Euiyeon couldn’t hide her excitement and stamped her feet. Euiju’s eyes narrowed as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Jin Haeseong? You mean that person who appears in ‘The Man from the West’?!”
The twins, whose heads had grown quite large, got excited and came running over when they heard the celebrity’s name. Only the youngest, Roun, sat blankly on the floor, absorbed in putting together a puzzle.
Euiju immediately jumped up from his seat and received the phone.
「Actor Jin Haeseong」
The moment he confirmed the caller’s name, Euiju’s face colored with bewilderment.
‘He’s never called me first even once.’
He barely managed to detach his older sister and younger siblings, who were peering over with faces dying of curiosity, entered his room, and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
[Ah, urgh—!]
At the pained groan heard as soon as he answered the call, Euiju’s face hardened instantly.
“Jin Haeseong-ssi. What’s wrong?”
[It hurts. Fuck. It fucking hurts so much……]
“Where are you going? Where does it hurt?”
[I don’t know. Everything just hurts.]
“Wait. I’ll be right there.”
Euiju hurriedly hung up the phone and put on the coat hanging on the chair. When he opened the door, the twins were waiting for Euiju with bright, curious eyes. Roun, who had been sitting on the floor, started crying and rushed over as soon as he saw Euiju putting on his coat.
“Hyung-ah, where are you going! You said you’d play with me……”
“I’m sorry, Roun-ah. Hyung is in a hurry right now…. Euiseong-ah. Oppa has to go out now. Play well with Roun and help noona well too. Okay?”
“Yeah! Okay!”
“Hyung-ah! Waaah—!”
“Roun-ah. Oppa says he’ll be back soon. Come here.”
Roun desperately grabbed onto Euiju’s pant leg, but Euiseong picked up Roun and pulled him away. Behind him, he could hear Roun bursting into tears, but Euiju pressed his lips tightly shut and started running.
Euiju, who had rushed out of the front gate, ran without stopping all the way to the main street. He caught any taxi in sight and anxiously told them Haeseong’s home address.
It had been almost a month since he started working, but Haeseong had never once called him first until now. There was no one living with him at his house who could help, and in all the time working, he had never once encountered his parents.
Since there was no one to take care of him, he must have called him, but how much pain was he in to abandon even that strong pride and call him?
He was already anxious to death, and every time they got caught at a light, he became restless and anxiously bit his lips. As time passed, deep wrinkles were carved into his brow.
Euiju, who got out of the taxi, just ran. Throughout entering the entrance, taking the elevator, and going up to the 42nd floor, his hands were drenched with sweat from how anxious he was. After arriving in front of the house, he urgently entered the password on the keypad and went inside.
When he entered the master bedroom, there was only a bed with the blankets all messed up, but no person.
“Where are you!”
The house that was far too spacious made it take quite a while to find just one boy. He opened and searched through all the rooms but failed, and only after heading back to the master bedroom could Euiju finally find the boy.
“Haah… haah……”
Euiju, who had been running around continuously, panted heavily. Haeseong was sitting on the wet bathroom floor soaked with water, leaning his back against the cold tile wall. With his head lowered and one arm resting on his knee, he looked utterly exhausted, seeming to have suffered considerably.
“Haah…. Are you alright?”
When the familiar voice was heard, Haeseong slowly raised his lowered head. His pretty, plump lips were swollen white, and his complexion was pitifully pale. His clothes were soaked through, whether with sweat or water, and his hair was also wet, with water droplets dripping plop plop onto the tile floor.
At that pitiful appearance, Euiju frowned and approached him. Haeseong laboriously raised his right hand to stop Euiju from approaching.
“…It’s fine, so just go. I’m okay now.”
A voice full of fatigue echoed through the bathroom. As if it was too bothersome to say more, the back of Haeseong’s head weakly touched the wall.
Ha, Euiju let out an empty laugh. When Euiju stared at him intently, Haeseong frowned as if displeased.
“It’s fine, so just leave.”
He had promised from a week ago to play with his younger siblings all day today. However, at Haeseong’s one word that he was in pain, he had run here like a crazy person. Knowing he would be alone without any adults, he had run here without looking back.
It’s fine so get lost—that was completely out of the question for Euiju right now.
“Ugh. What are you doing right now—!”
Euiju slipped his hand between the wall and his back and also put his hand under Haeseong’s knees to easily lift him up. Perhaps because his build was still small, Haeseong was much lighter than expected, which made him stagger slightly.
“Fuck! What are you doing—!”
When Euiju lifted him, Haeseong violently refused. He was a boy who hated skinship and disliked flesh touching his body. He wildly swung his arms to escape from Euiju’s embrace, but he only flailed about as if strength wouldn’t enter as he wanted.
“Fuck. Let go of this?! Let go. Put me down!”
Despite struggling fiercely, when Euiju silently left the bathroom while holding Haeseong, Haeseong’s rampage intensified even more. Due to the continued rampage, Euiju’s body also shook unstably.
Euiju lifted him up for a slightly more stable position. Then Haeseong strongly struck his face downward with his forearm.
Whack—!
“……”
“……”
His face received a strong impact and turned to the side. Even Haeseong’s own body, who had struck Euiju, froze as it was.
Euiju, whose head had turned from being properly hit by the blind arm, slowly straightened his face. Looking down at Haeseong, who was at a loss and avoiding his gaze, he opened his mouth indifferently.
“You should curse instead. If the manager gets another bruise on his face, it’s not me who’ll be in trouble.”
Haeseong had become docile enough to wonder if he was a different person. However, his expression really looked ready to kill someone, so Euiju carefully set him down on the bed. The sheets got all wet because of the damp clothes, but it couldn’t be helped. Euiju rolled up his sleeves fully and said.
“I’ll give you a massage, so lie down.”
“Ah, fuck, really. I said it’s fine! Stop being a busybody and just get lost!”
Haeseong yelled hysterically, but ignoring that, Euiju took the lotion from the shelf and mercilessly squeezed it onto his hands. Watching Euiju vigorously rubbing his hands together, Haeseong doubted his own eyes.
Euiju said firmly.
“If I let you hit me one more time, will you stay still?”
“…What?”
“You called me on a day off when I only get two days off a month, so you should take responsibility.”
“What is that……”
“I threw away my promise to play with my younger sibling and ran here. Since I also gave up one thing, Haeseong-ssi should compromise on this too.”
When Euiju continued speaking with a tired-looking face, Haeseong’s pupils shook wildly as if flustered. Not missing that sight, Euiju added.
“I also experienced terrible growing pains when I was in first year of high school, so I know. If I massage you now, you’ll be able to sleep comfortably at night.”
“……”
Haeseong, momentarily lost in thought, bit his lower lip. He seemed to be looking for words to refute. However, as if he had nothing to say, he stayed completely still for a while before slowly starting to turn his body.
At Haeseong’s considerably softened attitude, Euiju, who had slightly rolled up the shorts Haeseong was wearing, started touching the back of his knees where the pain would be most severe. When the hand covered with cold lotion touched him, he could feel Haeseong flinching. He could feel the tension sharply entering his body, unfamiliar with another person’s touch.
Since he hated skinship so much, he started kneading step by step from the least sensitive areas.
Knees, the front thigh muscles adjacent to the knees, ankles. Euiju skillfully kneaded here and there on Haeseong’s legs.
“……”
A gentle silence settled low in Haeseong’s spacious room. Only the occasional squelching sound from the lotion cut through the silence and emerged.
As the massage continued, strength gradually started leaving Haeseong’s body, which had been completely stiff, and Euiju, noticing this, also loosened up the sensitive inner thigh muscles here and there.
“Is there anywhere that hurts severely when I press?”
“……”
“Please tell me which area hurts how when it’s most painful.”
“……”
“Is it here? Or here……”
“Geez, just do it yourself. Why ask when you’re going to do whatever you want anyway.”
Haeseong grumbled discontentedly with his face buried in the pillow. Though it was full of whining, it didn’t seem like he disliked it. Though it was an impulsive decision, he had also been worried that something might really go wrong, so Euiju, inwardly relieved, let out a sigh of relief.
It was about 30 minutes after Euiju started kneading Haeseong’s legs. Euiju, who hadn’t noticed time passing while concentrating on the massage, found Haeseong somehow quiet and suspicious, so he wiped the sweat that had risen and raised his head.
“……”
“……Ha.”
His cheek pressed messily while lying prone, his lips cutely sticking out. His beautiful eyes peacefully closed, his disheveled hair.
Wasn’t Haeseong sleeping deeply with an angelic face?
He was so cute that Haeseong’s viper-like temperament didn’t come to mind, making him think of his young siblings. His face was so peaceful and comfortable that he wanted to watch over him if possible, so Euiju unconsciously drew closer, knelt on one knee, and looked at that pretty sight.
‘I think this is the first time I’ve seen him sleeping so comfortably.’
Euiju, who had reached out his hand to brush away the hair that had fallen over his eyes, flinched and withdrew his hand. Since he had barely fallen asleep after not being able to get proper sleep recently due to pain, he didn’t want to wake him.
Small breathing sounds came flowing from Haeseong’s mouth. At the appearance no different from his own siblings, Euiju’s lips naturally curved up.
A pleasant quietness filled the spacious room.
