“Hey, Ji Gyeonwoo! Come out right now and bow deeply to this hyung-nim, and respectfully receive the snacks with both hands! I went to three different places—the mart and convenience stores—to buy this…”
It was already a bothersome errand, but after going around several stores in the scorching sun, he was completely drained. It felt like he wouldn’t feel wronged unless he at least showed off to his younger sibling who was rolling around in the house with the air conditioner blasting.
However, before he could even finish his sentence, Hyowoo stopped what he was saying. A pair of dress shoes neatly placed at the entrance caught his eye.
Large-sized shoes he’d never seen before. They weren’t there when he left the house. Whether they were new or not, inside the spotlessly clean shoes without a single scratch or speck of dust, the insole was stamped with a luxury brand logo that even he, a fashion ignoramus, knew well.
A chill swept through his entire body.
‘…N-no way… That can’t be…?’
Hyowoo hurriedly took off his shoes and entered the house.
“Ah, Hyowoo-ssi, you’re here?”
Why do ominous premonitions never miss even once?
“You went on an errand for Mother? It must have been very hot outside, good work.”
The person sitting on the sofa petting Saewoo and welcoming him like the owner of the house.
The person he desperately hoped it wouldn’t be—it was Lee Seohee.
With his father’s suit and a bag of snacks in both hands, Hyowoo froze just like that.
‘Wh-why is this person at our house?!’
There was still a long time left until the hour they’d agreed he’d come pick him up.
He only knew the apartment location but shouldn’t know which building and unit number. How did he find it?
‘Wait, more than that… didn’t he hear everything I shouted at the entrance just now?’
Surprise, shock, bewilderment, embarrassment, and even shame. Emotions rushed in like waves.
His face grew hotter and hotter. Right now, he wanted to go into his room, lock the door, and pull the blanket over his head.
Just as he stood there with his mouth half open, turning pale, someone sauntered out from the kitchen.
“Oh, hyung’s here? Why are you so late?”
It was Gyeonwoo.
Holding two iced coffees filled with ice in both hands, he spoke nonchalantly.
“It’s hot, right? Should I make you a cup too, hyung?”
Gyeonwoo called him ‘Hyowoo’ in front of family or close friends, but always used the title ‘hyung’ in front of strangers.
Hyowoo looked at his younger sibling with suspicious eyes as he smiled brightly and showed excessive kindness.
‘This bastard, why is he suddenly doing something he never does?’
The thought that he must have eaten something wrong while he was briefly out was fleeting. Hyowoo soon realized that all of this was Gyeonwoo’s scheme.
That grinning face, a voice twice as cheerful as usual. He was clearly running a simulation in his head of ‘how to embarrass hyung.’
‘But… how did he get this person to come all the way to the house?’
Hyowoo urged with his eyes for him to explain this situation right away.
“You know the dinner appointment you mentioned for tonight, hyung? It got cancelled. So Player Lee Seohee called asking if we could meet earlier, but you left without your phone, right? So I answered instead~”
He’d only realized he’d left his phone at home on the way to the mart.
He hesitated for a moment about whether to go back, but he was only planning to stop by the dry cleaner and mart in front of the house anyway. It would be over quickly, so he headed to his destination as is. However, he ended up stopping by other stores looking for snacks, and it took longer than expected.
‘Still, it was only about 40 minutes…’
But of all times, he never dreamed Lee Seohee would call during that time.
‘Even if it was bothersome, I should have just gone to get it…’
Belated regret washed over him, but it was already spilled milk.
“He said he was near the house, so I told him not to stay outside in the heat and to wait inside.”
Lee Seohee immediately thanked and covered for the younger sibling who looked triumphant as if saying ‘I did well, right?’
“Thanks to Gyeonwoo-ssi, I could wait comfortably in the cool.”
With this, any justification for scolding his younger sibling for answering the phone without permission and letting him into the house without consent completely disappeared.
“Oh, Saewoo. You were sleeping, when did you wake up and sit there?”
Just having him in the house was enough to make him faint in shock, and now even his pet cat Saewoo had completely claimed his lap.
As if just stroking his back wasn’t satisfying enough, Saewoo flopped down right there.
Exposing his fluffy white belly, he begged with his whole body to be touched more. When Lee Seohee gently stroked both his cheeks, under his chin, and behind his ears, Saewoo made a satisfied purring sound.
“Saewoo, you can’t lie there. Come here.”
Saewoo was a long-haired breed that shed fur all year round. If left like that, it was obvious his clothes would become covered in cat fur.
When he had no choice but to reach out to pick up Saewoo, the little guy boldly swatted away Hyowoo’s hand with his plump front paw. Surprised by his pet cat’s unexpectedly cold reaction, Hyowoo withdrew his hand. It was quite a shock since Saewoo had never rejected his touch before.
‘…Am I receiving punishment like this for swatting away Seohee-ssi’s hand at the baseball stadium?’
When he looked down at Saewoo, dumbfounded, the little guy instead made a displeased expression as if to say ‘why are you interfering?’ He thought this must be exactly when to use the saying about shameless audacity.
There was no way he’d remember the video call, so could he really like someone he was seeing for the first time today this much?
“I know you don’t want to get up, but you still can’t do that. Stop it and come to hyung, Saewoo.”
He tried somehow to separate Saewoo, but the more he did, the more the little guy stuck even closer to Lee Seohee, rubbing his whole body and making a fuss.
Saewoo seemed to be shedding more fur than usual today. He could see his shirt and pants gradually transforming into Saewoo’s back pattern. As the fur piled up thickly on his clothes, Hyowoo’s awkwardness only grew.
Unable to do this or that and on the verge of stamping his feet, Lee Seohee told Hyowoo to just leave him be and gently scratched Saewoo’s forehead.
“This little guy is a total lap cat.”
“He has a good personality. He likes people too.”
“The name ‘Saewoo,’ is it because of the gray pattern on his back?”
“Yes. And our siblings all have ‘woo’ in our names.”
“Haha, so that was the reason. You really named him well.”
Following the human younger sibling’s scheme, even the betrayal of the trusted cat younger sibling. At this point, his mind became miraculously calm.
Whether he wanted it or not, Lee Seohee had already entered the house, and his luxurious clothes were covered in fur to an irreversible degree.
Judging that he couldn’t resolve this situation with his own power, Hyowoo finally declared surrender.
‘Ah, I don’t know anymore… I’ll just give up and get comfortable…’
As soon as he acknowledged defeat, extreme fatigue washed over him.
As if all his energy had drained, Hyowoo sat down weakly next to him.
“Taeseo can’t have dinner together?”
“Her boyfriend contacted her saying he probably can’t get off work on time. It’s disappointing but we’ll see each other next time.”
So he came early to go for a drive or something, he said with a bright smile. It was a smile he usually liked, but when he smiled so innocently like that as if not knowing what people were thinking, it really took the wind out of his sails.
“Please wait just a moment. I’ll get ready and come out right away.”
He barely gathered his energy and was getting up from his seat when Gyeonwoo set down the coffee in front of Lee Seohee and spoke.
“If dinner got cancelled and you haven’t decided where to go yet, why don’t you just eat here?”
His younger sibling’s sudden remark stopped Hyowoo’s steps.
“Our parents are coming home late too, and hyung said he had a dinner appointment, so I was going to order delivery and eat alone. If your appointment got cancelled, just eat here. Even if you go outside, it’ll be uncomfortable with people’s eyes on you anyway.”
Just looking at the words, it wasn’t a bad suggestion.
At home, there would be no need to watch out for people or worry about photos or videos being taken. It was quite an attractive condition in that they could eat comfortably without worrying about their surroundings.
But there was a critical problem here. It was the very person who made this tempting suggestion—Gyeonwoo.
What this unpredictable younger sibling would say to Lee Seohee and what he’d ask. Just imagining it made his mind grow hazy.
“Gyeonwoo, your hand is injured too, and it’ll be uncomfortable if there’s a guest. Seohee-ssi will be uncomfortable too. We’ll just go out, so you rest comfortably.”
“I’m not uncomfortable at all. And I don’t want to eat alone. I’m lonely~”
The crafty younger sibling acted cute again. Hyowoo was quite weak to this cuteness, but if he accepted it now, it was obvious an irreversible catastrophe would occur.
He had to somehow separate Gyeonwoo and leave the house with Lee Seohee as quickly as possible, even if just by a minute or second. Just as he was pondering the method, Lee Seohee, who had been quietly watching the two bickering siblings, spoke up.
“That’s actually a good idea, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“It seems like we could eat more comfortably and leisurely than eating outside. It’s also been a while since I’ve had delivery food, so I want to eat it too.”
“Th-that’s true, but…”
“Gyeonwoo-ssi said he’s lonely.”
“Right, I’m lonely. Let’s eat together~”
Did the two of them form an alliance while I was gone?
He looked once at him smiling brightly, once at his younger sibling smiling craftily, alternating between them. There was absolutely no hole to escape through.
As if giving up, watching Hyowoo let out a long sigh—haa—, Gyeonwoo, certain of victory, opened the delivery app with an excited face saying “What should we eat~?”
