#Side Story 03
I think it started around that time. When I completely lost my mind. The moment I was thoroughly enchanted.
The cute little brother next door, who should have only been adorable, began to feel like an object of desire. It was clear that something had gone wrong in my head. If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have devoured the younger brother I had raised from infancy. Here I was, a madman who had consumed his eleven-year-old little brother, whom I had changed diapers for and fed baby food.
No, this was entirely Cheongmyeong’s fault for growing up so alluringly. How could I have known that in those three years, he would grow into a beauty that struck my taste? I had to slap myself for uttering words like a criminal. Damn it, Kwon Saheon. You crazy bastard.
‘…It’s okay to do more. If you want to….’
I gently rolled over the clueless baby and pounced. My mind exploded with fireworks, just like the first time I had sex. I couldn’t regain my senses from the pleasure that electrified my entire body. Cheongmyeong, knowing he should hold back since it was his first time, was half-mad with sensations that felt like they would drive him insane.
After spending an incredible first night with Cheongmyeong, I briefly ran away, only to return later, engulfed in self-loathing. What had I done with a child who knew nothing?
I knew in my head that since we had shared our first time together, I should behave properly until the end, but I was flustered by my self-loathing and my guilt towards Cheongmyeong. In the end, I fled, using the excuse that I had received a call while waiting at home.
Perhaps because I had escaped from the siren-like Cheongmyeong, my reason returned late and made me cold. I cursed myself. Kwon Saheon, you crazy bastard. A guy with a brain in his dick, a slave to his dick, a host of sexual intercourse…
My regained reason instructed me to send an apology message. To pretend yesterday never happened. I decided to follow this reason, which told me not to ruin a twenty-year relationship over a momentary mistake.
Thinking back, I had run away so hastily that I hadn’t contacted Cheongmyeong at all. As I watched Incheon Airport draw closer in the distance, I sent Cheongmyeong a long, apologetic text.
I’m sorry for leaving without saying anything. I was suddenly called for a flight. I’m sorry about yesterday. I’m sorry for not taking care of you, and I will properly apologize when I return. Let’s talk.
After sending the message, which I had rewritten several times, I suddenly remembered that Cheongmyeong’s phone was broken. I thought he would check the messenger on his laptop, so I copied the same content and sent it again, only to let out a deep sigh of defeat. I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
Yeah. It was clear that I had gone temporarily insane. No matter how much I was enchanted in an instant, I shouldn’t have done such a thing with the little brother I had watched grow up for twenty years. How on earth was I supposed to look Cheongmyeong in the face again?
Cheongmyeong didn’t check his messages throughout the flight. He must have been angry. If it were me, I would have slapped him. I was lucky not to have been grabbed by the collar.
I was more afraid of the silence than anything else, and after the layover, I returned to Korea. My heart felt heavy the entire time. As I thought about finishing the tasks I had put off, my steps kept hesitating, not very maturely.
I needed to go back. Properly apologize to Cheongmyeong. Say I’m sorry, handle it maturely…
Handle it…
I had to handle it…
“Thirsty, right? Hyung… give me some water…”
Damn it. I messed up. Seeing him stretch out his words like that made me feel like I would lose it again. No, Kwon Saheon. This isn’t right. You need to handle it maturely. Cheongmyeong is your little brother you’ve raised for twenty years… your cute and pretty little brother… I’m sorry…
But why did he grow up so beautifully?
“Yeah, I was thirsty.”
…Alright. Let’s admit it. I must have been a guy with a brain in his dick. The moment I faced Cheongmyeong’s face, my reason evaporated without a sound.
When did I start taking care of my reason? When did I start being conscious of my conscience?
“I don’t think it’s like that anymore.”
Well, does it matter?
Unlike the hot, sweltering air outside in Bangkok, the cabin was relatively cool. The flight crew, dressed in lavender uniforms, along with one captain and one co-pilot, were gathered in the galley in front of the first-class seats.
At the center of it all was Saheon hyung. As he entered the cabin, removing his angular hat, he looked incredibly handsome in his uniform.
With neatly combed hair, a sharp jawline that matched his uniform perfectly, and a height that was a head taller than others, it was a face I had seen for twenty-seven years, yet it always looked new and handsome. While I secretly stole glances at Saheon hyung, he wiped away his smile, revealing a cool and firm face, and with a serious yet powerful voice, he broke the noisy silence.
“Hello. We will now begin the joint briefing for flight KN791. I am the captain for today’s flight, Kwon Saheon.”
KISS ME BEFORE FLIGHT
Since the spring of my twenties when we decided to date during the cherry blossom season, Saheon hyung and I had been getting along without any issues. Although there was a significant barrier in the form of military service in between, Saheon hyung chose to wear the rubber shoes willingly, despite his despair.
I still can’t forget the image of Saheon hyung tearing up in front of the family gathered on the day I enlisted.
“What am I supposed to do when you go to the military? Sending a child like that to such a tough place… for two years…”
On the day of enlistment, Saheon hyung, who had taken a day off to come to the training center, was on the verge of tears. It was me who was enlisting, yet he looked so pitiful. Glancing at my parents, aunt, and uncle, the adults seemed to think that Saheon hyung was just being overly sentimental about his little brother going to the military.
Having remembered Saheon hyung bursting into tears at the sight of my shaved head, I had to forget the awkwardness of my buzz cut and comfort him maturely and calmly.
“You know how it is since you’ve been there too.”
I didn’t think it helped much.
But surprisingly, I was suited for military life. Maybe it was because Saheon hyung had scared me with how hard it was, but I managed just fine. The training was bearable, and living with everyone was okay too. As long as I stayed quiet, the sergeants, who were called tigers, would even share food with us.
Throughout my military service, Saheon hyung regularly sent me snacks, playing the role of a late-blooming girlfriend, and whenever I got leave, he would kidnap me right in front of the base.
Every time he saw me in my military uniform, Saheon hyung would wear a complicated expression, realizing the reality, and would often wash his face in despair, but still, he played the role of a devoted girlfriend until I was discharged. I heard he would ask the other flight attendants what they did when their boyfriends went to the military.
My comfortable military life was largely thanks to Saheon hyung. During my time as a private and a corporal, there were letters included with the clearly hand-packed snacks, asking them to take good care of Lee Cheongmyeong. When I became a sergeant and a staff sergeant, there were letters encouraging my juniors.
There was no better support than this. Among the soldiers, Saheon hyung’s image was that of “the guy who sends snacks that everyone can eat and still have leftovers,” and the positive influence naturally returned to me.
Eventually, I adapted so well that by the time I was discharged, I had become a special warrior. Since military life suited me so well, I even considered staying longer, but I gave up because of Saheon hyung’s genuine despair.
When I was discharged, Saheon hyung had a face that looked like someone who had just been liberated. He jokingly said he wanted to lock me up somewhere so I could only look at him and never go anywhere again, but his face was serious. I chuckled.
However, life after returning to school was a bit lonely. This was because my friends Choi Hyun-oh and Yoo Do-jin had also enlisted in the military the semester after I did.
In the end, I had to go to school alone until graduation, but it wasn’t all bad.
Before I graduated, a public recruitment notice came out for cabin crew at KN Airlines, the airline Hyung was working for. Having naturally changed my dream to become a flight attendant while living with him, I applied and got accepted. This happened when I was twenty-six.
For a while, my days were hectic. The training was tough. It was the first time I had studied so hard since my senior year of high school.
But perhaps because I worked hard not to fall behind, after about three months of training, I was able to receive my wings safely.
Saheon hyung passed the captain promotion exam while I was waiting to complete my training and flight practice as a flight attendant. Considering he was thirty-seven at the time, it was quite early. He was almost the youngest.
When the stripes on his insignia increased from three to four, I was the happiest. However, when Saheon hyung was promoted, he seemed to be distracted by something else. As soon as he received his new hat, jacket, and shoulder insignia, he jokingly suggested we play captain and flight attendant in the cabin.
I knew very well that that “play” wasn’t just for fun, so I had to give him a sharp look.
In the end, we agreed to do it not in the cabin, where we could both face disciplinary action, but in bed. Saheon hyung was twice as rough as usual, like someone who had lost control. The aftermath left me bedridden for the entire off period. Indeed, my hypothesis that Saheon hyung had a strange preference for flight attendant uniforms gained more credibility.
