* * *
The next morning.
“First of all, this is who I am.”
Haeram peered at the business card the man handed him.
In the center of the stiff, shimmering paper, the golden Haechi—the logo of the Korean Superhuman Association that Haeram knew so well—was engraved.
On the back, the words ‘Superhuman Association Central Bank, Southern General Hospital Research Branch, Branch Manager Kim Jae-sik’ were pressed neatly into the card.
“……Hello.”
Haeram gave a stiff, nervous bow.
As soon as he had finished breakfast and set out his tray, Haeram had crawled back under his covers.
He usually felt groggy in the mornings as if he’d taken a sleeping pill, but today was worse because he had stayed up late tossing and turning, wondering how on earth to spend all that money.
It was then that this guest had arrived.
He was an elderly man dressed in a sleek, charcoal-gray suit.
Since Seungjoon was away on overnight leave, Haeram—who was using the double room like a private suite—guided the guest to the small table in the room.
“What brings someone from the bank to see me……?”
“Ah, word came down from the top that a client had checked their balance for the first time in over a year. I’ve visited to see if there are any questions or matters you might be curious about, just as a guide.”
“……”
“Have I made you uncomfortable? I should have called your contact number first, but…… the call wouldn’t go through…….”
The elderly man was sweating profusely, treating Haeram as if he were some incredibly powerful VIP.
Haeram, who had been equally tense on the opposite side, felt his nerves snap and fade after a few exchanges.
He realized the man was terrified that Haeram might move his money to another bank.
‘It really is my money.’
Haeram readjusted himself in his seat, his heart racing.
‘This person is talking as if that money belongs to me beyond a shadow of a doubt.’
The man left the room after giving Haeram a shimmering black card.
He explained that it was a newly issued card with no limits whatsoever—whether for withdrawals or payments.
He confirmed that it would be ready for use the moment Haeram signed the small tablet, and from that second on, Haeram was free to do whatever he wished with the funds.
The man, who had been trembling with anxiety the whole time, let out a massive sigh of relief and smiled when Haeram said he would keep the money at that branch.
He looked like a man who had just remembered how to breathe.
For the first time in his life, Haeram felt what it was like to hold the upper hand.
“See?”
That was the first thing Seo Jungwoo said when Haeram showed him the black card.
He smiled, his eyes crinkling into the same shade as the card, and muttered that he’d lost sleep deciding which menu item to have Haeram treat him to.
Haeram looked at Seo Jungwoo with a puzzled expression.
When he had asked the branch manager about the source of the money, the man had kindly explained where, how, and through what route Haeram had scratched which lottery ticket, and at what multiplier he had won.
He even opened a laptop to show a detailed breakdown of the taxes deducted and the final deposit.
It was as if he had come prepared, knowing exactly what Haeram would ask.
Reading the doubt in Haeram’s eyes, Seo Jungwoo gave his fingers a firm tug.
It was as if he were telling him to stop overthinking and focus on him.
“Do you remember me saying we should try a different method starting today?”
“…Huh? Oh, yes.”
“Starting today, let’s try touching somewhere other than the hands.”
“T-touch? Where…….”
Seo Jungwoo simply nodded instead of answering.
However, the way his gaze swept over various parts of Haeram’s body caused Haeram’s brain to jump to several wild conclusions.
“Shall we go further inside first?”
“Inside?”
‘You mean the inner area where the bed is?’
Haeram’s eyes went wide.
At the same time, he remembered what Seo Jungwoo had said yesterday.
The playful response the man had given when Haeram said he wanted to buy him dinner on a date.
Haeram felt flustered as his cheeks grew warm against his will.
Calling it training was one thing, but holding hands, making eye contact, blushing…… and now going ‘inside’ where the bed was…….
The suspicions he had been harboring for days caught fire.
At this rate, didn’t they seem like a couple in a ‘some’ relationship?
No, rather than a ‘some,’ it felt more like a secret campus couple sneaking off to get physical in the infirmary.
‘How much must he like me to be working this hard?’
“Oh, honestly…….”
Haeram scratched his eyebrow awkwardly and tugged at Seo Jungwoo’s hand.
He had never been in a proper relationship, but even he knew what this kind of atmosphere meant.
And while it wasn’t something to brag about, he was quite sharp. He had been the first to notice Nurse Shim Jihye’s secret romance, after all.
The thought that Seo Jungwoo shouldn’t like him filled his head.
“It’ll be a problem if you like me, Teacher.”
The words tumbled out suddenly without a filter.
He bit his lip quickly, but they were already out there.
Haeram excused himself, thinking it was only because the man had pulled him toward the bed.
It had only been a short while since he’d had that strange dream, and he was just too flustered and startled.
“……”
“……”
Seo Jungwoo turned around, his eyes wide.
Haeram never knew those eyes—which could look scary when expressionless because they were so long and sharp—could get that round.
“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
Seo Jungwoo asked in such a calm tone that Haeram wanted to die on the spot.
His face turned bright red instantly.
Compared to his face, which had become a ripe persimmon in seconds, Seo Jungwoo’s face was perfectly clear.
‘So, is my intuition actually terrible?’
“N-no, I mean, think about it. You’re acting so s-suspiciously…. So suspiciously….”
Haeram blamed Seo Jungwoo to cover his embarrassment.
“It’s weird. Yunhye—Cho Yunhye—said that people don’t hold hands for Mind Training.”
“Cho Yunhye said that?”
“Since you’re working so hard on me, Teacher…. It’s only natural… natural to misunderstand. Anyone would.”
“It’s not a misunderstanding.”
“Exactly, it’s not—wait, no, that’s not it……. What did you say?”
“I do like you, Haeram. What’s the problem with that?”
“……”
“Hmm? Haeram.”
As Haeram stood there stunned, his mouth agape, Seo Jungwoo leaned down to meet his eye level.
Every time he blinked, his black lashes cast a soft shadow over his onyx-like pupils.
He looked as if he were purposefully making an innocent face, but he succeeded in capturing Haeram’s gaze.
Haeram, who had been momentarily entranced, snapped out of it and waved his hands dismissively.
“No, nooo. Stop joking.”
Seeing Haeram flailing in embarrassment, Seo Jungwoo let out a chuckle.
But Haeram found himself captivated by that, too. In the end, Haeram puffed out his cheeks.
Hmph.
The man’s skill at glossing things over and being slippery was no joke.
Since he had been sincere about saying Jungwoo shouldn’t like him, he was glad to let it go, but he felt a bit cheated.
As Haeram pouted, having lost the initiative in an instant, Seo Jungwoo took his hand and shook it.
“Since Haeram says I shouldn’t, I won’t like you from now on.”
“……”
“So, let’s go inside and do our Mind Training.”
“Sigh…… seriously. Do you know you’re being completely absurd, Teacher?”
The man’s smiling face looked as if he were viewing Haeram as a much younger sibling.
“Hurry. We’re losing time.”
When he said he shouldn’t like him, the man looked at him like it wasn’t a joke; when Haeram said he misunderstood, the man said it wasn’t a misunderstanding.
He admitted he liked him, but when told he shouldn’t, he just agreed.
Then he said he wouldn’t like him anymore, acting as if he were doing a favor.
‘What kind of logic is that?’
‘Honestly…….’
Seo Jungwoo led the lingering Haeram past the partition and opened the door to the treatment room.
Even from behind, Haeram could clearly see that the corners of the man’s mouth were still turned way up.
Haeram couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being teased mercilessly, yet he couldn’t pull his hand away.
He had to do the Mind Training anyway.
And he was curious about what was behind the partition.
If he could draw a diagram of his mind, it would be a complete mess right now.
From a few days ago until this very moment, things that exceeded his expectations kept popping up.
Of course, he was the one who caused that recent accident……
‘This is a total roller coaster,’ Haeram thought, imagining a ride he’d never actually been on.
The next moment, he almost let out a scream—like someone in the front seat of a coaster dropping from the very top.
“……!”
“Come here, Haeram.”
The space behind the partition was a bedroom that looked very lived-in.
Seo Jungwoo stepped inside without hesitation—as if entering his own room, which it was—and stood there, beginning to take off his clothes.
* * *
