Had it been about a minute since I rang the doorbell? A golf cart with its headlights on approached the front gate. I’d always ridden in with Dad or Daesu hyung’s car, so I didn’t know, but I guess visitors who come on their own get picked up by golf cart.
“Please come in.”
“Thank you.”
There were quite a few people working at Seongheon hyung’s house, but I’d been here a few times and vaguely knew their faces. The manager ajusshi who was now driving the golf cart was someone who’d been here for a long time.
I caught a glimpse of his hands on the steering wheel, and the tattoo extending down to the back of his hand caught my eye.
‘Is that… a rattlesnake tail?’
I shouldn’t stare at other people’s tattoos, but it looked so realistic that I kept glancing at it out of curiosity.
The manager ajusshi briefly lifted his hand from the steering wheel and spoke to me.
“I didn’t hear that the young master was having a friend visit today.”
“Yes. I’m just going to drop off some ox bone soup and leave. Hyung injured his right arm, so he needs to build up his strength.”
“Ox bone soup, that’s very good.”
“Right? This is grade 1 Korean beef, they said. I was originally waiting for the bus to go home, but the butcher shop across the street happened to be having a sale. So I bought it. And I also need to return hyung’s wallet.”
I rambled on with excuses, feeling sorry for visiting so late in the evening, but the manager ajusshi looked down at the shopping bag I’d brought and smiled warmly.
“The young master is alone right now, so he must have been feeling lonely. This worked out well. Please stay and relax.”
“Thank you.”
Before I knew it, the golf cart had arrived at the entrance. The controls looked easy to use, so I briefly thought maybe instead of struggling to get my license, I should just drive one of these around.
When I entered the entryway, I saw other people working here. I bowed in greeting and handed the ox bone soup to the person working in the kitchen.
“Ox bone soup needs to simmer for a long time, so I’ll serve it for breakfast.”
“Thank you.”
As I walked down the left corridor to go to hyung’s room, I could see the interior garden through the transparent wall panels. A small pond and bamboo were harmoniously arranged in the center, making it feel like being outdoors.
When I reached the end of the corridor and turned the corner, another living room appeared inside. In front of a TV as big as my room’s wall, various game titles and devices were placed, and in the center was a black genuine leather sofa in a “ㄷ” shape that could comfortably seat ten adults.
“The sofa changed again.”
Before, there had been a “ㄱ”-shaped beige yuppie leather sofa… I’d spilled cola on it and gotten severely scolded by Daesu hyung.
“Did they change it because of that?”
But I couldn’t know the reason since I didn’t visit Seongheon hyung’s house often.
Feeling like I was wandering around alone in an empty house, I minimized my footsteps as much as possible and headed to the bedroom next to the living room. Since the door was slightly open, I sneakily poked just my head in to check inside.
“Hyu… ung.”
The lights in the room were off, with only one interior light on in the corner.
I couldn’t see clearly, but I could tell from the bulge in the sheets that someone was sleeping on the bed. Judging it to be Seongheon hyung sleeping, I didn’t call out anymore and grabbed the door handle to quietly close the door.
♪♬♩─.
I was about to close the door and leave when suddenly a cell phone ringtone rang loudly from inside the room. After hesitating about what to do, I opened the door and went in, picking up hyung’s cell phone that was ringing noisily on the table.
Since the caller ID showed ‘Gangjin,’ I was about to hurry out to answer it for him when I heard Seongheon hyung’s voice from behind me.
“…Who.”
“Huh? Hyung.”
“…Dae, young?”
“Yeah.”
Perhaps unable to see my face clearly due to the backlight from the lamp, Seongheon hyung brightened the surrounding lights with something like a remote control. Then the room was instantly filled with yellow light.
Seongheon hyung’s hair was a bit disheveled in the back from just waking up, but otherwise he looked exactly as he had during the day. Whether still drowsy from sleep, he looked more languid than usual and was wearing a white long-sleeved top.
Perhaps due to the cell phone ringtone that kept going off, Seongheon hyung frowned slightly. So I quickly handed the phone to hyung.
“It’s Gangjin hyung.”
“Ah…”
After Seongheon hyung pressed the call button, he responded in a flat voice. Perhaps because the room was quiet, I could hear Gangjin hyung’s voice through the receiver.
“Yeah. I’m fine after getting some sleep.”
I could hear Gangjin hyung asking about Seongheon hyung’s condition and saying he’d come over if hyung was alone. Then Seongheon hyung glanced up at me and ran his hand through the back of his hair.
“I’m not alone. Huh? No, just… No, don’t come. It’s annoying.”
When asked who he was with, hyung trailed off instead of saying he was with me. Why? It’s not like I came somewhere I shouldn’t have… In the end, my name was never mentioned in that phone call.
The inside of Seongheon hyung’s house was warm enough to wear a thin T-shirt, so sweat beaded on my forehead. Belatedly realizing I’d zipped my padding all the way up to my neck, I was about to unzip it, but since Seongheon hyung had told Gangjin hyung it was “annoying,” I thought staying long would be a bother, so I just left it.
While I was debating whether or not to unzip my padding, Seongheon hyung finished his phone call.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Mm?”
Feeling like I’d been eavesdropping, I pretended not to notice and looked at the picture hanging on the wall, then turned around when Seongheon hyung called me.
Hyung, having shaken off some sleep in the meantime, looked at me with fairly clear eyes and patted the space beside him on the bed. It meant to sit next to him.
I approached hesitantly and perched on the edge of the bed. Hyung turned to lie on his left side facing where I was sitting, propped his head on his arm, and looked up at me.
“Our Daeyoung came all the way here to see hyung… Did you come because you were worried?”
“Yeah. They were selling ox bone soup at the market, so I thought it would be good for you and bought it.”
At my mention of buying ox bone soup, hyung’s eyes widened as if surprised.
“And I wanted to return your wallet too. I didn’t spend any of the money.”
Making my earlier dilemma about unzipping my padding pointless, I pulled the zipper all the way down to my solar plexus to take out the wallet. As my neck was exposed, my airway opened and I relaxed a little.
I took out hyung’s wallet from my inner pocket and placed it on the table beside the bed. Seongheon hyung just kept looking at my face the whole time, seemingly uninterested in whether I took out the wallet or not.
“Then, I’ll be going now. Keep sleeping.”
As I was about to lift my butt slightly from the bed, hyung reached out and gently grabbed my forearm. So I stopped getting up and just turned my head back down to look at hyung.
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. You need to rest. You even told Gangjin hyung it was annoying and not to come earlier. I only came to drop that off, so I’ll be going now.”
As my answer ended, hyung’s fingers that had only been holding my forearm gradually intertwined as if linking arms.
“Don’t go.”
“Huh?”
“Stay here, Daeyoung-ah. I told him not to come because I wanted to be alone with you.”
“…”
“But.”
Seongheon hyung suddenly sat up and instantly closed the distance. Our faces were close enough for our breaths to touch, so I timidly pulled my chin back.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
At that moment, remembering when I’d carried the sugar water, I tensed up unconsciously, and my neck that had been cool started heating up again.
“Mm?”
“By any chance.”
“…”
“Did you drink?”
“Huh? …Uh, yeah.”
I’m an adult now, so it’s fine to drink. But for some reason, when Seongheon hyung asked, I questioned myself whether I still shouldn’t drink.
As I answered with my tail between my legs, Seongheon hyung smiled as if that wasn’t what he’d meant to ask.
“You should only drink a little. You get drunk easily, and you’ll upset your stomach.”
“I took a hangover remedy.”
“Good job.”
Hyung raised his hand and stroked my hair messily.
Seongheon hyung was the same as usual, but only I was harboring uncomfortable thoughts like a weight on my chest. It was even more so because of the conversation I’d had with Dongmi earlier. On top of that, hyung also knew I was ‘Keyboard Cleaning.’
Because of the burdens piling up in my heart, I couldn’t even accept at face value the smile Seongheon hyung was directing at me right now. Why was hyung like this? Even trying to guess dozens of reasons on my own, I couldn’t know the answer.
So I decided to ask directly. I’d even prepared an excuse in advance—that I was emboldened by liquid courage. And hyung might also want to have an honest conversation with me but couldn’t, so I took the first step.
“Um, hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Hm? For what?”
“I met Dongwoo today and heard. That you found out about stealing the Goldmess egg.”
“…”
“You said you’d scold me, so you can scold me. I’ll accept it humbly.”
At that moment, the hand that had been gently stroking my hair stopped abruptly.
Like opening Pandora’s box, I couldn’t see even an inch ahead. The time when Gangjin hyung told me about Seongheon hyung’s real personality flashed through my mind.
Would he now curse at me while getting angry, like he did with the other hyungs?
Beyond my deeply bowed head, I could see Seongheon hyung’s ringed hand. He still wore rings only on both index fingers. I guess he still hasn’t given the ring to anyone, I thought pointlessly.
As if I had eyes on the top of my head, I seemed to see hyung’s expression. He must be glaring at me with a frown. To bear the scolding I was about to receive, I clenched my hands on my knees and hunched my shoulders as much as possible.
Then I saw Seongheon hyung raise his hand.
Was he going to flick my forehead?
That hand slowly approached my forehead. I squeezed my eyes shut to accept whatever punishment was given, but the fingernails that should have touched my forehead passed over my hairline and dug into my hair.
The fingers that dug in, touching my scalp, gently brushed back my hair… and that was it.
