Chapter 31: The Feverish Night

After that day, the twins completely revised their plan of observing Jinho sufficiently before slowly approaching him.

First, they felt the need to reduce suspicion toward themselves. So they sent Taehyuk a video of Jinho and Seonwoo from the night of the aphrodisiac, and informed Seonwoo that Taehyuk had been living with Jinho for over a month and was still in close contact with him.

Watching the alliance between those two completely crumble as intended was truly entertaining, and they were also satisfied that the interference decreased as the two became preoccupied with watching each other. After unresolved discussions, they eventually reached a non-aggression pact—just like in college. The twins, who had witnessed the signing, naturally responded coolly when Taehyuk and Seonwoo demanded their signatures too.

“Ah, we don’t need that. Even without it, we won’t touch him. It was only fun because you two were involved—otherwise he’s just an ordinary guy.”

“Honestly, we don’t even get why you two are making such a fuss, and now you want us to sign too? Let’s respect each other’s tastes, shall we?”

Of course, it was a lie. He was plenty entertaining on his own, and now he was a toy that these two were so interested in that they’d even signed a “non-aggression pact.” The twins recalled the contract with its fixed term and exchanged sly smiles.

How shocked would they be if, while pretending to be gentlemen and forcibly looking elsewhere, they found out the doll they’d been eyeing had fallen into someone else’s hands? And what if Teddy Bear, having been thoroughly played with by new owners, pranced around right in front of them? Just imagining how annoyed Taehyuk and Seonwoo would be made the twins giddy. They launched their plan the very next day—the famously named “Steal the Teddy Bear and Make Two Kids Cry” operation.

In the twins’ view, Jinho was being held by Taehyuk and Seonwoo on each side. Like two children each grabbing one arm of a teddy bear, both wanting it for themselves. If they stole that teddy bear away, they imagined the two children would be baffled, then cry or get angry—and the twins wanted to see that. Plus, the teddy bear they’d been eyeing would become theirs too—a two-birds-one-stone plan.

But just as with Taehyuk and Seonwoo before them, the twins too encountered unexpected situations that never happened in their usual dealings. They’d planned to steal Jinho from Taehyuk and Seonwoo, wave him in their faces to tease them—but before they knew it, the twins themselves were each holding one of Jinho’s arms, locked in a battle of nerves.

“Hyung should give up.”

“Don’t call me hyung only when it suits you.”

Hu found Ho so ridiculous he could lose his mind. He’d never call him hyung normally, but the moment he wanted something, he’d suddenly use it—it was absurd. Ho also knew it was a stretch considering how he usually treated Hu, but Hu wasn’t one to talk either—he’d always invoke the “hyung” card whenever it benefited him.

“You’re the one who only pretends not to be hyung when it’s convenient.”

“You started calling me ‘you’ first. You yield.”

“Yield? Ha! Yiiieeld? Did you just say yield to me?!”

Yield. That was one of the words completely unrelated to the twins. They’d always taken whatever they wanted wholly for themselves—yielding and sharing were things they had no need or reason to do.

If they both wanted the same thing, they’d just buy another—that’s what they’d learned and how they’d lived. But unfortunately, that logic didn’t apply this time. Kim Jinho couldn’t be split in two, and buying another with money was even more impossible.

The trigger was one of Jinho’s bold remarks.

‘I can’t do it. I’m really sorry, but I don’t know. Do other people actually tell you apart? They’re not just guessing, right? I can tell by personality. When we talk, I get a sense of who’s who—so can’t we just leave it at that?’

That idiot seemed to think it was fine since he could tell by personality—but that was far from the truth.

Not all of a person’s actions and words reveal their personality, and personality itself is such an abstract concept that it’s hard to define clearly. That’s why things like “Oh, I thought this person was like that, but they’re not” happen all the time.

In other words, Jinho’s statement was practically the same as saying he couldn’t tell Hu and Ho apart at all. So Hu and Ho decided that going together to push things was inefficient—instead, one of them should go and properly seduce him. The fight over who that would be began.

“You clearly prefer curvy, voluptuous types. Why don’t you go to a club instead of coming here and being disappointed by flat Kim Jinho?”

It was Hu who started the sarcasm first. Irritated by Ho’s smirk, he shot back with equal sarcasm. Ho scoffed and retorted.

“Ah—, come to think of it, all your girlfriends were super skinny models, weren’t they? But what about this? Kim Jinho doesn’t look like his ankles would fit in one hand, unlike your type.”

“Don’t piss me off with your nonsense. Didn’t you say you liked him before? This hyung will specially set you up, so just take it quietly and go.”

Ho couldn’t stand Hu constantly referring to himself as “hyung.” This bastard is being so damn persistent today, he thought, sweeping his bangs back to cool his heated head.

“Oh my, has our hyung already gotten dementia just because he’s a few minutes older? Didn’t that actress you were into get caught in a s*x scandal and flee overseas? Hyung, I’ll connect you with all the models I know—so why don’t you take that and disappear?”

Knowing each other better than anyone, the fight showed no signs of ending—the winner wouldn’t be easily decided.

This was already the second day. Until a conclusion was reached, neither could go to Jinho—meaning neither had set foot in his house for two days.

At that point, the younger Ho made a major decision. A powerful sleeping pill. The moment their taboo—never use drugs on each other—was broken.

Ho walked toward Jinho’s house with light steps, when a question suddenly occurred to him. When had he and Hu become so obsessed with Jinho?

Until recently, they’d definitely thought of him as a toy they couldn’t afford to lose—but not to the point of fighting over him like this. The curious thing was that Hu felt the same way.

No, come to think of it, Min Seonwoo and Choi Taehyuk were the same. Did Jinho have some kind of magical charm? That wasn’t it. As they’d said many times, Teddy Bear looked like just another passing high school student. At first glance, he could pass for a middle schooler with an old face. Being baby-faced was a plus—but not handsome or cute baby-faced—just ordinary skin that made him look younger.

Eyes of moderate size without double lids, slightly torn at the corners. A nose with a moderate bridge and rounded tip. Featureless lips. An egg-shaped face that might also be round. Height at 178—not short by any means—but his build was just average.

Neither thin nor puffy—just a medium build. He didn’t have a belly… no, actually, when sitting, it did protrude slightly.

Listing it out, it didn’t sound bad—but when he actually pictured the face, it was just ordinary. So where did the attraction come from? It was a real mystery.

“He—y! I’m here!”

Jinho’s house, which he entered after a while, was strangely quiet. When he’d asked the black-suited guys outside, they’d said he was home—so finding it quiet was odd. He called out loudly, but the face that always greeted him with a forced smile while barely hiding its annoyance didn’t appear.

Was he sulking because they hadn’t come for two days? Ho, still thinking self-centeredly, peeked into the kitchen and bathroom—but still, what he wanted was nowhere to be seen.

With a slightly anxious feeling, he threw open the bedroom door. Jinho was on the bed. Ho scoffed at his own brief anxiety and lightly scolded Jinho.

“Still sleeping, you Teddy Bear?”

He hadn’t meant for Jinho to hear, so he started walking away—but an unexpected answer came back.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

A voice thick with moisture said something completely out of the blue. Ho, who had already reached the bedside, heard it and reached out to shake Jinho awake.

“Huh…? Hey!”

Jinho’s body was burning hot. Ho urgently sent one of the men outside to buy medicine.

“Jinho, this is medicine. Take it and get better, okay?”

Ho coaxed Jinho gently as he spat out the medicine and babbled like a baby. He kept shaking his head, disliking even the coolness of the towel on his forehead, and occasionally let out weak chuckles—it was amusing—but the number on the thermometer was anything but.

39 degrees. A high fever. No matter how many times he tried to give him fever reducers, Jinho kept spitting them out—it was frustrating.

Eventually, Ho lifted his head slightly, forced the spoon in, and got the proper dose down, then brought cold water. Jinho, who had fallen asleep in the meantime, was now crying pitifully—something was haunting his dreams. He seemed the type to produce more snot than tears—hiccupping, he gripped the blanket tightly and sobbed.

Ho repeatedly wiped his face with the other side of the towel he’d been using to cool his body. Feeling sorry for him and worried his fever might spike further, Ho gently shook him awake. Fortunately, Jinho soon stopped crying.

But in the midst of that, whenever Ho even mentioned the word “hospital,” Jinho would whimper that he’d rather die than go. Still, the fever was so high that he tried to get him up—but after barely calming Jinho’s wailing, he collapsed beside him, exhausted.

Whether knowing Ho’s feelings or not, Jinho murmured softly.

“Sorry.”

Ho watched Jinho, who was trembling violently and burrowing back under the blanket, and let out a quiet sigh.

When you’re sick, you go to the hospital—or if you don’t like that, you at least call us doctors—you foolish bastard. Just moments ago, Jinho had been crying and complaining like the world was ending—but now that the soothing touch was gone, he’d stopped crying and was mumbling apologies. Ho swept back his hair.

He seemed like an emotional, oblivious child one moment—then pitiful, like someone who’d grown too big and dried up inside. With this much attraction, how could he have had so little presence before? The more he knew, the more fascinating and unpredictable this guy became.

Ah, is this it? Is this why we fell for him? It was a random thought, but as he dumped the lukewarm water and filled the basin with cold, Ho pondered seriously. But before he reached a conclusion, the water was full, and Ho quickly returned to Jinho’s side with a fresh towel. Cooling the fever came first.

And just as things were settling down, a call came from Hu.

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