“Are you sure you didn’t mishear?”
“No. Maybe the Center Director took some kind of extreme measure.”
“No way. I stopped by the Center Director’s office earlier, and he looked completely out of it.”
In the end, all kinds of conspiracy theories began circulating around the Center. That Rion and Yu-won didn’t get along was something everyone at the Center already knew.
And yet, out of nowhere, they were going to live together. It was as sudden and shocking as a bolt from the blue.
“Did something happen inside the Gate? Seo-ha, you don’t know anything?”
“I don’t really know either. They seemed… better than usual, I guess.”
Because all the colleagues who had entered the S-rank Gate together were either still inside a Gate or out on external assignments, Seo-ha was the only one left at the Center, taking the full brunt of everyone’s questions.
To be precise, Hyeon-seo was also still at the Center, but since she was their senior—and had a strict, no-nonsense personality—no one dared to pester her for details. Instead, most people went after the more approachable Seo-ha.
“They didn’t fight, did they?”
“At first, it seemed like they weren’t even talking. But later on… um, after the day they stood night watch together, things seemed to get better. From then on, Yu-won started being a bit warmer toward other people too.”
“You don’t know what happened that night?”
“Well… originally, Lee Joo-chan was supposed to stand night watch with Yu-won that day, but that idiot fell asleep.”
Seo-ha spoke with an exasperated expression. The Espers and Guides listening all nodded in unison.
“So? Then what?”
“I don’t really know either. Apparently, he woke up and saw Yu-won and Rion sunbae standing there together. So Joo-chan ended up pulling an extra night watch shift, and that’s about it…”
“What the hell, that’s boring.”
“So that’s when they got close?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘close.’ They just didn’t fight after that. I don’t know what they talked about, but the atmosphere definitely softened a little. But…”
“But?”
No one was surprised to hear they were going to live together, but for Seo-ha, it went beyond shock—it left her feeling oddly uneasy. And it wasn’t just because she’d seen them fight so often.
“When Rion sunbae was in the hospital…”
“The hospital? I heard Yu-won was discharged before Rion even woke up.”
“Yeah. That’s true, but… honestly, it’s something you’d worry about, right? Everyone at the Center did. After sunbae regained consciousness, people went to check on his condition several times… Everyone was gathered, just worrying about Rion sunbae.”
“Yeah, everyone did. We wanted to visit him too.”
“But Yu-won didn’t. Even though they were in the same hospital, he didn’t go see him, didn’t really seem worried… It just felt off.”
Seo-ha said this as she recalled Yu-won at the hospital. He’d seemed gentler than usual inside the Gate, so she thought they might have grown closer, but instead, he hadn’t even asked after Rion, hadn’t visited, and clearly didn’t want to talk about him.
“Maybe you’re just imagining things? Yu-won’s always kind of indifferent.”
“Still, you can tell the difference.”
“Isn’t it just because you like Rion so much that it looked that way? I mean, you and Joo-chan practically stick to him like glue. He took you two along when you were rookies.”
“No, really. That’s not it…”
Seo-ha made an aggrieved face. It was true she liked Rion more than most, but she wasn’t the only one who thought Yu-won’s behavior was excessive.
“Other sunbaes said the same thing. They said it was too much. He’s his matching Guide, and they went through an S-rank Gate together—wasn’t that heartless?”
“This is driving me crazy. I want to ask someone else too, but there’s no one around.”
“Ask once everyone gets back. The team that went to the Goyang side has been inside for five days now, right? They should be out soon.”
“Hey, speak of the devil. I just got a message from someone who went in there. Looks like they’re out.”
One of the Guides checked the message that had just come in. Seo-ha tried to recall who had entered that Gate.
“Su-jin sunbae and Min-ho sunbae went, right? Oh—and didn’t Jin-ha oppa go too?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Come to think of it, Jin-ha and Rion are super close, aren’t they? He’s going to be shocked when he hears this.”
“Don’t you think they told Jin-ha oppa already?”
“Maybe? Either way, we’ll find out once he’s back. I’m curious about his reaction. If they came out today, he probably won’t be back at the Center until tomorrow.”
“Ah, it’s time for my guiding session. I’m heading out. If you hear any new gossip later, let me know.”
“I’ve got a reservation too. Let’s talk later.”
With nothing but questions left behind, the Espers and Guides who had gathered dispersed to attend to their own work. Still, it was obvious that for at least the next week, whenever people gathered, the conversation would inevitably circle back to those two.
“I seriously don’t get what they’re thinking. They keep fighting, then making up a little, and now suddenly they’re living together.”
As she stood up last, Seo-ha worried about their cohabitation. She didn’t like Yu-won’s coldness, but more than that, she was worried about Rion’s fiery temper.
“It’d be a miracle if the house doesn’t collapse.”
Seo-ha muttered softly. Being thrust into the spotlight because of the two of them turning the Center upside down must’ve been annoying in many ways, but her concern outweighed everything else.
“He didn’t even come to the Center today. What if they’re out somewhere fighting again?”
And yet, the two people who were receiving all of Seo-ha’s concern were spending a far more peaceful day than expected.
***
“This room’s bigger than that one. Should I just move your stuff here? This used to be a guest room-slash-storage space.”
“No, no. This room’s about the same size as the dorm anyway. And I actually like having the bigger room for my home gym.”
The two of them had taken the day off together and were organizing the apartment. Rion didn’t have much luggage to begin with, so all they really needed was to prepare a space for his things.
“I’ve thought this before, but your place is really nice.”
“I wanted to move somewhere more spacious.”
“Jin-ha lives here too. You’ve never run into him? Ah—he’s in Building B, and you’re in Building A, so maybe you wouldn’t.”
“……I didn’t know that. Then I’ll just clear out some unused things.”
Having learned something he’d rather not have known, Yu-won thought he should probably avoid the B building altogether as he tidied away items he didn’t use.
“You won’t be here long, but it’d still be nice to have at least a dresser or a bed.”
“Yeah, that’d probably be good. Space-wise… this should be fine. It’s not like we’re bringing in anything huge.”
Clueless to Yu-won’s inner thoughts, Rion sized up the room.
“You’ll be here until winter, so maybe something a bit bigger… No. I can just set aside space for outerwear, right?”
Rion had proposed three months of living together to Yu-won—from the time the weather began to turn chilly until full winter arrived.
“No matter what happens, you’re not leaving before then. You’re staying here. Got it?”
Rion had said it with a serious expression. Technically, this was Yu-won’s own place, so there was no question of him “leaving,” but he didn’t bother correcting him.
“I already applied to move out of the dormitory, and I told the Center Director not to take me back no matter what happens for three months. Somehow, it’ll work out.”
Even as he said it, he didn’t look particularly confident, but he did seem determined in his own way. Rion insisted that if they forced themselves to stay together, they might at least learn a little more about each other, maybe even come to understand one another—and he was diligently preparing for those three months.
“What else do we need besides furniture?”
“We already have most things, so let’s just add stuff as we think of it.”
“Shouldn’t we set some kind of house rules?”
While wandering around the apartment, Rion suddenly turned to Yu-won and said that. Living together had been his idea, but even he knew all too well how badly their personalities clashed.
It wasn’t just that they didn’t get along—every conversation turned into a fight. There was no reason to believe their daily routines would magically align.
If we’re really committing to three months together no matter what, it’s better to prepare as much as possible.
“That way, we won’t make as many mistakes. It seems better to decide things ahead of time.”
“That makes sense.”
Nodding, Yu-won brought over some paper and a pen and handed them to him. Rion wrote 『House Rules』 in big letters at the top and spoke.
“First, the most important rule: don’t leave the house on your own, and even if we fight, you have to come home no matter what.”
Rion pressed the pen firmly into the paper. In truth, this rule applied only to himself.
Still, writing it down felt like it would make it stick more—and you never knew what might happen—so Rion made it rule number one.
“What else? Um…”
“Don’t bring other people into the house.”
Yu-won said quietly. Caught off guard, Rion tilted his head.
“Isn’t that okay? I don’t mind if you bring friends over. And if it’s someone we both know, maybe once in a while—”
“I don’t like it.”
“Alright, then I’ll write that too.”
He’d been thinking of inviting Jin-ha over sometime since they lived in the same officetel, but if the homeowner didn’t like it, there was nothing he could do.
Well, I can always go over there instead.
“And don’t leave the house empty too often. The point is for us to get to know each other, so we shouldn’t be away all the time, right?”
“Huh? Ah… yeah, that’s true.”
“It’s about the two of us getting to know each other. Not other people.”
As he wrote down the rules, Rion felt like this was a little different from the cohabitation he’d imagined. It almost felt like he was writing rules for lovers living together, not coworkers.
It’s probably just my imagination.
Thinking that, Rion wrote down the third rule.
