The Comfort of a Heated Floor

A taxi was idling right in front of Kyung’s studio apartment. Without a single moment of hesitation, the fellow pulled open the rear door and turned his gaze toward me.

“Let’s go, brother.”

Hailing a taxi through an application was an incredibly convenient and modern luxury… but the specific detail that he was the one executing it felt utterly surreal. Even so, it was critical that I refrained from showing any outward signs of suspicion within this space. I vigorously rubbed my face with my bare hand before stepping inside the vehicle. The moment he seated himself right next to me and firmly shut the door, the taxi moved forward into the night. I leaned my upper body completely back against the seat cushion and allowed my eyes to close.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“Yeah.”

“I will wake you up the moment we arrive.”

The fellow gently patted the surface of my thigh a few times. Let out a long, heavy sigh, I relaxed every muscle in my body.

Alright, let’s properly analyze this configuration.

This domain was absolutely not the world to which I originally belonged. Then where exactly was I? Was I trapped inside yet another intricate illusion, just as I had previously endured the life of ‘Emperor Kaian’? Was it structurally possible to experience such detailed dreams without utilizing a dragon ruin as a conduit? If that was the case, whose subconscious mind did this specific domain belong to? I was the single, solitary entity in existence capable of projecting a world containing ‘the Republic of Korea’ with such meticulous accuracy. Therefore, this had to be my own dream.

Had I truly, deep within my soul, desired a reality where I didn’t perish in a sudden accident, and where I possessed a family of my own so I wouldn’t have to live as an entirely isolated ‘Jung Eun-chan’?

Hmm… perhaps that might be the case.

It wasn’t as if I chose to die because I desired death, nor did I actively wish to transform into ‘Kaian.’

Furthermore, the path I endured while surviving as ‘Kaian’ was anything but smooth.

Yet, despite everything, I genuinely wanted to be a proper, reliable brother to Kallios and Sierra. I wanted to be a magnificent benefactor to Lamierre. I desired to be an honorable liege to Isaac, Sigret, and Sir Jager, and a benevolent king to the entire Principality. And, more than anything, I simply wanted to live a little longer so I could remain stubbornly by the side of the people I held incredibly dear.

Was that particular desire far too extravagant?

Every single ounce of effort, pain, and labor I expended failed to yield a single positive conclusion, ultimately oxidizing into absolute nothingness.

I was forced to abandon my siblings to journey toward the bleak, freezing northern Principality. I inadvertently dragged the people who faithfully followed me into fatal jeopardy. I utterly failed to protect them. While I somehow managed to remain drawing breath through sheer luck, that was the absolute extent of it. Even the structural mechanism keeping my single thread of life intact was completely independent of my own volition or capability.

The precise moment I heard the statement that the world itself was actively protecting me, a bitter sensation coiled deep within my gut.

It felt as though the narrative were cruelly mocking me, suggesting that even if I hadn’t expended a single shred of effort, I still wouldn’t have perished—rendering the desperate, weeping prayers I uttered simply because I desired to live nothing more than a thoroughly useless, pathetic waste of time. If that were the truth, then what on earth did I endure all that for…?

An intense wave of emotion surged violently up my throat, but I forced myself to swallow it down.

Well… it’s not as if my life as ‘Jung Eun-chan’ was perfectly smooth either.

Following my father’s passing during my middle school years, my mother, who had been a full-time housewife, spent her days laboring at a local grocery mart to raise me entirely on her own. I drifted through a moderate amount of teenage rebellion, accompanied by a standard dose of underlying depression. I endured a level of financial lack that stopped just short of actual starvation, occasionally feeling intensely pathetic, and sometimes falling prey to a deep sense of inferiority when comparing myself to individuals blessed with superior environments and magnificent talents. The thermal underwear I purchased with my very first corporate paycheck—a thoroughly unfilial son’s offering—was ultimately deposited inside a columbarium niche. The single individual I could comfortably label a true friend was Seo Kyung. My entire net worth consisted of a two-room semi-basement villa secured via a lease deposit, a two-year installment savings account into which I funneled five hundred thousand won a month, and a housing subscription account receiving a mere fifty thousand won monthly.

Yet, whenever Jung Eun-chan expended genuine effort, something tangible always remained within his grasp. There was a baseline certainty that a miserable life would eventually become a fraction less miserable. I harbored a quiet belief that if I consistently maintained my housing subscription and lived with utmost frugality, I would eventually reside inside an apartment registered entirely under my own name. I would marry someone eventually. I would establish a proper family once more. I would manage to live an ordinary, peaceful life…

That was the exact reality I lived, and I desired nothing more than to continue living precisely like that—believing with absolute certainty that today would be superior to yesterday, and tomorrow would be an improvement over today. It didn’t need to be anything grand; I simply wanted to harbor a shred of ordinary hope.

The fellow patted the surface of my thigh once more. Maintaining my facade of deep sleep, I turned my head completely toward the passenger window.

“Brother.”

He uttered the title with an intensely quiet voice, almost entirely swallowed by the rhythmic rattling of the vehicle navigating the road. I offered absolutely no response.

Yeah. The existence of ‘Kaian’ was purely agonizing for me. If a structural choice were ever presented to select between the life of ‘Kaian’ and the life of ‘Jung Eun-chan,’ I would select the existence of Jung Eun-chan without a single moment of hesitation.

I firmly suppressed a rising sigh.

Ah… seriously. Dmn that entire Empire of the Dragon novel.*

The train of thought that commenced with bitter lamentation and concluded with a stream of internal curses naturally fractured. The taxi ground to a halt, and the fellow gently shook my shoulder to wake me. “We have arrived,” he murmured. I slowly forced my heavy eyelids open to survey the scene outside the glass. An ancient villa constructed from weathered red brick. My home. Even though I was fully aware of its fabricated nature, stepping onto this ground still managed to evoke a pleasant sensation. Leaving the fellow to extract his wallet to settle the taxi fare, I stepped out onto the pavement first.

“Brother.”

An individual standing with his arms firmly crossed right in front of the villa entrance called out to me, closing the distance with incredibly swift strides.

Wait… what?

I instinctively whirled around to peer back inside the interior of the taxi I had just vacated. The fellow was currently accepting his credit card back from the driver and slipping it into his wallet.

“What took you so long to return?”

The individual standing directly before me stared intently at my face before raising his hands to gently cup my cheeks. Why on earth were there two versions of Kallios present simultaneously? The distinct sound of the taxi door clicking open and firmly shutting echoed right behind us.

“It is freezing out here, why are you simply standing around? Let us head inside.”

The fellow who had just stepped out of the taxi draped his arm tightly over my shoulders, pulling me along as he spoke. I walked in tandem with his stride, surreptitiously observing ‘him.’ The hair color belonging to this specific ‘fellow’ was a fraction lighter than the other. He expertly punched the numerical digits into the electronic door lock, throwing the entrance to my villa wide open.

Ah.

So this specific ‘Kallios’… is actually Eun-soo.

Or is it the exact opposite? Considering their physical facial features were completely identical, there was absolutely no structural method to differentiate between the two. Furthermore, their underlying temperaments were entirely distinct from the versions I knew.

But why on earth did they manifest as Kallios and ‘Kallios’? Even though this domain was entirely an illusion, I had quietly hoped that Eun-soo would at least embody Sierra’s form.

Harboring such absurd thoughts, I stepped out of my shoes and crossed into the interior of a household where deeply familiar elements were bizarrely intertwined with entirely foreign details. The exact moment I slid my feet into a pair of house slippers, the individual behind me—whether it was Eun-soo or the original Kallios—abruptly locked his arms around my frame from behind. The other fellow, Eun-ho, cast a brief glance toward our tangled forms before marching into the kitchen area.

“Our brother barely caught any sleep. Cease your annoying behavior.”

“Why did you even bother tag along with him?”

“What business is that of yours?”

The metallic clattering of dishes echoed from within the kitchen. Eun-soo applied a sudden pressure to the arms wrapped securely around my midsection, holding me incredibly tight. Rather than processing the reality of being held by a sibling who stood an entire head taller than me, the sensation of his hands pressing against my soft abdominal fat was significantly more distressing—prompting me to sharply inhale and flex my stomach muscles. Resting his forehead squarely against my shoulder blade, Eun-soo began rubbing his head against me in a thoroughly spoiled gesture. The texture of the hair brushing against my nape was remarkably soft.

“I missed you.”

“Did you wait long? I’m sorry.”

Eun-ho emerged from the kitchen holding a glass of water, extending it toward my form. The liquid possessed a distinct amber hue. I took an experimental sip.

“Wow…”

Even though this entire environment was a complete fabrication, possessing a sibling yielded some truly magnificent benefits. There was someone waiting up for my return, and someone actively preparing honey water simply because I had consumed alcohol. I downed the comfortably lukewarm honey water in a single, continuous gulp. The moment Eun-ho accepted the empty glass from my hand, he delivered a sharp punch directly to the crown of Eun-soo’s head—who was still stubbornly clinging to my frame.

Whack!

“Release him.”

“?”

“You little s*…”

The pleasant warmth pressed against my nape vanished instantly. Without a single shift in his facial expression, Eun-ho raised his fist once more.

“?”

“I told you to release him. Our brother requires proper rest.”

Eun-soo completely uncoiled his arms from my frame. I took a few slow, deliberate sidesteps to extract myself entirely from the space between the two versions of Kallios.

“Are you completely insane?”

Eun-soo growled fiercely, vigorously rubbing the exact spot where he had been struck. Eun-ho whirled around without a single shred of lingering attachment, marching right back into the kitchen.

Hmm… I have absolutely zero comprehension of whatever psychotic dynamic is currently unfolding here, but my best course of action is to secure myself inside my room. I was thoroughly exhausted from the alcohol, I lacked the energy to decipher why they were actively trying to kill each other, and older generations always claimed that children naturally grow stronger by brawling.

“Hey. Jung Eun-ho.”

Feigning utter ignorance toward Eun-soo, who was currently stomping into the kitchen while barking Eun-ho’s name, I stepped inside my bedroom.

It appears my two younger brothers possess a remarkably hostile relationship… well, it’s not as if they will actually murder one another.

Shucking off my coat and tossing it carelessly into a far corner, I crawled straight beneath the duvet spread across the floor to ensure I could drift into sleep immediately. The moment my back pressed against the intense heat radiating from the electric blanket someone had thoughtfully activated, my eyelids grew immensely heavy. As expected, a true Korean needs to thoroughly bake their back on a hot floor. The boisterous sounds of their squabbling echoed from outside the door, but the noise lacked the power to disrupt the dense wave of slumber that claimed my consciousness.

My neck felt intensely uncomfortable. A heavy pressure resting squarely over my stomach and chest was causing a significant amount of irritation. Letting out a low groan, I shifted my weight from side to side. The pleasant warmth anchored along my left side immediately pulled me closer. Tap, tap. The distinct sensation of fingers gently stroking across my cheek…

“Sleep a bit longer, brother.”

The low, deeply resonated voice was immensely tender, yet it failed to halt the retreat of my fading slumber. Squeezing my eyes shut before forcing them open, I surveyed the room, which had plunged entirely into darkness. Night had evidently fallen while I slept.

“What time is it?”

At my question, the heavy pressure resting over my chest vanished instantly. A bright, white light suddenly erupted from the space right above my head on the left—the illumination leaking from a smartphone display.

“Eight-thirty.”

The voice resonated from directly beside me. I tilted my head slightly to investigate. A chin sat so incredibly close that it would touch mine if I lowered my head a mere fraction. As I lifted my gaze, my eyes locked with his.

“Did you sleep well?”

Considering he dropped all formal honorifics, this fellow had to be Eun-ho. Right at that moment, an arm wrapped securely around my midsection forcefully pulled my frame toward the right.

“Brother, are you awake already?”

Judging by the deeply intoxicated, sleepy tone, this one was undoubtedly Eun-soo.

Before I went to sleep, these two were undeniably engaged in a death match… exactly when did they execute a reconciliation, crawl straight into my bedroom, and proceed to utilize my body as a human bolster? Staring blankly up at the ceiling, I muttered aloud.

“You’re heavy.”

The arm wrapped around my stomach retracted instantly.

“My neck is uncomfortable.”

The arm resting beneath my neck slid out, replaced immediately by the familiar buckwheat pillow I always used. Tilting my head from left to right to alleviate the stiffness in my cervical spine, a series of sharp pops echoed out. Letting out a massive yawn to fully rouse my dazed mind, I rolled over onto my side. Eun-soo immediately coiled himself tightly against my back.

“If you don’t intend to sleep any longer, should we grab some dinner?”

Eun-ho questioned, his fingers gently stroking through my disheveled hair. While I didn’t experience an intense sensation of hunger, it was highly improbable that these two had bothered to feed themselves while I was asleep, so I offered a firm nod.

“Yeah. You stay here and rest, brother.”

Speaking with immense tenderness as he playfully messed up my hair, Eun-ho shifted his hand directly toward Eun-soo’s position.

“Get up.”

“Release me.”

Eun-soo ground his teeth together as he uttered the line.

Even without looking, I harbored a distinct intuition regarding exactly what action Eun-ho was performing… but to verify my suspicion, I reached out with my hand to feel the space. My fingers brushed against the back of Eun-ho’s hand, which was currently gripping a tight handful of Eun-soo’s hair.

I bolted straight up into a sitting position. To ensure I wouldn’t accidentally collide with his arm, Eun-ho rapidly retracted his hand.

“What exactly are you two doing?”

Eun-ho maintained a perfectly serene, innocent expression as if he were entirely blameless, while Eun-soo sported an intense scowl—yet neither offered a verbal response to my question. Glancing back and forth between the two of them, I sprang up from the floor. Seriously, why on earth do these two feel compelled to wage a war while keeping my body trapped directly in the middle?

Marching straight out of the bedroom, I illuminated the living room lights before heading directly into the kitchen. My two younger brothers—who, aside from their differing hair colors, were completely identical mirrors of one another—followed closely behind my heels like a pair of baby ducks trailing their mother.

“I will prepare—”

“I will handle it, brother.”

“Forget it, both of you simply remain in the living room.”

Firmly dismissing their offers, I extracted a massive steel pot from beneath the sink. Clang, clang. The sound of the pot colliding loudly against the stainless-steel basin echoed through the kitchen space.

“Brother… are you angry?”

“Go sit in the living room.”

Faced with my absolute, unyielding eviction order, my two younger brothers quietly retreated into the living room space. Staring intently at the stream of water cascading into the pot, I allowed my thoughts to process.

For an illusion… simply living as Jung Eun-chan would have been more than sufficient. Why on earth did the narrative feel the structural need to burden me with a pair of twin younger brothers who are constantly texturing every interaction with an intense desire to devour one another alive?

Is it possible that I secretly desired a scenario like this? Granted, I had frequently entertained the thought that possessing a blood relative would be magnificent, but there was absolutely zero structural necessity to possess two of them. Furthermore, a pair of fully grown adult men stubbornly clinging to a twenty-seven-year-old older brother felt distinctly bizarre. At this rate, our creepy sibling dynamic would easily secure us a broadcasting slot on an episode of ‘Capture the World’.