SDM 21

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the quest.

Reward: Stamina enhancement and partial recovery from illness

Experience your changed body right now!

White letters scattered across a blue hologram, flashing smoothly. Seong-woon glared at the unwelcome quest completion window that appeared without being summoned, and the letters disappeared sheepishly. Sighing, Seong-woon blurted out,

“…You’re not going to do anything, are you?”

“What do you think I might do?”

“Don’t do anything.”

He didn’t want to bring it up further, but he couldn’t bear to see Ryu Chang-yoon do anything that might harm Sang-hyun.

Thorny words, contemptuous glances, twisted lips – these were all too familiar to Seong-woon, practically a part of his daily life. Whether they hurt or not was beside the point.

“Baby.”

“……”

Ryu Chang-yoon definitely had some eccentric tendencies, and sometimes when you looked into his eyes, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had buried a few people somewhere there. Seong-woon licked his dry lips and squeezed out his acting skills.

“Please, hyung. It’s really not a big deal, so trust me.”

It was a request from the beloved youngest. After staring blankly ahead for a while, Ryu Chang-yoon parked the car in some unknown underground parking lot and smiled brightly.

“Then let’s sleep together at my place tonight.”

“…What?”

“I bought some dacquoise that Chae-yoon likes.”

The parking lot was lined with expensive cars, clearly a very high-end villa. Seong-woon, deciding it would be best to humor Chang-yoon, nodded.

…Surely “sleeping together” only meant sleeping, right? Sometimes Chang-yoon’s actions went beyond the bounds of a “brother,” and he had a knack for making even such everyday phrases sound weird.

As Seong-woon got out of the car, Chang-yoon held out his hand. Not knowing what to do, Seong-woon stared blankly at his palm until Chang-yoon waved it.

“What?”

“Take it.”

“…Your hand?”

“Yes.”

Two adult brothers holding hands… isn’t that really weird? Seong-woon felt a chill run down his spine but took Chang-yoon’s hand anyway. It was large and warm.

“Haha, amnesia is good at times like this.”

“What?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

So ‘Ryu Chae-yoon’ wouldn’t have held his hand, right? Is this bastard allowed to toy with people like this?

Seong-woon tried to pull his hand away, but Chang-yoon even interlaced their fingers. Having already used up all his energy for the day because of Baek Sang-hyun, Seong-woon gave up and let Chang-yoon lead him.

To experience the changed body, he said, but nothing has changed? Seong-woon cursed at the guy who might be C18 or C1012 for a long time.

— Your stamina has been enhanced, not your strength! Stamina and strength are different!

He was quick to interject when Seong-woon cursed at him. Seong-woon wanted to cover his ears at the sensation of shouting inside his head, but he didn’t have enough hands.

— I’ll give you the next quest.

C1012 tossed another quest at him without giving him a moment to rest.

Quest 4

Score 80 points or higher on the Accounting Principles midterm exam.

Reward: Partial revelation of Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish

Deadline: Until the midterm exam results are released

Failure will result in returning to the branching point.

Implementing soul adjustment project….

Hey, you son of a…

* * *

“Take a shower.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t shower with cold water, use lukewarm water. Got it?”

“I know.”

“You always act like Saint Mary.”

Ryu Chae-yoon was quite rebellious even with his own life. Of course, a cold shower wouldn’t really do anything… right? Seong-woon had no idea how serious the issue with the heart muscle being that weak was.

Not only did his family worry excessively and monitor his every move with CCTV, he even bodyguards follow him in a line. However, Seong-woon had never felt any major abnormality in Ryu Chae-yoon’s body. His stamina was extremely weak, but that was it.

But having no desire to experiment, Seong-woon turned on lukewarm water and showered quickly. There were no cameras installed in the main house’s bathroom, but if a certain amount of time passed, a bodyguard would come to check on his vital signs (!), so it had become a habit to shower and get out quickly.

After lightly shaking his head to remove excess water, Seong-woon put on the prepared robe and opened the door. He could hear Chang-yoon Ryu’s voice from the bedroom.

“Stop making a fuss, Ryu Ho-yoon.”

He was holding Seong-woon’s phone, apparently answering a call from Ryu Ho-yoon.

“I’m going to sleep now, so hang up. …I said I’m sleeping?”

“Is that Ho-yoon hyung?”

“I said it’s not.”

Chang-yoon shook his head and held out his hand. What did he want? As Seong-woon stared blankly at the outstretched hand, Chang-yoon waved it again. When Seong-woon mouthed ‘What?’, Chang-yoon snatched the towel from Seong-woon’s head and sat him down on the bed, grabbing his arm.

“Why are you here? Are you crazy?”

While expressing all his irritation towards Ho-yoon, Chang-yoon started properly drying Seong-woon’s hair. His hands were so large that he could wrap one around Seong-woon’s entire head and rub it.

“I told you Chae-yoon is sleeping.”

“……”

Well, let’s pretend I’m sleeping even though I’m not. Ho-yoon is truly a good brother and it’s fun to be with him, but there’s no denying he’s loud.

Chang-yoon abruptly ended the call and handed the phone back to Seong-woon. Hoyun had sent countless crying emojis.

“Why did you even answer?”

“If I don’t, he’ll keep calling until I do.”

That’s true. As Seong-woon sat like an obedient puppy, holding his phone while receiving Chang-yoon’s attention, he suddenly remembered something and lifted his head.

“I need to contact my parents.”

It felt very awkward to contact his parents about not coming home, so he hadn’t even thought of it. Seong-woon had lived alone since high school and attended schedules without a guardian.

“I already did.”

“Okay.”

“Do you usually dry your hair well?”

“Uh… I guess so?”

“In summer it’s fine, but in winter, you need to dry it completely. You know that, right? Even in summer, you should dry it fully because air conditioning can cause problems.”

“Got it.”

He really is nothing but a worrywart, huh. It wasn’t a feeling Seong-woon could relate to. But he didn’t feel like arguing with someone who had seen his sister’s heart stop.

“Your wrist.”

“It’s fine.”

“Chae-yoon.”

“…Fine.”

“What would you like hyung to do to Baek Sang-hyun?”

“……”

Chang-yoon was looking down at him with an intense smile. It looked exactly like the expression of someone about to bury a person somewhere. Seong-woon quickly changed his attitude and obediently held out his wrist.

“It’s not bad enough to need medicine.”

Around the wrist, which still had a slight warmth, there were clear finger-shaped bruises. It didn’t seem like he had been grabbed that hard, but his body seemed to bruise easily, even with weak skin.

“……”

The crooked smile on Chang-yoon’s lips was unsettling. His anger was visibly rising moment by moment. Seong-woon tried to hide his wrist, but Chang-yoon held onto his hand, not letting go.

“Hyung.”

“Haa….”

“It hurts.”

Chang-yoon was gripping so tightly that the veins in his forearm were bulging, so Seong-woon used his free hand to pry Chang-yoon’s hand off. When he frowned for a moment at the sound of his heart pounding loudly, Chang-yoon was startled and quickly placed his fingers on Seong-woon’s neck. He seemed to be checking his pulse.

“…It’s borderline.”

“You did it, hyung.”

“Sorry.”

Chang-yoon checked Seong-woon’s heart rate for a while, only removing his hand after confirming it had returned to normal range. Then he caressed Seong-woon’s cheek for no reason before opening a drawer and taking out a first aid kit. He warmed up some ointment for bruises and gently rubbed it on Seong-woon’s wrist.

Seong-woon barely managed to suppress the urge to squirm from the ticklish sensation. He didn’t like how Chang-yoon wrapped a bandage around it as if it was a serious injury, but he left it alone. He didn’t know what situation might arise if Chang-yoon exploded.

“…I’m sleepy.”

“Sleep then.”

After absorbing Chang-yoon’s anger, Seong-woon felt completely drained. It didn’t seem like his stamina had increased at all, either. Seong-woon mentally berated C1012 as he flopped onto the bed. He didn’t even have the strength left to properly position himself.

“Are you really… sleeping together?”

“There’s only one bed.”

“Then I’ll sleep outside.”

“Just sleep here.”

Chang-yoon pulled Seong-woon’s waist to properly lay him on the bed, then lay down beside him. Seong-woon thought Chang-yoon would just help him get settled and then move his arm away, but he kept holding him. While that bothered Seong-woon a bit, his eyelids were too heavy to resist.

After falling into the depths of sleep like that, when Seong-woon opened his eyes in the morning, he found himself still in Chang-yoon’s embrace, which was tightly holding his body. After untangling himself from Chang-yoon’s limbs that were wrapped all around him, he found himself unnecessarily checking his own body, which was only wearing a robe. Even though he knew nothing had happened.

Barely a few minutes after Seong-woon escaped from his embrace, Chang-yoon’s eyes snapped open. He tried to sit up in surprise, but realizing that Seong-woon was awake and looking down at him, he buried himself back in the bed and let out a long sigh.

Is this what brothers are normally like? Having grown up as an only child and being at the opposite end of the spectrum, Seong-woon wasn’t sure what was normal when it came to affection.

“Shall we play together today?”

“…Are you a child?”

“Who, you?”

“……”

Knowing he’d just be called a child again if he argued, Seong-woon kept his mouth shut. Well, being the youngest with an age gap of more than twenty years, he’d probably be treated like a baby even after turning sixty.

“It’s Saturday, so sleep more.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Then we should eat.”

Look how quickly he changes his attitude at the mention of food. Seong-woon chuckled as he got out of bed. He enjoyed his last moment of leisure, eating warm toast generously topped with butter. Probably from next week onwards… he’d have to make all sorts of efforts to get 80 points on the midterm exam.