Gentle Giant 94

Gentle Giant Chapter 94

“Juho, you were serious about this, right? You thought it through carefully before writing it?”

“Hm? Of course. I was completely serious about it.”

“But the answer is all…”

“All?”

“My, my name…!”

Even though it was Juho who wrote it, it was Dain who felt embarrassed. Watching Dain turn red all the way to his neck, Juho laughed quietly.

“What precious and good things do I have besides hyung? So yes, I wrote it 100% sincerely and seriously.”

“Haa…”

Dain’s nose twitched. His shoulders also bobbed up and down slightly.

It seemed like Juho was planning to make his pride soar sky-high. A little humming tune naturally flowed out as it rode along his round nostrils.

Dain read through Juho’s answers repeatedly, as if he was going to memorize them all completely. Juho laughed loudly watching Dain like that. He couldn’t quite make out what song Dain was humming. Still, seeing Dain purring happily made him feel like humming too.

Juho lowered his gaze from Dain and flipped through the papers. Anyway, Jung Dain had so many things he liked, there was a lot to read.

Then one question caught his eye that had a simpler answer written compared to the other questions. Juho stared intently at that sentence.

The prettiest thing I own: Our Juho

It was a perfect answer that erased even the small anxiety that remained.

* * *

Juho’s condition had improved enough to be controlled just by taking medication. The test results after taking the medicine also received favorable opinions.

As if the hospital felt stuffy, Juho said he wanted to be discharged immediately after the morning rounds. Because of this, Managing Director Kim, who had been called to the hospital since dawn, showed incredibly fast work processing.

Still receiving the devoted treatment from people around Juho that they couldn’t get used to, the two returned to Juho’s house.

Coming home after being out for just a few days made them naturally go “ahh.”

Dain laid his stiff body on the bed and rolled around with Juho for a while.

While they were enjoying a true holiday like this, Dain’s phone vibrated several times. Juho stretched out his long arm and handed the phone to Dain. Then, as if it was natural, he checked the phone together with Dain.

[Han Jiyoon: (photo) | 5:57 PM]

[Han Jiyoon: Dain sunbae! Are you having fun on your trip? I’m currently enjoying the festival with Dohyeon sunbae and Myeongnam! ㅋㅋㅋ I thought you might be curious about how the festival looks! ㅋㅋ | 5:58 PM]

It was a message from Jiyoon. Photos of various foods and a selfie of the three people had been sent all at once.

An exclamation of “ooh” popped out of Dain’s mouth. It looked good to see his friends properly enjoying the festival.

Juho’s mouth twisted as he stuck close to Dain’s side and checked the message together.

Dain’s hoobae was too meddlesome. If she knew Dain was going on a trip, she should have just left them alone, but he couldn’t understand why she had to send a message at this time.

Dain sent a short reply to Jiyoon, not noticing Juho grumbling beside him. He was so grateful to his hoobae who warmly contacted him first.

And actually, there was another reason this message was welcome. It gave him an excuse to contact Dohyeon, who was holding a chicken skewer next to Jiyoon in the photo.

Dain glanced sideways at Juho sitting next to him. After confirming that the contact Dain received was Jiyoon’s message, he looked uninterested. Juho soon turned his gaze away from the phone and just fiddled with Dain’s fingers sticking out of the cast.

Taking advantage of that gap, Dain quickly sent a message to Dohyeon.

[6:07 PM | Dohyeon, do you have time tomorrow? Could we meet briefly?]

[Dohyeon: Yes yes! Of course! ㅋㅋㅋ But can I bring our baby out? I have to watch him all day tomorrow ㅠㅠㅠ | 6:08 PM]

[6:08 PM | Of course! Then let’s meet at a cafe near school. What time is good?]

[Dohyeon: Around 3 PM during the day? Is that okay? That’s when the baby takes his afternoon nap so it’ll be convenient to talk when we meet ㅋㅋ | 6:10 PM]

[6:11 PM | Got it! Then see you tomorrow! Enjoy the festival ^.^]

As soon as he finished exchanging appointment times with Dohyeon, his eyes met with Juho who had turned his head.

“Hyung, what were you talking about for so long? Did your hoobae say they missed you?”

“N-no! We were talking about the festival!”

“Hmm, should we go check out the festival now?”

“No. Let’s rest comfortably at home today. I’m sleepy again.”

“Okay. Come here, hyung. I’ll give you an arm pillow.”

Dain laughed briefly with a “hehe” and quickly rested his head on Juho’s arm.

If he told Juho about the appointment in advance, he would definitely interfere somehow. Just as Juho had figured out Dain completely, Dain now understood Juho to some extent too.

* * *

“I don’t want to! Hyung, how can this be!”

“Juho, I’m just going out for a bit and coming back, what’s there to dislike?”

“Hyung, how can you do this to me? You didn’t say anything like this until this morning. I’m really upset.”

“R-really, it’ll just be for a moment. If you keep doing this, I’ll be late for my appointment!”

“Then you can just take me with you, why can’t that work?”

Juho’s eyes glistened. Dain couldn’t tell if he was acting like this because he was sad or angry right now.

Juho abandoned the gentle and kind demeanor he had maintained as his default. He threw a tantrum at Dain, said he didn’t like it, and even glared at Dain.

In the past, even if he didn’t like something, he wouldn’t throw a fit like this but would quietly sweet-talk Dain instead. Dain found this change both unfamiliar and interesting.

Anyway, today he couldn’t give in to Juho’s unreasonable demands. Dain firmly shook his head.

“This is my personal appointment, so I can’t go with you, Juho.”

“…Hyung, aren’t you being too cold…?”

“Cold? That’s not it! Ah, then I’ll buy meat on my way back. Okay? Let’s grill it deliciously for dinner.”

“I don’t want to. I won’t eat meat. I’ll just keep starving.”

“Huk…”

Dain felt like he was working a convenience store part-time job after a long time. The feeling of meeting a difficult customer who said no to everything.

Dain sighed briefly and grabbed the doorknob. His thought was to go out first.

When Dain opened the door and stepped out, Juho’s eyes widened. It meant, are you really going to abandon me and leave?

Dain turned away from Juho and quickly shouted.

“Hyung will be back! Don’t open the door for just anyone and stay safe. And if you follow me, I’ll really get angry!”

“Hyung, hyung!!”

Bang! The front door closed with a loud sound.

Juho stared at the entrance where Dain had disappeared and muttered a small curse. He’s not really not coming back, right? He’s not planning to disappear like this, right?

Anxiety and negative thoughts tangled together. Although Dain had told him in detail that he was meeting Dohyeon at a cafe today, that alone wasn’t enough to reassure him.

Right now he was in no position to disobey Dain’s words, so he didn’t dare to secretly follow him. If he got caught following, he would definitely get angry for real.

With growing anxiety, Juho paced in front of the entrance then crouched down in that spot. He couldn’t wait for Dain with peace of mind. He planned to just stay like this until Dain came back.

* * *

“Haah.”

Meanwhile, a long sigh flowed out of Dain’s mouth after forcibly leaving Juho behind.

Having said things that Juho must have found hurtful, Dain also felt upset and sorry. But today’s appointment had a special purpose, so it couldn’t be helped. Still, his heart seemed to ache thinking about Juho he left behind.

Dain moved his heavy steps toward the cafe. The appointment time was approaching. He checked the time on his phone and opened the cafe door.

“Dain!”

Dohyeon’s voice was heard as if he had arrived first. Instead of answering, Dain smiled and waved his hand.

As if the afternoon nap time was real, the baby in Dohyeon’s arms was sleeping quietly. Dain approached Dohyeon while muffling his footstep sounds.

“Is the baby sleeping?”

“Yeah, he just fell asleep. He was fussing the whole way here, I guess he got tired.”

“I see, the baby’s ears didn’t come out today?”

“Mm-hmm. These days they don’t come out except when he cries really hard. He’s gradually becoming more human than beast.”

Dohyeon said with a giggle. Dain nodded at his words and laughed along.

The baby in Dohyeon’s arms was so pretty whether his ears came out or not. Dain and Dohyeon were captivated by the baby’s sleeping face for quite a while. It was a sight that brought smiles just by looking.

“Ah, right. But what’s the matter? I was surprised that you asked to meet first!”

“Mm-hmm. Actually, I have something I want to ask you…”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“What is it? I don’t have money to buy a water purifier though?”

Dohyeon joked with a small laugh. Dain waved his hands frantically, jumping up and down saying no.

Seeing Dain greatly flustered, Dohyeon laughed again. It was quite fun teasing pure Jung Dain.

“Um, there…”

“Yeah.”

“Last time, there was something you said we should meet separately to talk about… th-that, um…”

A very small sound flowed out of Dain’s mouth. Dohyeon couldn’t hear properly so he leaned his upper body toward Dain and concentrated.

Something we said we should meet separately to talk about?? What was that…?

Dohyeon tilted his head as he couldn’t quite remember, then let out an “Ah!” exclamation.

Dain’s shoulders jumped in surprise at that loud sound.

“Ah! I know, I know! I brought it up but last time your boyfriend came to the chicken place so I couldn’t say it properly. Mm, that’s right!”

“Mm-hmm, so I wanted to a-ask about that… would that be okay?”

“…?!?”

Dain spoke haltingly with a bright red face. At the unexpected words, Dohyeon’s eyes widened then instantly narrowed.

Oh my god, this is really amazing. Jung Dain bringing up that kind of talk first…! The detailed conversation hadn’t even started yet but it was already exciting.

Dohyeon moved to the seat next to Dain.

Seeing Dohyeon suddenly come and stick close beside him, Dain awkwardly shifted his bottom to the corner. Dohyeon’s sparkling dark red eyes felt somehow too scary.