“Are you sure you’re not spending too much time holed up at home?”
“…Hm?”
“People need sunlight to live. What if you get sick like this? If you fall ill, I’ll be so upset I’ll get sick too.”
“Well, we can’t have that.”
Kim Sibaek grew serious. How many times had Tae Woon collapsed in front of him already? The kid was already delicate—if he actually got sick, it would be a serious problem.
Even Biendeoé, who had been engrossed in a mobile game, turned her head.
[Death and Beauty asks when you last saw any sunlight.]
Kim Sibaek looked sheepish. Neither of them was wrong, but he had his reasons. Tae Woon’s absurdly spacious home even had a full home gym, so there wasn’t much reason to go outside just to work out.
As a result, his daily routine had become a monotonous cycle of eating, exercising, and studying via TV.
…Maybe studying through the TV is the real issue here.
He told himself he was keeping up with the rapidly changing times, but from the outside, he probably looked like a textbook recluse. He had actually learned that term from a documentary he watched that very morning.
And not that I need to explain this to Woonie, but I don’t really want to get too entangled with people on a planet that I’m going to leave anyway.
Still, it was true—he’d been staying indoors far too much.
“You’re right.”
“Right? So with that in mind, how about we go on a dat—”
“I think I’ll head to Seoul tomorrow.”
“……”
“What were you about to say?”
“I was going to say I want to go to Seoul with you.”
“Oh, look at that—we’re totally in sync.”
Grinning, Kim Sibaek bumped his clenched fist lightly against Tae Woon’s hand.
“But Seoul’s still locked down because of the monsters. Without a permit, you can’t enter. Getting one issued means you probably can’t go tomorrow. What about the day after?”
“No, I’m not trying to go into the city itself—just nearby. The destruction zone the system showed me was in Seoul, so I figured checking out the area around it might be worthwhile.”
“Great. Then after breakfast tomorrow, I’ll guide y—”
“You’ve got work.”
Kim Sibaek cut him off firmly before he could finish. Tae Woon’s expression drooped.
“It’s dangerous. How can I let you go alone?”
“You think I’m the one who’ll be in danger?”
Kim Sibaek chuckled involuntarily. Sure, his powers weren’t fully restored yet—but the idea of him being in danger was laughable.
As expected, Tae Woon shook his head.
“No, I mean I would be in danger without you… I’d be so anxious from missing you that I wouldn’t be able to focus during meetings. I’d have trouble chewing my food, end up bloated all day from indigestion, and I’d pace around so much I’d get muscle cramps in my calves. Then, even after you came back, I’d be so wiped out I couldn’t move, and then you’d have to give me a massage, right?”
“And here I thought you said you were all grown up.”
“I may have grown up physically, but I’ll always be a baby when I’m with you—you know that.”
Tae Woon pouted coyly, his lips sticking out like a little duck’s bill. It was so cute it made Kim Sibaek want to pinch them. It was Tae Woon’s ultimate weapon—almost guaranteed to win Kim Sibaek over 120 percent of the time. But not always.
“Woonie, I really admire how seriously you take your job. Running a company like this at your age—it’s genuinely impressive.”
Kim Sibaek had a soft spot for him, but there were times when even Tae Woon’s charm didn’t work. Like with skipping school—which, in a broader sense, wasn’t so different from skipping work.
Eventually, Tae Woon raised both hands in surrender.
“Fine. But I’m going to text you every time I miss you, so you have to reply right away. If you don’t, I’ll get sulky.”
[Death and Beauty complains that his damn texts come every second.]
Even Biendeoé finally snapped at the non-stop buzzing. Unfortunately, Kim Sibaek still hadn’t figured out how to set his phone to silent.
Feeling the constant vibrations from his phone, he descended into the subway. The 7777 Guild’s headquarters was close to the entrance, so getting this far hadn’t been a hassle.
The real problem was the subway itself.
“…Huh. They don’t hand out subway maps anymore?”
From what he vaguely remembered, there used to be printed maps freely available at every station, but he couldn’t find one anywhere now. He tilted his head around trying to read the massive route display, and Biendeoé chimed in again.
[Death and Beauty scolds you for not using the phone that’s literally made for this.]
“Oh, right.”
Sheepishly, Kim Sibaek took out his phone. Woonie had even installed a subway app for him yesterday… What was it called again?
The truth was, Kim Sibaek had always been bad with maps. Even back in Mak Slechth, whenever a long-distance trip came up, his subordinates would handle everything—from checking the map to all the logistical details.
Fumbling through the eight subway lines, he eventually gave up and pulled a printed map of Daejeon from his pocket.
[Death and Beauty finally steps in.]
With a flutter of her wings, Biendeoé descended and poked at his hand just as he reached for the paper map, nudging it back into his pocket. Then she tapped his phone screen with her foot, launching the map app.
“Whoa. How did you even know how to do that?”
[Death and Beauty shrugs and tells you to enter your destination.]
At last, the layout began to make sense. Kim Sibaek carefully checked the route on his phone, then used the card Tae Woon had lent him to pass through the ticket gate. He had only visited Daejeon a few times back during his days as a competitor, so the area felt unfamiliar.
…Actually, it’s not just Daejeon. Everything feels unfamiliar now.
He gave a dry smile and stepped into the arriving subway train. Once seated, he finally had a moment to breathe—and used it to check Tae Woon’s messages. The chat window, adorned with Tae Woon’s face as the background, lit up.
[Hyung]
[(Chick emoji waving)]
[I just got to the office now~]
[(Selfie with the office view through the window)]
[It’s not as grand as the Han River, but the Gapcheon view is still nice, right? (๑´ლ`๑)ﾌﾌ♡]
[(Selfie with a trophy in the background)]
[I even got a business award once]
[This one’s from last year]
[(Selfie with a sculpture on a console)]
[This sculpture’s made from the bones of an S-rank monster we hunted like… 9 or 10 years ago]
[Well, not me—my guild members did]
[I cheered them on really hard though]
[(Squirrel emoji shaking pom-poms)]
[Can’t remember the name of the monster]
[Anyway, we carved this from its bones]
[It was kind of a waste of money though]
[(Selfie with a PC in the background)]
[This is the computer I use at work (୨୧ ❛ᴗ❛)✧]
How many selfies does he send in one go? Still, Kim Sibaek saved them all without hesitation. He was just too cute.
He thought about sending one back, so he opened the camera app—then paused in confusion.
How do you even take a selfie? Woonie just opened this screen and did it…
He hadn’t flipped the phone like an old clamshell model, but Sibaek had no idea how it worked. Biendeoé, for her part, had zero interest in cameras and couldn’t help either.
Meanwhile, on the subway, there’s always someone who can’t resist sneaking a glance at other people’s phones. The man sitting next to Kim Sibaek was one of those people. Half-distracted and yawning, he casually peeked over—and suddenly jolted awake.
Tae Woon? Isn’t that the Tae Woon from Seven? But… what’s with these texts?
The selfies taken in an office, the background photo in the chat—everything unmistakably pointed to Tae Woon. But the puffy cheeks, the V-signs, and that sugary tone? The contrast was surreal.
Was he always like this…? Isn’t he supposed to be a total maniac? People say he’s insane.
At first, he wondered if it was someone who just looked like him. But that ominous scar along the left side of his face—impossible to imitate—and the sculpture in the background made it clear. It was Tae Woon. That sculpture had been carved from the bones of an S-rank monster called Myeongsa, which Tae Woon had hunted himself near Mount Kumgang at the North Korean government’s request.
The man had seen that very sculpture on the news. It was the centerpiece of a widely reported story—how, after repeated failed raids, the North Korean government had officially requested Tae Woon, by name, to take care of the beast.
So why was Tae Woon acting all sweet and cutesy with this guy…? The man honestly couldn’t fathom it. Not at all.
Just as his brain was beginning to short-circuit from the dissonance, Kim Sibaek turned his head. As if he had known all along that someone had been watching, his piercing eyes locked directly onto the man.
