“Haha. I told you not to be surprised.”
Euiju said while carefully applying ointment to the scrape on Haeseong’s calf.
“But how can I not be surprised when they suddenly rush at me?”
Haeseong, lying face down on the bed with his face buried in Euiju’s pillow, stuck out his lips and grumbled.
The flustered Haeseong, surrounded by the twins who let out scream-like sounds, had stepped backward and almost tripped over a bicycle that was standing behind him.
Since his right arm was in a cast, if Euiju hadn’t grabbed Haeseong, he would have fallen and strained his arm. Though he got a scratch on his calf from scraping against the pedal, it wasn’t deep. Euiju carried Haeseong inside like a princess and laid him on the bed to apply medicine.
Euiju, who finished treating the wound meticulously, organized the medical supplies and dusted off his hands.
“So kids. Prince Wonho hyung’s arm hurts, so no rough play. Play together with something gentle. Got it?”
Euiju, who finished the treatment, got up from his seat. The children, who had been watching Haeseong while looking at him curiously, nodded their heads vigorously as if pleased. At Euiju’s unexpected words, Haeseong frowned.
“W-wait a minute. Where are you going, leaving me behind!”
Haeseong reached out to grab him, but Euiju left the room swiftly.
“Ahjussi!”
“Prince oppa. Big oppa isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to do the dishes, so why are you yelling?”
“Right. He always does that first when he comes home.”
Haeseong tried to get up and follow Euiju in confusion, but the twins quickly blocked his way.
“Prince oppa. What do you want to do? Choose quickly.”
Euiho and Euiseong were holding a board game each and smiling brightly. Haeseong had to let out an absurd chuckle looking at the obliviously cheerful children.
Leaving Haeseong with his younger siblings, Euiju came out of the room and finished the piled-up laundry and dishes, even completing the bathroom cleaning. He kneaded his stiff shoulders and drank some water.
“Whew.”
Noona, whose body was uncomfortable, was too overwhelmed to even look after the children, let alone do housework. That’s why Euiju took care of all the household chores, but after being away from home for a few days, the amount of housework was considerable and took quite a while.
Hearing a noisy sound from inside the room, Euiju became curious and approached the door. He worried whether Haeseong would get along well with his younger siblings, but thinking his siblings were kind and well-mannered, he had left Haeseong with them, wondering if anything would happen.
As soon as he cracked open the door, Euiseong’s aggrieved cry burst out.
“Prince oppa is mean! Adults should yield to children!”
“Right! Hyung hogged everything. How can this be! Euiju hyung isn’t like this!”
“You’re being ridiculous. When did you complain when you ganged up and attacked? Now you’re making a fuss? I’m demanding my taxes fair and square, got a problem with that?”
“Even if the two of us pool our money, it’s not that much… If you let it slide just once, I’ll definitely pay next time. Huh? Adults should yield to children!”
“Whatever, just give me the money quickly. And I’m not an adult, okay? Just because I’m taller than you makes me an adult?”
“Pfft-!”
Euiju, who almost spat out the water he was drinking, urgently covered his mouth with the back of his hand, but couldn’t stop the bursting laughter.
It was too funny seeing a kid turning seventeen this year fighting with kids who just turned eleven.
‘Should I be thankful he’s at least not cursing?’
Haeseong, who noticed Euiju’s presence from the laughter heard through the door crack, shouted while wrinkling his brow in displeasure.
“Ahjussi! Your siblings are real scammers, ahjussi. These two are right now doing to me……”
“Hyung! This hyung is really weird!”
“Right! Euiju oppa said we twins are practically on the same side. He’s so different from Prince oppa on TV!”
Before Haeseong could finish speaking, the twins simultaneously clung to Euiju’s waist. Euiju, full of laughter, first scolded his two rushing siblings.
“Mmm. Prince oppa is like that because he’s hurt right now. Our good Euiseong and Euiho, let’s be generous and let it slide.”
“Hurt? You mean his arm?”
“Yeah. Euiho and Euiseong, think about it. If one arm was hurt so you couldn’t play or eat properly, wouldn’t you be upset? Prince hyung is hurting a little right now, so let’s have our twins understand. Okay?”
“…Tch. Fine.”
At Euiju’s words treating him like a patient, Haeseong’s eyebrows twitched violently. Euiseong and Euiho stared at the cast on Haeseong’s arm, then nodded as if understanding.
Just then, the sound of the front door opening was heard. Euiyeon and Roun had arrived.
“Unnie!”
The children quickly ran out of the room. Euiju, left behind alone, casually asked Haeseong, who was sitting on the bed with a sulky expression.
“That’s my noona and youngest. Want to go say hi……”
“Why do you take care of them first?”
“What?”
“You’re my manager. Just now I was in an unfair situation too.”
Haeseong, who threw out the words irritably, looked at Euiju with disapproving eyes. Haeseong seemed upset by Euiju’s action of soothing his siblings first, putting himself second, rather than the children’s behavior. Euiju was dazed for a moment, then let out a chuckle.
“Okay, okay. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
“……”
“Let’s go say hi to Noona. Roun will be happy to see you too.”
When Euiju patted his shoulder to appease him, only then did his sulky expression ease a little.
“……Fine. Whatever.”
Euiju carefully helped Haeseong up, then gently pushed his back and led him toward the living room.
“Wow. Who is this? How long has it been since I saw our Euiju… Oh my.”
“Euiju hyung! Waaaaah-!”
Euiyeon stopped in surprise seeing the new person standing behind Euiju. Roun, who came down from Euiyeon’s arms, burst into tears and ran over as soon as he saw Euiju. Euiju lightly lifted the rushing youngest and held him in his arms.
“…Hello.”
When Euiyeon greeted him in bewilderment, Haeseong nodded with an indifferent face. Then he glared at Roun, who had instantly nestled into Euiju’s arms, with drowsy eyes.
Euiyeon took off her shoes and quickly came inside, whispering to Euiju.
“What? If you were going to bring someone, you should have told me in advance. I really just did simple grocery shopping today.”
“It’s just for one day, so what. I’ll make dinner, so Noona go inside and rest.”
“…Really. Roun, come here.”
“No! I’m staying with hyung! Huuu……”
As if not wanting to separate from Euiju, whom he was seeing after a long time, Roun wrapped his arms tightly around his older brother’s neck. Euiju stroked Roun’s back and patted his still-small back.
“I’ll hold him and do it. Roun, say hello. It’s the hyung you saw on TV, right? Say hello.”
“…No.”
Euiju turned his body so Haeseong could be seen well. However, Roun didn’t pay attention to Haeseong and just buried his face in Euiju’s nape.
At that blind devotion, Haeseong’s brow wrinkled noticeably. The awkward Euiju rolled his eyes as if troubled.
“Want to go in the room and wait? I’ll call you when dinner’s ready, so rest.”
At Euiju’s words, Haeseong stared at Euiju intently. After doing so for a while, he turned his body sharply without lingering regret and entered the room.
‘What’s he sulking about now?’
Looking at the back of the child who was clearly sulking, Euiju chuckled and opened the refrigerator door.
Euiju began preparing dinner while holding Roun, who didn’t want to leave him. His movements were so skilled and relaxed that he didn’t put Roun down except when chopping on the cutting board.
“Why isn’t our Roun eating lately? Should hyung make you omurice today? Let’s eat that and then have cheesecake. How about it?”
“No… I’m not hungry. I want to stay like this……”
“If you don’t eat, I won’t give you cheesecake either, you know? Ah. Roun is too heavy now, hyung is having such a hard time. If someone gave hyung a kiss on the cheek, I think I’d get energized.”
When Euiju playfully tickled Roun’s sides, Roun burst into giggles. Roun immediately stuck out his lips like a beak and gave a smooch on Euiju’s cheek. Soon several kisses were exchanged on the lips as well. Roun’s face was full of satisfaction and happiness, glad to be able to act spoiled in his most devoted older brother’s arms.
As they were preparing dinner so affectionately and harmoniously.
“You could put him down and do it. Why are you doing it so uncomfortably?”
At the sound suddenly heard from behind, Euiju flinched in surprise.
“What? When did you come out?”
“Why are you doing that with something so heavy?”
“What? Roun?”
Haeseong nodded displeasedly. Euiju continued nonchalantly.
“This was the first business trip this long since I started working. He really followed me around, but he couldn’t see me for several days, so I’m holding him as much as we missed each other.”
“……You’re holding him as much as you missed each other?”
“Yeah. He’s still a kid, so what does it matter?”
At those words, Haeseong’s face crumpled. As if something didn’t sit right with him, he even chewed his lower lip, blatantly showing his displeasure. The corner of Euiju’s mouth, who glanced at that complexion, rose slightly.
‘What’s making him uncomfortable this time?’
“If you want to watch, sit in a chair and watch.”
“…No thanks. What’s there to see?”
Leaving those words, Haeseong turned back without lingering and headed to the room where the twins were. When Euiju let out a laugh, as if upset, Haeseong roughly slammed the door shut.
