EFME 5

Sunyul half-ignored the constellation’s messages and enjoyed his bath. The constellation was enraged by Sunyul’s attitude, but didn’t cause him any harm. Fortunately for Sunyul.

After soaking until the water cooled, Sunyul washed and stepped out, running into Jooyoung, who had been standing quietly by the door.

Sunyul silently gasped.

“Mr. Lim Sunyul, please wear these pajamas after washing up and before going to bed.”

“Oh, oh. Yes…… Thank you.”

Sunyul accepted the pajamas with a flushed face. Jooyoung turned and left, unconcerned about whether Sunyul was dressed or not.

Sunyul changed into the button-up pajamas. He was a little confused about whether he should wear them unbuttoned like the white lab coats the researchers wore. But since it didn’t seem right to show his bare skin, he buttoned them all up neatly.

After changing into his pajamas, he had nothing to do. Sunyul looked around the room.

He thought Muyoung might have installed CCTV to monitor him, but he didn’t see anything like that when he glanced around. He wondered if they were hidden, but… The room was so bare that there wasn’t anywhere to hide them.

‘That person… the Guild Leader doesn’t seem like the type to secretly hide things like CCTV.’

Even though he had only seen him briefly, that’s how Sunyul perceived Muyoung. He seemed cold and sharp, but with an upright nature and a warm heart.

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says it’s sickening and rolls his eyes.]

‘What does sickening mean?’

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says it’s a curse word.]

“…….”

Sunyul glanced at the flashing system window and then curled up on the sofa.

Should he tell someone that he was seeing messages like this?

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says Sunyul is the only person on Earth who has contracted with a constellation so far.]

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ asks if he wants to be caught by the Ability Management Bureau again.]

Sunyul became dejected at the constellation’s immediate message. He didn’t want to go back there. Absolutely not.

Sunyul decided he definitely needed to keep the constellation’s existence a secret.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Mr. Lim Sunyul.”

It was Jooyoung’s voice. Sunyul hurried over and opened the door.

“The Master told me to ask you to come downstairs.”

Sunyul immediately agreed and went down the stairs. There, he saw an unfamiliar face. A man with a cold impression, who looked a few years older than Muyoung.

“This is Lim Sunyul. This is Director Choi Myung-oh, who helps me. You can just call him Director Choi.”

“Hello, Director Choi.”

“Yes, hello.”

From the brief greeting, Sunyul could sense that Director Choi didn’t particularly like him. Sunyul pretended not to notice and smiled, although it was a problem that he looked somewhat dejected.

“Director Choi.”

“I apologize, Guild Leader.”

“Not to me.”

“……I apologize, Mr. Lim Sunyul.”

Director Choi apologized at Muyoung’s warning. Sunyul stood blankly, not knowing why he was apologizing. Instead of reprimanding him further, Muyoung pointed to one side of the living room. Boxes and shopping bags were piled up like a mountain.

“Director Choi bought some things you’ll need.”

“Things I need?”

“Yes. Just basic things like clothes and shoes.”

“Thank you.”

Sunyul immediately thanked him. Director Choi wondered if Sunyul had any concept of money, and if so, if he knew that the contents of those boxes were worth tens of millions of won. And if he did know, he wondered what kind of expression he would make. This time, he didn’t show it.

“And this.”

Muyoung took a small smartphone out of the box in front of him. Sunyul’s eyes widened.

“It’s a smartphone.”

“You know this.”

“Everyone uses these.”

Judging by the way he nodded proudly, it seemed he didn’t know how to use it very well.

“Come here.”

Muyoung sat Sunyul down next to him and began to teach him the basic functions of the smartphone. Director Choi sat on the sofa next to them and blankly watched the two.

Sunyul learned two or three things for every one thing he was taught. This wasn’t a figurative expression, but literally true. It was as if someone who had forgotten how to use something after a long time easily recalled related knowledge once they remembered one thing. His acquisition was rapid.

“Okay, that’s enough for now. Learn the rest as you use it.”

When Muyoung finished his explanation, Sunyul nodded with a proud face.

“Then go to the study with Jooyoung and play for a while.”

“The study?”

“Jooyoung will show you the way.”

Muyoung gently ushered Sunyul out to the study. Then, people came in and began to organize the piles of clothes and shoes.

Many people harbored animosity towards Sunyul. Muyoung had separated him because he felt there was no need to expose him to them.

Director Choi, faced with Muyoung’s uncharacteristic consideration, had a strange expression on his face.

“You look like you want to lecture me.”

At Muyoung’s words, Director Choi gulped and opened his mouth.

“Shouldn’t we, you know… treat him less like a person?”

“Treat him less like a person…”

“You don’t need to go this far.”

“So should I keep him naked?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“I’ll handle it my way.”

Muyoung was firm. He wondered why Director Choi even mentioned lecturing him if he wasn’t going to listen anyway. It was obvious he wouldn’t listen no matter what…

Still, deciding to live with an unidentified item from a dungeon was an excessively bold decision.

He thought Muyoung might be interested because he usually showed a strong interest in anything related to abilities, but he couldn’t figure out why he went so far as to buy clothes and shoes.

Director Choi simply hoped that Muyoung’s interest in Sunyul was only momentary.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

Sunyul awoke in a large bed. The morning sunlight poured in through a distant window.

After a moment of blankly assessing his situation, Sunyul rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around the room.

‘My room.’

It wasn’t the small room in the Ability Management Bureau’s lab with CCTV, but a room that Sunyul could freely use without worrying about others.

A sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. Sunyul got out of bed. After looking outside the door, he went downstairs.

“You’re up early.”

Muyoung’s voice reached him just as he was almost down the stairs. Sunyul replied, “Yes,” and stood in front of Muyoung.

The smell of food wafted from the kitchen. It was a rather appetizing smell, but Sunyul didn’t feel any particular reaction.

“I’m about to eat. Do you want some?”

“I’m okay.”

“Then go to your room and change your clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“Yes. I’ve hung all the clothes in the dressing room, so wear whatever looks comfortable.”

Sunyul immediately returned to his room. There were far more clothes hanging in the dressing room than he had expected. Sunyul carefully chose an outfit from the dressing room, put on the one he liked the most, and went back downstairs.

“You like that one the most?”

“Yes. It looks comfortable.”

Sunyul, dressed in a gray hoodie and jeans, smiled brightly. It wasn’t Muyoung’s style, but since he liked it, Muyoung let it go.

“Then go sit on the sofa.”

Muyoung sent Sunyul to the sofa and ate his breakfast. He usually ate lightly in the morning, so he finished quickly.

“Let’s go.”

“……Where are we going?”

After a slight hesitation, Sunyul asked. It was difficult to ask questions in the Ability Management Bureau’s lab, but he felt like Muyoung would answer him properly.

“To work at the guild.”

“Me too?”

“Yes. I promised not to leave you alone.”

Muyoung spoke as gently as possible.

Besides the electric shocks administered by Patch, the Ability Management Bureau had prepared several other safety measures. Among them was a clause stating that Sunyul would be constantly monitored, and if any problems arose due to negligence, they would be held responsible.

Jooyoung was a homunculus with only housekeeping abilities, so he couldn’t be entrusted with Sunyul’s supervision. Therefore, he couldn’t leave Sunyul at home.

Although Muyoung didn’t explain in detail, Sunyul seemed to understand and readily agreed.

Heading to the front door, Muyoung opened the shoe closet. It was quite full, having originally been too spacious for Muyoung to fill on his own. Muyoung picked out a pair of sneakers and placed them in front of Sunyul.

“From here to there are your shoes, so pick whichever you want starting tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Thinking he should choose the shoes Muyoung picked out for him tomorrow as well, Sunyul put them on.

Once in the car, Sunyul diligently started looking outside as he had done the day before. He didn’t read every advertisement and sign he saw like yesterday, but his face was still full of curiosity.

As they entered the heart of the city, Sunyul, engrossed in sightseeing, suddenly exclaimed, “Oh!”

“Why?”

“Over there, there’s a huge picture of your face, Guild Leader!”

“It’s an advertisement.”

Muyoung glanced at it and replied as if it were nothing. Sunyul, seemingly fascinated, stared intently at the repeating video. He looked very disappointed when the car, which had stopped briefly, started moving again.

“Are there any more of your advertisements, Guild Leader?”

“There are a few.”

He rarely filmed them, but there were a few he’d had to. Most of them were for TR Group affiliates.