BRH 5

7 a.m. Ha Do-heon woke up with a start, though no one had roused him.

Someone was standing in front of his old apartment door. Not an ordinary person, and if his skin was tingling even from here, it must be a monster from a gate.

Should he just beat it up?

Do-heon calmly got up and went to the living room, quietly grabbing a shiny silver spatula from among the cooking utensils in the kitchen.

“Did a gate open somewhere, or what?”

He didn’t know what it was, but a monster had come down to a place where people lived. Not even a safety alert while it came all the way down to this secluded village.

“Those Hunter Management Bureau bastards, can’t they do their jobs properly…”

He clicked his tongue once and headed straight for the front door. Judging by the energy he felt, the thing’s size was at least that of a carnivorous dinosaur.

He couldn’t let such a thing run rampant. Besides, the apartment Ha Do-heon lived in was so old that the veranda leaked even in summer. If that thing did a body slam, the structure would crumble like Kukers*.

Okay, let’s chase it away before that happens.

Before opening the door, Do-heon swung the spatula a few times in the air in front of the entrance. His swing was amazing. He should be able to chase it away with just one hit to the head. The spatula would ascend to heaven, though.

Satisfied, Ha Do-heon nodded and cautiously opened the door.

“…”

A strong light momentarily stopped his thoughts. The bright sun entered his vision in a yellow haze. Strangely, it was dazzling, so Do-heon wiped his eyes with his arm. Not that the scene in front of him would change.

Instead of a monster, a lanky man was standing in front of the door, and light radiated like a ridge along the man’s silhouette against the sun. Was this what they called… a halo?

At the same time, Do-heon’s intuition warned him that he was about to get caught up in something troublesome and complicated. For some reason, the man was slightly bowing, and he hadn’t seen Ha Do-heon yet.

Okay, let’s carefully close it again.

However, while he was subtly closing the door so the other person wouldn’t notice, Do-heon’s eyes met the other’s.

Agh…

An awkward silence followed between them, then the other slowly straightened up and looked at Ha Do-heon. As Do-heon awkwardly averted his gaze, the man chuckled softly. Then he said,

“Did I wake you? I was just going to leave it in front of the door.”

“…”

Such brazen words, after hitting someone over the head and then denying it. After leaking so much presence, what was he saying…

A well-tailored suit. Softly flowing hair. Luxurious fabric, without a single wrinkle, encasing his firm legs. Shoes without a speck of dust. The sight of a man who looked like he’d stepped out of a fashion magazine standing in front of Ha Do-heon’s house was…

…Overwhelming. Extremely so.

It was Moon Tae-yi. The small, beautifully wrapped bouquet of flowers nestled in his arm stung his eyes. Moon Tae-yi looked at Do-heon, then slowly shifted his gaze. He was now looking at what Do-heon was holding in his hand.

“I was wondering what you were gripping so tightly… Were you planning to chase me away with that?”

At those words, Ha Do-heon subtly hid the spatula behind his back. A spatula was no match for Moon Tae-yi’s size. He even had good eyes, considering it was hidden by the door.

“Well, caution is good. It’s good to be suspicious of anyone, no matter who they are. Do-heon-ssi is very sharp.”

His languid voice rang softly, as if praising him. As he spoke as if he was proud, Do-heon hesitated, put the spatula in the shoe rack, and opened the door wider.

“So, what brings you here so early in the morning?”

Moon Tae-yi raised his gaze to the air for a moment without expression. His listless eyes blinked a few times, then quickly formed an eye smile.

“I wanted to give Do-heon-ssi something, and I thought it would be nice to see your face while I was at it.”

How did this guy know my apartment number…

The scent of fresh flowers tickled his nose. Just looking at the flowers, yeah. They were disgustingly pretty. Do-heon clicked his tongue inwardly, wondering if he had come to hear his answer to the confession.

“Tae-yi-ssi… It hasn’t been a week yet.”

As if he had heard the answer he expected, Moon Tae-yi smiled. Even his smile was disgustingly pretty.

“I know. I know, but, well… It’s the 7th again today. Come to think of it, Do-heon-ssi’s Hunter registration date was the 7th. And your birthday is December 7th. I thought it was a special day, so I came.”

Moon Tae-yi, armed with miraculous logic, handed the flowers to a dumbfounded Ha Do-heon. Come to think of it, he had matched the colorful flowers to exactly seven. Was Moon Tae-yi… crazy?

“And I have something else to say as well.”

“From this morning? It’s… 7 o’clock now?”

Looking at the clock on the wall, it was exactly past 7:10. Moon Tae-yi nodded. Suddenly, a large hand reached out. It brushed past his usually tense and soft face, smoothing out his sticking-up hair.

“It’s true that I wanted to see Do-heon-ssi, but this is the only time I have. A dungeon appeared near Gangnam last night, and it’s ranked as a 4-star.”

“If it’s a 4-star…”

“That’s right. The other S-class Hunters are in charge of the Incheon Gate and Mount Bukak, so I was inevitably drafted. So I have to go into the dungeon now. Well, since it’s a 4-star… it’ll take about fifteen days.”

Ha Do-heon shouted “Nice!” inwardly, but he tried his best to just look at him calmly.

“Then our promised week is…”

“Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have to meet in fifteen days. If Do-heon-ssi will wait until then.”

Of course. I can wait longer. I can wait a year, no. I can wait even ten years.

Unlike Ha Do-heon, who was even banging a gong in his mind, Moon Tae-yi gave a bitter smile. Do-heon lowered his eyes and nodded slowly, as if showing his regret. And he was about to raise his head to say that it was okay, that he could wait long enough, when.

“Ah, and this.”

Moon Tae-yi held out something else after the flowers. It was a beautifully wrapped gift box.

“Why are you giving me a gift…”

“There are only two cups in Ha Do-heon-ssi’s house, right? I couldn’t come empty-handed on my first visit. So I bought them. So you’ll think of me a lot.”

Moon Tae-yi opened the box to show the contents inside. This time, Ha Do-heon’s gaze wavered without hesitation. Expensive-looking cups that looked like they would be used for high-end whiskey. As soon as he opened the box, a crystal cup with Moon Tae-yi’s hero poster printed on it came out.

“Ah, and there’s this too. It’s nothing special. Since there are only four spoons in Do-heon-ssi’s house, I prepared this so you can eat while thinking of me. You can think of it as a dowry.”

This time, a set of spoons and chopsticks came out. The shape was ordinary, but the difference from ordinary spoons and chopsticks was… the fact that his face was engraved on the spotless spoon.

“From now on, Do-heon-ssi and I will be lovers, so we need to have this much to make our household goods not look bare.”

“……”

Ha Do-heon usually cooked at home every time he didn’t have work, but he only realized today that he had four spoons in his house. To be exact, there were two spoons that he took out and used. He must have forgotten about the rest, which were stashed away in a cupboard somewhere, but… how did Moon Tae-yi know that?

“…Are you stalking me…”

“I think about Do-heon-ssi a lot, whether I’m awake or asleep. It’s dangerous if a thief breaks in at night, right? So when I dropped Do-heon-ssi off on the day I confessed, I scanned the house for a moment to see if there were any petty thieves.”

“…”

“Do-heon-ssi’s socks, no. You have a lot of yellow socks. You use yellow cups too, right? Do you like chicks?”

As he said that, he created a chick by conjuring yellow smoke on his finger.

“…”

He wondered if this was… that. I know your identity. So confess yourself, or something like that.

Seeing Ha Do-heon’s foolish expression, Moon Tae-yi rubbed his hair and folded his eyes happily, wondering what he was thinking.

However, Ha Do-heon’s heart suddenly sank coldly.

Scan.

His abilities corresponded to national power and some of them were still classified. But Ha Do-heon knew his abilities. Because he had mentioned it casually one day.

If he scanned his house that day… then would he have seen it? No. Ren didn’t create a ‘door’ that day, so he might not have seen it. But his heart began to beat anxiously.

He didn’t know what to say, and he couldn’t even open his mouth because he was afraid that he would score a spectacular own goal. Something seemed screwed up. Sweat was dripping down his spine at that moment.

“But Do-heon-ssi.”

Moon Tae-yi looked down at Do-heon suspiciously. His cold gaze briefly went over Ha Do-heon’s shoulder and then returned. His chest became cold. What’s behind him.

“Did you raise a slime at home too?”

“Excuse me…?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a yellow slime… What is that?”

He couldn’t bring himself to look back. Because it seemed like a vortex was swirling in Moon Tae-yi’s eyes as he looked at him with interest. Lime. The yellow slime that came every morning and snuggled into Ha Do-heon’s arms to sleep.

He didn’t know if he had been caught by Moon Tae-yi while peeking around, wondering what was going on, but his heart dropped.

Moon Tae-yi’s right eye. That eye was gradually turning gold. He was about to use his ability. The moment Lime was discovered, Ha Do-heon intuitively knew that he would be saying goodbye to his ordinary life.

So,

Thud-.

He blocked his eyes with his hand. Thud, the bouquet fell on his instep, and one side of the wrapping paper was crumpled hideously. A moment of awkward silence fell between them. It seemed like Moon Tae-yi’s mouth hardened for a moment, then he felt his eyelashes fluttering against his hand.