‘I thought I’d never have reason to come to this hotel again…’
Last December, he found himself stepping foot into that hotel again—the one he thought would be the first and last time.
As he entered, the still excessively luxurious hotel scenery unfolded before his eyes.
The lobby was bustling with crowds, probably because it was the weekend and overlapped with summer vacation season. For Hyowoo, who had anthropophobia, this kind of crowding was close to torture.
While he hesitated for a moment, bothered by the unusually large number of adult men, a man on a phone call bumped into his shoulder with a thud— and passed by.
To Hyowoo, who staggered and lost his balance, the man didn’t apologize but only clicked his tongue with a ‘tsk.’ In that brief moment, fear came before displeasure. His body instinctively shrank.
‘Maybe I should have suggested meeting near home…’
Two days ago, Lee Seohee had returned to Korea.
With five championships in one season and even securing the PFA Player of the Year award, his return this time was truly a triumphant homecoming—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it ‘the return of the king.’
Crowds several times larger than usual flocked to the airport to catch even a glimpse of him. So many people gathered that the airport was practically paralyzed for several hours.
And today, the day to finally meet him had arrived.
It was their first meeting in about four months.
Thanks to his father leaving early for medical appointments and his mother for an appointment, Hyowoo could prepare to go out with peace of mind.
Gyeonwoo, who had slept over at their family home the night before, sat on the living room sofa watching his busy hyung. The sight of his hyung, who usually stuck to his bed on weekend or vacation mornings, moving around diligently from early morning was quite an unfamiliar scene to Gyeonwoo.
Moreover, Hyowoo kept looking in the mirror particularly often today.
The reason for caring about his appearance was obvious.
‘If he dolls himself up like that from morning and still says they’re nothing to each other, who would believe it? My transparent hyung.’
Gyeonwoo watched his hyung adjusting his outfit over and over with amused and fascinated eyes.
“Gyeonwoo-ya, how’s this? Does it look weird?”
A deep navy short-sleeved shirt with cream-colored pants. It was neat and suited Hyowoo well, but such an outfit in the middle of summer. Unable to hold back any longer, Gyeonwoo finally spoke up.
“Didn’t you check the weather forecast? They said it’ll be really hot this afternoon, do you have to wear long pants?”
“I never wear shorts anyway.”
“Then at least unbutton the top button of your shirt. You’re gonna collapse on the street again.”
Hyowoo always buttoned his shirt up to the neck. Because he extremely disliked having the area around his neck, especially his nape, exposed.
Gyeonwoo also knew the reason why. But worry was worry.
“Isn’t it stuffy? Don’t make even the people watching feel hot, just unbutton one.”
“It’s not stuffy at all. And I don’t want to care about whether people feel hot because of what I’m wearing.”
In the Ji family, famous for stubbornness, Hyowoo was by far the most obstinate of them all.
Feeling it would be useless to say more, Gyeonwoo picked up the TV remote.
“So, you’re meeting at W Hotel again?”
Flipping through channels, he asked about the meeting place and Hyowoo nodded.
“It’s not like he’s staying at that hotel like last time, so why meet there? Just meet near home.”
“Actually, he said he’d come pick me up…”
“Then let him come. Why did you have to refuse when someone who’s weak in hot weather offered to pick you up?” Gyeonwoo scolded.
“Are you sorry? For things like that, you just close your eyes once and put on a thick face.”
“I am sorry, and…”
Hyowoo, who had been hesitating and trailing off, soon continued mumbling.
“…What if he comes here and gets spotted by Mom or other people?”
He usually stayed in Korea for only about a week around mid-July when his father’s birthday was. But this year, when news came out that he was planning to stay for more than two weeks, all kinds of rumors poured out.
Rumors about Chairman Lee Jinhyuk’s retirement preparations and succession of management rights, engagement rumors with a daughter of another chaebol family, and even emerging romance rumors and airport secret meeting rumors.
Interest in Lee Seohee, who had already set historic records, was burning hot, and with the added speculation that there might be a special change in the life of Korea’s largest chaebol heir, the coverage became even more intense.
In this situation, if Lee Seohee was spotted in front of the house with ‘the person presumed to be the subject of those secret meeting rumors,’ this would undoubtedly become the scandal of the year—no, of the century.
Because of that, after agonizing over and over, he had finally decided on W Hotel, where they first met, as the meeting place.
“Well, since it’s a place managed by the family, they’ll be able to control media coverage to some extent. And since you’re such a direction idiot, Hyowoo, a place you’ve been to once is probably the safest choice.”
“Right.”
“Oh, but do you happen to know how much Lee Seohee weighs?”
Gyeonwoo, who had been warning him to be careful since there would be many eyes at the hotel, setting aside reporters, suddenly asked about his weight.
“No, I don’t know?”
“They say 91kg.”
“So?”
“Just be careful not to get squashed.”
“What are you talking about…”
He was about to turn around casually, thinking it was another nonsensical comment, when he suddenly remembered that the place he was meeting him today was a ‘hotel.’
Hyowoo’s weight was 54kg. There was also a 16cm difference in their heights.
Here, ‘don’t get squashed’ could only mean one thing.
“Do you really want to die at hyung’s hands?!”
He threw a sofa cushion with all his might at his mischievously smiling brother. He hoped it would hit that annoying face properly, but Gyeonwoo had already taken a defensive stance. The cushion was lightly blocked by his arm.
“I’ve been going easy on you lately, now you’re really getting cocky?”
“What did I say? What kind of lewd imagination did you have that your rage button got pressed?”
“Hey, Ji Gyeonwoo!”
Even though they were twins, he really didn’t want to have this kind of conversation with his brother.
Gyeonwoo had also kept the line when it came to jokes like this until now. Because he knew about Hyowoo’s trauma.
However, he thought it might be okay if it was Lee Seohee and tested the waters, and his prediction was right. Hyowoo just turned red in the face but wasn’t uncomfortable or disturbed.
With this, it was confirmed that Lee Seohee was a special alpha that his hyung wasn’t afraid of.
“It’s okay to be late, so have fun and enjoy yourself slowly~”
He threw another cushion at Gyeonwoo, who teased him to the end, and left the house. As a result, he arrived early again.
‘He might not be finished preparing yet, he might not like it if I say I came early.’
He didn’t want to make him rush needlessly.
Anyway, waiting was familiar to Hyowoo.
He decided to wait quietly until he came.
After scanning the bustling lobby, Hyowoo took a deep breath and crossed the lobby with quick steps.
The place they had arranged to meet this time wasn’t a restaurant but a lounge cafe located on the first-floor lobby. It was a spot visible right from the front desk, so he could find it easily.
The cafe he peeked into was quieter than expected. It seemed like it wouldn’t be a burden to wait inside.
“Welcome.”
As he entered, a staff member approached and greeted him kindly, asking if he had a reservation.
‘Oh, reservation… Under whose name?’
This time it probably wouldn’t be Taeseo, so did he make it under Lee Seohee? Or under my name? No, more than that, did he even make a reservation?
Just as he was wondering whose name to give, he saw someone waving from the innermost seat in the cafe.
When their eyes met, the other person smiled brightly. It was Lee Seohee.
Even knowing Hyowoo had already seen him, Lee Seohee sprang up from his seat and waved his arm even bigger. He looked just like a little child who had spotted their favorite character at an amusement park and was overjoyed.
Watching him not hide his delight regardless of who was watching, Hyowoo unconsciously let out a small laugh. The staff member who had asked about the reservation also couldn’t hold back a smile and covered their mouth with one hand.
“You’re with player Lee Seohee. Have a pleasant time.”
After bowing slightly in greeting, Hyowoo entered the cafe.
His steps toward the table where he was sitting grew faster. He had called him childlike, but in truth, Hyowoo was just as glad and happy.
“Why did you come so early? There’s still a lot of time until our meeting time.”
As always, he greeted Hyowoo with a dazzling smile.
And did he remember what was said at the airport that day?
Today, his fashion was a white T-shirt without a single print and jeans. It was truly plain.
‘I was greatly mistaken… the clothes weren’t the problem.’
No matter how plain and unfashionably he dressed, with that face, he could never possibly be ordinary. Even if he wore sackcloth, he’d look like a model, so he decided not to tell him to avoid standing out anymore.
“Thank you for coming. Was there a lot of traffic?”
“It was fine. But player Lee Seohee, why did you come out so early your…”
Hyowoo, who had been continuing his words, closed his mouth at the presence he suddenly sensed.
