“Jang Miro!”
“Miro-ssi is washing up.”
“There’s not even a sofa in this corner of the house, how annoying.”
That was something Eunchan also agreed with. The man, who had been extremely irritated, went and sat at the dining table. As he took out a handkerchief to wipe his hot sweat, Eunchan drew cold water and held it out to the man.
“Your shoes……”
The man’s sneakers left marks on the marble floor. Unable to watch that sight any longer, Eunchan opened his mouth.
“Where did he pick up something like this?”
His face had a dark bruise from being hit, and a bandage was loosely tied around his head. A crazy person wearing matching clothes with a strange rabbit doll. Eunchan couldn’t bring himself to explain and kept his mouth shut. The man, who had been looking at Eunchan with his head quietly lowered, put his lips to the cup and then immediately took them away again and got angry.
“Not cold water, bring lukewarm water.”
Do you think I’m your servant? Eunchan released the strength from his naturally clenching fist and smiled generously. He didn’t know what relationship he had with Miro, but if it was nothing special, he wouldn’t let it slide. Eunchan ground his teeth while mixing hot and cold water from the water purifier.
Thanks to putting the cup down with force, water droplets splashed in all directions onto the dining table with a loud sound. He could hear the man cursing again, but Eunchan calmly ignored it. And he sat diagonally across from him and observed the man. The man, who drank water little by little like bird feed, looked both youthful and sickly. His somewhat long black straight hair covered his pale face.
“What are you staring at?”
“You were at the hospital, right?”
While examining the man’s features, they felt familiar somewhere. It was the man in the wheelchair who had caused a disturbance at the hospital. He must have completely recovered by now, right? Eunchan nodded while looking at the man who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and jeans and walking on two feet.
“You know me?”
“No.”
However, the other person didn’t remember Eunchan. He didn’t have a temperament that would be easily forgotten. It was difficult to guess what kind of relationship he had with Miro. A man who looked so prideful and neurotic had a personality completely opposite to Miro’s.
“What do you do for him?”
“What?”
At the out-of-the-blue question, Eunchan immediately asked back.
“That bastard must have given you work. What do you do for him?”
“……You must give him work often.”
It was ambiguous whether he knew about commissioning him to get rid of the stalker, or whether Miro frequently went to the errand center normally. Eunchan hid the request he’d received as much as possible and asked the man.
“He makes people do fucking everything, that psycho bastard.”
His eyebrows naturally contorted at the words cursing Miro. Who was calling whom a psycho? The man leaned back in his chair and sneered at Miro. He hated seeing those thin, roundly curved eyes.
“What are you doing?”
While they faced each other and had a battle of wills that wasn’t a battle of wills, Miro, who had apparently finished washing and come down to the kitchen, stood in the hallway looking back and forth between Eunchan and the man.
“Hyung.”
The man opened his mouth and called Miro hyung.
“Hyung?”
Hyung? That man is Miro’s younger brother? Eunchan unknowingly repeated the man’s words in a loud voice at the surprising statement.
“Why, why did you come?”
“Does a younger brother need a reason to come see his hyung?”
Miro mumbled his words and slowly approached Eunchan’s side. Unlike the somewhat intimidated Miro, the younger brother’s side was confident. Even though it seemed fine to be next to his younger brother, Miro deliberately stood next to Eunchan and picked up the doll. Eunchan pulled out the chair next to him and sat Miro down.
“Go……”
“I want to go too. But I came because hyung won’t meet me.”
He couldn’t easily intervene in the conversation between brothers. While he was just caught between the two and reading the room, Miro grabbed Eunchan’s hand under the dining table. At a glance, they didn’t seem to be on intimate terms. But for that, it seemed like Miro had spoken quite affectionately about his younger brother. Eunchan tried to recall their previous conversation.
‘He, he’s pretty. His personality is al, also good! He’s kind, and, and smart.’
‘If he looks like you, he must be pretty.’
‘Yeah. He’s very pretty.’
Wasn’t he a younger brother he’d separated from when they were young? He praised him tremendously, saying he was pretty and kind. However, the younger brother he actually faced didn’t really resemble Miro. Unless he revealed himself as his brother, he could even look like a stranger.
The genes must have gone to one side. Only his pale complexion resembled Miro—the younger brother had ordinary features. His eyes weren’t long at the corners like Miro’s, his nose wasn’t high, and his mouth wasn’t round either. Unlike Miro, who was close to a gorgeous beauty…… he was just an ordinary man. The kind of man you’d commonly see if you went out on the street.
“Hey, look away.”
As if noticing that Eunchan was comparing him to Miro, the man spoke sharply. How many comparisons must he have suffered growing up? Eunchan nodded with a pitying heart.
“Hee, Heewoo-ya.”
“……Hyung.”
Miro called his younger brother in a small voice. Their names weren’t even similar—Jang Heewoo, Jang Miro. The man suppressed his emotions and answered Miro.
“You have to go, go to the hospital. You’re not feeling well……”
“Fuck. Are you kidding me?”
He couldn’t understand why he suddenly burst out in anger. The man struck the dining table with his fist and shouted. At this, the startled Miro clung to Eunchan’s arms. Even Eunchan’s heart beat fast.
“Why are you suddenly yelling?”
“Hyung, hyung! Are you determined to bleed me dry?”
Finally, Eunchan blocked with his body as the man tried to cling to Miro. Miro trembled in fear, and the younger brother also shook his fist in rage. Just as he was about to worry that he might hit Miro, the man suddenly collapsed.
“Hey!”
Eunchan, who hastily stood up from his seat, supported the man lying on the floor.
“Miro-ssi, call an ambulance.”
Since Miro was just blankly staring at his collapsed younger brother, Eunchan urged him to quickly call 119. However, instead of looking for his phone, Miro took the place where Eunchan had been supporting him. After entrusting the man to Miro and standing up, Eunchan soon stopped at the buzzing vibration sound. Miro took out the phone from his younger brother’s pocket and answered the call. The caller ID letters that filled the screen were ‘Hospital.’
“He, hello. ……Yes, he just collapsed, ple, please come quickly.”
“Is it the hospital?”
After finishing the short call and immediately hanging up, Eunchan asked Miro.
“Yeah.”
“Will he be okay? Is this person very sick somewhere?”
Did he even leave without permission? It was also strange that someone who was in a wheelchair suddenly recovered enough to walk. If the hospital was calling right away, it seemed like he had a chronic illness. Eunchan was anxious, worried that the man might be in trouble. However, unlike when he was talking with his younger brother and was extremely frightened, Miro calmly took care of his younger brother. He lifted his chin so his breathing wouldn’t be blocked and even massaged his arms so blood circulation would be good. It was meticulous care.
“Eunchan shouldn’t do it.”
Eunchan was also trying to massage the man’s legs when Miro stopped him. Instead, he was asked to open the door so the ambulance could enter at any time. Eunchan left the kitchen and stood in the hallway looking at Miro and his younger brother. Miro’s touch examining his younger brother was touching and looked compassionate.
This person has a family. A relationship that he dare not break. That realization stirred his heart. He was the one who couldn’t have anything. Who had pitied whom? Eunchan looked forward again. The long hallway without sunlight was dark and gloomy like Eunchan’s heart.
After letting the paramedics inside, Eunchan sat in the rocking chair in the garden and took a rest. Soon the man was loaded onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, and Miro saw him off. Eunchan quietly watched that scene.
When all the visitors left the house, Miro began busily going back and forth here and there.
“Eunchan, where is Eunchan?”
He’s looking for me. Eunchan got up with the intention of teasing him a bit and hid his body behind the swing. It was easy to hide thanks to the overgrown weeds and bushes.
“Eu, Eunchan……”
Miro, who had been going around inside and outside the house repeatedly, soon began wandering the garden like a madman. When he saw him spinning in circles around the same place, Eunchan called out to Miro.
“Miro-ssi!”
Miro, who turned his head toward where Eunchan’s voice was heard, ran over hurriedly. He was barefoot, as if he’d already lost one shoe. While holding Miro who rushed into his arms, Eunchan sat down on the swing. Eunchan’s clothes got wet from Miro’s wet hair.
“Whe, where did you go?”
“I’ve been here the whole time.”
He’d unnecessarily teased Miro because he was sulking. Eunchan kept talking to him in a small voice so Miro could calm down.
“Did you send your younger brother off well? Didn’t you have to go to the hospital together?”
Honestly, he thought Miro would follow his younger brother out. Eunchan asked Miro with curiosity.
“Yeah. It’s okay.”
He didn’t know if his younger brother was okay or if Miro was okay. Eunchan didn’t ask deeply because he didn’t want to get involved between brothers.
“I saw your younger brother for the first time. You don’t really look alike.”
You’ve heard that a lot, right? Eunchan joked and laughed. Since there was no one to respond even when he joked, he felt embarrassed. Eunchan looked down at Miro, who was concentrating on the sound of his heartbeat.
“……You get along well with your younger brother?”
He remembered how he’d treated him like a young brother. He’d been so affectionate even to him, a stranger, so he would have done even more for his real younger brother. Eunchan secretly swallowed his envy.
“No.”
However, Miro gave a completely different answer.
“You’re not close?”
“Noo, we’re not close.”
Miro, who denied it once more, deeply inhaled Eunchan’s body scent. Unlike Miro, who had calmly settled down, Eunchan couldn’t contain the question marks that kept rising and kept opening his mouth.
“Didn’t you like your younger brother? You said he was pretty and kind…… Anyway, you said that.”
