“Don’t tell me… you’ve been following me?”
Roy’s expression stiffened uneasily.
That was because the place Roy was currently at was the rooftop of a building in a secluded alley.
It wasn’t a spot one would just happen to stumble upon Roy by chance.
Unless, of course, someone had been deliberately tailing him from the start.
“Sorry about that. But you were acting way too suspicious, so I got worried.”
Han Jihoo stretched out both hands in a pleading gesture.
His eyes flickered from Roy to Heis, who was standing just behind Roy.
Heis’s eyebrows twitched like rolling waves.
He could clearly feel the wary gaze directed at him.
Instinctively, Heis drew up the magical energy in his dantian.
Although his sword was gone, he could wield his magic freely, making his entire body as good as a weapon.
“Both of you, stop it. I’ll explain the situation.”
Roy sighed deeply, clearly bothered.
Somehow, he’d said he was going for a walk but felt a persistent gaze following him from behind the practice room.
He never expected that the owner of that gaze would be Han Jihoo.
{Hero, how will you cover this up?}
Earth’s voice broke the silence with an amused tone, observing the scene like watching a fire across the river.
That detached remark only made Roy sigh even more.
“Say hello. He’s my cousin. As you can see, he’s a Hunter, a swordsman by profession.”
“You have a cousin?”
“Yeah. It’s been a while since I last saw him too.”
Roy lied smoothly, without changing a single facial expression.
Both Heis and the spirits widened their eyes in surprise.
“Piihee!” (Contractor, the person’s different!)
Ber scampered up to Roy as if he were some strange creature, staring at him intently.
Roy was never good at even harmless lies; his face usually betrayed what he was thinking.
But now, he was lying to Han Jihoo with a perfectly calm expression.
{Now you don’t even need my help, Hero! You’re handling this well yourself!}
Earth said proudly, but Roy realized just how much had changed since he came here.
“But the way you’re dressed… it’s pretty unusual.”
Han Jihoo, having heard Roy introduce him as a cousin, stopped probing who the suspicious person was.
The two had no resemblance that suggested blood relation, but there was no way to do a DNA test right here.
“Oh, he just… likes this kind of style. Vintage, you know.”
Wearing clothes at least two sizes too small and only slippers despite the chilly weather, it looked less like vintage fashion and more like he really was just shabby.
Of course, his tall and handsome appearance could let him pass it off as a fashion choice, but in many ways, it didn’t look normal at all.
“And who are you? Wait, why are you calling my brother with such a familiar nickname?”
Heis, who was about to call Roy ‘captain,’ quickly corrected himself and stepped forward toward Han Jihoo.
He didn’t like the idea of Roy making new acquaintances while leaving his current comrades behind.
***
After Kairus betrayed Roy, Heis firmly believed he was Roy’s closest companion.
Yet here was some stranger from another world treating Roy so familiarly.
Given Roy’s personality of not letting anyone close, this was quite surprising.
“Oh, sorry, little brother. Roy and I… well, you could say we’re like brothers.”
Han Jihoo, quick to catch Heis’s guard, curved his lips into a smile.
They debuted in the same Hunter Idol group and shared a dorm.
Having fought many dangerous battles together, calling themselves brothers wasn’t an exaggeration.
“Ha, really.”
Heis laughed dryly and pushed his hair back.
Wondering what this was all about, Roy grabbed Heis’s arm as he took a step toward Han Jihoo.
“Stop it. It’s late, so I’ll arrange a place for you to stay tonight.”
There was much more to discuss with Heis, but since it was late and Han Jihoo was here, moving somewhere else was out of the question.
“You said you’re Roy’s cousin. So, are you the same age as me?”
“Jihoo, you’re twenty, right?”
“Yeah.”
On the Continent of As, as long as the age gap wasn’t close to ten years, people casually called each other by their names without honorifics.
Even Heis only ever called Roy ‘captain,’ never ‘hyung’ (older brother).
“Heis is twenty-one, so he’s older than you.”
“Is your name Heis?”
“Yeah. Hwang… Heis.”
“That’s a unique name. Looks like your family favors global names.”
Even ‘Roy’ sounded foreign in Korea; Heis’s name was even more unusual.
Roy didn’t have time to think of a Korean equivalent for Heis’s name.
{Hwang Heis. Sounds good! I’ll prepare your ID too!}
Earth moved swiftly, just like when making Roy’s ID, quickly creating one for Heis and placing it inside Roy’s inventory.
“If you’re family, then you’re close to me too. How about going to the dorm together? It’s not far from here.”
Just meeting Heis and Han Jihoo together already made Roy sweat nervously.
It was hard to put into words, but making new companions here felt like betraying Heis, who must have suffered because of Kairus.
“Well, that’s a good idea…”
Roy was about to decline, not wanting to complicate things further, when…
“Sounds good!”
Before Roy could refuse Han Jihoo’s offer, Heis agreed first.
“Nowadays, a one-year age difference is basically like being friends. You can call me Heis hyung comfortably.”
“Alright, do that.”
“Shall we shake hands? To smooth over the tension from before.”
Han Jihoo extended his right hand toward Heis. Heis looked at the hand silently, then shook it up and down.
“Ugh. You’re strong. Roy said you’re a swordsman. Your grade and level must be pretty high, huh?”
“Probably. You’re no weakling either.”
Heis didn’t know much about the system used here—terms like grade and level were unfamiliar—but he didn’t show his ignorance.
Instead, Heis grinned slyly, brushing off Han Jihoo’s comment and squeezing the hand harder.
***
After studying closely, he concluded Han Jihoo wasn’t a fighter type. His physique and muscles looked more like those of a non-combatant.
“Poruru.” (Children’s strength contests, huh.)
Aqua came between them, shaking her head.
The whipped cream that had been smeared around her mouth was now all cleaned off.
“…Enough. Let go of each other’s hands and let’s head to the dorm.”
Roy trudged over and separated the hands that were clinging like the north and south poles.
Han Jihoo’s hand trembled slightly from the red marks left by Heis’s strong grip.
“You okay? That looks like it’s bruised.”
“Hahaha. It’s nothing. If I use a Recovery Potion, it’ll heal quickly.”
Only then did Han Jihoo notice the sorry state of his hand. He gave an awkward smile and slipped his hand into his pocket.
Though he had a Recovery Potion in his inventory, using it in front of Heis felt like it would bruise his pride.
“Alright, then.”
Roy stopped insisting further and the three silently headed toward the dorm.
Heis looked like he wanted to ask Roy a lot of questions, but kept his mouth shut since Han Jihoo was nearby.
Roy stayed silent, thinking of how to introduce Heis to the others, while Han Jihoo’s face tightened from the aching pain in his hand.
“Roy hyung has a cousin? No way.”
Song Doyoon was the loudest in greeting Heis.
With his hair pushed back by a headband, he circled around Heis while constantly exclaiming in awe.
“Your cousin’s tall. Roy hyung is the shortest among us.”
“I… hey.”
Roy’s short stature was already a complex of his.
When his voice dropped low, Song Doyoon raised his hands apologetically.
“I give up. But are you really cousins? You don’t look alike at all. You look more like Kim Chan.”
Roy had once thought Heis reminded him of Kim Chan when he first saw him.
It seemed that wasn’t just Roy’s impression.
Meanwhile, Kim Chan was also curiously eyeing Heis.
According to Song Doyoon’s words, Heis resembled him more than Roy.
“Which room are you using?”
“I’ll share my room for now. We’ll get another dorm tomorrow.”
The unexpected meeting with Han Jihoo forced Roy to bring Heis back to the dorm tonight.
Kim Chan and Lee Doha knew Roy’s true identity, but the others did not. Heis staying here only sped up the moment when the secret would be revealed.
‘Not yet.’
Roy planned to tell them someday, but now wasn’t the right time.
Their debut stage was just around the corner.
It was unusual that Kim Chan and Lee Doha believed Roy’s words without hesitation.
If even one person treated Roy like a madman, putting on the best debut stage for the fans would be impossible.
“We still have one room left, the Alpharoom. You could use it like a room. It even has blind curtains. We just need to put in a new door.”
Originally, one of the managers was supposed to use it. But everyone declined for various reasons, and since they already had a place to stay, they weren’t pushed further.
Heis’s situation was different.
He had nowhere else to go, so Roy needed to find a room for him.
***
While Roy struggled to come up with an excuse to decline, Song Doyoon cut in.
“House prices are crazy these days. Just stay together. You’re about the same age too. It’s fine, right, Jihoo hyung?”
Song Doyoon methodically laid out why Heis should stay with them and even got the landlord’s permission.
“I don’t mind. If he’s Roy hyung’s little brother, he’s one of us.”
Han Jihoo happily agreed as if the days of sparring with Heis were long gone.
“Heis hyung okay with that? You and Roy seem really close.”
Song Doyoon approached Heis again and lightly tapped his arm.
The muscles under his hand were no joke.
Exaggerating a bit, it felt like he was carrying stones instead of muscles.
Despite his large build, Heis clung closely to Roy.
He looked like a massive, anxious dog with separation anxiety.
“I want to, but I don’t know if Roy hyung would allow it.”
Though he forced a smile, Heis was upset inside.
Han Jihoo alone was enough to make him uneasy, and now, in the place called the dorm, there were more like him.
Moreover, one who looked similar to him seemed especially close to Roy.
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