* * *
As if escaping, Haebom stormed out of the lab, and naturally, Wonho followed.
Haebom didn’t look back even once as he walked, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead.
Practically running, he moved so fast that he was bound to trip sooner or later.
Wonho could have caught up easily, but he wasn’t that dense—to chase after someone so obviously embarrassed.
If he really had any sense, he wouldn’t have followed at all.
But for Wonho, that option simply didn’t exist.
The moment they arrived home, Haebom scurried straight into his room on the first floor.
Watching him dart inside, Wonho furrowed his brows.
That was Haebom’s room.
But why was he going in there?
Wonho didn’t understand why he was even questioning it, but he gave up trying to make sense of his own thoughts.
Ever since he met Haebom, he’d been acting strangely, and he was well aware of it.
Just when it seemed like Haebom had gone inside for good, the door creaked open slightly.
Peeking out, he darted his eyes around as if searching for something.
“Ah, Wonho…”
The thing he was looking for was none other than Wonho.
Just moments ago, Wonho had been annoyed that Haebom ran straight into his room, but hearing his name like that, his irritation melted away.
“…What.”
Of course, he didn’t show it.
He answered curtly, laced with his usual gruffness.
Though, compared to how he used to be, this was already a huge improvement.
“Can I, um… check something real quick?”
“…Check what?”
Wonho frowned, confused.
Despite his reaction, Haebom had a feeling he wouldn’t refuse, so he opened the door completely and stepped out.
Then, he walked right up to Wonho.
“Your body. No, no—wait! That sounded weird. I mean, you were seriously injured earlier. Your uniform was all torn up… You said this material doesn’t tear easily, right? So doesn’t that mean you were hurt pretty badly? If you were that injured, shouldn’t you have gone to a hospital instead of coming home?”
Haebom rambled, then quickly corrected himself.
It sounded like an excuse, but it wasn’t entirely one.
The truth was, he genuinely wanted to check if Wonho was okay.
It wasn’t like he wanted to see his body or anything.
…Well, not that he’d mind.
Even in the middle of his flustered thoughts, Haebom couldn’t help but picture Wonho’s physique.
Meanwhile, Wonho simply stared at him in silence before walking past him.
He didn’t outright refuse, but his action felt like a rejection.
Haebom turned around and stole a glance at his back.
If he’d really been injured that badly, shouldn’t it be difficult for him to even stand right now?
He was worried, but if Wonho didn’t want to show him, then—
Midway up the stairs, Wonho suddenly turned around and met Haebom’s eyes.
“Yoon Haebom. What are you doing? Aren’t you coming? You said you wanted to check.”
“Ah!”
With a small exclamation, Haebom immediately dashed after him.
Watching him scurry over, Wonho let out a quiet chuckle before turning back around and heading up the stairs.
Hearing Haebom’s footsteps behind him, he felt… oddly satisfied.
That morning, Wonho had been called out to a site near Seoul, where a monster had appeared.
Such incidents were often a precursor to a Gate opening.
If monsters started showing up, there was a high chance a Gate would manifest within days.
The grade of the monsters could also indicate the level of the impending Gate—this one was likely A-class or higher.
When Wonho arrived, the residents had already evacuated, and most of the buildings had been crushed by the monsters.
The Espers who arrived before him were struggling.
He had wanted to finish things as quickly as possible—because leaving Haebom alone made him uneasy.
His uniform had gotten torn because of the others getting in his way, but injuries like these wouldn’t take more than five minutes to heal, anyway.
Wonho thought to himself that he should request a redesign of their uniforms while dealing with the monsters.
If they were going to tear this easily, he might as well just wear anything.
His movements became urgent the moment he checked something on his gear.
He had pressed it absentmindedly, only to see Haebom’s work status switch to ON, and irritation surged within him.
He told him to stay home and rest, so why was he at the center again?
Though the status quickly changed back to OFF, Haebom’s location remained unchanged.
He had only moved from his guide office to the research lab.
Wonho took out his irritation on the monsters before him, striking without restraint.
As he moved recklessly, his uniform became even more tattered.
And that was how Haebom ended up startled out of his wits at the sight of Wonho, leading to the situation at hand.
“Why aren’t you coming in? Be honest. You were walking around even though you’re still hurt, weren’t you?”
Even after coming up to the second floor, Haebom stood there blankly.
Wonho frowned and grabbed his chin, tilting his face back and forth.
Not that this would tell him where Haebom was hurting.
“Ah—wait…! That hurts! Wonho, stop it!”
Haebom, snapped back to reality by the sudden motion, slapped at Wonho’s hands gripping his chin.
Though the movement ceased, Wonho’s hands remained in place.
Seeing Wonho frown, Haebom hesitated, wondering if he had hurt him.
But Wonho didn’t seem to care about being hit at all.
“So where does it hurt?”
“My neck! Because of you! Now let go of my chin….”
Haebom knew that wasn’t the answer Wonho was looking for.
But how could he possibly say out loud that his thigh felt raw from where Wonho had pressed against it—or worse, that a certain other part of him was sore?
He still had his dignity.
Only after insisting multiple times that nothing else hurt did he finally manage to escape Wonho’s grasp.
Wonho had been stubborn before proper guiding, but now he was stubborn in an entirely different way.
“…Wonho, what are you doing?”
Freed from Wonho’s grip, Haebom stared at him in shock.
It was no wonder—Wonho had pulled him further inside the room and was now unbuttoning his uniform jacket.
It wasn’t as if he’d never seen Wonho change clothes before.
But for some reason, this time, it felt… different.
“You wanted to check, didn’t you? Were you planning to do it over my clothes?”
“Ah… No, no. Keep going.”
Wonho tilted his head at Haebom’s response.
Checking over his clothes would mean he’d have to run his hands over Wonho’s body.
It seemed better to just look instead.
As he told Wonho to keep undressing, Haebom unconsciously held his breath.
He wondered if Haebom even realized what he was saying.
Knowing Haebom had spoken without thinking only made Wonho more curious about what went on in his head.
And why was his own mind reacting to this?
As Wonho shrugged off his jacket, Haebom’s gaze flickered nervously.
Esper uniforms were designed to cling tightly to the body, which meant that now, with just a shirt on, Wonho’s physique was completely outlined beneath the fabric.
Haebom tried to focus on checking the state of Wonho’s tattered uniform, but his mind kept wandering to inappropriate places.
He struggled to clear his head, but it wasn’t working.
“Hey… What the hell is this?”
Haebom frowned as his gaze fixated on the buttons of Wonho’s shirt, which he had been undoing one by one.
As the fabric parted, a large diagonal wound was revealed across his chest and abdomen.
Though there was no blood, the injury didn’t look very old.
In fact, Haebom was sure it hadn’t been there before.
Wonho’s frown deepened as well.
Haebom had always called his name—whether whining, scolding, or even when drunk, repeating it like a chant.
But now, he was just saying “hey” instead of calling him properly.
It irked him to no end, even more so because he didn’t understand why it bothered him so much.
“Ah.”
* * *
