While thinking about this and that, I was about to follow hyung-nim out of the cafe when he suddenly turned to look at me and asked.
“Baby, want to eat more donuts?”
“……Me?”
And I answered awkwardly while glancing at a nearby staff member. Why was he calling me ‘baby’ again when someone else was nearby?
But hyung-nim calling me that was a familiar thing, and there was a more important problem than that right now.
“Then ju-just one.”
I hesitated, but eventually nodded. Then hyung-nim went to the register as if it were nothing and packed up donuts of various kinds.
Chocolate, strawberry, peanut butter glazed…… He seemed to have picked only things I would like.
I should eat those when I get home. As the sweet smell leaked from the paper bag in my hand, I swallowed without realizing it.
***
But the place hyung-nim took me wasn’t home—it was an office tower in the next building.
An unfamiliar scene unfolded in the office we arrived at after taking the elevator.
I quietly followed hyung-nim while looking around and examining the interior. Where on earth is this?
In the spacious area, boxes were piled on every desk, and a new law firm name hung on the large glass door. Documents were scattered here and there on desks like an office busy with opening preparations, but overall the atmosphere was neatly organized.
“Hyung-nim, why are we here……”
“Oh, who’s this?”
The person who greeted us was a man I’d never seen before. He looked about five or six years older than hyung-nim, and was a man with an affable impression.
“Ah, hello. I’m……”
When I stood in front of a stranger, my speech strangely slowed down. I thought I should introduce myself, but the words didn’t come out smoothly right away.
After a second or two of silence, the man blinked.
How should I introduce myself? Should I just say my name? Despite worrying that this brief gap might make people feel a bit awkward, my body froze first.
“This is Attorney Kang Doyun, and this is…… the youngest in our family.”
“Hello.”
That’s why it was comfortable when Jeongwoo hyung was next to me like now. Because he handled most of the conversation and organized the situation from beside me. Only then did I bow my head from beside hyung-nim.
However, of all things, ‘the youngest in our family.’ It wasn’t a title I particularly liked.
“Oh, so Yoo Jeongwoo has such a handsome younger brother? Hmm, you don’t really seem to resemble him though. You have exactly that annoying look, whereas this younger brother here……”
“……”
“Has that aegyo-filled idol look? How is it that he doesn’t have any of that annoying feeling like you? That’s fascinating.”
You could tell from his bantering manner. Attorney Kang Doyun was as affable a person as his impression suggested. The type who makes others feel comfortable, I suppose.
Anyway, it’s natural that I don’t resemble Jeongwoo hyung-nim. At this rate there’ll be a misunderstanding, so I should correct it. I glanced up at hyung-nim.
But then, hyung-nim’s slightly narrowed brow caught my eye.
“Idol?”
If I was right, it was an expression that seemed slightly displeased. It was a tense moment as something seemed off.
“Yeah. Why, you know. Among the kids appearing on variety shows these days who act all cute and……”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Baby’s too pure a style for that kind of thing.”
……Huh?
“As you can see, he’s a noble and pure style, so acting cute and dancing doesn’t suit his image. Maybe if it were an actor or advertising model instead.”
A brief silence fell. It was a very short time, but it was the attorney who broke the suffocating silence.
“What are you saying. I haven’t been able to adapt to that bastard’s humor since law school.”
“R-right. Haha.”
Even while forcing out laughter, my head was confused. Why was he suddenly acting like this over what was just a compliment like a greeting……
“Why, I think the idol look would suit him perfectly. There are many of those pure styles you’re talking about among idols these days, you bastard.”
“Still, not Hajin.”
Even at the attorney’s scolding, hyung-nim didn’t budge.
“He actually did a few commercials when he was young. It was for workbooks and premium organic seasoning, right?”
“Hyung-nim, stop……”
Though there was such a time, it was from when I was very young and I barely remember it.
I’d never once been embarrassed by Jeongwoo hyung-nim in front of others in my life, but right now I was about to become a little embarrassed.
“Okay, fine. I lost, I lost. Anyway, Jeongwoo’s younger brother! Have fun and see you again.”
The attorney patted my shoulder then continued on his way. Seeing him shake his head, it seemed this wasn’t the first or second time he’d experienced such an argument.
My mouth was about to cramp from forcing a smile, but hyung-nim moved on nonchalantly.
“Why did you do that, hyung-nim? It seemed like he was just complimenting me.”
“That hyung originally has a habit of speaking thoughtlessly. Sometimes he says things that make no sense, like just now.”
The room we entered following hyung-nim was similarly empty while also having many unorganized areas here and there. This must be hyung-nim’s new office. I looked around with interested eyes.
During that time, as if recalling something, hyung-nim laughed.
“You dancing in front of others, even acting cute.”
“Oh, of course that’s absurd……”
“You’d be cute, excessively so.”
Hyung-nim muttered while taking out his phone. It was because it had started vibrating softly.
“That’s why I don’t want to show you off.”
And I froze in place.
“It won’t take until two o’clock. Don’t doze off somewhere else, rest comfortably there.”
Hello. With that quietly resonating voice as the end, hyung-nim took the documents from the desk and went outside.
And I, still frozen, was left alone in the empty office, struggling desperately to calm my heart.
“You’d be cute, excessively so……”
That’s why I don’t want to show you off. It was the same even when I spoke it out loud with my own mouth.
Was I five years old? I heard that Jeongwoo hyung-nim especially didn’t like the baby modeling work I did a few times at Dad’s insistence back then. Even when adults would say ‘Should we have had him do more?’, hyung-nim would firmly shake his head.
Was that why? The words that passed in an instant were shaking me whole.
Honestly, wasn’t that just now basically saying he still doesn’t want to show me to others?
Even though he’s someone I’ve seen my whole life, I still flounder at the affection and tenderness that Jeongwoo hyung-nim occasionally reveals.
“……But we’re people who’ve kissed.”
At the same time, that was also a statement with too little awareness just now. Even if hyung-nim doesn’t see me as that kind of partner. What if I fall for him?
The place hyung-nim pointed to before leaving the office was a wide leather sofa.
The luxurious sofa that seemed expensive looked too splendid for me to lie down and sleep on. And besides, what nap. I scoffed.
……It’s not like I’m a newborn or anything.
I pouted for no reason.
Come to think of it, I should eat the donuts we bought earlier. Sitting in a corner, I opened the donut bag and quietly took them out one by one to eat. Being careful not to let chocolate powder fall on my clothes.
In the empty office, only the sound of hyung-nim’s phone call from outside, the sound of papers turning, and occasionally Attorney Kang Doyun’s voice from beyond the door could be heard.
I couldn’t understand all of hyung-nim’s phone conversation, but it was work talk related to opening preparations. I chewed my donut while looking around.
High ceilings and large windows, unopened office supplies piled here and there. Everything was new and clean.
I was finally able to figure out why hyung-nim seemed busy despite being unemployed.
This definitely seemed to be hyung-nim’s new office. In the middle of it all, I was eating donuts, and on the table was also a carton of milk that hyung-nim had come back in during his call to give me.
After eating one or two sweet donuts, the tension melted away. My body became languid, and my eyelids kept drooping. Eventually, I put the donut bag on the table beside the sofa and slowly lowered my head. Though I’d resolved not to doze off, I quickly fell into a deep sleep.
I don’t know when he came back in, but I could see hyung-nim’s silhouette standing by the window. At the same time, a voice continuing softly sounded like a lullaby.
With my eyes half-closed, I listened to hyung-nim’s voice. It was a low and calm tone.
The sound of the phone call ending. And a new call connected. This time the connection tone rang in silence, as if hyung-nim had made the call.
“Yes, Imo.”
And hyung-nim’s voice. The corners of my mouth twitched. I was waiting for hyung-nim’s voice.
But unlike before, it was a slightly softer voice.
This was, in other words…… a family voice.
Hyung-nim would speak in a softer voice to family than he did outside.
“You saw my text. I’ll keep him with me until dinner today. I’m going to feed him and then take him home. Yes, I heard about it. Not a lot, but he seems a bit sulky. What? I’ll persuade him well so don’t worry. He’s always had a stubborn streak, you know. That’s right, he still seems like a total baby, even to my eyes.”
This was no different from a babysitter’s phone call taking care of a child.
