“This area—how far does it extend?”
Ian asked back with a blank expression.
“Over there. See that laundromat sign? From there to the cafe on the opposite side.”
Hong Seoyoon casually stretched out his hand and pointed, but Ian couldn’t see it. Right now he was crouched down, and his eyes weren’t as good as Hong Seoyoon’s. An Awakener’s eyes boasted vision on a completely different level from ordinary people. Still, he roughly understood the range.
“Why?”
“There was talk about redeveloping this neighborhood. If that happens, this house might have to be sold too, right? What crazy bastard would lay hands on an S-rank Awakener’s house, but just in case, he bought up everything.”
“He, he has that kind of money?”
“He does. Look, this is grade 1++ Korean beef?”
The price tag attached to the wrap covering the Korean beef looked truly luxurious.
“No, grade 1++ Korean beef is expensive, but it’s on a completely different level from a house!”
“When you’re an S-rank Awakener, several heads of grade 1++ beef is pocket change, you know?”
Hong Seoyoon tore open the packaging and placed the Korean beef on the grill.
“That’s right. Hyung has that much money.”
Choi Jaeheon had already picked up tongs and was flipping the rapidly cooking Korean beef.
“So we can buy lots of beef that our Ian likes.”
“I’m the one who bought it today!”
Hong Seoyoon protested, but Choi Jaeheon didn’t even pretend to listen. It was truly strange that they were the closest friends despite bickering like this every time. Even when Yoon Taegyeom joined in, this atmosphere didn’t particularly change.
Choi Jaeheon, who’d been diligently flipping the meat, immediately placed it on Ian’s plate as soon as it was perfectly cooked.
“Eat vegetables too.”
He didn’t forget his worried nagging in the midst of it all.
“Hyung, you have to eat meat by itself to taste the flavor.”
Ian stubbornly attacked only the meat like before. If you’re Korean, you should wrap meat in lettuce to eat it. Ian usually ate vegetables well, but when eating meat, he didn’t even glance at them. After finishing one pack of Korean beef like that and opening the second pack, Yoon Taegyeom arrived.
“Coming from work?”
Hong Seoyoon glanced at Yoon Taegyeom in his suit and asked.
“Yeah.”
“This is why I didn’t go to the Management Bureau. A slave to the company. Sit down. I’ll specially bestow meat upon you.”
“No thanks.”
Yoon Taegyeom sat across from Ian. That was because Choi Jaeheon and Hong Seoyoon were already sitting on either side of him.
“I met a crazy bastard today?”
“You?”
“No, you crazy bastard.”
At Yoon Taegyeom’s rebuttal, Hong Seoyoon laughed out loud.
“As crazy as me?”
“No, worse than you.”
“How so?”
“He looks fine on the outside, but there’s a monster sitting inside.”
“What does that mean?”
Ian, who’d been eavesdropping on the conversation, suddenly thought of Vermouth. And he quietly placed his hand near his heart. This mark—his guardian knight Vermouth had the exact same one.
What was its function? Simply put, a location tracker. However, they couldn’t know each other’s location at any time. To grasp each other’s positions, they had to use their abilities.
Thinking about that made his chest feel cold. Last night, Ian had woken up once while sleeping. It was because of a light vibration he suddenly felt from his chest. That resonance was telling him that Vermouth had used his power nearby. He had followed him all the way to Earth.
Gates were completely separated from Earth, so power generated inside couldn’t leak outside. If not for this premise, Ian might have been caught by Vermouth who’d followed right after him as soon as he returned to Earth.
‘I absolutely can’t use my power from now on.’
Even if he used it, he’d have to enter a Gate to do so.
‘After I went through so much to return.’
He’d die before being dragged back to Vermouth again. So he had to stay sharp from now on. For now, to hide his situation from his hyungs, he calmly picked up meat and put it in his mouth. The meat that had been melting smoothly until just moments ago had no particular taste.
‘Vermouth, that fucking bastard.’
While Ian was doing that, Yoon Taegyeom looked at Hong Seoyoon stretching his head toward him with disgust and cut off his words.
“Well, you don’t need to know right now.”
Yoon Taegyeom also wanted to talk about his suspicions regarding Vermouth, whom he’d met today. But he didn’t want to tell Ian this story. First, before Ian found out, they needed to get their stories straight and make a judgment. He wanted to protect Ian, whom they’d finally reunited with after 5 years, without fail.
Yoon Taegyeom picked up the meat placed on the grill and put it on Ian’s plate. Only then did he start eating the remaining meat.
“I already ate though.”
When Ian tried to give it back, Yoon Taegyeom refused.
“No, you like meat. Eat more. You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
It was simply that the baby fat had disappeared from his face, but everyone seemed to think otherwise. Ian, who was forced to eat even the vegetables Choi Jaeheon recommended, soon started nodding off.
“Go inside and sleep.”
“What about you, hyung?”
When he asked with flickering eyes, Choi Jaeheon answered.
“Hyung will eat a bit more and come in.”
It was a suspicious answer in many ways.
‘Seems like there’s something going on?’
Ian decided to give them space. His hyungs probably had a lot they wanted to talk about.
“Okay, then I’ll go in first.”
“Make sure to brush your teeth before sleeping.”
“Okaaay~!”
Ian yawned and went into the house. Only after confirming the door was completely closed did Yoon Taegyeom lightly create a barrier with water. Now sound wouldn’t leak outside unless something extreme happened.
“Shall we talk more about that crazy bastard?”
Hong Seoyoon picked up the bottle and poured soju into glasses. Yoon Taegyeom calmly explained about Vermouth to the two. The S-rank Awakener who’d newly appeared in the Republic of Korea—that suspicious man said he came from another world.
“Timing-wise, it overlaps with when Ian appeared.”
At those words, Hong Seoyoon’s eyes narrowed. He knew the fact that Ian had to have physical contact to use his abilities. Because of that, Vermouth, who claimed to have come from another world, didn’t look favorable to him.
“Don’t tell me that bastard?”
At the words that slipped out unconsciously, Choi Jaeheon and Yoon Taegyeom’s gazes focused on Hong Seoyoon.
“Don’t tell me, what?”
“No, Ian was using his ability differently than before.”
“Did he awaken?”
“But there was a condition attached to using the ability.”
Hong Seoyoon downed the soju poured into his water glass in one shot at that point. He could picture what was about to happen in his head, but he had no intention of running away.
“What is it?”
“Physical contact.”
At those words, Choi Jaeheon’s expression twisted.
“Did Ian say it first?”
At Choi Jaeheon’s following question, Hong Seoyoon rolled his eyes unnecessarily.
“He did say it.”
He could keep his mouth shut here, but Hong Seoyoon wasn’t that kind of person to begin with. Like an embodiment of honesty, he ended up telling them everything that had happened when he first met Ian.
Yoon Taegyeom remained calm since it was a story he already knew, but Choi Jaeheon couldn’t. The barrier made of water began to ripple due to Choi Jaeheon’s power.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
Choi Jaeheon glared at Hong Seoyoon coldly.
“If you’re going to do that, go kill him at the back mountain over there. If you kill him there, it’s easy to bury him too.”
Hong Seoyoon ground his teeth while looking at Yoon Taegyeom kindly making suggestions, then prostrated himself flat.
“It wasn’t intentional!”
Actually, Ian was the one who kissed first.
“Seoyoon-ah.”
“Hey, why are you calling me without the surname so scary-like?”
“My younger brother is still young.”
“I know, I know. He’s a baby!”
“He probably doesn’t know anything yet.”
No. Ian was already well-versed in that field. It was because he’d had opportunities to access audiovisual materials in the other world. But these people didn’t know that right now.
“So the adult needs to behave properly.”
“…I will behave.”
Hong Seoyoon kneeled in a sullen state.
“This won’t happen again, right?”
To Choi Jaeheon’s confirmation, Yoon Taegyeom added his words.
“It shouldn’t.”
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t!”
“Good. Let’s only talk about this much on this matter. Then the next thing.”
“That bastard called Vermouth.”
Hong Seoyoon raised his hand high.
“I think that bastard and Ian absolutely shouldn’t meet!”
“For once, I agree with his opinion.”
For the first time in a while, Yoon Taegyeom and Hong Seoyoon’s opinions aligned perfectly.
“Me too.”
For that reason, after discussion, the three decided to continue hiding Ian’s existence. Judging by how Vermouth was saying he wanted to become famous right now, it seemed he also couldn’t find Ian on his own. So if they were careful from now on, there would be no occasion for the two to meet.
“I’ll keep a good eye on Vermouth’s side.”
Yoon Taegyeom said like making a pledge while pushing up his glasses with his finger.
“I’ll trust and leave it to you.”
When Choi Jaeheon said so, Yoon Taegyeom’s nose rose high.
yayyyyyy Ian’s got trustworthy hyungs