By Zephyria 
‘Anyway, an ideal type…’
It felt completely out of the blue for him to suddenly ask about his ideal type, but Mo Yeon-hu figured it must be related to his romantic pursuits.
“I don’t really have one.”
“Then is there anything you wish for?”
“If I had to pick… I’d prefer someone who isn’t a cultist or a drug addict?”
“That’s way too general.”
Was it? But Mo Yeon-hu was the type who didn’t particularly ask for much from the people he liked. In the first place, he was more accustomed to giving love than receiving it, and from that perspective, he found himself supporting whatever his partner did. Still, if he really had to be specific.
“…I think it would be nice if they weren’t the obsessive type.”
Only then did Kwon Mi-eon’s eyes light up, as if the conversation was finally getting somewhere.
“So you mean you dislike gloomy people. Anything else?”
“There really isn’t… As long as they like me, that’s enough.”
“You’re saying anyone who likes Hyung is fine?”
At Mo Yeon-hu’s words, Kwon Mi-eon paused for a moment as if recalling something, his brow furrowing slightly.
“Then Hyung must have had no downtime from dating.”
“…Huh?”
As Mo Yeon-hu looked on, bewildered as to why the conversation had suddenly jumped to that, Kwon Mi-eon wore a somewhat pouty expression.
“Since there are so many people who like Hyung, you must have dated a lot.”
He wanted to ask what on earth he had been misunderstood for, but seeing that grumpy face, a laugh leaked out instead of an answer. Kwon Mi-eon intently followed the curve of Mo Yeon-hu’s slightly smiling lips before glancing away. Mo Yeon-hu also closed his mouth, feeling a bit awkward.
A brief silence lingered between the two. Just as they were both staring elsewhere without a word.
“But…”
“But, Kwon Mi-eon.”
They spoke almost simultaneously.
“Hyung, you go first.”
Kwon Mi-eon tilted his head slightly. Mo Yeon-hu hesitated, the words not coming easily.
“What exactly did we do back then?”
“Back when?”
“When we first met.”
Kwon Mi-eon’s eyes widened in surprise.
Kwon Mi-eon knew that Mo Yeon-hu actually wanted to keep that incident buried.
Because even when he had asked about that day, the moment Kwon Mi-eon tried to answer, Mo Yeon-hu would only make an awkward face as if trying to evade the situation.
“How did we end up getting entangled?”
But today was different. Kwon Mi-eon paused, seeing a face that looked truly ready to listen.
“Sometimes I feel like I remember something, but I’m not sure.”
He wanted to know the context of his past actions that occasionally surfaced like afterimages, and what on earth they had discussed back then for Kwon Mi-eon to be so comfortably clingy with him now.
“Now… I want to hear it properly.”
Mo Yeon-hu had changed. At that, Kwon Mi-eon’s lips parted a few times before he finally spoke.
“Hyung saved me.”
Clack. Their eyes met.
“You returned something important to me.”
Then he smiled.
That face looked truly happy. Mo Yeon-hu froze at the expression, which seemed to bring a natural smile just by recalling that time.
It was that smile. That affectionate smile with the corners of the eyes crinkled, where no trace of his naturally sharp gaze could be found…
Because of that face, which appeared in fragments of memory when he first saw him and frequently thereafter, he couldn’t push Kwon Mi-eon away, even when the other acted recklessly…
‘You’re really an absurd and hopeless person. What were you thinking doing this?’
Looking only at the words, it was clearly a reprimand, but a face full of cheer in contrast knocked on the doors of his memory. The image of him laughing brightly, and the sound of his own laughter, as if unable to hold it back, tickled his ears.
‘Since I’m an accomplice now, I’ll tell you, right?’
At the memory of Kwon Mi-eon’s face pressed close, Mo Yeon-hu snapped his head up and accidentally dropped his phone. Thump, tick! His eyes widened at the sound of the heavy object bouncing off the floor.
“Whoops, sorry.”
But the phone had landed on Kwon Mi-eon’s foot. Even though he was wearing shoes, he felt bad, so he crouched down to pick up the phone, lightly tapped the top of the foot, and looked up.
Kwon Mi-eon’s face was right in front of him.
“Hey… Huh?!”
Unfortunately, he had been trying to lower his posture just as Mo Yeon-hu was trying to stand up. As they collided, Mo Yeon-hu staggered.
At this rate, he would fall. Kwon Mi-eon quickly grabbed Mo Yeon-hu’s arm and pulled him. It was only natural that he, who was awkwardly trying to stand, fell straight toward Kwon Mi-eon.
“Ah, damn.”
He landed completely on top of Kwon Mi-eon. All this just to pick up a phone.
“Sorry, are you okay?”
Mo Yeon-hu hurriedly lifted his head to check on Kwon Mi-eon’s condition and froze.
‘Huh?’
Kwon Mi-eon, who was trying to raise his upper body, and Mo Yeon-hu, who was trying to pull back, had their movement routes overlap again, and his lips brushed against Kwon Mi-eon’s cheek.
Frozen in the moment, Mo Yeon-hu found himself looking at the other’s face up close. But…
‘Why is he turning red?’
He widened his eyes in surprise. With his hat slightly pushed back, revealing his face, Kwon Mi-eon’s face had turned bright red.
“Your face is…”
Feeling embarrassed, he hesitated and pulled his body away, but Kwon Mi-eon stared at Mo Yeon-hu and smiled.
“Hyung, you’re incredibly red.”
At those words, he stole a glance at the full-length mirror beside them and jumped in surprise.
‘Why am I red?’
As his face, which had been slowly flushing, began to turn even redder, Mo Yeon-hu suddenly bolted upright.
“You… you… go.”
“What?”
“You should go. You’re b-busy.”
Then, he abruptly grabbed Kwon Mi-eon’s arm to pull him up and called the elevator. Kwon Mi-eon, who had been stood up in a daze, was bewildered.
“Wait a second. I have something to say.”
He spoke hurriedly, but perhaps embarrassment grants superhuman strength, as Mo Yeon-hu quickly shoved Kwon Mi-eon into the arriving elevator.
“Go! Get home safe!”
Kwon Mi-eon, who had tried to resist for a moment, wore a blank expression because Mo Yeon-hu seemed so resolute, before finally bursting into a chuckle.
“You have to answer when I call.”
Even though he was the one who hadn’t contacted him because he was too busy with his romantic pursuits.
“Yeah, okay.”
As Mo Yeon-hu frantically pressed the close button, the doors began to slide shut.
“But just one thing.”
Suddenly, a large, outstretched hand caught the elevator door. Kwon Mi-eon stared intently at Mo Yeon-hu and gave a firm warning.
“Remember that love changes.”
As if telling him not to forget.
“Definitely.”
He emphasized it once more.
‘Why on earth is that important in this situation?’
It was a bit absurd, but since the other didn’t seem like he would back down unless he got an answer, Mo Yeon-hu instinctively promised.
“Yeah… okay.”
“Good.”
It must have been the answer Kwon Mi-eon wanted. As soon as he heard the response, he immediately withdrew his hand and nodded. As the elevator doors slowly began to close as if they had been waiting, Kwon Mi-eon waved his hand slightly through the gap until the very end.
—Thump.
Finally, the elevator doors closed completely. In the space that grew silent along with the slowly descending floor numbers, Mo Yeon-hu stood blankly as if possessed, then let out a hollow laugh.
This is ridiculous. To suddenly visit at this hour, declare that love changes, and then leave.
‘What does he want me to do?’
Buzz. A vibration rang in his hand. Thinking it was a message from Kwon Mi-eon, who had just left, Mo Yeon-hu checked his phone and paused.
Incoming Call
010-XXX9-XXX3
Slide to answer
‘It’s an unknown number?’
Thinking it was spam as usual, he was about to ignore it, but he was surprised by the content of the text.
❮010-XXX9-XXX3⠇
Text Message-SMS
(Now)
Is this Momo’s number?
‘Is this about Zombie Village?’
Usually, he wouldn’t even glance at unknown numbers, but since the sender mentioned his Zombie Village nickname, he couldn’t ignore it.
‘How did they get my number?’
While Mo Yeon-hu was flustered because he had never made his number public, he understood the situation upon seeing the following message.
❮010-XXX9-XXX3⠇
Text Message-SMS
(Now)
I’m Miu.
I’m contacting you because your number is in the registration info.
Miu? Miu contacted me?
‘Ah! Could it be the one I wrote when I joined?’
Thinking back, when he joined the Alliance, Shin Jadu had told him he needed to provide at least one phone number, so he had written it down. She said it was to keep track of numbers because there were so many scammers in the game.
‘Ms. Mi-yeong contacted me directly!’
❮ Edit Contact
**
my♥
**
In his excitement, Mo Yeon-hu quickly saved the phone number, then paused.
“…Why did she contact me?”
Now that he thought about it, the situation was what it was. This wasn’t the time to be happy about getting Mi-yeong’s number.
‘Could she be contacting me because I called her Ms. Mi-yeong?’