# Chapter 38
Hajin’s days lately had been nothing short of peaceful.
With guaranteed personal time and Espers who had learned to maintain appropriate boundaries after going somewhere with Cha Jinwoo, it was peace itself.
“Hyuuung, won’t you stay home today and play with me instead of going out?”
“Hey, Doyoon. With that big head of yours, why are you weighing down on hyung’s shoulder? Get off.”
“What are you talking about? My head is actually smaller than hyung’s!”
By now, he could easily brush off their bickering with him caught in the middle.
For once, all four members of Alpha Team were gathered at their quarters. Perhaps that’s why the spacious sofa felt cramped. Hajin took a sip of the coffee Cha Jinwoo had made for him and replied.
“I suppose I could.”
“Really?”
When Hajin agreed to stay at the quarters, Doyoon questioned in disbelief before his face brightened up.
He reminded Hajin of a child spending time with his parents on a weekend after a long time, making Hajin reflect on whether he had been thinking too much of himself lately.
Doyoon wasn’t the only one delighted by Hajin’s decision to stay.
Not only Baek Jaan, who was clinging to Hajin’s side and fiddling with his free hand, but even Han Seungho, who was standing behind Hajin despite there being another sofa available, had emotions clearly visible on their faces.
And watching them all, even Cha Jinwoo wore a smile on his otherwise stoic face.
Since that day, he had been keeping his distance from the younger Espers like a satiated lion, observing rather than joining in, but whenever his eyes met Hajin’s, he would smile with his eyes, making the most of his handsome face.
Even now, as their eyes met, Hajin avoided the leisurely and languid smile of Cha Jinwoo, unlike the innocent smiles of the others.
He was definitely doing it on purpose. Because that smile was very similar to the one he wore when he was on top of Hajin.
‘Ah, damn it.’
Hajin covered his face with his coffee cup as the memory resurfaced. Only after regaining his composure did he lower the cup and ask what they wanted to do.
“I’m fine just sitting here like this.”
Even as he said this, Hajin didn’t expect much. With their overflowing energy, he thought they would want to go out or do something.
However, that prediction was completely wrong.
“I’m fine with that too.”
Starting with Han Seungho, the others also agreed to stay at the quarters.
Hajin was quite surprised, especially by Han Seungho, whom he had expected would want to go out.
“…Why that expression?”
At Han Seungho’s pointed remark, Hajin was about to correct his expression and respond when someone cut in before him.
“Think about how you’ve been acting. You’ve been so annoying all this time, and suddenly you’re being docile—that’s why Hajin-hyung is surprised.”
Doyoon, resting his head on Hajin’s shoulder, turned to look at Han Seungho with a teasing remark. In response to the sarcastic comment, Han Seungho’s voice was equally unfriendly.
“Are you his hyung? Why are you assuming and answering for him?”
Although he hadn’t fully grasped everyone’s personalities yet, Hajin had realized that when curses started coming out of Han Seungho’s mouth, things would get noisy nine times out of ten. He was about to intervene when:
“I’m staying because hyung likes being at home, that’s all.”
Contrary to expectations, Han Seungho exhaled once, as if swallowing his anger, and replied politely without any cursing.
Han Seungho restraining his anger? Both the Espers who had spent a long time with him and even Hajin, who hadn’t lived at the quarters for very long, were so shocked they turned to look at him.
“What? What are you looking at?”
Han Seungho was flustered by all the attention directed at him.
“Seungho-hyung, I’m sorry. You don’t have to suddenly act like a normal person.”
“What did you say?”
Han Seungho, thinking Doyoon was mocking him again, glared at him with wide eyes, but surprisingly, Doyoon was sincere. And he wasn’t the only one.
“Both Doyoon and Jaan, go easy on Seungho from now on.”
“Yes…”
That irritated him even more. Here he was, behaving nicely, and yet. What made it more annoying was that they were all sincere.
Especially Baek Jaan. That oddball genuinely seemed to think that Han Seungho had gone crazy because they had teased him too much.
Just as he was about to abandon his good behavior with his insides boiling:
“I’m fine with it, but why are you teasing the kid—I mean, the person?”
His boiling insides settled at the voice that brought peace to his heart just by listening. Hajin had taken Han Seungho’s side.
Hajin thought they were teasing him, not knowing they were genuinely concerned about Han Seungho.
But who cared? Hajin was taking his side.
Han Seungho, suddenly turned soft, forcibly held back the corners of his mouth that were trying to rise on their own, and almost hugged Hajin from behind as he whined.
“Hyung, you’re the only one who understands me.”
As he held back his laughter to the limit, his body trembled, adding the side effect of making him seem more pitiful.
This led Hajin to the great misconception that Han Seungho was more tender-hearted than he thought.
In fact, Hajin had no choice but to misunderstand. Hadn’t Han Seungho openly expressed his disappointment before about Hajin only kissing Baek Jaan? With that memory, it wasn’t strange for Hajin to have such a misunderstanding.
“…Would you like some ice cream?”
Though the level of consolation was childish, Han Seungho didn’t mind at all.
Not only had the faces of the kids occupying the adjacent seats crumpled nicely, but even the team leader, who had been acting leisurely and getting on his nerves, seemed displeased, frowning for the first time.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Let me just get my wallet.”
“I can buy it for you.”
“I offered to treat, so I can’t let you pay.”
As Hajin went to get his coat for the now chilly weather:
Beep-! Beep-! Beep-!
Hajin’s shoulders jerked at the sounds that went off simultaneously. When he turned around with a surprised face, the entire Alpha Team was checking their alerts with disgruntled expressions.
‘Oh dear.’
Hajin couldn’t hide his sympathy. How could they be called again when they had just returned from a mission?
Moreover, if the entire team received the call, it was likely a high-difficulty mission or one involving many civilians, like the dungeon Hajin had been caught up in before, making him even more concerned.
“Ah! Another mission, seriously?!”
Starting with Doyoon’s irritated outburst, Alpha Team expressed their dissatisfaction in their own ways.
Especially Han Seungho, who had been excited at the thought of going for ice cream with Hajin, was pressing his lips tightly together, trying to contain his anger with his entire body.
They had barely been back from their mission for two days. They could have been compensated for the time they spent away from Hajin, but the damn alert had interfered with that.
“Team Leader, didn’t they promise to guarantee rest time after this mission?”
Even Baek Jaan, who usually didn’t have major complaints about alerts, had a frown on his beautiful brow, seemingly quite upset about having his time with Hajin interrupted.
Cha Jinwoo was thinking the same thing. The Association Chairman had personally put a hold on Alpha Team’s missions for a while, telling them to capture Hajin’s heart.
‘Something seems off.’
Espers couldn’t ignore an alert just because something felt strange unless it was related to a Guide or there were unavoidable circumstances.
In any case, they had to respond to the alert first to find out what was going on.
“Enough grumbling, get ready.”
“Sigh…”
After sending off the team members, Cha Jinwoo spoke to Hajin.
“I’m sorry. We have to go because of the sudden alert.”
“You’re the ones having a hard time, not me.”
Hajin genuinely felt sorry for them. It was like having to go to work because of an emergency while on vacation. Terrible.
Cha Jinwoo slightly furrowed his brow at another beep of the alert before going to change into his uniform. Alpha Team, having changed clothes in an instant, lingered at the entrance.
“It better be nothing serious. Otherwise, I’ll just turn everything upside down.”
Han Seungho, who was particularly disappointed, muttered words bordering on insubordination. But no one reprimanded him, and even Hajin didn’t say anything.
Instead, Hajin just held onto his exposed fingers, wearing half-gloves, and guided him.
As the Guiding flowed in, soothing the knot deep in his chest, Han Seungho’s furrowed brow smoothed out.
“Mmm, this is so good.”
Han Seungho, who had been enjoying the Guiding with his eyes closed, couldn’t resist and hugged Hajin tightly. He wanted to squeeze him hard but worried about breaking Hajin, so he hugged him as lightly as possible, which was kind in its own way.
Finding his intention endearing, Hajin patted his back a few times and remained obediently in his embrace for a moment.
Only after the onlookers, unable to bear their jealousy, pulled Han Seungho away did Hajin guide the others as well.
Having provided just enough Guiding to keep them from falling asleep, Hajin saw off the Espers who were now in much better moods.
“We’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Should I buy ice cream on the way back? No, let’s go get it together when I return.”
“Hajin-hyung, we’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll ask the Association to increase surveillance around the quarters.”
To Cha Jinwoo’s last remark, Hajin wanted to reply that it wasn’t necessary, but fearing they would worry needlessly and possibly prevent him from leaving the quarters at all today, he simply nodded in agreement.
After all, Hajin planned to stay at the quarters anyway, so increased surveillance around the area wouldn’t matter.
With all the Espers gone, the quarters felt extremely spacious. Moreover, the absence of any noise made it feel a bit chilly.
‘They say you don’t miss the place where you enter, but you miss the place you leave.’
Despite being more familiar with this scene and silence, Hajin laughed at himself for feeling awkward.
It seemed he had become accustomed to their presence, even though he had found them annoying.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
