“When did you come out?”
“Just now.”
Against a backdrop of spreading sunset colors, Kwon Wookyung, who had been leaning against the front gate, walked over to my side.
Haeyong wagged his tail happily and pressed his snout against the back of Wookyung’s hand. Wookyung patted Haeyong’s head with an indifferent expression. Then he looked straight at me and said it again.
“I have time.”
I stumbled over my words a little, flustered.
“You— you do?”
“Why? Can’t I go?”
“No, it’s not that….”
I rolled my eyes around before answering. Even if everyone said they’d be disappointed, I figured they’d still welcome Wookyung once he actually showed up.
“Then come along.”
His voice was cool.
“Sure. The others will be happy to hear you’re coming. Actually — what if you don’t say anything and we just surprise them?”
“Whatever works for you.”
He answered whatever works for you in a voice that held absolutely no interest in the reunion. I had no idea what had gotten into him. It wasn’t like he’d suddenly gotten curious about classmates he’d cut off contact with. But from my end, there was no reason to turn him away.
“Well, alright then. Um, I’m heading home.”
My mom had mentioned dinner was almost ready, so I turned my back on Wookyung and started walking toward the house. But then Wookyung started following behind me.
“You don’t have to walk me home, you know.”
“I’m taking a walk.”
Looks like he got bored after being cooped up inside all day and decided to come out. I found myself wondering how many days it had been since he last went outside. I glanced back at him, then kept walking toward my house. Wookyung, claiming to be on a walk, fell into step beside me.
“Did you sleep that day?”
“Yeah.”
“How long?”
“Not sure. I woke up in the afternoon.”
“You slept a long time, then.”
“Can I call again?”
As I turned the corner, just as I was about to say do you even need to ask — my oldest hyung appeared from the other direction.
“Haehyeon?”
Haejun hyung looked like he’d left work early. His gaze, which had been brightening into a smile when it landed on my face, slid over to Wookyung standing right behind me. I watched the corners of his mouth, which had been turning upward, go completely rigid.
“…….”
I was startled by the unmistakable change — too obvious to miss. The expression was too cold for Haejun hyung to be wearing, and for a moment I lost my words.
Honestly, Haejun hyung and Wookyung had never been particularly close. Wookyung was my friend, not hyung’s — but even so, they’d been neighbors for so long, practically family, and I’d stuck to Wookyung so much that we’d gone in and out of each other’s homes like our own, so the distance between them had always been a bit surprising.
Though I don’t think it was like this back when I was in elementary school. At some point, even if hyung ran into Wookyung at home, he’d exchange nothing more than a brief greeting and never anything beyond that.
Haechan hyung was similar. The younger hyung’s personality was rough enough to explain it away… but Haejun hyung was someone who was fundamentally kind and warm to everyone, so it had always struck me as odd.
Still, I’d never seen him make such an openly displeased face before.
Did something happen between the two of them?
I looked away awkwardly and carefully opened my mouth.
“Hyung, you’re home early.”
“……Yeah, I wanted to finish the overtime at home. Were you out for a walk?”
“Uh, yeah. It was stuffy so I just walked around the neighborhood for a bit.”
“The sun’s setting, it’s cold and dangerous. Get inside quickly.”
His words completely ignored Wookyung’s existence, and I lost the ability to respond for a moment.
“No, um… I ran into Wookyung out front, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”
Not used to hyung’s cold manner, I answered with some hesitation, stealing a sideways glance at Wookyung. Unlike me, nervously reading the room, Wookyung — the one being ignored — wore a completely blank expression.
Haejun hyung looked at my flustered face and put on a smile. But knowing hyung’s smiles as well as I did, I could immediately tell it was a fake one.
“Ah. It’s been a while.”
Haejun hyung’s “Ah.” was almost identical to the “Ah.” Haechan hyung had let out when he saw Wookyung on TV the other time. That tone — annoyed and irritated. I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but it still sent a chill down my spine.
“……I hope you’ve been well.”
But Wookyung didn’t seem offended; he dipped his head in a polite greeting. Haejun hyung gave a short laugh — which also wasn’t the way he normally laughed.
“Well, I’ve been fine.”
“…….”
“Looks like you’ve been doing well yourself — filming movies and all. What brings you to this neighborhood?”
“…I moved back.”
“Of all places?”
“Hyung…?”
What’s going on with this atmosphere.
When I called out carefully, hyung turned to look at me and completely dropped the expression.
“Seeing Wookyung after so long — I think I’ll end up talking for a while because I’m so glad to see him. Haehyeon, why don’t you head inside first?”
…He doesn’t look even the slightest bit glad.
I couldn’t bring myself to leave right away, and let my eyes wander between the two of them.
“You have a moment, right?”
At hyung’s question, Wookyung gave a small nod. He kept his eyes downcast, not sparing me a glance, and because of that I ended up telling hyung I understood and pushed open the front gate. Honestly, part of me was suffocating and wanted to escape.
At the same time, curiosity stirred in me, and even as I crossed the garden, I kept turning around — but I couldn’t hear either of them speaking.
Did Haejun hyung always have an expression like that in him?
I brought Haeyong inside while still keeping an eye on hyung, and to my surprise, Shin Haechan was already there.
“What? You’re done already?”
How many days has it been since his rut started? The thought slipped out before I could stop it, and Shin Haechan snapped irritably.
“What, you?”
A flick to the head came as a bonus.
“Ow, that hurts!”
“You didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”
“Do I look like Haeyong? How would I cause trouble at my age?”
He was looking at me like I was a disaster waiting to happen — like a dog who’d been bouncing around and knocked over a family heirloom.
“Don’t be dissing Haeyong. Haeyong is smarter than you, probably.”
“God.”
When I fumed, Haechan burst out snickering.
Haeyong really is pretty smart, but still — comparing a person to a dog was an insult to all of humanity, myself included!
Why is his rut ending already, ugh. Suffer a little longer. I grumbled internally at complaints I couldn’t say out loud, and avoiding my younger hyung, stepped onto the staircase heading up to the second floor.
Then I heard the front door open, and Haejun hyung came in and called out to Haechan.
“Haechan, have you not been looking after Haehyeon properly all this time?”
“We’ve been home together the whole time. Why—”
“Haehyeon came back with Wookyung just now.”
Hyung cut off Haechan’s words and said what he had to say.
“What? Why would he— that crazy— God,”
Haechan muttered something barely audible. From context, it sounded like a curse.
There was no way I could ignore that, so I turned back from where I’d been about to head upstairs.
“Hyung, what’s going on?”
What’s the big deal about running into Wookyung.
I’d directed the question at Haejun hyung, but before hyung could answer, Haechan — who’d been scratching his head roughly — opened his mouth.
“You need to be more careful about the friends you make. Who goes and calls someone like that a friend—”
“Haechan.”
Haejun hyung cut him off quickly, but I had already understood what Haechan was sneering and trying to say.
“What? Since when do you two get involved in my relationships? Do I need your permission to have friends?”
When I asked with narrowed eyes, unable to hide my irritation, Haejun hyung shook his head. But Haechan didn’t stop.
“Friends? Ha, friends?”
“Shin Haechan. Enough.”
“God, this f—…….”
He was clenching his fist with a furrowed brow — clearly holding back his anger.
“What is it? If you have something to say, don’t hold back, say it.”
“…….”
Now that I’d told them to speak, the two of them went silent and said nothing.
A sigh escaped me on its own.
“I know you two look out for me, and I know you’ve never really liked Wookyung — but even so, this feels like too much.”
“…I know. Hyung was in the wrong.”
Haechan said nothing to the end, and Haejun hyung apologized gently.
Suddenly exhausted, I didn’t add anything more and went upstairs to the second floor.
My mood felt strange.
I felt awkward about facing Haejun hyung after getting annoyed at him like that for no real reason.
Hyung treated me just as warmly as always, but I was the one who felt guilty, and things were stilted between us for a few days.
I’d sent Wookyung a text — [heywhatshappendbtwnyouandmyhyung] — but there had been no reply yet.
Is he busy? He said he was resting at home. Like he’d be doing anything other than cleaning his house — can’t even find the time to reply to a short text? You caused a fight between me and my hyung and you don’t even know, do you? Some friend you are.
I kept checking the screen for notifications that never came, and would work myself up enough to jab at the ‘KWK’ contact name, then throw my phone down. For a while there he’d been replying more than usual, but now he’d completely gone dark.
He hadn’t responded by the day of the reunion.
“Take Driver Park’s car.”
“No, I’ll take the bus.”
It’s not like I’m some young master. I swallowed my complaint. It was true that I’d been taking Driver Park’s car a lot lately, since getting around had become harder, but I was never like this originally. I’d always taken public transit just fine.
Haejun hyung opened his mouth to say something, then stopped, and smiled instead.
“Alright. Would it be okay if hyung came with you then?”
“…You, hyung?”
“I’ll just walk you to where you’re meeting everyone.”
That was plenty excessive in itself. But I decided to compromise at this point. I couldn’t keep telling a family that had waited six years without a single change that they were being overprotective. It was true that I’d made them worry… and I didn’t want to hurt hyung anymore.
“Okay. Take the bus with me.”
Haejun hyung quietly followed alongside me as I found my way to the restaurant on my own. I climbed into the rattling bus seat for the first time in a while, opened the window, and felt some of the frustration that had built up inside me ease. What’s the big deal about going somewhere far on my own legs — I was already in a lifted mood.
I secretly sent Wookyung a text — [hey here’s the address for today] — behind hyung’s back, then put him out of my mind. Come or don’t.
“Have fun. Call if anything happens.”
Hyung waved as he watched me head inside the restaurant.
Haejun hyung… felt like a second dad. The sight of his back as he turned to leave was etched into my eyes.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry for getting upset.”
“It’s fine.”
I’d stopped him just to apologize, and hyung smiled, shook his head, and walked away.
I watched his retreating figure, then stepped into the Korean restaurant they’d chosen for the gathering. It was a place known for its Korean beef grill. I still hadn’t gotten my stomach into perfect enough shape to chew through beef, but I figured I should at least treat my friends to some good meat if they were all coming out to see me.
“Um… I have a reservation under Shin Haehyeon.”
“Oh, are you perhaps Shin Haehyeon himself?”
“Hm? Yes.”
“Eek.”
The server standing at the entrance was biting their lip, clearly trying to hold back a smile — which was pretty suspicious.
