“Director, we…”
Before he could finish speaking, the gate opened with the sound of the bell ringing.
After clearing his throat several times, Kang Cheol-hyeon whipped around.
“Hey, Seo Hae-il.”
“Yes?”
“Even if you completely go under the Director, you can’t forget this hyung. I’m your only hyung, okay? You know that, right?”
“Yeeees… Of course, hyung. Where would I even go? I’m not going anywhere. Haha, ha…”
What’s with that sudden appeal? When did he stop treating me harshly?
Though flustered and about to waver, Hae-il pretended nothing was wrong as he finished speaking. He also subtly included his inner wish not to be sent under Moon Woo-shin.
When he crossed the gate dragging his worn suitcase, a wide garden was revealed first. Neatly trimmed trees stood in a row along the fence above the soft-looking lawn, and there was even a small pond in one corner.
Most of all, even though the sun had already set and it was quite dark, lights were turned on so this entire environment could be seen well. It was an exterior that showed signs of admirable maintenance.
Following the path between the lawn, he finally reached the entrance. Hae-il, who roughly set up his suitcase next to the shoes, walked down the long hallway and entered the living room with Kang Cheol-hyeon.
A leather sofa placed in front of a wide panoramic window caught his eye at once. Moon Woo-shin sat there, looking intently at a tablet.
“Director, hello!”
“…llo.”
Matching Kang Cheol-hyeon’s loud greeting voice, Hae-il roughly followed only the ending and bobbed his head.
Only then did Moon Woo-shin raise his head and stare intently at Hae-il.
‘What? Why?’
When he met his gaze without avoiding it, soon his eyes turned to the side.
“Good work, you can go.”
“Yes! …But, Director. Why did you only call Seo Hae-il… What are you going to use him for…”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Ah, yes. Then I’ll be going.”
Kang Cheol-hyeon, who bowed again, gestured to Hae-il with his eyes and walked forlornly down the hallway.
Hae-il continued staring at his retreating figure to confirm Kang Cheol-hyeon had completely left the house. Finally, when the front door closed completely and he turned his head back around. Hae-il flinched in surprise.
Moon Woo-shin had come right up to him before he knew it.
“…What?”
“The room is on the second floor. Bring your luggage and follow me.”
“…I’m living here?”
“What makes you think I’d leave you outside? When you threatened me with your own mouth.”
Then shouldn’t leaving me outside be even more correct? He looked at him with absurd eyes, but he seemed to have no intention of reconsidering.
Hae-il trudged toward the suitcase he’d left at the entrance. The entire time he dawdled and walked slowly carrying the suitcase, Moon Woo-shin’s gaze didn’t leave him.
It clearly looked like a very spacious house, but in any case, it was Moon Woo-shin’s space. Like now, every day and every hour he’d be under his gaze.
Even if Moon Woo-shin wasn’t home, how would he know if cameras or recorders were hidden everywhere?
His spy life going forward seemed like it would become very tiring.
But thinking about it the other way…
‘It’ll be easier to extract information about Moon Woo-shin too.’
No matter how tired, it can’t be worse than the past year.
Hae-il steeled his heart.
However, his steeled heart became anxious again in less than 5 minutes.
“…I really use this room?”
“I feel like I’m saying things twice when I say them once.”
Moon Woo-shin, leaning crookedly against the wall, wiggled his finger with his arms crossed. It was an appearance that showed his displeasure plainly.
Hae-il looked back and forth once more between the room he’d offered and the room placed right in front of it.
“No, do I really have to use a room this close to yours, senior?”
If it was like this, it would clearly not be easy to sneak in and out at night. If things went well, it seemed like even sounds made inside the room could all be heard. And since he didn’t know when he might suddenly barge into the room, it was obvious he’d always be anxious.
Before he could even rack his brain for how to refuse, Moon Woo-shin smiled with narrowed eyes.
“Want to sleep in the garden?”
That was saying if he said one more word, he’d really make him sleep in the garden. Putting aside the cold being secondary, the bigger problem was that it was in a position clearly visible looking down from Moon Woo-shin’s room.
“No, thank you.”
Hae-il quickly pushed the suitcase into the room.
“Then rest.”
He also brought his body into the room. The moment he tried to close the door, if only Moon Woo-shin hadn’t grabbed that door with his hand, it would have been comfortable for a moment.
“Leave the door open.”
“…Why?”
“Where does a spy have privacy, Hae-il? If you don’t want to see the door torn off, live with it open.”
…Did he really install CCTV all over the house? Looking at him acting like this, it was a very valid suspicion.
When Hae-il slowly took his hand off the doorknob, Moon Woo-shin opened the door he was holding wide. The inside was clearly visible from Moon Woo-shin’s room all the way to this room’s bed.
‘So strict, really.’
He expected it, but it wasn’t easy from the first day.
Should he consider it fortunate that he at least made a brief location and status report today? As expected, reports should be made thoroughly whenever the opportunity comes, without delay. The lessons learned from rolling around directly for the past year were accurate today too.
***
Thanks to being mentally very tired, Hae-il slept deeply enough to lightly ignore the door being open.
No matter how deep the sleep, reacting sensitively to changes in the surroundings was a kind of occupational disease as an Esper. Since he never knew when a Gate issue might occur, being constantly alert had become a habit, and it intensified while living as a spy for the past year.
The moment he felt even the slightest presence, Hae-il’s eyes popped open and he flinched in surprise.
Early dawn before the sun even rose, Moon Woo-shin buried in darkness was leaning against the doorway looking down at Hae-il.
“…What are you doing there?”
“Get up. We’re leaving in 30 minutes.”
Unlike Hae-il’s voice thick with sleep, Moon Woo-shin seemed to have been up for a while, looking no different than usual.
He thought he’d leave right away since he was unilaterally notifying him as if busy, but he showed no sign of moving and just stood there. With his gaze fixed on Hae-il.
When he cautiously raised his body while watching, he gestured outside with his head.
“The bathroom’s this way.”
Since he washed up last night before sleeping, he obviously knew where the bathroom was. Of course, Moon Woo-shin also knew that fact. Because he’d been watching Hae-il go back and forth yesterday.
The meaning of pointing out a fact both knew well was to hurry him up.
Hae-il, who swallowed a sigh, slowly pushed off the blanket completely and placed his feet on the floor. As he slowly passed in front of Moon Woo-shin while glancing at him, he showed no sign of moving from that spot or taking his eyes off him.
Even until the moment he completely left the room and entered the bathroom, he clearly felt the gaze stabbing into his back. Hae-il, who deliberately slowly pushed the bathroom door pretending nothing was wrong, only let out a deep sigh after the door closed tightly.
‘I feel like I’ll get indigestion as soon as I open my eyes.’
Thanks to having a very sturdy body as an Esper, he’d never had indigestion, but he was experiencing very precisely right now what that feeling was like.
He had a premonition that it would be a formidable day from the start.
And the first day spent by Moon Woo-shin’s side was more… shitty than expected.
“…I’m driving too?”
“Should I do it then?”
Hae-il, who inadvertently caught the car keys Moon Woo-shin threw, opened the driver’s seat door with a stiff posture.
That was because Hae-il was a beginner driver.
Not only was his body so healthy that he generally had strength to spare as an Esper, but the only times he traveled long distances were when moving as a group for Gate support matters, so driving happened maybe once a year at most. His financial situation wasn’t generous either, so there was no reason to buy a car.
He did grab the steering wheel, but he felt very uneasy. The accelerator was on the left… no, it was on the right. He felt like breaking into a cold sweat, but Moon Woo-shin urged from behind.
“Aren’t you starting?”
“I will, senior, actually…”
“Director.”
“Yes?”
“Are you going to call me that in front of other bastards too? Openly saying we knew each other originally, why.”
