[Where r u?]
[Blood Relative 3
?? Is this really you, oppa?]
[Uh… where?]
[Blood Relative 3
Where else would I be? I’m at school, obviously]
[Blood Relative 3
I’m in class, why?]
“She says she’s in class. But how is she using her phone during class? Don’t they normally confiscate them?”
“You carried two phones when you were in school too.”
“…Right. I did.”
Dojin sent another message at lightning speed.
[Sry when lunch?]
[Blood Relative 3
??]
[Blood Relative 3
If you live in Korea, learn some Korean]
[When’s lunch?]
[Blood Relative 3
In 40 minutes, why?]
[Blood Relative 3
Why are you asking?]
“There’s probably a twenty-minute difference between first-years’ and third-years’ lunch breaks. Looks like Yoo Jaeho’s lunch starts at noon.”
Dohui could write the letter at 11:40, and then at 12:00, they’d have some random student deliver it.
“A perfect plan.”
“It would be nice if it goes exactly as planned…”
“It will. Don’t worry.”
Bzz. Bzz. Dojin’s phone vibrated repeatedly, as if a call were coming in. Both of their gazes dropped to the screen.
[Blood Relative 3
What the hell is wrong with you]
[Blood Relative 3
??]
[Blood Relative 3
-.-??]
[Blood Relative 3
You won’t explain anything and just say whatever you want]
[Blood Relative 3
So annoying -.-]
Dojin’s face twisted sharply.
“Who was a middle schooler just the other day, calling me annoying. Annoying, my ass.”
From Iri’s perspective, whether it was the other day or one second ago, Dojin and Dohui were no different from newborn babies—but to Dojin, a three-year age gap was enormous.
“Just explain enough so Dohui doesn’t sulk. Don’t mention the Fire Cat or the curio.”
“Yes.”
Dojin’s fingers moved with obvious irritation.
[I’m coming to see you for a bit with my master]
[Blood Relative 3
Your master?]
[Blood Relative 3
Gasp. That Immortal???]
[Blood Relative 3
Immortal Iri???]
[Blood Relative 3
The one from the antique shop you work at]
[Blood Relative 3
That insanely pretty Immortal is coming too??????]
[Blood Relative 3
You should’ve said so earlier!!!]
The ‘insanely pretty Immortal’ turned his face away in embarrassment. Iri was usually relaxed, gentle, soft-spoken, and kind—but every time he got flustered or awkward like this, Dojin found him so cute that it made his chest ache.
“She really likes you master, but you’re mine.”
“Why am I yours…? I like Dohui too, you know. But why is her contact name ‘Blood Relative 3’?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not changing the subject, I’m genuinely curious. You only have one sibling—Dohui. Why ‘3’?”
“…….”
“Don’t tell me…”
Iri’s eyes narrowed. Dojin hesitated, then answered.
“‘Blood Relative 1’ is my mom. ‘Blood Relative 2’ is my dad.”
“…….”
Iri made a look of pure disbelief. He rarely ever made an expression like that…. And yet, even that look struck Dojin as cute and pretty. Cute enough that he thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be looked at like that sometimes.
“Aeng-aeng.”
When the Fire Cat mocked Dojin’s foolishness by smacking the seat with its tail, a vein popped on Dojin’s forehead.
“Hey. Only my master gets to laugh at me. Who do you think you are?”
“Ae-aeng!”
“Listen to you, going ‘ae-aeng ae-aeng’. Fuck, if you’re in Korea, speak Korean. Korean.”
Dojin grabbed the Fire Cat’s tail and spun it around, but before he could even get a few rotations in, the Fire Cat started wailing aeng-aeng-aeng and appealing to Immortal Iri, forcing him to stop.
Dojin wasn’t particularly affectionate with his family. He cared about them, in his own way… but it was the same with friends too. It wasn’t that he disliked them. It wasn’t awkward either. The reason the distance never fully closed lay somewhere deeper.
Humans lived for, at most, a hundred years before their lives ended.
Every time Dojin looked at his family, that thought surfaced in his mind.
These people will live, at best, a hundred years, and then they’ll die. But I’ll live through a hundred years hundreds—maybe thousands—of times.
In this long, endless life, his mother, his father, and Dohui would all be nothing more than fleeting moments passing by. Thinking that way made a cold wind seep into his chest, and spending time with his family became a little painful. It felt like being forced to read a novel you knew would end in tragedy.
“Ae-aeng.”
The Fire Cat let out a distressed cry. Lost in thought, Dojin snapped back to reality. It seemed he’d squeezed the Fire Cat’s belly too hard while absentmindedly kneading it.
“Ah. You’re a yokai—what could possibly hurt that bad?”
“That’s not it. It’s reacting to your complicated emotions. Fire Cats are sensitive to human feelings.”
Iri took the Fire Cat from Dojin’s arms and held it himself.
“My emotions weren’t that complicated.”
“Alright. Shall we go in now?”
“Yes.”
Dojin and Iri got out of the car. The Fire Cat pressed its face up against the window, cheering them on.
Using stealth arts, they slipped easily past the school gate and crossed the athletic field.
“What class is Dohui in?”
“Class 3, number 3.”
“You even know her number.”
“No, it’s just because it’s three. Class three, number three, so it stuck automatically, okay? It’s not like I’m overly invested in my sister or anything.”
“Got it.”
Iri smiled fondly. Feeling shy, Dojin scratched his cheek.
The school building was clean and comfortable, and it was filled with small-fry Wia. While mountain-dwelling small-fry split off from plants and animals—like squirrels, mountain rabbits, and birds—the ones living in schools split off from objects like colored pencils, erasers, and various teaching tools. All of them were harmless to humans.
Kyuu-kyuu, bing-bing! Piiik-piiik.
The small-fry wandering lazily through the hallway spotted Immortal Iri and hurriedly swarmed around him. One by one, Iri let them climb onto his shoes, cling to his clothes, or beg to be held, gently petting and touching each of them.
“Master, when I see this, it feels like an election campaign. Shaking hands with voters one by one—ah, no.”
Dojin corrected himself.
“More like the leader of a religious cult with a bunch of fanatics.”
“…Dojin. I’d rather you compare me to a politician…….”
“Huh? Politicians suck, so I went with cult leader. Besides, it’s true that you’re a god, Master. Not just any god—one of the greatest Heaven-and-Earth Divine Spirits, the only one of your kind.”
Among the Heaven-and-Earth Divine Spirits, Immortal Iri bore the epithet ‘the foremost Heaven-and-Earth Divine Spirit’. The only being above him was the King of the True Mortal Realm—and even that was more a courtesy than reality. Strictly speaking, the King ranked below Iri.
“Let’s stop. That’s embarrassing.”
Iri always felt embarrassed hearing things like this. Even if he stood foremost among the Heaven-and-Earth Divine Spirits, he was the last of the primordial Immortals….
“You’re seriously humble, Master. If I were the world’s number two, I’d brag about it nonstop.”
“If you become number one, go ahead and brag. Hurry up and climb above me and crush me underfoot. I’ll be waiting for that day.”
“…….”
“What’s wrong?”
When Dojin abruptly stopped, Iri tilted his head. Biting his lip, Dojin glared at him resentfully.
“You can’t say things like ‘climb on top of me’ and ‘crush me’ to a twenty-year-old guy with a crush on you. And this is a sacred school, too—honestly. Even if you don’t realize it, there are limits.”
Shaking his head, Dojin strode up the stairs, his ears burning red. Iri, understanding his feelings all too well, simply smiled faintly.
They were to meet in the science lab next to Class 3. It was locked, but Iri opened it with a simple spell and stepped inside. The room smelled faintly of chemicals from poor ventilation, so Dojin opened a window. Watching Iri look around the lab, he smiled.
“Is this your first time touring a classroom, Master?”
“I’ve been to schools a few times, but this is my first time inside a classroom. So this is where students study.”
“Where do Wia study? It’s not like there are Wia schools.”
“They awaken what they need to survive on their own, and most are taught by the Wia around them. Family, neighbors. Usually mountain divine spirits take on that role. When a Wia is born within their domain, it’s the mountain spirit’s responsibility to teach them.”
Iri sat down on a chair. Leaning against a desk, Dojin thought that if Iri were wearing a school uniform, anyone would mistake him for a student here.
“Is that the King’s rule too?”
“Not quite a rule—more of an unspoken custom. But even when divine spirits teach, they don’t do it in the detailed way humans do. They don’t explain molecular structures in a science lab or compile thick books to teach the universe. Most Wia probably don’t know much about astronomy.”
Among small-fry Wia and lower branches, many still believed the old tale that there were once two suns, and that the Great Byul King shot one down with an arrow, turning it into the morning star.
“Only humans and humanoid Wia are this obsessed with education. That’s probably why humans came to dominate the Middle Realm.”
In the past, Wia lived openly among humans. Now, in the human realm, they lived in hiding. Humans were, in name and in fact, the strongest beings in the world. So much so that people often referred to the Middle Realm as if it were simply the human realm.
“Honestly, the True Mortal Realm isn’t much different either. The current King has human roots too, doesn’t he?”
