75
“What do you think about when you’re living your daily life?”
Having asked that, Doun swept his face trying to hold back the bursting laughter. But seeing the limp french fry caught between Samin’s thumb and index finger, laughter spilled out helplessly.
“Me? I only think about making hyung laugh.”
“I’ve never met someone like you in my entire life…”
Doun was practically sobbing. He put down his half-eaten hamburger and repeatedly wiped his face, which was bright red.
“It would be troublesome if there were two people like me in the world.”
Samin shrugged as if stating the obvious. The french fry he’d been holding and waving between his fingers disappeared into his mouth.
Doun wiped away the tears that had come out from laughing. He felt like his throat was parched from laughing so hard his shoulders shook. Doun exhaled deeply and gulped down his cola.
‘Being with Samin is so much fun…’
At first, he’d thought of Samin as a disaster-like guy. It was an unexpected meeting, unwanted contact. Though it was attention and affection poured down like a downpour, he believed it would naturally fall away if he ignored it.
But eventually, as such expressions accumulated, somehow the walls around his heart that he’d forced up had been pierced through. Embarrassingly easily, to the point it felt hollow.
“Hyung. It’s fun playing around with me like this, right?”
Samin made flower cups with both hands and propped his chin on them. His grinning face was full of vitality. Doun nodded as if admitting defeat.
“Yeah. It’s fun.”
“Don’t I seem like I’d be okay as a roommate too? I’m diligent, sturdy, and fun.”
“…I’ll think about that too.”
If he lived with Samin, it wouldn’t be boring at least. Doun thought so. Moreover, it seemed like it would be a good opportunity to observe up close what kind of person Samin would be as a romantic partner.
At the positive response from Doun, who always used to say no, Samin raised both arms high and cheered.
“Yes!”
Anyone watching would think he was someone who’d won the lottery.
“If possible, please think about it very positively. You know what I mean?”
“I’ll see how you do.”
Doun bit into the hamburger he’d put down again. Being with such an energetic guy, he had to eat heartily to keep up.
Samin took this opportunity to bring up a topic that Doun, who loved tower conquest, would welcome.
“Then after we finish eating all this, should we do a deeper analysis of the 50th floor?”
“Yeah. I actually wrote down a list of things I wanted to ask you.”
“Yeah yeah. Ask me everything. I’ll tell you everything.”
Samin reached out and stroked Doun’s head. The fine hair that was slightly pressed down caught on his fingertips. When Samin fiddled with his hair, Doun only looked up with his eyes and asked.
“Is there something on my head?”
This Lee Doun and his awareness. Samin clicked his tongue inwardly and withdrew his hand.
“Yes. There was something like a thread.”
Samin roughly made an excuse about a non-existent thread. Judging by the look he was getting, if he touched him any more here, he’d be lucky not to hear a scolding about ‘what kind of younger brother are you to rudely stroke your hyung’s head without permission.’
“Thanks. Anyway, let’s prepare thoroughly and quickly clear it, and if it goes well, maybe we can do the 51st floor consecutively too…”
Samin just stared at Doun’s lips as he talked about future plans.
‘They were really soft and warm and moist. Our hyung’s lips…’
“…Are you listening to what I’m saying?”
“Of course. You said if we clear the 50th floor quickly, let’s clear the 51st too. There’s nothing we can’t do. Should we just go all out and clear up to the 52nd floor in half a day?”
“Huh? No, that would be too much of a forced march…”
Conquering three high floors consecutively in one day seemed like overworking the other guild members. Doun shook his head and belatedly watched Samin’s reaction. He worried that his thoughts being buried solely in tower conquest might have seemed like forcing help.
“Hyung’s opinion comes first. I’ll plan a schedule to clear up to the 51st floor for now. Is this okay?”
Samin smiled brightly and sucked on his cola through the straw. Doun nodded, relieved that Samin didn’t seem bothered.
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
He didn’t know detailed information about the magical beasts appearing on the 51st floor, but it seemed like they could definitely conquer it if they analyzed it together while watching videos.
“Then I’ll give you thorough one-on-one customized guidance, so how about we consider yesterday and today’s point deductions null and void?”
“Good. Then let’s eat quickly and analyze.”
Doun’s pupils were burning brightly with motivation.
* * *
Dragging his reluctant steps, Samin returned to his own home and slowly emerged from the apartment parking garage.
‘The world is beautiful. Really!’
Though he couldn’t stay one more day, just sitting side by side with Doun and talking had made him happy.
‘Ah, this is a magical beast that appears for the first time on the 51st floor, and you have to cut off its neck. If the neck and limbs are still attached, later the corpse gets dragged to this altar here, like an offering. But the altar drags corpses at such a fast speed that it’s hard to avoid while fighting this thing.’
‘You only have to cut the neck? What about just cutting the arms and legs?’
‘No good. It has to be the neck or it’ll fly around. Kim Chansol got hit wrong before and his shinbone was shattered.’
‘Mm, got it.’
Doun had taken meticulous notes, asked about precautions several times, and had his own understanding confirmed. Just being able to fight alongside someone he’d admired was overwhelming, but now he was officially a ‘prospective boyfriend candidate.’ A sole candidate at that.
Samin looked up at the pitch-black sky and grumbled inwardly.
‘Hmm. Because of fine dust, there are no damn stars and you can barely see the moon.’
The sky they’d looked up at together at the mountain pension had been full of stars. If he started dating Doun, his desire to rent another place with good stargazing and spend time intimately just the two of them began growing.
‘It would be so nice to look up at stars with hyung and kiss and stuff.’
Just imagining it made his mouth stretch wide. Samin was walking through the apartment complex humming when it happened.
“Hey. What are you doing grinning at the sky like an idiot?”
Samin’s expression turned coldly stiff when he spotted a woman approaching him picking a fight. It was similar to the expression of someone who’d seen something they shouldn’t have.
“What, Kyung Sahee. What brings you here?”
“This bastard is calling noona by her name and acting up.”
The woman who’d raised her fist clicked her tongue and glared. Having apparently stopped by right after work, she was dressed in business casual—this was Kyung Sahee, Samin’s older sister with a six-year age gap.
“I heard you haven’t been going to the tower much lately?”
Kyung Sahee crossed her arms and stopped in front of Samin. Looking up gave her a neck ache from the height difference, but she stubbornly tilted her head up.
“How does noona know that?”
“Oppa told me.”
“Ah. Hyung did?”
Samin looked surprised. Kyung Sajun, the eldest of the three Kyung siblings, had awakened as a hunter together with youngest Samin. His grade was B-class and he had a good sense for combat.
However, because his main job paid so well, he didn’t work as a hunter. Still, he tended to carefully keep track of his youngest brother’s activities despite their seven-year age gap.
“But why did noona suddenly come here?”
“Dad said if you’re going to keep skipping family gatherings, tell him in advance. Dad’s completely sulking, you know? He told me to go tell you. He said he doesn’t even want to talk to you on the phone.”
“Dad’s always sulking anyway.”
“Your way of talking is so rude. When oppa told dad you’ve been going to the tower much less than before and that you’ve matured, do you know what dad said?”
“How would I know that?”
“He said he’s worried because you’re doing things you didn’t used to do, so go check on you while you’re at it. So I came to see your face after work, and here’s this crazy guy grinning at the sky.”
“Something happened. Something that makes me smile just looking at the sky, something noona wouldn’t understand.”
Samin wiggled his eyebrows mockingly at Kyung Sahee.
“Youngest, are you by any chance dating?”
“If you had to categorize it, I’m currently under review?”
“What are you talking about? Did you sign up for a marriage agency or something? What review out of nowhere?”
“Ah, don’t pry into everything and just go your way. Why are you suddenly visiting and bothering me?”
Kyung Sahee’s neat eyebrows furrowed. The guy who used to cause trouble constantly and after becoming a hunter was buried in towers to the point they had to worry about his life and death, lately had been going in and out of towers while taking breaks.
“Min-ah. You really don’t have any problems, right?”
Though they bickered, they were siblings with a six-year age gap. When he was young, even though he was mischievous, the youngest who would obey anything noona said seemed to be hiding something from her, making her worry.
“Don’t noona have eyes? Can’t you tell by looking? Samin’s limbs are all intact, his body is completely healthy, and his financial situation is very good too.”
“Seeing you brag, you seem fine. But you still shouldn’t cause trouble with weird people, right? What did noona tell you? How should you date?”
“You should cherish and care for your partner and blah blah something like that.”
“That’s right.”
Kyung Sahee nodded contentedly. Even though he mumbled the rest embarrassedly since it was in front of noona, the youngest brother she knew was someone who would preciously cherish and love with all his might the person he liked.
When the quite harmonious sibling conversation was nearing its end, Samin’s phone vibrated. Samin checked his phone and smiled with a completely relaxed face like an idiot.
‘Well well. He really seems to have a lover.’
The screen that Kyung Sahee glanced at read:
[♥♥Our Hyung♥♥]
‘Hyung?’
Just from the hearts attached front and back, it definitely couldn’t be the Kyung family’s eldest son, Kyung Sajun. The phone number she checked just in case was completely different too.
‘If it’s hyung, that means it’s a guy, but why are there hearts attached… Huh?’
Kyung Sahee’s eyes flashed. The gender of her youngest brother’s lover that she’d suddenly learned about was a bit shocking. However, what she was worried about was something else.
“Youngest, you are using condoms properly, right?”
“Ah! Just go! Are you crazy noona? There’s nothing you won’t say in the apartment complex! Are you really insane?”
“Whoever your partner is, you need to have a healthy relationship.”
“Stop talking bullshit and go!”
“Okay. Noona’s leaving?”
Kyung Sahee chuckled. Seeing him turn bright red and huff, it didn’t seem like they’d gotten to a deep relationship yet.
Watching Kyung Sahee’s retreating figure, Samin soon looked at his phone screen.
[♥♥Our Hyung♥♥: Did you get home safely?]
It was a message from Doun. He’d heard the farewell to be careful, but this was the first text asking if he’d arrived home safely, so he was excited, but his nemesis Kyung Sahee had poured cold water on it.
‘Condoms my ass! I’m still only a boyfriend candidate for hyung… Ah, really, Kyung Sahee is so annoying! Argh!’
Samin scowled and swallowed his irritation, then called Doun. After a few rings, he heard the voice he wanted to hear.
—Hello?
“I’m not hyung’s honey yet.”
—You, are you crazy?
Hearing Doun’s shocked voice, his surging irritation melted away. Samin looked up at the sky vacantly and smiled. Even though he’d just seen him, he missed Doun again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
