By Zephyria -Exorcist Ki Jae-eon is coming to the main office! An Exchange Meeting…? Or something like that?
What the hell is this nonsense?
Kim Ju-won visited the main office with angry steps. He brushed past the people who greeted him happily and looked for Master Young. Teacher! It was a reckless attitude that blew away all etiquette. But in fact, Master Young greeted him indifferently with a look that said, ‘The time has come.’ His relaxed eyes pointed to the chair in front of him. It meant to sit down.
‘Sly old fox, he knew everything after all?’
His body trembled with a sense of betrayal.
“What do you mean by Exchange Meeting? We’ve never had anything like that before!”
Despite Kim Ju-won’s outcry, Kim Young remained calm. He tilted his teacup and savored the tea with a slurp. Indeed, its savory and mild flavor made it the perfect afternoon beverage.
Kim Young’s leisurely attitude only fueled Kim Ju-won’s fiery temper. “Teacher, are you even listening to me?!” His hand slammed down on the table with considerable force.
“Who got hurt because of Seo-myeong? What do you mean, come here?!”
At the ear-splitting outburst, Kim Young also put down his teacup. Then, he silently gazed at his disciple. Their eyes met in a clash of wills. However, it was clear who had the stronger spirit. Master Young was the only one who could make the spirited Kim Ju-won tense.
“Kim Ju-won.”
At the low voice, the troublemaking disciple flinched. In that moment of subtle tension, Kim Young diffused the atmosphere with his signature gentle smile.
“Could you please clean the room next door?”
“Ah, Teacher!”
Kim Ju-won’s lips protruded.
“I don’t want to.”
“You have no choice, even if you don’t want to.”
It wasn’t a lie. Kim Young truly had no choice. This Exchange Meeting was a direct request from Heavenly Land. He was certain that the Gi Clan’s pressure was behind it.
‘…Anyway.’
Kim Young forced a troubled smile because of Kim Ju-won, who was complaining in his ear about how he had changed and how disappointed he was. He had expected him to be unwelcoming, but he hadn’t realized he would hate it this much.
“Whose side are you on, Teacher?”
“One of your bad habits is always trying to take sides. Teacher told you before…”
Even as Kim Young rattled off his lecture, he secretly resolved to keep the fact that this Exchange Meeting was a substitute for Kim Ju-won’s punishment a secret. If he found out, it was hard to imagine what kind of eccentric things that bulldozer would do.
‘He might run to the elders at the main office and throw a tantrum, demanding to be punished instead…’
Ugh, just imagining it was exhausting.
“Doesn’t this mean we’ll have to go to Heavenly Land someday?!”
Kim Ju-won raised his chin and narrowed his brow. His voice was disgruntled.
He dreaded the fact that Ki Jae-eon was coming, but he also hated the idea of having to go to Incheon.
‘Well, I don’t know about that… That’s an unnecessary worry.’
Kim Young closed his eyes and gave an ambiguous smile.
[Exchange Meeting]
A training exercise where young Exorcists from Heavenly Land and the main office would stay in each other’s regions to develop their skills… or so it was said.
‘In reality, our kids will probably never go to Heavenly Land.’
This was just a superficial excuse created solely for Ki Jae-eon. So, the things Kim Ju-won was worried about probably wouldn’t happen.
Kim Young watched Kim Ju-won, who was flailing around like a chestnut burr struck by lightning, and recalled a phone call he had received a few days ago.
-[“Exactly six months. During that time, Exorcist Ki Jae-eon will stay at the main office and train.”]
-‘Excuse me? At our main office?’
-[“The main office is where Exorcist Ki Jae-eon most recently regained his normal condition. This decision was made after considering various factors.”]
-‘Still, this is too sudden… I’m not sure if we’ll be able to take good care of him.’
-[“We will not hold you responsible for the scar on his face.”]
It was practically a threat.
The main office, already wary of the violence, had no choice but to do as Heavenly Land ordered. Well, since they had promised not to touch Kim Ju-won, Kim Young had no reason to refuse. Above all, he was worried about Ki Jae-eon’s condition.
‘At least he won’t be abused if he’s here.’
Kim Young intended to do everything in his power to heal Ki Jae-eon’s wounds. Since things had turned out this way, he wanted to show him that there were good adults in the world.
But to do that, he had to convince this angry puppy…
Kim Young slumped his shoulders and fiddled with his cold teacup.
“Ju-won, you have no reason to hate him.”
“I have no reason to like him either.”
It seemed like our Ju-won had really taken a dislike to him. Kim Young sighed. His contemplative gaze naturally lowered. Should he say it… or not? He didn’t really want to talk about someone who wasn’t there, but this time, he decided to make an exception.
‘It’ll be hard for him to adjust to the dormitory without Ju-won’s help.’
Especially since the teenagers and young adults at the main office revolved around ‘Kim Ju-won,’ Ki Jae-eon would need his help to adjust. Of course, given Kim Ju-won’s personality, he wouldn’t do anything sneaky or systematically bully someone.
‘He’s the type to end things completely if he doesn’t like someone.’
But that was also a problem.
His disregard could lead other kids to follow suit and go in a bad direction.
“Exorcist Ki Jae-eon, or rather, Jae-eon…”
After much deliberation, Kim Young decided to trust his disciple.
Although his nature was fiery, he was a deep person, so he decided to bring it up.
“I think he’s in a very dangerous state.”
Kim Young calmly began to explain, revealing that Ki Jae-eon was ‘not cursed.’ In short, he suspected that he had been abused for a long time.
“In Teacher’s opinion, it looks like a kind of panic disorder. I can’t say for sure, but…”
Kim Ju-won listened to Kim Young with a fairly serious attitude. However, just because his posture was upright didn’t mean his heart was. He didn’t find Kim Young’s words very convincing.
Of course, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any questionable points. There were one or two things that felt off.
Someone as skilled as Ki Jae-eon can’t control his own power?
He gets beaten to a pulp and doesn’t even resist?
Yeah, it was strange.
But abuse?
‘That’s too one-dimensional.’
Kim Ju-won thought of Ki Jae-eon’s gloomy eyes. Contrary to the rumors that he was a snobbish young master… he was an unpleasant guy who felt like he was missing a screw somewhere. Frankly, he wasn’t someone he wanted to be close to.
But he was an unprecedented Genius.
He couldn’t deny that one fact.
Especially since he knew how proud Heavenly Land was of Ki Jae-eon.
Abuse and ruin a treasure they should be cherishing? Well, that’s too stupid.
‘That’s an overestimation.’
Kim Ju-won concluded that Kim Young was just too kind and had made a strange misunderstanding. He was affectionate and cared deeply for his disciples, so he must have just taken pity on Ki Jae-eon, who was around the same age.
Ki Jae-eon, the great Ki Jae-eon, being abused… what a ridiculous delusion.
“I hope you’ll take good care of Jae-eon when he gets here. Ju-won, I’m asking you.”
Kim Ju-won bit his lip as he looked at his teacher’s gentle smile.
He wouldn’t get through to him no matter what he said.
Ah… he really didn’t want to.
‘Why does he have to be next door?’
Today was D-Day. Kim Ju-won scratched his ear with an uncomfortable expression at the notification that the uninvited guest had arrived. He looked openly displeased. He wanted to ignore it, but he remembered his teacher’s request and reluctantly got up.
He got out of bed and slowly approached the dormitory entrance. With a creak, he opened the thick wooden door and was greeted by that annoying… corpse-like face. Wow, look at that face, it’s terrifying. Even the mottled bruises on his pale skin were still faintly visible.
‘Is he protesting to me?’
Kim Ju-won scanned Ki Jae-eon from head to toe and nodded lightly. It was a cold attitude that omitted even a simple greeting.
Clatter, clatter—Ki Jae-eon dragged a moderately sized suitcase behind him. An awkward atmosphere flowed between the two young men.
Was it because their first meeting had been the worst? Or did they just not get along?
Kim Ju-won hated the dark figure following behind him. No, to be exact, he was uncomfortable. He hated that he had hurt Seo-myeong and said such harsh things, and he hated that a guy as tall as him was pretending to be pitiful with a dying face. It was as if there was nothing to like about him.
Kim Young had worried that he was an abused child, but… well, Kim Ju-won just saw it as him deliberately putting on an act.