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Join the ServerAfter an exceptionally busy week, a quiet holiday morning had finally arrived. Lee Chae, thoroughly exhausted from enduring Hae-jin’s relentless pacing the previous night until he was on the verge of collapsing, was completely rolled up in the duvet like a burrito. Beside him, Hae-jin was showering him with a barrage of kisses, urging him to wake up.
“Why… it’s Saturday. Let me get some rest too.”
At the sound of the groaggy, half-awake voice, Hae-jin glanced at the wall clock and pressed further.
“No. Get up quickly. There’s somewhere we need to go. I’ve already contacted them.”
“…?”
Lee Chae’s eyes snapped wide open. To his absolute bewilderment, Hae-jin was already completely groomed and impeccably dressed in a full formal suit.
When Hae-jin acted with this level of determination, it was always wiser to forfeit sleep. If Lee Chae refused to move, Hae-jin would literally scoop him up, blanket and all, and carry him wherever he pleased.
Besides, he had no intention of looking like a disheveled mess next to the radiant Cha Hae-jin. Dragging himself out of bed, Lee Chae forced himself into the bathroom to shower. He was still so drowsy he barely registered how he washed, but the moment he stepped out, Hae-jin approached and began dressing him in a pre-coordinated suit. Long, elegant fingers reached for his shirt buttons.
“I-I’ll do it.”
“Do it quickly, then. We’re running late.”
“Where on earth are we going from the break of dawn on a weekend?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Lee Chae let out a heavy sigh, finished buttoning up, and sat down at the vanity. As if he had been waiting for this exact moment, Hae-jin brought over the hair dryer and began drying his hair. Watching him meticulously tend to every single strand with absolute devotion despite claiming they were in a rush, Lee Chae’s irritation dissolved like melting snow, and a soft smile graced his lips.
After securing Lee Chae’s dried hair into a neat style with pomade, Hae-jin caught Lee Chae’s gaze in the mirror and flashed a dazzling smile.
“All done. As expected, my Lee Chae is stunning.”
Lee Chae stared back with a thoroughly puzzled expression. He found it hard to believe that from the moment they were in bed up until now, Hae-jin hadn’t tried to pull a single mischievous stunt.
“Tell me the truth. What is going on?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s highly suspicious for you to push me this hard on a weekend morning without trying anything.”
Hae-jin let out a deeply defensive huff.
“I really didn’t tease you today, did I? I hit a bit of a crisis earlier, but I held myself back because I didn’t want us to be late for our appointment… Anyway, we have no time, let’s go.”
Hae-jin practically dragged him forward by the hand. He didn’t even leave room to respond to Jae-hyung, who was calling out for them to eat breakfast before leaving. The moment they descended to the garage and climbed into the car, Hae-jin accelerated out of the building at an alarming speed.
“Ah, seriously! You promised me you wouldn’t drive like this anymore.”
“I know, and you know I don’t usually do this. I’m just anxious because you dragged your feet so much this morning.”
“No matter how rushed we are, drive safely. The roads are getting crowded now, so if an accident happens, we aren’t the only ones who get hurt.”
At those words, Hae-jin slowly began easing his foot off the accelerator.
“Better?”
“Yeah.”
Reassured, Lee Chae reclined his seat slightly and closed his eyes. While he still had no clue regarding their destination, the fact that Hae-jin wasn’t waking him up anytime soon suggested it was quite a distance away.
How long had he slept? When a gentle voice told him to wake up, Lee Chae opened his eyes to find that Hae-jin had already exited the car, opened the passenger door, and was looking down at him. Rubbing his stiff, sticky eyes, Lee Chae scanned the surroundings to figure out where they were, only to freeze in absolute shock upon recognizing a highly familiar building.
“This place is…”
“Welcome to Jung Lee Chae’s family home.”
Ever since they had committed to living together, Lee Chae was well aware that Hae-jin maintained regular contact with his own mother, calling her once a week to check in. Every time they spoke, Hae-jin would casually mention, ‘I will come visit you soon,’ but Lee Chae had merely assumed it was a polite, standard sign-off due to a lack of deeper conversation topics.
Of course, he knew that if they were to spend the rest of their lives together, formally greeting his parents was an inevitable step. Yet, the primary reason Lee Chae had continually deflected whenever Hae-jin subtly suggested visiting his home was…
Because of Kim Jung-mi, Hae-jin’s own biological mother. Given the deeply fractured, dark reality of Hae-jin’s relationship with his parent, Lee Chae hadn’t wanted to flaunt a warm, functional family dynamic right in front of him.
Kim Jung-mi was a woman who had inflicted profound emotional scars upon her son. Furthermore, during the collapse of the old headquarters and the establishment of the new government, her extensive involvement in various corruption schemes had been exposed, leading to her current incarceration.
While Hae-jin had calmly stated it was a natural consequence, Lee Chae still felt a tightening in his chest whenever he recalled the hollow expression and strained tone Hae-jin carried during that conversation. The emotional weight had been so heavy that Lee Chae had absorbed the residual grief even without direct physical contact.
He had desperately wanted to avoid forcing Hae-jin to confront his own profound isolation by exposing him to a happy household… yet here they were, standing outside his family home without a single word of warning. It was entirely beyond his expectations.
“What are you doing? Your mother expressed how much she missed you. Let’s go inside. It’s also been a long time since you last saw Lee-jung.”
Realizing the emotional weight Hae-jin must have privately navigated while planning this visit all on his own, a deep ache bloomed in Lee Chae’s heart. Consequently, despite the overwhelming surge of missing his family, he couldn’t bring himself to fully celebrate the moment.
“Why would you come all the way here arbitrarily without saying a single word to me, Hyung? Did I ever tell you I wanted to go home?”
The sharp words tumbled out of Lee Chae’s mouth before he could stop them, and instant regret washed over him.
Instead of asking if he’s genuinely okay, how could I say something like that…? I’m so incredibly foolish. He should have simply expressed his gratitude and told him he loved him. He was only upset because he feared Hae-jin was hurting inside, yet his misdirected anger might end up causing the man even deeper hurt.
Overwhelmed with guilt, he raised his head to look at him. As their eyes locked, Hae-jin offered a deeply understanding look, as if reading his internal turmoil perfectly.
“I made a mistake. I should have asked you first.”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong, Hyung… You did this entirely for my sake. It’s just that, for me, I…”
His voice cracked slightly at the end. The vivid memory of the crushing loneliness he had shared through his guiding link when Director Kim and Cha Hae-jin stood together was so raw it threatened to bring him to tears. Hae-jin stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Lee Chae and pulling him securely against his chest.
“I know. I know you hurt for me when you think about my childhood. But… because of that, don’t you think I need a real family now more than ever? If they are your family, they are my family too.”
Faced with the profound warmth of that reassuring voice, Lee Chae found himself completely speechless. Pressing his cheek firmly against Hae-jin’s chest to seek his true intent, he was flooded with a beautiful mix of sincerity, racing pulse, slight nervousness, and genuine excitement.
On the very day he had first uncovered the depth of Hae-jin’s emotional trauma and profound isolation, Lee Chae had made a silent vow: if Hae-jin’s biological family chose to leave him entirely stranded, he would step up and become his true family.
Clutching Hae-jin’s hand firmly as they walked toward the front door, a deep sense of clarity washed over him—they were finally becoming a real family.
After parking the vehicle in the garage, Hae-jin had turned to wake Lee Chae, thoroughly anticipating the beautiful, ecstatic surprise on his face. Instead, upon confirming their location, Lee Chae’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit before filling with unshed tears as he bit his lower lip.
Even without a single word spoken, Hae-jin understood the source of those tears perfectly.
Whenever they were together and a phone call came through from Lee Chae’s home, the younger man would constantly track Hae-jin’s expression before quietly stepping out of the room to answer it. Witnessing that repeated hesitation, Hae-jin had taken it upon himself to initiate calls to Lee Chae’s mother, casually chatting with her in hopes of lifting the emotional burden from his partner’s shoulders.
Yet, because Lee Chae possessed such a deeply considerate soul, he constantly walked on eggshells, terrified of accidentally reopening the old, scarred over wounds of Hae-jin’s past. That precise concern was what had driven Hae-jin to organize this unannounced trip.
Stepping out of the car, Hae-jin kept Lee Chae tucked close to his side as he observed the neighborhood. Centered around a modest apartment complex, it was a perfectly ordinary, quiet small town dotted with local schools, daycare centers, and churches.
While I wasn’t by your side, you woke up in this very place every single morning, commuting to the old headquarters, occasionally attending academies, and living out your days.
Hae-jin was well aware of the stark reality that for three long years, Lee Chae had lived in complete isolation without a single close friend to lean on. While a significant portion of that was due to the strict surveillance imposed by the old headquarters to prevent his true identity from leaking, it was also heavily driven by Lee Chae deliberately isolating himself from the world.
During those dark years, whenever Hae-jin received surveillance photographs of Lee Chae walking aimlessly on his commute, stopping to stare blankly at the sky with tears welling in his eyes, he had been forced to aggressively suppress the overpowering urge to instantly tear down the world and run to his side.
But none of that matters anymore. We’re fine now, Hae-jin reminded himself silently, squeezing Lee Chae’s hand as they stepped up to the front door.
He pressed the doorbell, and within mere moments, a young man who shared a striking resemblance to Lee Chae pulled the door open.
“Hyung!”
“Lee-jung, have you been doing well?”
“Yeah. I’ve been great.”
Lee-jung threw his arms around his older brother in a fierce hug before casting a curious glance toward the tall visitor. Hae-jin immediately softened his features, offering the most genuinely gentle expression he could muster.
“Hello.”
Perhaps he possessed a naturally shy disposition, as Lee-jung’s cheeks instantly flushed pink as he offered a polite bow.
“Hello, Representative Cha.”
The way his face burned red when embarrassed and the slightly youthful pitch of his voice were the absolute spitting image of his older brother. Lee Chae let out a bright chuckle.
“What do you mean, ‘Representative’? He might look a bit intimidating, but he doesn’t bite. Just call him Hyung.”
“Is… is that really okay?” Lee-jung asked, his eyes darting between the two.
Hae-jin answered instantly, “Of course. If you are Lee Chae’s brother, you are my brother too.”
“Hyung!”
While their physical traits were remarkably identical, Lee-jung—perhaps due to being the pampered youngest child—possessed a naturally affectionate, bright charm that contrasted with his brother’s guarded nature. An affectionate version of Jung Lee Chae… how incredibly adorable.
Hae-jin quickly brought inside the massive mountain of premium gifts he had personally cleared out of a luxury department store, stacking them neatly in the living room. He then pulled out his wallet and handed a substantial stack of cash directly into Lee-jung’s hands.
“Since I’m the older brother now, I have to act the part.”
“Why are you handing a kid that much money?” Lee Chae chided softly.
“It’s not like I do this every day… By the way, where are your mother and father?”
Quickly pocketing the allowance with a grateful grin, Lee-jung answered, “Dad suddenly had an urgent issue crop up at the office, so he had to head out to work, and Mom was in the middle of cooking breakfast when she realized she forgot a few key ingredients, so she ran out to the local market to grab them.”
“Even on a weekend, your father seems exceptionally busy.”
“Well, now that the war is officially over, things are hectic. Don’t just stand around the entryway, please come inside! We’ve been deep-cleaning the entire place for a whole week in anticipation of your arrival, so it’s spotless.”
Stepping fully into the residence, the living room revealed a cozy arrangement of well-worn, comfortable furniture and a vibrant collection of household plants that clearly reflected years of meticulous, loving care.
However, amidst the unfamiliar layout of the house, the one specific space Hae-jin was dying to explore more than anything else was the one room he had never been permitted to see—Lee Chae’s childhood bedroom.
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