Could it be related to that woman? Like a gift or something… Just as he was about to become gloomy at the thought that unconsciously occurred to him, a sweet voice tickled his ear.
“A birthday present for my younger brother.”
Cha Ihyun’s eyes widened and then gently curved. It wasn’t for a woman but a gift for him. Moreover, to make time in his busy schedule just for a birthday present… Just the fact that he was in hyung’s priorities already felt like receiving a gift. Irrepressible joy rippled at the corners of his mouth.
“I came to see this expression.”
“What~ Don’t tease me…”
“Ugh, fuck. This is disgusting, so disgusting.”
Cha Dobum scratched his arms with a grossed-out face.
“Are you filming a drama? It’s not a porn show, is it?”
Only then did Cha Ihyun, who remembered Cha Dobum’s existence, sharply turn his head. He was about to glare out of habit but hesitated. It was because Cha Dobum was staring at him so blatantly.
“You’re over the moon, aren’t you, our Ihyun?”
Cha Dobum smiled strangely.
“Do I really need to keep my mouth shut about this?”
Though it was close to talking to himself, he could understand immediately. He was bringing up the promise to keep the secret. Cha Ihyun, who pressed his lips tightly shut, sent a silent signal, but Cha Dobum mouthed ‘Want me to?’ Very clearly, as if to show off.
“What are you talking about?”
Cha Minhyun cut off the eye contact between the two. The subtle smile at his lips remained the same, but the gaze looking at Cha Dobum held no emotion. It was a look one would give dust, not a person. Cha Ihyun hastily drew his attention.
“Ah, there was something at school today. That’s what he’s talking about.”
“School?”
Even though they were in the same class, Cha Minhyun also knew they didn’t hang out. At the gaze demanding an explanation, Cha Ihyun unconsciously avoided his eyes.
“Mm. Um… we have a group project.”
Cha Dobum burst into laughter.
“That’s right, a group project. One that desperately needs cooperation between group members.”
Cooperation. Emphasizing that word strangely, Cha Dobum narrowed his eyes.
“Let’s do it together tomorrow too? The group project.”
That meant going to school together tomorrow too. And it also meant hanging out together like today.
Shit…
When he reluctantly nodded, Cha Dobum hummed and went into the house. With the time bomb gone, the tension suddenly released. As Cha Ihyun caught his breath in relief, Cha Minhyun picked up his school bag and asked.
“Is Cha Dobum bothering you?”
“Huh? No. Just, well…”
“Don’t humor him with projects or anything. It’ll lower your class.”
At the merciless words pouring out in an affectionate voice, Cha Ihyun nodded silently. He was well aware that hyung disliked Cha Dobum, but he still couldn’t get used to talking about family that way. Sometimes it seemed like he was treating him worse than a stranger rather than family.
Hyung hated stupid people. Especially if they were uncultured, tactless, and used vulgar language on top of that. Cha Dobum met all those conditions, but sometimes he treated Cha Dobum in a way that even made him gasp.
First, he wanted to lift hyung’s mood. Cha Ihyun quickly changed the subject.
“I’m curious about my present. Can I see it?”
At the tone mixed with subtle aegyo, Cha Minhyun’s smile deepened. He pulled Cha Ihyun’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
Without even giving a glance toward Cha Dobum’s room, Cha Minhyun led his younger brother to the second floor.
Even as Cha Ihyun climbed the stairs busily, he glanced at the long legs visible ahead of him. Thinking that the pants with not a single wrinkle folded behind the knees were so like hyung.
The second floor had Cha Minhyun and Cha Ihyun’s rooms, and a small living room between them. In the living room with bookshelves and a sofa, they sometimes read together. But in that space, a piano had been placed. The piano, softly sparkling in the sunlight, was an ivory-colored Fazioli.
“Uh…”
It was a piano with only a few produced by hand each year. The question of why that famous piano was here was brief.
“Do you like it?”
At the voice full of laughter, Cha Ihyun covered his mouth.
“Last time, it seemed like Ihyun liked it.”
“Hyuuung…!”
He had casually mentioned something about how the professor’s piano sounded. Hyung had remembered that. Even in the midst of being so busy!
Unable to resist the welling joy, he jumped into hyung’s embrace, and warm laughter fell from above his head.
I’m going crazy, I’m so happy.
Cha Ihyun squeezed his eyes shut. The fact that he gifted him a piano that was difficult to obtain, that he remembered everything he said, and that he was hugging his back like this now—everything made him so happy.
“You like it, right?”
“Totally! I really, really love it!”
“Me? Or the piano?”
“…Hyung!”
He tried to release the embrace, meaning don’t joke around, but the arms wrapped around his back wouldn’t let him go. The gaze demanding an answer continued persistently. Eventually, Cha Ihyun spoke as if crawling into a hole with a bright red face.
“O-of course I like hyung more…”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Me too. Me too… The last words echoed in his ears. Because the repeat function activated on its own, he couldn’t hear any of the words that followed.
“From the second semester, Professor Kang will come to give lessons directly. I’ve already told the school, so don’t worry about attendance.”
Hyung… hyung also likes me. Likes me more.
Then what about that woman from last time? Does he like me more than that person?
“Are you listening?”
His cheek was pinched. Cha Ihyun, awakened from his thoughts, gulped once.
“Hyung, you know. Yesterday, that person… is she your girlfriend?”
Cha Minhyun’s eyebrows quietly rose.
“T-the person who came all the way to the house, you know, in the evening. Ah! I didn’t secretly peek, it’s just I could see from the window! But you seemed really close with her…”
“Ihyun.”
The words that were getting increasingly lengthy were cut off. Cha Ihyun shut his mouth and rolled his eyes.
“You weren’t listening to hyung at all.”
Unlike the reproachful words, hyung looked pleased. Since it was true that he’d been thinking of other things, as he quietly watched for cues, a honey-sweet voice fell.
“Were you that curious about it?”
“Mm.”
“She’s just a friend. She’s a team member and stopped by because she had something to pass on.”
Cha Ihyun bit the inside of his lips. That noona didn’t look at hyung like ‘just a friend’ though. Those words rose to the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t want to give him such information for no reason. Because hyung shouldn’t develop good feelings for that noona either.
Cha Minhyun’s thumb touched his pursed lips. At the gesture lightly rubbing as if telling him not to bite, his lips parted without resistance.
“Were you upset that hyung brought a friend over? Should I stop meeting that friend?”
“Huh? No, I didn’t mean it like that…”
“No. Ihyun has a lot to worry about with entrance exams, I was being thoughtless. If it’s going to make you worry, it’s better not to meet. Right?”
Cha Ihyun’s eyes moved busily. The words sounded so sweet, but somehow, he thought this wasn’t quite right.
Not meeting a friend because his younger brother is a senior in high school? Besides, she was a study group person. He’d heard that connections were important for people studying law…
But hyung waited for his answer with a face saying he’d do just that right away. Cha Ihyun hesitated. He wanted to act spoiled and say yes! but he also wanted to give a mature answer and be loved by hyung.
Tracing the fidgeting lips with his thumb, Cha Minhyun whispered.
“Ihyun is more precious to me. You know that, right?”
Cha Ihyun nodded as if entranced. The amber eyes that looked exactly like Cha Ihyun’s curved gracefully.
“Then say it. Tell me not to meet that friend. That you’d prefer if I didn’t meet her.”
“I-I’d prefer if you didn’t meet her… yeah.”
Cha Ihyun ultimately chose to act spoiled. Perhaps because he knew well it wasn’t something a nineteen-year-old should say, his face burned. Heat rose so fiercely above his neck that it seemed like it might even burn hyung’s hand.
“Okay.”
As if not feeling the heat, hyung kept stroking his lips and cheeks. Because it seemed like he was praising him, saying he did well, because it felt like he’d become a beloved puppy, his heart pounded.
She wasn’t his girlfriend.
And more than a woman, more than studying, hyung says I’m more precious.
The heart that had been gloomy just days ago was rippling again. But suddenly, such a thought abruptly raised its head.
Does hyung… like me the same way I like him?
Not wanting him to date other people, feeling jealous when he’s close with someone, and just being in contact like this makes his body heat up and his mouth go completely dry?
Cha Ihyun stared up at his hyung. The handsome face was just white without a single trace of flush. Unlike his own face that was thoroughly ripe as if it would burst at any moment.
