Side Story 14
Geonho and Seojun couldn’t retort when called perverts. Seojun rubbed his nape and avoided eye contact, while Geonho just rolled his eyes.
“Don’t go in. He just fell asleep.”
The two stopped in their tracks at the mention of sleep and looked at Jihan with the same thought. They were so curious about Siwoo’s condition that they were about to turn back.
“He has a slight fever, but it should go down after he sleeps for a day.”
Jihan shook an empty bowl, saying Siwoo had eaten a whole bowl of porridge. If his condition had been really bad, he wouldn’t have touched even the porridge.
“He said to tell you he’s fine when you wake up.”
He took his somber brothers to the kitchen. Thanks to Siwoo’s sincere guiding, Jihan, whose cold symptoms had subsided, looked in very good condition.
“Sit down and eat. Is your stomach okay?”
He treated Geonho and Seojun with his usual smile, despite them having drunk alcohol and roughly pushed Siwoo. He didn’t blame them for having slept with Siwoo when they weren’t in their right minds. That wasn’t his role.
“I’m not eating.”
“I’m fine too.”
“You should eat.”
Jihan looked at his brothers trying to leave the kitchen with a smiling face and warned:
“Leader’s orders. When he wakes up, you both have to go together holding hands. After eating.”
Geonho and Seojun, who had hesitated, obediently sat at the table. Taebeom’s single word was much more effective than Jihan’s lengthy scolding.
“Oh, and the leader threw out the living room sofa.”
The two, whose complexions darkened even more, silently filled their stomachs without a word.
Afterward, they were summoned together to the office as per the leader’s orders and received a guiding prohibition for no less than two weeks. Not just a week, but two whole weeks.
* * *
“Two weeks is too long.”
Siwoo, who had come to visit Taebeom’s office, rested his forehead against the cool window. He watched the small figures that looked like dots on the ground, slowly rolling his eyes.
“A one-week ban would be enough.”
It had been a week since he couldn’t guide Geonho and Seojun due to the leader’s orders. Even when Siwoo tried to do it secretly, they ran away first. Beyond the leader’s orders, they couldn’t touch Siwoo’s body out of guilt. Despite having enjoyed it together.
“I wasn’t even that sick. I just had a fever for one day.”
He had forced himself to eat all the porridge to avoid causing worry. Siwoo usually had an exceptional appetite, but when sick, his appetite dropped dramatically. Knowing this, the Baekya Guild was particularly sensitive about Siwoo’s meals.
“Are you listening?”
Siwoo detached his forehead from the window and turned around irritably. Taebeom, sitting at his desk, was looking at him. Though he was listening attentively enough to turn his swivel chair toward the window, he still didn’t answer.
“Come and eat.”
His long fingertip pointed to a plate on the desk. It was a snack prepared for Siwoo’s visit.
The plate, engraved with elegant patterns resembling Taebeom, was filled with all sorts of sweet foods. Cake, various cookies, and even sandwiches.
“Did the leader buy these?”
“I ordered them to be bought.”
“Then the leader did buy them.”
Siwoo took off his shoes and hopped onto the wide desk. He grinned, happy that Taebeom had prepared snacks for him, but quickly fixed his expression.
He had come today with a purpose. To end the guiding prohibition for Geonho and Seojun. He wouldn’t smile until Taebeom retracted it.
“Eat the sandwich first.”
Taebeom handed Siwoo a vegetable-packed sandwich as he was about to grab a cookie first. Siwoo ate the sandwich directly from his mouth and pushed the plate toward Taebeom.
“Leader, eat some too.”
But Taebeom shook his head. He only lightly touched Siwoo’s forehead, which had the coolness of the window on it.
He had always been indifferent to food, then and now. Compared to the others who had good appetites, Siwoo had hardly seen him put food in his mouth.
Geonho said his hyung had been like that since childhood. Siwoo was flabbergasted to hear that he only ate what his body needed, with no interest in food. For Siwoo, who lived with the happy concern about what to eat, it was hard to understand.
“Then just have one bite.”
Siwoo pulled Taebeom’s chair closer with his toes and held the sandwich in front of him. He offered the corner part that his mouth hadn’t touched, tempting him by saying it was really delicious.
Looking up at Siwoo, Taebeom followed him and accepted the sandwich with his mouth, not his hand. Siwoo’s lips twitched up as he watched Taebeom bite the part where he had left teeth marks on his wrist.
He had tried not to smile. A failure.
“It’s delicious, right?”
Taebeom nodded with an expression that didn’t look like he found it delicious at all. Even when given fluffy chiffon cake and adequately sweet Earl Grey cookies, his reaction was similar.
In the end, all the abundant snacks went into Siwoo’s stomach. Siwoo expressed great admiration with each bite, savoring the taste.
This is how you should eat to enjoy it more. The leader eats food so unappetizingly.
“What food does the leader like best?”
Taebeom said there wasn’t any. Siwoo couldn’t believe that he had no favorite food and persistently questioned him.
“Really none? There must be something you eat often.”
“Coffee.”
Siwoo’s face wrinkled. I could name more than ten things, but just coffee? Can that even be considered food?
He placed his feet on Taebeom’s knees and deliciously bit into a lemon madeleine. Taebeom patted the back of his hand, telling him to eat slowly as he stroked his legs.
No matter how deliciously Siwoo ate, Taebeom never asked for a bite. If it were Kang Geonho, he would have snatched it away long ago.
While tapping Taebeom’s firm knees with his feet, Siwoo looked around his office. His space, always neatly organized whenever he visited, was consistently quiet. There were a few strands of white fur scattered from Siwoo occasionally playing in his original form, but it was still clean. The only thing worth viewing was the scenery outside the window.
“What do you live for, for fun?”
Taebeom, who was dusting off bread crumbs that had fallen on Siwoo’s thigh, gave the most boring answer.
“I don’t live for fun.”
Siwoo, pouting his lips at the blunt reply, snatched and drank Taebeom’s coffee. At least think about it before answering. How embarrassing.
“What would you like me to say?”
Taebeom, grabbing Siwoo’s waist and lifting him, sat him on his lap.
“Tell me. I’ll say exactly that.”
Siwoo, letting out a chuckle, leaned against Taebeom and grumbled for no reason.
“Then it wouldn’t be the leader’s answer.”
Taebeom said he would just keep it in mind and tickled Siwoo’s lips. The chair shook briefly as the kiss naturally followed.
“Lift the guiding prohibition.”
Siwoo, wrapping his arms around Taebeom’s neck as if threatening him, narrowed his eyes. Permission didn’t come this time either. He firmly rejected with his eyes and heart as he stroked Siwoo’s back.
“Then at least buy a new living room sofa.”
He thought surely this would work, but even this was rejected. Taebeom didn’t even allow a sofa in the living room. Siwoo angrily ordered a sofa with his own money, but all orders were canceled.
This is too much. Where are we supposed to watch TV?
“We can do it without a sofa, you know.”
Siwoo shouted that they could do it perfectly fine on the floor. In his anger, he blurted out whatever came to mind.
“I can get rid of the floor too.”
Siwoo’s eyes widened in astonishment. If it had been anyone else, he would have thought it was a joke, but coming from the leader, it sounded sincere.
“Don’t do it when you’re drunk.”
Taebeom kissed the corner of Siwoo’s eye and whispered softly.
“And don’t do it with multiple people.”
Siwoo, flinching, covered Taebeom’s lips with his own. His face still burned just thinking about that day. Since that day, all alcohol bottles had disappeared from the Baekya Guild’s residence along with the sofa.
No matter how much Siwoo insisted he was fine, all the Espers maintained a firm attitude.
“When is the secretary coming?”
Siwoo, wiping his own saliva from the corner of Taebeom’s mouth, checked the time. It was almost time for the secretary to return.
“Should I tell him to come later?”
After contemplating while making eye contact with Taebeom, Siwoo shook his head.
“I promised to go for a walk with Kang Geonho when he gets off work.”
The kitten was also alone, so he couldn’t stay away from the residence for long. Siwoo said he would leave as soon as the secretary arrived and adjusted his position.
He didn’t get off Taebeom’s chair but turned his body to sit. As he picked up and ate a few more cookies, something curious suddenly came to mind.
“By the way, leader.”
Siwoo, turning only his head to look at Taebeom, casually asked.
“Why were you against keeping a cat?”
Taebeom didn’t dislike animals. Like the false rumor that he disliked his brother, it was just a fake rumor.
After briefly meeting Siwoo’s eyes, Taebeom answered slowly.
“Because animals have shorter lifespans than humans.”
His gentle fingertip brushed off cookie crumbs from the corner of Siwoo’s mouth. Taebeom didn’t give any further explanation. Nevertheless, Siwoo understood everything.
He didn’t want to make his brother sad. He must not have wanted him to experience the death of a precious being again.
“…You really are a brother-crazy.”
Siwoo gently caressed Taebeom’s cheek and lightly kissed his eyes. Then he brought up words he had already said countless times.
“Kang Geonho has never disliked the leader. You know that, right?”
Taebeom and Geonho were slowly growing closer. Although they didn’t have many conversations yet, their attitudes toward each other were completely different from before.
Siwoo read Taebeom’s heart and smiled brightly. It was a smile identical to Geonho’s. They say people who spend a lot of time together start to resemble each other.
Geonho was adopting Taebeom’s calmness, and the maknae was learning Jihan’s mischievousness. And Jihan, Geonho’s honesty.
The Baekya Guild built time together, greatly influencing each other. Siwoo was always at the center.
“Buy these for me again next time. They’re delicious.”
“Okay.”
Siwoo stretched satisfactorily and sat up straight, just as Taebeom did when working. He took out a document and giggled while imitating how he worked. His playfulness had increased from spending time with Jihan.
Taebeom, quietly gazing at that white back, thought to himself:
I think I could live for fun too.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
No wonder Taebom was gazing into the distance… If he feels whatever Siwoo is feeling…..