"The bed's the one you bought, right? It was only delivered yesterday. You even had it custom-made.... Well, you're not the only one who does things like that.... Have you two at least discussed sharing the bedroom? Actually... you only found out today that you're living together...."
Even as the employee chattered away, Shinyul didn't respond. He simply lowered Huiyeong onto the bed with the utmost care.
Huiyeong's already pale face had turned even whiter, almost ghostly, as he groaned weakly. Reading the atmosphere, the employees quietly slipped out without even saying goodbye.
Shinyul's expression had become terrifying.
The bright smile that had remained even when someone grabbed him by the hair was nowhere to be seen. His face had turned so cold and intimidating it was hard to believe it belonged to the same person.
Only after the room had fallen silent did he relax the furrow between his brows. Watching Huiyeong breathe evenly in his sleep, he carefully lay down beside him.
The moment Huiyeong sensed the large, solid presence next to him, he instinctively squirmed closer and burrowed into Shinyul's arms.
It had become a habit after they'd secretly shared the same bed for weeks.
Shinyul wrapped his arms tightly around the small body in his embrace.
Huiyeong shifted faintly, as though uncomfortable, but Shinyul refused to loosen his grip.
From the first moment he'd seen him until now, he had never once taken his eyes off Huiyeong.
Yet even now, Huiyeong still sparkled in Shinyul's eyes.
He gently brushed the messy strands of hair aside and softly kissed the round forehead.
His skin was so pale, as though it had never seen sunlight in his life, with barely any pigment at all.
In bright light, Huiyeong looked so faint it seemed as though he might disappear at any moment.
Shinyul hated that.
He was terrified that this miracle who had appeared before him would vanish one day without leaving even the slightest trace.
That after letting him taste hope so sweet it almost hurt...
...it would all prove to be a lie, and Huiyeong would abandon him without hesitation, leaving him trapped forever in endless emptiness.
He hated seeing Huiyeong sleep like this, eyes closed, as though he were dead.
For weeks, Shinyul had only ever shown himself before Huiyeong's sleeping face.
The first time Huiyeong opened his eyes and looked directly at him, Shinyul had felt a thrill beyond words.
Huiyeong could stay weak forever.
He could keep roughing him up.
He could insist until the end of time that he was a man in his forties.
None of that mattered.
As long as he stayed beside him.
Because of the dangerous nature of the Center's work, they had taken Huiyeong's psychiatric symptoms extremely seriously. They'd wasted time debating whether it was really alright to pair someone so mentally unstable with such a valuable S-rank, keeping Shinyul tied to the Center.
He ignored them.
He walked straight out of the Center and watched Huiyeong's every move.
There was no reason to hesitate, to weigh the pros and cons, or to hide anything.
Huiyeong was the only existence capable of completing what was missing inside him.
He was Shinyul's one and only salvation.
If Huiyeong became sick...
...Shinyul would search the entire world to find medicine for him.
If Huiyeong shouted that this world's common sense made him furious...
...then Shinyul would overturn the entire world itself until it suited his tastes.
As long as Huiyeong remained by his side.
He continued placing affectionate kisses against Huiyeong's forehead.
Eventually, the relaxed body stiffened slightly and twitched.
It seemed he'd regained consciousness.
Shinyul smiled, his eyes curving warmly, then mischievously lowered his face until his lips hovered just above Huiyeong's.
"Can I kiss your lips?"
"The fuck you can."
Those round eyes flew open instantly, followed by an immediate scowl.
Shinyul's smile only deepened.
Peck.
He lightly kissed Huiyeong's lips.
The instant those soft, warm lips touched his own, Huiyeong froze with a completely blank expression.
Shinyul kissed him several more times.
Peck.
Peck.
As the repeated kisses landed, Huiyeong wildly flailed his arms and legs, pounding against Shinyul's solid body.
Shinyul effortlessly caught both wrists in one hand, pinned them down, and laughed brightly.
"Y-You fucking lunatic! You've completely lost your damn mind! You... you...!"
"What if my Princess faints again? Hmm? If you collapse again, I'll be sad."
"You gonna let go or not? Huh? You fucking pervert, you...!"
Having his lips stolen for the first time in his life, Huiyeong's entire face turned bright red as he struggled with all his strength.
It was completely useless.
Holding both wrists in one hand while using his other arm to cradle Huiyeong's squirming body, Shinyul gently patted him as though comforting a child.
Huiyeong was so dumbfounded he thought he might die.
This fucking psycho... I should've punched him in the face the moment I woke up!
When he'd first regained consciousness, he'd felt something strange.
The careful touch stroking his face...
The affectionate kisses...
Without thinking, he'd pretended to stay asleep while secretly observing.
The idiot who'd greeted him with a bright smile and crazy nonsense from the very beginning had been trembling as he touched him.
And...
Had anyone ever treated him this gently in his entire life?
That fleeting moment of sentimentality...
...had somehow returned as this unbelievable disaster.
Huiyeong trembled with pure indignation.
Sure, it was ridiculous for a middle-aged man who'd experienced everything life had to offer to react like some untouched virgin.
But one thing was certain.
He was straight.
Whenever guys around him bragged that sleeping with men was heavenly and grinned,
"Boss, why don't you give it a try sometime?"
...he'd always frowned viciously and turned his head away.
And now...
A kid young enough to be his son had stolen his first kiss.
Without him even having the strength to fight back.
The humiliation made his face burn even hotter.
His eyes grew fiercer as he breathed heavily through his nose.
Shinyul gave one last light kiss to his cheek.
Peck.
Then let out a lazy sigh.
"Huiyeong... that expression you're making right now is incredibly sexy. I think I'm gonna get hard."
"I'm gonna kill you, asshole. And I told you to call me old man."
"Okay, Old Man. Kill me. Seriously."
"Jesus Christ... what the hell am I supposed to do with this fucking lunatic? I'm gonna lose my damn mind."
The two of them remained glued together for several more minutes, bickering nonstop.
Eventually, Huiyeong exhausted himself trying to escape Shinyul's embrace.
His entire body went limp.
"Fuck.... This bastard's got way too much strength. I can't beat him."
"No, I always let my Princess win."
"Yeah, right.... Fine. Your Princess is about to die over here. Think you could let go? Fuck... I won't get mad."
"You can get mad. It's sexy."
"I absolutely won't."
Only after hearing Huiyeong's exhausted reply did Shinyul reluctantly loosen his grip.
The instant he did—
Thud.
Huiyeong's tiny fist shot forward and punched Shinyul square in the chest.
The punch was so weak it felt more like a pout than an attack.
Both of them knew it.
Huiyeong's face twisted miserably.
Shinyul's smile grew even wider.
"Jesus... look at this bastard grinning. Fucking psycho. You're standing right here, aren't you? From now on, you go see the psychiatrist instead of me."
"Yeah. I'm crazy about you. Let's go together."
Treating Shinyul's words as more nonsense, Huiyeong lifted his wrists to inspect them.
Above the watch, angry red marks had already appeared.
Anyone could tell bruises were coming.
Shinyul stared at the marks.
Then gently stroked them with obvious satisfaction.
"Happy now? Smiling after wrecking someone's wrists?"
"They're marks I left."
"They're beautiful."
"Damn... how the hell did you end up this screwed in the head?"
Huiyeong clicked his tongue.
His own body had been through enough rough situations that bruises like these barely registered anymore.
But someone smiling because he'd left marks on another person's wrists...
That sent a chill down his spine.
Guys like that always climbed to the top of criminal organizations too.
The kind who had no common sense, no conscience, and never looked before they acted.
Huiyeong casually shook out his wrists before jumping off the bed.
The employees had kept emphasizing that it was a brand-new place in a great location.
They hadn't been lying.
Looking out the bedroom's floor-to-ceiling windows at the lawn and garden, it looked like a detached house.
Even if it was on the outskirts of Seoul...
...giving a two-person residence an entire country house?
Yeah.
They had every right to brag about it.
Silently acknowledging all the employees' hard work, Huiyeong wandered out to inspect the house.
"What the hell do two grown men need a kitchen this damn big for? Don't tell me delivery doesn't come out here.... What's this? Bathroom? Three bathrooms? Not bad. Big bathtub too.... Ah, fuck. I really don't even want to open that closet.... Look at these clothes. Pink? Seriously? That psycho's so screwed up he only buys shit like this."
Lying on the bed, Shinyul listened carefully with his enhanced Esper senses as Huiyeong wandered around muttering to himself.
Every time Huiyeong complained...
Shinyul quietly giggled.
I'm so happy...
I honestly think I could die like this.
After checking the entire second floor, Huiyeong gradually spoke less each time he opened another door.
Finally, after opening the very last room...
He suddenly came sprinting back toward the bedroom.
"Hey! What the hell?! Was this your doing? Huh?!"
"Hm?"
"Why is there only one bedroom?! There's two people living here!"
Huiyeong demanded furiously.
Shinyul simply smiled with his eyes.
"Princess... can I kiss you?"
"Ah, fuck."
***
After resting properly for about two days, Huiyeong finally recovered enough to go outside.
Managing this weak body that constantly threatened to collapse was exhausting all by itself.
Unexpectedly, while Shinyul wasn't exactly an amazing cook, he could prepare several dishes well enough that they never went hungry.
Apparently he'd even hired a house manager.
Every time Huiyeong woke after sleeping like a dying chicken, there would be fresh side dishes waiting, and despite the house somehow becoming messy after only a single day...
...it would already be spotless again.
"Money really is everything...."
he muttered.
Dressed in a sky-blue hoodie and a fluffy white fleece vest, Huiyeong wandered around with another dissatisfied expression.
Why the hell does this kid buy nothing but clothes like these?
His face is clean-cut enough, but his taste in clothes is absolute garbage.
Then Shinyul appeared wearing a simple plain T-shirt.
Huiyeong immediately started yelling for him to hand it over.
After stubbornly putting on Shinyul's shirt...
...he looked at himself in the mirror.
Then quietly changed back into the sky-blue hoodie.
"Why? You looked cute in my clothes too."
"Forget it.... I don't want to walk around looking like a little kid wearing his dad's clothes."
"You looked like you were wearing your boyfriend's shirt."
"That's even worse."
Even though Huiyeong frowned deeply, Shinyul simply laughed out loud and wrapped him in another tight hug.
"Ah, shit..."
Huiyeong cursed, but he never actually complained about the hugging itself.
From what he'd heard, this was how Shinyul survived.
He wasn't heartless enough to push away a kid desperately trying to stay alive.
Sure...
Back in the old days, he wouldn't have cared about anyone else's circumstances.
But after getting older and leaving the organization behind, he'd undeniably softened.
Even while frowning, he quietly endured the large body clinging to him instead of rejecting it.
Yeah.
Both of us have it rough trying to survive in this insane world.
During the two days they'd spent practically glued together, Shinyul had obediently responded,
"Yes, yes, Old Man,"
patiently catered to Huiyeong's moods, and sincerely took care of him without making him uncomfortable.
Huiyeong had gradually begun to like him.
Seeing Shinyul cling to him so desperately...
...he couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.
A face like that.
Abilities like that.
In a normal world, he'd probably be an actor or celebrity making tons of money.
Instead, he was born into this insane world and had to cling to another man just to stay alive.
Feeling unexpectedly sympathetic, Huiyeong gently patted the broad back a couple of times.
Still...
How long are you gonna keep this up?
"Alright. That's enough. Let's go."
"Okay."
Of course, this was simply Huiyeong's one-sided sympathy.
He had no idea what the glowing 90% Guiding value displayed on the watch actually meant.
Meanwhile, Shinyul, whose thoughts were filled with entirely different intentions, couldn't stop smiling.
Looking at that handsome face beaming so brightly, Huiyeong clicked his tongue.
Well...
Helping raise one kid isn't so bad.
With that thought, they headed toward the Center.
"Hello, Mr. Shinyul, Mr. Huiyeong. I'm Guide Jeong Haram, and I'll be handling your Guide training."
A neat-looking handsome man entered the room and smiled kindly at Huiyeong.
"To start, we'll begin with simple mucous membrane Guiding through kissing."
Like hell I'm kissing the kid I'm raising, you fucking insane world.