Chapter 15

“Hyung, why are you here already?”

“Why? Can’t I come [home] early?”

“It’s not that…”

Still speaking, Ji Seok glanced at me and swallowed back his words, as if hesitating about something. While looking at him, Ji Geon-hyung ate the leftover rice and emptied the bowl.

“Why are you already [home]? Han Minah said she was borrowing you until late at night.”

Minah-noona’s face came to mind which I had forgotten since I was with hyung. I also remembered Ji Seok in the picture where he was smiling happily with her, and turned my gaze away from him, lowering my eyes.

“Why didn’t you come, hyung? Noona called you too.”

“I can meet [her] separately, later. I didn’t want to show up as just a baggage carrier like someone else.”

Ji Geon-hyung got up from his seat, stacking the finished dishes one by one.

“I parted with my partner early today because they had something to do. So, as a substitute for someone else, I was eating the food Woo Seo made ”

My shoulders shrank with shock at the word “substitute”, but I couldn’t correct him, so I kept my mouth shut. It was like admitting that he was Kang Ji Seok’s replacement, but I couldn’t say anything because he wasn’t wrong. At times like this, I would have lied, like would with hiding my feelings for Kang Ji Seok, but I never opened my mouth.

Then, as if he was fine with it, Ji Geon-hyung stroked my hair as he passed by.

“You came to eat too, right?”

From behind came the sound of dishes being put down in the sink.

“Look, it’s only your favorites.”

In the strangely heavy air, something like an invisible needle pricked my skin. The feeling was clearly flowing from Kang Ji Seok. There was none of his characteristic smile, his eyes were so sharp that I was reminded of Ji Geon-hyung. I wondered why the jerk1 who threw away his friend to go out and happily play came back early, out of the blue.

I could only empty half my bowl and stood up, feeling like I was going to have an upset stomach, but Ji Geon-hyung approached imperceptibly from behind and gently pressed on my shoulder to sit down.

“Finish eating. If you don’t want to eat alone, I’ll sit down too.

“No, I’m done eating2.”

“You think that’s enough? That’s why you’re so skinny.”

Ji Geon-hyung held onto my forearm with one hand while glancing at me, and I choked up3. Usually a bowl of rice is generous enough and I wouldn’t be treated like this, but this is clearly because of Kang Ji Seok.

I opened my mouth to protest that his hands are big and that I’m not skinny, rather my bones are just thin.

“I’m not skinny…”

“I’ll stay with you, so hyung can go do what he needs to do.”

Kang Ji Seok spoke coldly and sat down in the seat opposite from where Ji Geon-hyung had been eating. Without taking off his jacket, he put the bag he was carrying on his shoulder roughly on the floor next to the table, and suddenly looked straight at me. It was unusual for Kang Ji Seok to stare at me so plainly while making such a serious face that, without realizing, I felt nervous.

While looking at each other, Ji Seok suddenly grinned as usual. Only then, did the stifling, cold atmosphere felt like it cleared up.

“Woo Seo-ya, do you have any rice left? I’m hungry.”

Kang Ji Seok’s carefree words overshadowed my nervousness. At the same time, I had a hateful thought. He went out with Minah-noona and must have gotten something delicious to eat, why is he talking about food as soon as he comes back from playing outside?

“I have no food for you.”

“Lies. You only had enough for two bowls of rice? You must have some extra for me just in case, right? Right?”

This demon-like bastard.

When [I] rapped Ji Seok on the head with disapproving eyes, he pressed on the sore areas with his hands and made a playfully tearful face. It was such a funny face that I couldn’t help but laugh.

After the atmosphere changed, the bout of indigestion completely disappeared. At that time, Ji Geon-hyung, who was watching us quietly, left the kitchen and went back to his room. I listened to Kang Ji Seok’s favorable comments [about the food] and couldn’t leave until he quickly emptied two bowls of rice.

That night.

It was almost midnight before I knew it, so I slowly got ready for bed. There were a few post-it notes on the open pages of a book, but I haven’t read it all yet, so I placed bookmarks in them. I thought I should eventually make a small program based on the examples on this page. It’s quite difficult but an essential part of coding when making applications, so I’d have to get some help from Ji Geon-hyung.

‘I’ll mark it first and ask him when he comes.’

I thought I could make it right away if I could solve the parts that I didn’t understand.

So I spent time surfing the web, leaving the bookmarked book on my desk. As I was in the middle of it, I looked at the time belatedly and half an hour had passed.

‘Is he working?’

He’d usually come for me around midnight, and he would send me a message first if he thought it would be too late to sleep because of work. My phone was still quiet and there was no sign of him coming, I worried about what I should do. It was too late to wait, hyung had to go to work early in the morning the next day, and I also had to head out as early as possible since I had class in the morning.

After another ten minutes of waiting, I sneaked out of the room to figure out what was going on.

My room was closest to the front entrance, and as soon as I opened the door, I had to pass the living room with a veranda to get to Ji Geon-hyung’s room at the end. In addition, Ji Seok’s room was right next to hyung’s room, so I had to be careful in case he might hear the noise and come out. It’d be embarrassing if he saw me secretly heading to his brother’s room late at night.

I took a step past the living room, where the lights were out, smothering the sound of [my] footsteps.

‘Hm? Where is the smell of cigarettes…’

I was confused by the faint smell of cigarettes, and I could hear an indistinct voice. The voice from outside the apartment felt close enough for me to hear; if I listened carefully, I could understand what they were saying.

There was no need to look around. Through the thin curtains of the floor-to-ceiling glass leading to the veranda of the panoramic living room, the moonlit shadows of two men could be seen. I was surprised at first but quickly noticed that it was two men of familiar stature.

Curious of the unfamiliar scent of cigarettes and the conversation between the two of them, I quietly approached the door of the veranda. Even though the curtain was thin, it was dark around the room, so the two didn’t seem to notice at all.

“I mean, I want to know what you’re thinking, hyung.”

I heard Ji Seok’s slightly irritated voice. It couldn’t be anyone else, but it was very rare for this to happen with Kang Ji Seok.

“You don’t have any idea? Why are you getting mad at me when you just came back from hanging out with Han Minah?”

“Do I look like I’ll keep quiet, now?!”

Ji Seok’s voice rose. I was stunned because this was also incredibly rare, but more than that, my heart sank when I heard Han Minah-noona’s name. I forced the stinging in my chest to calm down with my fist.

“Lower your voice, Kang Ji Seok.”

Ji Geon-hyung’s silhouette, exhaling out a long smoke of the cigarette, spoke threateningly.

“You’ve been following Han Minah around since a long time ago. While you were there [with her], you should’ve played and had fun.”

My heart was pounding so hard that my head was throbbing. My heavy feet suddenly began to slowly retreat back.

“Or do you not like Han Minah anymore? You said she was your ideal type.”

I didn’t want to hear any more. If Kang Ji Seok even said it with his own mouth…

“I like her.”

My legs were wobbly for a moment. My heart was beating so fast, I was out of breath.

“I still like Minah-noona, I do.”

I felt like I was shot to death. I was expecting it, but Kang Ji Seok’s words were so clear that I couldn’t deny it.

Ji Geon-hyung holding a cigarette in his mouth, turned around and leaned on the railing and gaze turned this way. Ji Geon-hyung’s sharp eyes looked through the narrow gap of the curtain. When our eyes met in the dark, I just wanted to get out of the place instead of thinking that I should apologize quickly because I was caught.

As I slowly stepped back, I could hear Ji Geon-hyung’s voice in my ears.

“Alright. That’s enough.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore and went into my room. After exhaling harshly, as if I lost all my strength, I laid down flat on the bed with my arms and legs spread out4.

My heart still didn’t want to calm down.

‘What’s the matter with you?’

With a forced smile, I laughed at myself.

‘You knew it, but now you’re…’

I already knew that Kang Ji Seok liked Minah-noona. The same goes for the ideal type he talked about and the way he looked at Minah-noona. Anyone who has known Kang Ji Seok for a long time might quickly notice it.

The conversation from before made me feel so terrible, as once again, I tried to wedge the impossible in someone I knew was hopeless.

I shouldn’t have listened. If I had just returned to my room…no…I would have regretted not leaving the room until hyung called me.

‘If we hadn’t lived together in the first place, I wouldn’t have heard that conversation…’

I regretted every single trivial thing. It was better when I didn’t know and was just unsure.

Uungh–

As I caught my breath with my eyes closed, the phone in my pants pocket vibrated. When I took it out, there was a message.

[Come to my room. I’ll comfort you.]