Kim Muhyuk frowned hard when he saw the pajamas Shin Kangheon brought out.

“......Don’t you have anything else?”

He was the one who’d shown up out of nowhere without even calling, so he’d been willing to put on whatever he got without complaining. Even something full of holes would’ve been fine.

But pajamas shaped like a tiger, complete with ears and a tail......

Even Kim Muhyuk couldn’t accept that so easily.

“You said you wanted spare pajamas. If you don’t like it, sleep in just your underwear.”

Already changed into bear pajamas, Shin Kangheon folded his arms and lifted his chin proudly.

Kim Muhyuk stared at pajama-clad Shin Kangheon like he was looking at something revolting, then spoke like he’d just remembered.

“You know what you wore on Jeju Island. Give me that, at least.”

“That wasn’t my style, so I threw it out.”

“If I find it when I dig around.......”

“The hell are you talking so much for, barging into someone’s house? If you don’t like it, get out!”

“......Hah.”

Today, Shin Kangheon was acting like a complete brat, and Kim Muhyuk really wanted to smack him once.

But he forced himself to be patient, reminding himself why he’d come here.

A little later, Shin Kangheon burst into giggles the moment he saw Kim Muhyuk come into the living room in the tiger pajamas, and started snapping photos like crazy with his smartphone.

“Puhahaha! You actually put it on just because I gave it to you?”

“......Let’s start with you getting hit.”

Kim Muhyuk clenched his fist and charged Shin Kangheon.

Before long, a tiger and a bear were in a brawl.

PAPAPAPAP!

It was loud enough that the housekeeper in the kitchen jumped.

“I should call the police—!”

“We’re just messing around, just messing around!”

“We’re sorry. This is basically how we say hello when we see each other.”

After they barely managed to persuade the housekeeper and send them home.

The two of them, having finally let off steam with their fists for the first time in a while, sat facing each other at the dining table.

Shin Kangheon narrowed his eyes like everything about this was suspicious.

“So why are you here?”

To dig into your uncle’s background.

I couldn’t say that out loud, so I made up a decent excuse.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and I was wondering what you’ve been up to.......”

“Bullshit.”

“Fine. My mom and dad told me to come see how you were doing. Satisfied?”

As I grumbled, I pulled snacks my parents had packed out of my backpack, and Shin Kangheon’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you for the meal!”

He immediately grabbed a sandwich and started chewing.

I watched him for a moment, then said,

“Don’t you have something to drink? It’s been a while—booze would be fine.”

Shin Kangheon, who’d been about to cut a cake in half with a fork, looked at me with an extremely suspicious expression.

“You’re weird today. The crazy bastard I know isn’t the type to be the first one to suggest drinking.”

The Kim Muhyuk Shin Kangheon knew was the kind of guy who’d say crap like, ‘If you don’t take care of your body when you’re young, you’ll be falling apart when you get older.’

Even when I drank, I’d stop after one or two cups just to set a mood.

And now I was the one bringing up alcohol first?

Normally, he’d have started by asking what I was plotting, but—

“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”

“Who said I don’t want to?”

Right now, Shin Kangheon honestly felt like getting completely wasted.

He stood up, grinning crookedly.

“Wait a second. I’ll bring out all the whiskey my uncle’s been saving.”

A little later.

When Shin Kangheon came back with his arms full of whiskey bottles—big and small—I shook my head.

Even someone who didn’t know booze well could tell it was worth millions.

“Aren’t you gonna get kicked out by your uncle at this rate?”

“Then I’ll just go to your place and tell you to let me sleep there. You suggested drinking first, so don’t you pass out first, got it?”

“You’re seriously a lunatic.......”

Before long, the real drinking started.

Shin Kangheon began pouring expensive whiskey like it was beer and pounding it down.

The way he looked like he’d decided to get drunk made me tilt my head.

What’s with this guy?

I had my reasons for bringing up drinking, but I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction.

In the end, seeing Shin Kangheon’s expression wasn’t normal, I asked.

“Did something happen?”

“I found out the fucking reason I ended up an orphan.”

“......?”

Shin Kangheon drank a few more cups in a row.

Only after the alcohol flushed his face red did he finally spill what happened today.

Eyes bloodshot, Shin Kangheon forced his mouth into a twisted smile.

“When I was at the orphanage, not a single person came looking for me, you know? Back then I didn’t even know why my parents died—I just resented them. I thought they’d just dumped me somewhere and disappeared, like they didn’t give a damn.......”

A father who died obeying the Martial Alliance’s unreasonable orders.

A mother who died protecting him, a newborn baby, all by herself.

And the Martial Alliance doing nothing throughout the whole process.

Now that he knew everything, what remained in Shin Kangheon’s heart was guilt toward his parents, and rage at the Martial Alliance.

“This is the Martial Alliance that claims it chases justice? If my uncle hadn’t told me, I’d still be grinning like an idiot in front of those people, not knowing a damn thing—!”

I just listened.

Because I knew that sometimes, quietly hearing someone out was a lot better than rushing in with comfort or advice.

“Fuck the Martial Alliance! I’m going to sign with Great Saber Gate. And later, I’m gonna find every last bastard connected to my parents dying, and—”

But if your friend is about to make a major decision on pure impulse, you can’t just sit there.

“Hey.”

I snatched the whiskey bottle away from Shin Kangheon as he was drinking straight from it, and set it down.

Then I looked him directly in the eyes and spoke in a calm voice.

“What you heard is still just what your uncle told you. You’re going to make a decision that might be the most important in your life based on only that?”

BANG!

Shin Kangheon slammed the table, face burning with emotion as he glared at me like he wanted to tear me apart.

“Are you saying my uncle lied to me?”

This wasn’t his usual joking glare.

There was real anger in his eyes.

If I crossed the line even a little more, our relationship might not come back from it.

But I didn’t hesitate.

“Idiot, when did I ever say it was a lie? I’m saying that even with the same facts, the story changes depending on where you’re standing. And.......”

I chewed on the beef jerky I’d brought as a snack and continued.

“Honestly, I don’t like your uncle.”

“There! You hate my uncle in the first place, so—!”

BANG!

I cut him off by slamming the table the same way, then stared him down viciously.

“Then do you think I’m supposed to like someone who takes one look at how his nephew’s doing, says he’s busy, drops off a contract, and leaves?”

“......!”

Shin Kangheon’s expression twisted like he couldn’t tell whether he should get angry or not.

He knew it himself.

That the relationship between him and his uncle wasn’t like normal families.

That he’d never once felt what people usually called warm family affection.

And after seeing my family—so close it looked like something out of a drama—he’d felt it even more.

“......Not every family is like your parents.”

“And not every family is like your uncle, either. When you got hurt on Jeju Island and were lying in the hospital, he didn’t even show his face once.”

“Fuck, you decided you’re gonna split me and my uncle up, didn’t you?”

At the bullseye, I just shrugged without saying a word.

I know your future. Of course I have to split you up.

By now, it was practically certain that Shin Junhyun was the one who would later turn Shin Kangheon into the Heavenly Demon Cult’s attack dog and a terrorist.

“Ah, shit......!”

Shin Kangheon drained an entire whiskey bottle in one go, then clutched his head with both hands.

“Haa. What do you want me to do, seriously.......”

“If it were me, I’d find out directly.”

“How?”

I cracked open an unopened whiskey and poured it into Shin Kangheon’s glass.

“Go ask. White Tiger Unit commander, Martial Alliance Leader—whoever. Tell them to explain your parents. Ask why ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) they let you become an orphan. If they’ve got proof, demand they show it. You should at least scream at them.”

Shin Kangheon kept gulping down whatever I handed him as he asked,

“What if they still won’t tell me?”

“Flip the whole place upside down. You’re good at that.”

At my expression—like this was the obvious answer—Shin Kangheon chuckled.

“Heh. Crazy bastard. Easy to say.......”

That was the last thing he managed.

His eyes, far past his limit, went unfocused. He swayed—and then face-planted onto the table.

THUD......

I supported Shin Kangheon where he slept with his head on the table. I dragged his huge body into a bedroom and tossed him onto the bed, then walked back out.

“Whew. He drinks like a monster.”

Shaking my head, I forced all the alcohol built up inside my body out with internal energy.

I’d only been drinking to get Shin Kangheon drunk.

From the beginning, I’d had another purpose.

Sorry, but I’m going to search your house.

Shin Kangheon’s house was a two-story detached home, and Shin Junhyun’s room was upstairs.

There were CCTV cameras in the living room and by the stairs, but I’d already figured out the blind spots.

Avoiding the cameras, I arrived in front of Shin Junhyun’s door and curled one corner of my mouth up.

“Two people living here, and he installed a door lock on his bedroom? Must be hiding a lot.”

I didn’t know how to disable a digital door lock, but it didn’t matter.

CRUNCH!

I casually smashed it and tore it off, then went inside and searched the room with practiced hands.

Not long after, I found the smuggling ledger Shin Junhyun had hidden, along with some of the smuggled goods.

“This is enough.......”

With just what I had so far, it would be more than enough to send Shin Junhyun to prison.

But I frowned like something didn’t sit right, and scanned the room.

That’s it? For this to be everything, it was way too easy.

What I most wanted was evidence tied to the Heavenly Demon Cult.

If Shin Junhyun had connections beyond the Black Heaven Society, I might be able to dig up a huge amount of information tied to the Heavenly Demon Cult all at once.

Thinking I might’ve missed something, I took my time and started over from the beginning.

In the end, my gaze stopped on a framed picture hanging in the room.

“Maybe.......”

The frame held a photo of Shin Junhyun standing side by side with a young-faced Shin Kangheon, an orphanage in the background.

I carefully slid the photo out of the frame.

Then I flipped it over—

And on the back was a red seal shaped like a bug, a long-bodied centipede-like creature.

“......Red Worm.”

My eyes shook.

It wasn’t direct proof connected to the Heavenly Demon Cult.

But there was an extremely high chance it was a key that could lead there.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing this here.......”

Muttering, I let out a long sigh, then slowly turned around.

Shin Kangheon—who I’d thought was passed out asleep—was standing in the doorway, glaring at me with a stiff expression.

“What’s Red Worm?”

Then his gaze dropped to the photo in my hand.

“Yeah? Answer well, Kim Muhyuk.”

That look in his eyes was colder than anything I’d ever seen from him.