He wasn’t in the room.

No, to be precise, he wasn’t there. Lost in his thoughts, Jeong Taeui had opened the door without knocking, but there was no one inside to scold him.

The door was unlocked and there was no one inside. He hesitated when he heard the sound of running water. His uncle was probably in the private bathroom.

Jeong Taeui saw a few familiar items scattered on the table and confirmed that it was his uncle’s room. He walked in. He sat on the large chair in front of the table and slowly looked around the room.

His uncle’s room was completely different from his own.

Besides the furniture and electronic devices, there were many other things. A shelf along the walls was filled with books.

Jeong Taeui touched a shelf within reach. His uncle had many rare books. His uncle’s house – where he stayed for less than ten days a year – was also filled with rare books, enough to make any rare book collector drool with envy.

That’s why Jeong Taeui often went to his uncle’s house and stayed there for days without going out. He would read the books and then call his brother to talk about them. Jeong Taeui didn’t like books as much as his uncle or brother, but he liked them enough to distinguish a rare book. Among the books he was touching now, there was one he wanted to read but couldn’t buy.

Jeong Taeui raised his eyebrows slightly and pulled the book out. He had tried hard to find it but had given up because it was out of print.

He wondered where his uncle found these things. It felt comfortable here.

Jeong Taeui sighed and slowly flipped through the books on the shelf. However, he couldn’t concentrate on the book because the boy he had just met was still lingering in his mind.

“…… Really. What are you doing, Jeong Taeui? Get a grip.”

Jeong Taeui patted his face, which was getting hot, and clicked his tongue. He kept slapping his cheeks a few more times.

How could UNHRDO put a seemingly fragile child in such a dangerous place? But if he was on the first floor, it seemed like he wasn’t part of any group.

Thinking that, Jeong Taeui was hit by reality.

This was the 1st floor. He was on the 6th floor. If it was the 1st floor…… Could that boy be the Diẻctor, Vice Director, or a high-ranking Instructor?

Jeong Taeui’s face stiffened. His hands still idly flipped through the pages of the book, but his mind was blank.

At that moment.

A faint mechanical sound pulled Jeong Taeui back to reality. Because the room was so quiet, he could hear it clearly.

Jeong Taeui turned towards the sound. The phone on the table was ringing. The mechanical sound echoed in the room. A small screen above the red light was flashing as if begging to be pressed, emitting a dim and gloomy light.

Jeong Taeui turned his head. He no longer heard the sound of water from the bathroom. Was his uncle about to come out? But then, he heard splashing sounds again. His uncle seemed to be soaking in the bathtub.

The phone wouldn’t stop ringing unless someone answered it. Jeong Taeui put the book down on the table, stood up, and walked to the bathroom door, knocking on the frosted glass.

“Uncle—there’s a phone call.”

“A phone call? At this hour? …… Haha, I know who it is. Just take the message for me. I’ll be in here for a while longer.”

His uncle didn’t seem surprised that Jeong Taeui was in the room. Even though there had been no noise, his uncle must have noticed when he entered.

“If you know someone is coming, you should finish your bath quickly. Why are you so relaxed?”

Jeong Taeui grumbled, and a small laugh came from the bathroom.

“I knew it was you, so why should I rush?”

That was just like his uncle.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and walked back to the desk. The phone had stopped ringing. Jeong Taeui shouted: “The call ended, Uncle!”, and picked up the book again, sitting down.

Bathing, huh. That young man must be in the bath by now.

Jeong Taeui blushed again. His face was burning.

His fair and pinkish skin must look so lovely in the warm water. Smooth and soft skin with a fragrant scent. He suddenly wanted to hug him.

“…… This is serious…… It’s just a fleeting moment, what’s wrong with you, Jeong Taeui.”

Jeong Taeui fanned his flushed face with his hand, sighing and mumbling to himself. It wasn’t that he liked the young man, but he knew he hadn’t interacted enough to have such feelings. Yet, the grown-up images kept appearing in his mind.

Jeong Taeui sighed once more and used the thick book in his hand to fan himself. The phone rang again, and the red light started blinking once more.

He was about to call his uncle, but knowing that his uncle wouldn’t budge from the bath even if he shouted until his voice was hoarse, Jeong Taeui pressed the red button after thinking for a moment. His uncle had told him to take notes, but there was no paper or pen around. Hopefully, it was something he could remember.

“Yes. Hello.”

When Jeong Taeui pressed the answer button, the LCD screen above lit up. The image of the caller appeared on the screen.

He couldn’t be sure because the angle wasn’t wide, but it seemed like the person was indoors. Maybe it was a private room. He could immediately see a built-in wardrobe against the white wall.

The man’s body filled one-third of the screen.

Because of the narrow view, he could only see part of the man from his chin to his chest, wearing a dark shirt. There was also a sleeve connected to the shirt, ending in a hand holding a porcelain cup.

That hand was very white. It was an exquisitely beautiful hand, looking like it belonged on a piano. The hand was so large that the big cup seems small in it. But the fingers were delicate and translucent.

Each fingertip had neatly trimmed nails, looking like pale glass.

[“……—Who are you?”]

The mechanical-sounding voice was unpleasant.

The stiff voice sounded like an automated machine on an electronic device. The person on the other end might have been using a voice changer. The white hand on the screen put down the cup, and the long fingers tapped lightly on the rim.

[“What about Instructor Jeong Changin?”]

“Ah……—He’s in the bathroom. If you have any message, I’ll pass it on to him.”

Jeong Taeui answered, his eyes fixated on the beautiful, glass-like hand.

The other side was silent for a moment.

As Jeong Taeui admired the hand, a whispering voice spoke.

[“Then.”]

“Huh?”

[“Then who are you? The person answering the phone in that room?”]

Maybe it was the mood, but the voice seemed to lower a bit, as if lost in thought. Despite the strange mechanical sound, the beautiful hand slowly caressed the cup, making Jeong Taeui feel the change in the voice’s tone.

Jeong Taeui was unsure what to say because he didn’t know who the other person was, so he chose the most straightforward answer.

“I’m the nephew of the person in this room, the one leisurely bathing even though he knows someone’s calling. If you have something to say, I’ll pass it on. But there’s no paper or pen here, so please keep it short. My memory is terrible.”

After Jeong Taeui spoke, the other side chuckled briefly.

[“Hmm, then you must be the second nephew. What’s your name?”]

“……Jeong Taeui. And you are?”

Jeong Taeui quickly grasped the situation. The man knew about him. No, he knew about Jeong Changin’s family. Even the fact that Jeong Changin had two nephews, one of whom was a famous genius.

It seemed that everyone in the branch knew Jeong Jaeui was Jeong Changin’s nephew, so it wasn’t surprising that others knew about their family.

The man on the other end was silent for a moment, then spoke.

[“Ilay.”]

Jeong Taeui nodded. Ilay. Easy to remember.

The man who called himself Ilay fell silent again. Another white hand appeared on the screen. It was the left hand, and the two beautiful hands intertwined.

Jeong Taeui sighed softly, and Ilay spoke.

[“What’s wrong?”]

“Nothing…… but hasn’t anyone ever told you that your hands are beautiful?”

[“My hands?”]

Jeong Taeui sensed a hint of confusion in the voice. He imagined the man looking down at his hands as the fingers interlaced, then released, flexing the knuckles gracefully like a work of art.

The hands clenched into fists, then relaxed and intertwined again. Ilay spoke with a hint of amusement.

[“Well, this is the first time I’ve heard that. Do you like my hands?”]

“Yes, they’re very beautiful.”

[“Haha, alright then. After I die, I’ll give you these hands. But in return, you’ll have to attach your hands to my arms. Even a corpse looks pitiful without hands.”]

“……I’ll have to decline. Anyway, that hand doesn’t suit me. If it were attached to my body, it would be the only thing that stands out.”

Jeong Taeui wrinkled his nose and grimaced, the joke was as cruel as it was real.

Ilay found the words amusing, and he smiled gently again.

[“Hmm, it doesn’t seem to fit. Your hands suit your face.”]

He laughed as he spoke.

Jeong Taeui then realized that the screen on his side seemed to have a wider angle than on the other side. He instinctively touched the lens in front of him.

“It seems this camera has a wider angle. Hmm, but just seeing those beautiful fingers on the screen isn’t bad either.”

Ilay seemed to smile again.

[“If you’re there now, it means you’ve just joined the Asian branch, right?”]

Jeong Taeui shrugged.

“Yes, thanks to my uncle, I got in without going through any formal procedures.”

[“Aha. Quite a ‘big umbrella’ you’ve got there.”]

Ilay laughed as he spoke, and Jeong Taeui laughed along, thinking back and realizing the truth in those words.

A splash of water echoed from the bathroom. Perhaps his uncle had finished soaking and would soon come out.

“I think my uncle will be out soon. Can you wait a moment for him? If not, I can relay your message. Or you could call him back later”’

Come to think of it, he still didn’t know the reason for the man’s call. When Jeong Taeui spoke up, Ilay lazily muttered, ‘Hmm.’

[“Tell him that I’ve found the book he was looking for. Laurent Gastiye’s mythology book, the 1925 edition, for $3,500.”]

Jeong Taeui couldn’t help but fall silent upon hearing that. If it was Laurent Gastiye’s mythology book, he had heard of it and wanted to read it himself. That was it, but……

“$3,500? For a book?”

When he exclaimed with wide eyes, thinking it was absurd, Ilay laughed as if he knew what he was thinking.

[“If you tell Instructor Jeong, he’ll be pleased to hear he got it at a very cheap price. So please relay the message for me. I hope to see you again someday.”]

The beautiful hand waved a gentle goodbye on the screen. The call ended right after.

Jeong Taeui stared at the now dark screen in front of him once again, then sighed and leaned back in his chair.