TS 066

The report on Bamseom contained several photos. Yoon Taehwa swiped through the photos he had received separately on his tablet and then stopped his finger. When he zoomed in, he saw a subtly bent reed forest. It was a rare trace to see in a place where civilian access was restricted.

‘Otters do live there, but… no matter how you look at it, it’s hard to see it as an animal’s trace.’

If it had been an animal’s trace, there was no way the Beastmen wouldn’t have noticed. Seo Yeon-eum wouldn’t have taken a separate photo and submitted a report either.

“What are you looking at?”

Han Suryeon, who had been looking at the data while sitting at the team leader’s office table, slowly got up and approached behind the desk. Yoon Taehwa answered perfunctorily.

“The Bamseom case.”

“It seems they released the monster there.”

“…I don’t think I told you about that.”

Only Seeker Team 1’s Seo Yeon-eum, himself, Yoon Taehwa, and Shin Ae-hi knew about the traces on Bamseom. When he asked in surprise, Han Suryeon pressed his body against the back of the chair.

“You said no dungeon was discovered. But if you’re reading a report about Bamseom, Team Leader, that means they released it there.”

“I don’t remember telling you that there were no traces of a dungeon either.”

“Jaemin told me. He said an official notice would be coming down soon anyway.”

It was something Han Suryeon should have known, but even so, it didn’t mean it was okay for Kang Jaemin to go around spilling important information. Yoon Taehwa let out a low sigh.

“It seems our youngest wants to get scolded again.”

“Aren’t you going to make the story about Monomorium official soon anyway?”

“Until then, he should watch his mouth.”

Detailed information had not yet been shared. At most, it was safe to say that it was only the team leaders of each team. The reason the S-class Espers were guarding the bomb shelter where Pavel was imprisoned was also because they knew that fact.

“Don’t scold him too much. He probably told me because I looked pitiful. I told him I was sulking with you that day.”

“Are you going to tell me not to scold him even if it were your team member?”

When he asked, squinting his eyes, Han Suryeon just raised his lips without a word. The meaning of his pretty smile was obvious.

“By the way, how did you know they caused trouble there?”

Yoon Taehwa lowered his gaze to the report again. Han Suryeon placed one arm on the chair and then bent his waist.

“Civilians can’t enter here. Because it’s an ecological landscape conservation area.”

“It looks like a wetland.”

“That’s right. That’s why the Seeker team was able to find the traces.”

“It seems close to the bridge we were standing on. They might have been watching from there.”

Yoon Taehwa stroked his cheek.

“Other than that, there are no traces.”

“Aren’t there CCTVs? There are few countries with as many surveillance cameras as Korea.”

“I couldn’t find any significant footage. We’re investigating the people who have access, but I don’t know.”

He didn’t think it would be one of them.

Yoon Taehwa recalled the time the Han River had first flooded. It was during his commute, so not only the bridge but also the surrounding area was congested. It was most likely that they had taken advantage of the fleeing people and blended into the crowd to disappear.

“There probably won’t be any scent left either.”

“Because it’s an island in the middle of a river. We were lucky to even find a trace. That place flooded too.”

Yoon Taehwa glanced at Han Suryeon and asked.

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“I wonder. It’s hard to find a Shooter. For now, it’s highly likely to be a Korean. To move around mixed in with people, they’d have to have an inconspicuous appearance.”

Although the Center was searching all the CCTVs in the area, it was difficult to expect an optimistic result. Yoon Taehwa was rather leaning towards the side that they wouldn’t be able to find any clues.

“How many people know about the Monomorium case right now?”

“For those in the field, it’s about the team leaders of each team. Even among the higher-ups, few people know.”

“You must have gotten chewed out a lot with the Han River incident and the Center explosion mixed in.”

“While I was getting chewed out, Han Suryeon was somewhere else.”

When he retorted, wrinkling his cheek, Han Suryeon put strength into his arm and turned the chair. The wheels spun smoothly.

“I’m in the middle of working, what is this?”

“I’m not disturbing you. I’m just giving you a little break, Team Leader.”

“It’s not me who’s taking a break, it’s you.”

“Let’s say so, then.”

Somehow, his ready admission was more annoying than a denial. Yoon Taehwa leaned his head against the chair and stared at the man looking down at him, as if sizing him up. He had to gain something, now that he had come all the way to Korea, but strangely, he didn’t seem to be getting worked up over this incident.

‘He did react indifferently when he caught Pavel, too…’

He had wondered if he had another objective besides Monomorium, but no matter how he thought about it, there was nothing else Han Suryeon could gain in Korea besides him.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because it doesn’t seem like you’re that eager to catch Monomorium.”

“I’m bound to be less so than the Center. Our positions are different. I probably wouldn’t have cared much even if he had been in Russia.”

It meant that they were stepping in only because the other side had touched their guild members first, and that the matter of a terrorist organization was under the government’s jurisdiction.

“I just want to meet him because I’m curious why he had someone infiltrate our guild.”

“It sounds like you don’t mind if we handle the cleanup.”

The cleanup of a terrorist was an important issue. Because it was an international issue. If a country handled it, the country’s prestige would rise, and if a guild caught them, the guild’s reputation would rise.

From the Center’s perspective, even after catching Monomorium, a tug-of-war with Kasatka remained.

“I don’t mind. I’ll hand him over to you, Team Leader.”

“Kasatka won’t just let it be.”

“It’s a job entrusted to me, so the decision is mine.”

It was no different from saying that he would bear the guild’s complaints alone. Why on earth? As he narrowed his eyes to read his intentions, the arm that had been draped over the chair slid down. The soft fingertips touched the nape of his neck.

Yoon Taehwa, instead of reacting to the touch, addressed the immediate questions.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but I just don’t understand why he started his activities in Korea at this particular time.”

The reasons why terrorist organizations moved were hard for normal people to comprehend, but he was curious about their purpose. Yoon Taehwa quietly observed the man who had touched him.

‘Is it because of this guy after all.’

The incident had started to grow larger with Pavel’s entry into Korea, so the causal relationship couldn’t be completely separated. When he didn’t swat away the annoyingly clinging hand, Han Suryeon smiled slyly and extended his hand a little further down.

“We’ll know that once Pavel wakes up.”

“Do you not know how to wake him up?”

“Hm?”

“You said he was in your guild. I thought you might have a guess.”

Yoon Taehwa said, glancing down at the finger that had now come down to his Adam’s apple. It was a vital point where he could die instantly if Han Suryeon used his ability.

“Who can know what’s inside a mental-type Esper’s head.”

“That’s true too.”

Considering Shin Ae-hi, he wasn’t wrong.

Just as he was about to swat his hand away, a knee wedged itself between his legs. Because he tended to sit upright when working and didn’t cross his legs, there was a gap in the wide chair for a knee to fit. The chair was pushed back as a person’s weight was added.

“I don’t know what Han Suryeon is doing right now.”

“Because the chair is in the way.”

The answer that came back was shameless. When he raised his gaze from the knee that had wedged into the space between his thighs, his eyes met his. His face was now just a short distance away.

“Can I kiss you?”

Yoon Taehwa narrowed his eyes. Unlike his narrowed eyes, a low laugh escaped from between his lips.

“In the team leader’s office?”

“There are probably people fucking in the Guiding room.”

“You’re not a Guide.”

“I’ll pretend to be a Guide if we get caught, then.”

It was the team leader’s office on the 34th floor. Putting aside other Espers, even his team members rarely approached unless it was an urgent matter. The finger that had been gently rubbing his Adam’s apple crawled up and pressed his lips firmly.

“Instead of pretending to be a Guide…”

Yoon Taehwa leisurely opened his lips and pulled Han Suryeon closer.

“…you shouldn’t get caught in the first place.”

Soon, their breaths became entangled.

***

“Uht.”

Yoon Taehwa let out a low moan. It wasn’t because of the tongue that had pierced the inside of his mouth. It was because his body had hit the wall due to Han Suryeon clinging to him as soon as they entered the house.

‘How did it come to this?’

Over his broad shoulders, he could see the bundles of documents on the living room table. He would usually handle it at the Center, he never brought work home, but the situation had changed in the past few days.

As the story of the monster that had appeared in the Han River, the explosion at the Center, and the related existence of Monomorium began to circulate, the number of staff members coming and going to the 34th floor had started to increase. In a situation where few people knew Han Suryeon’s original identity, it wasn’t easy to handle work in the team leader’s office.

Inevitably, he had needed a private space, and also inevitably, he had had no choice but to let Han Suryeon into his house. He was hesitant to trust the hotel’s security network.

“Haa… Are you not concentrating?”

At the movement of biting his lip, his gaze that had been on the living room returned. Yoon Taehwa twisted his lips as if it were ridiculous.

“It’s not that I’m not concentrating, it’s that you should be making me concentrate.”

Han Suryeon’s kisses were always impatient and desperate. Like someone who had just opened his eyes to kissing, it seemed he only knew how to suck on lips and thrust his tongue in.

‘Well, even I, who’s evaluating him like this…’

In the end, it was an inappropriate evaluation for a person who let himself be swept away.

“Is it not good because I’m clumsy?”

The slowly lowering eyelids were not dejected. Red lips parted, and the corners of his eyes gently curved.

“I’ll have to do it a lot until I can make our Team Leader concentrate?”

“You said you’re a fast learner?”

“This is something I shouldn’t learn quickly…”

Han Suryeon, who had given a crinkly-eyed smile, rashly brought his head closer. The movement of his hand slipping inside his shirt was uninhibited. The movement of his thigh was so blatant it was almost sensual. The moment he was about to rub his tongue against the one that had entered his mouth, he felt a faint vibration on his wrist.

Yoon Taehwa immediately pushed Han Suryeon away. As if he had sensed that it was no ordinary matter, Han Suryeon didn’t cling to him anymore. He just stood close behind Yoon Taehwa, who was walking away, and repeatedly lowered his lips to his neck.

Yoon Taehwa, with Han Suryeon attached to him, checked the message.

[Team Leader, he’s woken up.]

“Whoa, it seems he’s finally woken up.”

A half-hearted exclamation came from behind him.