Chapter 32
“Even if I’m there, I don’t know whether Baek Seon will come home or not.”
“If you’re there, he’ll come no matter what. Do you really have to make me say that with my own mouth?”
The eyes that turned toward him, as if slightly irritated, were sharp.
Han Chasu realized anew that brothers in this world—no, older brothers—were somehow not quite right in the head. ‘Thank goodness Han Chasu doesn’t have an older brother.’ Not that he had an older brother; he didn’t even have parents, but what did that matter? At least it was better than having a brother like that.
Han Chasu, arms crossed, looked out the window and muttered.
“I can’t stay long.”
“That’s something we’ll only know when the time comes.”
Baek Dam’s eyes curved into a soft smile.
Han Chasu let out a deep sigh.
***
“Come in.”
Han Chasu, who had been walking behind Baek Dam, narrowed his eyes.
He had simply thought it was an ordinary, spacious house. But strangely, while the ceilings were high, the hallway was narrow and long.
So much so that the longer he walked, the more his chest naturally felt stifled.
“Ah.”
But once he reached the end of the hallway, his impression changed.
A suddenly wide-open space appeared, and sunlight from the skylight poured down on them.
Han Chasu couldn’t help but marvel.
It was a house better suited to a solemn religious facility than a living space.
“You can use the second floor.”
Baek Dam pointed to the stairs. Han Chasu looked at the narrow path leading upward and tilted his head.
“Isn’t the second floor where Baek Seon stays?”
Baek Dam turned to look at him, as if asking how he knew that. Han Chasu merely shrugged.
“When I was in the hospital, I practically saw his face every day. I heard it then.”
Aside from that, he had heard a lot about Baek Seon’s school days and memories with his friends.
Baek Dam wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
“Are you bragging that you’re close with Seon now?”
“I’m not a child. Why would I do something so childish?”
He widened his eyes as if wronged, but… that was right. In truth, he had been a bit annoyed at being dragged all the way here, so he had tried poking at him.
And what was Baek Dam going to do about it? His dearly beloved little brother treasured him that much.
Han Chasu decided to be shameless.
It wasn’t as if he couldn’t. With the other two S-ranks, the original Han Chasu had at least committed sins against them. But before the present Baek Dam, he was not only upright but innocent.
However, the answer that came back was something else.
“Mr. Han Chasu.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to go back to the hospital?”
I’m the one who got you discharged, so do you think I can’t have you admitted again? The look in his eyes said as much.
“I’ll wash up and change.”
Han Chasu quietly headed for the stairs.
***
“Where is Han Chasu?”
Gi Taeyeon asked after returning from an emergency dispatch. Leaning against the door of the duty room, his face looked tired.
“Pardon? Who?”
“Chasu? Did you bring back some tea or something?”
The people gathered in the duty room, playing board games in small groups, lifted their heads. Judging from their stupid expressions, none of them seemed to know.
Gi Taeyeon dragged a hand down his face. He was already sleepy enough to die, and every single one of his underlings was an idiot….
After looking around the duty room, he strode forward.
“Gyuhyeok.”
“Yes, yes? Uh, me?”
“You’re not supposed to be the one who doesn’t know.”
Had he coddled these fools too much?
Gi Taeyeon lamented his own generosity and personally granted his subordinate the honor of sharing his eye level.
“Gyuhyeok. Our Deputy Manager Lee Gyuhyeok.”
“Kghk, ugh… D-Director. U-use your words!”
“You bastard, why are you pretending not to know?”
“What on earth do you mean…?”
“You’re in charge of Han Chasu. Why don’t you know where he went?”
“Huh? What? The Safety Management Department didn’t contact you?”
What nonsense was that? Gi Taeyeon’s face twisted. The flustered Lee Gyuhyeok quickly spoke.
“Mr. Han Chasu woke up two hours ago, and the Safety Management Department came to get him. They said they confirmed Mr. Han Chasu’s guardian on their end and would contact you separately, Director.”
Gi Taeyeon swept his hair back. Fine cracks had appeared across his sharp face.
“I wasn’t contacted.”
“What? Ah, no way.”
Deputy Manager Lee’s eyes went hollow. The corners of Gi Taeyeon’s mouth rose without limit.
There was only one place that would play these kinds of games against the Crisis Management Office.
“Thanks to Deputy Manager Lee, the Security Office got one over on us.”
The Awakener Management Bureau’s Central Security Office. It was a latecomer created to surpass the stronghold of the Crisis Management Office.
They were also brats who had the Director-General backing them and kept trying to drag them down with nonsense.
“Uaaah….”
“Go bring Han Chasu back. And find out where those Security Office bastards are right now too.”
“Yes, sir!”
Watching his subordinates rush out in a swarm, Gi Taeyeon let out a sigh.
Those who consumed his blood sometimes showed side effects. They weren’t particularly serious side effects, but….
“I don’t want to see another two-meter human-faced fish.”
Gi Taeyeon’s eyes were quite serious as he left the duty room.
***
After washing up and coming downstairs feeling refreshed, Han Chasu’s eyes widened.
“Go sit down.”
Baek Dam was busily carrying plates by himself. Every single dish was steaming, and no matter how he looked at them, they seemed freshly made. ‘Did he actually make them himself?’ It was shocking even as he watched. Baek Dam had cooked with his own hands?
Judging by his face alone, he looked like someone who wouldn’t tolerate a single drop of water touching his fingertips, let alone cooking.
“Shall I help?”
He had asked because it felt awkward to just sit there, but a snort came back.
“You’re not suggesting I entrust plates to a man who can’t even fasten his own belt, are you? Have you lost your mind?”
“…
No.”
“Tell me if your head isn’t working properly. The brain isn’t my area.”
After delivering a swift and cold diagnosis, Baek Dam disappeared back into the kitchen. ‘He really does talk brutally.’ But if he set aside the way he spoke, perhaps Baek Dam was being considerate in his own way. Though honestly, it seemed less like consideration and more like he was trying to prevent troublesome work.
Come to think of it, something like this had happened at the hospital too.
His gray eyes slowly searched the past. ‘Right, that time… when I coughed up blood.’ When he had activated several skills to see if he could sneak out of the hospital. As a penalty, of all things, he had ended up coughing blood. And with impeccable timing, Baek Dam had caught him in the act.
Even now, remembering the silence from back then gave him chills. Fortunately, instead of calling the doctors, Baek Dam had only glared at him as if to kill him.
In any case, Baek Dam had been rather kind even then. He had willingly cleaned up the blood spilled on the floor in his place.
“Hmm….”
Was this because he was a healer after all?
Han Chasu looked across at Baek Dam, who was diligently flipping something in the kitchen.
Cooking with his flaxen hair tied high in one bunch, he showed no ordinary amount of passion.
He must have been beside himself with joy at the thought of Baek Seon coming home. Han Chasu looked a little fed up with this incomprehensible brotherly love.
At this rate, the day Baek Seon brings home a lover, there’ll be a bloodbath. The moment he thought that without meaning to, he paused. ‘Come to think of it, the one who gets a lover isn’t Baek Seon but Baek Dam, right?’ In the original story, a woman who gave off a romantic atmosphere with him had appeared. Since the protagonist was Jeong Iheun, she hadn’t been dealt with in much depth, but still. ‘How did they meet again…. Hmm, I think it said they met when she comforted Baek Dam while he was suffering from depression.’ When he thought that far, a corner of his chest went cold.
In the early part of the novel, Baek Dam, who joined Han Chasu’s revenge, disappeared at some point. Then, in the middle to later parts, he appeared together with his lover and assisted Jeong Iheun.
Why had he disappeared? ‘Because even after killing Han Chasu, he couldn’t overcome the sense of loss from losing his younger brother….’ Good grief, this damn extra villain had really ruined quite a few characters. Recalling the original story, Han Chasu clicked his tongue anew.
“Ha….”
Still, it was fortunate that Baek Seon wouldn’t die now. No, wait. ‘Then that means Baek Dam won’t meet his lover, doesn’t it?’ Was it all right to ruin someone else’s romance like this? Han Chasu was in the middle of agonizing over it.
“Eat.”
There was a thud as a plate was set down. When he came to his senses, Baek Dam was already sitting across from him.
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I just made whatever I could. Tell me if there’s anything you can’t eat.”
When he untied his hair, the long strands rippled down his back. He truly was a man whose looks were not merely decent but beautiful. ‘Though he probably won’t have a lover….’ His guilt lasted only a moment.
Han Chasu lost himself in the feast laid out on the table.
What on earth did he put in these, and how did he make them for them to have such colors and smells?
Even the food Geum Myeonggyeol’s subordinate brought him wasn’t at this level. Feeling a deep resonance in his chest, Han Chasu picked up his spoon and chopsticks.
Then, after a brief pause, he glanced at Baek Dam.
“…
Thank you for the meal.”
He offered the greeting calmly. Kidnapping was a bad thing, but giving him food wasn’t.
At the sight of him eating this and that with great enthusiasm, the corners of Baek Dam’s mouth rose high.
“Oh….”
“Wrap it in the greens beside it and eat it.”
“Like this?”
“People don’t usually call beef greens.”
The meal was rather enjoyable. It helped that he had decided to enjoy it, now that things had turned out this way. ‘I only have to stay until Baek Seon comes, don’t I?’ Besides, judging by Baek Dam’s attitude, it didn’t seem like it would take that long. ‘Let’s just think of it as visiting the house of the older guy next door who’s obsessed with his younger brother.’ Such an older guy next door had never existed in his life, but if he had to make a comparison, that seemed about right.
Having neatly finished rationalizing to himself, Han Chasu attacked the meat tossed in red seasoning.
By the time he had emptied about half a bowl of white rice, a cheerful bell rang out long and clear.
Ding—dong.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Baek Dam, who had been looking at him with a benevolent smile, rose to his feet. As the sound of his footsteps grew distant, Han Chasu let out a low breath.
It was around the time he was finishing his meal that an irritated voice reached him.
“Are you playing games with me right now? Stop spouting nonsense and get lost. Before I rip off your arms and legs and attach them again.”
At that moment, the original story flashed through his mind, and his heart dropped.
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