# Chapter 38
Jiwoong is in a bad mood right now. It’s because he saw Jiho’s face at the family home after a long time.
What’s worse, Jiho was in an exceptionally good mood, which made Jiwoong twice as irritated.
‘Why is Seol Jiho grinning like that? Has he lost his mind?’
It was like the law of conservation of mass. It had been that way since they were young. When Jiho was in a good mood, Jiwoong was in a bad mood, and when misfortune struck Jiho, Jiwoong was happy.
It was probably the same for Jiho as well.
At dinner in the family home, President Ahn, the mother of Jiho and Jiwoong, said:
“Jiho, if you have nothing to do during the break, why don’t you come to the company?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d have to see uncle’s face if I go.”
Jiho answered impudently. Even while slacking off, he kept smiling from ear to ear. Director Ahn’s expression hardened as if he’d eaten something foul.
President Ahn didn’t seem to have been serious about her suggestion and let it go without further comment. “This bastard…” Only Director Ahn rolled his eyes.
Jiwoong, treating all this as someone else’s business, continued eating and reached for a side dish.
Suddenly, Jiho’s chopsticks intercepted and stole the last remaining side dish. It was almost a Ronaldo-level tackle.
“What’s your problem?”
Jiwoong glared at Jiho. And then he reached for another side dish.
But this time, Jiho took the whole dish away with his hand.
‘They say even dogs aren’t bothered when eating.’
Jiwoong flared up at the dinner table.
“This is really annoying…”
“I was going to eat that first.”
“I was going to eat it first, you know?”
Is this what grown men should be doing at the dinner table? And over side dishes, no less.
As their voices grew louder, President Ahn set down her spoon with a clatter.
“Will you two stop it?”
“Y-yeah~ Are you two in elementary school? Why fight over side dishes? Please bring more side dishes here.”
Director Ahn tactfully mediated.
But Jiwoong and Jiho were still glaring at each other.
“Seol Jiwoong keeps coveting. It was originally mine.”
While Jiho seemed to be talking about the side dish, it felt like he was talking about something else.
“…”
Jiwoong knew it too. That Jiho was a blood relation who had never shared anything with him, and this wasn’t limited to objects or food.
It was obvious that after arranging for Yeomin to be with him for his own ulterior motives, Jiho now suddenly regretted it.
Jiwoong snickered.
“How can anything be ‘originally yours’ in this world?”
“There is. Such a thing.”
No matter what he said, it wouldn’t register with Jiho anyway. He was a person with whom conversation was impossible from the start.
Feeling wronged, Jiwoong decided to try a different approach. Although he pretended to be more proper than Jiho, in reality, Jiwoong was more sincere than anyone when it came to making Jiho eat crow.
“Mom. I want to increase my tutoring hours. I get along well with my current teacher, and I want to get extra lessons before the break ends.”
“Really? That’s good to hear that you get along well.”
“If possible, I’d like to have lessons all day long.”
“I’ll tell Butler Hwang, so coordinate with him. I think this is the first time I’ve heard you say you get along well with someone.”
President Ahn was surprised. It was understandable since Jiwoong had been going through tutors every two weeks.
In contrast, Jiho’s expression changed frighteningly.
“No. Joo Yeomin is busy.”
“What could be busier than tutoring?”
“There is. He needs to play with me.”
His tone was so resolute that it left listeners speechless.
To think such words came from the mouth of a man in his early twenties… The level of conversation was truly childish.
“Teacher would be happy if I said I wanted to increase the hours. I’ll contact him directly, Mom.”
“I said no, Seol Jiwoong.”
“Thank you for the meal. I need to study, so I’ll get up now.”
“Seol…”
Jiwoong just got up like a sly fox. Director Ahn blocked Jiho as he tried to get up too.
Urging him to sit down while watching the increasingly grim expression of President Ahn. Jiho sat back at the table under duress.
President Ahn resumed eating and spoke quietly:
“Jiwoong’s tutor, wasn’t he recommended by Jiho?”
“They say he’s a senior from Jiho’s department. I met him once, and he seemed very capable. With a steady personality too…”
“Increase Jiwoong’s class hours for the rest of the break, and next time let’s invite him for a meal together. All of us.”
“Is… is that okay?”
Director Ahn glanced at Jiho. Just imagining that meal was terrifying. I’d rather not be there that day…
“Director Ahn, you arrange it.”
President Ahn finished her meal and left with those scary words. So both Jiwoong and President Ahn left. Only Jiho remained seated with an annoyed face, thinking about something.
Director Ahn made a fuss:
“Seol Jiho, what are you going to do?”
“Might as well bring him to the family home.”
“…Are you sane?”
“I was planning to introduce him to President Ahn anyway, so this is actually good timing.”
“Absolutely not!”
“Why not?”
“Every time you make that emotionless face, you really seem like a sociopath, you know?”
Director Ahn shuddered.
“I feel like my life is getting shorter! I’m already going crazy with just you. Why is Jiwoong acting like that too? If you two are going to fight, do it when I’m not around.”
“Right. He keeps coveting what belongs to others. So impolite.”
Jiho muttered coldly.
‘To make such an expression while talking about his brother, this family really is a mess.’
As Director Ahn was struggling to swallow his food, a ringtone sounded.
Jiho’s expression, which until just now seemed capable of ending the world, suddenly changed to that of a 4-month-old puppy.
Jiho hurriedly answered the phone.
“Yes, hyung!”
Director Ahn couldn’t believe his eyes.
“What is this, Jekyll and Hyde? What did I just witness…?”
“Hello? Did you finish your part-time job? I’ll be there in 30 minutes. Dinner? Of course I haven’t eaten. What would you like to eat, hyung?”
‘What was that you just ate if not dinner?’
They say love makes people crazy. Then what happens when someone who’s already crazy falls in love?
Director Ahn was curious but also never wanted to find out.
* * *
Jiho rushed to the PC bang where Yeomin worked within 30 minutes of hearing that his part-time job was over.
However, as soon as he saw Yeomin getting into the car, Jiho became serious.
“What happened to your clothes?”
The white T-shirt Yeomin was wearing had cigarette stains on it. It was minor enough that you wouldn’t notice unless you looked carefully, but Jiho always looked at Yeomin carefully.
Yeomin acted as if it was no big deal.
“Some crazy bastard threw a cigarette butt earlier, and I guess that’s when it happened. Damn… I should have made him pay for the shirt.”
While he spoke as if it was nothing, what came out of his mouth was definitely not nothing.
“He threw a cigarette butt? Did you fight?”
“Rather than fighting, I just dealt with a troublemaker. How can I fight with a customer?”
Jiho couldn’t understand. Why was Yeomin smiling so serenely about something he should be angry about? Especially when he gets angry at Jiho every day.
Jiho grabbed Yeomin’s wrist and checked various parts of his body, including his arms and the back of his hands, while questioning him:
“Were you burned anywhere? What did that bastard say?”
“I asked him to be quiet because he was noisy, and I guess he felt embarrassed so he started acting up.”
“This is annoying. What is this?”
“It’s fine. Don’t overreact.”
What’s fine about it? Jiho wasn’t fine with it at all, and he couldn’t understand why Yeomin was so okay with it.
…He never said it was okay.
Jiho, who had been driving, pulled over to the side of the road.
“What’s wrong?”
Jiho’s face darkened. He pulled Yeomin’s shoulder to make him look at himself, while Yeomin was clueless about what was happening.
“That job. It seems too dangerous. Can’t you really quit?”
Come to think of it, that was true. There were many men hanging around (of course, he knew Joo Yeomin wasn’t a man-eater…), and female regulars also acted friendly with Yeomin. Moreover, he had to stay in a dark, dim place until late at night.
It was worrying in many ways, but Yeomin just frowned as if to say, “Not this again.”
“Then do another job. Something more comfortable.”
“Where is there such a job? This is comfortable enough.”
“Even so…”
“I can’t just quit suddenly anyway. The manager treats me well and all.”
Yeomin’s words made Jiho even more determined.
Now that he thought about it, that bothered him too. Being close with the PC bang manager, that was also irritating. Once one thing started to bother him, everything became annoying.
Seeing Jiho’s sullen expression, Yeomin instead started to be considerate and tried to appease him:
“If I get hurt, I can just get compensation. It’s actually a win.”
If Yeomin really got hurt, Jiho would be extremely annoyed. He would be really, really angry…
Why was he talking as if it was no big deal? Jiho didn’t like it.
“Why do you always talk like that, hyung?”
“Like what, man.”
“Like everything is no big deal.”
“Because I’ve always lived like this. What about you?”
“Me? What about me?”
Jiho, who had been arguing, soon quieted down. He belatedly realized that Yeomin was angry.
He hadn’t noticed it. Although Yeomin pretended to be calm and said he was fine, that wasn’t all there was to it.
Now he could see it. Yeomin wasn’t actually okay right now.
“Hyung, I…”
“What is it that bothers you so much?”
Yeomin spoke as if suppressing his emotions.
“Is this included in the contract too? If so, should I just listen quietly?”
“…”
That’s not it. He didn’t want Yeomin to become a robot.
When Jiho reluctantly shook his head, Yeomin ordered, “Drive.” His tone was so scary that Jiho didn’t even think about defying him.
