By Zephyria 
Tae-un, who had ascended to a store displaying men’s clothing and accessories with a determined air, began by suggesting wristwatches.
“Watches you can buy at a department store are all pretty much the same, but these aren’t bad for casual use. I’ll see what your taste is like based on what you pick here, and then I’ll place a separate order for you.”
Unaware of how many zeros were attached to the price tags of these “casual” watches, Kim Si-baek looked through them with a blank mind. Not only did he lack material desire, but he had always worn whatever accessories others gave him, so nothing particularly caught his eye.
Above all, there was one difficulty in wearing a wristwatch.
Kim Si-baek called Tae-un closer and whispered.
“I have a bio-chip embedded here.”
Tae-un’s gaze shifted to the inside of the wrist he was pointing to.
“I’m used to wearing a device synced with the bio-chip on my wrist, so I think a wristwatch would be uncomfortable.”
“Did you leave it behind?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t particularly necessary on the battlefield. Still, I’ll have to use that device again once I return, so I don’t want to form a different habit by wearing a watch now.”
Seeing how he didn’t forget the future he had just returned from via mak slecht, even in the trivialities of daily life, Tae-un’s lips curled into a smooth smile.
“Buy clothes instead, for sure.”
“Un-ah, what do you think would suit me?”
While picking out clothes, Tae-un had repeatedly said things like Hyung, you look cool in anything, you’re the best, it suits you well, but Kim Si-baek asked because he was curious about his actual opinion. It was a casual question, but Tae-un frowned in deep concentration before picking one.
“How about this one?”
“Oh…”
[Death and Beauty interjects, saying that’s not what death and beauty look like.]
What Kim Si-baek was holding were light beige slacks, but the sweatshirt Tae-un pointed to was green. Beige is neutral, so green could suit him depending on the saturation, but he wondered where Tae-un had found a garment with such a vivid, jarring green that would stand out anywhere.
“Do you not like it?”
“No, no. I like green too.”
That didn’t mean he disliked it. As long as the clothes were neat, what did the color matter?
After that, as they looked around, Kim Si-baek told them they had enough whenever the staff recommended something, but Tae-un insisted he wanted to blow some money and swiped his card at will. Before he knew it, large shopping bags were held in both hands. When Kim Si-baek tried to take the bags, Tae-un raised the hand holding them above his head.
“Why is someone with such a weak body trying to carry luggage?”
“I may be frail, but luggage is originally meant to be carried by the young while attending to their elders. People will curse me if they see me letting someone of your age carry bags.”
“…No, my physical age is in its 20s.”
While Kim Si-baek suffered at the thought of his age, Tae-un, who had walked ahead, looked back with intentionally drooping eyes.
“Hyuuung, are you going to leave me to go alone?”
I really can’t beat him.
[Death and Beauty disapproves, noting that this person knows exactly how to swing my apostle.]
Unable to deny those words, Kim Si-baek followed behind.
In the food court, there were many menu items he had never seen before. While curiously browsing the unfamiliar names, they bought three gelatos and sat in an empty seat.
[Death and Beauty likes it because it’s sweet.]
Biyendwe, who had claimed one for himself, also swallowed the gelato with relish. As he sat across from Tae-un and scooped the ice cream with a spoon, an old habit unconsciously surfaced.
“Here.”
Kim Si-baek, who had instinctively held the spoon toward Tae-un’s face, realized his mistake a moment too late. The Tae-un before him was not 14, nor was he 5.
He tried to withdraw his hand awkwardly, but Tae-un was faster. Quickly opening his mouth to receive and swallow the gelato, Tae-un licked his lips with his tongue. The tongue resting on the pale lips caught the eye once again with its prominent redness.
“It’s delicious.”
Kim Si-baek cleared his throat for no reason and tried to think of something else. Like the childhood Tae-un, who would munch with chubby cheeks while eating what he gave him. His heart settled warmly. This is healing.
“I haven’t touched mine yet, do you want me to change the spoon?”
“No, it’s fine.”
While feeding a 5-year-old, he had often finished the food the child left behind. As he continued to scoop the gelato with that spoon, Tae-un’s eyes narrowed meaningfully.
“Next time, I hope Hyung feeds me other things too.”
“What? Other than gelato?”
“White things.”
“…?”
The Tae-un he met after a long time occasionally said things that made no sense. Since he was being vague, Kim Si-baek didn’t want to pry and just let it slide.
After walking around for a while and sitting down to eat sweet snacks, the surrounding scenery entered his view. Because he was used to the gaze of others as an apostle, he was late to realize, but a great many people were glancing their way and pointing their phones toward them.
“What are those people doing with their phones?”
“They’re probably taking photos or videos.”
“Ah, they can take photos. I forgot because I’m not used to it.”
Kim Si-baek thought for a moment. In his common sense, the people who are stared at and whom others try to capture in photos are usually celebrities…
‘Not me, so they must be trying to take photos of Un? That’s why he made me wear a hat earlier.’
One question was solved, but a new curiosity arose. Wasn’t Tae-un just the representative of a guild? He’s not a celebrity, so why on earth?
Everything about the Earth he returned to after 21 years, and especially Tae-un, was full of perplexing parts.
“If it’s unpleasant to be photographed together, should I stop them?”
“It’s fine. I’ve probably been photographed throughout the department store anyway.”
Besides, he was used to being photographed. Both during his time as a fencing athlete and in mak slecht.
His expression darkened as he thought of mak slecht. Biyendwe, reading his surface psychology, sent a divine utterance.
[Death and Beauty mutters that he misses my grand warrior and the pontiff.]
It was the same. The people he had left behind flickered before his eyes. Gloiuken, whom he taught like a disciple; her younger brother, who followed him like a father; the pontiff and the Emperor of the Empire…
He would be able to return. If he fulfilled the quests.
But before he could fall into deep contemplation, a voice called out.
“Si-baek Hyung.”
Tae-un gently grasped his hand. The hand of the child who had grown so much easily covered his own.
“It’s really been a long time since we met. Even if it’s not every day, can’t you think only of me when you’re with me?”
The voice of that summer child, carrying a certain heat, faintly lingered in his ears. That voice, which he had thought about and thought about for a very long time even in mak slecht.
〈In a few more years, I’ll be an adult. An adult just like Hyung. So I…〉
It was just as that unfinished sentence from the child slowly spread through his heart.
Suddenly, the sound of a ringing phone scattered the child’s voice that had been cluttering his mind. Tae-un frowned and rejected the call without even checking who it was. The phone rang again immediately.
Kim Si-baek, catching his breath, pulled his hand away from Tae-un’s.
“Isn’t it something urgent?”
Tae-un sighed and answered the phone.
“What.”
As soon as he answered, a man’s voice boomed loud enough for Kim Si-baek, sitting next to him, to hear.
Hey, Tae! I heard you got a lover! And a guy at that!
Along with the voice of Seo Gae-un, who seemed to be desperately trying to stop him from the side, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I told him it’s really not true!”
Guessing who it was, Kim Si-baek’s darkened expression softened. Though the voice had changed a lot after puberty, he could tell just by the manner of speaking and their relationship.
〈Hyung. I almost broke my arm arm-wrestling with Tae. That brat is short and skinny, so why is he trying so hard to beat me at arm-wrestling?〉
It was Pi Min-hyeong. Tae-un, Pi Min-hyeong, and Seo Gae-un, who was slightly younger. Knowing that the three same-age friends who used to hang out together had maintained a good relationship until now was as joyful as confirming their safety.
“Hang up.”
I heard from Eun-ho that you’re at the MA Department Store, right? Anyway, I’ve arrived, so just wait! Where are you now…
Tae-un simply ended the call and turned off his phone. It was then.
Beee! Beee! Beee!
[Death and Beauty is startled.]
At the same time a high-frequency warning sound sharply tore through the air, magical energy was detected. It was magical energy that could be felt because he was a priest with divine power, which is polar opposite. He reflexively looked up, but because a panicked Biyendwe fluttered his wings and covered his face, he couldn’t see ahead properly.
[Death and Beauty is horrified, saying the space is twisting.]
[Death and Beauty is confused, unable to understand this phenomenon.]
The ground beneath his feet surged, dropped suddenly, and then soared toward the sky, making his senses a chaotic mess as if he were falling upside down. The mixed senses shook his consciousness and consumed him deeply.
“I had a restaurant reservation, how annoying,” was Tae-un’s low mutter, the last memory he had.