Usually, when they ran into each other, Richard was always the one to smile and greet first, but today he was silent… Jeong Taeui fell into thought.

Christoph noticed Jeong Taeui’s gaze directed behind him and turned around.

“…!”

When he saw Richard standing there, Christoph’s face became colder and more annoyed.

With an uncomfortable expression, he muttered,

“Running into this unlucky guy again, how annoying.”

Jeong Taeui let go of Christoph and scratched his neck, quickly glancing between the two of them.

There were children nearby, so nothing serious would likely happen, but the atmosphere was tense. It wouldn’t be surprising if things turned into a fight over a single word.

“The children are waiting over there.”

Jeong Taeui quickly bowed and pointed to the children playing nearby. Then, he turned back to Christoph.

“Aren’t you going to change your clothes?”

Jeong Taeui spoke cheerfully with a bright smile directed at both of them, the kind of smile that masks inner turmoil.

Both of them were silent for a moment and looked at Jeong Taeui. Although they didn’t usually clash without reason, anyone would want to escape this tense atmosphere quickly.

Christoph grumbled in annoyance and headed towards the stairs. Richard also started walking up, only a small distance apart.

As Christoph stepped onto the first stair, Richard, now in the courtyard where the sunlight was clear, suddenly stopped.

“Looks like you’ve cured a disease,” Richard said sarcastically, looking over his shoulder.

Jeong Taeui, who was about to follow Christoph, paused for a moment as well. Christoph stood there and coldly turned his head to look at Richard.

“Lucky you. It seems your mental disorder that prevents you from touching others has improved,” Richard continued.

Christoph silently listened and then gave a mocking smile, slowly turning to face Richard.

Jeong Taeui sighed and stepped back, uncomfortable with the tension between them.

When Jeong Taeui was between them, Christoph and Richard didn’t usually start trouble, but this time was different. Richard rarely initiated conflict like this.

Jeong Taeui glanced at Oliver and the children gathered nearby, worriedly watching the confrontation. Suddenly, he caught the eye of the child he had met earlier.

He signaled to the child with his eyes and then pointed towards Richard and Christoph. The child quickly understood, nodded slightly, and cleared his throat before shouting.

“Richard―. It’s too late. How much longer do we have to wait?”

The other children echoed in unison.

“I have to leave right after this.” – “Oh, waiting is so boring.” – “You always do this when we’re busy.”

Hearing the noise, Richard turned back with an uncomfortable expression but then smiled and headed towards the children.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said.

Christoph scoffed and mocked.

“Mental disorder, huh―. Even if I were cured, you’d still be a lunatic in my eyes. I wouldn’t want to touch you with a single finger.”

Richard slowed down but then continued towards the children. When he had gone far enough, Jeong Taeui sighed and shrugged.

“Must have had a fight with his lover. He hasn’t been happy since then,” he muttered.

Christoph responded with a confused look.

“A fight with his lover? With her? No way. He’s not the type to show a bad mood on his face just because of a fight with his lover.”

Jeong Taeui raised an eyebrow at Christoph’s words.

“Ilay says the same thing. Is their relationship so good that they never argue? Honestly, they seem very harmonious.”

“Not a lover, but more like a toy, a slave. Use and discard. Ugh—thinking about him makes me uncomfortable. Don’t mention him again.”

Jeong Taeui was surprised, but Christoph brushed it off.

Thoughts of rumors like ‘the superior pervert’ he had heard before flashed through Jeong Taeui’s mind. He just shrugged and followed Christoph, deciding he didn’t want to know more.

**************************

Jeong Taeui didn’t think he was overly sensitive to other people’s gazes.

Sometimes he could feel when someone was looking at him and would turn around, but not always. He didn’t usually notice how others looked at him, even when they stared intently.

When he was young, during a school field trip, his parents had stood not far away, watching him the whole time without him noticing.

He didn’t mind when people looked at him. Even if someone stared at him, he would just think, “Oh, that person is looking at me,” and move on.

But now, there was a persistent gaze fixed on him from the sofa about 3-4 meters away from his bed.

Jeong Taeui was leaning against the headboard reading a book, and that gaze kept following him.

Christoph had come to his room after dinner and was now sitting on the sofa, watching him intently. Jeong Taeui thought he would stop soon, but he didn’t.

“Christoph.”

Finally, Jeong Taeui closed his book.

“Usually, I don’t mind people looking at me, but two hours is a bit much.” He said, just as he was about to reprimand him, the phone on the bedside table rang.

Jeong Taeui paused and turned to the phone. He rarely received calls in his room. If there were any, they were usually from Christoph.

“Hello, long time no see, Kyle.”

Jeong Taeui answered the call without checking, and from the other end, Kyle laughed.

[“You recognized me without checking?”]

“Who else would call me here besides you, Kyle?”

Kyle’s laughter rang out again over the phone.

The last time, Jeong Taeui had scolded Kyle for not warning him about Ilay’s presence. Kyle had apologized and called several times to apologize, and now things were back to normal.

[“Is Christoph there? I called, but he didn’t pick up.”]

“Yes, he’s here. Do you need to talk to him?”

[“No. What I want to discuss is with you.”]

Jeong Taeui smiled wryly – “I still haven’t gotten the book.”

[“Damn it, did he say when he would give it to you?”]

“I don’t know…”

Jeong Taeui didn’t know when he would get the book. Christoph just stayed silent whenever he brought it up.

“―If you like me, return the book to me.”

Jeong Taeui had said this to test him, but Christoph had responded sarcastically.

“―If you agree to leave Riegrow and stay with me.”

Jeong Taeui couldn’t answer. Since then, whenever the book was mentioned, Christoph just looked at him silently, and he couldn’t say anything more.

He had dug his own grave.

Of course, Jeong Taeui couldn’t tell Kyle that, so he just remained silent. Kyle simply thought that Christoph refused to return the book to him—which was essentially true.

[‘How’s Ilay these days?’]

“Oh, Ilay is fine. No matter where he is, he’ll be fine, you know that. Ilay in Tarten looks like a young successful lawyer.”

[‘Haha, he used to be a young businessman, now his style has changed. But dressing like that makes him look more human, doesn’t it?’]

“Outwardly, he always looked human enough…”

[‘Yes, yes, you were fooled by that, right?’]

“…”

No, before meeting him in person, I already knew he was a celestial being. Before Ilay arrived, the branch had all kinds of videos providing irrefutable evidence that he was the kind of person to avoid.

But if I said that, Kyle would probably just respond with silence and regret, like, ‘You knew that well and still fell into the trap?’ So Jeong Taeui chose to keep his mouth shut.

[‘By the way, it should be arriving soon, have you not received it yet?’]

“Excuse me? What?”

[‘You probably haven’t received it yet. I went on a business trip and bought a few cans of local specialty beer, limited edition. The taste is very unique and delicious. I thought of you and sent a few cans. Since I had something to send to Ilay, I sent it with him, so you can get it from him.’]

“Oh… Thank you.”

Jeong Taeui immediately smiled and thanked him. Kyle responded, saying it was nothing, nothing at all. His laughter sounded especially gentle today.

Actually, Kyle had done many things to wrong him, so after the polite greetings and telling him to take care, he hung up. Jeong Taeui put down the phone, daydreaming about the cans of beer that were about to be delivered.

“What are you thankful for? Did you get a gift or something?”

At that moment, Christoph, who had been sitting on the sofa staring at him, suddenly spoke up. He hadn’t said a word while Jeong Taeui was reading, and this was his first sentence since sitting down.

“Yeah, Kyle said he would send some specialty beers.”

“Beer. Now that you mention it, you drink quite a bit of beer. You seem to like it, huh?”

“Really? It’s not that I like it that much, I just drink it if it’s there.”

Jeong Taeui smiled and casually lied, but he didn’t realize it was a lie. In his mind, it was the truth.

Christoph muttered something, changed his posture, and propped his chin on his hand.

Earlier, Christoph’s gaze had made Jeong Taeui quite uneasy, but after hearing about the gift from Kyle, his mood improved. He started humming and climbed onto the bed to sit.

“Ilay…”

Christoph suddenly muttered.

Jeong Taeui looked up because of the unusual sound.

Christoph muttered “Ilay” again, his mouth twisting slightly.

“That name is really irritating…”

‘This kid finds every name annoying…’ – Jeong Taeui thought, casting a cold glance at Christoph. He had become Kim Young Soo in this house because of him. But Christoph just sighed, not paying any attention.

“I thought only family members called him by that name.”

He said with surprise, though his tone was very indifferent.

Jeong Taeui responded with a frown.

“Do you want to call him that too? Then go ahead.”

“I’ve seen too many people call him by that name and pay a high price for it.”

When he was young, every time there was a gathering, there were always a few people like that, Christoph muttered with a tone that suggested he knew the situation well.

Jeong Taeui stayed silent. Christoph continued to speak.

“A name is just a way to call someone, why make such a big deal out of it.”

The words were normal, but the tone was full of thorns.

Christoph, someone who usually didn’t care about others, either positively or negatively, suddenly spoke ill of Ilay.

Although he had no intention of defending Ilay because Christoph wasn’t wrong – calling someone by their name isn’t unusual – Jeong Taeui suddenly felt like saying: “Christina is a beautiful name too”

However, when he glanced at Christoph’s face, he thought it best not to provoke the hedgehog that could bristle at any moment, so he remained silent.

“Did you meet Rick at UNHRDO?”

“Yeah, that’s right. You know a lot.”

“Ah, you’re famous, Jeong Taeil.” – Hearing his name right after such a sudden statement, Taeui looked at Christ with a puzzled expression. Then he burst out laughing.

“You got the wrong name. Ilay is the one who’s famous.” – Taeui

“Oh—well, that goes without saying.” – Christoph pulled the stool closer to the sofa and propped his legs up on it. His voice became tired, as if he was about to fall asleep.

“When that guy joined UNHRDO, everyone wondered if they recruited people without checking their personalities.”

Did everyone think that way…

“But I heard the mobile unit over there is full of crazies too.”

“Yeah. We don’t have personality checks, but we still pass.”

“I don’t think the issue is whether or not there are personality checks…”

Jeong Taeui spoke very seriously, but Christoph didn’t seem to care much. He reminisced about the past and whispered with distant eyes.

“When the news came that the guy was promoted to officer at the Asian branch of UNHRDO, everyone questioned the legality and ethics of UNHRDO. They wondered what kind of human resources training was going on.”

“Even though it’s a nest of crazies, it seems like most people in the squad are still somewhat sane. They don’t defend each other.”

Defending each other would definitely get criticized if they praised Ilay becoming an officer of UNHRDO.

However, Christoph just snorted and laughed.

“Defending each other? It’s all about internal divisions over there.”

“……. How…even so, you guys still conducted terrorism together…”

“Actually, we made contact with extremists beforehand and even paid them. …Well, those who participated in the terrorism back then were also crazy fanatics worshiping Reigrow.”

Meaning – ‘Wow, that’s really crazy’ – Jeong Taeui nodded. At that point, Christoph suddenly stopped and stared into space before turning his gaze back to Jeong Taeui.

“There were other rumors at that time. People said that he must have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, otherwise why would he do things that made him a wanted criminal and have to live a restricted life like that. When that rumor spread, many people were delighted.”

“……”

“Amidst countless such rumors, you suddenly became famous. The Asian man that Riegrow brought into Kyle’s house.”

“……I became famous in that sense?”

“Yeah. You didn’t know?”

I really didn’t know.

No one intentionally told him about those things, and anyway, he rarely left Berlin. Most of the time, he lived and spent peaceful days at home.

The feeling of waking up one morning and finding yourself suddenly famous like that…it never felt comfortable at all. He didn’t want to become famous that way. It was like suddenly becoming a terrorist one day and seeing your wanted posters all over the newspapers.

“After that, I didn’t take many outside jobs, so it’s been a long time since I met him.”

Christoph counted on his fingers as if trying to recall how long it had been, then suddenly looked at Jeong Taeui. And asked:

“How does he live at home? Living with you?”

“With me?”

Jeong Taeui frowned.

If you just ask how he lives at home, he could answer, but asking how he lives with him is hard to answer.

“How he lives……well, we each do our own thing. When both are busy, no one cares about the other. But if only one is busy, the other helps a bit, brings beer to drink, or just leaves the other alone to work while playing alone. When both are free – though that rarely happens – we just lie at home or go somewhere together.”

“Hmm… Right, living like that is also okay.”

Christoph whispered as if he found it interesting. His voice was as if he had discovered something new, as if he had never lived that way or thought about living that way.

“You know, I think Rick will definitely not die peacefully.”

Christoph suddenly said, not an easy topic to hear, but Jeong Taeui also had to nod in agreement. He also thought the same. In fact, now he wouldn’t be surprised if Rick was found with a mutilated body.

Even though, to him, Ilay was a terrible, evil person that he could still endure. But surely many people in the world couldn’t stand him, considering him an intolerable villain. And that was the result of what he had done, so he couldn’t blame them.

“Well, that could happen.” – Taeui

“Like you said, I don’t think he can live a normal, easy life. I always think he will live in bloody places with lots of screaming and shouting.” – Chris

Jeong Taeui didn’t respond but couldn’t help but agree. Even he thought Ilay was more suited to living in danger than living peacefully.

“But now he lives like that…”

Christoph mumbled as if talking to himself. Then he suddenly looked at Jeong Taeui. Jeong Taeui felt pressured being stared at and slightly frowned.

Christoph suddenly stood up from the sofa. He approached Jeong Taeui and sat on the edge of the bed next to Taeui.

He stared at Taeui’s face.

A face that couldn’t tell what it was thinking, staring at Taeui intently and slightly tilting.

“Maybe I can too.”

Christoph said. He wasn’t speaking to Jeong Taeui but as if talking to himself, just softly mouthing the words.

“Now my headache is gone, and I no longer hear the noises that made my ears hurt. So I can too.”

“Chris…”

“Every day is like that. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the day after. Everyday is like that. It will keep going like that. Last time, it was so noisy and headache-inducing that I wanted to smash my head with a hammer. But even when I regained consciousness, it was still noisy…”

“Chris.”

Christoph silently rubbed the bed sheet. His hand was as white as the plain white bed sheet. White hands but not like Ilay’s. Christoph’s hands looked like porcelain. As if they would shatter if touched.

Christoph raised his head to look at Jeong Taeui. His face was as calm as usual but looked very fragile and unstable. Thinking back, he was always like that. Beneath the emotionless face.

“Stay with me.”

“Christoph.”

“I can treat you well too. I can do that too.”

His voice rang out painfully in his ears. At the same time, Christoph leaned towards Jeong Taeui. He grabbed Taeui’s wrist.

The next moment, their lips touched.

“…?!”

Jeong Taeui frowned. His lips lightly touched, but when he tried to move away, Christoph’s lips followed. A gentle kiss on the lips. As if scared or disgusted, his lips trembled. This might be the first time Chris had such contact with someone.

Jeong Taeui tried to pull his wrist away from him. But he couldn’t.

Taeui was very panicked.

Although not tightly gripped, no matter how Taeui tried to shake or struggle, Christoph’s hand didn’t budge a centimeter.

At this moment, Jeong Taeui realized that Chris was much stronger than he appeared.

“Hey. This is too much!”

Jeong Taeui turned his head and shouted, but Christoph didn’t care. He could feel that Chris was shivering, feeling it was both novel and scary when his cheek or lips touched him.

Just recently – though only through his clothes – he had touched his crotch, and now it was his lips. This was outrageous, this crazy guy.

Jeong Taeui wanted to shout like that, but first, he had to get out of his wrist hold. He kept shaking his wrist forcefully, but Christoph’s hand still didn’t move.

But at that moment.

Exactly at that moment.

The door opened.

Jeong Taeui’s room door opened, and the sound of footsteps entering suddenly stopped.

…Oh my god.

Looking over Christoph’s shoulder, he saw Ilay enter with a large box in his hands.

He stared at them on the bed for a moment with an emotionless face, then slightly narrowed his eyes.

He didn’t rush but slowly walked to the table and placed the box down. You could hear the sound of heavy objects colliding inside.

Then he walked over.

Still those slow steps.

No change in expression.

But Ilay’s steps quickened as he approached the bed, and his face showed an unclear expression of either a smile or something else. Just scary, very scary.

“I made it clear.”

The low voice sounded beside his ear.

“Why don’t you understand and do this?”

Ilay’s hand grabbed Christoph’s nape as he said – “made it clear” – and pulled him away from Jeong Taeui. And as soon as he finished the last sentence, Ilay punched Christoph in the stomach. Without hesitation.

A terrible sound like hitting a bag of meat rang out.

“Wake up, you fool. Can’t distinguish who can touch and who can’t? Better avoid dangerous things that don’t suit you, have you forgotten? Wake up, Christoph.”

The sound of punches continued.

The scene was strange.

Though the punches were hard, making terrible sounds, there was no screaming. Christoph only frowned slightly but didn’t make a sound.

—Because he knew if he cried out, he wouldn’t be able to endure and would keep crying out.

He could cry out. Once he cried out, the cries would continue like water breaking a dam, unstoppable.

Jeong Taeui felt a pang of pain in his heart.

When Ilay punched for the fourth time, Jeong Taeui sighed heavily and ruffled his hair. He called Ilay’s name.

“Ilay.”

Hearing his voice, Ilay paused his punch. His cold eyes turned to Jeong Taeui. As if saying – ‘Try saying something.’

Oh no, he’s really angry.

Jeong Taeui scratched his head and sighed.

“In this situation, it seems I’m the real victim. Can you let me have a chance to hit him?”

Hearing his tired words, Ilay stared at him for a moment, then slowly released his fist. He threw Christoph onto Jeong Taeui’s bed.

Christoph’s knee hit the edge of the bed. The sound of it was painful, but he didn’t move at all, didn’t even blink. To the point that Jeong Taeui doubted if he could feel pain.

Christoph raised his head. If his hand wasn’t holding his stomach, no one would know he had just been beaten so hard.

“…It’s like getting your own medicine, Chris. But I agree with the advice that you should wake up.”

Jeong Taeui stood up from the bed, hands on his knees. He shook his wrist a few times and walked over to Christoph. Immediately, he punched Chris straight in the stomach. Without holding back, he aimed directly at his belly.

Christoph held his breath for a moment. His eyebrows barely twitched.

“You hate others touching you, but you do this to others. Wake up.”

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and said. Then he turned away.

Ilay stood with his arms crossed at the table, watching them with a displeased look. Jeong Taeui felt it hard to speak, only sighed.

Looking at Jeong Taeui, Ilay opened the box and took out an aluminum can, tossing it without a word. Taeui caught it reflexively and opened his eyes wide.

“What is this… ah. Is it…”

“My brother told me to give it to you….So, how did his lips feel?”

Hearing such an ordinary question, Jeong Taeui, who was pleased about the beer can, quickly became dejected.