“Nabin-hyung!”
“…Somin.”
Even after being hurt by Tae Yishin, and even though he’d grown closer to Gong Min than before, Nabin’s daily life hadn’t really changed. The only difference was that now, whenever he was in front of Tae Yishin, he forced himself to stay perfectly composed, desperately hiding any flicker of emotion so as not to provoke him.
“Hyung, the mansion’s empty right now.”
Ever since Ryu Somin realized that Nabin was afraid of Tae Yishin and uneasy around the other Espers, he would sometimes let him know when no one else was around.
Because Nabin rarely left his room, the only way he could tell if the Espers were home was when they came looking for him. But when they went out, they never bothered to say anything, so he had no way of knowing if the house was occupied or not.
Most days he spent on edge, eyes flicking nervously to the closed door, waiting for the sudden knock that might come at any moment.
“So I was thinking—do you want to come work in the garden with me today?”
It was a quiet morning, and Somin seemed restless with nothing to do.
Though he’d come all the way to Nabin to whisper that no one was home, even his suggestion to go outside was hushed, as if he feared someone might overhear. Just like Nabin’s anxious glances at the door, Somin spoke in a voice carefully lowered.
“…The garden?”
It wasn’t that Nabin didn’t know the word. He simply couldn’t figure out what Somin meant by inviting him to garden, so he asked again.
“Yeah. Behind the mansion, I’ve been growing some plants. When the hyungs are here, I’m not really allowed to go there. And honestly, sometimes it’s too much for me to take care of it alone.”
Nabin had never once gone behind the mansion. At most, he had walked from his small room to the swing a few times. Even then, he kept his eyes fixed only on the swing, afraid of accidentally wandering anywhere else.
The view from that swing was so beautiful that he could sit there for hours without noticing time pass. There was never any reason to intrude on other spaces.
But when Somin murmured gloomily, his face seemed tinged with sadness. Nabin wasn’t exactly strong himself, but his weakness came later in life, not from birth like Somin’s.
Growing up, he’d endured his stepfather’s abuse and his mother’s neglect, often going hungry when he should’ve been eating and growing. His body had never gotten the chance to build strength.
When his father was alive, he’d been like any other child, catching colds during the changing seasons. But after his father’s death, his stepfather drove him into the ground paying off loan-shark debts, forcing him to mine Mana Stones in abandoned dungeons. His lungs had never been the same. From the time he was twenty, his body was worked raw every day.
The Center had saved him, and Healing Potions had repaired his accumulated injuries, but the problem was that even after moving into the mansion, he still had to keep drinking them.
The potions did heal external and internal wounds quickly, but used too often, they ate away at one’s vitality. After all, they’d been created for Espers, whose bodies naturally healed far faster than normal humans.
Taken occasionally, it might have been fine. But for someone like Nabin, who drank them daily like water, the side effects were inevitable. With three Espers demanding constant contact Guiding, it was no surprise his body was wasting away.
His body needed natural time to recover, yet he kept forcing it to heal. Bit by bit, his resilience was crumbling.
Often unable to eat properly, he had grown painfully thin, his face shadowed with sickness.
Somin, in contrast, had been fragile from the moment he was born. He had grown up among the Espers almost like their younger brother. Perhaps because of that, they all looked after him with great care.
Especially Tae Yishin—he wouldn’t have allowed Somin to dig, plant, or even tend the garden. If Somin so much as nicked a finger, Tae Yishin would sulk all day.
“This is our chance. We need to water the plants and spray nutrients before the others get back. Please come with me, hyung?”
At his earnest plea, Nabin stirred. Thankfully, his body was in better shape today than usual.
Han Jigang and Gong Min had been making efforts to keep their Guiding gentler, less draining. Even Tae Yishin, unless something was truly wrong, had stopped using Nabin as a target for his temper.
“…Alright, let’s go.”
If Tae Yishin had been around, he might have refused. But hearing he wasn’t, Nabin felt curious. A garden Somin cared for was bound to be as charming and delicate as he was.
At Nabin’s answer, Somin lit up like a puppy invited on a walk. Just seeing him smile so brightly spread warmth through Nabin’s chest.
“…Somin, wait.”
He stopped him before they left. In his hands was the blanket Han Jigang had once given him. Somin was dressed only in a thin long-sleeved shirt and loose shorts, his pale legs bare beneath. The sight worried Nabin.
The weather was warmer now, but Somin was so fragile that even a light chill could leave him sick. And if he did fall ill, it would be Nabin who bore Tae Yishin’s fury. Better to prevent it before it happened, so he draped the blanket over him.
“Thanks, Nabin-hyung. I’ve wanted to try this one for a while.”
Over time, Nabin’s room had slowly filled with little things—gifts that Han Jigang or Gong Min had slipped in for him. After Han Jigang had first turned the storage-like space into something livable, he often returned from missions with small presents, saying they reminded him of Nabin.
The blanket was one of Nabin’s favorites. Han Jigang had given it to him after the news of Kim Su-hyun’s accident left him hollow and broken.
Back then, Han Jigang had wrapped it around him, urging him to keep warm and swing to his heart’s content, instead of just staring at it. Though Nabin was still uneasy around him, moments like that had slowly chipped away at his fear.
Somin’s radiant smile as he stroked the blanket, clearly delighted, was enough to make Nabin smile too.
“Can I… keep this?”
But those words darkened his face. Seeing Somin blush as he pleaded, Nabin wanted to give it, yet the blanket wasn’t truly his.
No matter what gifts he had received from Han Jigang, Gong Min, or anyone else here, he had never considered them his own.
“…Sorry, Somin. Esper Han Jigang gave it to me.”
If it had really been his, he would have given it without hesitation. Somin liked it that much—there was no reason to refuse.
But perhaps Somin had assumed Nabin would give it up easily. His eyes widened, then his lips jutted in disappointment as he set the blanket back down.
“I’ll buy you the same one.”
Most of the money Nabin earned Guiding went toward his mother’s medical expenses, but he still had some left over. With his food, clothes, and lodging taken care of at the mansion, he had little to spend it on.
Normally, he might have used it up buying Healing Potions, but since the Espers provided those freely, his savings only grew.
The blanket looked expensive, but with what he’d saved, he could probably afford one.
“…But I want this one.”
Even with Nabin’s offer, Somin’s eyes stayed fixed on the blanket. He was the one who had reached out when Nabin was left to wither in despair after Kim Su-hyun’s death.
Seeing his face now, full of disappointment, left Nabin restless. The joy he’d shown about going to the garden had already faded away.
“…Here.”
At last, Nabin picked up the blanket again and draped it back over Somin’s shoulders. Han Jigang had been gentler with him lately—maybe he wouldn’t be angry that Nabin had given his gift away. Especially not when it was to Somin.
He was still afraid of him, but surely Han Jigang would understand.
“You’re really giving me this blanket?”
“…Yeah.”
Somin’s smile returned as if it had never faded, and he even rubbed his face against the blanket in delight. His genuine happiness made Nabin force down the unease swelling in his chest and smile back.
…Thank goodness. Even if he worried about what might come later, it was enough for now that Somin was happy.
