# Chapter 27
Kyun Jiho came to this place by chance or perhaps by fate.
“Huh? What’s that?”
It started with a black crack that appeared in the sky while he was on a date with his recently new girlfriend.
His girlfriend was puzzled when Jiho suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.
“What’s wrong? Is there something in the sky?”
“The sky is torn.”
“The sky? It just looks blue to me. The weather is really nice today. Maybe even the sky is helping us have a good date.”
The strange thing was that nobody, including his girlfriend, could see that weird crack.
The best strategy when seeing something strange was to avoid it.
“Ah, should we go eat somewhere else? I think there will be too long of a wait at the place we’re going.”
“I’m not hungry. We can go to a cafe.”
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
Jiho left the area with his girlfriend without hesitation, and they narrowly avoided being caught in an explosion. From a distance, they watched people fleeing amid screams after the loud blast.
“Oh my goodness. What happened?”
“I don’t know. You must be scared. I’ll take you home.”
“What are you saying? Our date is just beginning. We’re going to the cafe.”
Despite his strong-hearted girlfriend’s complaints that they couldn’t end their first date like this, they entered a cafe a block away.
Even sitting in the cafe, Jiho was bothered by the black crack that only he could see and the explosion. Despite needing to pay attention to his girlfriend, he kept looking around.
“Jiho, you’re really distracted today.”
“Ah, sorry. I’m just concerned about that explosion earlier.”
“It has nothing to do with us. You’re such a coward, Jiho.”
His girlfriend, saying he was a coward while cutely patting his head, left her seat saying one dessert wasn’t enough. Despite saying she wasn’t hungry, she seemed enthusiastic about having a separate stomach for desserts.
Just then, Jiho’s phone rang, and when he checked, he saw several missed calls from a girlfriend he’d been seeing for over a year.
Jiho’s track record with women was well-known. The women who dated him continued their relationships after understanding this fact. Jiho always gave them a choice.
Jiho, who rarely checked his phone during meetings with others, would lose interest even with this kind of contact unless it was truly urgent. His older girlfriend, with whom he’d been in the longest relationship and who had a cool attitude, had been quite compatible with him. It was strange that such a person would suddenly cross the line.
Jiho was bothered by breaking his usual rule, but he got up from his seat, wanting to take the call before his new girlfriend returned.
“Noona, what’s going on…”
“Jiho, I love you!”
Jiho stopped in his tracks at the sudden declaration of love. Saying “I love you” was ordinary for Jiho. It was like a lubricant that made relationships pleasant, so there was nothing special about it.
However, after the confession that sounded like a scream, there was commotion in the background. The sounds of screaming and something breaking were alarming.
“Where are you now?”
“Sob, suddenly there was an explosion and some crazy person… Jiho, I love you.”
“I know. I know, so where are you, Noona?”
“Here, at the restaurant where I work part-time, it’s at…”
“I know where it is. It seems dangerous, so hide. I’ll come right away.”
“No, don’t come. Right now some crazy guy is destroying everything… Kyaaa! D-don’t come!”
Jiho ran out as soon as he heard the sound of the phone dropping.
Jiho had a good memory. That’s why he could give each of his many girlfriends the necessary amount of affection and attention.
With the thought that he needed to go to his girlfriend who was in immediate danger, he opened the cafe door and ran outside. As he took a step, his surroundings brightened, and he found himself inside a restaurant where everything was being smashed.
He had clearly run outside, yet he had arrived at the restaurant he was trying to get to.
In this sudden situation, without time to be surprised, he spotted his girlfriend, Lee Heejin, hiding behind a table stuck in the floor.
“Noona.”
“Kyaaak! Help me!”
Heejin screamed when Jiho grabbed her as she was trembling and holding her broken phone.
“Noona, it’s me.”
“H-how? How did you get in here? The doors are all broken, no one can enter.”
Jiho looked back in the direction from which he had just entered through the door, puzzled by Heejin’s bewildered words despite her fear.
There was no door where there should have been one.
“Right. How did I get here?”
“N-never mind that, quickly, hide. A madman is throwing everything around.”
Looking over the table at Heejin’s words, Jiho saw a man violently smashing the wall in one corner.
Seeing his abnormally enlarged upper body and bulging muscles, Jiho’s first thought was that a Hulk without the green color looked indecent.
“Damn it! Die all of you!”
With one punch from him, the wall was punctured, clearly revealing the view of a high-rise building. He needed to escape with Heejin before this Korean Hulk with anger management issues came their way. However, the man who had been yelling wildly came running mercilessly toward them, his muscles not limited to just his upper body.
“J-Jiho!”
Jiho embraced Heejin and took a step.
Not knowing if the necessary condition was a door, a wall, or movement, he leaned forward thinking of the place he wanted to go. Heejin held onto Jiho tightly, prepared for the final moment.
Plop.
When they threw themselves forward, they landed on a soft wool rug.
Despite her cool appearance and behavior, Heejin had filled her home with soft and cute things everywhere.
“Hic, sob.”
“Noona, it’s okay. Open your eyes.”
“Hic…? Huh? My house?”
“Yes, it’s your house.”
Heejin was confused, not understanding what had happened.
In contrast, Jiho quickly checked his phone. It was to verify if his other girlfriends were safe, just as Heejin had been in danger. Fortunately, most responded quickly, happy that Jiho had contacted them first, but a few didn’t answer.
Jiho took another step. Just like before, his view changed simply by thinking about where he wanted to go.
Luckily, one was taking a nap, so he quietly withdrew, and another was sitting down with a sprained ankle from the commotion.
After several attempts, Jiho quickly grasped the ability that had suddenly appeared in him.
It was enough to imagine the place he wanted to go and move. When he thought of a person, he arrived somewhere close to them.
Even though he didn’t know why this ability had suddenly appeared, he thought that keeping promises would be easier even if his number of girlfriends increased.
Scrolling through his list of girlfriends, Jiho’s hand stopped at the only male name in his potential dating list.
He rubbed the name that had been changed to “Seo Jaeha Sunbae-nim” because he kept confusing senior Jaeha with senior Jeha.
“Sunbae Seo Jaeha…”
He was quite drawn to the skill of winning someone over with food and then neglecting them. Although Jiho had tried all sorts of good meat, the side dishes that Jaeha had made were different in flavor from the start. Even though he had tried various aged pork, he had never tasted meat this tender. It was similar to the meat that occasionally appeared as a special meal in school cafeterias, but with a more homely taste.
Being reminded of Jaeha at every meal, if he had pursued him, he would have fallen right away.
If he didn’t have so many girlfriends, he would have contacted him first with his considerable skill. As a result, his level of interest in Jaeha had become quite high.
“Should I check on him?”
Since he was already checking, he decided to contact his few potential dates as well. Fortunately, all responded immediately, but only Jaeha, whom he contacted last, gave no answer.
Perhaps Jaeha was also caught up in these explosions.
“That would be a bit unpleasant.”
There was no reason for Jiho to protect or take care of someone he was just potentially dating. Rather, he should be looking after his girlfriends who had become his people. But he had already checked on all of them, and Jiho raised his tired body, particularly concerned about Jaeha who uniquely hadn’t responded.
Before moving while thinking of the person rather than the place, he quickly checked his appearance in the mirror.
Thinking that it would be better to look natural rather than too styled, he slightly messed up his hair, but then fixed it halfway, wondering if he should show that he had put in a little effort. Since it was his first time meeting a man, he spent more time in front of the mirror. Even so, it was a short time since Jiho was skilled at grooming himself.
It was fascinating how goodwill came before gender.
Women were soft and gentle. Sometimes they were vibrant, but each had their own charm. He hated being owned and tied down, but he enjoyed dating.
Fortunately, Kyun Jiho’s appearance worked for many, and now even a senior of the same sex was being drawn in.
Since men had always been the type to be jealous and wary of him, Jiho felt this presence that gave him excitement as something new.
Since new things were enjoyable, Jiho took a step only after changing even his jacket.
The place he arrived at was an apartment complex with a cool breeze blowing. However, it was strange that there was a smell of blood mixed in that breeze.
“It’s going to explode, get away!”
“Jaeha!”
With urgent voices came the sound of an explosion. Jiho caught Jaeha, who was running while looking back instead of forward and tumbling forward, and moved to the rooftop he could see without hesitation.
‘I don’t even need to take a step.’
He arrived at the desired place just by thinking about it.
Jaeha’s body in his arms was damp with sweat.
At any other time, he would have skillfully avoided such a situation even with a girlfriend, but strangely he wanted to cling more. Despite his body sagging due to fatigue accumulating with each movement, even that was a pleasant drowsiness.
“You’re really cute, Sunbae Jaeha.”
“Y-you, who are you? Don’t tell me you moved me?”
Jaeha, who was quick to assess the situation despite being bewildered, seemed cute. Instead of answering, Jiho slightly rubbed the tip of his nose against Jaeha’s wet nape and embraced him deeply.
“Ugh, hey. That’s creepy, get off.”
“Haah, Sunbae. I’m doing this because I’m too tired, just for a moment please.”
Jiho strangely wanted to cling to Jaeha more. He should have been disgusted by touching a sweaty nape mixed with sand, but oddly he wanted to touch it. He wanted to touch even a little bit of bare skin, so he poked with his nose, and even the flinching response was cute.
“Ugh, stop poking me.”
“Sunbae, you’re too sexy.”
“The sexy one is your mind, you crazy person!”
The more Jaeha struggled, the more desperately Jiho embraced him.
Each time they moved, his neck, cheek, ear, wrist, hand brushed against Jaeha. With each touch, Jiho’s body, which had felt as heavy as if carrying a rock, became a little lighter.
Is this the true comfort one feels when being with someone they like?
Jiho started to contemplate emotions anew and embraced Jaeha even more enthusiastically.
“Ah, come on! Let go!”
The rooftop door opened with a loud noise at Jaeha’s irritation that was close to screaming.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
