## Chapter 164 – The Place I Was Born and Raised
“I feel a bit bad asking you to come all the way up here just to go back down.”
“No, it’s alright.”
I talk to Min-jeong, who is fixing her shoes at the entrance of the room where I spent the night with Chae-yun. Why is Min-jeong in Busan when she should be in Seoul carrying out my orders?
“…Then, as you ordered, I will take this woman and protect her.”
“……”
Min-jeong straightens up and looks at Ji-yu, who is standing blankly beside her, confirming the details of the order. The reason I called Min-jeong here is because Ji-yu is frozen in that state and won’t move. Today is the day I have to go see my parents, and I can’t take Ji-yu in that state. And it would be a problem if the flower blooming in her head reacts to humans and tries to move.
So, for now, I’ve decided to secretly protect Ji-yu in a safe place. There’s still a lot I don’t know about the existence of the ‘flowerpot,’ so I need to take my time and find out… I’m planning to be away for up to three days, and I can’t just leave Ji-yu alone until then.
But if I send her back to her daily life, I don’t know what might happen, and if Ji-yu’s family or acquaintances notice her strangeness and report it, things will get complicated. But Min-jeong, who has worked as a professional in this field…
“I’m just saying this in case, but you have to be careful not to get caught, okay?”
“Don’t worry. I have already taken measures regarding the human being Seo Ji-yu. She has now been processed as someone who never existed in society.”
…Yeah, I guess I didn’t need to worry that much.
“…That’s really fast… Anyway, put her in a room with plenty of sunlight, and feed her on time. And this bottle contains semen, so if you feed her once, you don’t have to feed her anything for a while.”
“As you command.”
Min-jeong listens attentively, waiting for my orders, and politely bows her head at the end of my words. Knowing that the greeting means the end of the conversation, I relax and turn around, but Min-jeong’s steady, dry voice catches me.
“…And I have something to report. It’s about the whereabouts of Dr. Jeong A-un, as you ordered…”
The man who was in Busan, at the lab, at the same time as me, but whom I didn’t meet. It hasn’t even been a week since I ordered her to investigate his whereabouts, but she’s already found something? How competent was she when she was human…
I stop walking and turn back to face Min-jeong. Jeong A-un, who leaked information about the purple fruit to me and brought me here. That human called me here for no reason and then ran away without doing anything? I thought he must be planning something, so I asked her to investigate him, but…
“As you said, I went to Jeong A-un’s house and secret lab, but he had already erased all traces and clues and disappeared.”
“I figured as much…”
There’s no way that man would let me catch his tail so easily. In that case, I guess I have no choice but to go find him myself.
“Alright, good work. But just in case, always be vigilant while taking care of Ji-yu.”
“As you command.”
After another polite greeting, Min-jeong turns around and takes Ji-yu, who is staring blankly at me, away. The two women disappear beyond the black door that closes at the end of the hallway. Okay, Ji-yu’s problem is taken care of for now… Now I really need to go see my father. I still have time before checkout, so should I get breakfast after Chae-yun gets ready?
“Hey, Lee Chae-yun. There’s still a long time before the bus, so let’s have breakfast before we go.”
“…..”
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you hungry?”
I pick up my phone to check the time and call Chae-yun, who is sitting on the bed looking out the window, but she doesn’t answer and just quietly turns her head to look at me with a blank expression. …Something seems strange… Ah, did I do something too extreme again yesterday? I was drunk at the time, and that strange excitement was mixed in… I don’t remember. Except that I did a lot of something and then fell asleep as if I had fainted…
“…Uh, did I do something yesterday…?”
“…Hehe… No, it’s not like that, so don’t worry…♡”
Chae-yun skips towards me with a lighthearted smile. She definitely doesn’t seem angry or embarrassed… but something seems different. Is it because her clothes and makeup style have changed, like she said yesterday?
“…Don’t you seem a bit strangely excited today?”
“Ah! Is that so? I guess I’m nervous because I’m going to meet your father!”
Something unsettling, a strange feeling.
“Come to think of it, you asked me if I wanted to eat something for breakfast, right? I drank a lot yesterday and my stomach is a mess… so I’d like something to help with the hangover.”
Chae-yun makes a serious face, but when she meets my eyes, she smiles brightly. Her appearance makes the discomfort I felt seem like a simple misunderstanding.
…I guess it was just my imagination?
“Ooh… is this your parents’ house? It’s not that far from Busan, is it?”
“That’s why I told you not to go to Seoul and just go straight from Busan. It would take four hours to take the bus back down from there.”
We take a bus from Busan for about two hours to a small city, and then take a city bus for about 20 minutes, wandering around the city before getting off at a familiar bus stop. I walk ahead of Chae-yun, who is excitedly looking around and chattering.
It feels familiar to walk backwards on the commute I used to take when I was in high school. It feels like I’m going home after school, so it’s kind of nice.
“Where do we have to go to get to your house?”
“It’s just a little further.”
I nod to Chae-yun, who keeps making small talk as she matches my pace, and as we continue walking, a long, wide alley lined with bars and shops appears. We push through the crowd gathered there, and soon the height of the surrounding buildings decreases, and we approach a small residential area at the end. One familiar house at the very front.
I stop abruptly in front of the main gate of my parents’ house.
“Wait a minute, do you remember what I said earlier?”
“Yes! Don’t use honorifics inside, don’t call you ‘Oppa,’ and don’t say anything weird.”
A few things I told Chae-yun just in case she said something strange. I wanted to make sure she memorized them properly before going inside. I’ll leave her to handle the flower situation on her own… But if my father sees Chae-yun sticking to me and calling me ‘Oppa’ inside… Ugh, it’s obvious what will happen, and it’s terrible just thinking about it.
That’s why I told her in advance, and luckily she remembers…
“Then inside… should I call you ‘honey’?”
“…Do whatever you want, let’s go in now.”
It’s only been half a year since I’ve been home, but why am I so nervous? I grab the wooden gate with a trembling hand and slowly push it…
“Hyung, what are you doing?”
“AH!! Shit, you scared me!!”
A man’s voice pierces through the ‘creak’ sound of the rusty hinges. I scream at the sound that seems to cut the taut string of tension with scissors.
“…Hyung, you still haven’t fixed your weak heart.”
“…Lim Hyun-woo? Shouldn’t you be at school?”
“It’s Sunday today.”
“Ah…”
He has similar features to me, but his short hair and slightly shorter height prove that he is a different person. This guy who sneers at me with an arrogant smirk is Lim Hyun-woo, my younger brother.
“Oh, hello.”
Hyun-woo stops teasing me and turns his gaze to Chae-yun, who is standing next to me, and nods, realizing that she is my girlfriend from what he heard from my father. Chae-yun, who is suddenly greeted in this situation, smiles awkwardly and waves her hand in greeting.
“Hello~ You must be Chan-woo’s younger brother?”
“…You can speak comfortably.”
“How can I do that when it’s our first time meeting? I’ll speak comfortably after I meet your parents.”
I stare blankly at the two people who are already laughing and chatting with each other. Come to think of it, Lee Chae-yun, this woman had great social skills…
“Then let’s go inside and talk. Hyung, come in and wait for Mom and Dad.”
“Ah, then excuse me~”
Chae-yun nods and steps into the yard through Hyun-woo, who is holding the door open instead of me, who is standing there blankly. Hyun-woo, who had been holding the door open while Chae-yun completely passed through the gate, looks up at me.
“…What are you looking at?”
“How did Hyung meet someone like that? Is there really a hypnosis app that the kids were talking about?”
He pretends to think seriously again, rests his chin, and then quickly crosses the gate and goes inside. …Something about this is making me feel bad and annoyed, so I’ll beat that bastard up later. The corners of my mouth quietly rise as I imagine the fun times to come.
I follow the two people who have already gone inside, pass through the yard, and open the familiar front door. After passing through the front door and entering the hallway, I recognize the familiar smell and the appearance of the living room. Chae-yun takes off her shoes first and carefully steps forward, making a small voice, “Excuse me.”
“Mom! Hyung’s here.”
And Hyun-woo shouts in a voice that echoes loudly, announcing that I have arrived home.
“…I’m home.”
I also take off my shoes roughly, step over the shoe rack, and enter the living room.
