By Zephyria Ki Jae-eon, who was embarrassed that he had been crying alone, eventually staggered out of his room to wash his face in the morning.
Blink.
Sting.
Blink.
Sting.
“…Ah.”
His eyes felt quite sore even when he just blinked.
He rubbed his red, swollen eyes with the back of his hand and came down the stairs.
He was about to go straight to the bathroom, but he stopped by the kitchen first. He glanced around to see if anyone was there, then quickly opened the refrigerator door. It wasn’t to eat… it was to see if there were any more letters. He felt like he was too conscious of it, and even his ears and the back of his neck felt slightly flushed.
Then a piece of paper caught Ki Jae-eon’s eye.
A piece of A4-sized paper placed on top of a black lunch box.
It wasn’t a letter. It was closer to a timetable.
What is it? Ki Jae-eon carefully read the paper.
The more he read each word, the more haggard his pale complexion became.
The content of the paper was a unilateral notice and burdensome consideration in the form of ‘I will vacate the dormitory from this time to this time.’ Even the last paragraph said
‘Where, to, contact…’
The moment he thought he should make an earnest request to stop because there was no need for this.
“Just enjoy it.”
A familiar voice suddenly spoke.
Ki Jae-eon flinched and turned his head in the direction of the sound. Ahn Seo-myeong was standing there. As soon as their eyes met, he gently raised his index finger to his lips and whispered, “I’m breaking the rules.”
“If you get caught, you have to clean the bathroom, so please cooperate.”
“…Bathroom cleaning?”
Ki Jae-eon’s lips trembled as if he couldn’t believe it.
Could there even be a penalty?
He wanted him to deny it, but Ahn Seo-myeong nodded his head to mean that what he was imagining was correct.
“It’s only natural that there’s a reasonable penalty for breaking the rules.”
Ki Jae-eon felt his tongue stiffen with the burden. Now he was even suffocating.
“T-this doesn’t s-seem right.”
“Is it shameless to say that now?”
“That’s not it…”
“Then leave it alone. Let them feel more sorry.”
“……?”
When he made a bewildered expression, Ahn Seo-myeong shrugged his shoulders with a face that wasn’t a joke, saying, “Just kidding.” Then he slowly reached out and gently hooked his pinky finger around Ki Jae-eon’s pinky finger. The dry skin brushed against each other, causing a strange chill.
Ah…, flinch. Ki Jae-eon took a slight step back at the unfamiliar sensation, and Ahn Seo-myeong abruptly stopped what he was doing and even rolled his eyes to make eye contact.
Black and clear eyes.
For some reason, his heart fluttered at the upright gaze.
“Whatever you do is up to you, and it’s your life, but…”
Ahn Seo-myeong smiled very leisurely. Then his small head tilted to the side.
“You keep making me interfere.”
Then, as if to say don’t run away, his pinky finger gradually tightened.
“Presumptuous, right?”
Ahn Seo-myeong frowned once as if he was in trouble.
Then, before he could say anything, his finger slipped away. At some point, even the paper in his hand had been taken away.
“I’ll go and tell them to stop. There’s nothing I can do if the person doesn’t like it.”
“Ah… T-thank you.”
Ki Jae-eon, who belatedly came to his senses, moved his lips slightly. In fact, he was still awkward with the subtle warmth that remained on his pinky finger.
Hmm, Ahn Seo-myeong, who had been quietly watching Ki Jae-eon hesitating, suddenly rolled up the paper and lightly tapped his shoulder.
“Anyway, I hope your shoulders are less heavy.”
At that moment, Ki Jae-eon’s expression changed.
‘I hope Exorcist’s shoulders are less heavy.’
An auditory hallucination that sounded in a voice that was even thicker than now.
It was Ahn Seo-myeong from the time when he was fighting against it.
How can the same person… say the same words, in a different era, at a different time?
Is that possible?
‘…Ah, is it?’
Is that possible?
The corners of Ki Jae-eon’s lips faintly rose. It was a smile that he himself didn’t realize.
‘Yeah, you were this kind of person.’
A person who was consistently kind.
“Yeah…”
A joy he hadn’t felt in a long time.
No, it was a longing that wasn’t scary.
*
Ki Jae-eon smiled.
Ahn Seo-myeong stopped moving for a moment like a broken robot.
Slightly lowered gaze and lips forming a curve.
His finger twitched.
If he hadn’t focused his mind, he might have reached out and touched Ki Jae-eon.
Thump. Thump.
Thump…?
Ahn Seo-myeong realized that his heart was beating very fast. At this rate, it was similar to when he had downed three Americanos in a row.
‘That’s strange.’
Ki Jae-eon was the one who was tug-of-warring between those two. He had never thought of anything else.
He didn’t know that it would bounce out in such a completely unexpected direction.
He remembered the times when his older sisters would watch idol stages that they had never seen before, saying that they had been hit by a ‘car accident of fandom.’
Is this one of those kinds? Hmm, he thought about it briefly, but the conclusion leaned towards no.
‘Then…’
Thump. Thump.
Thump.
Ahn Seo-myeong exclaimed, “Ah.”
His smart brain mercilessly realized what this unfamiliar feeling was.
He blinked his eyes several times and made a slightly embarrassed expression.
It was a very big agitation for a dry personality.
But it was understandable.
Ahn Seo-myeong, 20 years old.
His first love, with a man?
‘Is this right?’
He gently resisted with his head, but there was nothing he could do because his heart said ‘Oh, that’s right’ firmly.
‘I, I like him.’
Ahn Seo-myeong let out a hmm- bland breath at the unrequited love that had suddenly come to him, his first love.
‘Jae-eon is cute…’
Like a man, he omits honorifics to the person he likes.
Isn’t that the spirit that only younger men can have?
Ah, of course, only in his heart.
“Hyung, by any chance, this week-”
Having realized his feelings, just as he was about to cleverly flirt, thud! The sound of the front door opening echoed. A flurry of footsteps followed. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
‘This isn’t easy.’
Well, they say love is only precious when it’s difficult.
“Huh? Hey!! Ahn Seo-myeong, you!!”
Ahn Seo-myeong shrugged at the kids who were yelling about him being chosen for toilet cleaning duty. It’s a rule that will soon disappear anyway, so whatever.
Even if it stays, it’s no big deal.
If it’s toilet cleaning once for Ki Jae-eon all to himself, he’d do it a hundred, a thousand times.
A younger man in love had nothing to fear.
“Why are you sneaking in and bothering Jae-eon hyung- huh…?”
“That’s right! We made a prooomise… Heok!”
The kids, who had been scowling and rattling off like machine guns, suddenly shut their mouths.
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to Ki Jae-eon.
The kids’ mouths dropped open as if they couldn’t believe it. Their beady eyes blinked several times before widening.
“!!!!”
The kids were startled as if struck by lightning out of nowhere.
He’s, he’s smiling?
Is he smiling right now?!
The Ki Jae-eon of all people… is smiling!!
This was a scoop.
Just as the kids were about to react with astonishment, gasping for breath-
“I, I’ll take my, my leave, fi, first.”
Whether he instinctively realized the attention he was getting, or whether he was overwhelmed by the gazes, Ki Jae-eon slowly backed away before darting off at lightning speed. Even a frightened roe deer wouldn’t be slower than that.
“…Daebak.”
Someone moved their lips, mouthing the word.
And soon.
“Daaaebak!”
“What! What happened!”
“Heol!!”
Exclamations of amazement, like screams, burst out from all directions.
“Ahn Seo-myeong! What are you! What did you say to make the Exorcist smile?!”
What did you do to make the Exorcist, who doesn’t even eat snacks or reply to letters, smile like a spring flower!
“Explain it right now!”
“Why are you the only one getting close to him?! That’s so unfair!”
In the end, Ahn Seo-myeong, left alone, had to deal with all the kids’ fuss.
But even when they pinched his cheeks and shook his shoulders wildly, Ahn Seo-myeong didn’t utter a word.
Of course not. The reason Ki Jae-eon smiled? As if he’d tell them.
That was only…
‘Mine.’
A childish obsession bloomed.
A month later.
As the main office had predicted, the news that he had summoned the vermilion bird spread far and wide, eventually reaching the ears of Heavenly Land. Inevitably, Heavenly Land proceeded with a one-sided meeting without asking for the main office’s opinion.
However, this time, the main office didn’t lower its nose either.
They had thoroughly prepared to give Heavenly Land a taste of their own medicine.
Kim Yeong straightened his clothes as he waited for the guest from Heavenly Land to arrive. Behind his horn-rimmed glasses, his gentle eyes burned intensely.
“Teacher, they’ve arrived from Heavenly Land!”
“Is that so? I understand. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll guide them from here.”
Who could it be?
An Exorcist from Heavenly Land? Or someone from the Gi Clan?
Ki Tae-ho, the Head of the family, is too heavy-footed to come.
Maybe Ki Jae-ha, who is currently standing in for Ki Jae-eon?
‘It doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, they’re all abusers.’
Even bystanders are guilty. Kim Yeong firmly resolved as he threw open the large pine door. He wouldn’t give up Ki Jae-eon to anyone. No, he wouldn’t even show them his face!
However, the person who came to the main office was new, as if mocking all of Kim Yeong’s plans.
Why is she here?
A white dress reminiscent of a beautiful lily, clean dress shoes without a speck of dirt, a face veil that slightly covered her face.
It was Ki Jae-eon’s mother, Ryu Seong-hee.
“It’s been a while, Master Kim Yeong.”
And she was also the best fortune teller in the country.
[Fortune Teller Ryu Seong-hee]
The eldest daughter of a fortune-telling family with a long history, as long as the Gi Clan.
Her mouth does not speak lies.
Ryu Seong-hee’s predictions were famous for never being wrong.
The waiting line to see her for a fortune telling was said to stretch from Seoul to Busan… no, around the entire Earth.
“I didn’t expect you to come, Teacher Ryu…”
“It’s a natural visit.”
She quietly raised her lowered gaze and smiled faintly.
“Am I not a mother?”
Her eyes, full of Yin Energy and somewhat hollow, were just like Ki Jae-eon’s.