By Zephyria 
Hardly three seconds had passed since their eyes met before the protagonists began kissing, touching each other and stripping off their clothes. In proportion to the rising sound of wet, slapping kisses, Kim Si-baek’s cheeks flushed a deep red.
“Where’s the remote!”
“Uh, over there.”
Tae-un pointed toward the corner of the living room with a casual air. It had definitely been near the table when they were watching the movie; when had it rolled all the way over there?!
‘It’s okay for a moment. The bed is far away, so…’
Kim Si-baek rushed to grab the remote. Unfortunately, the protagonists had no luxury of making it to the bed and collapsed in a tangled heap right in front of the entrance. In an instant, the large screen was filled with bare skin.
He tried to change the channel immediately, but even his fingers betrayed him. Flustered and fumbling, his finger repeatedly pressed the volume button instead of the back button.
In the living room, where the sound of flesh slapping and heavy breathing echoed in booming surround sound, Kim Si-baek screamed internally, while Tae-un offered a calm critique.
“The male actor moves his hips very realistically.”
“You shouldn’t be watching things like this yet!”
He pressed the red button and shut the TV off entirely. He felt the strength suddenly drain from his body. In the midst of this, the fact that Biyendwe was sleeping soundly somehow made him feel even more hollow.
Tae-un tilted his head innocently.
“From what age am I allowed to watch erotic things? Forty?”
“…When you become an adult.”
At the pathetic answer that escaped him due to embarrassment, the corners of Tae-un’s mouth curled up smoothly.
“More of an adult than I am now?”
A large hand stepped closer and gently enveloped Kim Si-baek’s hand, lifting it. The warmth left by the fern-like hand of the child who used to squirm in his palm was still vivid, yet the hand had grown so much that the fingers were now half a joint longer than his own.
Lifting the hand, Tae-un lowered his head. Their eyes met at a distance as close as the protagonists who had shared that passionate kiss in the drama.
‘…Isn’t this too close?’
The distance was such that if he took a long breath, their breaths would mingle. Feeling awkward, he tried to pull his waist back, but Tae-un guided Kim Si-baek’s captured hand to touch his own face.
Skin met at the tips of the awkwardly dangling fingers. Tae-un’s body temperature was lower than it had been when he was a child. His fingers flinched at the sudden coolness, but the hand gripping him did not waver in the slightest.
Unlike the firmly locked hand, the black gaze and breath were calm. His slowly spreading breath softly tickled Kim Si-baek’s skin. The repetition of the slowly seeping breath resembled a heartbeat. Unconsciously following that beat, Kim Si-baek realized that the resonance was originating from within himself.
Suddenly, Tae-un’s face came into view anew. The child had grown into a mature adult, to an extent he could never have imagined in the past.
‘…When did he become such an adult?’
As if drawn by the increasingly distinct thumping of his heart, the sensation of the fingers touching Tae-un’s cheek became hypersensitive. It was smooth and soft, but it was not the tender skin of the child he used to pinch and play with. The bold lines of a man, forged during the time he had not seen, approached as if slowly rubbing against his fingers. Passing over the straight forehead and the space between the brows, the sharp bridge of the nose, and the exceptionally pale, bloodless lips.
Ah. A subtle sense of déjà vu suddenly surged within him. That is, wasn’t the male lead reflected in the female lead’s eyes in the drama just now, like Tae-un, this close? The female lead had also been stroking the male lead’s face, just as he was…
What happened after that? The female lead moved her fingers across the bold lines of the male lead’s cheek and lips, yes, just like now.
Kim Si-baek’s fingers, held by Tae-un, slid across the straight, pale lips. A soft, squishy texture, different from skin, stimulated the sensation at his fingertips. Thump-thump; once recognized, the beating of his heart circulated vividly, as if pulsating through the hand that was being held.
“…Hyung.”
The red tongue visible between the slightly parted lips caught his eye, and a humid breath pushed against his fingertips. Wetly, as if about to lick.
In that moment, Kim Si-baek snapped back to his senses. Looking at his captured hand with a gaze full of obvious bewilderment, he flustered around and patted Tae-un’s cheek.
“If you watch too many erotic things, you won’t grow taller. Hyung is going to the bathroom for a second.”
The hand that had been holding him slipped away and dropped as he took a single step back. Tae-un watched Kim Si-baek head toward the bathroom with hurried steps, and once left alone in the living room, he let out a languid sigh.
“Was I too hasty? It hasn’t been long since we met again.”
Closing his eyes, Tae-un pressed his lips against his palm, where Kim Si-baek’s warmth still lingered warmly.
But Hyung.
The time I have left isn’t very long.
Kim Si-baek pressed his forehead hard against the bathroom mirror. Saying you won’t grow taller if you watch erotic things. No matter how much it was just something he blurted out, it was pathetic nonsense. What would be the point of growing any taller anyway?
‘Is it because the alcohol is hitting me? Well, it’s been a really long time since I’ve had a drink because of the war.’
He fanned his face for no reason and then washed his face with cold water. The lukewarm heat remaining on his fingertips was quickly washed away by the water.
Nevertheless, there was an old memory that remained, surfacing vividly without being washed away.
〈In a few more years, I’ll be an adult. An adult just like you, Hyung. So I…〉
Kim Si-baek shook his head, trying to shake off the longing the child had conveyed back then.
He had liked how young Tae-un’s face brightened and how his cheeks plumped up comfortably, so even after the boy had grown quite a bit, he used to play by pinching his cheeks. Therefore, Tae-un’s behavior just now was an extension of that play. It had to be.
‘It’s been 21 years since I heard those words… Thinking about it is just my own self-consciousness acting up.’
Twenty-one years. It’s easy to say, but it’s a long time—long enough for a newborn baby to become an adult and more. It would be rude to assume that a child’s immature emotions would remain unchanged and intact.
‘Anyway, it’s a relief that Biyendwe-nim didn’t see this mess.’
Kim Si-baek swallowed a bitter smile. The heartbeat that had been thumping loudly for no reason also completely subsided. He must have been a bit surprised by Tae-un’s sudden behavior.
Though a few days had passed since his arrival, he hadn’t fully adapted to the changed environment, so things must feel unfamiliar. Feeling a renewed sense of strangeness while looking at the adult Tae-un was surely because of that.
Only after completely calming his mind and taking several deep breaths to compose himself did he open the bathroom door. Tae-un waved his hand welcomingly. His manner was casual.
“Since you need to grow taller, let’s watch something non-erotic and wholesome, rated for all ages.”
Taking a deep breath, Kim Si-baek naturally sat down beside him.
“Like what?”
“An anime. A sequel came out recently. You probably saw it a long time ago too, Hyung.”
The two sat side by side and watched a masterpiece animation that had become a global hit and already released four series. As the hour grew late, Kim Si-baek felt the weight of Tae-un, who had fallen asleep leaning against his shoulder, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
✽ ✽ ✽
Others might find it easy to access the internet via mobile phones, but for Kim Si-baek, it was still a struggle. If anything, it was Biyendwe who had taken a liking to the phone. He would tap away with his foot to surf the internet, and it seemed he had even started playing games recently.
Studying the changed world was actually more convenient through the TV. It was an era where magical beasts bred, portals appeared, and Awakened hunters were active. The mass media reflected the flow of the world excellently.
On variety shows, Awakened displayed their diverse abilities, and about half of the chaebol groups—a staple of dramas—had been replaced by large guilds. Even the perpetrators attempting terror attacks in Korea had changed from North Korean spies to demonic terrorists who believed that magical beasts were the new dominant species of Earth.
[To think humans would attach themselves to magical beasts in the name of death and beauty; I evaluate that people are the same everywhere.]
“Well, there were plenty of seed bearers in mak slecht who betrayed humans and followed the chaos grand warrior.”
While studying, he was anxious about when a quest might pop up, but the system window remained silent. He didn’t care for the forcibly assigned quests, but he had to complete them to the end to return to mak slecht. The silence without any notice made him even more uneasy.
“By the way, Hyung.”
Tae-un, who had been chatting and explaining who this celebrity or that celebrity was while watching TV with Kim Si-baek after work today, suddenly asked.
His tone was remarkably serious, unlike his usual self, who was always playful in front of him.