"Interesting? Is my behavior amusing to you? Or did something else catch your eye?"
Smiling faintly, he naturally slipped his hand out from under Kiho's hand.
"There's something I'm curious about. Let me do it. I won't take the fee either."
Stubbornly holding his ground, Kiho stayed seated while Lim Soohyun, who couldn't stay in one place for too long, was already taking his phone and moving to the living room's couch. Uncaring of Kiho's sudden change of declining and then trying to convince him to let him go through with the séance, he laid down on the longest couch with his head and feet on the armrests of the couch.
"I think I can sleep now. Good night."
Making himself comfortable on the couch, Lim Soohyun said and closed his eyes.
"It's either I do it or you don't do it at all, Mr. Soohyun."
He heard Kiho's voice from close proximity and then footsteps getting further away from him.
°°°
"Kiho, get up already. It's almost 1 pm. How much longer are you going to sleep? Here I was worried you wouldn't be able to fall asleep in a haunted house."
Lim Soohyun grumbled as he sat cross-legged on the bed and stuffed his mouth with a protein bar, his breakfast. He had already washed up and eaten, but this kid just kept sleeping in like he wasn't in a stranger's bed right now. Even now, Kiho heard him from the other side of the bed and pulled the blanket over his head to cancel out his voice.
"Go home already, kid!"
He spoke out in a louder voice, almost shouting. As long as Kiho stayed here, he was unable to do as he wished, and he was already starting to get worked up over the smallest things as if he was still a hormonal teen.
"I'm not a kid, Mr. Soohyun!"
Kiho suddenly shouted, throwing off the blanket and shifting to get out of bed.
"Did you just raise your voice at me?"
Lim Soohyun pushed the hand holding the half-eaten protein bar in Kiho's direction as he asked in an unserious tone. Kiho stared at him, frowning slightly, his hair in a disheveled state unlike the previously slicked-back hairstyle.
"If you were going to give up the bedroom, then give me some privacy too."
"Ah...sure."
Taking his hand back, he nibbled on the entirely disgusting-tasting protein bar as he turned his head to the other side. Hearing the clatters behind him, he saw Kiho enter the bathroom from the corner of his eye.
It was kind of fun to mess around with Kiho. He seemed to be the type that would be easily rage-baited. Truly an individual born to be provoked. Maybe he should call Kiho sometimes to mess around with him. Lim Soohyun finished the protein bar by the time it took Kiho to be ready. Not even his ex-girlfriend took this long to get ready.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"I'll take anything with meat in it."
"I don't like the smell of meat."
They exchanged a few words on the stairs, and Kiho became silent afterwards.
"There isn't any meat available in this house, if you didn't catch that."
"You can't order from this location either. If you want meat, you'll have to drive for at least an hour to find a mart or a restaurant."
Lim Soohyun rambled on, thinking this should be enough to make Kiho run away home. He was definitely a high-maintenance kid from a wealthy and loving family who wouldn't settle to be treated this way.
"....."
Then he saw Kiho staring at him with a demanding gaze as he sat waiting on the dining table.
"Mr. Soohyun, the protein bar you were eating—I'll take that."
How ludicrous!
Taking the whole box of protein bars from the cabinet, he quickly gave it to Kiho without a pause. It tasted so bad that he felt happy seeing them disappearing one by one right in front of his eyes. Kiho ate most of the box and left a few behind. Only then his face contorted a bit.
"It tastes like shit."
How preposterous!
"You asked for it. I didn't force you to eat them."
Today was the day he had set up to meet with Yunho, meaning he'd have to go back to Seoul too. Kiho had no urgency in him to go back home, and seeing him this relaxed, Lim Soohyun was starting to think he'd have to give up the house to him at this point.
"This won't do. Kiho, are you going to stay here forever?"
Typing something into his phone, Kiho's eyes locked onto him when he spoke from the table. At his unresponsiveness, Lim Soohyun stood up abruptly, lightly slamming the table.
"I'm meeting someone in Seoul today. You... just stay here and make yourself at home."
"Who are you meeting? Don't tell me it's another person for the séance?"
This time, however, Kiho responded immediately, even turning his phone's screen off, putting all his attention on him.
"Why do I have to tell you that? I'm not obligated to tell you anything. Now stop bothering me and go back. I seriously will not be here today."
Grabbing his car keys, Lim Soohyun was ready to go out. Kiho followed after him closely. Just as he was about to open the front door, Kiho tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn around.
"Where's the talisman? Did you go into the basement by yourself when I was asleep?"
The talisman Kiho had slammed onto the door with super glue was gone. He hadn't noticed it at all. Lim Soohyun had even tried to remove the talismans from the kitchen walls, but the adhesive was stronger than him. He had failed massively.
"I didn't do any of those things."
Proving his innocence with a halfhearted reply, he quickly walked out of the house with Kiho in tow. Lim Soohyun locked the front door in front of his eyes.
"You have your car keys with you, right?"