Side Story 4
What a funny guy. What did I ever do to him?
Last night, Siwoo slept alone for the first time in a long while. Because he usually slept with one of his Espers each night in rotation, having the wide bed all to himself was a rare occasion.
It was comfortable and nice. He could roll around freely, change positions whenever he wanted, and bite his mouse plushie to his heart’s content. He did wake up and huff a bit in between sleep, but he still managed to get some rest.
He thought he might feel better after waking up. But the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
“That little brat, so ill-mannered…”
It was embarrassing enough to be hissed at by a newborn kitten, but having his tail pop out in surprise was even more humiliating.
Knock knock
Siwoo, who had been pummeling his pillow since morning, glanced at the door when he heard the knock.
“Guide-nim, it’s me.”
Seojun carefully grabbed the doorknob and turned it. But inevitably, there was a *click* sound as the lock engaged.
“What.”
Since entering his room, Siwoo had kept the door locked and hadn’t opened it. The worried Espers tried to open the door in turns, but all they heard from the doorknob was the *click* sound.
“Come out and have breakfast. The hyungs all went out to work.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Are you sick somewhere?”
Seojun turned the doorknob again in disbelief. Annoyed by the repeated click sound, Siwoo shouted angrily.
“I said I don’t want to eat!”
At Siwoo’s loud voice, meowing sounds could be heard, as if a sleeping cat had awakened.
“Then you must eat in an hour. I can’t wait any longer than that.”
Seojun firmly said after knocking on the door one last time. Siwoo snorted and turned to face the wall.
“And what will you do if I don’t?”
Rrrip!
While venting his anger by biting the neck of his mouse plushie, he glanced slightly at the door.
It seemed like the kitten had woken up and cried earlier. It was unusually quiet outside, as if Ha Seojun had done something. There were no footsteps, and no sounds of Seojun comforting the kitten.
What’s going on? Did he send it away? On a day with so much snow?
Siwoo raised his upper body but soon shook his head.
No matter how indifferent and cold that guy was to others, he wouldn’t kick out a young kitten. Although he would do anything Siwoo told him to, Siwoo had never told him to send the kitten away.
“…”
But Seojun often treated others, except for Siwoo and his hyungs, as if they were inanimate objects. He was a guy who could be even more cold-hearted than the leader. He was only warm to those he had opened his heart to.
Since Siwoo had avoided the kitten to the point of locking himself in his room, he thought Seojun might have sent it away. After all, he likes me the most.
Siwoo glanced at the window where snow was pouring down, then got up from the bed. Today was the day the leader would come at night, so he had planned to stay in his room all day. He had meant to fully enjoy his rare alone time. But he couldn’t help worrying.
Siwoo opened the door silently and walked out stealthily like a stray cat. Passing by the bathroom, he froze in his tracks the moment his gaze landed on the quiet living room sofa.
“…Huh.”
Seojun, lying prone on the sofa, was sniffing the sleeping kitten’s paws. He even kissed the tiny feet with the same mouth that always embarrassed Siwoo by saying only he was pretty.
“G-Guide-nim, you came out?”
Seojun, who had been touching the kitten’s round belly, belatedly noticed Siwoo and jumped up. But it was too late. Siwoo glared at Seojun with cold eyes before returning to his room.
“No, wait, I was sniffing it because of a strange smell! Not because I liked it.”
Seojun tried to follow him in, but the door was already firmly locked. Seojun stood in front of the door like a lover caught cheating and poured out excuses for a long time.
But all he got in return was the *click* sound.
* * *
Geonho and Jihan finished their gate processing early today too. After assigning tasks to the rookie guilds they were in charge of, they returned straight to their quarters without taking any detours.
“Where’s Han Siwoo?”
“Where’s Guide-nim?”
As soon as they arrived at the residence, they checked for Siwoo first. Seojun greeted his hyungs with a sour expression and pointed to the firmly closed door.
“He still hasn’t come out?”
“Then what about food?!”
“He ordered delivery food by himself.”
Fortunately, he hadn’t starved. Although Seojun couldn’t confirm if Siwoo had eaten, he had delivered the food to his room.
Geonho, rubbing his face in frustration, picked up the kitten that ran to him and pretended to give it a light tap on the head.
“You should have behaved nicely, fool. You’ve really made a bad impression on the owner of this house.”
Meow. Meeeow.
The kitten was so happy to see Geonho that it rubbed its body against his large hands, acting cute. Jihan also watched the spiky fur resembling dandelion seeds before eventually reaching out his hand.
“Why is its fur so thin?”
The touch was even softer than it looked, making him laugh involuntarily. Geonho touched the kitten’s protruding belly and accused Seojun of feeding it too much.
“I only gave it as much as hyung told me to.”
“Did it eat everything without leaving any?”
“Yes, just look at its belly.”
“It’s really cute with just the belly bulging out.”
They examined the kitten, which was only about the size of their fists. The kitten, purring in Geonho’s arms, made a pretty face as if returning their attention. When it blinked its round eyes and meowed in a soft voice, the hearts of the three large men melted.
Suddenly feeling a hot gaze, they turned their heads and felt a chill run down their necks.
Siwoo was watching them through a slightly opened door.
“Han Siwoo…”
“Ah…”
“I was just looking.”
After glaring at the three with an expressionless face, Siwoo slammed the door shut before they could run over.
“No! You’re the prettiest. I only looked at it because it’s ugly.”
“Guide-nim, it was a mistake.”
Geonho and Jihan, just like Seojun had done during the day, stood in front of Siwoo’s door for a long time, repeating apologies and excuses. Again, all they got in return was the same sound. Click.
Geonho, Jihan, and Seojun all gathered in the living room and drank alcohol. As they emptied a can of beer each, waiting for Siwoo to come out of his room, the sofa table soon became crowded with empty cans.
Being Espers with good stamina, they didn’t get drunk on mere beer. Unless it was hard liquor, they couldn’t even feel slightly tipsy.
Meow.
The kitten, asleep leaning against Geonho’s side, sleep-talked. Geonho, sitting sprawled on the sofa, drank his beer and patted the kitten’s back with his other hand.
Maybe because it was a kitten, it slept a lot. Our Han Siwoo sleeps a lot too… With this thought, he looked at Siwoo’s door and his eyes met Jihan’s.
“Move your head.”
“If you move your eyes, you wouldn’t see it.”
“Hyungs, please stop fighting.”
Seojun clicked his tongue as if disgusted and grabbed a new can. At the *hiss* sound, the kitten woke up and meowed as it crawled up onto Geonho’s leg.
“Not there. That’s Han Siwoo’s place.”
Geonho caught the kitten crawling toward his groin and pulled it up onto his stomach. Jihan laughed as if incredulous and then stared intently at Geonho who was carefully petting the kitten.
“Why aren’t you saying we should keep it?”
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Geonho didn’t seem inclined to bring the kitten into their home. They thought he would buy all sorts of cat supplies, just like when he first brought Siwoo into the guiding room, but he didn’t.
“If Han Siwoo doesn’t like it, I don’t like it either.”
Though he said he didn’t like it, his touch on the kitten was affectionate. It was that hand that Guide-nim fell for. Jihan smiled wryly as he gulped down his beer.
“They say bringing in a kitten carelessly can stress out the cat that was already there.”
Seojun, who had been holding his phone the whole time, spoke up. It seemed he had been researching information about keeping multiple cats together.
“Apparently, the more timid and sensitive the cat is, the more stress it experiences.”
Seojun put down his phone and looked at the kitten playing on Geonho’s stomach. His eyes were contemplating where to send it away.
“Let’s just keep it until tomorrow. The secretary said he posted an adoption notice at some café too.”
“But people don’t seem very interested. Maybe because the kitten’s fur color is weird.”
“Its eyes are all white.”
Geonho snorted like Siwoo and covered the kitten’s ears. It was true that the fur color was unusual, but it was still a pretty enough cat. Plus, it was very affectionate.
Geonho poked the nose of the purring kitten that was rubbing its face against his hand. I wish Han Siwoo would be this affectionate too. Geonho downed his drink as he recalled Siwoo sniffing the kitten. Thinking about Siwoo’s surprise at the kitten’s hiss made his stomach churn.
Hopefully, Siwoo’s mood would improve by tomorrow. The three sitting in the living room shared the same wish as they frequently glanced at Siwoo’s door. It was a night that called for more alcohol.
* * *
Taebeom returned to the residence only after 3 AM.
From the moment he entered the long entrance hallway, the strong scent of alcohol reached his nose. When he went to the living room, various bottles of alcohol were strewn about.
Taebeom looked down at his guild members who were either lying or slumped on the wide sofa. All of them had passed out from drinking. Around the sofa were crushed beer cans and empty liquor bottles of various kinds.
It was enough to make even Espers get drunk. Even Jihan, uncharacteristically, had fallen asleep in a relaxed state.
Taebeom didn’t wake them up but only raised the temperature of the living room. They were all covered with blankets, which Siwoo had apparently sneaked out to cover them with. They were all blankets from Siwoo’s room.
Wondering what Siwoo might be covering himself with, he was about to turn away when a kitten crawled out from under Geonho’s blanket, yawned, and stretched.
So that’s it. Taebeom stared at the cat with its unique fur color through half-lidded eyes.
Instead of going back under the blanket, the kitten climbed onto Geonho’s face and positioned itself. It ignored the flat chest and sofa, choosing to lie on his face. It rested its chin on the high bridge of his nose and fell asleep.
Taebeom slowly walked to the sofa as he watched the kitten blocking all of Geonho’s breathing holes.
He picked up the curled-up kitten and placed it on Geonho’s stomach. It was a gentle touch, careful not to wake the newly sleeping kitten.
After briefly tidying up the alcohol bottles placed where the kitten might step, he moved toward his original destination.
As he approached the door, loosening his tie and about to knock, he checked the time. It was late. Siwoo was probably already asleep.
Skipping the knock, he grabbed the doorknob, and instead of the click sound that had been heard all day, the door opened smoothly. Siwoo had left it unlocked.
Taebeom, who entered quietly, first looked at Siwoo sleeping without a blanket. Since he was turned toward the wall, his face wasn’t visible.
On his way to the bed, he checked the delivery food bag that Siwoo had supposedly eaten. The lunch box bag remained unopened, as if untouched.
So he had starved all day.
Taebeom went to the side where Siwoo was facing and sat by his head. Siwoo, who was sleeping with his face buried in the pillow, was tightly holding a mouse plushie with both hands. Taebeom took it away and made him hold his hand instead.
Siwoo opened his eyes at the soft pressure surrounding his hand and turned his head. After frowning at the sight of Taebeom, he immediately raised both arms.
Responding to the gesture asking to be hugged quickly, Taebeom climbed onto the bed without even changing his clothes. After kissing the round forehead and angry cheeks, he took a sip of the lips urging a kiss, then asked:
“Who should I punish?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
