#84
I woke up again because of the murmuring voices coming from outside the room. Curled up like a shrimp hugging the blanket, I gradually regained consciousness as I realized there was no presence beside me.
“How can you sleep in someone else’s room without even bed sheets?”
“So you slept with Cheongmyeong? Embracing each other? And completely naked?”
“We didn’t sleep completely naked. And I could do that with Mungmung. Why are you talking like you’ve caught us in an affair?”
“How can I not when the first thing I see when I come home is you coming out of Cheongmyeong’s room?”
“Have you finally gone mad…”
It was the sound of Saheon hyung and Chaehun hyung bickering. With my cheek against the pleasant feel of the blanket, I fully woke up. My sleepy head was still trying to make sense of the situation.
The sensation on my skin felt strangely empty. Looking down at my bare body covered in patches, I was shocked by the red and purple marks that Saheon hyung had clearly left, and quickly searched for and put on the clothes that had fallen to the floor.
As I retraced yesterday’s memories, I remembered Chaehun hyung changing my patches. My face felt like it was burning up. I blushed at the thought that Chaehun hyung might have seen all these marks. I didn’t know how I could face him.
“By the way, why are you here now? And I postponed my work to come because you said you’d be here on Friday when you left.”
“I managed to swap my schedule dramatically five hours before the flight.”
I carefully got up. Thanks to the patches I had slept with, the muscle pain seemed much better than yesterday. Hearing what sounded like creaking joints, I walked out and opened the door, wriggling.
In the kitchen, Saheon hyung in his uniform and Chaehun hyung wearing Saheon hyung’s clothes were standing face to face. Saheon hyung, who had been glaring at Chaehun hyung with a seemingly serious face, noticed me awkwardly peeking through the door crack and looked at me with a face that melted like eyes touching hot water.
“You’re up?”
At Saheon hyung’s words, Chaehun hyung also quickly turned his head. Compared to Saheon hyung, his much softer face smiled slightly at me.
“Did you sleep well, Mungmung?”
“…Yes. I slept well.”
I answered with a very hoarse voice. It felt like I could taste the metallic flavor of blood in my cracked throat. Perhaps sensing that my condition was serious, Chaehun hyung asked worriedly.
“Your voice is still hoarse. What happened? Are you okay? Do we have any citron tea or something?”
“Yeah, your throat is all hoarse.”
Saheon hyung raised his eyebrows, repeating Chaehun hyung’s words. At this clearly playful act, I pressed my lips inward. I glared at Saheon hyung as hard as I could, hidden from Chaehun hyung.
But Saheon hyung didn’t seem to mind at all. As he approached me at once, I smelled another exotic wind scent from him. He cupped my cheeks as if examining my condition, turning my face this way and that.
“Do you feel a bit better?”
“…After sleeping with the patches on.”
“That’s a relief.”
Saheon hyung was still in full uniform, including his hat, as if he had just gotten off work. But his face showed the fatigue typical of someone who hadn’t slept for a long time. I asked somewhat quizzically.
“Hyung. But didn’t you say you’d be back on Friday when you left this time?”
“I looked for someone to swap schedules with the whole way to work. I found a Nepal flight just before the briefing, did a quick turn on that and came back. I feel like I’m dying.”
Fatigue was evident in Saheon hyung’s voice. The joy of seeing hyung, whom I thought I wouldn’t see for a few days, was momentary; seeing how tired he looked made my heart ache again. Saheon hyung squeezed my cheeks that he was holding. My lips protruded like a pufferfish.
Hyung’s lips formed a smooth arc. As hyung tried to kiss my protruding lips out of habit, I backed away in shock. My face heated up. I awkwardly grumbled while checking Chaehun hyung’s face, who was looking at us strangely.
“Stop… joking around…”
“Yeah. Stop teasing the sick kid.”
Chaehun hyung quickly chimed in. Perhaps because of the word ‘teasing’, Saheon hyung frowned even more and his face became mischievous.
“Come here. I’m going to kiss you.”
“Aack!”
With my cheeks caught, I had to receive a deep kiss on the cheek. Chaehun hyung shook his head, laughing as if he couldn’t believe it. With a sound closer to a smack than a peck, the lips separated. My cheek stung.
I stared at Saheon hyung with a blank face. Meanwhile, Chaehun hyung, having lost all interest, was rummaging through the refrigerator. While Chaehun hyung was taking out the side dishes I had prepared earlier one by one, Saheon hyung played a prank by firmly grabbing my buttocks with his large hand.
I flinched without being able to make a sound. I couldn’t understand why he was doing this when Chaehun hyung might see. It was incomprehensible to me that he would do such an indecent act in front of others. I slapped the back of Saheon hyung’s hand for his strange behavior.
At the clear sound of hitting, Chaehun hyung looked at us with a puzzled face. Chaehun hyung, still looking confused, asked.
“Is there rice in the rice cooker?”
“…Yes, there is.”
I quickly twisted my waist to avoid Saheon hyung’s approaching hand again as I answered. It felt like my joints were making a creaking sound. I endured the pain with furrowed brows.
“I’m sorry. Does it hurt a lot?”
Saheon hyung whispered in a barely audible voice. Meanwhile, Saheon hyung, who had come close to me, gently massaged the sore spots as if he knew everything.
The touch on my lower back was gentle yet refreshing. Chaehun hyung, who discovered us stuck together again, let out an incredulous laugh.
“I told you to stop teasing the kid.”
“I’m not teasing. I’m just being very concerned.”
Somehow, Saheon hyung seemed to become more childish in front of Chaehun hyung. I quickly escaped from hyung’s grasp and pretended to help Chaehun hyung. Saheon hyung called out to me.
“Where are you going, baby?”
“Kwon Saheon. Go change your clothes.”
Chaehun hyung instructed in a stern voice. Saheon hyung’s face turned sullen, but he obediently went into his room. Meanwhile, I pretended to help Chaehun hyung by arranging the dishes.
“I’ll help.”
“Thanks. But the sick person should sit down.”
Chaehun hyung, gently but firmly refusing, sat me down and continued his work. He scooped out three portions of fluffy rice. I sat quietly, fidgeting with the side dish bowls, waiting for Saheon hyung to come out.
Saheon hyung, who came out changed into a black turtleneck and jeans, looked much more comfortable, but perhaps because the hat that had been covering his face was gone, his fatigue was even more apparent. Chaehun hyung asked.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“Not a wink. I went to Nepal as a deadhead, did one short-haul, and came back on a quick turn, so it feels like I’ve been around the world without any rest. I saw the sunrise three times. It’s the worst schedule, but here’s an idiot in love who gave up Atlanta to swap. Is this what it feels like to do five consecutive Kai Tak landings?”
Saheon hyung muttered in what seemed like an alien language. But it seemed that no one here understood what Saheon hyung was saying. Chaehun hyung clicked his tongue and offered a casual consolation.
“Okay. I can see you’re tired. Is the meal okay?”
“Yeah.”
The breakfast table looked very simple with only basic side dishes. Saheon hyung, who naturally took a seat next to me, greeted as always, telling me to eat well.
“Enjoy your meal. Eat this too.”
Saheon hyung pointed at the pickled cucumber with his chopsticks and then proceeded to put some side dishes on top of my rice. When he did this in front of Chaehun hyung, an action that would normally prompt a “why are you doing that” from me, I actually blurted out, “Hyung… why are you doing this…”
“Eat a lot, our baby.”
Saheon hyung ignored my question and said something cringeworthy. Chaehun hyung burst out laughing.
“Oh my, what are you two doing? Are you dating?”
“How did you know?”
Saheon hyung calmly retorted. It seemed like I was the only one uncomfortable in this situation. I felt my face heating up and looked back and forth between Chaehun hyung and Saheon hyung with restless eyes.
“Since when have you been dating?”
“Not long. A week?”
“Who asked who out?”
“I did.”
“That’s a crime, you jerk. Our Mungmung has an active and pretty girlfriend, right?”
But Chaehun hyung seemed to take it completely as a joke. I awkwardly looked at Saheon hyung and agreed.
“R-right…?”
“She might be active and pretty, but what do you mean ‘right’? I even bought a ring to propose to Cheongmyeong.”
Saheon hyung snapped sharply. At this point, it was ambiguous whether Saheon hyung was joking or not. I mumbled awkwardly again, siding with Saheon hyung.
“Is that so…? But isn’t Saheon hyung… good enough…?”
“Cheongmyeong, are you serious?”
This time it was Chaehun hyung. Destined to be attacked by the Kwon brothers no matter what I said, I chose to quietly shovel rice into my mouth.
