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#Side 1. Small Changes in Daily Life (6)
Hayun looked at Dawoon and smirked. It was a familiar smile, but it felt more cynical than usual.
“Why are you here…?”
Dawoon couldn’t understand why Hayun was here. Before that, just the fact that Hayun had found out everything made his heart feel like it would stop.
“Well? I think it’s more surprising that you’re working part-time here than me being here.”
Hayun’s words confirmed that this wasn’t a chance encounter as he was leaving the cafe. He must have seen Dawoon working.
“That’s…”
“I’ll hear your explanation at home.”
Hayun nodded towards the library.
“The car is at the library.”
The answer Dawoon wanted to ask – how long Hayun had been here – was included in that response. He came looking for Dawoon at the library. Having been caught in his lie red-handed, Dawoon had nothing more to say.
***
Back at home, Dawoon sat facing Hayun but couldn’t bring himself to look up at him. On one hand, he thought it was just a part-time job, wondering if it was really something to be so intimidated about. Being over twenty and an adult, he felt rebellious, thinking if he couldn’t even make such a decision on his own.
However, the fact remained that he had lied to Hayun.
“Since when? Since the day you said you were going to the library?”
“…”
Dawoon couldn’t answer the question that seemed to have already guessed the situation. One thing was clear – Hayun wouldn’t believe him anymore when he said he was going to the library.
Haa. Hayun’s sigh sounded particularly loud. Whether it was because Hayun was so exasperated, or because the house was so quiet that it sounded relatively loud, Dawoon couldn’t tell.
“Did you need money?”
“…”
Again, Dawoon didn’t answer. Perhaps because he didn’t deny it, Hayun’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“You have a card. Even if you needed cash, if you had told me, I would have given you as much as you needed.”
That’s what I didn’t like.
Dawoon didn’t like receiving money from Jeong Hayun, but knowing it was pointless to say so as Hayun wouldn’t understand, he just kept his mouth shut. As Dawoon consistently remained silent, Hayun’s blood pressure seemed to rise. After exhaling quietly and slowly, Hayun stood up. For a moment, Dawoon flinched, but Hayun went to the study without a word, came back with a document envelope, and held it out to Dawoon.
“These are stocks and bank accounts in your name.”
He poured the contents of the envelope onto the table. As Hayun said, there were bankbooks, cards, and stock balance certificates. Dawoon knew there was an inheritance left for him after his parents passed away, but this was the first time he was seeing it. Until now, Hayun had been managing everything, saying there was no need to use Dawoon’s share.
Dawoon looked down at the scattered items on the table without checking the bank balance or the contents of the stock balance certificate, then looked up. He couldn’t understand why Hayun was suddenly presenting this.
“It’s all yours, so use it as you wish.”
Now? Suddenly? Honestly, that was the only thought that came to Dawoon’s mind at Hayun’s words. As if understanding Dawoon’s confusion, Hayun took a deep breath and spoke again.
“If you don’t like using my card because it feels like I’m monitoring you, I’m telling you to use your own card in your name. Stocks or cash. So quit the part-time job.”
Even at these added words, Dawoon only chewed his lip without answering. It was indeed a problem that Hayun would know where he spent money if he used Hayun’s card. But that was a minor issue. He had been living like that for nearly ten years, so it wasn’t anything new.
“This money isn’t something I earned through my own efforts either.”
At Dawoon’s answer, Hayun tilted his head. He still didn’t understand what the problem was.
“I wanted to earn money with my own hands, my own strength.”
Hayun still listened without saying anything, but his expression clearly showed the question ‘Why bother?’
“Experience…”
“If you wanted to gain social experience, you should have found a different job. Does working part-time at a cafe help with what you want to do?”
Dawoon couldn’t answer Hayun’s interrupting question. Hayun wasn’t wrong. In fact, if he wanted to gain experience, it would have been better to contact Writer Choi Seon-gyeom and help with his work. He didn’t even really need a part-time job.
Is this too much after all? From the beginning, Dawoon wasn’t particularly good at lying convincingly. Rather than trying to deceive clumsily and building unnecessary misunderstandings, it seemed better to be honest.
Haa. As Dawoon let out a sigh so big his chest heaved, the wrinkles between Hayun’s brows deepened. He clearly didn’t like Dawoon’s reaction.
“There was something I wanted to buy with money I earned myself.”
“Buy it with your money.”
“It may be in my name, but it’s what Father left behind. I don’t have the right to use it…”
Dawoon stopped speaking midway. Hayun’s gaze had become even sharper. He wanted to say that because it was money left by Jeong Seo-hoo, he didn’t have the right to receive it. Realizing this, Hayun was warning with his eyes not to say such useless things before Dawoon could even open his mouth.
“Anyway, it’s meaningless unless it’s money I earned through my own efforts, not inherited without any effort.”
“So what…!”
“Your birthday present.”
At these words blurted out in frustration, Hayun tilted his head.
“My birthday?”
“It’s next month, isn’t it? I know I can’t match your standards with money I earn from a part-time job, but I wanted to do something myself, even if it’s small.”
Hayun blinked slowly, as if he hadn’t thought of this at all. Dawoon looked at him and sighed softly.
“As a younger brother, I can use this money freely. The same goes for your card. But that’s not it. Because I’m not your brother…”
The rest of the words didn’t come out. As he spoke, Dawoon realized it himself just now. He wanted to do something not as Jeong Dawoon of the Haedo Group, but just as Jeong Dawoon. Not as a brother, but in a different meaning…
“Not as a brother?”
Hayun latched onto the end of the sentence. Dawoon closed his mouth and just turned his head away.
“Jeong Dawoon.”
At the voice calling his name so intently, Dawoon regretted saying unnecessary things.
“If not a brother, then what?”
Even without looking at his face, Dawoon could guess what expression Hayun was making.
“I’m going to wash up. Know that I won’t quit the part-time job.”
Dawoon changed the subject and stood up.
“Dawoon.”
Just as he heard the quiet voice, before he could take a single step, his wrist was grabbed. Turning around, he saw Hayun looking up at him while still seated on the sofa. His expression had softened compared to a moment ago. He seemed to understand what Dawoon had been trying to say.
“Let go.”
Dawoon shook off the hand, but Hayun didn’t budge.
“I’m hungry. Let’s wash up quickly and eat.”
Not wanting to return to that topic, Dawoon brought up food, something he never usually did. The more Dawoon resisted, the more the corners of Hayun’s mouth curved up into a smile. Then he pulled Dawoon forcefully, making him sit on his lap.
“What are you…!”
Before Dawoon could push him away, Hayun’s other hand cupped the back of his head and pulled him in. Their lips crushed together, and a hot tongue pushed in, exploring Dawoon’s mouth. At the sudden kiss, Dawoon grabbed Hayun’s shoulders to push him away, but the more he resisted, the tighter the hand on the back of his head gripped. In the end, he had no choice but to give up and let Hayun do as he pleased.
Perhaps because Dawoon stopped resisting, the movement of the tongue exploring his mouth became gentler. Just as their tightly pressed lips seemed to part, Hayun lightly bit Dawoon’s lower lip and then sucked on it. Then, as his tongue pushed in again, it sought out Dawoon’s tongue and intertwined with it. Dawoon was conscious of saliva that seemed to be dripping from the gap between their parted lips, but soon he couldn’t think of anything else as the kiss deepened to the point where he could barely breathe.
“Stop… hik!”
As Dawoon barely managed to turn his head away, Hayun licked up his neck. Shuddering at the thrilling sensation, Dawoon grabbed both of Hayun’s shoulders and pushed firmly.
“I sweated a lot from work. I want to wash up.”
When Dawoon said this seriously, Hayun burst out laughing.
“Is that the problem?”
As Dawoon blinked blankly, not understanding what Hayun meant, Hayun smiled gently and stroked the back of Dawoon’s head.
“Well, we have plenty of time.”
He raised both hands in surrender, indicating he wouldn’t push any further. Dawoon stood up from Hayun’s lap, but for some reason, he felt his hair stand on end.
“You’d better prepare yourself for tonight, considering how much you’ve teased me.”
At these words, Dawoon finally realized why he had instinctively felt a sense of crisis.
“I mobilized a security company and thoroughly searched every library in the area, you know.”
Hayun added with a grin.
Dawoon swallowed a groan in his throat. He didn’t expect Hayun to have sat quietly during the hour they couldn’t contact each other. But still. How many libraries could there be near the university, and he searched them all…
“I have a report I need to write today…”
“Jeong Dawoon.”
Dawoon tried to make an excuse to escape, but before he could even start, Hayun cut him off and smiled sweetly.
“You’re not trying to use the obvious excuse of having a report, are you?”
Even his pretext for escape was blocked in advance. It seemed that having a peaceful night’s sleep was impossible tonight.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
