“This can’t be.”
Shim Iyul, who had arrived at <The House Where You Are> with Ban Hanseong, was devastated by the memo attached to the firmly closed door.
「Closed temporarily due to personal reasons.」
“And we promised to meet tomorrow!”
They hadn’t actually promised. Yesterday, Shim Iyul had just unilaterally said, “Let’s meet again tomorrow,” before leaving. But for Shim Iyul right now, that fact didn’t matter. The only important thing was that he couldn’t drink the Einspänner he’d been having every morning.
‘They should have written how long “temporarily” means!’
Deeply disappointed, Shim Iyul stood in front of the closed door with drooping shoulders for quite a while before reluctantly turning around. Ban Hanseong, who had been fidgeting beside him, suggested, “There are many other cafes.”
Shim Iyul trudged along with lifeless steps to another nearby cafe. Ban Hanseong stuck close to the door and peered inside, only entering with relief after seeing the shop was empty due to the early hour. Ban Hanseong really didn’t go to places with people unless absolutely necessary. Especially places with young men. That’s why he’d been quite troubled when he went out with Taeho and Seungjin to buy food the other day. Young men who appeared to be in their late teens to early twenties seemed to appear unusually often that day.
“Fox-nim, please order for me. I’ll have a vanilla latte. A hot one.”
Ban Hanseong handed over his card and went to sit in a corner spot as if hiding.
“One Einspänner and one hot vanilla latte, please.”
“Thank you. That’ll be 12,000 won.”
After paying with Ban Hanseong’s card, Shim Iyul looked around the cafe interior while the drinks were being made. There was some miscellaneous energy, but it wasn’t burdensome. Places where many people gather have ghosts, and naturally the energy becomes miscellaneous. <The House Where You Are>, which had been excessively clean due to the Black Cat, was an unusual case.
‘Is the Black Cat sick?’
Didn’t Lee Jinkyung say yesterday that she couldn’t bring her out because she wasn’t feeling well?
“Your drinks are ready.”
The coffee came out. After handing the vanilla latte to Ban Hanseong, Shim Iyul tasted the Einspänner. It was so-so. Not undrinkable, but not particularly delicious either. The Einspänner made by Lee Jinkyung, the cafe owner who had the Black Cat, hit Shim Iyul’s taste perfectly. He’d also grown accustomed to it after drinking it every day since he started freeloading.
Anyway, after drinking the second-best Einspänner from another cafe and cutting through the cold wind to return home, the house was empty. Eun Seonmyeong and Han Seolju seemed to have left for work.
“Really, no manners at all.”
They should at least say goodbye if they’re leaving. Just leaving without a word. While Shim Iyul was inwardly cursing Eun Seonmyeong, Ban Hanseong, who had been sitting beside him finishing his vanilla latte, suddenly stood up.
“I should be going now, Fox-nim.”
“You’re leaving?”
“It’s cold.”
It was cold. It was a biting wind. Shim Iyul’s nose had turned bright red from the cold.
“Then go safely.”
Shim Iyul waved his hand without hesitation.
“Would Fox-nim like to come with me? My apartment is warm.”
“Should I… No. Go ahead.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Shaman.”
Shim Iyul called to Ban Hanseong, who had just taken one step.
“Yes?”
“Don’t you know about the rule of three?”
Ban Hanseong’s eyes widened as if realizing his mistake, and he bowed his head.
“Ah, that’s right. When offering something, the rule of three is standard. I apologize. Shall we go together? A warm apartment is waiting.”
“Should I then?”
Just last night Shim Iyul had thought he should give up on taking refuge in Ban Hanseong’s apartment, but his mind changed immediately as he went out the gate. He thought he’d have to take a taxi again today, but Ban Hanseong headed toward a vehicle parked in front of the gate. It was a Bentley.
“Get in.”
“Is this your car?”
“Yes.”
“It seems better than the Hunter’s car?”
“It is a bit more expensive than the Gaju’s car.”
He’d thought he was completely broke, but seeing that he drove an expensive car and ran a shop, Eun Seonmyeong’s financial situation didn’t seem too bad. However, it definitely seemed certain that he was poorer than Ban Hanseong, who was a Bongshin. Not a pauper, but probably somewhere in the middle, not quite rich either?
‘A Gaju poorer than his Bongshin.’
Somehow Eun Seonmyeong seemed pitiful. That’s probably why he only gave him a measly 50,000 won as allowance.
‘Should I bring him a wild ginseng root?’
If he brought a 500-year-old one, he’d become rich in an instant.
At first, he’d planned to just take refuge during the day and return to Eun Seonmyeong’s house before sunset. But as they played around, evening suddenly arrived. Since it had come to this, he thought they might as well eat dinner before going. So when Ban Hanseong asked what he wanted for dinner, he answered, “I’d like sushi today.” Ban Hanseong immediately completed the order.
Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. The delivery seemed to have arrived already. Ban Hanseong headed to the entrance. When he opened the door, it wasn’t the delivery person but Eun Seonmyeong.
“You came?”
About thirty minutes ago, Ban Hanseong had sent Eun Seonmyeong a message saying [Fox-nim is at my house. Gaju should come eat dinner too.] Eun Seonmyeong had left immediately upon receiving the message.
“How long have you been with the fox brat?”
“We’ve been together since morning. But Gaju, Fire Fox-nim is indeed Fire Fox-nim. She has a nice scent. Is this why humans fall under foxes’ spells?”
Ban Hanseong had simply spoken as he felt without much thought, but Eun Seonmyeong, who received it, was different. Eun Seonmyeong’s face hardened. Just then, Shim Iyul, who had been absorbed in a variety show and belatedly sensed their presence, turned around.
“Oh, what brings you here?”
“I came to catch a fox.”
Eun Seonmyeong answered curtly and strode toward Shim Iyul. Playing leisurely with Hanseong while saying you don’t know when you might go into heat? His teeth ground together.
“Huh?”
“Let’s go.”
“At least eat before we go. We ordered sushi…”
Eun Seonmyeong grabbed the back of Shim Iyul’s neck as he was turning his head and headed straight for the entrance. Shim Iyul, dragged along in a daze, shouted, “Hey! Let go right now! Won’t you let go?!” but Eun Seonmyeong didn’t release him. Dragged all the way to the parking lot like that, Shim Iyul got into the passenger seat with dissatisfaction.
“I said let’s at least eat first.”
“Don’t you know why I sent Seolju to Hanseong’s place? I sent him in case you went into heat and touched Seolju or Hanseong. But you trotted right over to Hanseong’s place? You must be dying to be killed by my hands?”
“I didn’t go into heat.”
Intimidated by Eun Seonmyeong’s angry momentum, Shim Iyul answered sulkily.
“From now on, you’re forbidden from going near Seolju and Hanseong when I’m not around.”
“Fine. Fine. I won’t go. I absolutely won’t go! And I’m absolutely not giving it to you!”
Wild ginseng, my ass. Even a single bellflower root would be too good for him.
“Not giving me what?”
“You don’t need to know. I thought you were pitiful, being a Gaju poorer than his Bongshin, so I was going to give it to you.”
“What exactly? And who’s poorer than who?”
“You, the Hunter. You’re much poorer than the shaman, right?”
“Who says I’m poor!”
“Fine. I understand everything. As long as you can scrape by, right?”
Once again, Eun Seonmyeong was so dumbfounded and absurd that he was left speechless. Scrape by? This extravagant fox treating him like a pauper. Eun Seonmyeong, who had accumulated considerable wealth over ten years, thought ‘I’ll show him the safe as soon as we get home,’ then frowned at his own ridiculous thought. Why would he try to show his safe just because of what some fox thinks of him?
He must have lost his mind for a moment.
***
“C-cold.”
At dawn, Shim Iyul woke up and came down to the floor wrapped in his blanket. He’d thought it was cold because of the draft, but even the floor was cold. Having experienced the ice-cold floor once, ‘boiler breakdown’ flashed through Shim Iyul’s mind.
“That poor Hunter! He should use a better boiler!”
Shivering and pulling the blanket tighter around himself, Shim Iyul couldn’t stand it anymore and got up. When he was in the mountains, he had no choice but to endure alone, but not now. There was a pretty decent alternative.
Shim Iyul crossed over to the main building. Quieting his footsteps, he entered Eun Seonmyeong’s room and it was warm. The boiler was running quite vigorously.
‘Sleeping warmly all by himself.’
As the homeowner, the Hunter should be responsible for the freeloading fox’s warmth. That’s his duty. With that mindset, Shim Iyul slipped into the blankets. Inside the blankets was hot with Eun Seonmyeong’s body heat. Whether he normally slept naked or not, he was only in his underwear, so their bare skin touched, but he didn’t want to leave the warm blankets just because he disliked it.
Ahh, now I feel like I can live.
The feeling of his frozen body melting away wasn’t bad. His body became languid and drowsiness rushed in. Shim Iyul yawned softly and closed his eyes. Shim Iyul fell asleep not long after. A moment later, Eun Seonmyeong, who had been sleeping on his back, turned on his side and pulled Shim Iyul into his arms.
