# Chapter 63
Jiwoong arrived at Director Ahn’s apartment. To be precise, at his maternal uncle’s apartment that Jiho had occupied.
As he stepped out of the elevator, a chilly atmosphere greeted Jiwoong. Even though the air conditioning wasn’t on, there was a cold energy circulating around the house in this summer.
Jiwoong, after putting on indoor slippers, looked around the house.
‘What’s with all these gaming consoles?’
Besides that, matching shower robes and mugs caught his eye here and there. It could have passed for a newlywed couple’s home.
Before, when Director Ahn lived alone, even in a nice place like this, it had the smell of a bachelor pad.
“…So lovey-dovey, doing everything normal couples do.”
Jiwoong snickered.
There were photo booth pictures stuck on the cabinet door. Seeing Jiho and Yeomin smiling in similar outfits made Jiwoong feel spiteful.
It was annoying to see Yeomin, who usually lectured him like an old man, looking as excited as a child, and Jiho smiling like that seemed like a completely different person.
“…So annoying.”
Jiwoong removed the photo booth pictures and headed to the bedroom. Then, he knocked on the firmly closed door without hesitation.
“Seol Jiho, are you alive?”
Not that it would matter if he wasn’t…
There was no answer from Jiho. Just in case, Jiwoong turned the doorknob, and the door opened smoothly.
Jiho was lying in bed with his back turned. Whether he was just lying down, dead, or asleep was unclear.
“I’m here.”
Even at those words, Jiho didn’t turn around.
Judging by the fact that there wasn’t a single strand of anyone else’s hair in the house besides Jiho’s, it seemed Yeomin had really left.
Director Ahn had told him to come check on his brother who was “dying,” but…
In truth, Jiwoong had a stronger desire to confirm with his own eyes whether Yeomin had really left.
Seeing Jiho alone, Jiwoong felt half relieved and half alarmed.
“Did Teacher really leave?”
Even though he asked, Jiho didn’t move at all. Jiwoong spoke more loudly to the air.
“What did you do with Joo Yeomin to end up like this?”
There was no reaction to the word “Teacher,” but Jiho responded and turned around at the name “Joo Yeomin.”
Even that aspect was truly annoying.
“…”
After apparently spending several days without eating, drinking, or moving like a corpse, it seemed the exaggeration was actually true.
Jiho’s face, already pale to begin with, looked like a vampire who had lived five hundred years without seeing light.
Jiwoong nagged.
“What is this attention-seeking behavior? Uncle and even Mom only talk about you. How many days have you been like this?”
“…”
“How terribly must you have behaved for that level-headed person to run away from here?”
“…Are you in contact with Joo Yeomin?”
Jiho abruptly asked. Only when asking that question did his eyes show any signs of life.
‘This crazy bastard…’
Jiwoong criticized harshly.
“Because of you, my tutoring was cut off too. He said he returned all the remaining tuition. What did I do wrong…”
In any case, he and Jiho were like strangers with no brotherly love between them.
It would have been enough to cut ties with Seol Jiho, so why did he have to cut off Jiwoong too? In his young mind, Jiwoong felt unjustly treated.
So Jiwoong had actually sent a message to Yeomin, asking how he was doing.
But he was completely ignored.
Yeomin was more resolute than he appeared.
‘That must be why even the mighty Seol Jiho is in such a state.’
Despite Jiwoong’s expression of extreme disgust, Jiho spoke incoherently.
“But Joo Yeomin liked you.”
“…”
“If by any chance you hear from Joo Yeomin—”
Jiwoong frowned. Jiho really seemed like a person with ten screws loose. He didn’t match the usual Seol Jiho at all. Starting with that disheveled hair.
“If I hear from him, what? Find out where he is? Or bring him to you?”
Jiwoong mocked. That would have satisfied the usual him.
Jiho had been like that since childhood.
When their mom and dad divorced. One of the two brothers had to go with their dad.
Neither Jiho nor Jiwoong wanted to stay with the Ian Group at that time. Everything was too difficult.
Young Jiho cried and threw a tantrum then. Even though he wasn’t usually one to cry much. I loved Dad so much more…
Jiwoong still had that memory lingering in his heart.
‘Jiho will live with Dad!’
‘Me, me too. I want to go too, hyung…’
‘No. Only one can go.’
In the end, it was decided that Jiho would follow their father. Thanks to Jiho crying and being sick in bed for a week. On the day the two of them left the Ian Group mansion, Jiwoong lost his brother too.
Jiho, who had left Ian holding his father’s hand, returned alone in less than a year. With an empty face as if he had never been happy for a single day.
Jiwoong didn’t consider the returned Jiho as his brother.
‘You must have acted selfishly there too, so Dad left you behind! Dad’s disappearance is your fault!’
In his young mind, he had been bitter.
Of course, he still thought the same way now.
‘Teacher must have left because you made it impossible to breathe.’
Jiwoong delivered a cutting remark. It was loaded with emotion.
“Even if I brought him to you, what then? Would you have him stuffed and kept at home? Would that satisfy you? If not, everyone gets tired of you and leaves.”
“…”
Jiho looked at the agitated Jiwoong with dry eyes. He didn’t even get angry at words that would have easily provoked a retort in normal times.
Then, lowering his head, he spoke with a cracked voice.
“If you hear from Yeomin hyung,”
“…”
“What should I do?”
“Make sure I never find out.”
“What?”
“As you said, I don’t know what I might do either. So definitely hide it.”
Then, as if there was nothing more to hear or say, he turned back over.
How can a person change like that?
“…”
Jiwoong didn’t even have the will to provoke the listless Jiho further. As soon as he left the bedroom, he texted Director Ahn.
[Seol Jiho is not in his right mind]
It seemed like Seol Jiho had finally gone completely crazy this time.
* * *
After hearing the whole story from Yeomin, Taeyang first said, “Have your guts spilled out of your stomach?”
“Acting like someone with ten lives,” “Can’t believe you kept all this secret from me until now,” and so on. The barrage of nagging continued for a while.
“That’s why I’m telling you now…”
Yeomin tried to placate him with those words.
Having said all he wanted to say, Taeyang seemed relieved and belatedly wondered:
“But has Seol Jiho really given up?”
“…”
Yeomin couldn’t answer.
“This is the crazy guy who bought the entire PC bang building. He knows where you live, and you even attend the same school. If he puts his mind to it, couldn’t he catch you again anytime?”
It was a very realistic and sharp observation. Yeomin knew it too, though he had been ignoring it.
The fact that just because Seol Jiho was quiet now didn’t mean everything was over. It was a suffocating peace, like the calm before a storm.
But Yeomin pretended it wasn’t a big deal.
“Should I run to the end of the earth then? If we live without seeing each other, he’ll eventually forget.”
“Hmm. It doesn’t seem like an obsession that would disappear so easily.”
Yeomin knew that too. That was the most unsettling part.
‘How long has he known me? Was it really a coincidence when I picked him up? I keep overthinking and questioning everything that happened with him.’
He tried to empty his complicated mind. He just wanted to escape without even thinking about it. How far would he have to run to get out of that guy’s sphere of influence?
“I was thinking of maybe going on an exchange program if things get bad.”
“Overseas would be better. My TA actually posted an announcement… But are your grades good enough?”
“My grades are better than yours, you know?”
“Come to think of it, the problem starts with the new semester, right? There’s barely two weeks left.”
That was true. After wasting the long summer vacation being played by Jiho, Yeomin had less than ten days left of his summer break.
Damn it.
Yeomin, hit by the reality, muttered:
“Or maybe I should take a leave of absence…”
“What would you do if you took time off?”
“Just have some fun. Spend some money.”
“Why don’t you move first?”
“Move?”
“It must feel uncomfortable to keep living in that studio. Since you have money now, you could get a monthly rent on an officetel. Oh! Hyungsik hyung said there are a lot of vacancies where he lives. It’s a new building, so it’s really clean.”
“…”
It was definitely uncomfortable to go back to that semi-basement room.
It somehow felt like he would still be with Jiho if he went there.
It was funny. He had lived there alone for over a year, but the time spent with Jiho was just over two weeks.
“Do you have Hyungsik hyung’s number?”
“Want me to give it to you?”
“Yeah. Also, give me the TA’s contact again. I completely reset my phone, so I only have a few numbers left.”
“Why the TA’s number? Are you really looking into the exchange program?”
“I want to keep it as an option. I should at least check the qualifications. If it doesn’t work out, I can always go next semester.”
When would I ever dream of an exchange program with my luck? If not now, then when?
Yeomin thought that leaving for a foreign country wasn’t a bad option.
By the time he returned, Jiho would probably have forgotten him and found a new toy.
By then, the carousel would have spun a thousand, or even ten thousand more times.
