“Bratty, huh?”
Baek Tae-beom said as he came down the stairs. I leaned back against the sofa and looked up at him. His hair, freshly washed, was still dripping water.
“Why didn’t you dry your hair?”
“I did… kind of…”
“Come here.”
Baek Tae-beom obediently sat down in front of the sofa. I took the towel and pressed gently against his damp hair as I spoke.
“I was talking to another Constellation.”
“Oh, the one who’s all full of himself?”
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: What the hell did you just say about me?]
“Pretty much.”
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: HEY!]
The scent of shampoo wafted off Baek Tae-beom. I fiddled with his jet-black hair. The wet ends curled around my fingers. Then I noticed—he smelled just like me.
Well, we were using the same shampoo and body wash.
Baek Tae-beom tilted his head slightly, resting his cheek in my hand.
Ever since we infiltrated the Red Apple Guild building, he’d been getting increasingly touchy. It was like he’d been holding back for a long time and finally decided to let loose—leaning on me casually, grabbing my hand without hesitation, always trying to stay physically close whenever we were in the same space. Even when I tried to push him off, asking why he kept clinging to me, he’d just attach himself again like it was nothing, saying things like, “Can’t I?”
And really, it wasn’t like he couldn’t.
I didn’t hate it.
But that was the problem.
‘Why… don’t I hate it?’
Isn’t it normal to recoil when another guy presses up against you like this? Just imagining holding hands with someone like Oh Kwon-hyuk made my skin crawl, so why didn’t Baek Tae-beom bother me?
I looked down at the back of his head. Damn bastard, even his head shape was perfectly round and nice. I even caught myself wondering how someone could have such a pretty skull. I reeled my thoughts back before they went too far. Now wasn’t the time to spiral.
“What did Lee Myung-won say?”
“It was obviously about Yoo Jin-woo. We talked about that.”
Baek Tae-beom leaned his head back to look up at me. His bangs, damp from the shower, fell over his forehead.
“Blue Star and Oh Kwon-hyuk were there too. They were asking why you didn’t come with me.”
“He called you, not me. Why would I go?”
“But when someone calls you, I go with you.”
Fair enough.
“I ignored the two of them being loud and dealt with that damn Guildmaster, too. He said he’s heading overseas again.”
“This time for what?”
“Apparently, a strange rift was observed, and they asked for his help.”
“You seem closer to him than I thought.”
At that, Baek Tae-beom made a slightly dumbfounded face before narrowing his eyes.
“You’re joking, right?”
“You two even have nicknames for each other.”
“Hyung.”
“I’m kidding.”
His expression relaxed. I bowed my head, smiling. The way he reacted was too adorable not to tease.
“Maybe I should’ve gone too. At least to see him off.”
“If you had, it would’ve been a disaster.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s Christmas, and Oh Kwon-hyuk and Blue Star were clinging to him like mad. I had to physically shake them off to keep them from following us home.”
I burst out laughing. Baek Tae-beom pouted.
“You think it’s funny?”
“Yeah, it’s hilarious.”
I rubbed his eyebrows with my fingertip. As I gently tickled the brows that shifted freely with his expressions, Baek Tae-beom’s face gradually softened again.
“You’re way too soft on those two.”
“It’s not like I can treat them badly.”
“You can treat that bastard Oh Kwon-hyuk badly, though.”
“We agreed to let it slide, remember?”
“You realize you’re weirdly kind about the strangest things?”
Baek Tae-beom’s voice carried a subtle tone of injustice.
“Even though in other areas, you’re cold as steel.”
“Oh yeah? What parts am I cold in?”
Baek Tae-beom reached toward me—then wrapped his hand around the back of my neck.
It happened so suddenly that I didn’t react in time. As he tugged me closer by the nape, our faces slowly drew near, and I froze up completely, unable to respond at all. Startled, I yanked his hand off.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Baek Tae-beom gave a playful smile.
“That part right there.”
“You almost gave me a damn heart attack. What kind of joke is that?”
I honestly thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. I placed a hand over my sternum, trying to calm the furious pounding, and shoved Baek Tae-beom’s head away. “Hyung,” he said with a coy tone, but I ignored him and retreated to the corner of the couch.
“It was just a joke, hyung. Did I scare you that much?”
“You should be grateful I didn’t kick you.”
Baek Tae-beom laughed, clearly amused. Then again, even if I had kicked him, it wouldn’t have done a damn thing.
Probably would’ve just broken my own toes instead.
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Aren’t the two of you getting a little too cozy?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Apollo’s gonna get jealous.]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: I bet he’s already grumbling like this—]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: ‘Hmph. Why would I be jealous of them?’]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Hmph. Why would I be jealous of them?]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: …….]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: See? Told you.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: How long do you plan to stick around here?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: My deepest apologies, but I’m a god of Olympus too.]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: It’s my sacred duty to report every move of our shining hope and light—Ga-hyeon—to our Father.]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: Hold on. You’re reporting what now?]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Get someone else in here.]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: You know you can’t~♡]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Don’t you ♡ me, damn it!]
They were having way too much fun.
While I was momentarily distracted by the chat, Baek Tae-beom climbed onto the couch. With a shameless grin tugging at the corners of his lips, he called out to me.
“Hyung.”
“What.”
“Sorry for messing around.”
He crept toward me on all fours. I drew my knees up and tried to back away.
“Okay, I get it, so stop coming closer.”
“Why, hyung? Can’t I?”
There it is again. That ‘Can’t I?’—laced with that pitiful, cutesy, pretty tone like he’s trying to get away with anything. I genuinely wanted to grab him and ask what his real objective was. Why was he doing this? What the hell did he even want from me?
But then I looked at his face again… and there was just no way I could say no. His eyes, shadowed under thick lashes, even looked kind of sad. Like a living statue. How the hell could a person be born looking like that? God must’ve made a mistake when creating him.
“Hyung?”
“……”
Goddamn bastard.
When I stayed silent, he rested his head gently on my knee. His lips parted softly.
“You don’t like it?”
“No…”
“It’s Christmas today, hyung.”
Baek Tae-beom slowly shifted his weight. I realized the couch was leaning more toward my side.
“Don’t you have a present for me?”
[Constellation ‘One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction’ is synchronizing with the Holy Vessel.]
Damn system. What good is syncing if my heart won’t calm the hell down?
I couldn’t stop feeling like this.
Am I broken?
“You don’t have a gift either.”
“I do.”
“You do?”
“You didn’t check the presents under the tree, did you?”
I thought those were just decorations—turns out I was supposed to open them?
“It’s our first Christmas together, hyung. So I prepared something.”
“…I didn’t get you anything.”
Life had been so hectic lately that I honestly forgot today was Christmas. Hell, I only realized it after waking up and suddenly seeing a tree and wrapped presents had appeared. That’s when it hit me.
“So, what do you want?”
Sponsorship? Baek Tae-beom had coin reserves several dozen times larger than mine. Money? I was living in his house and spending with the card he gave me. Saying it out loud just made me feel pathetic.
He could buy anything he wanted. So what could a nobody like me give him?
‘He wouldn’t ask for something weird… right?’
I tried to keep a straight face and looked at Baek Tae-beom.
Then he said something I didn’t expect.
“Something of yours.”
“What?”
“Something that belongs to you. Anything you own. Just give me one.”
I frowned. Something I own?
“You’d be okay with just that? I mean, I don’t really have anything special…”
“Yeah. If it’s yours, I’d be happy with anything.”
He smiled slowly as he said it. I warned him.
“I’m a Constellation, sure, but I don’t exactly own rare artifacts or anything, you know that, right?”
“I know.”
“Are you really fine with anything?”
“Even if it’s just a receipt from your coat pocket—I don’t care.”
Why the hell is that so specific? Not to mention I’m the kind of person who can’t say no to taking receipts, so I’ve got a stack of them somewhere.
Still, I couldn’t seriously hand him a receipt.
Then, I noticed the ring on my finger.
“…Give me your hand.”
“My hand?”
Baek Tae-beom absentmindedly offered his left hand. It was rough, covered in old scars.
“Just hold still for a second.”
I slipped the ring off my own finger.
[Ring of the Werewolf C]
[A ring taken from the body of a werewolf. Increases the wearer’s defense.]
I gently took Baek Tae-beom’s hand and slid the ring onto his index finger. The ring immediately adjusted, resizing itself to fit perfectly.
Satisfied, I looked up—and saw Baek Tae-beom’s face flushed a deep, vivid red like never before.
