling everything at Jo Yeon’s low voice asking where he had been.

“I came back fine, didn’t I? Oh, this hand, it’s just a bandage! It’s nothing at all!”

Bodam, who had been patting Jo Yeon’s back soothingly, soon pursed his lips.

When Jo Yeon, who had been hugging him without a word for a long time, lifted his head, he was at a loss for words.

There was no trace of crying, but seeing Jo Yeon’s face, so angry that he would have rather he cried, left him speechless.

“You wish I had cried?”

“…Hey. No way.”

“If I cry,”

Jo Yeon, who stopped mid-sentence, slowly released his arms from around Bodam.

He was completely drained after hearing about Bodam’s day, which never had a moment of peace.

“I’m not crying. I said I’m not crying. Yoon Bodam.”

Jo Yeon widened his eyes and pushed his face towards Bodam, who kept glancing his way to check his expression.

Only then did Bodam seem to relax and let out a sigh.

“You have a fever.”

Jo Yeon, who felt Bodam’s hot breath on him, touched his forehead to check his temperature and frowned.

‘He must have been surprised enough just encountering a creature and an unregistered person while looking for his younger sibling.’

‘And the Esper who helped him even rampaged.’ He couldn’t even fathom how much he must have cried alone.

‘A kid who cries so easily already.’

“That’s right. I’m a patient. I need to rest.”

Bodam leaned his warm forehead against Jo Yeon’s chest and muttered lightly to himself.

In fact, he was secretly sending out guiding and checking Jo Yeon’s heartbeat.

Hoping that Jo Yeon, who was an Esper, would calm down.

“Don’t guide me. You said you’re a patient.”

“Take it while I’m giving it.”

“I won’t take it. It’s fine.”

“Ahem.”

Bodam continued to guide, even by force, and stuck close to Jo Yeon.

His wavelength was moderately stable, but still, he was worried.

“I said I won’t take it.”

In the end, Jo Yeon even grabbed Bodam’s shoulders and pushed him away.

‘What guiding is he doing with his sick body.’

“You’re pushing me away with force? Me, a patient?!”

“Yes, you’re a patient. Let’s take some medicine and go to sleep.”

It was when Jo Yeon, who had pushed the insisting Bodam, who didn’t need medicine, into the hospital room, was about to look for some fever reducer.

“Is this Guide Yoon Bodam’s room?”

A deep voice was heard along with a large hand that grabbed the gap of the sliding door and pulled it open.

The one-eyed Esper, whom he was meeting for the first time but had heard much about, looked down at Jo Yeon.

He was the bald man from Attack Team 1.

“I asked if it is.”

The black eye patch, which stood out as much as his shiny scalp, made the bald man’s impression even fiercer.

He threw the door wide open and stepped closer to Jo Yeon.

He glared at the young pup who didn’t even answer when an adult asked, and then his gaze went past him.

He had thought it was light coming in from the window because there was something bright and radiant.

Forgetting that the sun had set.

“It is. It’s you, isn’t it?”

Bodam just blinked at the bald man’s build, which was as tall as Lee Tae Hwan and even wider.

He couldn’t help but be frightened when someone who looked like a pirate threw open the door.

The bald man, who pushed Jo Yeon, who was standing in the middle, aside, opened his mouth again.

While habitually making a stern expression, he was inwardly scrutinizing the guide’s face.

‘So that’s that Yoon Bodam.’

“I asked if it’s you. Answer.”

“Hic.”

Bodam, who had answered with a sudden hiccup, glared with venom in his eyes.

‘To think he pushed Jo Yeon with those pig-like hands.’