63.
After a while, a peaceful night passed. Seon-woo woke up from bed and smiled as he looked down at the present his Hyung had given him in the living room. Although he often received various things from his Hyung, this was the first time he received a birthday present since they had grown up. That’s why it had more meaning.
Seon-woo carefully grabbed the tie pin and cufflinks before getting up. The urgent matter was solved right away, but there were still more problems waiting. Because of that, a meeting was scheduled early in the morning, and he had to prepare for his participation. He went into the dressing room and picked out his suit more carefully than usual.
He took longer to choose a tie and shirt than normal. He had already chosen his accessories, so he had to pay attention to color harmony.
He put on a shirt as if he were going through a ceremony, tied the tie, and put on what he had received as a gift.
‘It’s nice.’
Laughter leaked out again. For his birthday, he received a lot of gifts from various places and at outrageous prices, but none of them could beat what his Hyung had given him.
‘Because my Hyung put his love into the gift.’
Didn’t Hyeon-woo think only of Seon-woo the whole time he was choosing? He was getting excited for nothing again. Still, he had to get serious soon, so he tried to calm down, to no avail.
Seon-woo entered the meeting room in such a state.
“Doesn’t the Guild Leader look kinda happy?”
Lena replied to Ain, the team leader of Team 1,
“He took a break yesterday after his urgent work was over. Maybe that’s why?”
“He has been busy running around.”
Of course, Seon-woo wasn’t the only one who was busy running around. All the guild members in the Seon-Hyeon Guild couldn’t sleep and moved like crazy. That was why the break given for half a day the day before tasted like honey.
“Okay then, let’s start the meeting.”
Chan-young stood at the front, commanding attention. He quickly explained the number and distribution of the monsters they’d defeated so far, as well as the portals. He had originally admired Seon-woo and joined the Seon-Hyeon Guild and didn’t know anything about it, but now he played the role of a decent Deputy Guild Leader. Lena, who thought of Chan-young as her younger brother, felt proud just looking at him.
“By the way, “
The assistant team leader standing behind whispered in Lena’s ear.
“Guild leader, isn’t he different today from usual?”
Looking at Seon-woo after those words, it was definitely different from usual. But she couldn’t pinpoint what it was. She just shook her head and nodded.
Lena stared at Seon-woo, with a sense of determination. Then, they made eye contact.
‘Hey, I can hear you.’
She winked and shrugged her shoulders, and he rubbed his chin with his hand with an arrogant smile. Because of that, a particularly shiny cuff button could be seen through the slightly lowered sleeve.
She looked at it to see if it was something great, but it didn’t seem like it. Still, she wanted to say something when their eyes met, so she opened her mouth.
“The cufflinks are nice.”
At those words, Ain, who was sitting next to her, frowned. He had a look on his face asking what nonsense she was talking about during a serious meeting. However, the response that came back was different from what was expected.
Seon-woo opened his mouth with a proud expression.
“It was a present from my Hyung. Doesn’t it match my outfit perfectly?”
As he puffed his chest forward, a necktie pin caught her eye. No matter how she looked, it seemed like a set along with the cufflinks.
“The tie pin looks good too!”
Lena, who roughly grasped the situation, showered him with praise: How could he have given such a luxurious and practical gift; Also, Hyeon-woo-nim had good eyes. Every time he heard such words, the corners of Seon-woo’s mouth went up, not knowing that they were high in the sky.
By that time, the other team leaders also grasped the situation. The team leaders gathered here were all people who came in with good feelings for Seon-woo. Besides, since most of them have been with Seon-woo since he was a minor, an atmosphere of pity was created.
It would have been an unimaginable situation in the past, but after Hyeon-woo returned, this kind of situation often came.
“You must have been really happy to receive such a gift! I’m so envious.”
“I know, right. He chose it well. It really suits the Guild Leader!”
Seon-woo’s expression brightened. As the situation progressed, Chan-young felt obligated to say something himself. But since the others had already said anything, he desperately had to get his head rolling.
“Come to think of it, I saw Hyeon-woo-nim and Do-jin-nim at a nearby department store looking for gifts the other day.”
It was too late, but he wanted to say sorry, but he couldn’t pick up the words that had already flowed out.
“With Han Do-jin?”
Seon-woo’s face dropped and his mood became colder.
‘Ah, he’s angry.’
While the team leaders were watching, Seon-woo spoke in a cold voice.
“Let’s finish the meeting.”
Time began to pass like hell. Because of Seon-woo’s meticulous questioning, the team leaders all left the meeting room in a state of shredded kimchi. Among them, Chan-young was in particularly bad condition.
“You should have been more sensible.”
When Lena spoke resentfully, Chan-young let out a small sigh. Why did such words pop out then? Even if he regretted it, it was already too late.
***
“Ugh.”
Hyeon-woo woke up and lay down on the sofa again with a strange moan. In the kitchen, his younger brother, shirt sleeves rolled up, was preparing lunch.
‘This is true peace.’
Now he could be lazy again. He thought so, but Seon-woo stopped preparing and came closer and hugged Hyeon-woo from behind.
“Hyung.”
“Huh?”
Why was he so childish today? He smiled and answered, but Seon-woo asked.
“With whom did you go and buy my present?”
Did someone tell him about going with Do-jin to buy a present? But he thought he would be disappointed, but it seemed to be nothing more than he thought.
“Ah, Do-jin-ssi.”
Come to think of it, Do-jin-ssi said he would come in at dawn, but there was no news yet. Well, since he had a guild of his own, he must be busy.
“Hmm, I see.”
Seon-woo’s voice went down strangely. At that point, Hyeon-woo also noticed that Seon-woo was not in a good mood.
“Why?”
“No, nothing. Rather, we have somewhere to go for lunch.”
“Where is it?”
Hyeon-woo asked carefully.
“Warehouse.”
“Warehouse? Why are you going there?”
“To check the presents.”
If his younger brother was checking his birthday present, did he really need to follow him? Hyeon-woo quietly followed even while thinking so.
They arrived at a building located under a mountain on the outskirts of Seoul. Seon-woo called it a warehouse, but it didn’t look like that at all.
Outside, there was a barbed wire fence around it in which several security guards were armed, and it was guarded by dogs.
There were numerous items on display in the basement. Seon-woo looked around the items in a calm manner and then moved to another warehouse. And there, Hyeon-woo was able to meet numerous monsters.
“What’s this?”
Was it a monster lab? Numerous monsters were trapped in hard iron cages here and there.
“A present for Hyung.”
“What?”
“They also sent a present to my Hyung from another country.”
“Why are they sending it to me?”
“Since you are a tamer, I think it was sent to look good.”
This was difficult. Actually, it was because Hyeon-woo was not a tamer. Spotty, Kero, and even Two-eyed were all subdued with his fists.
“Kyu?”
A pink monster that looked like a chubby rabbit tilted its head. It was insanely cute.
“Isn’t it cute?”
“Yeah, but.”
He couldn’t beat a kid like that and make him listen. Both Kero and Spotty were big and terrifying monsters when they first met! If he had been that cute from the start, he might have been a little hesitant to hit him.
“I don’t think I can do taming.”
“Yes?”
Unexpectedly, Seon-woo wasn’t too surprised.
“Since we have tamed dragon-level creatures, it seemed like it would be more difficult to tame other monsters.”
He didn’t know, but it seemed that the number of monsters that could be tamed varied according to the limit of the other tamers.
“Then what are they going to do with them?”
“I have to return it. Or send it to the lab.”
He felt pitiful, but in the end, the things here are monsters. It was a being that could harm people even if it had a small and cute appearance. Hyeon-woo knew that too, so he suppressed his pity and turned away from him.
“Hyung.”
Seon-woo, who was walking ahead, turned around while calling for Hyeon-woo.
“Hyung will always be by my side, right?”
“Of course!”
Hyeon-woo confidently replied.
“Whatever happens?”
“Of course. We’re family after all.”
When he said that, Seon-woo laughed.
“Perhaps in the future there will be more people targeting my Hyung. I’ll do anything, so there are probably some people who ask you to come to their country.”
“Because of Two-eyed?”
Two-eyed was now standing in front of another monster’s cage, swallowing saliva. It seemed that he wanted to eat the monsters.
“Wang wang!”
Kero barked as if to stop it, biting the clothes in his mouth. Spotty was keeping a distance from the two and remained wary. On the outside, they might look rather silly, but they were all monsters whose strength could not be ignored. It was understandable that others coveted them.
“Yes. Dragons are coveted everywhere.”
He thought of Leon who appeared in the middle.
“It’s fine. I don’t have a reason to go anywhere else.”
Hyeon-woo stood up and stroked Seon-woo’s hair.
“Don’t be so anxious.”
He guessed that was why he was always in a bad mood. Hyeon-woo, who had a misunderstanding, comforted Seon-woo.
“Because we’ll be together forever.”
“Even if Han Do-jin tells you to come?”
At those words, Hyeon-woo’s hand, which were dazzlingly stroking his hair, halted.
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Davine, YaagRabRag
Davine: Who isn’t? This is the second thing I’m waiting for. The first? It’s obviously when HW will reveal his powers.
YRR: Agreed. Though tbh, SW’s feelings and possessiveness for his brother are starting to creep me out. He needs therapy (and should’ve started it a loooooong time ago). To be fair, they all need some.
Please join the discord server. In case if we had to place all the posts into a password lock, you will get notified there and given extra details there. The updates will be activated only when we reach atleast 100 members(excluding the admins and me.) It's not much active currently.
They definitely need some therapy. The younger brother has some serious, if justifiable, separation anxiety regarding his older brother. His familial affections have also been warped because of this. While I'm more okay with incest in a BL context because there's no chance of a child being born with genetic defects, it still feels wrong. Less wrong, but still... I'm okay with over-protective and indulgent siblings, because a good relationship between siblings should be valued, but he's really going overboard at this point. Do Jin is unlikely to try to isolate him and he's already said that he refuses to abandon you, so be content with the lot of a beloved younger brother.