By Zephyria 
From the moment the appointment was made, to riding in the pitch-black, incredibly expensive-looking car sent by Je Seong-jae, to arriving at a high-end traditional Korean restaurant without a single sign, to sitting across from Je Seong-jae, and finally having the food placed before him—Yoo Jiha had not a single shred of sanity left.
Seeing him dazed and eating mechanically, not even knowing if the food was going into his nose or his mouth, Je Seong-jae let out a short laugh.
“Mr. Jiha, I’m not that grand of a person, so there’s no need to be so nervous.”
“I’m not, not ner—ah, I mean, I apologize, Chairman. It’s just….”
“Hmm. What would it take to put you at ease, Mr. Jiha?”
“C-could I perhaps have a glass of alcohol…?”
Drinking in front of his boyfriend’s younger brother, who also happened to be his sister’s boss and a conglomerate chairman, upon their first meeting. It was an audacity he could only have uttered because he was out of his mind. Fortunately, Je Seong-jae simply laughed once and asked the server for drinks.
Jiha gulped down a glass of an unknown liquor served in a white porcelain bottle. As the alcohol, with its savory grain flavor, entered his system, his mind cleared slightly. To be precise, the alcohol gave him a boost of courage.
Only then was he able to look directly at Je Seong-jae. He hadn’t felt it much through videos or photos, but meeting him in person, there were definitely features that resembled Jeil Heon, which helped ease his tension.
“You said you sent the email because of Il-heon hyung?”
“Yes, yes! Uncl—no, Team Leader, Il-heon nim has been away from Pilgyeongdang for quite some….”
“Please, speak comfortably. What do you usually call him?”
“Ah, I call him Ajusshi.”
Having drunk another glass poured by Je Seong-jae before he knew it, Jiha began to slowly spill his story. Je Seong-jae listened attentively to the stuttering words and nodded.
“You must have been very worried. I’m not in constant contact with my eldest brother either, but I do know where he is.”
“I see….”
Suddenly, the tension drained out of him. While it was a relief that his location was known, a sharp pang hit his chest when he realized that the location had been shared with the brother and not him. Of course, a brother would take precedence over a lover they’d only been dating for a short while, but still….
Yoo Jiha took another sip of alcohol for no reason, but the ache in his heart wouldn’t subside.
“Do you happen to know when Ajusshi will return?”
Je Seong-jae, who had been staring at him, suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from my eldest brother. Since you’ve experienced it, you’ll know that the person at Pilgyeongdang has an incredibly strict personality.”
“You’ve met Teacher Yeo-song too, Chairman?”
“Unlike my brother, I am an ordinary person without a true eye, so I couldn’t meet them face-to-face, but I have exchanged written messages. That person rarely allows outsiders into Pilgyeongdang; could you perhaps be my nephew, Mr. Jiha?”
“Ah, no, absolutely not!”
Unable to reveal that he wasn’t Jeil Heon’s son, but rather someone who had touched his genitals, Yoo Jiha shook his head desperately. From now on, he would truly become someone who never touched them again….
“My brother had Hubaes he favored, but Mr. Jiha is the first person he’s ever brought into Pilgyeongdang, which is still quite fascinating to me.”
The gaze watching him intently possessed a power that was gentle yet dissected and pierced through everything. He was already intimidated by the man, and under that gaze, he felt shrunk, merely fidgeting with his fingers.
Je Seong-jae, who had kept him pinned in place, spoke again leisurely.
“Aren’t you going to ask where my brother is? Wasn’t that what you were most curious about?”
“T-that’s true, but…. Since Ajusshi kept it a secret from me, I felt like I shouldn’t force the information out of him.”
“What does it matter? Il-heon hyung isn’t the type to get angry. He’d probably just laugh it off.”
That wasn’t wrong. As long as the opponent wasn’t an anomaly, Jeil Heon was generally generous and was not a man to raise his voice or use vulgar language. Even if one forced out a fact he had intentionally hidden, he would likely end it with an awkward smile.
It would probably be the same this time. However, Yoo Jiha didn’t want to do that.
“Ajusshi has always been considerate of me…. I don’t think I should act like that when I’m receiving such care from him.”
“…….”
“And even if I pushed for it recklessly, Ajusshi would treat me the same as before on the surface, but he wouldn’t feel the same way inside. He would feel unpleasantness or irritation…. I don’t want any discomfort to arise in the way he looks at me.”
Perhaps swept away by Je Seong-jae’s gaze, he had unknowingly poured out his honest inner thoughts. Once he finished speaking, he suddenly felt anxious, wondering if this was a situation that could actually arise between a normal landlord and a lodger.
As he cautiously gauged the reaction, Je Seong-jae stood up, taking out a pack of cigarettes.
“I’ll be back after one cigarette.”
Only after he left the room did the tension finally leave Jiha’s shoulders. As he relaxed, his sense of taste returned. Feeling it was a waste not to have properly enjoyed such delicious food, he wanted to come here with Jeil Heon on an anniversary. For example… the anniversary of becoming a 25-year-old virgin mage.
After waiting for a long time while munching on the food, Je Seong-jae returned to the room. Jiha wanted to go home now, but the man looked as if he still had more to say.
“Did you hear about our family from my brother?”
“Only that you are his half-brother, Chairman.”
“That’s practically everything. My eldest brother rarely brings up family matters on his own….”
That answer seemed to lead Je Seong-jae to a certain conclusion. He dropped the searching gaze and leaned his face closer.
“Since you work in the Exploration Division, you have a true eye, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll tell you where my eldest brother is.”
“Uh, excuse me, as I said before, it’s really okay.”
“I’m forcing this upon you, so I’ll take the role of being scolded by my brother. I would like it if you could look after him, Mr. Jiha.”
“M-me?”
He couldn’t understand a single thing Je Seong-jae was talking about. To the bewildered Yoo Jiha, he spoke with a serious expression.
“Actually, I’ve been very worried as well.”
“Did Ajusshi go far away?”
“It’s not because of the distance, but there’s a problem with what my brother is trying to do.”
The conversation was cryptic, but Yoo Jiha’s resolve hardened at the words that followed.
“He seemed to be planning something related to anomalies or Contamination behind the Management Bureau’s back. I believe that work will be extremely dangerous.”
While the Water Abnormality Worship Management Bureau and anomalies were not disclosed to the public, they were known covertly to some, including the government. They devised various means to protect themselves from the dangers of anomalies. While not as perfect as the barrier of the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, they had some effect, and this villa was a building remodeled based on those principles.
Jeil Heon used that in reverse. To ensure that internal Contamination did not expand outward and be detected by the Management Bureau.
“Phew….”
Jeil Heon curled up and covered his face. Previously, he had begun to mutate after failing to endure even two days without Yoo Jiha, but this time it took longer. It was proof that even though the boy had become quite cold due to a mistake on a drunken night, he himself was still deeply intoxicated by this relationship.
How much time had passed? Slowly, his time for eating and sleeping decreased, and a hunger that would not be satisfied even after an eternity began to boil, and a phantom pain, as if his skin were sizzling and burning, began to spread. Not yet. Just a little. Just a little more.
Jeil Heon endured, slamming his forehead against the floor until it bled. He waited for the instant just before the jihwan burst, where the Corruption Level skyrocketed while he still maintained his ego as a human.
And in that fleeting moment.
He gripped Nam Soon-ho’s Divine Blade—the Divine Blade contaminated by the Smiling Man—upside down and stabbed his own abdomen. The rusted blade, soaked in the blood of an Aberration, pierced through his back and tore through the air like a sheet of paper. Beyond it, the Dividing Mist shimmered. An Aberrant Realm opened.
Ajusshi, look at this! If you hold the phone like this, you can record, and if you do this, you can take a video! You can even auto-record calls. It’s completely different from the 20th century, right?
He played back the cheerful voice. The light within him that would never fade, the presence of a boy who shone simply yet beautifully, embraced the one standing on the precarious boundary. The jihwan, which had been heating up as if to explode, cooled slightly. Jeil Heon stood up, gasping for breath.
He was still human.