Chapter 49
His gaze naturally turned to the phone.
On the screen was one unsaved number. If it had been a regular number starting with an area code, he wouldn’t have paid much attention to it, but the number on the screen was a mobile phone number starting with 010.
“……”
Since there was no answer, the vibration that had continued for a while stopped. The screen flashed and switched, leaving a missed call notification. After a few seconds, the screen turned black.
Almost simultaneously, Yuwon emerged from the bathroom. He was rolling down the sleeves he had rolled up with hands still damp with water.
“Huh? You haven’t eaten yet?”
“We should eat together.”
“You could have eaten first.”
Yuwon sat down in his chair hurriedly, looking apologetic. Then, as if by habit, he touched the screen of his phone placed on the table. It wasn’t with any particular intention, but rather a meaningless action, as if he was just checking it because the phone was there.
And Jeonghyeok carefully observed Yuwon at that moment. With his hands, he kindly served butter, while with his eyes, he stared intently at Yuwon’s face.
It was only for an instant, but Yuwon’s lips stiffened slightly after checking his phone. It was such a small change that no one else would have noticed, but it was clearly visible to Jeonghyeok’s eyes.
Yuwon quickly composed his expression and picked up bread as if nothing had happened.
“Wow, the bread is warm.”
“Right.”
While responding appropriately, Jeonghyeok continued to watch Yuwon.
When they each ate a piece of pre-meal bread, the salad came out, and around the time the salad plates were emptied, the main dish, steak, was served. Yuwon ate well overall. Without leaving anything, he chewed thoroughly and swallowed properly.
But he couldn’t fool Jeonghyeok’s eyes.
“What are you thinking about so much?”
“What?”
“Your expression doesn’t look good. Is something not to your taste?”
“Ah, no. Nothing like that.”
“Really?”
You’re even lying.
Jeonghyeok smiled faintly as he picked up his knife. In his mind, he quickly repeated the phone number he had seen earlier.
The last four digits came to mind clearly, but unfortunately, he couldn’t properly remember the middle digits. It wasn’t a big deal. He could check Yuwon’s phone while he was asleep.
He would have to find out who owned that number. There was no particular reason or basis, but his instincts were telling him to do so. It was a kind of intuition.
***
As soon as they returned home, Yuwon went into the bathroom attached to the bedroom. He took out his phone from his pocket and checked the one missed call.
He couldn’t see it properly at the restaurant earlier, but checking again, it was indeed Minhyeon’s number.
‘Yuwon hyung. It’s me, Minhyeon.’
The morning phone call came to mind again. Startled by Minhyeon’s sudden contact and stammering, Yuwon finally managed to speak.
‘Uh… Minhyeon.’
‘I contacted you after such a long time. I’m sorry.’
Minhyeon spoke as if he was truly sorry, but there was actually nothing to be sorry about. Originally, after being adopted, it was common for people to naturally drift apart. Even if not, sometimes adoptive parents would prevent contact with children from the orphanage.
It’s not just you, everyone becomes like that, Yuwon said, trying to speak brightly. He meant not to feel guilty and to live his life well.
However, Minhyeon seemed to completely fail to understand the meaning of what Yuwon was saying.
‘Hyung, could we meet?’
He had expected it, but after contacting him for the first time in 4 years, this was all he had to say.
He must be bored since he hadn’t been discharged long ago. Being from a professor’s family, he wouldn’t lack money, and he would have plenty of time before returning to school. With such leisure, past connections might come to mind.
But even so, you shouldn’t do this to me.
‘What would I do meeting you now? Should I see how you’re living and feel envious?’
‘I didn’t mean it that way. I just… I missed you, hyung……’
At Yuwon’s thorny words, Minhyeon seemed quite flustered. But Yuwon firmly conveyed his intention not to meet and hung up the phone.
If he said he didn’t want to see Minhyeon, that would be a lie. They had shared a room for 8 years. They woke up at the same time, wore the same uniform, and went to the same school. They studied, exercised, and played games together. Without Minhyeon, he couldn’t explain his school days, or perhaps his life itself.
He wasn’t just a best friend. He was family and a brother to him.
That’s why he hated him more. His petty heart couldn’t celebrate the happiness of those closest to him. Jealousy and envy. Longing and admiration. The enormous emotion mixed with a trace of guilt tore apart eighteen-year-old Yuwon’s insides.
To him, Minhyeon was like a wound that wouldn’t heal no matter how much time passed. When he thought calluses should have formed by now and looked, it still hurt like the first time—that kind of wound.
Looking at Minhyeon’s missed call on his phone, his chest ached again. He was living somehow, forgetting everything, so why was he being hurt again now? He hated Minhyeon’s thoughtlessness so much.
After thinking for a moment, Yuwon blocked Minhyeon’s contact and even deleted the record from his call log. He hadn’t saved the phone number in the first place, and he had erased even the trace of the call. He hoped there wouldn’t be even the smallest excuse left for him to think of Minhyeon.
Yuwon put down his phone and took off his clothes. After finishing his shower in warm water and slowly drying his hair, his tangled emotions seemed to gradually calm down.
When he came out of the bathroom, Jeonghyeok was lying diagonally with his back against the headboard of the bed. He was wearing only pants with his shirt off, and seeing that the ends of his hair were still wet, he seemed to have just finished washing too.
Jeonghyeok, who had been looking at his phone, raised his eyes to look at Yuwon. Then he patted the spot next to him.
“Come here.”
Despite the affectionate call, somehow his feet wouldn’t move. Lying on the same bed as Jeonghyeok was natural, but it was strange.
Yuwon, who had stopped walking for a moment, slowly walked to the bed. Normally, he wouldn’t have been able to stand the slow pace and would have suddenly grabbed his arm, but today Jeonghyeok didn’t do that. He silently waited until Yuwon lay down next to him.
Was he being considerate since they had only recently made up?
Feeling relieved as he lay on the bed, Jeonghyeok turned off the light on the nightstand. The room instantly became dark.
Yuwon lay straight with his head on the pillow. He also pulled the rustling blanket up to his neck. Perhaps because he had eaten dinner so fully, heavy sleep was pouring over him, and he remembered the outrageous price he had glimpsed when paying the bill. He felt like he should say thank you for the good meal one more time.
Then Jeonghyeok spoke first.
“Sleep well.”
“Yes.”
It was just as he was about to add thanks for the good dinner. In the darkness, Jeonghyeok’s hand approached.
At that moment, Yuwon unconsciously flinched his shoulders and pulled his face back. It was an instinctive action.
“Ah…”
Jeonghyeok’s hand, which had come right up to his nose, stopped abruptly. As if time had stopped along with it, both of them froze.
Yuwon was very flustered by this situation. Why am I acting like this? What’s so wrong with ajeossi touching me?
His head became complicated, wondering what if Jeonghyeok misunderstood again. It was Jeonghyeok who broke the silence that had continued for a while.
“I won’t do anything today.”
The hand that gently touched Yuwon’s forehead brushed past his cheek. That was all. He didn’t even touch his lips.
“I’m not that much of a bastard.”
“No, no. I wasn’t thinking that. It was just suddenly dark and your hand came out, so I was startled, startled.”
Yuwon tried his best to make excuses, but it didn’t seem to work very well. Jeonghyeok smiled weakly and said.
“Go to sleep quickly. You must be tired.”
Though it sounded kind on the surface, Yuwon knew. That ajeossi’s mood was completely ruined right now. But he didn’t have the confidence to improve his mood. If they talked any more, the situation might get even worse.
In the end, Yuwon obediently closed his eyes. He could feel Jeonghyeok’s gaze looking at him through his closed eyes, but he pretended not to know and tried to fall asleep.
How much time had passed like that?
“……”
Yuwon’s even breathing echoed in the quiet room. After confirming that Yuwon had fallen asleep, Jeonghyeok slowly sat up.
There was no hesitation in reaching out to take Yuwon’s phone. Jeonghyeok unlocked Yuwon’s phone, entered the call log, and looked for the phone number he had memorized. Since there had definitely been a missed call during dinner, that number should have appeared in the most recent log.
But something was strange.
No matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find the phone number he was looking for. Just in case, he also searched through all the numbers saved in contacts, but it was the same.
“Ha.”
There was only one reason why a number that had clearly been on the phone just a few hours ago would disappear.
He deleted it.
The moment he reached that conclusion, the back of his neck grew hot.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
