"Now what is this?"
"It's a protective talisman. Wear it for the night."
Replying to him, Kiho finally got up to get ready to sleep too. Lim Soohyun stared at the freshly pasted talisman wrapped around his wrist and decided to put the wrist under the pillow, going back to sleep.
*
"Did you say your goodbyes?"
Leaning against the wall outside the gate, he spoke up as Kiho came out with a huge suitcase in tow. Lim Soohyun narrowed his eyes at the suitcase.
"What the? You're moving in or what? Why do you need such a gigantic suitcase?"
"I'll have to spend the night there too since we'll be doing the séance at night."
"But still..."
Remembering how high-maintenance Kiho was, he guessed half of the stuff in that suitcase would probably be used for his nighttime routine. Kiho rolled the suitcase along with them as they walked to the car parked at the parking lot near the village. Waiting for Kiho again, it was about to be noon again.
Since Kiho always slept late at night, he would wake up late too. Lim Soohyun, on the other hand, was fully awake at the crack of dawn, coming out of the room by 6 a.m. when he was greeted by the sight of Kiho's grandparents awake and having breakfast. Forced to have a heavy breakfast too, Lim Soohyun felt like he had gained five pounds extra, and although he didn't want to admit it, he got along fine with old people. The only reason Kiho was able to sleep in was because his grandparents had kept him company with all sorts of board games he had never played, so he had fun playing the new games.
"Not even your grandparents wake you up if you sleep in, huh?"
"They got used to it. After graduating from high school, I had never woken up at that ungodly hour again."
Loading the car trunk with his suitcase, Kiho spoke, seemingly still sluggish from having just woken up an hour ago.
"And what about the ungodly hour you go to bed?"
Locking in his seatbelt, Kiho glanced at him, ignoring his question.
"Music?"
"No, it's okay. You can play it if you want."
Surprisingly, his mind was clear of any of those thoughts. He was satisfied with watching the view out the car window for now. Starting the car, Kiho suddenly decided to give him a piece of advice.
"Mr. Soohyun, you should just join a retirement home instead of doing these dangerous things. I heard from my grandparents that old people would love to be in your company."
"Huh? I'm not that old. What would I do with people twice or triple my age?"
"What would I know? But my grandparents already like you more than me, so you must know the answer yourself..."
"Ah… I got it. You're jealous, right? Some stranger overtook your place in just a day. You must be feeling disheartened. You're really just a kid after all."
Lim Soohyun chuckled, enjoying teasing Kiho, who caught his bait perfectly. His brows creased as he shouted in his deep voice.
"I'm not a kid! Stop calling me that!"
"That's exactly what a kid would say..."
Lim Soohyun remarked, controlling his laugh. If he broke out in laughter now, Kiho would be even more furious.
"You're so annoying… No one has called me a kid in the past fifteen years, for your information."
"Of course they wouldn't say it to your face—unlike me."
"....."
He watched Kiho's continuously frowning face with glee. Kiho didn't speak another word until they got off at a grocery store.
"It's not because of me. Grandma asked me to get groceries and cook for you since you're so thin."
Gritting his teeth, Kiho said without glancing at him. Lim Soohyun was also taken aback. No wonder he was acting out—his grandma had tasked his grandson to cook for a complete stranger after meeting him just once. Well, he couldn't complain about that, so he tagged along with Kiho to the store.
They walked into the store, grabbing a cart. Kiho walked straight to the meat section and kept piling all kinds of meats in the cart.
"Who's going to eat all this?"
Pinching his nose dramatically, he voiced out his complaints, distancing himself from the cart.
"Look at you, Mr. Soohyun. One would think we're at the butcher's shop, but this is all packed meat."
"And yet it still smells so bad. Can't wait to unpack it."
Uncaring of him, Kiho added another dozen chicken breast packs, scaring him to the point Lim Soohyun was already thinking of running out of the store and abandoning Kiho after even his agreement of letting Kiho do the séance.
"How petty are you? You know I won't eat meat, so that's all you're getting."
"You need to eat meat to gain weight. That's why my grandma was worrying for your health."
Making a face, Lim Soohyun crouched down far away from Kiho, covering his nose, not in the mood to argue as the horrendous smell of raw meat made him want to throw up.
"Fine. Get up and pick what you want."
Grabbing another cart, he walked straight to the ramen section—as he could find by his senses alone—and now started his turn to pile high the cart with instant ramen packs.
"..."
Kiho gazed at the cart with indignation.
"You're going to die if you eat all this."
"That's good, then."
Lim Soohyun muttered, thinking it was enough for the few days he'll be at the haunted house, and went to the snacks section next. The cashier stared at them strangely, unable to gather what they were going to do with one cart full of meat and other cooking ingredients and another full of junk food.
"Going on a trip?"
The friendly cashier asked them. Kiho gave the cashier his debit card without replying, and at the same time, Lim Soohyun took hold of Kiho's debit card and flung it far into the corner of the grocery store.