“Ah, it’s so noisy I could die.”
It was Hong Seoyoon again who mediated between the growling Choi Jaeheon and the annoyingly smiling Vermouth.
“Then let’s do it like this. A compromise!”
Hong Seoyoon snapped his fingers to draw attention.
“I have an empty house in Seoul, you know? I bought it as an investment in Gangnam, but I only did the interior and no one lives there. It has four rooms and is pretty spacious.”
“Hyung, how many houses do you have exactly?”
“Hey, letting money rot in a bank account is the stupidest thing. What’s important is investment.”
“Didn’t you get cut in half doing stocks like that?”
At Yoon Taegyeom’s sharp tackle, Hong Seoyoon’s brow furrowed sharply.
“I recovered later, okay? Anyway!”
Hong Seoyoon cleared his throat and returned to the main point.
“Ian, if you want to be independent, stay there. Forget the monthly rent, just pay the maintenance fee.”
“Really?”
Ian’s eyes sparkled like stars.
To be able to live in a house in Seoul, right in the middle of Gangnam, paying only the maintenance fee. For Ian, who had even prepared for homelessness worrying about the deposit, it was a proposal no different from winning the lottery.
“But there’s a condition.”
Hong Seoyoon pointed alternately at Choi Jaeheon and Vermouth.
“It’s dangerous to live alone, so you need a guardian. Choi Jaeheon, you move in too.”
“No way! What kind of independence is that!”
“Hey, listen to me. Otherwise, don’t even dream about the house!”
“But!”
“You can’t be left alone for the time being. Reporters even came to Choi Jaeheon’s house, which wasn’t made public, so what would happen if your house got exposed?”
“Th-that’s true, but.”
He hadn’t thought of that. Ian became sullen and sighed.
“Right, Ian. Let’s listen to hyungs for now.”
“Anyway, Ian, you’ll be stuck with Vermouth for a while too. Immediate independence is meaningless, right? So just live together, the three of you, for the time being.”
It wasn’t a bad proposal. No, from Choi Jaeheon’s perspective, it was no different from the only alternative. Vermouth also nodded as if satisfied.
“A wise decision.”
“Hey! Hong Seoyoon! Are you in your right mind? You want me to live in the same house with that bastard?”
Choi Jaeheon’s expression twisted fiercely.
Living with Vermouth. Just imagining it was terrible. They growled at each other just from making eye contact, yet they were to eat and sleep under one roof. He’d be more comfortable sleeping rough in a gate.
“If you don’t like it, forget it. Should I just send Ian and Vermouth alone then?”
“He doesn’t need to be stuck together every day for treatment.”
It seemed they’d already passed that stage. For someone missing an arm, he moved around well on his own.
“Still, that’s safer. Do you know where the next gate will open? Now gates are opening that we can’t even predict from our side. Then who will protect Ian? At least two people need to take turns staying with him continuously. You have a guild too, can you be stuck with him 24 hours alone?”
At Hong Seoyoon’s fact bombing, Choi Jaeheon closed his mouth.
He couldn’t refute it. If Ian was targeted by demons while he entered a gate or took his eyes off him for a moment, it would be over.
Even if he didn’t like it, protecting Ian together with Vermouth was safer.
“…Haah.”
Choi Jaeheon let out a deep sigh. He seemed to be bending his opinion reluctantly. He roughly swept his hair back and looked at Ian.
“Fine. Okay. We just have to live together.”
Then he pointed at Vermouth and threatened.
“But! If you get caught doing anything funny, you’re kicked out that day. I’ll cut off your head, not your arm. Especially when you’re with Ian, don’t close the door. If you lock the door and do weird things, I’ll really kill you.”
“I’ll keep it in mind. I’ll keep the door wide open. Good ventilation too.”
Vermouth smiled cheekily, but Ian’s face burned and he hung his head low. Remembering last night’s events, he wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
“Well, then the housing problem is solved.”
“This is solved?”
Ian asked blankly. He said he’d be independent, but not only hyung, now Vermouth was stuck to him too.
“For now, that’s the best option.”
Yoon Taegyeom said that while gathering his bag and standing up.
“Ian, you said you’d register as an Awakener, right?”
“Huh? Yeah, I will.”
“Good. Then contact me as soon as you’re done moving. I’ll schedule it for you.”
“Hyung, thanks.”
“Not at all!”
Yoon Taegyeom waved his hand and left the house as urgently as he’d come.
“Hey, wait a second!”
Hong Seoyoon followed Yoon Taegyeom as if he had something to say to him. Thus, only the three men remained in the living room again. Because they’d just fought about being ‘real brothers,’ the atmosphere between Ian and Choi Jaeheon was still awkward and heavy.
“Let’s go.”
Choi Jaeheon picked up the car keys and spoke to Ian.
“Where to?”
“Where else, we have to go home. Let’s go pack.”
This was a temporary residence after all, so to move, they needed to pack their things at the main house in Seoul. The three people got into the van the Management Bureau had lent them.
The road returning from Chuncheon to Seoul was quiet on a weekday afternoon. But the air inside the car was suffocatingly silent.
Choi Jaeheon in the driver’s seat only looked ahead and drove, Ian in the passenger seat only looked out the window. Only Vermouth in the back seat hummed and enjoyed the scenery outside. When he occasionally threw out questions like “What building is that?”, Ian would answer. With one arm, Vermouth had obtained a different attitude from Ian than before.
“Get off here.”
At the entrance to Seoul, Choi Jaeheon tried to drop off Vermouth.
“It seems hands will be needed for moving. I’ll help too.”
“We don’t need a bastard without an arm.”
Ian mediated between the two growling people.
“Don’t you have things to bring too?”
“I don’t. I didn’t leave important things there.”
The Management Bureau had given him a house, but it didn’t seem to feel like his own. After all, his real home wasn’t in this world. Vermouth’s obsession in abandoning everything and chasing him here felt newly amazing. For that reason, Vermouth followed along to Choi Jaeheon and Ian’s house.
The house they’d lived in for a long time since childhood. The gate that had been damaged the last time he saw it was in a repaired state.
“Let’s go in.”
Ian followed behind Choi Jaeheon and felt a strange sentiment. It was a space that always gave him a sense of relief when he returned, but today it felt unfamiliar. Why did he feel that way?
When the door opened and they entered the house, there was a familiar smell.
“Just pack what you need. There’s everything in Hong Seoyoon’s house, so just pack clothes and daily necessities.”
Choi Jaeheon said matter-of-factly and entered his room.
Ian also headed to his room. Opening the closet door, he could see the school uniform he’d been wearing when he went missing 5 years ago hanging on a hanger. And the new clothes hyung had bought him after he returned were neatly arranged.
He first opened an old carrier and started packing clothes. There wasn’t much to call luggage. The 5-year gap was bigger than expected, and life after returning was still short.
While Ian was folding clothes, Choi Jaeheon suddenly entered the room. He was holding a bundle of socks in his hand.
“Pack these. I bought them last time and they’re thick, so they’re good. Your feet get cold.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Choi Jaeheon sat on the edge of the bed hesitantly. Normally he would have nagged about being slow at packing, but today he was unusually quiet. The words Ian had spat out, ‘we don’t share a single drop of blood,’ still seemed stuck in his chest.
‘No, hyung said it first, didn’t he?’
Ian bit his lips hard and opened his mouth.
“Hyung.”
Still, he didn’t want to continue this state for long. Ian stopped packing and looked at Choi Jaeheon.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I was too harsh. You know I didn’t mean it, right?”
“It’s fine. It’s the truth.”
Choi Jaeheon smiled bitterly and shook his head.
“Plus I said it first.”
At those words, his heart sank heavily. Choi Jaeheon was bringing up the problem he’d been avoiding all along. Ian closed his mouth and fiddled with clothes for no reason.
“I still like you. And I’m certain of that feeling. Just remember that.”
With those words as the last, Choi Jaeheon left the room. The remaining Ian sighed deeply and closed the carrier.
***
They loaded the carriers they brought out into the car.
This time, the destination was Gangnam, Hong Seoyoon’s house. Overlapping with rush hour, the road was completely jammed. Among the procession of red lamps, Ian repeatedly dozed off and woke up. In the meantime, outside the window had changed to streets brilliantly shining with lights.
The place they arrived at was a luxury villa overlooking the Han River.
The underground parking lot was full of foreign cars, and security personnel were stationed at the entrance. After swiping the exclusive card key and taking the elevator to the top floor, a penthouse-level spacious entrance appeared.
“Wow.”
Ian couldn’t close his mouth.
The marble floor gleamed, and the living room was wide enough to play soccer. Beyond the glass windows, Seoul’s night view spread out like a panorama. The furniture all looked expensive, every piece extraordinary.
To think this was a house left unused. The wealth of an S-rank Hunter really exceeded imagination. Ian’s gaze naturally turned to Choi Jaeheon at that point.
“I have a lot of money too.”
Choi Jaeheon said curtly. At those words, Hong Seoyoon, who had met them at the door and accompanied them, laughed.
“The password is 0000. Change it later yourselves. There are four rooms, so use whichever you like.”
Then he explained the structure of the house.
“The master bedroom at that end is the biggest and has an attached bathroom. Across from it are two small rooms, and at the end of the hallway is one room that doubles as a study.”
Now the problem was room assignment.
