Kind and smart Hwang Yu-ho hurried over when he heard he had a present of his own.

The child-sized formal suit he wore for his birthday suited him perfectly.

The golden collar pins on his pocket chief and shirt collar were worn with such skill that they didn’t look excessive—a truly brilliant touch.

After receiving his gift box from Hwang Ji-ho, Hwang Yu-ho said,

“Jo Yi-shin! I gratefully accept your gift. If I’m right, it’s one of those toy-type things Heukho requested? Something I can play with Eun Jae-ho or Ye Beom-young.”

“Happy birthday. Yes, that’s right. You’re really smart.”

“Hahaha! I’m always smart!”

I admired not only the contents of the gift but also his wisdom in understanding my intentions.

Talking with Hwang Yu-ho made me feel smarter by association.

“It’s just your imagination, Jo Yi-shin. It’s the other way around.”

“Baekho, even so, Yi-shin probably isn’t listening to you right now. By the way, did Hwang-ho do this on his birthday last year? Unbelievable.”

“It wasn’t that bad. He just gets more shameless every year. I don’t want to spoil the party, but isn’t it embarrassing?”

“Hahaha! Doesn’t Jo Yi-shin look happy? It’s for him, not me.”

Although the tigers were chatting away, I honestly barely heard them.

At that moment, Heukho and Olmu entered wearing matching black bow ties, drawing all my attention.

Heukho saw me and happily said, “It’s the same color as you!” and I was busy sharing his joy.

Moreover, Olmu, a pure white angel, wore black accessories matching Heukho and me, which made me even happier.

It was the tigers’ birthday today, but I felt like the one receiving gifts.

Maybe because it was a good day, the tigers kept chatting among themselves.

“And if you’re honestly jealous that I’m getting two gifts from Jo Yi-shin, just say so.”

While I was stroking Olmu’s head, I heard Hwang Ji-ho say something strange.

He only gave one gift—to himself.

I hoped they wouldn’t count the gift for young, kind Hwang Yu-ho as his own.

But no one else denied Hwang Ji-ho’s words; could they really be jealous?

“Baekho, if you have something to say, say it.”

“I’m not jealous of you, Hwang-ho.”

Baekho started in a normal tone but soon followed with words that made me doubt his sanity.

“I even get congratulations from Jo Yi-shin in my dreams. You guys can’t hear that.”

Is that something to brag about?

Hearing him boast nonsense, I involuntarily stopped stroking the angel.

After a moment of silence, Jeokho frowned and spoke.

“Do you really think I’d willingly congratulate someone who teased me so much? Dream or not, Jo Yi-shin is probably annoyed with you.”

“Whether annoyed or not, reading minds is convenient.”

“So it’s just bragging about blessings. Still, Jo Yi-shin probably congratulated all of our birthdays in his dreams, not just yours.”

That was true.

Whether Baekho annoyed me or not, we all shared the same feelings celebrating the tigers.

While the aging tigers bickered, the kind children took off elsewhere.

‘The banquet hall’s size is similar to last year’s but more splendid.’

There were quite a few changes inside the cylindrical annex compared to last year.

The most noticeable was the addition of Heukho’s color.

Not only the black banners but decorations representing Heukho and a portrait painted by Mingreen were on display.

Also, unlike last year, gifts were exchanged.

‘Last year they declined gifts beforehand. Aside from the cake I brought from MITRON, the tigers didn’t receive any gifts.’

But this year was different.

Indicating the tiger ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) clan’s active external exchanges, many gifts from various places had arrived.

Leading them was a gift box bearing the blue dragon’s seal, sent personally by Cheongryong, the dragon clan’s leader, and other gifts clearly from the Jin clan stood out.

Thinking of last year made me wonder about the previous years.

‘...Hwang Ji-ho must have spent his birthday alone in this mansion.’

I raised my eyes and glanced around the banquet hall.

Although it was pointless, I couldn’t help comparing the current hall to hypothetical situations.

Friends like Hwang Ji-ho’s close pals, Baekho, Cheongho, and Jeokho wouldn’t have been here.

The ignorant Mujae would be holed up somewhere in Eungwang District, Cheongho missing, Jeokho off on a mission.

Heukho wasn’t even thought of, and Eunho’s body would be resting underground in Eunhwigwan.

No one even knew of Eunho’s descendants, Woon-sa would be presumed dead, and Woongnyeo and Kim Shin-rok preparing gifts for Jeokho on the other side would never have dared to come.

And Andain’s parents, masked, wouldn’t even know their child was at Eungwang High, lost in thought...

In short, Hwang Ji-ho would have been alone.

The thought of how he spent birthdays—sometimes laughing bitterly or indifferent with his friends—scared me.

“Yi-shin oppa!”

“Yi-shin hyung!”

Thanks to Eun Seo-ho and Eun Yi-ho calling me, I came to my senses.

Seeing the two children who looked like twins calling me simultaneously reminded me of my siblings, surprising me a little.

Still, these two were much bigger than the siblings in my memory, dressed similarly to the tigers with silver brooches, so there was no confusion.

Though it was a good day, they looked gloomy, probably because of their grades.

“I wanted to be second like Yi-shin oppa, even if not first...”

“Eun-ha didn’t have confidence to win. So I wanted to at least aim for second like hyung and Baekho-nim, but I got fourth.”

“I’m third. I did better than Seo-ho, right?”

As expected, the first-year midterm rankings were:

Top was Eunho, who wrote Cheon Eun-ha’s name.

Second was Cha Seok-won.

Some first-years who buried themselves digging holes to escape reality failed their grades, but Cha Seok-won, who dug hardest, kept second place.

In that situation, even if Eunho didn’t care, Cha Seok-won must have been quite bitter about losing.

‘Still, those are good grades. I should praise them.’

Since Eun Seo-ho and Eun In-ho clearly wanted praise despite disappointment, I gave it generously.

I subtly emphasized that neither Baekho nor I were real high schoolers by age, so they didn’t need to try to catch up—but they didn’t seem ready to give up.

Whatever the reason, there was no reason to stop healthy ambition, so I decided to support them for now.

“Woon-sa, why are you crying?”

“No, I’m not crying.”

“You are...”

Woon-sa eventually couldn’t hold back the rising emotions and burst into tears.

Earlier, kind Hwang Yu-ho and Heukho had left to greet Woon-sa.

Then the two pushed Woon-sa’s wheelchair back, showing considerate care by guiding Woon-sa around the hall and opening conversations with other guests.

Suddenly, while looking around the hall, Woon-sa started crying.

‘When burning in the furnace, it must have been hard to imagine a day like this.’

Even while burning in the furnace, Woon-sa heard news from Poongbaek and Usa about the tiger clan.

Jeokho being punished, Eunho in a deep sleep, Cheongho and Shinin gone.

With that situation, when Woon-sa scraped all her strength to make a ghost story about the crematorium of the old Eungwang High, she probably had little hope.

That old friends would gather like this to celebrate birthdays.

“Heukho, I’m fine. It’s a good day, so I should smile.”

“But Woon-sa cried a little earlier...”

Woon-sa quickly calmed down, but Heukho, who cried along, took a long time to settle.

I comforted Heukho, thinking,

‘Eunho isn’t here yet. He’ll probably cry even harder when he comes.’

Eunho wasn’t in the annex today.

Instead, he was doing what Cheon Eun-ha could do.

Thinking of that, I recalled how Eunho alone took on the role of doubting Woon-sa.

‘Seong-heon always bore the hard work alone without complaint. Nothing’s changed.’

By the time Heukho stopped crying, the stage was ready.

Woongnyeo and Kim Shin-rok prepared today’s stage for the tigers, with help from tiger clan retainers.

Among the helpers was Jook-ho, the chief shaman of the tiger clan.

As the energy of the supernatural flowed onto the stage, a refreshing atmosphere like a bamboo forest surrounded the area.

I saw the Andain family whispering as they watched.

Andain loved telling his parents stories about his best friend Kim Yu-ri and her teacher.

“Since Woongnyeo prepared it, I thought it’d be good.”

“Where else would they use all five colors? It’s a relief they didn’t paint everything red.”

“Any complaints about the stage Woongnyeo and Jeh-o prepared?”

“No complaints! I like everything Jeh-o and Woongnyeo made!”

Woongnyeo showed her production and remodeling powers and aesthetic sense to create a stage honoring the tiger clan in the five traditional colors.

Since Woongnyeo was the creator, the stage’s central color was red, with a focus on Jeokho.

The analog paper tiger thought to be made by Kim Shin-rok and the recreated Cheoncheon myth with stage props by Woongnyeo rivaled the CG video in vividness.

When the stage ended with the tigers reunited after dispersing, even those who grumbled about the focus on Jeokho applauded.

The loudest applause came from Jeokho and Heukho, with Jeokho rushing forward to hug Woongnyeo tightly after she withdrew her energy.

Kim Shin-rok, standing nearby, blushed and tried to step back, but Jeokho reached out with one arm and pulled Kim Shin-rok into the hug, ruining the retreat.

“That family really looks close. Right, Yi-shin?”

“Yong Jegun, I don’t remember sending you an invitation.”

“Yes, Jeh-o consulted me about the stage direction. I came as staff.”

Yong Jegun smirked.

He had succeeded in joining the tigers’ birthday party.

The dress code was formal suits with accessories featuring each person’s supernatural energy color and tiger embroidery on the shoulder.

But Yong Jegun wore a jacket with a dragon embroidery and a brooch inspired by dragon scales.

Even knowing the dress code, he clearly intended to show his dragon clan identity.

No, it might have been awkward even if he wore a tiger embroidered jacket.

“Yi-shin, do you like my jacket? I even prepared one your size. Want to wear it? Actually, Jeh-o had one too, but Woongnyeo butchered it. So...”

“No way! Jeh-o, I’m wearing tiger clothes with him!”

Grumbling!

Seeing a rift between Yong Jegun and the angels, I quickly intervened.

“Mr. Yong Jegun, don’t bother Heukho and Olmu.”

“Ah, we really need Jun-yeol here.”

I wondered what he meant, but without a kind and upright descendant like Yeom Jun-yeol, no one could rein in Yong Jegun.

Before Hwang Ji-ho proudly issued the invitation order, Yong Jegun finally got to the point.

“I checked on what you asked before. Are you going to kick them out? You were curious about the Gye clan’s whereabouts.”

Hearing ‘Gye clan,’ everyone forcibly suppressed their anger.

Because Yong Jegun pulled out a crucial card at the key moment, he ultimately failed to be kicked out.