“Did you two make plans to meet up separately or something?”
“Yes.”
“You must’ve really made a good impression on them today, Suho.”
Min Sanghan murmured as if pleased, then turned his gaze to me.
“Still, do you have any idea how anxious I was? Especially when B32C97 had you pinned… Jeez.”
“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
“If you’d gotten hurt, I would’ve sent you straight to the hospital, you punk.”
Shaking his head in dismay, Min Sanghan muttered how he couldn’t even tell me to take better care of myself. I closed my mouth, feeling a bit sheepish.
After the wrap-up party, I said my goodbyes to the team members and everyone who had worked hard preparing for the demonstration, then left the research center. It was late enough that dinner seemed out of the question.
I got on the train heading toward the residential district and stared out the window. Maybe because it was the weekend, the streets were bustling with people.
Couples walked hand in hand, leaning into each other. Friends gathered around outdoor tables, chatting and bonding. Parents were busy trying to rein in children who kept dashing ahead. Peaceful scenes flashed past the rail like a slideshow. Inside the train, the lighting was so bright—day or night—it erased the difference between the two, making every detail outside crystal clear.
The view, seen from beneath the ship floating in the sky, was in stark contrast to the ground below, swarming with monsters. The sheer disparity sometimes brought on a strange sense of disconnection.
Of course, I’d never actually seen the surface for myself. But given the countless monsters I faced daily for my job, it was clear that no human could survive down there.
“……”
When I finally dragged my exhausted body home, my cheerful housemate greeted me with a big smile. Min Yugeon, with his short bleached hair tied back and broad, imposing build, was my longtime friend.
“Welcome back.”
“You done with work too?”
“Yeah, earlier.”
With exaggerated delicacy, Min Yugeon stretched out his arm toward me. His bulging biceps made their presence known with pride.
“Your bag looks heavy. Let me take it.”
“……?”
Why the hell is he acting like this?
I instinctively took a step back toward the door, half-considering a retreat.
“What are you scheming?”
“Aw, come on. There’s no scheme.”
Ignoring me, Min Yugeon snatched the bag from my hand. There was no way I could outmatch the brute force of his bear-paw grip. With one hand he took my bag, and with the other, he kept me from being dragged away with it.
“How could I not do at least this much for the head of our household?”
“What kind of nonsense is—”
“What do you mean, nonsense.”
With a smirk tugging at his lips, he tapped the device on his wrist—a watch.
Beep. A faint mechanical sound rang out, and a semi-transparent screen appeared in the air.
[Onboard Notification (new)
‘Military Beast Project’ demonstration successfully concluded]
He tapped the watch again. The previous screen disappeared, replaced by one showing a more detailed update.
[The long-term ‘Military Beast Project’ held its demonstration this morning at the research center.
During the event, the monster raised by the project team over several years surprised onlookers by attacking the opponent monster it was pitted against.
This act was carried out to protect the project’s team leader, Researcher Seo Suho—whom the monster normally followed with blind devotion—marking the first recorded case of a monster defying its natural instinct not to harm its own kind.]
The attached photo showed me staring straight ahead. Judging by the timing, it must’ve been taken right after the demonstration, and I looked like a mess. My hair was soaked with sweat, and my protective suit was stained a deep, grimy red. I felt a twinge of embarrassment.
[Following the demonstration, the Captain and Vice Captain commended Researcher Seo Suho for his contributions…….]
“To think I didn’t recognize how amazing you were.”
Min Yugeon cracked a joke.
“So even if I end up unemployed, as long as we’ve got Suho, I guess I’ll never go hungry?”
“……”
Complete nonsense, clearly meant to tease. There’s no way this guy—who lives and breathes engineering—would ever quit his job.
“Move.”
“There’s already an interview video out—wanna see it?”
“…You watch it.”
Snatching my bag back from the bastard who was clearly enjoying my embarrassment, I strode across the living room. His mischievous laughter trailed behind me.
“I’ll whip up something simple, so go wash up!”
I turned my head at his shout from behind.
“At this hour?”
“You didn’t eat dinner, did you?”
Min Yugeon raised one eyebrow like he already knew everything.
There had been food available during the after-party, but I hadn’t touched any of it. Too busy running around. Now that he mentioned it, the hunger I’d forgotten started to creep in, so I nodded and headed to my room.
As I undressed and stepped into the bathroom, the mirror immediately reflected my image. Every time I blinked, the black irises half-hidden beneath my eyelids revealed a faint trace of gold—so subtle you’d miss it without a careful look. Under nearby lighting, the glow was faint enough to be mistaken for a trick of the light.
While they were alive, my mother and father used to say I was born with this kind of eye-shine. Just another physical trait, like any other. Looking back now, I think they were trying to make sure I didn’t feel self-conscious about something rare and unusual.
After showering, I slipped into something comfortable and stepped out of the room. The house was filled with the kind of savory scent that kicked the stomach into gear. Min Yugeon, back turned, was grilling steak. He glanced over his shoulder at me.
“Sit down. It’s almost done.”
“Yeah.”
As I sat at the table, I noticed not only the knife and fork but also a neatly prepared wine bottle and glasses. I looked over at Min Yugeon as he approached with plates of food in hand.
“What’s with the booze?”
“It’s a good day—calls for a drink.”
He set the plate in front of me. So much for something simple. The garnishes and plating were more elaborate than usual. Even the wine—something I rarely drank…
My chest tingled at the gesture, knowing it was his way of celebrating my success.
“…I’ve still got a long way to go.”
“Doesn’t make today’s achievement any less meaningful.”
He responded while sitting down across from me, gesturing for me to eat before it got cold. Without a word, I cut a piece of steak and popped it into my mouth. The lab-grown meat was soaked in a sauce he’d made, and the texture was tender. A well-balanced blend of sweet and savory lingered on my tongue.
“How is it?”
“……”
I simply gave a thumbs-up.
Min Yugeon hadn’t been good at cooking from the start. When we first started living together as adults, he didn’t even know how to cook rice.
But he’d always lived a structured life, and the moment he saw my disastrous eating habits, he was horrified. Rolling up his sleeves, he took over the kitchen. Bit by bit, he improved, and now he could handle even complex dishes with ease.
I’d grown so used to his cooking that food outside the house no longer suited my taste.
“Eat up.”
Grinning with pride, he popped the cork and began pouring wine—filling my glass first.
“I really wanted to be there for the demo today. But I guess there’s no full video release?”
His voice carried a tinge of regret.
Most of today’s demonstration attendees were officers aboard the ship, including the Captain and Vice Captain. The rest were guests invited by the research center. I could have arranged an invitation for Min Yugeon, but since he worked in shifts, he had to be on duty even on a weekend like today.
I swallowed my bite before answering.
“Yeah. Only the interview clips will be made public.”
“Figured.”
His slightly glum expression caught my attention.
“You read the announcement earlier.”
“It’s not the same as seeing it in person.”
“…You’d have run into the Director.”
Min Sanghan and Min Yugeon were father and son, but even as a pleasantry, no one would say their relationship was “good.” Our families had been connected since we were kids, so I knew well how things had gone to hell between them.
“Yeah.”
Min Yugeon nodded calmly.
“But so what? He’s no different from a stranger.”
I silently watched him smile with his eyes. He might have said it like it didn’t matter, but clearly, it did.
He smoothly changed the subject, raising his glass.
“So, what are you doing with your day off tomorrow?”
“No real plans.”
“Hmph. If I were off too, we could’ve gone to the gym together.”
“As if I’d go.”
I recoiled immediately, and Min Yugeon grinned, shrugging playfully. Despite his jokes, he never actually forced me to do things I hated.
“Our Suho barely eats when he’s alone.”
Propping his chin up, he murmured as he watched me chewing my steak.
“I’ll set breakfast on the table before I leave, so make sure you eat, even if I’m not here.”
“Got it.”
“And for lunch, pull out a good variety of the side dishes in the fridge.”
“Okay.”
I answered instinctively to the familiar nagging, but suddenly froze mid-motion.
“…Min Yugeon.”
Calling him in a serious tone, I made him pause mid-pour and look straight at me.
“Yeah?”
“Are you not dating anyone?”
The out-of-nowhere question left him blank-faced.
“Dating…?”
“Yeah. Dating.”
It was just something that crossed my mind out of the blue.
He takes good care of himself, cooks well, has a decent personality—thoughtful, even funny. Without Min Yugeon, my life would’ve been painfully bleak. Even if he gave just half of what he gave me to a partner, anyone would be more than satisfied.
And that face…
Noticing that I was staring too intently, he blinked with a bit of confusion.
His deep mahogany eyes always carried a playful glint, and the way they crinkled into crescent moons when he smiled gave him an unexpectedly cute charm. While I was tall but pitifully skinny, his bigger, well-built frame made even me—who saw him daily—sometimes stare without realizing it.
One time, some fuel splashed on him during a shift, partially bleaching his hair. His solution? Just bleach the rest and keep it that way. With his looks, any hair color suited him.
Simply put, Min Yugeon had no reason whatsoever to be single.
