I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

37.

“I heard Sehun woke up.”

“…Yes. He’s fallen asleep again now.”

Hyunwoo rushed over upon hearing the news. With a calm expression, he looked at the sleeping Sehun and Hyunsu curled up like a caterpillar beside him, and let out a sigh of relief.

“Is there anything wrong?”

“They say he has severe psychological trauma. But physically, he’s fine.”

“…That’s understandable.”

While cleaning up the traces left in the hall, Hyunwoo gritted his teeth several times. It wasn’t a long time, but the kidnappers had cut Sehun’s body with a knife and injected unknown drugs.

The fear that the child faced again after barely escaping from that hellish place must have been unimaginably horrific for someone who hasn’t experienced it.

Hyunwoo knelt beside the bed and stroked the sleeping Hyunsu’s head. When did they become so close? He wiped the tear stains from his brother’s eyes with his thumb, soothing his rapidly beating heart.

Since Sehun was the same age as Hyunsu, Hyunwoo was also considerably shocked by this incident. Although not as much as Jian, he too felt guilty.

“Are you going to keep the cafe closed?”

“I want to focus on Sehun right now. It’s not like I need to earn money urgently. More importantly, what happened to what I gave you then?”

Jian answered Hyunwoo’s question and then asked about what he had been waiting for. That day, Jian had handed over the shoulder patch with the tiger emblem to Hyunwoo, asking him to find out if this insignia had any connection to those who kidnapped Sehun.

“None of the captured guys are talking. There’s a limit to torture, so we even used truth serum, but they’re tough. The shape-shifter hasn’t said a single word yet. I’ve asked my informants to look into that insignia, so we should have something soon.”

He had expected it wouldn’t be easy, but the progress was slower than anticipated. Currently, combat guild members from Dark Net were guarding the area around Jian’s house.

Hyunwoo had given this order, judging that there might be another kidnapping attempt soon since the previous one had failed.

The guards included some of Dark Net’s top talents, including Jungsu and Jihwan. However, since that day, the enemies had been remarkably quiet.

Moreover, there hadn’t even been an attempt to rescue those captured by Dark Net.

“That emblem looks familiar to me too. I feel like I’ve seen it long ago. If we dig into the emblem as you expected, we’ll surely find a clue.”

There were five guilds in South Korea alone that used tiger emblems. The tiger itself symbolized bravery, and since the Korean peninsula map resembled a tiger roaring towards the continent, many people preferred tiger emblems.

However, no guild had a tiger emblem with the Chinese character for “correct” (正) on its forehead. Though they might look similar at a glance, the details were slightly different.

“Oh, and these are the items you requested.”

Hyunwoo took out various artifacts and a large quantity of wound healing potions from his inventory. Jian sorted out the defense-related artifacts and put them aside.

“These are made so that children can use them too. They basically activate automatically when the child feels threatened, so they just need to wear them properly.”

The bracelet and ring-shaped items were small, but each could block at least one attack from an A-rank hunter, making them highly effective.

Although he had used a considerable amount of money from his bank account for this, he didn’t feel it was a waste at all.

“Thank you, hyung.”

“Well, I just got them for you at their proper price.”

Even though he said that, the items Hyunwoo had procured weren’t things that could be obtained simply with money. Since the appearance of monsters, people had been staking their lives on artifacts that could protect them.

“Well then, I’ll take Hyunsu and go now.”

“Okay. Take care.”

Hyunwoo carefully lifted Hyunsu into his arms, trying not to wake him.

After seeing them off, Jian returned to the bedroom, put the wound healing potions in his inventory, and fitted the rest of the items onto Sehun’s body one by one.

The items, which were loose enough to fit on Jian’s wrist, shrank to fit Sehun’s wrist size.

Artifacts settled on both wrists and four fingers. Finally, Jian put an artifact that concealed the presence of other artifacts on Sehun’s little finger.

This was an additional purchase made on Hyunwoo’s advice, as wearing expensive artifacts could make one a target for others.

“Hyung…”

Sehun, waking from sleep, looked for Jian before his eyes were fully open. Jian quickly lay down on the bed facing Sehun.

“Yes. Hyung is here.”

He had promised the child. That he would stay by his side. He even drank minimal water, not wanting to waste time going to the bathroom. He wanted to be there when the child opened his eyes again.

Relief flashed in the eyes that found Jian. Sehun wriggled and burrowed into Jian’s arms. The child’s unique breathing touched his chest.

Jian closed his eyes while stroking the fine hair. The child’s warmth dispelled the insomnia that had been troubling Jian for a while. His eyelids grew heavier. Fearing the child might leave while he was asleep, he tightened his arms a little more.

Sehun also surrendered to sleep, following Jian.

After reuniting with the researcher he thought was dead, his body had become a bit strange. That level of experiment was really nothing. Maybe because it had been a long time, both his body and mind were exhausted.

His heart finally beat properly in the warmth that held him tightly, almost to the point of feeling constrictive.

Sehun, looking up at the sleeping Jian with blank eyes, put his ear to where Jian’s heart was. Thump-thump. The sound proving he was alive was pleasant to hear.

It’s really fortunate that he’s alive. Dying wasn’t scary, but not being able to meet Jian again was more painful and frightening than having his heart torn out.

The deeper he inhaled the cozy and sweet scent, the more the bad memories faded away.

Shortly after, a tiny mark appeared and disappeared on the nape of the deeply sleeping Sehun’s neck. The worm-like creature wriggled for a moment, then curled up into a ball and disappeared under the skin.

It was a change that neither Jian nor Sehun noticed.

* * *

“Sehun, let’s go to school!”

“Hyunsu is already here. I haven’t finished preparing breakfast yet.”

Jian paced back and forth at the clear voice coming from outside the door. Sehun approached from behind Jian, lightly hugging his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder.

The person who seemed infinitely tall when he was young had somehow become a head shorter than him. That fact suddenly felt good.

Unlike the smiling Sehun, Jian elbowed Sehun’s stomach, pushing him away from the tickling hair on his neck.

“It’s ticklish.”

“I want to stay like this.”

They say that when a child hits puberty, even the closest parent-child relationships grow apart, but Jian smiled helplessly at Sehun, who was becoming more affectionate with each passing year, let alone puberty.

‘Our Hyunsu has changed…’

He remembered Hyunwoo’s face when he came to him recently, looking shocked and seeking advice.

He had never experienced the same concerns as Hyunwoo, which made him feel newly grateful to Sehun, but he was worried about Hyunsu waiting outside.

“Stop clinging to me and bring Hyunsu in. Let’s eat together and go to school.”

“…”

“Hurry up.”

Sehun, who had been silently protesting, reluctantly let go when Jian turned his head and stared at him.

A cool expression settled on his face as he turned his back and headed for the front door. Unlike when he was with Jian, a cold wind blew.

Click.

As soon as the door opened, Hyunsu rushed in, frantically rubbing his arms.

“Ah, it’s cold. Why is it still winter in March? I’m cold even though I wore a padded jacket.”

Even though Hyunsu was saying he was cold with his whole body, his cheeks and nose tip flushed, Sehun disappeared as if his business was done.

“Who am I talking to?”

Hyunsu let out a hollow laugh as he noticed the empty space while taking off his shoes. He should be used to it by now, but he felt hurt every time Sehun did this.

“Hyunsu, you’re here?”

“Jian hyung!”

Jian appeared wearing vinyl gloves on both hands, instantly dispelling Hyunsu’s hurt feelings. Smelling the savory aroma wafting from the kitchen, Hyunsu quickly took off his shoes and scurried over to Jian.

“Hyung, what are you making?”

“I rolled some simple kimbap.”

“Wow, that sounds delicious. Is it tuna kimbap?”

“Yes. You both like tuna, don’t you?”

At Jian’s words, Hyunsu glanced at Sehun. He was about to say that Han Sehun wouldn’t even look at tuna if Jian wasn’t around, but drawing on past experiences, he changed the subject.

“Can I eat just one end piece?”

“Just a moment.”

Jian brushed sesame oil on the plump kimbap rolls and sprinkled them with sesame seeds. The well-sharpened knife blade cut the kimbap into thick slices.

Hyunsu swallowed at the sight of the end piece, about two finger joints long. His own brother would die for him, but he had no talent for cooking and mostly ate delivered food.

But there was bound to be a difference between food bought outside and food made at home.

Just as Hyunsu’s heart was fluttering at the thought of eating Jian’s kimbap after a long time, a troublemaker snatched the kimbap from Jian’s hand instead.