Perhaps because of my unusual behavior, hyung didn’t rashly press me and kept trying to make eye contact. So our faces unintentionally grew closer and closer.
The closer hyung’s face came, the stronger his dense body scent mixed with cologne became. Perhaps because of the heavy woody fragrance, the surrounding air felt even heavier.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
Hyung was looking down at me from a distance close enough for his lips to touch my forehead. Perhaps frustrated by my lack of response, I could see hyung’s chest puffing up greatly as he breathed out a sigh-mixed breath.
I saw his large hands gripping the lever more firmly, showing no sign of moving aside. Seeing the veins bulging out on the back of his hand, I became anxious too.
How long was he planning to stay like this?
Just looking at hyung’s expression, he seemed like someone who would stay like this all night. The Seongheon hyung I knew wasn’t someone this stubborn. When I whined, he’d say ‘Oh, should we?’ and readily back down, so it was even more flustering that he was being this unreasonable.
Crash.
“Seongheon-ah, did you find your sports bag? Daesu went upstairs first saying he’d go ahead… Huh? Kkakdugi?”
Thanks to Gangjin hyung entering the gym just then, our tense standoff snapped. Only after Gangjin hyung came did Seongheon hyung slowly remove his hands from the lever and stand up straight.
“Yeah, I found it.”
“What are you two doing there?”
“Talking.”
“Talking? But why does Kkakdugi look tearful? Did you scold him hard for ignoring your calls?”
“Scolding… I was just trying to lift his mood.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If that were the case, would Kkakdugi be like that? He’d be clinging to you saying ‘Hyung, it’s been so long, I missed you.'”
“I’m telling you it’s not. Right, Daeyoung-ah?”
Usually when Seongheon hyung called me ‘our Daeyoung,’ the common response was for me to cling to hyung’s arm like taffy going ‘Hyuuung! Play with me,’ but now only a mechanical answer like an AI on a phone came out.
“Yeah, right.”
Taking advantage of Gangjin hyung’s entrance, I quickly stood up from the equipment to get away from Seongheon hyung.
My goal was the exit door leading outside. I was about to walk that way while the hyungs were talking, but Seongheon hyung approached and lightly grabbed my arm. He held it lightly enough that I could shake it off, but I couldn’t.
“Daeyoung-ah, you need to talk with hyung before you go.”
“But Kkakdugi, why did you come to our house?”
When I hesitated to answer Gangjin hyung’s question, Seongheon hyung slightly pulled me toward himself.
My body tilted for a moment and my shoulder almost touched hyung’s chest, but I barely managed to stand and avoid it. I used to like it, saying it was a broad chest nice to hug into, but now it just looked like a wall.
When I stopped being pulled and stood a little apart, Seongheon hyung’s voice tone dropped from ‘Mi’ to ‘Do.’
“Didn’t you say Sojin noona called you here?”
“Our noona did? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
While taking something out of his sports bag, Gangjin hyung mentioned earlier, saying “Come to think of it, noona was asking for my computer password?”
A jolt.
My body jumped as if someone had poked me with a skewer. Was I getting caught like this? Unable to even swallow, I tensed up and focused on the hyungs’ conversation.
“Gangjin-ah, would Sojin noona have reason to touch your computer?”
“Well, is her laptop broken? Kkakdugi, were you with noona then too?”
The hyungs looked at me simultaneously. I looked back and forth between the two of them, completely shrunk like a mouse in a jar.
‘What should I do, they can’t find out I touched Gangjin hyung’s computer……’
Even if I got caught, I decided to play dumb at least once. Nothing to lose, everything to gain!!
“I don’t know!”
“Really? Then you haven’t been here long?”
Gangjin hyung didn’t press further, as if me coming to this house alone wasn’t a big deal.
I can’t believe that worked.
Thinking a long sigh of relief would be too obvious, I breathed in staccato breaths and maintained my composure, pretending nothing was wrong. After doing so, I removed Seongheon hyung’s hand that was lightly holding my arm, then slowly approached the exit door with sideways crab steps.
“I’ll get going now.”
Seongheon hyung smiled kindly again and took a big step, closing the distance between us.
“Daeyoung-ah, it’s cold, you’re going to go like this? I’ll take you.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“No way. You’ll catch a cold.”
I made an awkward expression while looking at Seongheon hyung who was adamantly blocking the exit door to prevent me from leaving.
Unlike back then when he cursed at the end of every sentence, hyung was treating me with a very gentle tone. But now, the more kindly he treated me, the more I knew this appearance wasn’t hyung’s true self, so I couldn’t let my guard down like before.
When I, who used to smile along with him, was frozen unlike usual, Seongheon hyung suddenly erased his smile and firmly grabbed both my arms.
“But, Daeyoung-ah. What did you talk about with Sojin noona?”
“J-just. Nothing much.”
“Nothing much, but noona told you to come all the way here? Why?”
Seongheon hyung always asked sharp questions. While his blood brother Gangjin hyung casually passed it off with ‘Really?’, Seongheon hyung’s eyes showed he was very suspicious of why I came here.
I brought up Sojin noona as a reason from the start because I had nothing else to give…… What would 19-year-old me talk about with a 27-year-old noona? Obviously it’s a lie.
“It’s a secret……”
“Not answering my calls is also a secret, what you talked about with Sojin noona is also a secret…… Our Daeyoung has a lot to hide from me.”
Seongheon hyung’s voice sank very low.
Hyung looked back and forth between my two eyes with a cold expression.
Each time hyung blinked slowly, he alternately examined my eye area once and my lips once, watching my expression. I bit my lips hard together to hide the trembling at the corners of my mouth.
“I’m hurt, you know? That Daeyoung won’t even tell me.”
When hyung put the word ‘hurt’ in his mouth, I was about to become 10 times more hurt than that.
‘You’re hurt by me now? You’re the one who acts caring in front of me while telling Gangjin hyung it’s fun to play with me! Am I that easy to you? You told me the game server was somewhere else, and not knowing any better, I worked hard leveling up while getting little sleep to play games with you. If you didn’t want to play with me, you should have just said so, why make only me the fool?’
I almost poured out all these inner feelings. But now wasn’t the time. If I received an apology from hyung now, my heart might soften again and I could mess up my revenge.
Seongheon hyung seemed determined to drag out my inner thoughts, tinged his eyes with a slightly disappointed look and was encouraging an answer.
In the past, I would have said ‘Hyung, it’s not that……’ and told him everything, but I didn’t want to open my heart to someone hiding their true self. Since Seongheon hyung looked like an actor performing, even when he spoke with deep appeal, it didn’t sound sincere at all.
As my expression grew more and more gloomy, Seongheon hyung seemed to intuit that something had gone seriously wrong and made an awkward expression, not knowing what to do.
“Daeyoung-ah. Look, hyung isn’t trying to scold you……”
Crash.
Just then, Sojin noona entered the gym.
“Huh? You guys, why are you all here? ……Oh!! Daeyoung-ah, what’s wrong? What did these guys say to you?!”
With my shoulders drooped and head bowed, my posture must have looked like I was being threatened to others. At Sojin noona’s interrogation, Gangjin hyung waved his hands in denial, then pointed at Seongheon hyung without loyalty.
“He did it, he did.”
“No, noona. I was just talking with Daeyoung.”
“Just talking? Then why is he like that. Why does the kid look tearful? Huh!!”
Sojin noona quickly came to my side, wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and examined my face. Seeing noona, my tense body relaxed and a sigh of relief leaked out.
Seeing Seongheon hyung after a long time was indeed uncomfortable. This was why I was going to see him after my feelings had settled somewhat. Right now, I really didn’t want to reveal my inner thoughts to Seongheon hyung.
“Let’s go, Daeyoung-ah. Noona will take you.”
“Wait a moment, noona.”
“Huh?”
Seongheon hyung blocked Sojin noona, who was trying to take me out, and smiled slyly. Just when I thought I could finally get out of here, Seongheon hyung seemed determined to know why I came.
Like a tiger that won’t let go once it bites, Seongheon hyung once again pursued the conversation he had with me.
“Noona, why did you call Daeyoung? He said you talked.”
“Huh? I did?”
“Yes. Daeyoung said noona called him here.”
“Uh…… Well, if that’s the case, then that’s what happened.”
Sojin noona seemed slightly flustered at receiving an unexpected question. I hurriedly looked at Sojin noona with pleading eyes.
‘Please don’t mention the computer, please!!! You absolutely can’t mention the computer!! I’ll really die if you do!!!’
Sojin noona was rolling her eyes while watching my eyebrows bounce up and down. Instead of mentioning what I asked her about, she seemed to be quickly looking for another excuse.
Perhaps our exchange of glances looked strange, as Seongheon hyung’s eyes narrowed. They say people who lie do it well, and both Sojin noona and I weren’t the type to lie well, so we stuttered like machines with system errors.
“Well, the reason I called Daeyoung was…… you’re curious!”
“That’s right. Why did I come?”
“Haha. Daeyoung said he wanted to talk with noona? Right? Right?”
“Yes!! I had some concerns, so I wanted to get noona’s advice.”
“Right. That’s it, that’s right.”
“Ahahaha. Noona counseled me well, so my worries end, happiness begins! That’s how it was resolved.”
“Right. Noona is happy that Daeyoung’s worries disappeared.”
“Thank you, noona.”
We seemed to have roughly matched up our impromptu act, but Seongheon hyung’s sharp gaze remained. Hyung stood between noona and me with the determination that he would absolutely not back down unless we convinced him.
“So, what did Daeyoung ask you?”
Seongheon hyung’s attitude was like coming to a place where friends were gathered and asking ‘What are you guys doing? Let me join too,’ but from the listener’s perspective, having no excuse to give, it felt like being interrogated.
