“An arranged… meeting?”
Hyowoo’s voice trembled thinly. When his surprised eyes were clearly revealed, Taeseo hurriedly waved her hands.
“There’s nothing to be surprised about. He’s only going because his great-aunt is pushing him.”
She explained the reason Lee Seohee couldn’t refuse the arranged meeting.
“Her health hasn’t been good since she had major surgery the year before last. The reason oppa went to several arranged meetings he didn’t want to attend before was all because of his great-aunt. She keeps saying it’s her wish to see oppa get married before she passes away.”
The great-aunt, who was close to eighty, was particularly obsessed with him as the eldest grandson, Taeseo added with a sigh.
“She’s someone who nags oppa relentlessly, saying if he doesn’t have someone to date, he should at least go to arranged meetings.”
He never dreamed there were such circumstances.
‘If an unwell person said that much, he wouldn’t have been able to ignore it……’
Because he’s kind and considerate.
Even though he understood enough with his head, a corner of his heart still ached.
“She’s been making a fuss for him to go on arranged meetings since the beginning of this year. Of course, oppa kept refusing.”
“…Why?”
At the question that slipped out unconsciously, Taeseo looked at Hyowoo with an incredulous face. It was an expression asking if he really didn’t know.
“He told her he has someone he likes. So he won’t go on arranged meetings anymore.”
In that moment, Hyowoo’s eyes widened.
‘I thought only his youngest aunt knew… but he told other adults too?’
He couldn’t believe he had said such things to his family when they weren’t even officially dating.
“The adults knew about the dating scandal too, but since oppa didn’t say anything, they just thought it was a rumor. But when he himself said there’s someone he likes and is meeting, everyone was bound to be surprised.”
It became difficult to meet his friend’s eyes at this fact he was hearing for the first time.
Watching Hyowoo blush, Taeseo carefully continued.
“Recently… his aunt collapsed.”
“H-how did that happen?”
When he asked in surprise if she was okay, she reassured Hyowoo that fortunately she had passed the critical point.
“But since she’s elderly, no one knows when or what might happen. Either bring the person he’s meeting, or at least go on an arranged meeting. She was pressuring oppa so much to do one of the two……”
“I… see……”
When he trailed off as if he had done something wrong, Taeseo showed a troubled expression.
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not blaming you or anything.”
He knew she wouldn’t blame him.
However, his heart felt heavy knowing he was experiencing such difficult matters in his family.
“In the situation where you were so sick because of oppa’s matter, he couldn’t suddenly ask you to go meet the adults. But he also couldn’t keep ignoring his great-aunt’s words……”
It wasn’t because of him that he was sick.
Yet thinking of him who kept blaming himself made his heart ache.
“But oppa held out until the end. He insisted he wouldn’t go, but in the end his uncle stepped in and persuaded him.”
At the words that this time too it would probably be a meaningless occasion, Hyowoo quietly nodded as if he understood.
“When is… the arranged meeting?”
“…Tomorrow. Six in the evening, British time.”
Even knowing it was an occasion he was reluctantly going to due to family pressure, the fact that he was going on an arranged meeting was still shocking. But tomorrow already. His fingertips kept trembling, so he lowered his hands and hid them under the table so they wouldn’t be noticed.
“Out of courtesy, he’ll just have a meal and part ways quickly. But……”
Taeseo unnecessarily swept her long hair back with her hand and caught her breath for a moment.
“You never know with people. There will be more arranged meetings in the future, and meeting a few times a year… he might eventually meet someone he likes and get married.”
Marriage. At that word, Hyowoo’s eyes wavered.
Just moments ago he had resolved to let him go. But hearing that he might marry someone else made his heart feel like it was shattering into pieces.
“Are you going to… end it with oppa like this?”
Hyowoo silently bit his lower lip hard and looked at his friend.
“If you were dating and broke up because you got sick of each other, that would be one thing… but it’s not like that.”
Hyowoo and Lee Seohee weren’t dating from the start. But it was no wonder Taeseo misunderstood.
The two had been in constant contact since the blind date.
He flew in from England saying he would celebrate his birthday, saw his face, and returned in one day.
After he entered the country in the summer, they met almost every day.
When they were together, they looked genuinely happy.
To anyone who saw, the two were ‘lovers’ who cared for each other.
“Oppa still likes you now.”
“……”
“And you still like oppa too, don’t you?”
Two people who loved each other so much, yet could no longer face each other.
Watching them from the side, Taeseo felt genuinely sorry.
“Are you okay with someone other than you being by oppa’s side?”
But Hyowoo only moved his lips, unable to give the answer his friend wanted.
* * *
The house he returned to after parting with Taeseo was completely empty.
It was because his parents had also gone out together after a long time, hearing that Hyowoo would be late meeting a friend.
Unable to even think of going in, Hyowoo stood at the entrance and blankly stared at the bright living room.
He looked like an empty shell without a soul.
After standing there dazed for a while, light returned to Hyowoo’s eyes. He quickly took off his shoes and headed to his room.
He rummaged through his desk drawer and pulled out something the size of a notebook. It was a passport issued several years ago.
Holding the passport, he took out suppressants, a prescription medicine bag, and emergency money from the nightstand drawer and put them in his pocket.
“Meow~”
Just as he was about to pack his cell phone charger, Saewoo approached. When he pulled the cat into his arms as it begged to be held, it purred and rubbed its head. He lightly kissed that small head and murmured softly.
“…I’ll be back.”
As if sensing the unusual atmosphere, Saewoo stopped purring and clung to him crying. Hyowoo forcibly pulled the cat off and left the house.
He retraced the path he had come from earlier and headed to the subway station.
As soon as he passed through the ticket gate and arrived at the platform, he searched for a few things on his cell phone, then called Gyeonwoo.
The phone connected with a click— before the dial tone even rang twice.
-Is something wrong? Why the sudden call?
Perhaps because his hyung, who would normally contact him by message, called, there was urgency in Gyeonwoo’s voice.
Unlike his younger brother who was completely tense, Hyowoo calmly opened his mouth.
“Gyeonwoo-ya, I have a favor to ask……”
-A favor? What favor?
“……”
-Ah, what? Hurry up and tell me.
To his younger brother who urged him saying he was frustrated, he spoke calmly.
“Tell Mom and Dad… that I’ll be at your place for a day or two.”
-What kind of nonsense is that? Where are you right now?
Gyeonwoo seemed bewildered by the too-sudden words.
“Going to catch the airport bus.”
-Airport bus? Why are you taking that?
“…To go to London.”
-London?
Gyeonwoo was flustered by the unexpected answer.
-What are you going to do there?
“……”
-Don’t tell me, you’re going to meet Lee Seohee?
“……”
-You haven’t contacted him for months, and now suddenly why?
“I don’t know……”
At the answer without a plan, Gyeonwoo seemed at a loss for words.
-Are you crazy? What are you going to do going there without a plan? Someone who couldn’t eat properly and was barely hanging on with IVs is going where now? You who are directionally challenged and have no sense of direction, alone to London? If Dad finds out, how will you handle the aftermath……
Gyeonwoo, who had been sharply pressing his hyung, suddenly shut his mouth. After catching his breath for a moment and calming his excitement, he asked quietly.
-…Do you miss him that much?
In that moment, tears welled up in Hyowoo’s eyes.
“…Yeah……”
When he barely answered while swallowing tears, a long sigh was heard from the other end of the phone.
-…Alright. I’ll tell them you went on a 1-night 2-day trip with a friend to change your mood. If Mom sends you a message, reply well on your own.
Even though he wanted to chase after him right away and bring him home, in the end Gyeonwoo decided not to stop his hyung.
Even after becoming tattered and covered in wounds, Hyowoo always endured and held back to avoid being a burden to his family.
It had been that way since he was young.
Unlike the first child who was independent and the youngest who was willful, he was the good second child who never once disobeyed his parents’ words.
That gentle hyung had come forward saying he would go meet Lee Seohee despite their father’s opposition.
Even if it meant driving a stake into their parents’ hearts, he couldn’t help but assist him.
-The ticket?
“I’m about to book it now… There are plenty of seats on the midnight departure flight.”
-…Can you handle the plane?
“I’ll be okay……”
Although his symptoms had improved a lot recently, Hyowoo was still suffering from anthropophobia.
When he went to Finland for recuperation four years ago, his noona accompanied him, but this time he had to make the long-distance flight alone, so worry came first.
-You have anti-anxiety medication, right? Make sure to take it, and book a seat in front of the flight attendant seats. If there isn’t one, say you’re an omega when you check in. They might change your seat.
“Okay.”
-Don’t forget to get the suppressant injection at the airport hospital too.
“I got it……”
To his younger brother who was reminding him of things one by one that he already knew, Hyowoo said thank you.
-Of course you should be thankful. If I get caught this time, it won’t end with just me getting scolded by Dad. He’ll disown me.
“I know… I’m really sorry……”
-If you’re sorry, meet Lee Seohee and come back with a clear decision on what you’re going to do from now on. If things stay like this, you’ll really waste away and die. I’m also dried up and can’t watch anymore.
At his younger brother’s words to have a safe trip, Hyowoo ultimately couldn’t hold back and quietly sobbed.
