By Zephyria 
“Why did Lee Han-gyeol become a believer? I’m not one yet. I was planning to take the title of Believer No. 1!”
“…….”
Kim Si-baek felt a strange sense of agitation. Tae-un had been so brazenly pushing his luck in the massage chair, regardless of who entered the lounge, yet he had looked genuinely surprised the moment Lee Han-gyeol arrived. To think that was the reason…
“That’s… why don’t you put your hand on your heart and think about your own behavior?”
How had Tae-un treated Biyendwe until now? Far from reverence, he had been indifferent or even annoyed at times. It was practically impossible for faith to develop under such circumstances.
It was a comment meant to make him reflect on himself, but Tae-un abruptly grabbed his hand and pressed it firmly against his own chest.
Kim Si-baek would have been flustered if he had suddenly felt the sensation of his own chest in his palm, let alone someone else’s.
Startled, Kim Si-baek shouted, “Not my hand, your hand should be—”
“Hyung, is my chest big?”
“……Uh, yeah. Your body is really great.”
However, the embarrassment faded away, dissolved by the playful grin on Tae-un’s face.
One could tell Tae-un’s body was lean and muscular just by looking at him in the suit, and while he had seen his bare chest before, he had been too preoccupied with treatment at the time. Now, his body entered his field of vision anew. It might have been awkward, but for now, the feeling of him being a younger brother seemed to outweigh everything else. Kim Si-baek felt a wave of profound pity.
How much hardship must this fragile child, who used to collapse in front of him all the time due to anemia, have endured to train himself like this?
With a sting in his nose, Kim Si-baek unconsciously felt around his chest. Instead of a human body made of flesh and blood, the sensation of muscles as hard and elastic as metal was etched into his fingertips. Along with old scars hidden by clothes.
Everything was a trace of the days Tae-un had lived through.
As if sensing his feelings, Tae-un’s cheeks flushed a soft red, and he whispered shyly. The faint murmur brushed against the ear, penetrating sweetly.
“This chest belongs to Hyung now.”
“…….”
Coming back to his senses at those words, Kim Si-baek hurriedly pulled his hand away, but of course, it was too late. Biyendwe squeezed his eyes shut, and Lee Han-gyeol stiffened, looking as if he wanted to run away again.
“Shall, shall I leave you two alone? I’ll make sure no one comes into the lounge, so please, do as you wish……”
“……No, that’s not it. I apologize.”
Setting aside Biyendwe, who had seen all sorts of things, what kind of disgraceful behavior was this in front of his brother? Kim Si-baek clutched his head, seriously contemplating whether he needed to put a muzzle on Tae-un.
[Death and Beauty shakes its head, noting that the problem is severe since my apostle is clearly the type to fall for it no matter how much you try to shut their mouth.]
“…….”
He couldn’t deny it.
However, for Lee Han-gyeol, Tae-un’s antics actually helped him gather his thoughts in a different direction. He poured out questions with eyes full of doubt.
“I’m asking this on the assumption that you really are a god… exactly which region’s god are you? If your true form is a crow, is it animism? I know that animistic beliefs continuing to this day are very minor indigenous religions remaining only in a few specific regions. Or is your true form something else? Did you come to believe in a religion while Hyung-nim was sent abroad as an NIS agent? Did you revive a past religion whose traditions were lost? Why is it that only Hyung-nim’s god can send something called a divine utterance? Does ‘Death and Beauty’ roughly mean a god of death? If so, is there something like an underworld? If the world-view is that large, it’s polytheism, right?”
Amidst this feast of countless question marks, Kim Si-baek felt pleased that Lee Han-gyeol was such a curious child, while simultaneously feeling the exhaustion that came with the realization that mages are the same in every world.
Since it had come to this, he had no choice but to tell the truth. It was a somewhat polished version of the truth, the same one he had told Director Noh and Gwak Yun-sang.
It was only after a considerable amount of time had passed that he was able to explain the situation to Lee Han-gyeol. Since he had experienced things firsthand, he accepted it more easily than expected. After pondering Kim Si-baek’s explanation, he asked the most important question.
“Then, exactly how old are you, Hyung-nim?”
“……I am 97 years old.”
“Gasp! Grandfather!”
Lee Han-gyeol stood up as if he were about to bow deeply on the spot, and watching Kim Si-baek hurriedly try to stop him, Tae-un laughed delightedly.
“Hyung, wouldn’t a couple with a 60-year age gap be rare even in Hollywood? If we go anywhere, people will call you a criminal, even if you’re just a thief.”
“Could you be quiet?”
He managed to stop the word ‘grandfather’ from leaving Lee Han-gyeol’s mouth, but other questions continued endlessly.
“Are there no religious symbols like a cross or a swastika?”
“There are, but they are divine script, so ordinary people cannot create them.”
“Then can I use the power of faith like Hyung-nim?”
“Since you’ve manifested magical power, you cannot use divine power.”
“Do I not have to go somewhere every day to pray, like at a church?”
“First of all, there are no temples on Earth. Devout believers sometimes create altars in their homes, but you don’t have to go that far. Just pray in your heart.”
“Oh! What about the prayer text?”
“There is no special prayer format for general believers.”
Still, since the questions were about religion, it was enjoyable. Veterans always welcome newbies. He also secretly liked that his monumental first believer was a younger brother from the orphanage.
After hearing the general explanation, Lee Han-gyeol’s review was as follows:
“It’s a very flexible and convenient religion. Simple and easy.”
Kim Si-baek brushed off the explanation that it was the fate of a minor religious sect that had to target niche markets with a smile. Lee Han-gyeol scratched his head and asked one last question. The target was not Kim Si-baek, but Tae-un.
“But Tae-un Hyung, you’re always with Hyung-nim, so why didn’t you become a believer?”
At that question, Tae-un rubbed his chin with a smile playing on his lips.
“Maybe because I’m a believer in the Church of Si-baek?”
“Wow!”
Lee Han-gyeol thought the line was cool because it came from Tae-un, even though it would have been cringeworthy coming from anyone else; Kim Si-baek felt extremely bashful; and Biyendwe fell into a state of worry over the fact that faith toward the apostle was stronger than faith toward the god.
✽ ✽ ✽
“It’s good that Han-gyeol believed so easily.”
“He lives his life blindly looking only at me without thinking.”
At first glance, it sounded like he was belittling Lee Han-gyeol, but there was no trace of mockery in Tae-un’s voice.
“I have to live my life guiding him well so that Lee Han-gyeol’s mental state doesn’t break. If I ordered him, he’s the type who would set off explosion magic in the middle of downtown Daejeon right now, but if he witnessed people being slaughtered, his mind wouldn’t remain intact.”
At words of a weight that was difficult to dismiss as a joke, Kim Si-baek opened and closed his lips a few times before gently responding.
“But you’d never give Han-gyeol an order like that, right?”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
Tae-un’s expression, which had been quietly reciting with a flat, sunken gaze, cleared up like a lie.
“I just said something that ruins the appetite. What do you want to eat?”
The two were sitting across from each other in a private room at a meat restaurant. It was to nourish Tae-un’s body, as he hadn’t been out of his hospital bed for long.
‘……It’s hard to say he’s completely recovered.’
Though he looked perfectly normal, he was likely still suppressing magical energy. Since he would obviously answer that he was fine if asked, Kim Si-baek refrained from speaking to avoid bothering him, but it was natural to be worried. He brought him here to feed him delicious food and strengthen his physical stamina.
Whenever they happened to eat together, they naturally used Tae-un’s card, but today Kim Si-baek decided to treat. Between the settlement money from the HG Guild and the contract fee from the 7777 Guild, Kim Si-baek’s bank account and wallet were bulging. Although the source of that contract fee was also Tae-un, regardless.
“For nourishment, isn’t Hanwoo the best?”
“They sell Spotted Beluga meat here too. You know, the magical beast that looks like a dolphin but has spotted skin and lives in the deep sea.”
“Ah, that? It does taste good.”
Having returned to Earth, the Korean DNA in Kim Si-baek’s mind had revived, and the formula ‘top-grade meat = Hanwoo’ remained firmly in place, but what did it matter? Since Tae-un brought it up first, he seemed to want it.
Once the Spotted Beluga was ordered, a staff member soon brought the side dishes and the plate of meat. Biyendwe’s portion consisted of cherry tomatoes that the staff had been asked to bring.
The meat, grilled skillfully by the staff beside the table, was wrapped in lettuce by Kim Si-baek and sent directly into Tae-un’s mouth. Every time Tae-un, who was receiving the meat with his mouth open like a baby bird, chewed and swallowed, Kim Si-baek felt a sense of fullness even without eating.
“Is it tasty?”
Nod, nod. The staff member desperately kept their eyes glued to the grill to avoid seeing the face bobbing cutely up and down.
“It’s so good to see you eating well.”
“Hyung, eat too. Shall I wrap some for you?”
“Mm…… I’m okay. I feel like I’ll say something inappropriate while putting it in my mouth.”
“You caught me.”
Tae-un, who had been throwing out subtly inappropriate remarks while acting cute, gave a soft, eye-smiling look.
“So, Hyung. After breaking the bed while sleeping with me, are you really going to leave my house and go to the dormitory?”