Why in the world was Baekho-gun here…
I unknowingly asked in a stupefied manner.
“Why are you…?”
“To pick you up.”
Baekho-gun kindly answered my stupid question.
It was his first time giving such a straightforward answer in a long time, but that wasn’t really my question.
I’m asking him why he came to meet me.
“You’re inside Eungwang High area so you must be…”
Baekho-gun and Sung Siwan met for the first time.
I know that Sung Siwan knows all the names and faces of dormitory students, and I wonder he the same is true for faculty and other students.
Meanwhile, Gye Idam, who recognized Baekho-gun, looked surprised.
He immediately grasped the atmosphere and urged Sung Siwan.
“…Maybe a guest with a visitor’s pass. Let’s go back and rest.”
“Hmm…”
Sung Siwan was clearly exhausted, but he hesitated to return and rest.
He seemed reluctant to leave his hoobae to a stranger that arrived at such an odd time.
“You can go ahead first. We’ll talk and then I’ll head back too.”
Sung Siwan backed down when I said so, and the two of them left soon.
Baekho-gun, who was looking at me silently, stared in the direction of the main gate.
‘…Is it not time to go to the bamboo forest yet? Does he want to go to the mansion?’
It’s touching that my main playable character came to pick me up, but I still had work to do.
Still, I can’t pretend not to know his intentions.
My inner conflict depends.
I finally spoke after much consideration.
“It’s not yet our promised time though.”
“…”
Baekho-gun looked at me again.
I expressed that I didn’t want to go to the tigers’ mansion yet, and Baekho-gun only stared at me quietly.
‘Wait, I think he has something in his arms.’
His hand was inside his sleeve, seemingly holding something.
As if he read my thoughts, he slowly showed the thing that he was hiding under his clothes.
…It was a white angel, all curled up and sighing!
“Olmu fell asleep while waiting for you.”
He was waiting for me!
So the two of them have been here for a while?
How long have they been waiting on this cold day?
I can’t believe Olmu was here too!
I’d have hurried if I knew this would happen!
The guilt of keeping the two waiting swarmed my body.
“He’ll be sad if he won’t see you when he wakes up.”
After hearing that, there was no further need for hesitation.
I covered Olmu again with Baekho-gun’s outer clothes.
“Let’s go.”
I can’t let this angel wait a second longer out in the cold.
I wanted to hurry back to the mansion, but we had to move carefully so that the sleeping angel wouldn’t be disturbed.
Baekho-gun nodded and agreed.
A white energy wave appeared from his hand, and it seems to be wrapping Olmu.
I internally praised my main playable character for his considerate heart.
After an anxiety-filled walk, afraid that Olmu might be awoken, we arrived at the mansion.
‘…Wait, how did that happen?’
When I came to my senses, I was already lying with Olmu in the main room of the hanok annex
As soon as we arrived, Baekho-gun handed me Olmu and I was mesmerized by the angel’s warmth.
I would usually praise the little angel verbally, but I couldn’t since I was afraid to wake him up.
Thanks to the heating, the room was warm and the bed was soft, and the angel in my arms made everything perfect.
No, wait…
Wasn’t I thinking about how I got here all of a sudden?
“Alright, sleep well.”
“…?”
“I’ll come to wake you up later.”
Shut.
Baekho-gun quietly closed the door from the outside.
The sound finally brought me back to my senses.
‘Wait, I was supposed to go back to my dorm after bringing Olmu back to the mansion and seeing him wake up… right? If that didn’t work, I was going to talk with the tigers about the information that I got from today…’
I tried to leave carefully so as to not wake Olmu up.
But strangely enough, my body wasn’t moving.
My head felt dazed and my body was heavy.
Fatigue weighed down on my whole body.
At this point, I wouldn’t be able to do anything even if I forced myself to get up.
‘Baekho-gun said he’d wake me up… Should I rest for a while?’
My thoughts were cut off from time to time.
Even though my body was resting, my mind was still running, but the fatigue made it difficult to form coherent thoughts.
I eventually fell into a dreamless sleep not long after I closed my eyes.
* * *
In front of the traditional sliding doors of the room where Jo Euishin slept.
Eunho, who had just entered the hanok, looked at Baekho and spoke.
“You’re back, Baekho hyungnim.”
“…”
“I was careful not to leave a trace when moving. Hwangho-nim checked it out too, so you don’t have to worry.”
Baekho-gun looked at the 16-year-old-looking Eunho.
Eunho was now preparing to enter the world as Cheon Dongha’s younger brother, Cheon Eunha, ahead of the entrance examinations for Eungwang High.
His face trimmed with reversal magic made him look more like Cheon Sungheon or Cheon Eunha rather than Eunho.
“Is Euishin hyung asleep? I guess my advice was helpful.”
Baekho nodded silently and Eunho smiled.
Eunho recommended that Shinsoo be taken when picking up Jo Euishin, and to take him to a different annex.
Eunho knew that if Jo Euishin were brought to a place where the other tigers were, he would not be able to rest since he’d want to talk about work.
Baekho moved according to Eunho’s advice and successfully brought back Jo Euishin.
“We were drinking tea, so I was surprised that you said you’re going to the school out of nowhere.”
“…”
“Euishin hyung fell asleep as soon as he arrived too… You were moving as if you knew that something happened to Euishin hyung, Baekho hyungnim.”
Baekho did not utter a single word.
And as if he knew that Baekho wouldn’t answer, Eunho spoke without pausing.
“When we played chess last time, I thought your playing style was very similar to Euishin hyung.”
Eunho glanced at the room where Jo Euishin slept.
Even though he couldn’t win against Jo Euishin, Eunho wanted to be a player who achieves a stalemate against the Stalemateless.
And so he studied Jo Euishin’s games, coming up with a number of scenarios to induce stalemate.
However, Baekho thoroughly crushed all his attempts.
When he tried to go for a stalemate, it was as if he was playing against the merciless Stalemateless himself.
‘But there’s a crucial difference.’
Eunho recalled asking Jo Euishin and Baekho-gun the same question.
When he was Cheon Sungheon, he asked Jo Euishin this;
— Hyung, do you hate stalemate?
— Yeah.
Without hesitation, Jo Euishin said he hated stalemates.
It was different from Baekho’s answer, which came after a few seconds of hesitation.
— Do you hate stalemates, Baekho hyungnim?
—…No, I don’t hate it.
And Baekho added something.
— But I’ll block everything I can block.
Eunho pondered on what Baekho meant, but he still hasn’t found a sure answer.
He just kept making baseless speculations in his mind.
Eunho looked at Baekho, the latter’s mouth closed heavily.
“Hwangho-nim thinks I sent Baekho hyungnim after guessing Euishin hyung’s activities today.”
If he knew that Baekho wanted to go to the school in the middle of the night, Hwangho would find it strange.
However, Hwangho seemed to have a different guess since Baekho was in Eunho’s annex before he left.
Perhaps he felt like he was deceiving Hwangho, Baekho’s face became a little dark.
“I trust you, Baekho hyungnim. I know you’re hiding something only because you think there’s no need to say it, or you just can’t say it yet.”
Eunho observed Baekho’s face.
“So I’ll wait until you’re ready to speak.”
Although Eunho’s face was different, he still felt like Baekho’s dongsaeng.
* * *
My consciousness slowly returned.
I was a little drowsy as if I had woken up from a deep sleep.
‘Where am I…’
My surroundings were unfamiliar.
I blinked staring blankly at the lacquerware all around with motifs of tigers running on mountains.
I thought about why I wasn’t in my dorm room, and the memories came rushing back.
Olmu fell asleep while waiting for me outside, so I accompanied Baekho-gun back to the mansion.
Woof woof!
As if he sensed that I was awake, the angel cheerfully greeted me.
Oh no, was he waiting for me again?
The surroundings were dark so I must’ve been asleep for a long time!
“Olmu-ah, did you sleep well? Did I make you wait again?”
Woof!
My goodness, my angel was waiting for me!
I scrambled out of the bed.
I slept well in a nice bed and my body felt very light.
The angel looked at me and ran to the clothes that were folded neatly on one side of the room, his tail wagging gently.
‘Did they prepare fresh clothes for me?’
I said I was going back to my dorm though.
I felt embarrassed that they had to prepare this for me, but it wasn’t polite to show up in messed up clothes so I changed.
When I opened the traditional sliding doors, I saw Baekho-gun.
‘Was he waiting to wake me up?’
Wait, did I just use my main playable character as an alarm clock?
I hope my guess is wrong.
The guilt washed over me as I followed Baekho-gun to the hall.
When I smelled the scent of tea, I saw the tigers gathered.
“Did you sleep well, Jo Euishin?”
The first one to talk to me was Hwang Jiho.
‘…It’s Sunday but he’s wearing a uniform.’
The sun had already set, but I’m sure it was still Sunday.
This old man remained faithful to his disguise even on a rest day.
Hwang Jiho wearing his uniform reminded me of the blood-stained Year One Class Zero classroom that was shown to me yesterday.
…Who knows where this old man, who clearly likes his uniform, went to and left his uniform behind.
“…Are you still tired? You still have time so you can rest some more.”
“Are you thirsty, Euishin hyung? Would you like some tea?”
Eunho, who looked like he was 16, spoke next.
Not just any 16-year-old appearance, he looked like Cheon Sungheon— no, like Cheon Eunha.
Seeing that I was still standing firmly, Eunho smiled and spoke softly.
“I took the middle school qualification exam today.”
“Today?”
“Yes, I decided to do things earlier than scheduled. Dongha hyung’s household is getting a little complicated these days, so I thought it was best to prepare in advance.”
Eunho’s preparations for going to Eungwang High must be going smoothly.
While I was shamelessly sleeping in the tigers’ mansion, Cheon Dongha and Eunho were busy on the move.
If I had known in advance, I would’ve sent a message of support.
But even without that, I’m sure Eunho did well on the test and the other tigers took good care of him.
“Good job on the test. I’ll prepare a gift for the written entrance test for Eungwang High.”
“Thank you, Euishin hyung. I’m sure I’ll get good results since you’re cheering me on.”
Eunho smiled in response, and he looked quite motivated.
I don’t know what level of good results Eunho meant, but I was worried that it might be too good.
“It looks like Jo Euishin doesn’t want to rest anymore. Let’s prepare now then.”
Hwang Jiho, who was watching us quietly, suddenly spat out some words.
Are we going to the bamboo forest?
I was about to get up again, but Hwang Jiho reached out and stopped me.
And then, he took out something that I dreaded.
Something that I wish I didn’t know.
Horrified, I took a breath.
“Today’s customized medicine, Jo Euishin. Yours truly will boil it for you.”
A hot pot was placed in front of Hwang Jiho.
