#119
Tae-in asked back with a nonchalant expression. As soon as Ha-min heard those words, his face stiffened as if he had turned pale. It was unexpected news. And it was a fact he had completely forgotten about.
“America…?”
“Yeah. He’s going next month, isn’t he?”
Ha-min froze, losing his words and forgetting to breathe.
“You didn’t hear? I guess he hasn’t told you yet. Next month he…”
Ha-min, who had stiffened as if every nerve cell in his body had stopped, couldn’t hear Tae-in’s additional words. Just then, his phone vibrated. The caller was him.
Seeing Tae-rim’s name on the screen, Ha-min suddenly remembered that he had said he would come to pick him up. The time he was supposed to come had long passed. Ha-min jumped up in surprise, quickly gathering his things.
“Ah… I have to go.”
“What? Already?”
“Yeah, yeah. Hyung said he’d pick me up, and it’s past the time.”
Tae-in, who had been chattering away, looked at Ha-min strangely as he fumbled about like someone speaking incoherently.
“What are you saying? Why are you stammering?”
“Hyung is waiting outside… I’ll go. I’ll contact you later.”
“No, wait. Hey, Song Ha-min!”
Tae-in urgently called out to Ha-min, who was disappearing as if fleeing, but Ha-min vanished quickly as if he couldn’t hear anything.
Still, hyung coming all the way here to pick him up… that’s quite something. Tae-in let out a deflated laugh as if finding it quite amusing, and took his eyes off where Ha-min had disappeared. While he was worried about their still ambiguous relationship, on the other hand, he wasn’t worried. In any case, those two…
Tae-in stopped his thoughts and closed the open studio door, as if deciding to worry about himself instead. He had a vague, firm belief that the two of them couldn’t not work out.
**
America? The conversation had taken a completely different direction from what he had been worrying about.
Ha-min stared blankly into space with a dazed expression. A fling? Relationship progress? It was completely ridiculous. Ha-min barely held back a burst of laughter.
“Did you have fun?”
Suddenly, his voice snapped Ha-min back to reality. He asked while gently turning the steering wheel. It was a normal question, but Ha-min blurted out a stuttered reply, “Ah… ah, yeah,” with a startled face. He was surprised that he had forgotten about it for a moment. He knew that he would go back… How foolish to be so shaken like this. Ha-min ran his hand over his face.
Just as Tae-rim sensed something odd and slightly furrowed his brow at Ha-min’s unnatural behavior, Ha-min added with a faint smile:
“I’ll call right away when I arrive. Did you wait long?”
“No. It was worth the wait.”
The smooth curve of Tae-rim’s lips rose gently.
“It’s Tae-in’s birthday soon.”
Ha-min blurted out whatever came to mind. Otherwise, he felt like Tae-rim would read his troubled thoughts.
“Is it?”
He responded in an excessively calm voice. As if it was a topic he wasn’t interested in, he asked without showing any surprise or congratulatory sentiment:
“So you’re planning to hang out together that day?”
“Probably. With everyone else too.”
At Ha-min’s innocent answer, Tae-rim let out an inaudible sigh. He’ll be taking up time again. He muttered words that were barely audible as he stopped the car at a red light.
“Will you be drinking?”
“Most likely…?”
“Where?”
“At the studio. …They said we’ll all have a birthday party together and film a video.”
Ha-min answered straightforwardly like a baby bird receiving food from its mother. Ha-min, who didn’t dislike Tae-rim’s interest in even trivial matters, always innocently told him everything that had happened or been said. But it wasn’t as easy to answer as usual. While responding to each question, Tae-in’s words kept coming to mind, making it hard to concentrate properly.
“So you’re earning money these days?”
“Oh, that… Yeah. Seems like it’s popular. They asked me to come out once instead of giving a gift.”
“What?”
It was just as the light turned green. He looked at Ha-min with displeased eyes, and at the same time, the car behind honked loudly.
“Hyung, green light!”
At the honking, Tae-rim hesitated for a moment before starting to drive again.
“You’re going to be on broadcast?”
“Huh? Oh… Not TV broadcast, internet broadcast.”
“Well, it’s all the same.”
“These days, it’s trendy for ordinary people to do that kind of broadcasting…”
“Either way, you’re selling your face, aren’t you?”
It was ambiguous to use the word “selling,” but he showed a rather displeased expression.
“They just asked me to come out once…”
Ha-min looked bewildered at his somewhat stiffened atmosphere. He couldn’t understand at all which words had upset him.
“Hmm…”
“They said I just need to show my face. I don’t even have to speak.”
“I thought you didn’t like that kind of thing.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just awkward… But it’s Tae-in’s birthday, and I owe him a lot, so at least that much…”
“Owe him?”
“Yeah.”
“What could Ha-min possibly owe him?”
“A lot…”
As Tae-rim glanced at Ha-min with an uncomprehending face, Ha-min touched the back of his neck awkwardly and spoke with difficulty.
“Being able to be with you like this, hyung…”
“…”
“I think it’s thanks to Tae-in…”
Ha-min turned his gaze away, wanting to hide the rising blush. Tae-rim hesitated for a moment, then the displeased look disappeared from his face as he lifted the corner of his mouth. A pleased smile hung there.
“Then I should treat him well.”
Tae-rim thought about transferring the entire studio building to Tae-in’s name, but immediately added, wiping the smile off his face:
“I should treat him very well.”
**
“Why are you coming here, hyung?”
He, who had said he would treat Tae-in well as if gritting his teeth, left the house with Ha-min, saying he wanted to congratulate his brother. Saying it was his first time attending something like his brother’s birthday party, he followed along with a bright smile, saying the only brother should grace the occasion.
Tae-in couldn’t hide his surprise when he saw Tae-rim appear at the studio with Ha-min. Regardless of whether Tae-in was surprised or not, Tae-rim handed over the expensive whiskey he was holding and entered naturally. When Tae-in looked at Ha-min with a face that said “Why is he acting like this?”, Ha-min laughed awkwardly, “Haha.”
“Hyung said he wanted to come…”
As far as Ha-min knew, the relationship between the two was good. If anything, Tae-in was the one who clung to Tae-rim, but Tae-rim, uncharacteristically, tended to receive his brother well. Tae-in knew this fact, but he knew even better that this person who was his brother was not the kind of caring person who would remember his younger brother’s birthday.
“It’s my only brother’s birthday, I should come.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“I just want to try properly playing the role of a brother to my younger sibling, even if it’s only now.”
“They say if a person changes in an instant, they die. It’s true.”
Tae-in looked at Ha-min with a pretend scared face as Tae-rim gently smiled and stroked his head. Ha-min smiled innocently, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Ha-min always liked seeing Tae-rim take care of his younger brother.
“It’s fine if you’re here, but we’re going to film a video today.”
“Carelessly filming such things is a violation of portrait rights. You’ll get sued.”
“What are you saying, leave if you don’t like it?”
As Tae-rim casually said this while scanning the interior of the studio, Tae-in waved his hand as if he had nothing to lose.
“I originally asked Ha-min anyway?”
“That’s why.”
Tae-rim smiled diplomatically. Understanding the meaning of the inexplicably chilling smile, Tae-in let out a small sigh, “Ah…” and then burst into laughter as if finding it absurd. Making a fuss for nothing. He clicked his tongue to himself and continued.
“Anyway, then your face will be in it today too, hyung.”
“I know.”
“Are you really okay with that?”
When did you ever agree to appear together even when I asked?
“Yes. But my left side looks better, so adjust the angle accordingly.”
You narcissist. Tae-in swallowed the words lingering in his mouth and just smacked his lips. But he was annoyed by Tae-rim’s attitude of agreeing to appear now as if doing him a favor, when he had completely ignored his many requests to appear before. He scurried over to Tae-rim and grumbled.
When his brother asked like that, he kept his mouth shut. As Tae-in chattered away, Tae-rim just nodded as if half-listening, carefully examining the well-decorated interior of the studio. Watching the brothers who, despite everything, weren’t on bad terms, Ha-min slowly withdrew the smile he had been wearing. Though he was smiling in his own way, on the other hand, he didn’t feel like smiling.
It had been a few days since he heard about hyung’s departure to America from Tae-in, but he still couldn’t ask about it and was at a standstill. Just when it seemed like this relationship was finally improving a bit, what was he thinking? If he was planning to go back anyway… why did he hold onto Ha-min?
It was a bad thing to do to him. Although he had thought that what Tae-rim had done to him so far was wrong, he never thought it was malicious. But this issue was different. This time, it was hyung who had held onto him. Not himself, but hyung… if he abandoned him again like this, what should he do now?
After hearing the news of his departure to America, fragments of forgotten memories came back to life. He was originally supposed to return to America, and there were rumors about an engagement or something. While engagement itself is unfamiliar in our country, given his family background, it wasn’t an unusual thing.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
