“What are you talking about?”
Kim Doha, unable to bear the gaze directed at him, turned his head slightly to the side. But that action only provoked Kim Yeonwoo more. Running barefoot all the way to the shoe rack, Kim Yeonwoo grabbed Kim Doha’s clothes tightly and shouted.
“You’re telling me to apologize to Lee Jaeyoon? What, what did I do wrong? Doha, how could you do this to me?!”
“Yeonwoo…”
“I told you not to go. I begged you not to meet Lee Jaeyoon! But why, why…”
Seeing Kim Yeonwoo covering his face with both hands and trembling shoulders, Kim Doha bit his lip. Yeonwoo… Kim Doha carefully reached out to Yeonwoo’s shoulder, but Yeonwoo coldly pushed his hand away, making Doha swallow a sigh.
“Just listen to me.”
“…”
“My parents are in a difficult situation. I can’t let them suffer because of me.”
“Is Jung Jinhoo that great?”
“What?”
“I’m talking about that sunbae Jung Jinhoo. Is he so amazing that you can’t do anything about it?”
“…Well, he’s on the same level as Han Doyoon.”
“The same as Doyoon sunbae…”
Kim Doha’s eyes narrowed as he watched Kim Yeonwoo mumble quietly while rolling his eyes.
“Kim Yeonwoo, what are you thinking right now?”
“…Nothing…”
“Don’t lie. Do you think I don’t know you?”
“…”
“In this situation, you’re…!!”
Realizing his voice was rising involuntarily, Kim Doha nervously swept back his bangs and let out a long sigh.
“Don’t provoke Lee Jaeyoon unnecessarily. Let’s just go apologize tomorrow.”
“…Why should I apologize? You only apologize when you’ve done something wrong, right? What, what did I do so wrong to Lee Jaeyoon?!”
“There’s no excuse for leaving Lee Jaeyoon injured after he saved you and running away.”
“He!”
“…”
“He was threatening me and fell on his own! He, because of him…!!”
Kim Doha pressed his fingers against his eyes as he watched Kim Yeonwoo muttering like he was having a fit. He felt fatigue washing over him. If they didn’t visit together to apologize by tomorrow, he didn’t know what would happen to his parents’ business. Unlike in the past, the current Jaeyoon wouldn’t casually overlook their mistake. Remembering Jaeyoon’s cold gaze directed at him, Kim Doha shook his head vigorously.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is right now. If we don’t go apologize to Lee Jaeyoon tomorrow, I don’t know what will happen not only to us but to our parents as well. So…”
“Lee Jaeyoon took everything away from me! And yet, how can you ask me to apologize to someone like him?”
“Yeonwoo, just this once. Can’t you do this one favor for me? I’ve never asked you for anything like this before, have I? Hmm?”
Kim Yeonwoo ruthlessly pushed away the hand holding his arm. Leaving the bewildered Kim Doha behind, Kim Yeonwoo ran out of his room. He heard a voice calling his name from behind, but he paid it no attention.
Running forward without properly checking ahead, Kim Yeonwoo heard someone mutter, “Ah, damn it,” just as he collided hard with someone. Having hit his head against the other person’s chest, Kim Yeonwoo grabbed his throbbing head and looked up. His eyes met with the other person who was looking at him with a deeply furrowed expression. Kim Yeonwoo felt himself shrink under the intense purple eyes filled with irritation. Thanks to the other person acting as a cushion, Kim Yeonwoo was fine except for his aching head, but the person he had collided with had scraped palms and was clutching their lower back, gritting their teeth as if they had hit it hard when they fell under him. As Kim Yeonwoo was about to apologize in panic, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the side and opened his eyes wide.
“Heejun, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not.”
As Lee Heejun scowled, Lee Minho laughed softly and extended his hand to him. Then his eyes met Kim Yeonwoo’s. Lee Minho’s eyes widened.
“Sunbae…”
At the sound of his name, Lee Minho’s eyes lowered. Turning away from Kim Yeonwoo, Lee Minho grabbed Lee Heejun’s hand and helped him up. After dusting off the dirt from his clothes, Heejun waved his hand, saying he was fine.
“Your palm is all scraped up. And those are the hands you use to make clothes…”
Being a pastry chef, Lee Minho knew how serious it was when hands were injured, so he carefully took Heejun’s hands and examined the wounds. The palms were badly scraped from hitting the floor hard. Seeing that the right hand was even bleeding, Lee Minho winced as if he himself was hurt, which made Lee Heejun laugh softly.
“It’s okay. No, it’s not okay, but what can I do? It’s already injured. I just won’t be able to make clothes for a while, that’s all.”
“Let’s go to the infirmary.”
“Even if we go there, the school nurse isn’t around, right? How is it that I haven’t seen that teacher’s face even once since I enrolled? I wonder if they really exist…”
“Ah…, but we should still disinfect it and apply medicine. It could get worse if it gets infected.”
Lee Heejun looked at his palms. Indeed, the right hand was too severely injured to be treated with just the band-aids in their room.
‘Like hyung said, if I leave it like this and it gets infected, I’ll be the one suffering.’
Lee Minho’s face brightened when Heejun nodded. He grabbed Heejun’s wrist and was about to head to the infirmary when he stopped in his tracks at the sound of someone calling out, “Sunbae!” Minho stood still for a moment, thinking, then slowly turned to look at Kim Yeonwoo.
“Sunbae…”
At the pitiful voice, Lee Minho unconsciously tightened his grip. Grinding his teeth so hard that his molars hurt, Lee Minho was startled when he felt hands cupping his cheeks, and his eyes widened in surprise.
“If you grind your teeth, you’ll suffer when you get older.”
“Huh? Um…”
Lee Minho, blinking in confusion, burst into laughter at Lee Heejun’s quite serious expression.
“I’m not joking, I’m being serious?”
“Yes, I know.”
Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes flickered rapidly as Lee Minho answered with a gentle smile. He had never seen Lee Minho smile so comfortably with anyone other than Lee Jaeyoon. Not even once when he was with Yeonwoo himself.
“Sun…”
“Yeonwoo.”
Kim Yeonwoo’s mouth closed at the dark green eyes directed at him. He didn’t like the unfamiliar expression with which Lee Minho was looking at him.
‘What? Why is he looking at me with such an angry face…?’
Kim Yeonwoo shook his head from side to side, thinking it didn’t make sense even to himself. Lee Minho getting angry at someone? He had never seen such a thing before.
“I heard from Jaeyoon.”
“-!! No! It’s a misunderstanding!”
“How can you say it’s a misunderstanding when you don’t even know what Lee Jaeyoon said?”
Lee Heejun’s lips curled up as Kim Yeonwoo glared at him as if telling him not to interfere between himself and Lee Minho.
“Now that you’re cornered, your true nature is really coming out. You okay with that?”
Kim Yeonwoo was startled and quickly composed his expression as Lee Heejun spoke while tapping his cheek with his finger. Amused by this reaction, Heejun sneered, glanced at Lee Minho, and then hit him hard on the back with his palm as he passed by.
“Augh-!!”
“Heejun, is your hand okay?!”
Lee Minho looked worriedly at Lee Heejun, who was clutching his injured hand.
“That’s why you shouldn’t use your injured hand…”
“You just thought I was stupid, didn’t you?”
“Ah, no?”
“You’re really bad at lying.”
Lee Heejun stared at Lee Minho, who was smiling apologetically, and lightly hit his shoulder with the back of his hand.
“Sort it out well. I’ll be waiting at the infirmary first.”
“…”
Lee Heejun looked at Lee Minho, who nodded slightly, with an expression that seemed to say “what can I do with you,” then walked away. After watching Heejun’s retreating back, Lee Minho turned his head. The sight of Kim Yeonwoo looking at him with a confused and anxious expression led to various thoughts.
“Yeonwoo.”
“I, I’ll explain everything! That day, Lee Jaeyoon was pressuring me. While he was aggressively cornering me, he grabbed me as I was about to fall and then he fell himself, so…!”
“So, you left him there alone?”
“That, that’s…”
“If Jinhoo and Hajun hadn’t passed by then, if they hadn’t found Jaeyoon quickly. They said it was really dangerous.”
“I, I was scared. He was bleeding so much… I was afraid people would say it was my fault that Lee Jaeyoon fell down the stairs…”
“So that’s why you left?”
“…”
After quietly looking at Kim Yeonwoo, who couldn’t say anything, Lee Minho calmly spoke.
“I hoped it wasn’t you. I wanted to believe it wasn’t you.”
“Sunbae, I…”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Jaeyoon is my brother, and I wanted to believe that you, who knew that well, wouldn’t have run away leaving Jaeyoon behind.”
“!!”
“Yeonwoo, Jaeyoon said he’ll let this go if you sincerely apologize this time. But…”
“I can’t forgive you.”
Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes widened. What did he just say…? Looking at the bewildered Kim Yeonwoo, Lee Minho spoke, cutting off his feelings for someone he once liked.
“Both you, who caused Jaeyoon to get hurt, and me, who tried to believe in you until the end. I can’t forgive either of us.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
