By Zephyria 
Pie, having overtaken Ha-jin and Eden, ran towards the vast lake.
It was only when Ha-jin got closer to Pie that he realized it wasn’t a natural lake but an outdoor swimming pool decorated with blue Red Tide Tile.
‘A swimming pool in front of the house…?’
His mind, half-dazed from the long journey, snapped awake. From the entrance, he had a feeling it was unusual, and now he felt like he was in a luxury resort rather than a house.
At Eden’s gesture, Pie eagerly jumped into the water as if he had been waiting. Ha-jin, who was blankly watching Pie swimming like a seal, paddling with his four paws, couldn’t resist his curiosity and opened his mouth.
“Is this some kind of… rental house? Or a share house?”
He couldn’t imagine that this house, like the mansions of Hollywood stars he had only seen on TV, could be entirely owned by Jeong Tae-geon. Eden gently wrapped his arm around Ha-jin’s shoulders, who had a bewildered look on his face, and started walking again.
“Although the buildings are separate, Byeol’s family lives here too, so you could call it a share house. The building on the left is my house, and the one on the right is Hyung’s house.”
Eden raised his hand and pointed to the rectangular building on the right, slightly away from the center.
“Seeing that the lights are off, it seems they’re all out for a while. Say hello to Byeol when they get back later.”
Ha-jin looked at the beige, square building he pointed to, then turned his gaze back to Eden’s house.
“So, this is Jeong Tae-geon’s house where he lives alone…?”
“I usually stay here when I’m not busy.”
He usually stays here? Does that mean he has a second house too? Eden, leaving Ha-jin with his jaw dropped, operated the door lock. The door opened only after entering the number, recognizing the fingerprint and iris, and entering the number key again.
Having finally entered the house with difficulty, Ha-jin was even more surprised than when he had discovered the swimming pool. The interior of the house boasted a visual like a gallery in an art magazine he had seen sometime ago.
The central living room was at least twenty steps away, and the ceiling was so high that he couldn’t help but shrink.
Unlike Ha-jin, who was making a fuss inside, Eden showed no sign of being moved by returning home, and remained nonchalant as if he had just been on a business trip. He sat Ha-jin, who was standing blankly, on the white leather sofa.
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll get you something to drink.”
“Okay. But the house is quite….”
“It seems Hyung-soo has been paying attention to it. And the helpers seem to have been coming and going. Fortunately, the house isn’t dirty.”
…Cleanliness isn’t the issue right now.
Ha-jin, who had expected at best an ordinary and cozy house with a garden, couldn’t easily escape from the shock. He was beginning to want to dissect the brain of Eden, who was asking him, with only his body to his name, to live with him in a mansion reeking of money.
No, in the first place, why would such an incredibly wealthy man try to give up his life for him? The more he thought about it, the more incomprehensible it was.
Ha-jin fidgeted with the brooch in his pocket, touching it until it was worn out, to calm his pounding heart. While he was half out of his mind, Eden, who had gone to the kitchen, returned to his side. He handed Ha-jin a cup and sat down opposite him.
“Drink this. I brought juice instead of water.”
“Thank you.”
Ha-jin stared blankly at the surface of the orange juice before taking a refreshing sip. Then, he suddenly burst out laughing. Eden looked at him strangely, covering his mouth and snickering for no reason.
“Why are you laughing?”
“No, that….”
Ha-jin, clearing his throat, replied without completely erasing his laughter.
“I suddenly remembered sharing orange juice together in the old apartment.”
He couldn’t stop the absurd laughter because he couldn’t believe that Eden, who was used to a luxurious life, had survived by sharing lukewarm juice past its expiration date with him.
Eden, leaning back on the backrest, rolled his eyes with a thoughtful look.
“Are you talking about the apartment where Do Ha-jin and I had our first kiss?”
Keup…! Ha-jin barely managed to hold back the juice that was about to be spewed out of his mouth this time and put down the cup. Then, as if he had been waiting, Eden grabbed the back of his neck and licked the juice-stained lips with his tongue.
“Eubeub….”
Ha-jin was helplessly held by him until his thick tongue freely took over his palate and the root of his tongue. He felt his upper body slowly leaning back. Sensing that the atmosphere was about to turn strange, he gently pushed Eden’s shoulder away.
He couldn’t just start making out like animals in the middle of the living room as soon as he arrived in America. Moreover, he didn’t know when he would be greeting Jeong Tae-geon’s family.
“Stop it and give me a tour of the house. I’m going to get lost trying to find the bathroom.”
Eden frowned unpleasantly at the interruption of the skinship, but couldn’t resist Ha-jin’s urging to show him around the house and got up from his seat. After a difficult tour of the house, Ha-jin pressed down on his aching head and said timidly.
“It feels like you’re wasting too much space living alone.”
“This neighborhood has the best security. There’s nothing but houses like this around here, so I didn’t have a choice.”
Ha-jin, who was about to say how about living comfortably in a slightly smaller house, closed his mouth again at Eden’s neat answer. As someone who handles military weapons, it seemed that security was vital, so it didn’t seem like a lie.
Eden led Ha-jin back to the Office room they had passed by earlier. To be exact, it was the Alpha Room connected to the Office room. The Alpha Room had a large picture window, so just standing there made your heart feel open.
“Let’s make this Do Ha-jin’s Office room. I’ll order the necessary furniture and Magic tools soon, so feel free to use it.”
Ha-jin’s eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion. He felt very burdened by the situation, as if he had suddenly become Cinderella, but at the same time, his heart softened with gratitude for his lover’s consideration and care for him.
He couldn’t easily open his mouth and looked around the spacious room when he flinched at the sudden sound of the doorbell.
“It seems Hyung has arrived.”
At the word ‘Hyung,’ Ha-jin belatedly straightened his clothes with a nervous face. Eden patted him on the shoulder as if to tell him not to worry and pressed the front door opening button attached to the wall of the Office room. When he went down to the first floor with Pie, he immediately met the eyes of the couple standing there with anxious faces.
“Doryeon-nim!”
“Geon-ah!”
The two ran to his side and grabbed his arm tightly before Eden could even greet them.
“Are you hurt?! Are you okay?”
“What should we do? Doryeon-nim, you’ve lost so much weight.”
The couple kept touching his body as if they couldn’t believe that Eden was standing in front of them. Eden’s Hyung, Jeong Tae-woo, wiped away tears with the back of his hand and heaved his chest greatly.
“How did it get so late? Huh? I was so worried when I saw only Byeol come back, Geon-ah.”
“Anyway, I’m back. Why are you crying?”
“Still, you, you. How much did Hyung… how much did Hyung….”
Ha-jin, who was standing far away and watching the tearful reunion, also felt a tingling in his nose. Watching the touching reunion of the brothers, he reflexively thought of his younger brother Jun-seok and his eyes welled up.
If he had met Jun-seok safely, wouldn’t it have been a scene like this? Embracing each other’s withered bodies, scolding each other for being so late, and then crying because their hollow cheeks hurt….
Jeong Tae-woo, who had been catching up with Eden for a long time, belatedly discovered Ha-jin and wiped away his tears. It was when Ha-jin took a step forward to greet the couple.
Someone quickly ran in through the wide-open front door.
“Samchoon―!!”
The child’s face at the entrance was flushed with excitement. A warm smile spread across Ha-jin’s face as he confirmed the slightly taller height and the plump cheeks.
Byeol, wearing white overalls, surprisingly ran straight into Eden’s arms. Eden, who caught the child who was hugging him, straightened his staggering body and faced Byeol. A bright smile also bloomed on his face as he looked at his nephew.
“What! Uncle came super early?!”
Everyone burst into laughter at the child’s unexpectedly energetic reaction. Byeol fearlessly grabbed Eden’s cheeks and tore his face apart.
“Uncle, did you shave too?”
“I did it on the plane.”
“Good job! I didn’t like it before because it was a little prickly, but now it’s soft, so I like it.”
The child smiled shyly and pushed his chest as if telling him to put him down. Then, as soon as he got down on the floor, he stretched out his arms towards Ha-jin, who was waiting.
“Ha-jinnie Samchoon!! I came back a hundred nights ago, so I’ll praise you!”
Ha-jin knelt on one knee and opened his arms towards Byeol, who had become cuter and more energetic than before. The child, running lightly, hugged him like a feather.
It felt like a white ointment was applied to a corner of his heart that was oozing with longing for Jun-seok. He closed his eyes, feeling a sense of fulfillment in Byeol’s affectionate embrace that tightly hugged his neck.