“Xinlu, ……don’t cry. Okay? Don’t cry.”

He resented his own lack of eloquence, being unable to say anything more. In truth, Taeui had never been told he was bad with words. Since coming to this island, some had even cursed him, saying that his silver tongue, which rolled like a stream of flowing water, would one day earn him a knife in the back.

But even such eloquence was useless now. If it couldn’t comfort the young man sobbing in front of him, it served no purpose at all.

Taeui, at a loss for what to do, hesitantly reached out and gently patted Xinlu’s shoulder. The slim shoulders flinched and trembled slightly. It was heartbreaking. His chest ached, and he didn’t know what to do to ease the pain. As he struggled helplessly before Xinlu, unsure of how to proceed. But then……

“……Alright, now, Xinlu, stop crying and finish moving that luggage. And you, Taei, quit dawdling. If you’re so eager to help, why don’t you move my luggage instead? It’s too heavy for me to lift.”

The cold indifferent voice carried no trace of emotion, unaffected by the pitiful and sorrowful scene before it.

When he turned his head, he saw his uncle leaning casually against the doorway of the Instructors’ office, watching them in silence, as though the meeting had already concluded. Behind him, other Instructors, along with the Assistant Instructor, cast indifferent glances their way before drifting off without a second thought. Among the lingering figures stood Ilay, arms folded, leaning against the hallway wall. His gaze was steady, silently fixed on them, his expression so subtle it betrayed nothing of his thoughts, leaving an air of mystery about what might be going through his mind.

Xinlu quietly wiped the corner of his eyes with his index finger, gave Taeui a slight bow of his head, and hurried off with small, quick steps. As he passed by Ilay, it seemed like Xinlu looked at him, but since Taeui was standing behind him, he couldn’t see what kind of expression Xinlu had as he faced Ilay. On the other hand, Ilay simply raised an eyebrow slightly, as if finding the situation amusing, and looked at him.

Taeui stared blankly at Xinlu’s retreating figure before turning his gaze to his uncle, who said: “Hurry up and move my luggage already.”

“Uncle, don’t you feel even a little sorry for the kid crying like that? Did you really have to humiliate him like that?”

“He probably doesn’t see it as humiliation. Besides, his tears are likely dry by now. Stop worrying and just move my luggage for me. ──Ah, Youngmin! Leave that there. Taeui will take care of it. It’s heavy, so just leave it and go about your business. You’re done for the day.”

His uncle waved off Assistant Instructor Kang, who had been about to lift a picture frame near the entrance of the Instructors’ office, signaling him to stop. Then, he motioned for Taeui to hurry and get on with the task.  Taeui glared daggers at his uncle for a moment but, true to his nature, incapable of holding onto anger for long, he eventually let out a sigh, relaxing his gaze, and approached the Instructors’ office. As he moved, his eyes met Ilay’s, who was standing a short distance away.

“What? Do you still have work to finish today?” 

Taeui frowned slightly as he asked, noticing the way Ilay was quietly watching him. Normally, once a meeting was over, Ilay would just wave him off and disappear without a second glance. But today, there was something different – something subtle and hard to pin down – about the way Ilay looked at him.

Ilay, who had been silently gazing at Taeui as if lost in thought, seemed to snap out of it at the question. He shrugged his shoulders lightly, and before long, his usual unreadable expression returned.

“No. I was just thinking how well you seem to get along with that kid.”

“……Don’t mess with Xinlu. Find someone else.” – Taeui replied curtly, his tone tinged with a hint of wariness.

Ilay tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Taeui. For a long moment, he simply stared, and Taeui, unwilling to back down, held his gaze.

How long they stayed like that, neither could tell.

Then, suddenly, Ilay let out a quiet laugh. A chill glimmer flashing in his jet-black eyes.

“Alright…… fine. As you wish, I’ll find someone else.”

With those parting words, he stepped back lightly. As usual, he offered a casual wave in place of a proper farewell before turning and walking away.

Taeui watched Ilay’s retreating figure until he disappeared from sight, then turned back toward his uncle. Seeing the massive, door-sized picture frame his uncle was pointing at, he stood there, utterly dumbfounded.

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

As soon as Taeui entered his uncle’s room, he collapsed. More precisely, it was right after setting down the enormous picture frame in his uncle’s room.

It truly was the size of a door. Supposedly, it was a painting by some famous artist, received as a gift, though Taeui couldn’t make heads or tails of what it depicted. On the way from the Instructors’ office to his uncle’s room, he had entertained the thought of smashing the painting exactly 11 times—once for each break he took while hauling it.

“Uncle…… don’t you think this is just too much?”

Taeui propped the picture frame against the wall, practically tossing it aside, and then collapsed face-down onto the bed. Beside him, his uncle casually opened the fridge, retrieved a beer, and handed him a can. Taeui tried to take it, but his arms trembled so much from exhaustion that he couldn’t grasp it right away.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he finally sat up. He massaged his arms repeatedly before managing to pick up the can. The moment he popped it open, he drained the entire can in one go. Only then did some energy return to him, and he shot his uncle a resentful glare.

His uncle, calmly boiling water in the kettle, glanced at Taeui with a completely nonchalant expression, as if to say: ‘What did I do?’

“I’m not saying you should burden someone else with the hard work, but if Assistant Instructor Kang offered to move it, why didn’t you just let him? Why did you insist on making me haul that thing?”

Taeui exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the picture frame.

The frame was ridiculously heavy. Not only that, but its large size made it awkward to grip, and managing something both bulky and heavy was a nightmare.

Taeui didn’t consider himself a powerhouse but still thought he had a decent amount of strength, glared at the frame as if it were an elephant in disguise. Meanwhile, his uncle casually pulled out a teapot, acting as if nothing had happened.

“I just wanted to see how well you could handle social situations.” – His uncle said with unnerving calmness.

“If you can move a heavy frame well, does that mean you’re good at socializing?” 

“If you can get someone else to move a heavy frame without much effort on your part, then yes, you’re good at socializing.”

With that, his uncle clicked his tongue, as if pitying Taeui. “In that sense, I worry about you.” – He added sympathetically. Taeui glared at him, then sighed and fetched another beer from the fridge.

“Well, since you managed to get the frame moved without lifting a finger, I guess that makes you a master of socializing, doesn’t it, Uncle?”

“No, this is the power of authority. In this case, you could say the ability to have the heavy frame moved easily is the result of good social skills.” – His uncle replied smoothly.

Taeui shut his mouth. He prided himself on his wit, but there were a few people he simply couldn’t outmatch, and his uncle was one of them. His uncle smiled faintly as he savored the fragrant steam rising from his teacup.

“If I were you, I would have asked Xinlu to move it for me.”

At his uncle’s remark, Taeui waved his hand in disbelief, his expression incredulous.

“How could I possibly make that delicate kid move something so heavy?”

His uncle said nothing, simply looking at Taeui. This time, his expression was one of genuine pity.

“They say humans don’t see things as they truly are but rather as they want to see them……” 

His uncle murmured softly, shaking his head as if disappointed.

Taeui took his beer and returned to the bed, this time leaning back properly as he sipped at it. He glanced around the room, which he hadn’t visited much lately. He wondered if anything had changed in his absence, but everything seemed the same. Except for the bookshelf—several books he didn’t recognize had piled up there.

“Looks like there are some new books I haven’t seen before.” – He remarked.

“Hmm. You haven’t been coming by for a while. Books keep coming in regularly, after all. You must’ve been busy lately, haven’t you? Haven’t seen you around much.”

“It’s because the Assistant Instructor position you pushed me into is choking the life out of me……” – Taeui muttered bitterly. 

Every time he thought about it, he couldn’t help but resent this uncle of his, one of the few family members he had left. But when facing him directly, the resentment never lingered. In the end, life always seemed to flow in the direction it was meant to.

“Besides, it seems like you’ve been busy yourself lately, Uncle.” – He added.

“Hmm, well, the transfer date is approaching.” – His uncle replied calmly.

“Transfer…… oh, you mean the General Director is promoted to headquarters.” – Taeui murmured, piecing together his thoughts. He had heard about it even before coming here. Though he didn’t know all the details, his uncle’s decision to bring him here was somehow tied to that.

“Come to think of it, there’s less than a hundred days left now, right?”

“That’s right. Which is why things are getting busier by the day.” 

Though his uncle didn’t show it outwardly, he seemed tired. He carried his teacup over to the sofa and sank deeply into it. As he brushed back the hair that had fallen over his forehead and let out a quiet, almost inaudible sigh, it was clear that work was indeed taking its toll.

Taeui silently watched his uncle.

Before he came here, his uncle had said he needed a ‘lucky guy’. But with no elder brother to fill that role, Taeui had been brought along as a substitute, almost forcibly. His uncle had wanted someone who, even amidst dirty and underhanded schemes, could rely on sheer luck to survive until the end.

“……So, who do you think will become the next General Director? Do you think your superior…… Vice Director Rudolph Gentil, has a shot?” 

“Well…… it’s hard to say just yet.” 

His uncle replied vaguely, smiling. That smile told Taeui that his uncle already had a good idea of who the next General Director would be. 

“Do you think it will turn out the way you want, Uncle?” – He asked.

“Hmm. Well, as long as nothing unexpected happens, it should turn out alright. But you can never be certain about things that haven’t happened yet.” – His uncle replied with a calm smile, taking a sip of tea.

Taeui leaned against the bed and looked down at the beer can in his hand. *Tok, tok, tok* He tapped the rim of the can lightly, rhythmically, as if lost in thought. Then, he spoke in a steady, neutral tone.

“If things turn out the way you want…… would that be thanks to me?”

His uncle blinked in surprise at Taeui’s words, then suddenly let out a quiet laugh.

“Yes, yes, it’s all thanks to you coming here. Your help has been invaluable” – He said, his tone laced with playful sarcasm, as though teasingly thanking Taeui.

Taeui’s words had been a joke too, so he didn’t react. Instead, he drained the rest of his beer in one go, the empty can clinking softly as he set it down beside the bed. He continued speaking casually, as if their exchange were no more than idle chatter.

“Hmm…… is it because I’m a ‘lucky charm’ after all?” 

As soon as he said it, Taeui realized how ridiculous it sounded coming from his own mouth. Still, the words were already out, and he had no intention of taking them back. Tilting his head slightly, he looked at his uncle.

His uncle was in the middle of drinking his tea, paused with his teacup midway to his lips. A slight frown crossed his face, and he remained silent for a moment before finally lifting his head. With a less-than-enthusiastic expression, he spoke with a tone of reluctance.

“Rick mentioned that?”

“It just came up somehow. Was it something I wasn’t supposed to know?”

“Not exactly. But Jae didn’t seem too keen on letting you know about it.”

Taeui’s eyes widened in surprise. His curiosity must have been evident, but his uncle offered no further explanation. Taeui didn’t feel the need to press the matter, so he simply hummed in acknowledgment and nodded. Then, out of nowhere, a small smile tugged at his lips.

“But why would he even think that? That my brother’s luck is because of me? I don’t really feel that way.” – Taeui said, shrugging his shoulders.

It had just been a passing comment, yet his uncle’s unexpectedly serious reaction caught him off guard. This made it feel almost like it could be true, which only added to the absurdity. Still, the thought remained amusing. After all, luck was something one was born with, not something another person could influence. No matter how many centuries passed, that truth would not change. While destiny could be shaped by one’s will and actions, there were always aspects of life beyond human control.

His uncle nodded in agreement, his gaze drifting into the air as if lost in thought.

“Of course, Jaeui has always been a lucky kid at his core. I doubt his luck would suddenly vanish just because you weren’t around. But who knows…… Still, one thing is certain—you and Jaeui are deeply connected.”

“Well, naturally, since we’re twins, we’d be closely connected. But it’s not like what people go on about, saying that even when twins are far apart, one can sense if something happens to the other. It’s definitely not that mystical. Maybe other twins have some kind of mysterious power, but we definitely don’t. We’re just siblings, that’s all.”

“That may be true, but you know, Jaeui always got sick whenever you did.”

“……Kids often get sick at the same time, don’t they? Their immune systems aren’t as strong as adults’.” – Taeui replied, his expression incredulous. Surely his uncle wasn’t seriously attributing some mysterious, unexplainable bond between him and his brother to something as simple as that…… right?

But it seemed that ‘surely not’ was in fact correct. His uncle didn’t look particularly serious, yet he wasn’t joking or teasing either. Slowly turning his teacup in his hands, his uncle began to speak at a measured pace, recalling memories.

“You’re remarkably healthy now, to the point where you barely remember what a hospital looks like. But when you were young, you were so frail that the doctors declared you in danger several times. You probably don’t even remember that, do you?”

“Oh, I’ve heard about it”

Taeui thought of his brother, whom he hadn’t seen in months. Even if they were separated for hundreds of years, he wouldn’t worry about his brother’s safety. Living a disciplined and routine life, his brother still occasionally indulged in unexpected, unpredictable behavior.

Taeui didn’t think he knew much about his brother—at least, not as much as he would like to believe.

But one of the few things he did know was this: No matter how indifferent his brother might appear, always absorbed in books or inscrutable symbols, he undoubtedly loved him—and their family. Wherever he was. Whatever he was doing. Just as Jeong Taeui felt the same way about him.

“Yeah. I carried you on my back to the hospital more than a few times in the middle of the night. But Jaeui? He was so healthy he barely even caught a cold. Yet whenever you were on the verge of death in the hospital, he’d always be at home wasting away as well. Even if he’d been running around perfectly fine all day.”

“……That’s…… the mystery of twins, I suppose.” Taeui replied.

If his uncle was speaking of it so seriously, it clearly wasn’t a one-off occurrence. It was a curious phenomenon, to be sure. But calling him a ‘bringer of fortune’ because of it seemed far too grandiose. Embarrassed by the thought, Taeui felt his face flush.

“That’s it?”  

When his uncle didn’t seem inclined to continue, Taeui cautiously asked, wondering if that was all there was to the story. His uncle, who had been staring at the ceiling as if lost in thought, snapped back to reality with a soft “Hm?” and turned to look at him. Then, shrugging his shoulders, he replied casually:  

“Well, for now. You and Jaeui were the ones who experienced it, so you’d probably know better than I would.”  

“I don’t remember any of that. When was this even supposed to have happened?” 

“It was back when I was just starting to think about going to university…… so how many years ago would that be……? You must have been 2 or 3 years old back then.” 

“Well, of course I wouldn’t remember that.” – Taeui replied, exasperated.

“Really? Jae-ui seems to remember it.”

“Hyung, that’s because he’s ridiculously smart!” – Taeui replied with a sigh.

He had been expecting something grander, maybe even a touch of mystery, but it turned out to be nothing more than a coincidence, or so it seemed. He hadn’t been hoping for anything extraordinary, yet he couldn’t help but feel a bit let down.

It was the kind of story that felt awkward to bring up in conversation, yet his uncle knew about it, and even Ilay was aware. Who knew—there might be others who had heard as well. But coincidences like that weren’t all that rare, and as far as Taeui was concerned, it was just a strange, inexplicable tale when told this way.

Suddenly, he felt an invisible tension within him dissipate, and he let out a weak chuckle.

“What is this? You actually believe in superstitious stuff like that? Honestly. From the start, it didn’t make much sense. The idea that a person could grant someone else luck—what even is that? If it were about granting money or power instead, at least that would be easier to interpret!”

When Taeui spoke, his uncle didn’t argue or explain; he simply smiled calmly. 

“You should ask Jaeui about it. He has a good memory, and if there’s any kind of connection between you two, he’d know more about it.”

“Maybe. Though who knows when I’ll see him again? And who’s to say I’ll even remember to ask by then.”

“Still, your birthday’s coming up soon. He’ll probably reach out around that time, like he always does.” – His uncle replied with a knowing smile.

“True. Or he might just suddenly show up out of the blue……Even if not, he’ll probably get in touch around that time, if not exactly on the day.”

Taeui rarely found himself wanting to hear his brother’s voice or see him. Because of that, being apart from him for long stretches of time didn’t bother him at all.

Even when they were far apart, with no clear promise of meeting and no idea where his brother might be, Taeui didn’t feel any sense of loss. He firmly believed that whenever he deeply missed his brother, they would inevitably reconnect. And that belief had never once betrayed him.

Perhaps, in the end, that was the unbreakable red thread that bound them together.