"Relax, old man. I know it's not your fault. Blame the shitty lawnmower."
The security guard was a bit hard of hearing but caught enough. He chuckled. "People from the big city are different. Folks around here treat security guards like slaves."
"Oh, right. Someone else is moving in today. That you?" The guard turned to the curly-haired kid.
"Yeah," Cha Hyun-soo answered quietly.
He had come here looking for a quiet place to kill himself. Once a shut-in and victim of brutal school bullying, his rich classmate had made his life hell because Hyun-soo's dad worked for the bully's family business.
Hyun-soo put up with it all to keep his father's job. When he finally went home for comfort, he got nothing. His parents and sister didn't give a shit. Their indifference broke him.
Then an accident took his whole family. Now he felt like a ghost with nowhere to go, strangely missing the very life he used to hate.
"Hey, I'm Ivan Greevs. What's your name?" Ivan asked with an easy smile, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
The sudden friendliness made Cha Hyun-soo flinch. He stepped back on instinct, slipping out from under Ivan's hand. Realizing it looked rude, he muttered almost too soft to hear, "Cha Hyun-soo."
"What's your room number? Maybe we're neighbors." Ivan grinned.
"1410."
"1410? Too bad. I'm in 1419. A bit far from yours."
They walked into the apartment building together. Cha Hyun-soo stayed dead quiet the whole way, only answering when Ivan asked something.
The inside of the apartment matched the worn-out exterior. Time had beaten the shit out of the place. Almost everyone living here sat at the very bottom of society. Nowhere else nearby came even close to being this cheap.
"First day moving in. Hope you settle in nice," Ivan stopped in front of room 1410.
Cha Hyun-soo opened his mouth to say thanks, but years of barely talking to people made the words stick in his throat. He just pressed his lips together and stayed silent.
Ivan gave him a small smile and headed to his own room.
He pulled out the key, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. The place looked surprisingly clean. The last tenant must have left not long ago.
He was right. The previous renter had slit his wrists right there. Blood everywhere. The security guard had scrubbed for hours to get it all out. For the people in Green Home, suicides were just part of the routine.
"Sweet Home…" Ivan dropped onto the couch and dug through the memories of the series in his head.
From what he remembered, the monsters didn't come from any virus. They were born from people's deepest desires.
In the early stages of infection, victims would see an exact mirror image of themselves inside their own mind.
That copy would talk to them, push them, tempt them to give in. If the desire was strong enough and they couldn't satisfy it themselves, the mirror took over, twisted the body, and turned them into a slave to that craving. Ivan figured "obsession" described it better than "desire."
"Too bad that shit only works on humans." After fusing so many talents, Ivan wasn't really human on a genetic level anymore. Otherwise he would've been curious what kind of nightmare monster his own desires could spit out.
Meanwhile, Cha Hyun-soo leaned against the wall in his empty room, still arguing with himself about whether to go through with it.
For some reason Ivan's face kept popping into his head. It had been forever since anyone showed him basic kindness.
He shook his head, left the room, and climbed up to the rooftop.
Standing at the edge, he looked down at the cars speeding along the highway below. The breeze brushed across his face. For the first time in a long while, Cha Hyun-soo wasn't so sure he wanted to jump.
Cha Hyun-soo turned his head and spotted Lee Eun-yu on the rooftop, practicing ballet. She noticed the suicidal look in his eyes right away and told him not to jump here. It would cause problems for everyone else.
...
At the same time.
The security guard was getting chewed out by his boss, who ordered him to remove the bed from the security office.
"What?" The old guard looked confused as hell.
"A lot of residents have been complaining. That bed is why you're so lazy, sleeping on the job all day," the apartment complex manager said arrogantly.
The guard could only bow his head and take the shit like always.
Ivan happened to walk by and caught the whole scene. He stepped over and clapped a hand on the manager's shoulder. "Let the man rest a little. No need to be such a massive cunt about it."
"Who the hell are you? Mind your own business!" The manager would've started screaming if Ivan wasn't wearing the white coat.
"Just because you're a doctor doesn't mean shit. If you were actually important you wouldn't be living in this dump, ahh—"
He suddenly clutched his chest and dropped to his knees in front of Ivan. It felt like someone was stabbing needles straight into his heart.
The pain made him beg immediately. "Doctor! Help me! Please help me!"
Ivan adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, crouched down with a smile, and asked, "Weren't you saying doctors aren't worth shit? How's it feel now?"
"Please… I'm sorry. I apologize!" The manager gasped, eyes bloodshot.
The security guard looked uncomfortable. He whispered, "Maybe you should help him, Doctor."
"Sure, I can save you. One million won," Ivan said with a sweet smile.
"Can't you… make it less? I don't have that much," the manager pleaded.
By now a crowd had gathered. Several people started yelling at Ivan, calling him a greedy bastard and a disgrace to doctors.
Ivan ignored every insult. He kept smiling at the manager. "I'm heading out right now. You sure you want money more than your life?"
He started pushing through the crowd to leave.
"I'll pay! I'll pay, okay!" The manager clutched his chest tighter, lips turning white.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69