Knowing Brother-Chapter 7
The tip of his right hand trembled, trembling regularly. He felt like he would collapse on the street. He shook his head hard, thinking that the sound in his ears had died down.
When he raised his head again, the man’s face was pale. He heard familiar footsteps behind him.
“Hyung, what are you doing here?”
“.......”
“If you’re dissatisfied with the advertisement, tell me. I can give you one. Of course, I’ll tell you when the advertiser wants me to.”
The man closed his mouth with a stern face. Won Dae-young gently pulled Seol-woo’s shoulder. His right arm was covered by the body that was close to him. He seemed to have already noticed that his fingertips were trembling regularly.
“It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you... You must have been very busy. We haven’t seen each other in a long time, right?”
“...You’ve been out of your mind.”
“Really? I’ve been out of your mind so much that I forgot to tell you not to give him snake-like eyes.”
Won Dae-young stared at the man listlessly. Even though he was relaxed, his eyes were suffocating.
“If he collapses from stress, can you take responsibility?”
Since he didn’t even think about refuting his ridiculous story, it seemed like he didn’t even have the will to fight Won Dae-young. Won Dae-young continued to stare at the man’s hardened face and ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ said.
“If we’re so close, why are you telling me even a rumor? You should be careful. If you spread a groundless rumor and tarnish that precious reputation of Um Joo-bin, you’ll be even further from advertising.”
“.......”
“Even without that, Hyung is ruining Joo-bin’s reputation by revealing money, just like this.”
Won Dae-young, who was looking at the man with pity, winked and smiled politely. His eyes, still pitiful for the other person, were joined by silence, giving him a strong unspoken power.
“I’ll know that you won’t talk to Choi Seol-woo from now on.”
After a long silence, Won Dae-young opened his mouth and pulled Seol-woo’s shoulder again and turned around.
“Let’s go. Are you tired?”
Choi Seol-woo obediently followed Won Dae-young’s words. The pleasure of secretly bragging about his special relationship with Won Dae-young in front of others was greater than the emotional shock he had just received. Habit was scary.
Won Dae-young, who had arrived at the parking lot, turned Choi Seol-woo around to say something. However, he quietly watched Seol-woo’s breathing and kept his mouth shut.
“Get in, I called a taxi.”
The annoying voice brought him back to his senses.
I shouldn’t be a burden.
“No, there’s someone with you. Thank you for coming while pretending to be cool. Congratulations. I came to give you a congratulatory gift. Go play.”
Choi Seol-woo took a gift box out of his bag and handed it to him, then pointed to Managing Director Yoon Ji-hwan, who was standing a little distance away. Yoon Ji-hwan, holding an e-cigarette, was surrounded by the people in charge and kept looking this way. He was ready to come right away if I gestured.
“Who are you coming with? Yoon Ji-hwan? What the hell.... What is this?”
Won Dae-young stuttered as he was so shocked by the sudden name. It must have been sudden since he didn’t seem to be on friendly terms. Won Dae-young shook his head with a crumpled expression.
“I don’t know when you became close with that old man, but you can’t.”
“You can’t?”
Won Dae-young opened the back seat door as he frowned at her questioning gaze. He naturally pushed Seol-woo into the car, but his indifferent expression was so strong that it was questionable. He blocked her with his size and spoke firmly.
“You can’t. You’re tired right now.”
“.......”
“It’s a sign before it malfunctions. Get in.”
Malfunction, it’s a strange conversation that would make anyone laugh if they heard it. But it was a secret between them, a slang they’d used since they were young.
Won Dae-young, who greeted Director Yoon with a smile and said, sat down next to him. As soon as he slammed the door shut, he revealed his true colors. He covered Choi Seol-woo’s mouth and pulled her into a headlock. The fragrant scent of perfume spread deep into his nose.
“Check your breathing.”
“Huh...! Get out of here!”
“Didn’t your chest feel tight?”
“F*ck...!”
“Before you came here, didn’t you feel like vomiting, nausea, or dizziness?”
“I told you not. I was fine.”
“But why are you like this? Be honest. You did something dirty, you.”
“What the. Evidence?”
“When a man gets really excited during sex, his heart rate goes up to 180 beats per minute. For someone with a well-trained ‘sports heart’ like me, it’s so great, but for you, it’s not something that’s so burdensome that your mouth turns white.”
Seriously, I was embarrassed to show this kid’s true colors. The reason my face turned pale was not because of anything else but because of the shock I received from this kid’s words.
“Even if it’s not you, check your condition and adjust your condition yourself. Stop cosplaying as a childish drama obsessed man, please.”
When it was quiet, I glanced to the side and saw that Won Dae-young wasn’t listening to Seol-woo. He was furrowing his brow while looking at his phone notifications. Ha Young-seo’s name was at the top of the piled-up notifications. It seemed like he was already going to deliver a congratulatory gift.
Who cares if they reunite or not? It’s not something that Choi Seol-woo should even feel regretful about.
Won Dae-young let out a short sigh and shoved his phone into his pocket. Immediately, a coercive force gripped Seol-woo’s jaws.
“Look.”
Won Dae-young, who had his cheeks pressed together so that his lips protruded like a sparrow’s, said in a languid tone.
“Send me a text message saying that you took your medicine and send me a regular checkup every day. If you don’t send it, see what I do.”
“Ah...! What are you going to do?”
“Your coworkers will become close to me, right?”
A smile somewhere between a grin and a smirk hung on his face. It was hard to breathe comfortably due to the voices and body odor pouring in from close by. Seol-woo barely managed to turn his gaze away from the gap between his slightly open shirt.
After confirming Seol-woo’s silence, he released his hand. When the taxi driver arrived, Won Dae-young greeted him briskly. Won Dae-young also recited Seol-woo’s home address familiarly. He had been responding appropriately to the knight who was making a fuss about whether he was a medalist, but soon he kept his mouth shut, as was his original personality. He was not a person who was basically kind to others.
Won Dae-young was swinging Choi Seol-woo around as he pleased. If it had been someone else, he would not have allowed it for years. If Seol-woo had not wanted it, he would have reported him for stalking or done something else. In other words,
Choi Seol-woo had wanted Won Dae-young for so long. He didn’t know his speed.
As he said, Seol-woo malfunctioned two or three times in the car. His eyes were spinning and his voice was blurry, and he lost consciousness. He could hear Won Dae-young’s voice saying nonchalantly, “Lean on me and sleep. I don’t smell like alcohol, hyung.” Every time he woke up, he checked if he could smell Won Dae-young or if the shoulder he was leaning on was his.
He wanted to go to Won Dae-young’s house and sleep, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that.
He collapsed on the mattress as soon as he got home and fell asleep. I fell asleep in an instant as if I had been injected with an anesthetic. When I opened my eyes, it was just past midnight.
Seol-woo checked Mrs. Choi’s room as if it were a habit. After seeing Mrs. Choi snoring, he passed through the narrow living room and returned to his room.
The small room was frighteningly empty, as if to show Choi Seol-woo’s personality. The wall of the next villa was close, so the windows were always closed. There was not a single common wall decoration or a single cherished poster in the room. It was a room that showed his cold personality, which did not give affection to anything in the world and did not have any regrets.
The bookshelf was also full of specialized books that he had read while studying to become a certified public accountant. The names written in large letters on the books looked like they had been scribbled without much affection. It was a handwriting that was considered to be separate from the face.
However, there was something piled up on one space on the desk that did not match the empty room.
Choi Seol-woo dragged his tired body and lay down on the desk. I shined the light of the stand on the Jenga tower piled up in the corner. There were various notes written in neat handwriting on the Jenga sticks. It was so elaborate that it was hard to believe that it was written by the same person.
‘Won Dae-young saved me’, ‘Won Dae-young secretly went out of the athlete’s village because of me’, ‘Won Dae-young sleeps on my shoulder’, ‘Won Dae-young seems to like me the most out of his friends’, ‘Won Dae-young is anxious when I can’t contact him’, ‘Won Dae-young broke up with his girlfriend’, ‘Won Dae-young has great conditions, but he’s not the type of person who would love someone for the rest of his life. He’ll probably never get married and live alone for the rest of his life’, etc.
The Jenga tower looked precarious with a few sticks missing here and there. Choi Seol-woo pulled out another one. It was the piece ‘Won Dae-young seems to like me the most out of his friends’. He slowly pulled it out, and the tower swayed.
Unfortunately, it seemed like he had to take out one more. Seol-woo pulled out another stick from the middle. It was a stick that said, “Won Dae-young will probably live alone for the rest of his life without getting married.”
When the stick was almost out, the tower finally collapsed. I felt so relieved. I would never have to build this up again.
The short hair piled up inside the tower was also covered by the collapsed stick. It was hair that Won Dae-young had secretly pulled out one by one whenever he slept. Whenever he had a chance, he would steal Won Dae-young’s hair, used lip balm, and discarded uniforms and pile them in a drawer. What on earth was he doing? When he thought about it, Choi Seol-woo wasn’t normal either.
“I’m getting goosebumps. Am I a stalker?”
The red whistle hanging on the window lock was full of traces of time. It was a gift he received when he first met Won Dae-young when he was twelve. He called himself the “Whistle Man.” Thinking back now, it was childish.
