My lips were pressed firmly. At the same time, the straw was pulled out.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
I froze with my mouth still open, now stiff as a startled statue.
“Drink it all. Once you get your head straight, we’ll talk.”
Hyung-nim seemed intent on not saying a word until I finished the ade.
My heart felt like it was going to burst, so I quickly put the straw back in my mouth. It was right when I finally managed to empty the ade with difficulty.
“So, why did you leave home?”
Hyung-nim finally asked. His voice was low and calm. It didn’t sound like he was scolding me, but like he was genuinely curious. I flinched and quickly opened my mouth.
“I didn’t leave home…”
“You can’t lie.”
“…”
“I’ve scolded you a few times lately, but I’m not trying to scold you now. I’m just curious about the reason.”
It wasn’t just words—right now, hyung-nim seemed genuinely willing to listen to my story. His expression was the softest one hyung-nim had shown me recently, and his voice wasn’t too low either.
“You never ran away from home even when you were in middle school, so why now?”
I still kept my mouth shut, suspicious of hyung-nim’s intentions.
Still, hyung-nim was the person who had recently scolded me terrifyingly, and the only person who knew about my wandering. Moreover, from what I heard when I talked to Mom and Dad, hyung-nim had already been sabotaging my plans to live alone.
“I’m asking because Hajin seems different lately. It feels like… I’m watching the process of you trying to become more of an adult.”
Even though I maintained my silence, hyung-nim spoke in the same gentle voice.
“I had a chance to ask an acquaintance recently and got some advice—that scolding doesn’t work in situations like this. They said communication is important.”
“What kind of acquaintance?”
“Someone who exists. A father of kids.”
I see. Do I really look more grown-up than before?
Honestly speaking, for me, who had always wanted to seem like an adult to hyung-nim, this was unexpectedly welcome news. In what way exactly did I seem that way?
“I have a sunbae around me who’s raising three kids. You wouldn’t know who they are, Hajin.”
“Ah, I see…”
Whoever it was seemed to have given very good advice.
Well, I’d always lived pretending to be mature because I didn’t want to look like a snotty-nosed kid to hyung-nim. Hyung-nim must be curious about why I’ve changed a complete one-eighty lately.
“So, did Mom and Dad scold you?”
“No… I just felt bad, so we fought a little. I’m an adult now, so those days of causing trouble and getting scolded are past.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Hyung-nim, who had only been nodding, opened his lips after a moment.
“Still, you need to go home. Are you going to sleep on the streets at night? Hajin, you don’t have money or anywhere to go.”
“No. Starting tomorrow, I was planning to sleep at a friend’s house.”
“Which friend… no, starting tomorrow? Then what about today?”
I rolled my eyes, having no real plan for that.
“Today I was going to go to a jjimjilbang or… a motel.”
“What?”
Hyung-nim’s voice grew slightly louder, and his brow furrowed.
My shoulders stiffened for a moment, but fortunately hyung-nim soon relaxed his expression. I appealed to hyung-nim, who had returned to peace.
“Hyung-nim, I want to be independent. Everyone does it, living alone. I think I need to come out from under Mom and Dad’s shadow now too. That’s how you become a real adult. But Mom keeps making excuses saying you said something…”
“Living alone… that’s good. I lived alone when I was in college too.”
“Right?”
Suddenly it felt like the darkness before my eyes was brightening. Hyung-nim had been speaking more gently than usual since earlier. Maybe persuading him might be possible.
Had hyung-nim not deliberately tried to prevent me from living alone? Come to think of it, hyung-nim also had his own place when he was in college, and I remember him coming home every weekend.
Moreover, hyung-nim would often come home on weekdays too when he didn’t have classes and play with me, and during breaks he would always be at our parents’ house. So there were many times when I wasn’t even aware that hyung-nim lived in a different house.
Looking at hyung-nim’s college days alone, living independently doesn’t mean leaving completely, so why did my parents oppose it so much?
“Hyung-nim, you didn’t… deliberately tell Mom, did you?”
“Me? What did I do?”
“Mom said that since my college entrance exam, you kept saying it’s dangerous for omegas to live alone, sending her news articles about that, and even sent her statistics showing that single-person households decreased slightly over the past three months…”
I spoke in as adult-like a manner as possible, but my voice trembled. Hyung-nim didn’t respond for a while.
“Why would I do such a thing? I really just showed them because such incidents have been frequent lately.”
With just his clean profile showing, he took a sip of americano, put the cup down on the table, and spoke briefly.
“And if it was since your college entrance exam, that’s before Hajin even mentioned living alone, so there’s no way hyung would have looked into your head early on and told your aunt in advance.”
“True, that doesn’t make sense…”
No matter how much hyung-nim had become unemployed and had nothing to do, there’s no way he’d be that interested in me.
As expected, Mom was just using hyung-nim as an excuse. Knowing our mom’s stubbornness as I did, I let out a deep sigh.
“If you ask to live alone anyway, they’ll consult me about it. Since you’ve run away from home like this, they’ll contact me soon.”
The moment I heard those words, my heart sank. The way things turned out, wouldn’t it be better to persuade hyung-nim to take my side?
“How long has it been since you left? If you packed and left today… you would have slept in late and woken up, so it’s been about four hours?”
Everything hyung-nim had said so far was completely accurate. It really hadn’t even been four hours since I left home.
Whether he knew my troubled heart or not, hyung-nim was calmly checking his watch.
“They’ll be off work soon. Let’s go back before then. If we go now, today’s running away will be like it never happened, and this is your last chance to not get scolded. This time too, hyung is planning to keep Hajin’s secret.”
He said he’d keep my secret. But this time, that alone wouldn’t do.
“Hyung-nim, can’t you take my side?”
“…”
“You used to take my side well before.”
Jeongwoo hyung-nim had long been the first person I’d go to when I needed an ally.
When Mom and Dad wouldn’t listen to me, or when I hid the fact that I got hurt at the playground, or when I secretly hid a failed dictation test and got caught.
“It’s because Hajin is a child who’s afraid of many things.”
Hyung-nim would always defend me like that, taking my side. So if he’d do that this time too.
“Actually, this would be a good opportunity for Mom and Dad too. I can’t stay in my parents’ care forever. As you know, our Mom and Dad worry far more than other parents…”
Actually, this was one of the reasons I decided to live alone.
Probably, our Mom and Dad would soon have to get used to a world without me.
“Originally, it helps for family members to be apart to some degree. But I’ve never been away from my family until now.”
If Mom and Dad could get used to living without me starting now.
“So… hyung-nim, please persuade our mom.”
“…”
“I’m not just being unreasonable and throwing a tantrum. Even if you think that, I really have a reason for this… but Mom wouldn’t even listen to me. She just keeps saying you said it wasn’t okay.”
My voice dropped a little without me realizing it. I hoped I didn’t look like a child throwing a fit in hyung-nim’s eyes.
I couldn’t tell what hyung-nim was thinking because of his expressionless face.
I tried to smile awkwardly to look even a little more adult-like. However, hyung-nim’s response that followed was unexpected.
“Let’s finish talking about this over dinner. Get up.”
“What…?”
“Hyung will think about it too.”
And with that, he suddenly got up from his seat.
Persuasion failed?
Hyung-nim’s voice and expression were still gentle, but there was something firm about them somewhere. I immediately looked up at hyung-nim with sad eyes.
Really, you’re telling me to go home like this?
What is this, it’s only been four hours since I left home… My first running away ends like this, dragged back by hyung-nim…
“Pack your bag slowly.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
I stood up from my seat right away. It took quite some time to gather up the belongings I’d spread out.
“You have a lot of luggage. If you’d run away like this, you could have lasted a month.”
“I-I packed various things just in case.”
At the same time, my mind started running through various scenarios to see if there was any gap I could slip through sideways and escape. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t end my running away here.
Should I say let’s eat dinner since I’m hungry before going back? If hyung-nim goes into the restaurant first, I could say I’m going to the bathroom and run away…
