Mi-jin, who had been about to say something while glaring at the grinning Han Jun, relaxed the sharpness in her eyes and put on a businesslike smile when her gaze met Yi-hyeon’s.
“You said your name was Yi-hyeon, right? Did you grab some dirt on Jun and threaten him, saying you wouldn’t let him off easy if he didn’t agree to be friends with you?”
“Auntie, I think that’s enough.”
Han Jun twitched his upper lip as he glared at Mi-jin. Disliking how awkward the atmosphere was becoming, Yi-hyeon quickly spoke up.
“It’s not like that. We’re really close friends.”
“I see. But Yi-hyeon, sorry—there’s something I need to talk about with Jun. Would it be okay if I borrowed my nephew for just five minutes?”
“Just say it here.”
“Yes, yes. You don’t have to worry about me.”
When Yi-hyeon tugged on his arm, urging him to go quickly, Han Jun stood up with an annoyed expression. Before following Mi-jin out of the room, he told Yi-hyeon to try logging into Oi Market at least once.
A moment later, there was a thud as the door closed, followed soon by Mi-jin’s conversation with Han Jun, her voice heavy with concern.
With his sensitive hearing, even the smooth marble floor beneath Yi-hyeon felt like a bed of thorns.
“You bring him home and show him my sister’s photos—is that really okay?”
“Yeah. He’s fine.”
“And why is that?”
“He’s the only friend I trust. Isn’t that reason enough?”
At Han Jun’s words, the tension that had tightened Yi-hyeon’s lips finally eased. Then, realizing he had no intention of eavesdropping, he hurriedly covered his ears with both hands.
Han Jun knows I’ve got good hearing. He only said that to say something nice.
So stop assigning meaning to it—and just find Han Jun’s phone on Oi Market. With that thought, he fixed his gaze back on the app.
Since he couldn’t scroll with both hands covering his ears, Yi-hyeon pulled out the wireless earbuds from his bag and blocked his ears that way instead. With his hands now free, he selected an account that seemed likely to be Wonseok’s and sent a message.
Not long after, Han Jun returned to the room and sat down right next to Yi-hyeon, so close their shoulders nearly touched. The pleasant scent carried with his body heat brushed lightly against the fine hairs on Yi-hyeon’s skin.
He knew Han Jun was watching him, but for some reason, he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Maybe it was because the gaze resting on him felt warm. As he absentmindedly scratched at the edge of the screen protector peeling up on his phone, Han Jun pulled out one of the earbuds lodged in Yi-hyeon’s ear and asked,
“Were you listening to music?”
“Huh? Uh, no—well…… it’s just that my hearing’s really good.”
When Han Jun only stared at him without saying anything, Yi-hyeon insisted it was true and took the earbud from his hand, putting it back in.
“It’s really true. If I do this, it’s so quiet it’s like ant footsteps, so I can’t really make out what they’re saying—”
Han Jun pulled the earbud out of Yi-hyeon’s ear again and placed it on the table. Then he spoke in a soft, gentle voice.
“If you block them like that, you won’t be able to hear my voice.”
Yi-hyeon closed the mouth he’d opened to make excuses and swallowed dryly.
“I can hear your voice. But…… you might say something you want to keep private. It feels like I’d be eavesdropping.”
“People only get jumpy about eavesdropping when they’ve got something to hide. I’ve got nothing to badmouth you about behind your back, so I don’t care whether you hear or not.”
Yi-hyeon had secretly worried that Han Jun might feel uncomfortable because of his unusual ability. That was why, seeing Han Jun act like it didn’t matter at all, his emotions surged unexpectedly.
How am I not supposed to like him when he’s like this……
Every time Han Jun made his insides itch like this, Yi-hyeon had no idea how to calm himself down. He was left feeling nothing but flustered.
***
Every seller he’d messaged over the past few days had been a bust. Just as he was starting to doubt whether this method would work at all, Yi-hyeon couldn’t shake the strange sense of Seo Wonseok clinging to one particular listing. He contacted Han Jun immediately.
[Louis paw pad photo] xxhanjunini
– – –
[Go on Oi right now]
[Set location to our neighborhood]
[OneStoneTwoStone444]
[Check the phone posted under this nickname]
[Louis paw pad photo]
—[Just seeing that shitty nickname makes it feel like that bastard]
[Right? Doesn’t it stink?]
[Louis paw pad photo]
—[I’m gonna kill that fucker]
After sending the DMs, Yi-hyeon headed straight to Han Jun’s house.
By the time Yi-hyeon arrived, Han Jun had already finished talking with OneStone. The moment Yi-hyeon showed up, Han Jun burst into Mi-jin’s room, where she was working from home.
“Auntie!”
“Jesus, you scared me. Hey—knock!”
“You don’t knock either.”
When raised voices came from Mi-jin’s room, Yi-hyeon peeked his head through the doorway. From a distance, he stared at Mi-jin’s room—a place he’d never once entered, even while living there as Louis, as if it were a forbidden zone.
“Tomorrow—do you have time? Even if you don’t, clear your schedule.”
“What kind of bullshit are you planning now?”
“Buy something for me.”
“A phone? You just bought one. You lost it again already?”
“No. I’m trying to get back the phone that was stolen from me. There’s a really important video on it.”
Assuming he was plotting something ridiculous again, Mi-jin flatly refused.
“I might end up being a huge help to your clothing business. Are you really confident you won’t regret rejecting me like this? You and Grandpa aren’t going to attend the school violence committee as my guardians anyway. If that’s the case, shouldn’t you at least help me some other way?”
“You think I don’t want to go? And tomorrow I’ve got an external meeting with a client, so I can’t.”
“As an adult, you’re not going to help stop school violence? You’re really doing this? Ha, seriously cold. No affection at all. This family love is dead.”
“If you didn’t go around throwing punches, I feel like school violence cases would drop by a few at least. From what I heard, it’s mutual anyway. And the attorney said you used violence first. You just threw a punch out of nowhere? You beat a kid half to death at your last school too, and now again—”
“Excuse me, I’m really sorry to interrupt.”
Yi-hyeon couldn’t just sit by and listen to Mi-jin completely misunderstand her nephew. Standing at the threshold of the forbidden room, he spoke carefully.
He didn’t know how the story had been passed along, but if he had to guess, Wonseok probably hadn’t said that he’d bullied Han Jun. More likely, he’d been telling people it was a one-sided assault by Han Jun. Strictly speaking, the one Wonseok had bullied was Yi-hyeon himself—Han Jun had only gotten caught up in it while trying to stop things.
Clenching his fists, Yi-hyeon carefully stepped over the threshold. Mi-jin tilted her head as she looked at him.
“Hm? What is it?”
Mi-jin, who’d been glaring at Han Jun like she was ready to eat him alive, softened her expression and tried to ease Yi-hyeon’s tension.
“I don’t know how the story got twisted, but Jun didn’t do anything wrong. He stepped in because I was being bullied, and that’s how it happened. Jun has never picked a fight or thrown the first punch. Not once.”
Hearing Yi-hyeon’s words, Mi-jin straightened her posture and spoke with a serious expression.
“This is the first I’m hearing of this. I’m sorry, but could you explain in more detail? If it’s painful for you, you don’t have to.”
Carefully entering the room, Yi-hyeon told Mi-jin everything he’d gone through. All of it—right down to the possibility that Seo Wonseok, who had stolen the phone containing the truth of that day, might have put it up on Oi Market.
“These little shits, seriously. What era do they think this is, pulling school violence? Han Jun, when is the school violence committee scheduled?”
After learning the full truth, Mi-jin immediately sprang up from the bed and snatched Han Jun’s phone. She started hopping around, saying she’d buy every single phone listed on Oi Market if that’s what it took.
As Yi-hyeon let out a relieved sigh, thinking things were finally working out, he felt someone watching him. When he turned his head, Han Jun met his eyes and mouthed softly,
“Jun is really happy that Yi-hyeon helped.”
He’d deliberately only used his name so Mi-jin wouldn’t think they were especially close—but having Han Jun point it out like that made Yi-hyeon feel inexplicably shy. His face flushing, he quickly retreated back to the room.
