Thunk! Rud slammed his fist on the cafe table to get their attention.

The two who were arguing immediately fell silent. Rud ground his teeth audibly.

“[S-surely you’re going t-to f-fight like t-this? S-surely…]” mumbled Minjaeyoon.

“Yep!”

“Yes!”

At Rud’s words, the two brothers stood up straight. Minjaeyoon, gripping the chair, spoke to Rud.

“Anyway, Nuna! I’m going to the police! Don’t worry about the statement; I’ll honestly explain everything! And I apologize for our grandfather’s affairs. It’s because our brother surprisingly doesn’t care about others.”

“Hey, what about you…!”

“What? Are you going to fight now?”

“No.”

Just before the second round of the sibling fight began, Rud glanced at the two. He looked at Minjaeyoon with an expression as if seeing a younger sibling hiding behind their mom, sticking out their tongue. Soon, he averted his gaze.

“I’ll talk to Grandpa properly. And consider the proposal I made. I’ll graduate in a few months. See you later. Goodbye~!!”

Minjaeyoon walked away, sending an exaggerated hand kiss. Rud, who had been sighing deeply in relief, finally spoke.

“I guess we did grow up like real brothers? Watching them squabble like that.”

“Childish?! It’s not! Did you see how he totally scratched at my temper? Saying I don’t care about others?! I have a max-level passive social life!”
Kang Ihyun was excited in a way Rud had never seen before. Seeing this, Rud chuckled, tidied up the glass, and stood up from his seat.

“It’s not entirely wrong, is it? You didn’t know Minjaewon was talking nonsense to me. He noticed right away when he heard the story.”

“But it’s still a bit unfair that my words don’t matter.”

“Then do you think it’ll work if you say it? That.”

Muttering to himself, Kang Ihyun, who had been speaking in a low voice, turned abruptly from putting the straw in the trash can. Seeing the expression of being hurt, Rud hurriedly added an explanation.

“Listening to Minjaeyoon’s story, it seems like your uncle has a severe trauma. Can it be solved by approaching it with social skills? I faint just looking at the camera right away.”

Kang Ihyun, who lost words to refute, only pursed his lips and, still smiling, walked out of the cafe following Rud.

“Well, it’s useless no matter who says it, right? Even if Jaeyoon says it, things remain the same.”

Seeing Kang Ihyun muttering with a sulky expression that he couldn’t hide, Rud chuckled softly.

Having social skills at max level, taking care of Nari’s emotions, and excelling in many aspects, he ultimately seemed to be someone of Nari’s age.

Thinking he had a somewhat cute side, Rud got into Kang Ihyun’s parked car. He had come here early in the morning, riding Kang Ihyun’s car to meet Minjaeyoon.
“……Those who haven’t experienced it wouldn’t know. Because in an instant, the values of life change.”

“I know that feeling too. After meeting Ms. Nari, and also……”

“You’re positive, but Minjaewon and Minjaeyoon aren’t, right? Both of them must have some complicated relationship status. In that case, Minjaeyoon would probably communicate better with Minjaewon than with you.”

Responding to Rud’s words about wearing a seatbelt, Kang Ihyun fastened his seatbelt without answering. Waiting for the navigation to turn on and gripping the steering wheel, Kang Ihyun spoke with a cold tone.

“But I’m not forgiving your uncle. I’m just giving you one more chance after seeing your face. If you mess this up, there won’t be another chance.”

“…Yes, I understand. I’ll mediate well.”

“Seriously, thinking about it again, it’s ridiculous. Do I have to mediate between you two? Minjaewon is not even my stepfather. It feels like some kind of ‘Marriage Despair Edition’ experience.”

“…….”

Rud sighed deeply without saying anything, directing his gaze out of the car window. Even after the navigation turned on and some time passed since the engine started, the car didn’t move. Rud suddenly turned his head.

“What are you doing? Aren’t we going?”

“I-I’ll go!! I’ll go, I’ll go! I’ll do well! Yes! I’ll do well!”

Kang Ihyun awkwardly laughed, tightly gripping the steering wheel. Nari, observing his expression, furrowed her brows for a moment.

“If anything feels off, stop driving.”

“No, no! I’ll do well. Really!”
“I should get my driver’s license soon. I’m dying of anxiety.”

Nari, who hadn’t considered that she would be a novice driver for a while even if she got her license, clicked her tongue.

“Oh, and don’t worry about Minjaeyoon. He likes strong women, especially those who are older. He claims that he prefers an older woman over him without knowing anything about me.”

“Actually, all the girlfriends he has had so far were ace martial artists.”

Rud, with an expression as if questioning, widened his eyes and glanced at Kang Ihyun before quickly regaining composure.

“But among the S-ranks, the female hunters are all older than him. The guild leader he’s going to, Baekya, is older than him too.”

“Well, um, Guild Leader Baekya is actually the same age as our guild leader.”