Chapter 163

"If you don't cooperate, we'll have no choice but to enter forcibly..."

"I was taking a shower."

Soram appeared from behind, smiling faintly. His hair was wet, his upper body was bare, and he had only a towel wrapped around his lower half. The gazes that had been fixed on Tae-un's back scattered in embarrassment.

"How did you end up showering in someone else's room, leaving your own nearby room?"

"We were eating dinner together as friends and playing around when we spilled something."

"We'd like to check for ourselves."

"Well, go ahead."

On the living room table, a bottle of alcohol and a soft drink were lying toppled over. The employee looked suspiciously at the open window. Soram shrugged nonchalantly.

"It was smelling of alcohol. As you know, we're barely twenty, so we'd get scolded by the director if we got caught."

"...So you're saying you spilled that on yourself and are wet now because you were washing it off?"

"Yes. Ah, to be precise, I came out in the middle of showering. The atmosphere outside the bathroom felt strange."

The employees exchanged glances with each other. As if to cut off any discussion, Soram spoke up with a "But."

"It seems like you have some reason to suspect me, but are you confident you can push this all the way?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking if you're confident you can come in here, thoroughly investigate me, and reach the conclusion you want? In the opposite case... you should be prepared to face the resentment of two 1st-grade hunters who are finally resting after going on seven or eight dispatches a day recently."

"..."

"You said it was a request from the Capital Defense Command, right? I'm going to overturn everything up to that point. Since I have a pretty face, I wonder if crying and wailing on broadcast would have some effect."

As he revealed his irritation, the employees' faces showed discomfort. Unlike Han Tae-un, he was also a person who might actually do something unpredictable.

"For now... we apologize for disturbing your rest. We've confirmed your face, so we won't investigate further. They say even the Capital Defense Command had no choice because Busan was insisting on confirming the facts."

"Aha. No matter what, how can you mistreat your comrades who eat from the same pot after hearing some nonsense? You should know to cut it off. How could I go to Busan?"

"...Understood. We'll report that you've been in the dormitory since evening, and it was their mistake."

"Yes. Thank you for your hard work at this late hour."

"Not at all. We apologize for the intrusion. Please rest."

Although some uneasiness remained, they withdrew obediently since they were in the position of having forcibly broken in. After all, it was better to side with those they often saw face-to-face while eating from the same pot.

As the footsteps leaving the corridor faded away, Soram let out a long breath. He went to the living room table and untied the towel from his head to wipe up the spilled liquid.

"It was a temporary measure. I'll clean it up soon."

"It's fine, just go to your room and finish showering."

"I'll just finish cleaning this..."

"I said go."

Tae-un grabbed Soram's arm and pulled him up. Unable to meet his eyes, he gripped the white arm with enough force to hurt.

Slowly tilting his head, Soram finally became aware of his own half-naked body.

"Ah, sorry."

"..."

"I didn't realize..."

This reaction was as perplexing as his appearance just moments ago that had shown no sign of wariness.

"I'll clean everything up after I shower. Just leave it."

Soram went straight to his room. Tae-un turned his gaze away from his retreating figure as if escaping. He stiffly tensed his neck to avoid looking at the next room and picked up the towel he had been using to clean the floor.

As he was about to clean the stained floor.

Bang!!!

There was a loud collision sound. Beyond the door, Soram had collapsed in the living room. Blood was flowing through the gaps in his hands covering his nose, and blue mist was leaking from his curled-up body.

"Jin Soram!"

Tae-un ran over and turned the curled-up Soram over. Fortunately, he hadn't lost consciousness.

"What's wrong, why are you like this!"

"Huu..., it's an overload."

As if blood had gone down his airway, a "kup" cough burst out. Tae-un patted his back and asked, "Why is there an overload?"

"I flew here from Busan. I had a bad feeling, and I guessed right."

"..."

"I'll be fine in a bit, so just leave me..."

Tae-un sighed and then lifted Soram under his knees and back.

Still being carried, Soram was brought back the way he had come and transferred to Tae-un's bathroom. Tae-un put Soram down in the bathtub and turned on warm water.

"Why did you come here?"

"Because it's obvious you wouldn't have cleaned your bathroom."

"Aha... I have nothing to say to that."

"Has your nosebleed stopped?"

"It'll be fine if you leave it for a moment..."

Tae-un didn't listen and went outside.

Soon, a plastic bag filled with ice arrived. Tae-un's gaze was desperately fixed on the bathroom wall tiles as he gently pressed the ice against Soram's nose. In a place Tae-un couldn't see, Soram's expression rippled like the water in the bathtub.

"Warm up your body a bit, then wash and come out."

"It'll stop soon. I'm telling you this isn't necessary."

Without answering, Tae-un went outside. As soon as he closed the door, his face was quickly wiped with the back of his hand.

He had seen the naked body of the person he liked and even touched their back and thighs. The bright red heat rising made not just his face but his whole body feel flushed. Jin Soram must have seen all of this as it was.

He must have read everything even without the white magic stone.

Tae-un slumped down right next to the bathroom door and leaned his back against the wall. From inside came the sound of water filling up, tung tung tung tung. As the rhythmic sound continued, his mind settled down somewhat.

After closing his eyes for a moment, he asked a question.

"Why did you go to Busan?"

"That's where the 3rd Great Rift will occur. I need to do various things in advance to be able to endure, but the problem is that not only is the relationship between the Busan Branch and the headquarters bad right now, but I'm just a lowly chief, so I can't go officially. If I were at least a team leader, I could have insisted and gone a few times."

"So you went alone secretly to prepare?"

"I don't know if it'll work."

"..."

"But, I feel like I need at least the excuse that I tried my best."

The sound of water filling the bathtub gradually became duller. It was evidence that the water level was rising. A little later, after the sound of water being stirred, the water stopped. After a brief conversation, they were both silent for a long time. With the sound that had been echoing in the enclosed bathroom gone, the silence felt even louder.

"You don't have to be there. I'm not bored. I'll wash up, get everything in order, and come out."

"I'm not sitting here to keep you company."

"Then?"

"In case you collapse in the water again."

It was silence again.

During the silence without a reply, Tae-un raised his knees and rested his arms on them. He now understood a bit why Soram often took a curled-up posture. It was a posture one took when feeling ashamed of something and afraid of the other person's response.

"Han Tae-un. Are you doing this because you like me?"

"..."

The next question made Tae-un's thighs and chest press even closer together. His gaze looking at the floor wavered. Soon, he answered calmly.

"I'd keep a close eye on anyone who had a nosebleed and collapsed."

"Hmm..."

"...Except for that, everything else I'm doing now is correct."

Even the slightest movement from Soram was transmitted through the water filling the bathtub. It was fortunate that the situation wasn't reversed. Tae-un's agitation was probably much greater.

"So you really do like me."

"You've already seen inside my head, why are you saying 'really' now?"

"I didn't know. Not once until now."

"You said we lived as enemies... But with your personality, how bad could you have been? Even I, who you said completely turned my back, seem a bit strange."

"Oh, no. I was much worse than you're thinking now."

"That's probably just your thinking."

There was no answer to that.

"Were you... originally gay?"

Instead, another question flew out.

"I just liked you without thinking about that. If you were a woman, I'd be straight, and since you're a man, I guess I became gay."

"Even knowing that I'm a person who's wasted 20 chances to save the world? I might be closer to a villain than the hero you like."

"..."

The head that had been looking at the floor lifted. Perhaps because there was a wall between them, words he normally couldn't say rushed out.

"If you're the person who came to find me in Guncheon, stayed for 3 days and left, and shared the next room with me at the headquarters, I'd like you even if you were the villain who caused the Great Rift."

The sound of water splashing came from inside. The voice that had been heard through it became a little sharper.

"...I get annoyed every time you act weird."

Tae-un felt his heart sink again.

"What do you mean by acting weird?"

"Doing things to me that no one else would do except you."

Was his behavior excessive? He could answer that it was without even needing to look back. He also understood Soram's discomfort at receiving such behavior.

"You're probably uncomfortable knowing that another man likes you."

"It's not that, I'm just annoyed."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"It's not. I know what being uncomfortable feels like. This is just annoying. You seem a bit like a pushover, and it's frustrating to watch."

Tae-un lifted his gaze and let out a sigh towards the concave light in front of the bathroom.

"You're openly criticizing me. What exactly is so annoying and frustrating?"

"You do too much for me. You could just leave me alone, but you keep doing things. You're too..."

The sentence wasn't completed, and his voice cut off abruptly. Then there was a splash, the sound of water overflowing.

"Jin Soram?"

"..."

"Jin Soram."

Could he have really collapsed? He stood up abruptly and opened the bathroom door.

Soram wasn't collapsed. It was a much more unexpected sight. His face was red, from his ears to his neck to his cheeks.

"Is it... that you're too kind."

Soram's white forehead turned towards where Tae-un was standing. Below it, brown eyes slightly moist widened roundly.

"I get annoyed because my heart feels stifled every time you act kindly."

For a moment, it felt like time had stopped in the space. Soram blinked his wet eyelashes and touched his own cheek with the back of his hand.

"Huh?"

"..."

"Ah, could this be..."

Soram's gaze moved upward, and Tae-un bent his knees to lower his body. Their gazes met in the middle.

And for a fleeting moment, quite by chance at the same timing, their gazes touched each other's lips. Their eyes that had moved at the same point met again in the middle.

That was all.

Their lips met.

The first kiss of their lives tasted of rainwater, with a slight metallic taste.