“I’m home.”
As soon as I entered the house, Yang Garam was the first to appear in the living room. Instead of his usual relaxed appearance, he was neatly dressed as if he had just returned from going out.
He shot out like a bullet to the entrance as soon as he spotted me, then stopped in place when he noticed Woo Jeonghyun behind me.
“Jeonghyun, this is my Guide, Garam.”
I introduced Yang Garam to Woo Jeonghyun, who had taken off his shoes and come up from the entrance.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Woo Jeonghyun.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Yang Garam.”
While Woo Jeonghyun, who came as a guest, was calm, tension was evident on Yang Garam’s face instead. Woo Jeonghyun stared intently at Yang Garam’s face before breaking into a smile and blurting out a comment.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from my brother.”
‘When did I?’
I looked at Woo Jeonghyun in confusion.
All I’d done regarding Yang Garam was talk on the phone in front of Woo Jeonghyun while eating the ramen he cooked on the day I contracted with Garam. Woo Jeonghyun, without even looking my way, gave a friendly smile to Yang Garam.
“I’m a year older, can I speak comfortably to you?”
“Yes. Please speak comfortably, Jeonghyun Hyung.”
I was perplexed by Woo Jeonghyun establishing familiarity at their first meeting, then slightly dumbfounded by how naturally Yang Garam called him Hyung. I scratched my cheek while looking back and forth between the two of them smiling warmly at each other. I was glad they got along well.
“Did I come too late at night? I have some circumstances, I’ll only impose on you today.”
“It’s fine. You’re welcome to come often in the future. I look forward to getting to know you better.”
As I was staring blankly at the two of them conversing back and forth, Woo Jeonghyun nudged my arm.
“Where’s your room, Hyung?”
“It’s on the second floor.”
“Do I go up those stairs over there?”
“Yeah.”
As I watched Woo Jeonghyun stride toward the stairs as soon as I finished speaking, I thought his impatient personality hadn’t changed, then turned to look at Yang Garam.
“You don’t need to come up for Guiding today.”
“But won’t you be unable to sleep then, Hyung?”
“I’m planning to talk all night with Jeonghyun today, and even if I fall asleep in the middle, it should be fine since Jeonghyun is a Guide, right?”
Considering that my matching rate with Woo Jeonghyun was 1%, it probably wouldn’t have much effect, but I didn’t really need actual Guiding. The trauma of going berserk from Guiding deficiency in the past was surfacing as nightmares, so I was receiving Guiding unconsciously. If my psychological stability that I wasn’t in the past was satisfied, the chances of the trauma being triggered would significantly decrease. In other words, just seeing my living, breathing brother beside me would have the effect of receiving Guiding. I used to sleep just fine when I was with Woo Jeonghyun even before living with actual Guides.
Yang Garam still looked uneasy, but he reluctantly nodded as he took the convenience store bag from my hand.
“Alright. I’ll take this up to your room for you.”
While Woo Jeonghyun was quick to push the responsibility of carrying luggage onto me as an Esper, it was indeed only Yang Garam who thought of me.
‘This is why I can’t help but adore him.’
Since Woo Jeonghyun couldn’t drink alcohol, the bag was full of beverages and snacks rather than liquor. It wasn’t heavy compared to its volume, but it seemed my hand had been feeling the strain from holding it continuously, as I felt relief when the bag disappeared. The distance to the second floor wasn’t far, and I didn’t want to reject his kindness unnecessarily, so I just let it be.
“If anything happens, you need to call me, okay?”
I felt sorry for Yang Garam, but since that probably wouldn’t happen, I just glossed over it with a smile. By then, Woo Jeonghyun had gone up to the second floor and was no longer visible on the stairs.
“He couldn’t even wait that long.”
I clicked my tongue and quickly took a step forward. Yang Garam followed behind me, shaking the bag.
“…”
Just as I reached the second floor, Woo Jeonghyun was not alone.
“So cute. What’s this one’s name?”
“Serubi.”
“Ruby, come to Hyung. Coochie coo.”
He was excitedly holding Serubi, who had become 1+1 with Joo Seolhyeon.
“How old is she? She still looks like a kitten, 4-5 months?”
“I don’t know exactly, but judging by her size, I think it’s about that…”
Joo Seolhyeon noticed me and Yang Garam first and trailed off.
Woo Jeonghyun, who had been grinning while pressing Serubi’s paw pads, must have sensed something was off as he looked at Joo Seolhyeon, then turned his head to where Joo Seolhyeon was looking.
“Hyung, how could you not tell me a word about raising such a cute cat?”
Come to think of it, Woo Jeonghyun liked animals too. When he was young, he often brought home abandoned cats and dogs from the streets, but I had completely forgotten about it during his turbulent middle school years.
“You, come over here.”
Since it was awkward to continue being in the same place with Joo Seolhyeon, with whom I would terminate the contract in a day or two and become strangers, I called Woo Jeonghyun who was behaving obliviously. Woo Jeonghyun tried to come to me while still holding Serubi, and I noticed Serubi obediently nestled in his arms, her eyes sparkling.
“No, leave Serubi there.”
From the moment I decided to have Woo Jeonghyun stay at the house, my heart knew what to say before my head did. It wasn’t just Woo Jeonghyun who had changed during the month. Many things had happened to me as well, and there were things I needed to say before talking about them. It wouldn’t matter if Serubi heard, but I didn’t want our rare family time to be interrupted.
“Seolhyeon Hyung, here you go. Please take good care of our Ruby.”
He briefly looked puzzled at my words but soon handed Serubi over to Joo Seolhyeon without protest. I received the bag from Yang Garam at the doorway and brought Woo Jeonghyun into the room.
“Jeonghyun, you shower in the bathroom in my room. I’ll use the bathroom on the second floor.”
As soon as we entered the room, I pointed to the bathroom while putting the bag on the table.
“Do you have clothes?”
For a moment, I tried to recall if I had any clothes that would fit Woo Jeonghyun, but concluded they would all be too small.
Then I remembered what Yang Garam had said to me.
‘If anything happens, you need to call me, okay?’
Recalling how they stood side by side earlier, the two had similar builds.
“I’ll leave them at the door while you’re showering.”
As I picked up my phone and told Woo Jeonghyun, he shrugged as if he would manage just fine and disappeared into the bathroom. When I turned on my phone screen, a stream of unchecked messages appeared. I couldn’t check them earlier at the banquet hall because of the Center Director, and afterward, I was with Woo Jeonghyun, so quite a few had accumulated.
First, I texted Yang Garam asking for a comfortable t-shirt and pants, then while waiting for him to come, I checked the accumulated messages.
Almost all were from Yang Garam, so I was quickly scrolling through them when my hand stopped at a message from an unknown number.
[Is this Woo Jeongjae?]
Seeing the single line message, I could immediately guess what it was about.
[Yes, it is. Did you perhaps find my wallet?]
The time the message arrived also roughly coincided with when I was busy moving around with the Center Director because of Woo Jeonghyun.
While waiting for a reply, my phone made a buzzing sound and the caller ID appeared. It was an unknown number, but I immediately knew who it was. It was the person I had just texted.
“Hello?”
―Hello. I’m the person who found your wallet.
My prediction was correct. With just one mention of the found wallet, I felt the discomfort that had been bothering me all along wash away completely.
‘Is this a foreigner? The way of speaking is a bit…’
It wasn’t a dialect, but the intonation was oddly awkward. It was like how foreigners, no matter how fluently they speak Korean, still retain a distinctive accent.
―I’m not yet used to sending text messages in Korean. So I called you right away, is that okay?
I flinched slightly at the response that seemed to read my mind. While I was grateful for finding my wallet, I wasn’t curious about the person’s identity, so I quickly spoke.
“Yes, that’s fine. I thought I wouldn’t find it, so thank you for contacting me. May I ask where you are?”
―I’m staying at the Esper Union temporary lodging.
“Ah…”
I unconsciously let out a disappointed sigh. If that was the case, it wasn’t far from where I had gone by taxi earlier. If I had checked the text earlier, I could have gone straight there without wandering around.
“Are you available tomorrow morning? I’ll come to the lodging.”
It was disappointing, but it was already in the past. I pushed aside my regret and asked the person directly. They said they had plans in the morning and suggested meeting at 2 PM, and I agreed and ended the call. After hanging up, it belatedly crossed my mind whether my contact information was in my wallet, but this thought was quickly forgotten due to Yang Garam appearing with the clothes.
After leaving the clothes Yang Garam gave me outside the bathroom door, I changed into comfortable attire and headed to the bathroom on the second floor. Since it was shared with Joo Seolhyeon, I had deliberately avoided it and only used the bathroom in my room except for the first day I moved in, but with a guest over, I had no choice.
‘Surely we won’t run into each other.’
With only two days left until the contract termination, meeting face to face would only be uncomfortable.
But contrary to my wishes, as soon as I left the room, I encountered Joo Seolhyeon on the second floor. He was still playing with Serubi using a fishing rod toy in the same spot as before, as if he had remained there even after Woo Jeonghyun and I entered the room.
‘Why is he still doing that, seriously.’
I turned my head with an expression of extreme dislike, but I could feel Joo Seolhyeon’s gaze following me intensely enough to make my face burn.
I managed to ignore him and walk past, but seeing him still sitting there after I finished showering made something hot surge up inside me.
“Are you doing this because you want attention?”
He usually stayed in his room just fine with Serubi, but his behavior today was particularly absurd. Outside of meal times when everyone gathered, I thoroughly avoided Joo Seolhyeon, and we had lived without any problems for a month. I occasionally witnessed him with other Guides, but I ignored it since it didn’t matter as long as he didn’t show interest in me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
