Gentle Giant Chapter 12
“Why the parking lot?”
After leaving the airport, Juho led Dain to the parking lot instead of the bus stop or train station. Dain, who had somehow ended up following Juho, asked with curiosity about this unexpected location.
At that question, Juho smiled slightly and pulled out a small car key from his pocket.
“Well, actually, when I said I was coming to Korea, someone I know lent me their car to use. I just remembered and called earlier, and they said they’d already left it at the airport.”
“What?”
“Fortunately, they left the car key with someone beforehand, so I picked it up.”
“Juho, you even have a license.”
“Yes. Since a license is essential in America, I started driving early too. Never had an accident.”
Juho said with a playful smile.
Even though there was only a one-year age difference, Dain was still the hyung. It was embarrassing to ride in his younger brother’s borrowed car, but Dain soon nodded.
“Ah, that’s really fortunate. Then we can go more comfortably.”
“Yes. Ah, hyung. There it is.”
Juho, who had lightly answered Dain’s question, found the car and pointed to one side of the parking lot.
Following his finger, Dain’s eyes widened once again.
If he had followed the finger correctly, the car that now entered Dain’s view was a British brand car that cost several times more than the car his noona had recently bought with great determination. Dain, who didn’t have a license but knew all the major car brands, had looked at cars with his noona for a long time, so he even knew the price.
Could he really ride in such an expensive car? As if to drive the point home to the suspicious Dain, Juho was approaching that very car and even opening the door.
“Hyung?”
Juho, who had been looking puzzled at Dain not moving from his spot, closed the car door and came back to Dain. Then he personally led Dain over and opened the passenger side door for him.
“Hyung, I really drive safely, you know? I have a clean record of five years without accidents. So you don’t need to be that scared.”
“Huh? Oh, that’s not it…”
“Really? I thought you didn’t trust me and were worried. Then get in quickly.”
Juho, who had misunderstood that Dain was anxious because he didn’t trust his driving skills, smiled at Dain.
Usually, seeing people dawdle like this would make him irritated first, but when Jung Dain was doing it, it was only cute.
The way he looked anxious and rolled his eyes around. As expected, the real thing moving in front of him was much better than photos that only had one expression.
Dain, who had no choice but to sit down because Juho was holding the passenger door open and waiting for him to get in, tensed his buttocks as much as possible so that no weight would rest on the seat.
After a while, Juho, who had loaded the suitcase in the trunk and returned to the driver’s seat, asked Dain for his address.
“Hyung, what’s your home address?”
“Our house…?”
“Yes. Your place first…”
“Ah, no! Just drop me off in front of your accommodation and I can get home on my own!”
“Hmm. Hyung, you want me to go straight to my accommodation like this?”
Juho’s eyebrows twitched slightly at Dain’s reaction as he waved his hands while speaking. Seeing that, Dain quickly lowered his hands and said.
“Ah, um. Actually, I was planning to buy you meat and then send you off. I thought it would be better for you to rest at your accommodation. You must be tired, Juho.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Is that okay…?”
Actually, Dain, who was sitting practically 3cm above the seat and found this car uncomfortable, and who also found going to his house located in a narrow alley with this car uncomfortable, desperately tried to phrase it diplomatically so as not to hurt Juho’s feelings.
At Dain’s words, Juho let out a soft laugh and draped his arm over the steering wheel, turning his head toward Dain. Even that small movement felt like a car commercial, and Dain, who had unknowingly relaxed the tension in his buttocks and was staring at Juho as if enchanted, felt his ears turn slightly red.
Why, why was he staring so piercingly? Dain’s head filled with question marks at Juho’s intense gaze that made his face sting. Or maybe there really was sweat beading on his face again, so Dain wiped his forehead and nose bridge with his hand.
“Hyung, you were going to buy me meat?”
“Yeah. Of course! Coming all the way here from America on a 14-hour flight, how exhausting that must have been. You need to eat meat and gain strength!”
Watching Dain, who was now even making fists as if he hadn’t been uncomfortable at all, Juho couldn’t contain his escaping laughter.
Still, as a hyung, thinking to buy meat for his younger brother who came from far away. From beginning to end, not deviating from his expectations was so very “Jung Dain”-like. And the fact that his heart warmed at the mention of being bought meat was also so very “Lee Juho”-like.
“Then let’s go eat meat. I’m not really tired.”
“Oh, should we…? Actually, I looked up some delicious meat restaurants.”
When Juho said this with a gentle smile, Dain, completely won over by those words, immediately took out his phone.
Having looked up so many meat restaurants, Dain rummaged through the list for quite a while before finally giving him the address of one place. The two decided to head to the meat restaurant first.
* * *
The meat restaurant Dain had found was somewhat far from downtown Seoul, and it was a place he had excluded because it would be inconvenient to get to by public transportation. However, everything else about it was so appealing that he had felt sorry to give it up, so he thought it was fortunate they could come here with Juho’s car.
It was a place with private rooms and clean set-meal style service, so after arriving at the restaurant, they could continue their conversation quietly.
“Come to think of it, you said you’re coming as an exchange student to our school?”
“Yes. And luckily, I was able to take classes at the same grade level as hyung.”
“Wow, really?!”
“Yes. Since I won’t be able to attend classes every day, it’ll be hard to always go together though.”
Juho said while picking up the side dishes that came out first. Dain was impressed watching his textbook-perfect chopstick handling, considering he had lived in America for a long time.
Until now, Dain had thought he wasn’t influenced by people’s appearances, but maybe he was wrong. He had liked Juho when he was pretty, but seeing Juho who had completely grown up and become an incredible handsome man, his already full favorable feelings were overflowing.
Even his chopstick handling is incredibly cool. Dain gave a thumbs up inwardly.
But contrary to thinking he had only given a thumbs up inwardly, Dain’s fingers were actually faithfully raising his thumb upward.
Watching that action, Juho’s head tilted slightly. He didn’t know why he was giving a thumbs up. Maybe his hand hurt from using chopsticks.
Juho took the chopsticks from Dain’s hand and replaced them with a spoon, then placed the galbi that was starting to cook on top of it.
At Juho’s kind action, Dain once again gave a thumbs up inwardly and said with a smile.
“You’re also doing an internship this time, right? That’s really amazing! How did you pass a Korean internship from America? I don’t know much since I’m preparing for civil service exams… Anyway, it’s really amazing!”
“Mm, well… it wasn’t that difficult.”
“Not difficult my foot! I heard the competition for internships is tremendous these days. It’s definitely amazing, Juho.”
At Juho’s seemingly embarrassed reaction, Dain jumped up while praising him.
Watching that, Juho once again thought inwardly that it was fortunate Dain was preparing for civil service exams.
No matter how much it was a student internship, what company would hire a foreigner without even a single interview? Anyone who had looked into internship processes even once would have found it strange.
Anyway, Dain didn’t notice anything odd, and Juho had no intention of telling him the truth. He just acted even harder at looking embarrassed and shy at Dain’s praise.
“But hyung. You know.”
“Yeah, what?”
“There’s something I couldn’t mention earlier.”
It was around when they were finishing their meal. Juho carefully brought up a topic.
Wondering what he wanted to talk about that made him hesitate, Dain leaned his upper body forward and got closer to Juho.
“Yeah. What is it?”
“Actually, I haven’t found a place to live yet.”
“What…?”
Juho put down the chopsticks he was using to pick up side dishes and continued with a troubled expression.
“The company where I’m doing my internship said they’d provide dormitory-style accommodation, but they haven’t found a place yet. I was thinking of staying at a hotel for a while, but… it’s quite burdensome for a student…”
Thinking that Juho must be an incredible talent since the internship company was providing accommodation was only momentary. Dain’s eyes widened greatly.
“Then, then you have nowhere to go right now?”
“Yes. It somehow ended up like this.”
Juho lowered his eyebrows and gave an embarrassed smile.
“So that’s why you asked for our house address first earlier! No wonder… Juho, you can stay at our house as long as you want until you find a place! If you had told me before coming to Korea, I would have cleaned the house and everything…”
“I was worried it would be burdensome for hyung if I brought that up before we even met.”
“Burdensome my foot! You said you don’t have anyone else to rely on in Korea except me…? Huh? Come to think of it, the person who lent you the car…”
If they could casually lend such an expensive car, couldn’t they have arranged accommodation too? Reasonable suspicion began to arise in Dain’s mind.
Seeing him think deeply about something with his small head, Juho made a small “tsk” sound that Dain couldn’t hear. Then he answered with an even more troubled expression than before.
“Actually, that person lent me the car and then went abroad. I got that car because the timing happened to work out well.”
“Ahh! I see! Right. That expensive car…!”
Right. No matter what, how many people could lend such an expensive car to a student!
Dain, who had learned the secret of the burdensome car, nodded inwardly. Then he looked at Juho with pitying eyes.
Juho was also a beast-man, so he was just big and scary-looking, but he was still a naive kid who didn’t know anything. As someone even a year older, he had to take care of him.
“Then let’s have you stay at our house for now while you prepare for your internship and second semester classes. But our house is small so it might be uncomfortable, is that okay? Or should I look for some cheap accommodation for you?”
“No. If hyung is okay with it, I’d like to stay at hyung’s house for a few days…”
“Yeah yeah, I’m totally fine with it! Then let’s quickly finish eating and go to our house.”
Dain answered while piling the now fully cooked meat high on the plate in front of Juho.
Juho, who had revealed his identity as a tiger, predictably moved his chopsticks only toward the meat rather than vegetables. Sometimes when Dain’s gaze fell on him, he would pick up some vegetable side dishes, but he seemed to instinctively seek out meat. Watching that, Dain smiled inwardly while secretly pulling the vegetable dishes toward himself.
The two people, sharing various conversations, leisurely finished their meal and got back in the car.
“Juho, I said I’d buy you meat, so why did you pay first! I’m sorry…”
“Haha, hyung, are you still bothered by that? Compared to how much I’m imposing on hyung, this much is nothing.”
“Imposing, don’t think like that!”
“Then hyung shouldn’t feel sorry either. I can afford to buy hyung meat.”
“Still…”
“Then hyung can buy me something even more delicious next time.”
“That, that’s natural since I’m the hyung!”
Dain shouted loudly. He seemed to want to emphasize his position as hyung even if it killed him.
Watching that, Juho felt like he was looking at a cat whining and waving its front paws in front of him. To the observer, it wasn’t reliable or scary at all, but the cat Jung Dain didn’t know that and was earnestly trying by himself.
A gentle smile rose on Juho’s face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
