Haeseong crossed his arms while looking down displeasedly at the side dishes set before him.
“Why are there no raw vegetables? What about sous vide chicken breast? Don’t you have salmon or duck breast? You know what diet I eat every day. At the very least, give me brown rice instead of white rice. There’s no proper protein, so what am I supposed to eat?”
“……”
“……”
“……”
The meal table, which had been noisy with many children, instantly became quiet due to Haeseong’s complaints. Not only Euiyeon but also the twins, and even the youngest, blinked and looked at Haeseong. Only Euiju wiped Roun’s mouth as if accustomed to it.
“What is this? This is fried food. Isn’t this canned ham? No matter how poor you are, to have a meal with things like this……”
“Haeseong-ah.”
Euiju, who had been pouring water into everyone’s cups, opened his mouth indifferently without turning his head.
“You won’t die.”
“……”
Haeseong’s mouth closed shut. His eyes turned slightly triangular as if displeased, and Euiyeon, who had been watching such a Haeseong, covered her mouth and burst into silent laughter.
Because the gap between the celebrity Jin Haeseong’s image portrayed in the mass media and his actual appearance felt somehow newly striking. It felt like discovering the human side of Haeseong, who had always shown only bright, pretty, and good sides.
Even seven-year-old Lee Roun ate his meal with clumsy hands without complaining about the side dishes. Perhaps embarrassed while looking around at the children eating quietly, Haeseong eventually picked up his spoon.
Their dinner was doenjang-jjigae, dried radish, grilled canned ham, seasoned spinach, and stir-fried fish cake and mini pork cutlets. Haeseong glared at the doenjang-jjigae scooped into his portion with a bitter expression, then let out a deep sigh and put a spoonful in his mouth.
“How is it? Is it edible?”
Haeseong’s expression changed subtly. His eyes narrowed as if doubting something while looking at the doenjang-jjigae. Soon he began eating the stew consecutively.
“Isn’t it too salty? If it’s salty, eat mainly the side dishes instead of the stew.”
He cut the grilled ham and placed it on Haeseong’s spoon, who couldn’t use chopsticks. The boy who was staring at it hesitated, then put it in his mouth.
“How is it?”
Haeseong had no answer. When Euiju arbitrarily placed various side dishes on his spoon, he just diligently brought them to his mouth. The speed was somewhat fast, and the corner of Euiju’s mouth, who was watching from right next to him, rose.
Haeseong had always eaten mainly salad and protein shakes, beef or unseasoned grilled fish. Though he had said it was good to eat a lot without being picky during the growth period, Haeseong hadn’t listened at all, but now that he tried regular food after a long time, it seemed to suit his taste.
Eventually, the rice bowl was emptied in 5 minutes, and Haeseong turned his head to the opposite side and said.
“…Give me more rice.”
“Puhaha-!”
Euiyeon finally burst out laughing. Haeseong blatantly glared at Euiyeon as if embarrassed. His cheeks flushed a pretty pink.
That was when it happened.
Roun, who had been watching the whole process with displeasure, stuck out his lower lip and grabbed Euiju’s collar.
“Hyung. You don’t do that for me anymore saying I’m all grown up now. But that hyung is much bigger than me……”
At Roun’s whining, Haeseong snorted and pointed at his cast.
“Hey. Don’t you see this? I’m clearly a patient……”
Euiju immediately intervened and blocked Roun’s view.
“Mmm. This hyung is all grown up, but right now his arm hurts so he can’t move. That’s why I’m helping Prince hyung eat quickly so he can play with our Roun faster. Understand?”
“Tch……”
Though Roun had a sulky face, as if wanting to show off the chopstick skills that Haeseong couldn’t do, he began earnestly picking up side dishes to eat.
It was so obvious that he was upset because he wanted to cling to his hyung after a long time and act spoiled, but an intruder appeared. Euiju and Euiyeon’s gazes intertwined, and they both suppressed their rising laughter.
Haeseong’s gaze turned from Euiju, who was placing spinach on his spoon, to Roun. The gazes of the 7-year-old child and the 17-year-old teenager entangled.
“……”
“……”
A subtle battle of wills passed between Haeseong and Roun.
Just then, Euiju picked up a piece of ham and tried to place it on Haeseong’s spoon.
“Eat this too.”
“I’m tired now. Feed me.”
“…Here.”
When Euiju brought the food to Haeseong’s mouth, Haeseong gulped it down like a baby bird receiving food. At that sight, Roun whined in displeasure, but instead of the preoccupied Euiju, Euiyeon patted Roun’s shoulder.
A victorious smile slightly appeared at the corner of Haeseong’s mouth.
“Why exactly do I have to do that?”
“I told you. There are only three rooms, so there’s no choice.”
After helping Haeseong wash up simply, he had given his room to Haeseong as a place to sleep. There were three rooms total: one was eldest noona Euiyeon’s room, one was his room, and one was the children’s room.
Not only did he have to watch Roun, who didn’t want to leave his arms, but he judged it was right to give the room to Haeseong since he was a guest. That’s why he had just said he would sleep with the children, but……
“If I roll off this narrow bed, will you take responsibility? If my arm gets strained because of that. I’m entering movie filming from next month, so if I get injured again, will ahjussi take responsibility?”
“…Since it’s a narrow bed, shouldn’t you use it alone even more?”
“Two people can lie down. You have to be next to me so I don’t fall.”
When Haeseong insisted unreasonably, Euiju’s position became difficult. When he was troubled about what to do, Roun, who had been clinging to Euiju’s thigh and glaring at Haeseong, suddenly shouted.
“Euiju hyung is sleeping with me! Prince hyung, why are you being stubborn when you’re not even family! Euiju hyung is my hyung, huuu……”
Roun, who had been feeling strange about Haeseong since earlier, finally burst into tears. Surprised, Euiju quickly picked up Roun.
“Okay, okay. Hyung is sorry. Hyung will sleep with Roun. So don’t cry. I’m sorry.”
Haeseong’s face became blatantly distorted. It was an expression as if dealing with something troublesome.
“Kid. Your hyung is my manager before being your family, okay? That means it’s more important than family. If your hyung doesn’t take care of me, your meal ticket……”
“Jin Haeseong.”
When he began in a cold tone, Haeseong’s words naturally cut off. Euiju embraced Roun’s head in his arms and said sharply.
“I’ll put him to sleep and come back. So wait.”
At Euiju’s cold words, the frozen Haeseong couldn’t grab Euiju, who entered the room, and had no choice but to stand there bewildered. Haeseong, who stood blankly in front of the closed door for a while, trudged into the room with a feeling of somehow having lost.
“…Fuck. Why isn’t he coming?”
Haeseong, who had been lying on the bed looking only at the ceiling, muttered irritably.
Euiju’s room was extremely cramped. Even with only a desk, bed, and two pieces of furniture, the room was packed full with no space to step.
However, Haeseong felt a strange sense of stability in this place, narrower than his own bathroom. As narrow as it was, the body scent that the room’s owner gave off stimulated his sense of smell every time he moved. This small room felt warm and gentle like his manager’s arms, much better than his own house, which was empty and just spacious.
However, since it wasn’t as warm as the person’s actual arms, Haeseong irritably checked the time.
「23:17」
It had already been two hours since he said he would put him to sleep and come back. He threw his phone far away and covered his eyes with his hands.
At some point, he became someone who couldn’t move at all when facing Euiju’s cold gaze. Though he resented him for taking his younger sibling and entering the room, he couldn’t follow him in.
He didn’t want to be hated by him. He didn’t want to lose his arms.
Once he had it, he could know. How warm and cozy a caring and warm adult’s arms were.
Haeseong, who knew this fact too well, became afraid of the very idea of being hated by Euiju. That’s why, as he promised with him, he didn’t carelessly throw out words, and even when angry, he endured three times.
‘…But still, this isn’t right. He said he’d come.’
He had waited quietly because he was told to wait. He waited without falling asleep in the house covered with quiet silence, only waiting for his manager to come. He thought this was enough waiting.
Haeseong, who threw off the blanket covering him, put his feet down from the bed. He opened the door and headed to the master bedroom that Euiju had entered.
Knock-.
“……”
Even when he knocked, no signs of presence could be heard. Haeseong, who was originally impatient, opened the door without thinking to knock more.
“…What.”
In the room slightly larger than Euiju’s room, on the thick blanket spread on the floor, four siblings excluding the eldest Euiyeon were clinging together.
Haeseong’s body froze at the sight of that scene.
Whether he had fallen asleep while putting Roun to sleep, on the sleeping Euiju’s right arm, Roun was lying with his arm wrapped around Euiju’s waist, and on Euiju’s left, Euiseong was sleeping while hugging his oppa’s back tightly. Euiho was closely attached behind Roun, tightly holding Euiju’s hand that protruded beyond Roun’s body.
All the children were clinging to Euiju.
What a truly curse-worthy peaceful and warm scene it was.
The moment he faced the scene unfolding before his eyes, Haeseong had to experience the strange feeling of all the blood draining from his entire body.
It seemed like transparent and solid threads were wound tightly around them. Such solid threads that would never open a gap to outsiders beyond this family.
-Euiju hyung is sleeping with me! Prince hyung, why are you being stubborn when you’re not even family! Euiju hyung is my hyung, huuu…….
The affection and kindness of Euiju that he could receive only by enduring and making efforts was just the basic baseline for Euiju’s family. Because they were a family formed by strong blood ties, the love passing between them was natural and also rightful.
Since Lee Euiju was no different from playing the role of a parent, the children must have leaned on their hyung, oppa even more.
Looking at it this way, he felt he could never fit in between them. He seemed to understand why Euiju endured all the tantrums of a much younger human for their sake, and didn’t quit work even while getting injured because of Jang Yeonguk.
“…Fuck.”
Haeseong felt somehow desperate.
He was completely incomparable to them. Because they were blood relatives. Because no matter what he did or how he did it, family would take priority over him, who was tied to Euiju through a business relationship.
“……”
Haeseong’s eyes sank while looking at them sleeping soundly for a long time, unaware of the world. Losing even the sense of purpose of having come to get Euiju, he slowly turned his body and quietly closed the door and came out.
Haeseong felt like he was about to cry for some reason.
***
Even without Roun, who slept a lot in the morning, the breakfast table was lively because of the chattering twins. Euiju, who had fallen asleep while putting Roun to sleep yesterday, felt sorry to Haeseong for no reason and took care of him even more meticulously than last night. However, Haeseong’s reaction was more minimal than expected. He just moved his spoon mechanically like when eating his usual diet.
It was when they were almost finishing their meal. Haeseong, who had been eating quietly, put down his spoon. Euiju said affectionately.
“Finished eating? Give me the bowl……”
“Ahjussi.”
Haeseong raised his head. At Haeseong’s voice that somehow seemed calm, the gazes of Euiyeon, who had been wiping Euiho’s mouth, and even the twins, who had been playing with fallen rice grains, gathered in one place.
Haeseong and Euiju’s gazes entangled just like that.
“If I want to become family with ahjussi too, what do I have to do?”
