Jaegyeom asked, "Hey. Why are you only eating the same side dishes?"
One of the reasons Jaegyeom liked the "Dolsoe's Baekban" place was that they served a generous portion of rice, and the other was that they offered six different side dishes.
Despite the variety of side dishes, Yoon Taehee had only touched two: stir-fried fish cakes and seasoned squid. The other four dishes, which were black beans and various vegetable side dishes, were left untouched.
Jaegyeom had noticed before that Yoon Taehee was a picky eater with a small appetite. A few days ago, when they had eaten together at Lim Hyomoon's tonkatsu restaurant, Yoon Taehee had left several pieces of tonkatsu and didn't touch the salad at all. It wasn't that Jaegyeom was trying to observe him, but at some point, these things had just caught his attention.
"Stop picking at your food and eat more variety."
"Mm."
But Taehee's answer was all talk. Once again, his chopsticks went straight for the stir-fried fish cakes.
"You keep being picky and eating only unhealthy things, that's why your body is so weak."
Jaegyeom finally voiced his frustration. He had specifically brought the other man here thinking it would be good for him with the abundant vegetable side dishes and large portions of rice. But Yoon Taehee kept being selective about what he ate, and it annoyed Jaegyeom.
"'I've eaten plenty of healthy things."
Yoon Taehee raised an eyebrow and responded.
"What? When? I've been watching you, and you didn't even touch them."
"Not now, but back then. When I was younger."
"You didn't eat like this when you were younger?"
"No."
"Then why are you so picky now?"
"I ate so much back then, I'm sick of it."
Yoon Taehee quietly added while moving his chopsticks, "Temple food is basically all greens."
Jaegyeom's eyes widened. Temple food? Does that mean he lived in a temple? This was the first time he was hearing about it. It made sense now— Yoon Taehee's quiet, disciplined manner when eating, his tendency not to initiate conversation unless spoken to first, and the almost serene way he handled meals. It seemed like this behavior came from living in a temple.
"Were you a monk?"
"..."
Yoon Taehee coughed slightly as he ate.
"No, not that. I just had nowhere else to go, so I stayed there for a few years."
"When you were a kid?"
"Yeah, when I was young."
Jaegyeom suddenly realized how little he knew about the other person. Yoon Taehee had mentioned before that he didn't have parents. He had also said he didn't know when he was born and that he became independent at nineteen. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know where he lived.
"So, where do you live now?"
"Highfelis Building B, Unit 1402."
He hadn't even replied when Jaegyeom had texted him for his address, yet now he was giving him an exact location, down to the unit number.
"The door code is 1333."
At this added comment, Jaegyeom paused, staring at Taehee while holding his chopsticks.
"If I press that code, I can get into your place?"
"Yeah."
"Who else knows your door code?"
"No one."
So I'm the only one who knows where Yoon Taehee lives. Well, it's true that even the other team members don't know. Thinking about it like that, Jaegyeom felt a strange, faint stir in his chest. He averted his gaze for a moment, pretending to stir his rice with his spoon.
Wait, does that mean he was the only person who could enter Yoon Taehee's home?
"When you get home after work, change the code."
Jaegyeom suddenly spoke with a serious expression.
"Why?"
"If your place gets broken into, I'm the one who's going to look suspicious."
"..."
"If you go home and find everything trashed and all your valuables gone, you'll obviously suspect me. I'm the only one who knows your door code."
Yoon Taehee quietly rubbed his eyebrow.
This... was not something he had expected.
"No way... that wouldn't happen."
"You never know what might happen."
"I won't suspect you, even if I get robbed."
"No, I mean me."
"..."
Yoon Taehee was momentarily at a loss for words. He had thought Jaegyeom was worried about being mistaken for a thief, but apparently, he was saying, "I might actually rob your place, so better change it"...
"Why? Planning to steal something?"
Yoon Taehee asked seriously.
"If Jeongju keeps having no work, I use up all my savings, and I end up broke. Let's say I go a few days without eating. If I'm that desperate, I might break into your place and steal some rice or something."
"..."
"And most importantly, I know you have a lot of money. Rather than breaking into a random house I don't know and smashing windows, it'd be way easier to hit your place. I'd feel more at ease about it, too."
"..."
Yoon Taehee, quietly listening, asked, "So, did you use to steal things back in the day?"
"..."
Jaegyeom, taken aback, hesitated for a moment before admitting honestly,
"Yeah. Back then. But I only targeted the biggest tile-roofed houses in the village."
Yoon Taehee laughed out loud at that. Jaegyeom quickly added in his defense, saying that he was starving at the time and had no choice. Then, he suddenly got angry and added, "Do you think those rich folks even cared if they lost a sack of rice from their storehouses? Those with plenty should give more." The conversation ended with Jaegyeom declaring that those with a lot should be more generous.
"Anyway, go home and change your code."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I want to look forward to it."
"Look forward to what?"
"When I come home, maybe you'll be there."
Jaegyeom froze with his spoon halfway up, staring at Yoon Taehee.
Yoon Taehee, as calm as ever, was eating his meal quietly with his eyes half-lowered, showing no change in his usual demeanor.
"..."
For a moment, Jaegyeom was speechless.
He, too, had lived alone at one point. His home had always been cold and empty. He knew all too well what it felt like to have someone else in the house. The conversation paused for a moment and for some reason his heart was pounding. Jaegyeom found himself absentmindedly stirring his rice, trying to change the subject.
"Hey, anyway..."
Maybe because it had been a while since they'd had a proper conversation, for some reason, Jaegyeom wanted to keep talking to Yoon Taehee.
"What's the deal with that Byeoksadan thing?"
At the sudden topic change, the other man looked up. Jaegyeom still didn't know that he was the leader of Byeoksadan or that Byeoksadan was part of an effort to disrupt Naryecheong.
There was a simple reason why Yoon Taehee hadn't told Jaegyeom about Byeoksadan. He had initially sought a successor because he needed someone to steal the wooden plaque for him. Once the successor retrieved it, their role would be over, and they would exit the game.
From the beginning, what he wanted was not a "partner in the plan" but rather a pawn, something to be used and discarded. That had been clear from the moment he designed the plan.
Yoon Taehee didn't trust people. Not even Jaegyeom was an exception. He trusted Jaegyeom's strength and skills, but as a
"human" within this game, he couldn't trust him. When Paehyeon had asked why he didn't tell Jaegyeom, Yoon Taehee had replied,
"Tell him with what trust?" And he had meant it.
On top of that, Jaegyeom was always an unpredictable variable. He had kept his meeting with Seok Juryeon a secret. Even if he got along with the Team 1 members he saw every day, Jaegyeom seemed unnecessarily close to Lim Hyomoon. Meeting him separately outside of work indicated a significant level of friendship.
And Yoon Taehee knew well that Jaegyeom had a surprisingly soft side. Even during their short time at school together, Jaegyeom had developed a bond with Cho Youngwoo. During the battle in the mountains, despite his deep animosity toward the exorcists, Jaegyeom had hesitated to fire the arrow at him at the critical moment.
That was why Yoon Taehee couldn't trust him. If Jaegyeom were a piece on a chessboard, he was one powerful enough to shake the entire game, and now he was even starting to shake Yoon Taehee himself. It made him uneasy.
But it was true he was anxious. In order to prevent any more variables from moving, it might be better to tell jaegyeom.
While Yoon Taehee was lost in thought, Jaegyeom lowered his voice and added, "Remember that poster that said Bangsangsi was coming back? What happens if that's true? What if they come back and say, 'This was always my place,' and return to Naryecheong?"
A few days ago, when Lim Hyomoon asked Jaegyeom what he thought about Byeoksadan, Jaegyeom didn't really have any opinions. Of course, when he first deciphered the poster, he had wondered, "What happens if Bangsangsi really comes back?" But then he'd quickly forgotten about it, worried that Seok Juryeon would discover his secret and interrogate him about how he knew about Bangsangsi.
Seok Juryeon had ordered the posters to be destroyed that day and imposed a gag order, but somehow the rumor that "Bangsangsi, the original owner of Naryecheong, has returned" had already spread widely among the exorcists. They were uneasy, wondering what kind of scheme the spirits were plotting in large numbers, but the consensus settled on the idea that "the leader of Byeoksadan is impersonating Bangsangsi to cause chaos."
Jaegyeom, however, wasn't particularly interested in this.
After all, the Naryecheong hunted spirits relentlessly, so it made sense that the spirits would harbor resentment toward them. It was only natural. Even if spirits attacked or had conflicts with Naryecheong, it had nothing to do with him. He figured they would handle their own issues.
However, something started to nag at him. If Bangsangsi really was returning, what would happen to the mask that originally belonged to Bangsangsi but was now in the possession of the Naryecheong commisioner?
"That mask the commissioner has... it used to belong to Bangsangsi, right? So, if Bangsangsi gets it back before we can act, wouldn't that mess up our plan?"
Yoon Taehee, who had been raising his spoon, froze mid-motion. He stared blankly at Jaegyeom, his eyes revealing no emotion.
Jaegyeom asked again.
"Hey. Why aren't you answering?"
"There's no way... that'll happen. Probably."
The response came much later.