"House? You call this cramped-up space your house?"
This time, it was a genuine question with no hidden meaning or mockery behind it. The woman looked around, just now realizing it was truly a small playhouse. She saw her sunglasses on the floor and made a disgusted face. As if the floors were poisonous, she didn't even bother to pick them up.
"This place isn't for humans. Only rats like Areum can live here. Cheon Rian, come here. I'll take you back with me."
His first guess upon seeing the kid had proven to be right. The kid who refused to let him—his Hyung—go was his younger brother. He hadn't planned on interfering if the kid had gone to the woman himself without any problem, or if he wasn't this attached to him, holding onto him like he wouldn't be able to live a single day without seeing his older brother. All in all, the kid didn't want to go with this woman. Grabbing the hand about to snatch the kid off of him with terrifying force, he spoke up.
"He's not going anywhere with you. Don't drag him."
He thought he had been polite enough with his response, but it irked the woman beyond anger. She shrieked as if he had electrocuted her and threw his hand to the side, cradling her arm in the other as if he'd electrocuted it.
"Why did you come here today, anyway?"
Securing the kid behind him, Cheon Areum spoke while looking directly into her dark eyes. The woman narrowed her eyes, glaring down at him. She was taller than him by two heads—one head added due to her heels. But if it came to a hand-to-hand brawl with this woman, he would, without a doubt… lose.
"Are you regretting it now? So who told you to move out? You even dragged Rian with you. It's almost like you couldn't bear to see him enjoy all the luxuries that you wouldn't be able to anymore. Isn't that the case?"
The woman raised her brow and scoffed dramatically. He tried to piece together the story from the fragments she was providing, but there was too much he didn't know and couldn't fill in on his own. He was reluctantly thinking of asking her more about their situation when she suddenly grabbed his arm with bruising strength and pushed him out of the way.
"Cheon Rian, let's go back home. This isn't where you belong."
"I... I still want to live with Hyung here."
The kid, albeit scared out of his wits, gave his own opinion while clinging to his clothes. The woman, unable to do anything else to convince Rian to go with her, redirected her attention to him once more.
Oh... she's going to hit me anytime now.
The thought had just crossed his mind when a heavy hand came down, hitting the side of his face with tremendous force. Cheon Areum fell to the floor on his side from the world-rotating slap. Caressing his warm and tender cheek, he stared at the floor.
"Hyung!"
"It's all your fault! First it was your mother who stole my son from me and now—!!"
The woman, at a loss, unable to continue shouted and turned to leave. Her clicking steps echoed fiercely. A door slammed, signaling that she had left the place. Cheon Areum stayed in the same position. He also wanted to get up and tell the kid that it was nothing and that he was alright, but he kept shaking. It was his first time being hit this hard—not even his own parents had ever touched him, more due to the fear of cutting his already shortened life with a wrong touch to his fragile body. As if his body had gone limp, he couldn't move at all, stunned.
"Hyung... are you okay? Why aren't you saying anything? Does it hurt a lot?"
The kid, moved to tears, held up his face in his little hands, examining the red cheek carefully. From this position, he could clearly see the kid's face. Focusing on his tiny, worried expression, his body stopped shaking. The bewilderment on his face disappeared, and he ended up laughing all by himself. The kid, surprised, widened his eyes.
"How could I not be fine when I have such a caring little brother, hmm?"
Patting the kid's head, he ended up sitting on the floor to match the little one's height. He flashed a smile at him, but Rian burst into uncontrollable tears in that moment.
"Oh?..."
What should he do now? Having grown up as an only child, he had zero experience with kids or babies. He had only met adults and learned to deal with them from his parents. While it was nice to have a younger brother like he always wanted, he didn't know how to take care of him.
"Why are you crying? Is it something I said? I'm sorry. Or does it hurt anywhere?"
Flipping the kid who rubbed his eyes with his hands a few times, he confirmed no physical wounds. Then it had to be something the kid couldn't explain! An internal pain!
"Hospital! Let's go to the hospital!"
He started to get up from the floor, realizing he didn't know where he was right now. Where would the hospital even be?
"No... I'm not going to cry anymore, so we don't have to go."
The kid hiccupped as he muttered, but he really did stop crying. His face and eyes were wet, though no new tears welled up.
"It doesn't hurt anywhere?"
"No."
Cheon Areum nodded and sat back down on the floor, hugging the kid and patting his back.
"I must've scared you just now. Sorry."
Sniffing and hiccupping, the kid pulled back and stared at him for a while. Patiently waiting for the kid to finish his scan, he noticed the kid had forgotten his hiccups in the meantime.
"Wait here."
Rian said before running into the bedroom. He heard a few thuds coming from inside the room before the kid ran back out with a grin, holding a hairbrush and a hair tie with a purple butterfly on it in each hand.
"Stay still now. I'll be your hairstylist for today."
Rian put down the hair tie on the floor next to him, combing through his hair first. As he sat there, he started to think more about what he knew. Cheon Areum knew he had shoulder-length hair from the start and that it was light gray. The woman had told him their names—both had the surname Cheon—and his name was Areum. Cheon Areum. The name was very familiar to him by now. It was the name of the villain from the book he had read last night before sleeping. The villain had a younger brother by the name Cheon Rian. It fit perfectly.
Cheon Areum had light gray hair like his younger brother—like the villain in the book. If he had lavender eyes too, much like this kid, then he was sure of it.
He had transmigrated into the villain of the book. He had become Cheon Areum overnight.
"All done."
Rian proudly declared, backing off with hands on his hips, admiring his work. He couldn't tell how it looked, but by the feel of it, it seemed Rian had tied his hair roughly in a half ponytail.
"Can I see it in a mirror?"
"Ah! I'll bring it to you."
Rian readily ran back to the bedroom and quickly brought back a handheld mirror, holding it in place so he could see. Cheon Areum first locked eyes with himself in the mirror, entranced by his seductive and enchanting features. And then there it was… lavender eyes. And the reddish handprint was not missed either. He wasn't exaggerating—it just took one glance to tell he was hit powerfully. Then he finally moved to the hair. As he had guessed, it was put in a half ponytail, but quite a few strands were left out. Despite that, he was still quite the looker.
Turning in all directions, he paid attention to his every feature. No matter how much he looked at himself, he couldn't believe it was him. Kim Sangmin had inherited everything good from his parents, so he was always regarded as handsome. Even as his health deteriorated, his features only became more refined and delicate. He was pretty much a sleeping beauty (because he slept all day long).
But!
This couldn't be humanly possible. If he had been this… pretty as Kim Sangmin, he was afraid the world would be kneeling before him, praising him as some type of beauty god. There was a slight—just a tiny bit of a—problem, though... he looked way too feminine and weak. It was as if he had starved himself, eating one meal a day. What kind of diet was Cheon Areum on?
The woman who had just declared herself as their grandmother seemed to have more strength in her than him—not forgetting the height. There were only two possibilities here: either he was fragile enough to not even go head to head with a grandma from birth, or that woman was a giant with unawakened powers and he was a normal human being (which couldn't be the case because he was supposed to be a villain with heart-dropping abilities).