Chapter 23

As expected, her eyes widened at what I said.

“College? Why there?”

“Go and hang out with my brother for a while.”

“Ji Seok-ie? Ya, I don’t get what you’re talking about. Am I the weird one?”

After receiving the card front the employee who returned after paying, I passed Mina, who still didn’t understand, and went outside.

After returning home, I pretended to be drunk and headed to Woo Seo’s room. The room my sister was using was already soaked with the scent of Woo Seo’s body and it seemed like his breath had diffused everywhere.

Kindly, Woo Seo, who didn’t try to just put me to bed, earnestly tried to carefully loosen the seemingly stuffy areas [of clothing] as I stroked his head and watched him.

It was important to act like Ji Seok from time to time.

Sime like Ji Seok, pet him like Ji Seok, and treat him kindly like Ji Seok. For Woo Seo, this involved basic acting. Only then will he accept my hand docilely without being tense all the time. Not only that, but I had to make him gradually rely on me to crave my hand first.

I hugged Woo Seo, who had been sleeping with his face leaned against my hand, and laid him down on the bed properly. For a while, I looked down at Woo Seo, who was sleeping deeply, and I smiled faintly.

Rather than staying calm, a little stimulation will produce faster changes.

Han Mina will be an important stimulus for Woo Seo.

++++++++++

“Hyung, what is it?”

Ji Seok called me out to the veranda and I took out a cigarette, he stared at me with cold eyes that resembled mine. As the corners of his eyes raised sharply on his cold expressionless face, I thought he certainly resembled me.

“What?”

I nonchalantly replied and took out my cell phone. Even if Ji Seok kept calling, I took my time thanks to using work as an excuse, and it was already thirty minutes past midnight.

‘It’s about time for him to come and check it out.’

Since it’s to provide stimulation, I had to do it properly, so I deliberately timed my moves. As expected, Woo Seo’s door should be opened at this time.

“You told Mina-noona to drag me around.”

At Ji Seok’s words, I took my eyes off my cell phone and looked at him.

‘It couldn’t be Han Mina opened her mouth, could it? The tight lips should be the same as before.’1

Perhaps he noticed my thoughts, Ji Seok took it upon himself to explain.

“I happened to see your reply to Mina-noona.”

He was probably referring to the message I sent of ‘drag him out as late as possible’ in response to the friendly photo of the two of them sent to me for confirmation and the perfunctory message of ‘you come too’. Ji Seok is a slow person but he has good sense in strange places, so sometimes he catches important parts like this.

It didn’t really matter whether Ji Seok noticed it or not anyway.

“So what?”

“…What were you thinking? I was dragged around by Mina-noona, what good is that for you, hyung?”

“Does it have to be something good for me? You’ve been eyeing Han Mina for a long time, so I wanted you to have fun.”

“Don’t joke around!”

Ji Seok raised his voice for some reason. I put a cigarette in my mouth and tried to light the lighter, but my hands stopped.

“Kang Ji Seok.”

I raised my cold eyes and looked at Ji Seok.

“You’ve grown a lot. To raise your voice at me.”

Ji Seok’s shoulder flinched once at the low voice. However, he didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down.

“Is it my misunderstanding that you intentionally separated me from Woo Seo and tried to stay with him, hyung?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you come home early today, abandoning your partner of the ring?

“It’s a bit weird to say that I abandoned them. It’s just that the timing wasn’t right.”

“Don’t lie. If you don’t meet them, you’ll stay up all day. Will you be able to cancel your appointments so easily?”

In fact, it wasn’t that important to me because I didn’t have such a promise, but today must have felt unusual for Ji Seok, who thought there was a different partner for the ring. I returned home early, abandoning the ring’s partner for Woo Seo, who was alone.

I lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply. The acrid smoke filled my lungs and soon scattered through the cold night breeze.

“Hyung.”

Ji Seok’s eyebrows were gathered with trembling eyes. His sharply raised eyes fell as anxiously as his voice.

“Not Woo Seo.”

I tried to inhale the cigarette in my fingered one more time, but I stopped. Ji Seok began to persuade me, asking for a favor.

“I know he’s your type. But he’s my friend. Are you going to mess with him, too?”

It was then that I understood what Ji Seok was thinking.

For the past three years, unlike in the past when I was indifferent to dating, I’ve had quite a few lovers. They were all men, skinny, moderately tall, well-behaved model schoolboy style, and they were younger with a considerable age difference.

At that time, I thought it was just my preference.

Until I met Woo Seo again and knew that he was connected to the ring.

A small chuckle came out. It’s funny that I spent three years ignoring that my type itself was Shin Woo Seo. Except for Woo Seo, it was nothing more than a row of shells that resembled him.

I was pathetic and laughed at myself, but Ji Seok interpreted the laugh in a different sense.

“If you touch Woo Seo, I won’t leave you alone, hyung.”

The corners of Ji Seok’s eyes were raised high again.

“Leave him alone. He’s not a person you can just throw away, like other lovers that you’ve dealt with suitably.”

“Don’t overreact.”

Just like Ji Seok, my eyes were raised threateningly.

“I just came home early by chance, and the message I sent to Han Mina was nothing. Isn’t it going too far ahead to put Woo Seo in this?”

With that said, I turned my head in the direction of the wind and sent the cigarette smoke away. Then, through the slightly open curtains in the living room, I realized that the light from Woo Seo’s room was streaming on the floor.

Looking at the dim shadow of a person that could be seen with that light, the corner of my mouth raised slightly.

“I hope my thoughts are wrong. I’m usually slow so I hope I was mistaken, like an idiot…!”

“What do you mean, I guess I do like Woo Seo quite a lot.”

Was it just that I like him? Now, I was so full of thoughts about him that my head is about to explode.

I cut off Ji Seok’s words, put a cigarette in my mouth, and gave him an arrogant smile.

“It was like that three years ago, and now he’s still cute to me.”

Ji Seok’s face was distorted from the tension. I turned only my eyes and lowered my voice as I watched the footsteps walking towards this way in the small light seen through the curtains.

“I didn’t bring Woo Seo home simply because he was your friend.”

“Hyung!”

Ji Seok clenched his fists and looked threatening.

“What exactly does that mean? What are you thinking about?”

Instead of answering, I took a deep breath with the half-smoked cigarette in my mouth. Ji Seok’s face became anxious as quickly as the fast-burning cigarette. I took a step toward the entrance, exhaling the cigarette smoke.

“Stop being so concerned and go to bed now.”

Ji Seok just frowned then blocked the way.

“You can’t go until you answer me.”

“Stop it, Kang Ji Seok. Why do you keep asking me to answer?”

“So? I want to know what you’re thinking.”

Listening to Ji Seok’s annoyed voice, I looked away slightly. At first glance, I could see the tip of Woo Seo’s toes through the curtains. It was probably [close] enough to hear our conversation.

“What’s there to think about? You had fun with Han Mina and came back. Why are you so angry with me?”

I deliberately brought up Han Mina. Ji Seok’s face was distorted as if he was even more frustrated.

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

Ji Seok’s voice was so loud to the point my ears hurt. Seeing Woo Seo’s silhouette flinch, I also had eyes as threatening as Ji Seok’s.

“Lower your voice, Kang Ji Seok.”

There was still more for Woo Seo to hear, but it would be a waste if he thought we were fighting and rushed in to stop us or went back to his room.

I inhaled the cigarette one more time as I watched Ji Seok struggle, biting his lower lip and catching his breath.

“Since a lone time ago, you’ve been following Han Mina because you liked her. You should’ve played as much as you wanted while you were there.”

Ji Seok’s brows furrowed strangely. As we were talking about Woo Seo, suddenly I was talking about Han Mina and Ji Seok’s eyes seemed to be arguing that that wasn’t important at the moment. Before Ji Seok could say anything else, I took the initiative to strike first and continued to backbite.2

“Or do you not like Han Mina anymore?”

“What?”

Ji Seok’s face was doubtful again.

“You said she was your ideal type.”

As of in a rush to answer, Ji Seok’s eyes trembled for a moment. Then, soon he came up with the answer I wanted.

“I like her.”

Done.

“I still like Mina-noona, I do.”

In the past and now, Kang Ji Seok’s ideal type has been Han Mina. When she went to study abroad, he sat on the floor and cried loudly, until this day, he never looked at any women other than Han Mina.

But I knew it.

It was true that Kang Ji Seok liked Han Mina and she was his first love, but it was only a childhood thing. Now, he wasn’t aware that he looked at her as a good older sister, it was not at all close to love. That’s what Kang Ji Seok said himself.

Ji Seok opened his mouth again as if to repeat the words he told me before, “I still like her, but only as an older sister.”

“But…!”

“Okay.”

I purposefully leaned against the railing, blocking Ji Seok’s words. Through the gap of the curtain, I met eyes with Woo Seo trembling in the dark.

“That’s enough.”

Woo Seo hesitantly stepped back, and soon turned around completely and returned to his room. The lights in Woo Seo’s room streaming on the floor gradually became dim and then disappeared completely.