I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Episode 31

‘Hmm…’

Jae-young thought for a moment while looking at Seung-hyun’s face. The face that seemed to be telling him to answer quickly looked firm at a glance, but Jae-young could see the fear contained in that firmness.

‘Well, you don’t necessarily have to date according to typology, but it could be concerning. Although he says he’s changed, the typology he learned under Chairman Han wouldn’t have completely disappeared.’

There was no need to rush in a situation where there was plenty of time and he himself couldn’t be sure of his feelings. Thinking that, Jae-young said,

“I understand. I’ll keep that in mind.”

It was a bit interesting that it was okay to have a relationship with someone of the same type but not to be a lover, but don’t they say a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step?

Jae-young obediently took a step back. It was an action stemming from the confidence that he could redefine the relationship at any time, but Seung-hyun didn’t know and let out a sigh of relief.

***

The next day, Seung-hyun went with Jae-young to see a house located in the suburbs. Seung-hyun felt a bit awkward, but thanks to Jae-young treating him as if nothing was different from usual, he was able to act as if nothing happened in no time.

“This house has a pretty garden and a nicely trimmed exterior, so many people come to see it. Usually families come to see it a lot, are you perhaps getting married soon?”

The agent looked at the two and asked. Seung-hyun instantly frowned deeply and said,

“No.”

“If you say it that seriously, you’ll hurt my feelings.”

Jae-young pretended to be hurt. Ignoring Jae-young as if he didn’t see it, Seung-hyun said to the agent,

“I’ll be living alone. This person is just a neighborhood resident.”

“Ah, you’re buying a house to live alone? My, my. That’s great too. It’s quiet and your privacy is ensured.”

The agent, who quickly switched stances, started showing the house. It seems she just asked to figure out what to focus on in her explanation.

“The biggest merit is definitely this garden. The previous owner took good care of it. They had children, so they made a mini pool in the garden and enjoyed it every summer…”

The agent said while looking around the garden. As she said, it was a pretty garden that would only appear in dramas or movies. The terrace was nicely trimmed too, so it seemed like time would pass quite well just by bringing a rocking chair and enjoying the scenery.

“Shall we go inside? The current owner had to urgently leave Korea for a long business trip, so most of the furniture is still here, but they said they’ll clean it up quickly once you move in.”

The two followed the agent into the house. Seung-hyun, who liked the interior filled with a warm feeling despite the lack of lived-in atmosphere, carefully examined the furniture arrangement.

“Is there something you like?”

“I’m thinking of completely redoing the interior. I thought it would be good to refer to it.”

“My, my. That’ll be so refreshing and nice. Natural colors are good too, and the inside also has a slightly luxurious image, so it’s okay to go with a different image too. Like this.”

The agent started enthusiastically explaining about the interior of the house in an exaggerated manner. Passing through the living room, master bedroom, small rooms the children used, and bathroom, Seung-hyun went up to the second floor.

“Since the location of this house is nice even in this neighborhood, the view is good when you look from the second floor like this. Well, if you find it inconvenient to go back and forth, you can just think of it as a guest room and live only on the first floor.”

The agent explained enthusiastically without resting her mouth for a moment. It was definitely a nice house. The garage I saw coming in had ample space, and it was also closer to Seoul than expected.

“You said your family home is around here?”

“Ah. It would take about 10 minutes, no. About 15 minutes to walk from here.”

Jae-young, who was looking around the house, pointed in one direction beyond the window. Hearing that, the agent exclaimed excitedly.

“My, my. It’s even better if your friend lives nearby. The location is nice here, the house is pretty. And the people living in this neighborhood are all cultured too. Hohoho.”

“Then did you live here when you were young?”

“Yes. The structure is a bit different but… Our house was also two-story. I’m the youngest, so my brothers had already taken all the rooms downstairs, so I used the second floor.”

Jae-young said, shrugging his shoulders. Seung-hyun looked down at the scenery below through the window and asked again.

“I don’t know because I’ve never lived in one. What are the advantages of a two-story house?”

“Hmm. That you can hole up in the house pretending not to hear anything no matter what happens on the first floor? I used to pretend I couldn’t hear my parents calling my name from the front door after causing trouble and going up to the second floor.”

Jae-young chuckled, recalling his childhood. Unlike Jae-young who was reminiscing about happy times, Seung-hyun was recalling a slightly cold old memory.

Before, before coming into this world. There was a time when his family situation was difficult and he briefly rented a room on the second floor of a house.

Of course, it wasn’t a luxurious mansion like this, but a place where you had to quietly climb the exterior stairs so as not to disturb the landlord on the first floor, and it was cold with drafts coming in, but even that wasn’t using the entire second floor but renting a small room.

The house was too cold in winter, the heating didn’t work properly, and the bathroom was shared by the entire second floor so you had to go out to use it.

It couldn’t be considered the same two-story house, but he didn’t have particularly good memories of two-story houses, but now he really liked this space separated by stairs.

‘It’s like having two houses.’

It felt exciting even though he had enough money to buy a house in each area if he wanted to. In fact, he had put this house lower on the priority list because he thought living in the city was the best, but after coming to see it in person, he liked it.

“Two-story houses are nice. And this house has good soundproofing, so if you close the windows like this, you can hardly hear the outside noise.”

The agent started sales without missing the opportunity, seeing that Seung-hyun looked pleased.

“It’s perfect for living quietly. And it’s good for getting to the road too. Also…”

“I’ll sign the contract. When can I move in?”

“Oh my. Really?”

The agent asked back, surprised at Seung-hyun who made a decision in less than 30 minutes after looking around the house, when she thought it would take some time to think.

“Yes. I want to leave my current house as soon as possible.”

“Oh my. You have such circumstances. The owner said he’ll call someone to move the furniture right away if I tell him, but it might take some time to reach him since he’s abroad.”

“Is that so?”

“What time is it there now… Oh my. If I call now, he might pick up. I’ll call right away and ask. Just a moment.”

The agent quickly took out her cell phone to find the house owner’s contact information, as if Seung-hyun might change his mind. As she made the call, the agent went out to the garden for a moment, and Jae-young glanced at Seung-hyun and asked.

“Are you really going with this one?”

“Why. You even came along to tell me to choose this one.”

“That’s true, but I didn’t think you would decide this quickly. It’s a nice house, but I thought you would decide more carefully.”

“I don’t want to waste time thinking.”

Seung-hyun said with sincerity. It was a waste of time to compare this and that.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you would agonize even over which socks to wear.”

“It would be really perfect if there was a swimming pool in the garden too. That’s a bit of a shame.”

Seung-hyun diverted Jae-young’s attention with words that were half joking, half serious. Although the garden was pretty and nice, it would be even better if he could enjoy swimming coolly at home in the summer, so he was a bit disappointed.

“Do you like swimming?”

“…I don’t particularly like swimming, I just like floating in the water. Where people can’t see.”

“Oh my. I was about to be happy thinking we had something in common. We don’t have a private pool at our house or family home, but there is a pool at our family’s vacation home.”

“Really?”

Seung-hyun looked up at Jae-young with a slightly interested face. He had no interest in swimming, but it felt quite good to lie on a tube on the water under the warm sunshine.

Now the weather was getting colder, so it would be difficult, but wouldn’t it be okay around spring? Seung-hyun looked at Jae-young with slightly expectant eyes.

“Where is it?”

“…The US.”

“Ah.”

The US. It would take a full day just to get there, without exaggeration. There’s no way he could go. Seung-hyun showed a slightly disappointed face and withdrew his sparkling gaze.

But Jae-young was still looking down at Seung-hyun. Conscious of his gaze, Seung-hyun looked up at Jae-young again.

“…Do you have something to say?”

“You said sex is something you can do with anyone.”

“…Well, yes. But why are you asking that?”

“Then other things would be even easier.”

Seung-hyun felt that the atmosphere had gotten a bit strange. But it felt like losing somehow to turn and run away here, so he pretended to be nonchalant and asked back.

“For example?”

“For example…”

Jae-young’s hand approached Seung-hyun’s waist. Seung-hyun was a bit surprised and froze in place, blinking his eyes.