By Zephyria 
Dazedly feeling the heat lingering in that breath tickle his skin, he suddenly snapped back to his senses and blocked Tae-un’s mouth with his palm. It was a precarious position, just above the lips. A bead of cold sweat rolled down.
‘I almost let him sneak another kiss…’
The corners of Tae-un’s eyes drooped. Contrary to his crestfallen expression, his tongue slid past his lips and licked the palm of the hand. Kim Si-baek, barely swallowing a moan at the explicit sensation of the pointed tongue poking and rubbing as if tracing his palm lines, felt distraught. He thought the boy was only good at kissing, but it turned out he was skilled with his tongue as well.
Kim Si-baek swallowed dryly and spoke in a voice feigning composure.
“I told you there was no way to seduce me.”
“Aw, Hyung. This isn’t seduction. It’s just a ‘sleep well’ greeting.”
“What?”
“Good night.”
Still pressing his lips against the palm, Tae-un delivered a kiss with a distinct mwah sound. Kim Si-baek frowned, suspicious of the plain attitude that contrasted with the blatant licking from before, but Tae-un simply smiled, his eyes crinkling.
“…Fine, you sleep well too.”
At any rate, he had prevented the shameless disaster of kissing Tae-un.
Pretending everything was normal, Kim Si-baek lightly shook Tae-un’s cheeks with his fingers and returned to his room. Watching his back gradually disappear into the darkness, Tae-un smiled languidly. If he were to sink his teeth into that protruding Adam’s apple and suck hard—crushing it enough to leave a blood-bruise—how long would he be remembered?
✽ ✽ ✽
[Death and Beauty consoles you that his mouth did not touch the water bottle.]
“You were sleeping in your room…”
[Death and Beauty claims that your god can observe everything with the eyes of the mind.]
“Yeah, sure.”
As Kim Si-baek remained completely indifferent, Biyendwe’s eyes sharpened.
[Death and Beauty reprimands you, asking what the big deal is about a little kiss over a water bottle when you’ve already rubbed lips.]
“Well, it’s not that it bothers me specifically… but please, don’t read my mind this time. This is rated R.]
[Death and Beauty blinks his eyes with innocent clarity, claiming he doesn’t know what you mean.]
“….”
He wasn’t like this before, but at some point, he started acting cute. The cause was definitely Tae-un…
“I wonder what Death and Rest would say if they saw Biyendwe in his current state.”
[Death and Beauty flinches at the name of his scary sister.]
Having stopped Biyendwe’s act of cuteness, Kim Si-baek stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the meeting room, the appointed location.
It was natural for a guardian to find a child cute, but on the other hand, he was worried. His twin sister, Death and Rest, had already completed her growth, but Biyendwe was still a young god.
Setting aside the suspicion that Tae-un was exerting a negative influence on the young god, his heart felt restless. Was it too naive to think it would be fine to live under one roof and face Tae-un every day?
While pondering whether he should get a separate place after all, Kim Si-baek knocked on the door of the meeting room and opened it.
“Ah, Mentor.”
Yang Eun-ho, who had already arrived and was waiting, greeted him.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No, not at all. It’s ten minutes before the appointment. Please, have a seat.”
At Yang Eun-ho’s gesture, Kim Si-baek pulled out a chair opposite him and sat down. Today was the day they were to officially sign the contract with the 7777 Guild.
Yang Eun-ho explained each clause of the contract in detail. Since there was no way Tae-un or the guild would scam him, he listened while nodding vaguely. The explanation of the contract ended only after Biyendwe, who had been listening intently at first, began to yawn and doze off.
“Do you have any questions?”
He felt sorry for Yang Eun-ho, who had explained so diligently, but since he had listened without much thought, he had no questions. Kim Si-baek signed the contract immediately.
“Now that you’ve officially become a member of our guild, I look forward to working with you.”
The connection with his younger brothers, which he thought had been completely severed, was now tenuously re-established. It was a connection that would break again once he returned via mak slechtro, but until then, he would do his best to be a brother he could be proud of.
After the formal signing of the contract, Yang Eun-ho handed over a guild uniform embossed with the emblem and provided further explanation. The emblem of the 7777 Guild was, as expected, a simple number 7.
“Since the clothing has stab-proof and flame-retardant enchantments, it will withstand most attacks. As for weapons, if the sword I gave you last time doesn’t fit, you can look for more in the armory. You can also place custom orders for sacred artifacts with the production department. Just let me know if you need anything. And as for the lodging… you’ll continue staying with Tae-un Hyung, right?”
“Does the guild provide separate lodging for members?”
“There is a dormitory, although it’s located a bit far from the main office.”
If he decided that leaving the penthouse was for the best, he now had a place to choose. After finishing the general explanation of welfare benefits, Yang Eun-ho asked a more earnest question.
“We need to make an official recruitment announcement and consider the attack squad placement, so I’d like to ask… what exactly is the religion of the power of faith?”
“You can think of it as polytheistic faith; among them, the domain overseen by the one I serve is Death and Beauty.”
“…Excuse me?”
“He is the god of Death and Beauty.”
“Why, of all things…”
“Death is an inevitable fate that humans cannot avoid. So, if there were only dread and terror at the end called death, how burdensome would a finite life be? Death is not terror, but an extension of the beauty of life.”
“….”
At Kim Si-baek’s serious explanation of the doctrine, Yang Eun-ho fell into deep contemplation. Could this be for real and not just a concept?
“Ahem, yes, putting that aside… if it’s Death and Beauty, people will definitely call it a ‘Chuunibyou’ religion. Are you okay with that?”
“Chuunibyou?”
It sounded like a word he had heard somewhere, but he couldn’t quite remember. As Kim Si-baek tilted his head, Biyendwe began tapping away on a phone to search.
[Death and Beauty cheers, saying that a Black Flame Dragon is cool.]
Only after seeing the search results on the phone screen did he recall what the term Chuunibyou meant, but well, as long as the god himself was satisfied, it was fine.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Then let’s move past that. What exactly is your ability, Mentor? Tae-un Hyung told me to just ask you and didn’t say anything, but from what I heard from Ga-eun Noona and Min-hyung Hyung, you’ve even annihilated a Portal Keeper in one hit.”
“Hmm, first, I have healing abilities, but they aren’t significant. I can heal wounds, but it’s impossible to reattach severed parts or make them grow back. Treating diseases is also impossible.”
Even just that was something. Being able to save a critically injured person who might die and treating injuries on-site to allow for longer field hunting was a sufficiently groundbreaking advantage.
“I can provide specific buffs as well… but more than that, my practical ability is that I am the antithesis of magical beasts. I can hunt magical beasts efficiently and quickly. If conditions are met, I can annihilate magical beasts, like the Id Portal at the department store. Though, it doesn’t work for beasts that are too strong, those close to chaos—meaning Named-grade.”
The more he heard, the more desirable the ability seemed, and Yang Eun-ho even swallowed hard. Furthermore, Kim Si-baek hadn’t mentioned a single word about his ability being combat-oriented. This meant that the swordsmanship that had overwhelmed people at the department store’s Id Portal was a skill he possessed independently of his trait.
“With that level of ability, the magical power consumption must be high.”
“Of course, it’s not infinite. It’s not exactly magical power, but since it’s a power derived from faith.”
“Ah, yes. So, to what extent…”
Kim Si-baek, who had been explaining without hesitation, momentarily fell silent and stroked the baby crow hopping on the table. Since it was someone else’s pet, he didn’t say anything, but really… it was ugly. Even if it seemed to have an ability linked to Kim Si-baek’s trait. There was no way for him to know that the baby crow was currently scattering divine utterances in excitement, claiming it was raising a Black Flame Dragon in its right wing.
“It cannot be measured by a specific numerical value. It varies depending on the situation.”
Yang Eun-ho understood this to mean it depended on one’s mental state. For those with weak mental fortitude, there can be a difference in how they utilize magical power depending on their psychological state. Though Kim Si-baek didn’t seem to have a fragile psyche.
Kim Si-baek slowly moved his lips.
“If you want me to use my abilities for longer…”
“…?”
“You just have to praise me.”