"Hey, Seo-jin," Byeol-ha said casually, walking beside the boy through the dusty streets of District 8. "You wanna come with me?"
Han Seo-jin blinked up at him, surprised, then nodded with that quiet, honest seriousness that made Byeol-ha feel both old and weirdly proud.
"Okay," Seo-jin said simply.
Just like that.
No hesitation. No dramatic backstory. No long monologue about "trusting again."
Byeol-ha gave him a sideways glance. "You're suspiciously easygoing for someone who just survived literal hell."
Seo-jin shrugged.
"You saved me. You didn't have to. That's enough for me."
Byeol-ha chuckled under his breath.
"Either you're too pure for this world," he said, "or you're going to become a terrifying little monster one day. Either way, welcome to the chaos."
As they walked, Byeol-ha asked, "How old are you, anyway?"
"Nineteen," Seo-jin said, almost shyly.
Byeol-ha stared at him.
"...No offense, but you look sixteen. Maybe seventeen on a good hair day."
Seo-jin scratched his cheek, embarrassed.
"I didn't eat much growing up. Guess I stopped growing early."
Byeol-ha made a small noise of sympathy, followed by a sharp mental note:
Step 1: Feed the kid.Step 2: Feed the kid again.Step 3: Punch whatever societal system failed this child.
They arrived at the old Kim family home — or more accurately, what was left of it.
The door creaked open with a sad groan.
Inside were five people already occupying the tiny space:Bit-na, Eo-ra, two small boys, and Tae-yang's silent, sleeping form.
With him and Seo-jin added?
It felt like the walls might start protesting any minute.
Byeol-ha opened the door with his usual flair, as if the house wasn't on the verge of turning into a human Jenga tower.
"I'm home!" he called.
Bit-na, halfway through folding laundry, looked up and froze.
Eo-ra stood from her seat, frowning slightly.
Seo-jin stepped nervously into the room, shrinking under all the new attention.
Bit-na blinked. "...Oppa. Who's this?"
"Oh," Byeol-ha said casually, "this is Han Seo-jin. He's my side quest."
Eo-ra narrowed her eyes. "You left for what, half an hour? And came back with a person?!"
"I upgraded," Byeol-ha said, unbothered. "The street vending machine was out of ramen, so I brought home a stray instead."
The two women stared at him.
Seo-jin looked like he might spontaneously combust.
"I swear he's not dangerous," Byeol-ha added. "Just underfed. We can fix that."
Bit-na rubbed her temples.
"Where is he going to sleep? We barely have room to breathe!"
Byeol-ha looked around, thoughtfully. The cramped walls, the tiny corners, the overwhelming presence of children energy.
"...Yeah, no," he said. "I like oxygen. I'll go ask the neighbor."
Ten minutes later, Byeol-ha had successfully guilt-tripped Park Jun-ho (the eternally reluctant neighbor) into letting them crash on his living room floor.
"I don't usually take guests," Jun-ho muttered.
"Yeah, and I don't usually drag traumatized teens into other people's homes," Byeol-ha said cheerfully. "Yet here we are."
Seo-jin wore a mismatched set of borrowed clothes from Jun-ho's teenage years — the shirt was too big, the pants too short, but at least he didn't look like he crawled out of a collapsed dungeon anymore.
They both sat cross-legged in the tiny living room, staring at the dim oil lamp.
Jun-ho had already retreated into his bedroom with a mumbled, "Don't set anything on fire."
Silence settled in.
Seo-jin lay down, curling into the blanket like a cocoon, but Byeol-ha sat up, back against the wall.
Sleep?That wasn't happening.
His mind was far too loud tonight.
On the surface, everything was... fine.He was reunited with family.He saved a kid.He was technically home.
But under it?
A different problem pulsed.
One he'd been trying to ignore since he set foot back on Earth.
His body felt... wrong.
Every hour, the rejection was building — not aggressively, but present.Earth's laws weren't made to host someone like him anymore.Not someone who carried the soulmark of the Outer Gods.
The gods who whispered in the void between worlds.The ones who looked at Earth like it was a juicy, unguarded buffet.
Byeol-ha closed his eyes.
I've got blood from the God of Life. Soul fragments from the God of Death. Training from realms most people can't even imagine. And now? I'm walking radioactive to this planet.
Earth was rejecting him — slowly, because its laws were damaged.Ever since the First Calamity, the natural systems were broken, the rules bent.It bought him time.
But not forever.
Eventually, Earth would kick him out like a bad tenant.Or worse — tear him apart from the inside.
And the real cherry on top?
He wasn't even the worst thing coming.
The Outer Gods were watching.He could feel their attention, slimy and distant.They were curious why one of their marked inheritors had landed back on this pathetic little blue planet.
"Like moths to a flame," he muttered.
He could practically hear the eldritch conversations:
"Ooh, is that Earth? I hear it has oceans and free real estate.""Looks weak enough. Wanna colonize it?"
He scoffed quietly, running a hand through his black hair.
"I swear," he whispered to the cracked ceiling, "Earth really is the easiest target."
Then again... he couldn't blame the planet too much.
It was like leaving your house unlocked with a "welcome monsters" sign taped to the front.
No gods.No defenders.No laws worth a damn.
Just a few guilds with attitude and abs.
Byeol-ha grinned faintly in the dark.
"Maybe I should put up a 'Do Not Enter' sign myself."
A plan was forming — small and ridiculous, but effective.
He didn't need to conquer Earth.
He just needed to make it inconvenient to mess with.
Ward it. Trick it. Reshape it just a little.
And if he happened to stomp on some Outer Gods along the way?Bonus.
"Protect the planet with laziness and passive aggression," he whispered to himself.
A fitting strategy for someone like him.
Behind him, Seo-jin breathed steadily in sleep, curled like a child finally safe.
Byeol-ha leaned back and sighed.
No, he couldn't stay forever.But while he was here?
He'd make sure the world couldn't be stolen without a fight.