One Day, a Dark Shadow Fell on My Closet

14

Set quietly watched as Yeon Ji-ho fell asleep next to his bed. It was more accurate to say he had lost consciousness than to say he was truly asleep.

Set stood up only after confirming through his senses that Yeon Ji-ho was completely asleep. He slowly rose from his place, looked down at Yeon Ji-ho, and at some point, erased his presence.

The next place he appeared was Pension No. 5, where Nam Jeong-hwan and his group were staying.

“…….”

Set, who appeared in the pension without a sound, stood in a dark corner, watching Nam Jeong-hwan as he tried to wake Kim Seong-min, looking as if he had lost his mind, muttering that he had to run away.

Nam Jeong-hwan’s complexion was very familiar to Set. It was the face of a terrified loser.

Set had never once spared their lives and sent them back. Hadad sometimes showed reckless mercy, allowing even the wicked to go free if they sincerely repented and wore the guise of the weak, but Set was not like that. He could not be.

If he did, they would surely return one day to threaten his life.

“Do you want to live?”

“Ugh, Aaaah!”

Nam Jeong-hwan screamed in terror upon suddenly seeing Set appear from behind without a sound. As he trembled and fell back, Set took a step forward.

“If you want to live, beg.”

Set had once again drawn the sword from his hand. The sword made from his sword energy could appear in his hand at any time, even if thrown to a place he could never reach again.

“I-I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Please, please just let me live.”

Unlike when he looked at Yeon Ji-ho, Set looked down at him with indifferent eyes. Perhaps, if this were not Yeon Ji-ho’s world but somewhere in the Asterra Empire, Set would have beheaded him without a second thought.

But Yeon Ji-ho did not want that.

He had said that if he wanted to stay here with him for a long time, he should stop the killing.

Set’s sword energy aimed at Nam Jeong-hwan’s neck. For the first time in his life, he felt genuine killing intent and held his breath. In the meantime, Set’s sword left a long mark above his Adam’s apple.

“I am one who finds it harder not to kill than to kill.”

“……Ah, ah…!”

“Therefore, always be grateful to be alive.”

The wound on Nam Jeong-hwan’s neck would become a scar that would never fade for the rest of his life. It was a wound that Set had intended to inflict from the very beginning. Nam Jeong-hwan pressed down on the wound, which was gushing blood, and burst into tears.

Set then left the pension and headed to the house where Yeon Ji-ho was. This time, without hesitation, he used his sword energy and returned home without getting a drop of rain on him.

After that, Set stopped by Yeon Ji-ho’s room to confirm that he was sleeping safely. Instead of returning to his own room, he sat in the chair next to Yeon Ji-ho’s bed and quietly looked down at him.

“……Ji-ho.”

Set called his name softly, his voice low and resonant. It was a call that would not reach the ears of the unconscious Yeon Ji-ho.

“I…”

He looked at Ji-ho’s face with an expression that was hard to describe. There was no falsehood in his words. He truly was one who found it harder not to kill than to kill.

From the moment he was born, he had taken up the sword to survive, after being adopted into the Duke’s family to avoid being abandoned, and during the war with Hadad to keep his promise to his mother.

Set had realized at some point that he was obsessed with killing. It was a madness that often afflicted soldiers or mercenaries abandoned on the battlefield for a long time.

Even after the war ended, those afflicted with this madness found it hard to return to their daily lives. Some would pick up a sword at the sound of a pot boiling, mistaking it for the sound of a bomb exploding.

And Set was one who had been closer to killing than anyone else for the longest time.

“I may already be broken.”

Finally, Set uttered those words. It was something he could not say while Yeon Ji-ho was conscious.

“My hands are already too dirty to wash clean.”

Set looked down at his hands buried in the darkness. Even though he had just come from beheading someone, his hands showed no signs of trembling. No, rather, he was reveling in the smell of blood he hadn’t felt in a long time.

If Ji-ho hadn’t just told him not to kill him, Set would have lost control and killed someone. To suppress the rising urge to kill for the first time required immense patience.

A smile born of murderous intent.

Set Gorgon was no different from a devil who only smiled when killing someone.

If Ji-ho, Yeon Ji-ho, had seen his face just now and felt fear, Set would have wanted to die by now. At least, he did not want to be branded as a fearful or dirty being in Ji-ho’s eyes.

So, Set…

“I’m sorry.”

For the first time in his life, he uttered the words of apology.

“I’m sorry.”

Even though his hands were already filthy beyond measure, could he truly become clean just by not staining them with more blood?

That night, Set simply looked at Yeon Ji-ho’s white hand that was sticking out from the blanket. No. He could only look.

***

“Ugh, ah, it hurts.”

The next morning.

Yeon Ji-ho, who got up abruptly out of habit, carefully cupped his cheek with his hand, feeling the pain. He could feel that it was swollen.

At that point, all the events from yesterday came flooding back. He couldn’t help but curse Nam Jeong-hwan for doing this to his cheek.

But while he was annoyed, he had to get up and quickly go claim damages before that guy ran away. Yesterday, he had seen that the sofa, as well as the alcohol and cigarettes, had made a complete mess of the place.

With that in mind, Yeon Ji-ho got up, washed up briefly, and went out to the living room. There, he saw Set coming in, holding something in his arms.

“……Set? Where have you been?”

“Ah. The ‘5’ was a mess. I thought I should clean it up, so I’m going to use the washing machine you told me about before.”

“Excuse me?”

What Set was holding seemed to be the blankets and bed sheets used in Room 5. Yeon Ji-ho widened his eyes and approached Set.

“Why are you cleaning that? No, more importantly, what about that bastard Nam Jeong-hwan? Did he just leave like that?”

“He apologized and gave me this.”

“What is this? Just left… Five million won?!”

Yeon Ji-ho opened the white envelope in Set’s hand, gasped, and quickly closed it again. Then, looking at Set’s face, he tightly grasped his hand. Despite having hands much larger than Yeon Ji-ho’s, Set flinched as he held onto him.

“Set, this is enough.”

“……Is five million won a lot? Can you buy a castle with it?”

“What? No, absolutely not.”

“Tsk.”

In fact, Nam Jeong-hwan had run away immediately after being confronted by Set. Instead, he had extorted money from Kim Seong-min, who had woken up alone in the early morning, but he was disappointed by the smaller amount than he had expected. However, Yeon Ji-ho’s eyes sparkled.

“Let’s use this to buy meat!”

“Just meat?”

Set frowned at the idea that five million won was only enough to buy meat. In his world, meat was not such an expensive ingredient.

“With this much, we can buy everything that bastard broke and still have money left over. And with the remaining money, we can buy meat. Set, you like meat, right?”

“……Me?”

“Yes, you ate the spicy pork well last time. This time, let’s have Korean-style pork belly!”

Set was at a loss, unable to process Yeon Ji-ho’s excitement as he held his hand. His smile was so beautiful that Set couldn’t dare to look at it, and the small hand that held his felt so fragile that it seemed it would break with just a slight movement.

In the end, Set nodded stiffly, his expression hard. He couldn’t even bear to meet Yeon Ji-ho’s eyes and turned his head away.

“Then shall we quickly finish cleaning Room 5 together?”

Together. Set felt his heart race at those words again and ultimately gave up. He could no longer help himself.

***

Cleaning Room 5 was completed faster than expected with the two of them working together. Set had learned how to use the washing machine and vacuum cleaner in just a few days, and Yeon Ji-ho was naturally quick when it came to household chores.

Shortly after lunch, Yeon Ji-ho, who had been contemplating, finally decided to take a ride with Set to the mart. He wanted to take him to a new place, even if it was a bit far.

Thanks to that, Set was going to ride in a car this time instead of a bicycle.

“Set, seatbelt… Ah, wait a moment.”

Yeon Ji-ho, who had taken the driver’s seat, glanced at Set, who was sitting upright next to him, and unbuckled his own seatbelt. Then he reached out his arm toward Set.

At that moment, Set suddenly hugged him. Yeon Ji-ho, who had intended to buckle Set’s seatbelt, found himself in his arms and blinked in surprise.

“……Set?”

“Hmm.”

Set did not let go of Yeon Ji-ho, even when he called him. He had no reason to let go since Yeon Ji-ho had come to him first.

Eventually, Yeon Ji-ho managed to free himself from Set’s embrace. Then, he reached over his shoulder and pulled the seatbelt across. Click. The sound of the belt locking made Set flinch.

“……So, that’s how it was. I didn’t know.”

“Haha, yes, that could be the case.”

An awkward silence lingered as Yeon Ji-ho locked his belt again. Internally, Yeon Ji-ho thought that it was understandable not to know, but he also wondered if they were close enough to hug like that, while Set.

Turned his head away from Yeon Ji-ho so he wouldn’t see. His neck and ears were already completely red.

“I-I’m going to start.”

The engine started, and the car vibrated. This car, which had been driven since his parents’ time, was diesel, so it was quite noisy. Set, sitting in the passenger seat, seemed tense.

“It might be a bit fast, so let me know if you feel carsick.”

“……Ji-ho.”

“Yes?”

“When we rode the bicycle before, didn’t you say that if you were scared, you should hold onto my waist?”

“Oh, you’re right. But why?”

Set recalled the last time they rode the bicycle. Back then, Yeon Ji-ho had definitely shouted, “If you’re scared, hold on tight to my waist!” Remembering that experience, Set carefully placed his hand over Yeon Ji-ho’s hand, which was gripping the gear stick.

“This is a bit… scary too.”