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.