117
Siwoo closed his eyes deeply and opened them, briefly checking the name on the phone screen. Kang Taebeom. He read the unchanged three characters of the name again before belatedly answering.
“I ate too.”
– Where?
“At the dorm. There was a sandwich in the fridge, so I had it with milk…”
Feeling like he was giving unnecessary details, he trailed off.
– I see.
An awkward silence crept in again. Wondering if he should hang up first, Siwoo bent his knees and rested his chin on them.
“What did you eat, Leader?”
He asked softly, using the title that still felt awkward to say out loud. He wondered if it was okay for such pointless conversation to go on this long.
– I don’t remember.
“When did you eat?”
More silence. Only the sound of heavy footsteps came through, as if he was moving. From the sound, it seemed like he was walking on muddy ground.
– On-site guiding won’t be easy.
Siwoo raised his eyebrows at the naturally changed topic, then put on a serious expression.
“I know. I’ll work hard.”
– Just do it.
What does he mean, just do it?
– Don’t leave the kids’ side.
“…Okay.”
Siwoo rubbed his chin against his knee and said he understood again. Just as he was about to really end the call, he opened his mouth as if suddenly remembering something.
“Oh, why haven’t you announced the dedicated guide yet?”
He had been meaning to ask about this. Could it be that he still didn’t recognize him as the dedicated guide? He felt upset even before hearing the answer.
“I’m going to be here for a long time. I’ll do even better guiding in the future.”
He muttered discontentedly, lowering his gaze to his toes. While he was acknowledged by the others, he still felt a distance from Kang Taebeom.
With him, they were only connected because of the matching rate. He had no idea how Taebeom thought of him normally, except when receiving guiding. He only felt unacknowledged.
– I thought you’d be uncomfortable.
Siwoo’s lips parted silently at the soft voice that came back. The call ended with the sound of a monster’s cry resuming.
Siwoo stared at the darkened phone screen and leaned back heavily on the sofa. He gazed at the ceiling, which seemed especially high today, lost in thought.
Did he not make the dedicated announcement because he thought I’d be uncomfortable?
It wasn’t because he didn’t acknowledge me. It wasn’t because he disapproved of me that he delayed the announcement. It was all for my sake. Both Kang Taebeom’s words and actions.
“What’s there to be uncomfortable about?”
Siwoo snorted, the corners of his mouth twitching. He scratched his inexplicably itchy neck and sprawled out on the sofa. He spread his arms and legs wide and swung them aimlessly.
The unpleasant feeling he had after meeting the Seowol Guild leader completely dissipated. He felt glad he had called Kang Taebeom directly.
Even while working, he had listened to Siwoo without interrupting. Though his tone was cold, looking into what it contained, it was surprisingly warm. Perhaps because he now knew what kind of person he was? He no longer seemed just cold. It made Siwoo want to dig deeper into his true nature.
Lying on his side, Siwoo wiggled his toes. Curling up like a caterpillar, he interlaced his fingers between his toes. He rolled over, tumbling off the sofa onto the floor.
With a thud, Siwoo fell to the floor and quickly got up. He casually fixed his hair, as if he had intentionally gotten off the sofa.
“Water, water, water.”
Since he was up, he decided to go to the kitchen to wet his throat. He had only meant to drink water, but suddenly his appetite returned, and he started eating various things.
After finishing off a cup of instant noodles, he sat in a languid posture on a kitchen chair. With a full stomach, he felt even more at ease.
“It would be nice if the announcement came out soon.”
They said the grade assessment results would be out in two days. Hoping it would come out even sooner, he looked down at his palm.
On-site, he’d probably do most of the guiding with his hands. With people around, anything more than that seemed difficult. Would hugging be okay?
After clenching and unclenching his hand for a moment, the image of the Seowol Guild leader’s bandaged hand came to mind, and his eyes narrowed again.
Is that guy a beastkin hater too?
As he dwelled on the look in his eyes and his seemingly contemptuous expression, he even remembered the guy’s voice.
[He made his own brother into an idiot.]
The moment the deep voice brushed his mind, Siwoo clenched his fist and stood up.
What nonsense about making him an idiot. He must have erased painful memories.
Though he didn’t know the exact situation, it must have all been done for Kang Geonho’s sake. That much was certain.
Siwoo felt grateful to Yoo Jihan for telling him about the Kang brothers’ past. Without him, he would have continued to hate Kang Taebeom, thinking he was a crazy brother who abused his sibling. Not knowing that he was actually the opposite of the rumors.
Siwoo, who had been wandering around the living room, climbed the long stairs one step at a time. Looking around to make sure no one was there, he looked just like a child about to do something naughty. Once upstairs, he walked on tiptoe, muffling his footsteps.
Might as well take a look at those Esper guys’ rooms while I’m at it.
Giggling to himself, he carefully approached the room doors. He decided to start with Yoo Jihan’s room, which was right in front of the stairs.
With a grin at the smoothly turning doorknob, he poked his head in. He only opened the door enough for his face to fit through.
“It’s clean.”
Siwoo scanned Jihan’s surprisingly neat and tidy room with curious eyes. Although there were quite a few items and furniture, it didn’t look excessive. The decorative shelves and accessories placed here and there looked stylish, resembling their owner.
“How annoying.”
Unable to find anything to criticize, he squinted his eyes in feigned displeasure and closed the door. Next was the youngest’s room.
As soon as he opened the door crack, laughter escaped. Unlike Jihan’s neatly organized room, Seojun’s was truly a typical young man’s room.
Except for the large bed, there was nothing special. Seeing clothes carelessly shoved in a corner and dumbbells scattered on the floor made him chuckle. It seemed to reflect the room owner’s personality.
After carefully closing the door, Siwoo hesitated a bit before opening the next room. This time it was Kang Taebeom’s room.
He tilted his head slightly through the particularly slowly opened door crack. But it was pitch black inside.
Due to the blackout curtains being drawn, nothing was visible. Eventually, Siwoo fumbled along the wall and turned on the light.
“…”
Siwoo’s lips parted quietly as he looked around the now-bright room interior. It was a completely different reaction from when he had peeked into Jihan and the youngest’s rooms. And for good reason.
“Why is it so empty?”
Muttering to himself, he unconsciously stepped inside. All that was in Taebeom’s room was a small wardrobe and a bed. There was a startling amount of empty space.
He knew Taebeom hardly ever came to the dorm, but he didn’t expect it to be this bare. Maybe he has a separate house he stays in? But that didn’t seem to be the case.
Siwoo kept alternating his gaze between the bed, the only piece of furniture, and the small wardrobe. There was nothing else to look at.
He approached the bed and lightly touched the blanket. He even bent down to sniff it, trying to confirm if this really was where Taebeom stayed. He could faintly sense Taebeom’s wavelength. Just a tiny bit.
“What are you doing?”
Suddenly, there was a presence behind him. Siwoo, who had been sniffing the pillow, was startled and sat down abruptly.
“Are you okay?”
Geonho, who had been standing at the door, quickly came in and helped Siwoo up. He looked curious about what Siwoo had been doing in his brother’s room.
“I was just, you know, seeing if there was anything…”
Siwoo cleared his throat and avoided Geonho’s gaze. Of all times, to be caught with his nose buried in Kang Taebeom’s pillow. He worried that Geonho might think it strange.
“There’s nothing here, right?”
Geonho, who had been watching the flustered Siwoo for a moment, chuckled and pointed around.
“I guess my brother likes it this way. It’s the opposite of me.”
His room was cluttered with all sorts of things piled up messily. Siwoo knew this well, having been there.
“You’re right. It’s really different.”
“Want to see my room again?”
Geonho reached out his hand to Siwoo. As if asking if it was okay to hold hands, Siwoo took his hand first. Again, he was acting uncharacteristically cautious.
“Wasn’t the physical test hard? Are you hurt anywhere?”
As they left his brother’s room, Geonho looked Siwoo up and down. Even though he had told him to take it easy, he knew Siwoo would have given it his all, so he had been worried all day.
“It wasn’t hard at all. They say the results will be out the day after tomorrow.”
“I hope you get a low grade.”
“How many punches do you want?”
Siwoo clenched his fist in advance and bit his lower lip. Nevertheless, Geonho didn’t take back his words. To say such disheartening things when he was already anxious. Siwoo slapped Geonho’s shoulders repeatedly, throwing a tantrum.
“I cleaned my room while you were gone.”
Standing in front of his room, Geonho turned the doorknob while blocking the door with his back. His eyes seemed to say “look forward to it,” so Siwoo inwardly prepared to give praise as he entered Geonho’s room.
“What did you clean up?”
However, Geonho’s room was still the same. The furniture was placed in unique directions, and all sorts of snacks were chaotically piled up here and there. Ah, the blanket was spread out somewhat decently. Is this what he considers cleaning?
“Look at the floor. It’s clean, right?”
Geonho swept his large hand across the floor to show. As he said, the floor was indeed clean. There was no trash like before, and no dust was visible. This much was passable.
“Yeah, you did well.”
“You can roll around on the floor. I even mopped it.”
Siwoo let out a deflated laugh, amused by Geonho’s eyes that seemed to be asking for more praise. Then he pulled Geonho’s shoulder to tilt his head and patted it.
“Good job. Well done. Now try to clean up the other things too.”
“What else should I clean?”
Geonho swung their joined hands and sat Siwoo on the bed. Siwoo leaned back comfortably against the headboard and shook his head.
“Clean it later.”
They couldn’t waste the precious little free time on cleaning. He should just keep holding hands.
Siwoo, who was about to send out more guiding, lifted his head with an “Ah.” He just remembered something he had been curious about in Geonho’s room.
“I want to see that. Your treasure.”
