Slam.
“Hey! Come out. Eat.”
It must already be dinner time. Daesu hyung suddenly opened my door without even knocking, said just that, then slammed it shut and left. I stopped staring at the monitor and turned around to look at the closed door.
“He has no manners. He should knock.”
Slam.
“What? You punk?”
I flinched in surprise at hyung barging in again and quickly minimized the game screen with Alt+Tab.
“Can you hear me even from outside the door?”
“I was eavesdropping to hear what you’d say. Are you playing games? A high schooler not studying like you should.”
“Hyung also played games with the hyungs every day.”
“That’s because I was originally good at studying.”
“I’m done for in terms of making it through studying. I’m just going to play games.”
“I’m going to tell Mom and Dad. That you’re just playing games every day with the computer you asked them to buy saying you’d listen to online lectures.”
“Ah! Tattletale!”
“I will. Good luck.”
Slam. I followed hyung’s back with my eyes until the end as he closed the door and left.
It was frustrating, but unlike me, Daesu hyung was good at studying. He didn’t even get tutoring like Gangjin hyung or Seongheon hyung, but he did better on the college entrance exam than those hyungs and even receives a scholarship on his own.
He was already treated well for being the eldest son, so I, the youngest, grew up being neglected, only wearing clothes hyung handed down. So I thought I’d inherit hyung’s computer as is too, but for some reason, hyung didn’t give me his computer and instead took it to the backyard and smashed it.
When I witnessed that and said I’d tell Mom, he silenced me by giving me the money from selling the remaining parts as allowance. Well, for me, buying a new computer was more of a gain anyway.
Like that, I thought hyung and I maintained an appropriate cooperative relationship, respecting each other’s boundaries, but I didn’t know he’d corner me like this over playing games.
“Ah, shit! I told Mom I wasn’t playing games!”
When I brought the game screen back up, Seongheon hyung kept giving me heals while calling for me. He must have killed the surrounding enemies with an area skill because items dropped by monsters were placed in a circle around us.
[Party] Enter1: Daeyoung! Daeyoung~~~~ Daeyoung~~
[Party] Enter1: Where’d you go, leaving hyung behind?
[Shout] Enter1: Did Kkyudaeyoung-nim go to take an emergency shit?
When I sat down, I saw shout messages flashing loudly at the top of the screen.
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: Ah hyung!
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: Hyung came in for a moment
[Party] Enter1: What did Daesu say?
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: Uh, he said he’d tell Mom if I play games. That I asked for a new computer saying I’d study
[Party] Enter1: You leveled up this much playing secretly?
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: Yeah. I ran it every weekend taking 4-hour power naps
[Party] Enter1: If you don’t sleep, you won’t grow taller. Though our Daeyoung is perfect the way he is now
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: I’m already done growing. I’m a senior in high school
[Party] Enter1: I grew until senior year though
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: Well, hyung is the tallest among the hyungs. I thought Gangjin hyung would be tallest. He exercises so he has the best body
[Party] Enter1: You like a body like Gangjin’s?
[Party] Kkyudaeyoung: Yeah, I think Gangjin hyung’s muscles are the coolest in the world
[Party] Enter1: Should I build my body too? But Daeyoung, you’re perfect the way you are now
Slam.
Just then, the door suddenly opened again, and I quickly pressed the computer shutdown button.
“Hey! I said hurry up and come out!!!!”
Hyung yelled at the top of his lungs in extreme anger. Normally I would have answered okay and followed hyung obediently, but today my mood was twisted. I felt a pointless rebellious spirit.
“I said okay!!!!”
“How rude, raising your decibels at hyung?”
“Hyung raised them first!”
“How many times do I have to tell you to come down! Huh!?”
As we grumbled and a fight was about to continue in my room, Mom yelled from the stairs going down to the first floor, “Hurry up and come down!!!” so without regard for who was first, we kicked out of the room and rushed down to the first floor.
The real power in our house is Mom. If you get on Mom’s bad side, your allowance gets cut and you face disadvantages in many ways. Hyung knew that too, which is why he came up to the second floor twice to tell me to come eat.
When I entered the kitchen, spicy braised short ribs were placed on the dining table. As I brightened up and sat down, hyung clicked his tongue as if looking at the most pathetic person in the world.
Mom scooped rice and placed it in front of me while nagging.
“What were you doing that you didn’t come down? Huh!”
“I was listening to an online lecture, but I couldn’t pause it.”
“Then you can just listen from the beginning again.”
“I had almost finished it……”
I answered with a smile, pretending to be the best son possible, but hyung gestured with his chopsticks as if to poke both my eyes.
Really, the fact that I grew up this upright under a hyung like that could only be explained by being inherently good-natured. The theory of innate human goodness was clearly created based on me.
First, while Mom moved away from the dining table, I quickly lowered my phone under the table and sent a message to Seongheon hyung.
[Sorry ㅠㅠ — 18:02]
As soon as I sent it, I got a reply from hyung.
[↳ Why are you crying? Is Daesu bullying you? — 18:02]
[Yeah ㅠ — 18:02]
[↳ This won’t do. I need to bring Daeyoung to my house. — 18:02]
[Yeah ㅠ Take me away — 18:02]
[↳ Hurry and grow up so you can marry hyung — 18:03]
[Can’t I now? — 18:03]
[↳ Now? Do you have money to pay rent? — 18:03]
[Isn’t everything free when you get married? — 18:03]
[↳ I’ll take less instead. 100,000 won a month? — 18:04]
[Does that include internet and electricity? Will you feed me too? — 18:04]
[↳ If you’ve married me, you should cook and serve me food — 18:04]
[What, that’s a housekeeper. Then you shouldn’t charge rent. Should I just get hired as a housekeeper at hyung’s house instead — 18:05]
[↳ You’ll really be my personal housekeeper? Then you’d have to scrub my back when I bathe, feed me, put me to sleep every single day and all that, you know? — 18:05]
[Hyung that’s a slave — 18:06]
[↳ At my house you have to do all that — 18:06]
[Then cancel — 18:06]
[↳ I’ll give you a salary — 18:06]
[How much a month? — 18:07]
[↳ How much do you want? — 18:07]
[You offer — 18:07]
[↳ 3 sheets? — 18:07]
[Super sweet deal, deal — 18:07]
[↳ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ — 18:07]
[I’ll pack and go today. Do you take middle school graduates? — 18:08]
[↳ No, you have to graduate. And do you know how much 3 sheets is? — 18:08]
[Isn’t it 300,000 won? — 18:08]
[↳ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ — 18:08]
Tap tap tap. Hyung glanced at my hand tapping on the phone screen and tattled to Mom. He couldn’t know the content, but he probably suspected I was cursing about hyung to my friend. This is why usual conduct is important.
“Mom! Daeyoung’s not eating and touching his phone.”
Daesu hyung immediately tattled to Mom, and Mom threatened me by shaking the ladle she was using to scoop soup. I’ve been hit on the head with that once and it hurt quite a bit.
“Daeyoung! What’s with last month’s microtransaction?”
“Mom, that’s when I went bowling with friends and we were short on money…… The kids paid for the game fee and I bought drinks instead.”
“You didn’t charge game money or anything like that, right?”
As expected, our Mom knew everything. Actually it was game charging, but I absolutely denied it.
“No, Mom! Can’t Mom trust her son?”
“Anyway, Bae Daeyoung! What did I say about touching your phone at the dinner table?”
“Why only me? Hyung touched his too.”
Hyung retorted “When did I?” while neatly using his chopsticks and eating his meal quietly.
Daesu hyung acts extremely fake in front of Mom. In front of me he curses freely, but in front of Mom he sits properly and acts cute saying ‘Shall I peel the garlic?’, and in front of our aunts he massaged their shoulders saying ‘Aunt, I’ll fry the jeon. Rest a bit.’ That’s why the New Year’s money hyung and I received differed by 3 times since we were young. So that’s why it’s called New Year’s money.
Not just Daesu hyung, but Seongheon hyung and Gangjin hyung also received a lot of New Year’s money, so after the holidays passed, they were busy going downtown to flex. They wore expensive brand long paddings, shoes, bags—you name it, but unlike those hyungs, I mainly bought from discount stores selling off-season items.
“Hello, ma’am!”
“Oh, Gangjin came?”
“Hey Gangjin, hurry over.”
“Huh? Gangjin hyung!”
While eating, Gangjin hyung came to our house. Gangjin hyung is a family of 4 including his older sister, and when he’s home alone, he often comes to our house for dinner.
“Mom, I’ll go to the neighbor’s for a bit. Feed Gangjin well. Gangjin, eat a lot!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
I got up to scoop rice for Gangjin hyung and looked out at the yard through the living room window. A lime green beetle foreign car that appeared to be Gangjin hyung’s car was parked between Daesu hyung’s used car and Mom’s compact car.
I placed the rice bowl in front of Gangjin hyung and prepared his spoon and chopsticks too.
“Gangjin hyung, is that much rice okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“But hyung, your car is really cute. Like me.”
When I heard Gangjin hyung’s deflating laugh sound, I felt a bit offended. Daesu hyung sitting next to him was also similarly raising one corner of his lips while tearing into meat.
So I also shut my mouth tight while tearing into the braised ribs. As expected, the only one who accepts this kind of joke is Seongheon hyung. If it were Seongheon hyung, he would have patted my butt and praised me saying our Daeyoung is the cutest…….
I don’t know why that kind Seongheon hyung hangs out with blunt Gangjin hyung who has no love for humanity and that bratty Daesu bastard. They say birds of a feather flock together…… Looking at these guys, it didn’t seem to be the case.
“Where’s Seongheon?”
“I don’t know. He’s ignoring my messages.”
“Me too. Why does he keep ignoring them?”
“How should I know? He only answers when he feels like it. Call at his place after eating?”
“Call.”
“He’s not pretending he’s not home like before, is he?”
“Then we’ll just go in through the window. We can just tear the window paper.”
“His house has security. What’s in there? White porcelain or something?”
“Ah, that thing that looks like a chamber pot? Having security for a few of those is way overkill.”
“Don’t ever say chamber pot in front of his father. You’ll really get hit with a chamber pot, you.”
The braised ribs were spicy so I eavesdropped on the hyungs’ conversation while drinking fruit juice. Seongheon hyung replies to my messages sharply but is ignoring the hyungs’ messages, which made me feel pretty good.
‘At least I’m better liked than the hyungs, right?’
