The 195cm tall figure cast a shadow over Cheche’s head. Evil’s red eyes bubbled and boiled with heat. With that, Cheche knew.
That he wouldn’t harm him.
“…You.”
Evil spoke in a heavily suppressed voice.
“Say it clearly. What do you want to do?”
“…….”
“You want to try all three? Is that it?”
Cheche’s eyes wavered. Small ripples spread through the always indifferent golden eyes.
However he interpreted that reaction, Evil’s expression relaxed.
“Hey, you sic… Ugh, if that’s it, say so. Try them all. You can try them all and then choose the most fun one. James, you heard? Prepare everything.”
“…Yes….”
Even in his dazed state, James instinctively answered.
Evil used his aura to right the chair and sat down again.
“You can do disaster victim psychological treatment when I’m deployed to disaster areas, and for illusion arts you should start by watching lots of Showseller performances. For jewelry crafting, you should see Holiagem first, ah, I had a few Holiagem at home but I should have kept them. First build a workshop and….”
Cheche thought while listening to Evil’s rambling.
It seems Evil Endem has favorable feelings toward me. Favorable feelings mixed with curiosity….
For some reason his heart tingled. The surrounding sounds felt like they were gradually growing distant.
***
In the end, Cheche decided to experience psychological healing, Luzem crafting, and illusion arts all together. Evil was excited that he’d be busy from now on and gave various instructions, and Cheche sat quietly beside him. Since it was still before the reassessment, he was technically still part of the secretarial office, but ended up spending the entire day in Evil’s office before leaving work.
As he rode in the car with Evil returning to the mansion, Cheche was lost in thought.
Him making an exception of me will be very temporary. Curiosity disappears once satisfied, and when curiosity disappears, I’ll become no different from other Tartarian refugees to him.
It was a future vividly drawn as if held in his hand.
Though it never showed on his face, complicated thoughts filled his head. Upon arriving at the mansion, he heard news that complicated his feelings even more.
“The bathroom broke?”
“Yes… Both rooms were completely shattered. As if… someone had punched them….”
Hips glanced at Evil as he spoke. Evil was playing dumb, but when his eyes met Hips’, he flew into a rage.
“What? Who! Did a robber break in?”
“It must have been a very strong robber…. The floor tiles, sink, and bathtub….”
“How could you break them with human fists? It must have been shoddy construction. The people who did the construction are fucking trash, right?”
“That’s what I’m saying….”
It was built more sturdily than a neighboring country’s presidential residence. And the person with the strength to break it was right in front of them.
Evil entered with excited steps.
“Since the bathroom’s broken, there’s no choice. Today we’ll wash together in the second-floor bath….”
“You wash first, Director. I’ll wash after.”
“…That won’t work. The hot water here only runs at set times.”
It was complete bullshit. To think that the home of Alcity’s wealthiest person had set hours for hot water.
“I’ll wash with cold water.”
“Are you crazy? You want to catch a cold!”
Evil’s face flushed as he jumped up.
“I really don’t want to bathe with you either, you know? Just the thought of seeing water droplets flowing down your slender neckline is horrifying! Your cheeks flushed pink after coming out of warm water, those completely relaxed golden eyes, the moisture clinging to those long, dense eyelashes—I don’t want to see any of it!”
“……”
“And besides that, what about your reddened elbows and ankles? Your calves and knees, thighs and… I’ll definitely be able to see what your belly button looks like. It’s definitely small and cute! Your chest… it looks like it might fit in one hand… Fuck, this is really pissing me off. Let’s hurry up and go wash!”
“……”
Evil stomped upstairs to the second floor. Looking at Cheche’s small figure left standing alone, Hips quietly closed the door.
Well, if our young master wishes it…
***
The mansion’s bathhouse was incredibly spacious. Various baths that drew spring water, sculptures decorating all four walls, fountains installed here and there. It was so vast you couldn’t take it all in at a glance. The twelve large and small fountains normally weren’t turned on because Evil found them noisy, but today one large fountain in the center was operating. It was Hips’s thoughtfulness.
This bathhouse was meant for relaxing in hot spring baths rather than just washing, and what differed from other luxurious mansion bathhouses was that you couldn’t see outside. Unlike people who enjoyed leisure while viewing the outdoor scenery, the owner of this mansion could only enjoy leisure in a place where nothing was visible.
Evil went to the bathhouse early to wait. He entered the lukewarm bath visible right from the entrance and waited, facing the entrance, for the door to open.
Surely he’s not planning not to wash. Hurry up and come.
Evil took his gaze off the entrance door and this time looked up.
Sensing what Cheche was doing in the room as he dawdled around, Cheche was slowly gathering clothes to change into. Perhaps Cheche would come down wearing pajamas. Evil could read Cheche’s every action through his presence, but he didn’t have the ability to see through things, and since Cheche came down every morning already changed, this would be the first time seeing that in person.
“……”
Feeling strangely ticklish and strange, Evil suddenly stood up and moved to the hot bath. It was a hot bath with rising steam where you couldn’t see into the water.
Come slowly… come down slowly.
As Evil wished, Cheche didn’t move for a while. Even after a full hour had passed, it was the same, and even then Evil couldn’t get out of the hot bath.
‘Why is this happening….’
His body felt strange and wouldn’t obey. Evil, who had anthropophobia, had never had romantic exchanges even at twenty-one, so this kind of experience was a first for him.
Please, go down. Go down. After chanting like a prayer for a while, he finally heard the sound of Cheche coming down the stairs.
There’s an escalator and an elevator, but he’s specifically using the stairs… Thank goodness.
Evil hurriedly got out of the hot bath and headed toward the wall where the shower was hung. He turned the water on full blast and stood facing the wall. Um, after hesitating for a moment, Evil swept his thoroughly wet hair upward. He showed off his handsome forehead and made an extremely sexy expression, but belatedly realized that right now he couldn’t show his front. Evil hurriedly used telekinesis to wrap a white towel around his waist. As a result, he ended up with his hands against the wall with a white towel wrapped around his waist under the shower pouring water like a waterfall.
Cheche opened the door and entered. Evil was in a spot not immediately visible from the entrance. Perhaps finding it strange that there was no one there but water sounds could be heard, he hesitated then quietly walked inside.
“……”
“……”
Evil somehow felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Director-nim?”
Cheche’s voice heard in the spacious bathhouse felt different from usual. The way it echoed, and it somehow seemed more moistened…
“You’re still here.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll come in a little later.”
“Ah, why. You, it’s wide. Fuck, wash, you too.”
Why am I stuttering?
No, I’m not even an idiot, why am I stuttering?
Evil screamed internally. Outwardly, he was just receiving the water pouring down like a waterfall while his hands were against the wall.
“Then I’ll wash far away.”
“Hey, just, wash nearby. It’s not like we’re being modest, why go far away.”
“…Yes, then excuse me.”
Since the central mansion’s bathhouse wasn’t a place to receive guests but Evil’s personal bathhouse, there were only two showers. The other shower was on the opposite side, and Evil heard the sound of Cheche turning on the faucet and receiving the stream of water. For some reason, he couldn’t turn around. After a moment, Cheche, who had turned off the faucet, asked.
“May I enter here?”
Cheche pointed to the place closest to the entrance among the numerous baths and asked. Evil nodded as if he had eyes in the back of his head, saying, “Uh, sure.”
Cheche didn’t enter right away but just stirred the water with his hand. Evil stood cleverly so that the place making its assertion was hidden and watched that sight.
“Why aren’t you getting in. Ah, is this your first time at a bathhouse like this?”
“…Tar has public bathhouses too. There are also homes with bathtubs.”
“What a luxurious battlefield.”
“Is having bathhouses and bathtubs luxurious?”
“That’s a country short on water. I thought everyone was so filthy they couldn’t even wash properly.”
