In This Life • Tale Of The Nine Tailed • Lee Rang

Chapter 6

The two stared at each other, Yeon completely lost in the mismatch coloured eyes which quickly turned back to normal. Then he heard the honorific title that he thought he'd never hear again.

"Hyung"

"Rang? Is it you?", Yeon asked hopefully, tears already welling up in his eyes, the sound of his heartbeat drumming in his ear.

The boy nodded.

Without a second thought Yeon pulled his little brother into a tight hug, he knew that SangBum was Rang but it hit different when the younger Gumiho confirms the fact himself, "Thank you...for coming back"

"I might die again if you keep squeezing me with this strength.", A small voice sounded against his chest, Yeon let go and chuckled at the annoyed face that Rang is making.

"Aish you have to be careful, my miniature form isn't very durable", Rang nagged as he checked over himself

"Why? You're so cute like this.", Yeon pinched his little brothers cheeks

Rang slapped away Yeon's hands in frustration, "Aiii stop it! It's disgusting! Please remember that I'm a full grown 639 year old okay?!"

"Ah right", Yeon cleared his throat awkwardly, stealing a few glances off his baby brother.

"Stop staring too!"

No matter how serious Rang is, Yeon can't stop bursting out in laughter at his 639 year old brother stuck in a child's body.

"But shouldn't you be 649?"

"That's only if you count these years."

"You lived them...so why not?"

A hint of sadness was in Rang's expression as he thought of what to say, "It's more like a dream to me. Having the childhood I wanted and a side I fully belonged to. Not being criticised for being a half-gumiho and not hated for being a monster. In some way, I was finally free."

Yeon nodded lightly in understanding, "The choice is yours."

"I'll stick with 639.", the younger smiled

Yeon spoke up after a moment of silence, "It's crazy."

"What is?"

"You're alive."

"Oh well...It's not like I wanted to die.", Rang then glared at Yeon,"Someone was a bastard and tried to save the world by himself."

"Thank you. For saving me.", Yeon said sincerely

Rang crossed his arms, "If you're thankful, get me out of this place now. I hate hospitals, it smells disgusting."

Yeon chuckled, "Okay okay. How does coffee sound?"
——————————
Walking around with mini Rang made people mistake Yeon as his father. And Yeon would forget that they now live in a city, unlike 600 years ago where there was nothing but villages, people are everywhere. He didn't know if he should feel good when hearing people exclaim how he's a father at such young age.

"I want a mint chocolate latte", Yeon said to the barista

Yeon looked down at his brother besides him, "What do you want?"

"An iced americano"

"Okay", Yeon repeated his order to the cashier, not realising that their interaction just now was strange until he saw the flustered look on the girl's face. The 1600 year old Gumiho screamed internally at the embarrassment and sent daggers towards the kid next to him who is smiling wickedly at his victory.

Yeon sighed at the kid across him, happily sipping on iced Americano, "Is there any way that you can speed up your growth?"

"I don't know.", Rang shrugged, "Didn't you say I was cute?"