“Yes, thank you.”
Evil rattled off what he wanted to say like machine-gun fire. Seeing Cheche answer right away, he seemed to understand.
“Lucky there’s a brain in that small head so you understand. Now, go ahead and say what you were going to say.”
“I’d appreciate it if you could tell me what I should be careful about.”
“That’s what I just said. Ugh, fuck, so….”
“I’ve never lived with a wealthy person like you, Director. I’ll definitely cause trouble. Please tell me what I should be careful about while living together.”
“…….”
At the calm tone, Evil’s sharp temper also subsided.
He hadn’t properly listened to Cheche’s words and had just blurted out what he wanted to say, but when he properly listened, it was completely different from what he’d expected.
“…That’s what you wanted to say?”
“Yes.”
Evil blinked blankly.
“You weren’t thinking of leaving?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“…….”
The fierce energy in his eyes scattered away. The sharp look had gone, but Evil frowned as if displeased instead.
“Then why did you just listen. When I was being so….”
Mean.
There was no need to ask. He seemed to know the answer.
‘You’re not wrong. Duds need to be removed.’
That’s definitely the kind of answer that would come back. This upstart bastard is a pathetic fool full of self-loathing and guilt.
And just now, Evil had tried to exploit that low self-esteem.
High-grade Soul Aura Users have excellent sensitivity. They empathize well with others, cry easily, and are always emotional.
Cheche was an S-rank Souler. On the outside he seemed only indifferent and uninterested in everything, but inside, a whirlpool of guilt must be raging.
As proof, he felt it even now. That beneath that calm face, the wound had opened again. The expressionless face was so solid that no one else would notice, but Evil alone felt it. Thanks to that detestable ability, Evil felt that emotion.
Even the emotions that leak out ever so slightly are so lonely. He couldn’t even imagine how deep the solitude that spread inside must be.
“Director.”
“…Huh, yeah. So.”
At Cheche’s quiet call, Evil came to his senses.
“Just follow the basic things properly. Cleaning and stuff like that, other people will do it all, so things like not invading each other’s space or not making noise. Have you never lived communally?”
“I have. But two people is a first. It was always many people. There were times when I lived with hundreds of people, and even at the least it was always more than ten people.”
“Why so many.”
He spat out while frowning, and at the same time realized. That communal living meant refugee life. A place where hundreds of dark-skinned refugees gathered to live. Naturally cleanliness wouldn’t be managed, and it would be dirty and cramped.
Cheche was a young hero who had to feel endless loneliness even in such a crowded place.
Would it have been better if he hadn’t been an S-rank Soul User?
Evil’s chest kept feeling stuffy for the first time.
“It’s my first time living alone with just two people in such a nice place, so I don’t know even the basic things you mentioned. I’ll be clumsy at many things. I’m sorry.”
“…Me too.”
It was so frustrating that he ended up saying it without realizing.
“It’s my first time too. Living with another person.”
“…….”
“I don’t know rules and shit like that, fuck. We’ll adjust as we live together. It’s the first time living together for both you and me, right?”
Evil deliberately snapped sharply. At those pointed words, Cheche blinked and smiled faintly.
“Yes, that’s right.”
It was truly faint and disappeared quickly, but because it was definitely a smile with eyes curving into crescents and corners of the mouth slightly raised.
Evil had to remain dazed for a moment.
***
The first day of their cohabitation seemed to flow peacefully. There was nothing to clash over anyway since servants did all the trivial household chores like cleaning and dishes.
The problem was that there was too little going on.
Evil glared very intensely at the closed white door. No matter how much of an SSS Multi User he was, the door wouldn’t burn up from just being stared at.
‘That refugee bastard is playing hide and seek right now.’
Cheche had arrogantly eaten dinner together at the same table, then slipped into his room and hadn’t come out since. There was no reason to come out since the room had a bathroom, TV, study materials, and everything.
Evil’s insides boiled.
There’s no point in living together!
It was only seven o’clock and there were a full five hours left until bedtime—was he planning to stay holed up alone the whole time?
He smiled so prettily earlier….
I need to add ‘do your own work in the living room’ as a condition for communal living.
Evil glared at the door while planning to reverse what he’d said just three hours ago. He could hear the sound of low breathing. Rustle, the sound of turning pages was also audible. The sound of scribbling something on paper with a pen too.
It seemed Cheche was repeating his daily routine even though the space had changed. It was easy to predict that after work he’d spent time studying in that small one-room. Just seeing how fluently he conversed after only a year in Alcity painted the picture.
In that cubbyhole, reading books in a dark corner was probably all he could do, but now there were many things he could do. After scribbling for a while, now the sound of turning on a laptop could be heard.
The sound of sitting in a chair, the sound of placing a book beside him, the sound of clicking the mouse. Even the sound of leaning his body deeply into the chair’s backrest.
“……”
For some reason, his anger subsided a little.
The sound of clacking at the keyboard, perhaps practicing typing, tap-tap-tap, then staring blankly at the screen for a moment before tap-tap-tap again. Clicking the mouse a few times, then soon opening a book.
The sound of turning pages, the sound of pulling the chair closer. Moving the mouse and clicking on this and that, then letting out a small sigh. That sigh was both so adorable and pitiful.
And then Cheche stayed still for a while. It wasn’t the breathing sound of someone asleep.
When Evil, who had been stalking without awareness, was about to leave because he was bored, he felt movement. Following that came the dull sound of a fist striking the center of the chest.
It was sudden but sufficiently justified self-harm. That sound continued to repeat at irregular intervals. Evil considered opening the door to stop that behavior but gave up.
Evil knew.
Though he had never done such a thing himself, people strike their chests when they feel frustrated.
When something unfair happens, resentment builds up in the chest, when something sad happens, it feels like the inside of one’s chest is being torn apart, and when angry, the chest churns. People who have no way to relieve their frustration torment themselves to disperse their accumulated emotions.
Cheche was suffering. Learning Alcity’s language, handling computers, staying in a warm room—everything was making Tar’s young hero struggle.
The dull noise gradually grew smaller and Cheche picked up the pen again.
“……”
Evil bit his lips. The Endem family’s hospital and this mansion were places where Evil could at least rest. Though the building had been thoroughly soundproofed from the design stage considering Evil’s hearing, if he listened carefully, he could hear everything anyway. As if right next to him, every single one of Cheche’s actions.
Evil Endem, who had often wanted to tear off his ears in the midst of detestable noise, now leaned against the door and listened carefully to hear even a little more of that noise.
It was an action he himself was completely unaware of.
***
Cheche hadn’t yet gotten his name on the S-rank Soul Aura User list, but he decided to receive the education a Souler should receive in advance. Because he hadn’t received any education in Tar, his basic common sense about aura was very lacking, so they hired an instructor to start from truly fundamental education.
“Aura is… um, it means the energy humans inherently possess, and those who can, can handle this en-energy are called Aura Users, and those without the ability are called… No Users.”
The instructor continued his sentences with difficulty, trembling. He greatly regretted applying for this education. He’d heard he only needed to teach Cheche, but Evil Devil was sitting right there next to him too.
Moreover, this wasn’t even an education room but Evil’s office. Who knows how many dozens, how many hundreds of corpses had been cleared away here… This place rife with terrible rumors was hard for a sensitive and delicate C-rank Soul Aura User to handle.
Like most other Aura Users, the instructor both admired and feared Evil.
“Um, depending on the ability to handle aura, they’re divided into Motioners, Soulers, and Adapters. The representative characteristics of each… Motioners have psychokinesis, Soulers control emotions, and Adapters can be said to have the ability to manipulate the aura of other Aura Users… that is, other Aura Users.”
