‘Marriage someday? If the family decides, he’ll do it? Yes, sure. Hyung is from some great family, so of course he has to do some arranged marriage or whatever. Right. Of course that would be the case. But then what about me! Really, what am I supposed to do… Will he kick me out? Or would hyung be cool about it and say, this house is now Minha’s… I’ll leave~? When did I say I needed a house! Who said I need money? I can earn it myself! This is all because hyung did whatever he wanted…!’
He didn’t even get drunk on one can of beer, but it felt somewhat satisfying to get angry even if just internally while feeling the wind.
As he sat still getting angry by himself like that, his inner defense lawyer appeared again.
‘I’m not in a position to act like this toward hyung right now… Hyung is helping me get to the Olympics. He’s really no different from a lifesaver… What selfish thoughts am I having to cause trouble for such a person? Crazy… Ah, I’m suddenly embarrassed.’
Reality hit Jeong Minha, so he dusted off his pants and stood up from his seat.
“Phew… That’s enough, let’s go.”
Since he never planned to leave for long in the first place, he turned his steps back toward the subway station. While looking for a trash can to throw away the can, he ended up going down a road with few people.
Before he knew it, the sun had set more and the wind had gotten chilly.
‘Mm, from now on, I’ll just…’
He was walking while thinking about what to do by himself. It was definitely a road with no one around, but suddenly he heard hurried footsteps.
Soon, someone grabbed and pulled him from behind.
“Uwoop…?!”
When someone grabbed him with their arm and pulled him close, Jeong Minha was about to scream in surprise, but his mouth was immediately covered too. Too scared to even think, he was about to grab the other person’s forearm with the momentum to break it.
However, hearing the voice that followed, Jeong Minha had no choice but to stop his hand.
“Hah… Minha-ya…”
“…Hup?!”
Because it was such a familiar voice, Jeong Minha turned his head to check the person behind him. Seo Sihan, who seemed to have rushed over wearing only a shirt, was catching his breath.
As soon as Jeong Minha lowered his hand, Seo Sihan also released the hand that was covering his mouth. However, he lowered his arm again and hugged Jeong Minha tightly with both arms. Because of that, Jeong Minha couldn’t even move and was flustered with only his head turned slightly.
“Hy, hyung?! Why are you here—”
“Why didn’t you check your messages all day? I was worried…”
He couldn’t know Seo Sihan’s expression as he hugged him from behind, but thinking he must definitely be angry, Jeong Minha started to break out in cold sweat.
“I… I was just hanging out with a friend so I didn’t see them… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance…”
“Ah…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say he came here because of his one-sided love worries, so he lied. However, Jeong Minha was aware that he himself wasn’t good at lying. He hurriedly changed the subject.
“But how did you know to come all the way here…?”
“…”
At that question, this time it was Seo Sihan who deflected.
“Minha, did you drink?”
“Huh? H-how did you know? I deliberately didn’t use your card…”
“I saw you throwing away the can just now…”
“…”
Flustered, Jeong Minha, who had brought up that he deliberately didn’t use the card, squeezed his eyes shut. As expected, Seo Sihan didn’t miss that point.
“…Why did you deliberately not use it?”
Jeong Minha hurriedly thought of an excuse.
“I didn’t want to hang out with friends using money hyung gave me either… Ahaha.”
When he tried to brush it off with an awkward laugh, Seo Sihan released both arms that were hugging him. Did it work? Thinking he had avoided the crisis, Jeong Minha let out a small sigh of relief.
However, Seo Sihan turned his body to face him directly, then looked straight at him and asked.
“Why are you lying?”
“…”
Jeong Minha froze and closed his mouth. Seo Sihan carefully brushed Jeong Minha’s long bangs to the side by his ear. Their eyes inevitably met.
Just how much does this hyung know? Flustered, Jeong Minha tried to think of what to say, but then he got pissed. Right now, who made me do something this embarrassing!
“…It’s because of you, hyung!”
“…What?”
When Jeong Minha suddenly got irritated, Seo Sihan blinked his eyes wide. Jeong Minha continued speaking.
“Yes, that’s right. The thing about hanging out with a friend was a lie. Until just now, I was just drinking beer alone. Because I didn’t want to go home.”
“…U-uh? Why…”
Until just now it felt like Jeong Minha was being scolded, but now the atmosphere reversed in an instant. Seo Sihan, who confirmed it really was running away, was greatly flustered. With a restless face, he just lightly grabbed the clothes by Jeong Minha’s arm and waited for an answer. Feeling Seo Sihan’s hand trembling, Jeong Minha sighed and answered.
“But anyway, I have nowhere to go. I was just about to go back home. By taking the subway over there.”
Jeong Minha pointed in the front direction with his eyes. The subway station really was visible. Hearing those words, Seo Sihan felt slightly relieved, then looked at Jeong Minha again with anxious eyes.
“Um… why? Why didn’t you want to come home? Is it because of me…?”
“…”
It was good that he had truthfully shouted it was because of hyung in his frustrated heart, but when Seo Sihan came out like this, Jeong Minha started to feel sorry. Ah, this isn’t right? How do I apologize…?!
He broke out in cold sweat again while worrying about how to explain. But because of his face that avoided eye contact and looked even more serious, Seo Sihan became more anxious.
“Minha-ya… Hm? Can you tell me why you don’t like it…? I, I’ll fix everything…”
“N-no, um…”
Jeong Minha lowered his head while shouting ‘I’m screwed!’ inside, and Seo Sihan, who misunderstood that he was more angry, even got down on one knee and looked up at Jeong Minha. Jeong Minha, who made eye contact from his downward gaze, was startled.
“Hy, hyung! What are you doing?! Get up!”
“Minha-ya…”
Seo Sihan made a tearful face and stood up again, led by Jeong Minha’s arm strength.
If anyone had seen a tall, handsome young man in a shirt who seemed to have run over clinging to another man, Jeong Minha would have really wanted to run away. Fortunately, the place they were in now was a road with few people, so there was no one passing by.
In the space with just the two of them, Jeong Minha looked around once more unnecessarily. As expected, there was no one except them.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have drunk more beer…!’
It was too embarrassing to explain with a clear mind that he had sulked because of the marriage talk. He hesitated while gritting his teeth about whether to say it or not.
Seeing Jeong Minha’s face like that, Seo Sihan became more serious. Do you dislike me that much…? At Seo Sihan’s words, Jeong Minha’s guilt peaked and he finally opened his mouth.
“It’s really not that big of a reason, it’s just something trivial. So I came all the way here too… but I got embarrassed wondering why I was doing this over such a thing, so I was about to go back soon…”
“No, tell me anything…”
“Ah, I’m sorry for saying it was because of you earlier, hyung. It’s not your fault. I sulked childishly by myself. After a few days pass, it’ll get better like usual… That’s what it is. Really!”
Jeong Minha desperately apologized, but to Seo Sihan, for whom the cause was important, it felt like he was deflecting.
“…You don’t want to say?”
“…”
Because of the voice that seemed to have gotten lower, Jeong Minha glanced at Seo Sihan. It was chaos inside his head. Well, how can I say it! That I like you, hyung, and I was disappointed so I did this…!
However, looking at Seo Sihan with Jeong Minha’s eyes already full of one-sided love filters, he seemed about to cry, so he decided to just say it.
“Can I talk while we walk…? It’s more embarrassing doing this here…”
“Ah, okay…”
They slowly started walking toward the subway station. The sun had already disappeared and it was getting dark.
Jeong Minha examined Seo Sihan’s outfit. Where did he leave his outerwear again—he looked cold in just a shirt. Why did he come like this when he’s already very sensitive to cold? He wanted to give him his own clothes, but since it was just one long sleeve shirt, he couldn’t take it off either. Ah, I should have brought outerwear…
He worried Seo Sihan might catch a cold. Thinking they should go home quickly, his mouth opened on its own.
“It’s really nothing, so you can’t get angry after hearing it.”
“I absolutely won’t. I want to hear all of Minha’s thoughts…”
Because of Seo Sihan who walked beside him while staring intently, Jeong Minha turned his head slightly to the opposite side.
“…Mm. No, um, so… Last time I… do you remember when I brought up marriage?”
