Chapter 60: Protect the Villain

“T-This crazy bastard, seriously…! Haah….”

While I was in the middle of cleaning the house, a message came in from Jaeyul, who’d already gone to work.

He said he’d cleared out my place in Gangwon and sent my belongings here first, so they’d be arriving soon.

I had no idea how moving luggage could be delivered by courier, but the boxes arrived not long ago, and I received them for now.

But the luggage amounted to just one box.

Since I’d been drifting all over the country for four years, I didn’t have much to begin with.

Still, there was no way everything I owned could fit into a single box.

“What the hell.

There aren’t even any clothes—he only brought the Petra I’d collected…!

Poppy, I think your hyung’s completely lost it….”

I’d been arrested while doing illegal guiding and dragged all the way to Seoul, so I hadn’t even managed to pack a single pair of underwear.

I’d slept last night borrowing Jaeyul’s pajamas.

I desperately needed my stuff, but what arrived was so little there was barely anything to unpack.

It felt… hollow.

All traces of my four years were gone.

Should I be grateful that at least the Petra made it…?

I immediately made a call.

The line barely rang a few times before a voice answered.

— Yeah, hyung.

What’s up?

Bang, boom!

Explosions roared loud enough to tear through the speaker, yet Jaeyul’s voice itself was calm.

As if he were leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee on a lazy afternoon.

“…You’re working right now?”

— It’s fine.

I’m not that busy, so you can talk.

Fwoosh, bang! Boom!

No—this absolutely did not sound fine….

Just from the noise, it was clearly a fierce battle.

So I held back the scolding I’d been about to unleash about the luggage.

“…Let’s talk later….”

— Oh, right.

Check the closet in your room.

There should be some clothes you can wear.

Sorry, hyung.

I’ll wrap things up quickly and head home, so see you later.

Not busy, my ass.

Jaeyul finished saying what he wanted and hung up first.

I couldn’t decide whether I should praise him for being skilled enough to talk on the phone in the middle of a fight like that,

or yell at him for doing something so dangerous.

“Poppy, is your hyung always like this?

Huh?

How does someone throw away all of another person’s clothes?

Even if they were cheap, that’s too much.

What am I supposed to wear now?”

“Yap!”

“Wait for snacks.

I’ll give them to you after I finish cleaning.

Or you could help with the cleaning too.”

After hanging up, I vented my grievances to Poppy.

I was planning to go grocery shopping later, but I didn’t have anything decent to wear.

All of Jaeyul’s clothes were wrong—shoulders, sleeves, everything.

None of them fit me.

Just like when I’d dressed thirteen-year-old Jaeyul in my clothes back then.

Ah—right.

He said there’d be clothes in my room’s closet.

Remembering that, I went into what was now “my room.”

I opened the built-in wardrobe covering one wall.

“…What is all this….”

Contrary to Jaeyul’s claim that there’d be just a few wearable items, the wardrobe was packed with clothes.

Winter, summer, fall—clothes for every season hung neatly inside.

The first thought that crossed my mind was this.

Did someone else live with him…?

At a glance, none of the clothes looked like Jaeyul’s.

They were smaller, and the style was completely different from what he liked.

Which meant, obviously, they belonged to someone else.

Like… a lover, maybe….

But that thought vanished the moment I picked one up.

The price tag was still attached.

And it wasn’t just that one.

Every single item in the closet was brand new.

The arrangement was oddly familiar too.

Outerwear on top, T-shirts below—

short sleeves and loungewear neatly stored in drawers.

Exactly like how things were organized back when Jaeyul and I lived together.

Why… were there so many new clothes here…?

Come to think of it, this room itself was strange.

Too well furnished to be a guest room.

A comfortable bed and bedding.

A reclining sofa that looked expensive,

a table perfect for books and coffee.

Light-toned curtains that filtered sunlight just right.

And on the floor—unlike the rest of the house—a warm cream-colored rug.

There was no way all of this was prepared just for guests.

Could it be… that for the past four years,

Jaeyul had been preparing for our reunion all along?

That he’d even made space for me in this new house….

No.

I really hoped that wasn’t the case.

I wanted this to be nothing more than my misunderstanding.

Because the thought of Jaeyul spending years alone, filling a room with things meant only for me…

made my heart unbearably heavy.

Even I could tell my choice had been impulsive.

Deciding to live with Jaeyul again, that is.

Logically speaking, the right decision back then would have been for us to walk our own paths.

I knew that much.

My decision to “raise” Jaeyul had always been about helping him grow properly.

Bluntly put, what need would the current Jaeyul have for me?

In strength and ability alike, he clearly surpassed me.

Thanks to the Petra I’d fed him consistently since childhood, his power as an esper likely rivaled—or had already surpassed—the ‘X’ I remembered.

And he’d even managed to secure a place like this by living diligently.

What care could someone like that possibly need?

“…So please… don’t leave me again….”

But the moment I saw Jaeyul collapse into me, I couldn’t hold onto my stance.

Showing me how he could use his powers flawlessly even with me right in front of him—

that had been desperation.

Proof of how much he’d grown, pleading with me not to leave again.

Jaeyul was still trapped in the fight that had caused our separation four years ago.

Maybe his heart hadn’t fully grown yet.

And so… I told myself I needed to stay by his side.

Part of it was rationalization.

Sun Jaeyul was, in a way, my creation.

I’d raised him properly despite having little.

That meant I had every right to stay by his side and watch him live the life he wanted.

…And maybe, that way, I could live a little longer too.

Honestly, all of those reasons were nothing more than excuses I’d slapped together after impulsively saying we’d live together.

Even now, I kept wondering whether my choice had been right or wrong.

The deed was already done.

I don’t know.

I just… want to be by Jaeyul’s side too.

Like four years ago…

I want the three of us to be together again.

Isn’t that reason enough?

“What are you thinking so hard about?

Didn’t even notice someone coming in.”

“Huh?

When did you get here?

You took so long I almost fell asleep sitting here.”

Jaeyul must’ve come straight home from the field—

unlike this morning, he was still wearing his combat gear.

The faint scent of blood seemed to cling to the bodysuit he wore.

“Sorry.

I wanted to come back early, but the ones we ran into this time weren’t just ordinary mercenaries.

They even had special weapons used by the Center.”

“Ah, yeah.

There are people who sell that stuff.

They really need to gut the department in charge of equipment.”

Gate Breaks were only getting worse.

Monsters poured out, and land fit for human habitation kept shrinking.

In Seoul alone, livable areas had already been reduced by about half,

with the rest little better than wasteland.

As the world grew more chaotic, trash who stole and sold expensive equipment from the Special Ability Center began to appear.

I’d seen plenty of them myself.

“…How do you know that, hyung?”

“H-Huh…?”

Ah—right.

I’d joined the conversation a little too naturally.

“I-I saw it online!

There’s been a lot of talk about that kind of thing lately!”

The internet excuse—always the best fallback.

With rumors flying everywhere, who could argue?

Even so, Jaeyul tilted his head at my forced explanation.

“Let’s eat.

You must be hungry, right?

I set everything up properly today.

Go wash your hands.”

Leaving him there, I headed to the kitchen to reheat the soup.

When things get awkward, changing the subject comes first.

The side dishes were already laid out.

All that was left was to warm the soup.

“When did you make all this…?

Did you spend the whole day cooking?”

“It’s nothing special.

The fridge is big, so it’s nice!

Even after making all this, there’s still plenty of space.”

I said that, but honestly, I nearly died today.

I wished I could borrow even Poppy’s paws.

Why was this house so damn big?

No matter how much I cleaned, it never seemed to end.

Cooking was the same.

With hands this big, I’d bought so much that I spent the entire day cooking.

Still, seeing the fridge filled with side dishes made me feel full just looking at it.

“You haven’t eaten either, have you?

Let’s eat together.”

Jaeyul washed his hands and came in to help set the rest of the table.

Back then, it’d been hard for us to stand side by side in the kitchen.

Now, even five or six grown men could fit comfortably.

…The brat really made it big.

A house like this and all.

“What kind of alcohol do you like, hyung?”

“Alcohol?

Out of nowhere…?”

“I want to start learning what you like, one thing at a time.

I was too young to drink with you before, but not anymore.

Is wine okay?”

I’m not picky about alcohol.

When I said wine was fine, Jaeyul picked out a fairly expensive-looking bottle from his collection, poured it, and sat at the table.

“…Isn’t wine kind of weird with home-cooked food?”

It felt mismatched—

a perfect Korean meal paired with red wine.

“No, hyung.

Wine actually goes surprisingly well with Korean food.

Trust me—try it.”

Skeptical, I took a bite of freshly made geotjeori wrapped around tender boiled pork, then sipped the wine.

“Oh… it actually works pretty well.

The wine’s good too.”

It was better than expected.

Two completely different things, yet both flavors stood out more clearly.

“Drink slowly.

By the time you finish eating, the wine will taste even better.”

Only then did Jaeyul start eating.

He must’ve gone all day without a proper meal—

his chopsticks didn’t rest for a second.

Watching him eat diligently made all the day’s fatigue melt away.

It was exactly the sight I’d wanted to see.

Deeply satisfying.

“It’s kind of amazing.

Never thought I’d be drinking with you like this.

You used to be a kid who only drank milk.”

Clink.

Our glasses touched, a clear sound ringing out.

The moment felt surreal.

Somehow, Jaeyul had grown to the age where he could sit across from me and drink together.

The kid who always looked like a child.

“That was ages ago.

I’m not that kid anymore.”

In an instant, Jaeyul’s arm stretched across the table and grabbed my hand.

“My hands are way bigger than yours now,

and I’m stronger too.”

His large hand wrapped around mine, squeezing firmly.

My gaze was drawn to it without thinking.

The forearm revealed beneath his rolled-up sleeve spoke of countless hours of training.

And his unusually large hand, the veins standing out on the back of it.

As if teasing, he brushed his thumb over my knuckles.

Tickle, tickle, tickle.

I lifted my eyes to look at him across the table.

And there…

sat yet another unfamiliar man.