Chapter 12: The Comfort of Silence

“Did I cover my eyes for nothing?”

Min-hyeon regretted it. With his eyes closed, his other senses grew sharper instead of the blocked vision. The weight pressing down on his shoulder, the cool yet mature scent, the soft hair that kept brushing against his skin with every small movement—all of it made him even more aware of Jun-ho, who had his head resting on Min-hyeon’s shoulder.

‘Are all good-looking people like this? So natural with physical touch…’

Jun-ho was particularly natural with physical contact. Holding hands, putting an arm around a shoulder—he did it without any hesitation. Min-hyeon worried that because he himself wasn’t immune to that kind of touch, he kept overreacting to every single gesture.

Before long, Jun-ho pulled away from Min-hyeon. In reality, it had only been a few minutes, but to Min-hyeon, it felt like hours had passed. He’d been so tense that his shoulders and neck were completely stiff. Lowering his hands from his face, Min-hyeon glanced at Jun-ho’s reaction. When their eyes met, Jun-ho spoke seriously.

“You wrote it well. The project—we could just submit this one, you know?”

“R-really? Haha…”

Min-hyeon tried to suppress his rising smile, but it wasn’t working well. His eyes, as he awkwardly touched his cheek, sparkled with undisguised joy. Even though they wouldn’t end up using it, spending the entire weekend glued to the project had been worth it.

“Should we really submit this one?”

“Huh? No!”

Min-hyeon jumped. Before Jun-ho could suggest it again, he quickly deleted his own version and saved the one they’d worked on together.

“Aaah! It’s done!”

After confirming the file was saved properly, Min-hyeon closed his laptop and stretched. His stiff body cracked and loosened. Min-hyeon thanked Jun-ho.

“When the professor first assigned the project, I was completely lost—but thanks to you, hyung, I made it through safely. Thank you.”

When he’d heard “group project,” his vision had gone dark, but he never imagined it would become an opportunity to get close to Jun-ho like this. He felt like thanking the professor who had assigned it too.

“Don’t mention it. Look at the time already. What time do you need to be home today? Let’s go. I’ll drive you.”

At Jun-ho’s words, Min-hyeon also checked the time. It was only a little past 6—leaving already felt too disappointing.

“Well, my hyung said he’d pick me up by 7. Can I stay a little longer until then?”

“Sure.”

“Then I want to look around here!”

“Feel free.”

Saying he could look around as much as he wanted, Jun-ho leaned back deeply into the sofa.

There were many things that gave a glimpse of Jun-ho’s taste—the difficult-looking books on the shelves, the old camera on the desk. Min-hyeon pointed to the door half-hidden by a partition.

“What’s that?”

“A darkroom.”

“Wow. You have a darkroom too. That’s so cool…”

Not only taking photos, but developing them himself too. The admiration in Min-hyeon’s eyes as he looked at Jun-ho only deepened.

Min-hyeon examined each of the photos displayed on the wall—the ones Jun-ho had taken—one by one, and even sneaked a glance at the blanket on the slightly disheveled folding cot. While Min-hyeon meticulously explored the not-so-small interior, Jun-ho was observing him in return. His indifferent face would instantly soften into a gentle smile whenever Min-hyeon asked about something.

After a long while, Min-hyeon returned to the sofa and sat beside Jun-ho. Then he gave an embarrassed smile.

“Were you bored?”

“No, not at all. Watching you look around was entertaining.”

“You said that before too. I don’t think I’m that entertaining to watch.”

“Going through every nook and cranny—you looked just like a squirrel. One searching for acorns that fell in the grass.”

Unsure how to respond to Jun-ho’s words, Min-hyeon just fidgeted with his toes. Jun-ho’s remarkable ability was saying things like that so casually—yet instead of feeling cheesy or annoying, it somehow made people’s hearts act strangely.

‘It must be the face after all!’

I never knew I was this weak to a handsome face, Min-hyeon thought, stifling a sigh. No, it wasn’t just the face. Before they’d become close enough to talk, Jun-ho had given off a hard-to-approach vibe—who would have known he was capable of being this gentle?

“But hyung, do you always come pick people up like this? Isn’t it tiring?”

As Min-hyeon looked embarrassed, Jun-ho changed the subject. But that topic was also somewhat uncomfortable for Min-hyeon.

“…There are circumstances.”

“I see.”

Usually, when someone says there are circumstances, people tend to ask what they are—but Jun-ho didn’t ask anything, just nodded once and fell silent.

Was this silence indifference? Or consideration? Min-hyeon wanted to believe it was Jun-ho’s kindness. So even though Jun-ho didn’t ask further, Min-hyeon himself brought up a bit more detail.

“When I was young. So young I don’t remember any of it—but apparently, I was almost kidnapped once.”

Jun-ho just quietly looked at Min-hyeon. He still didn’t say anything, but the warm gaze directed at him felt like greater encouragement than ten or twenty words of comfort. Min-hyeon continued as calmly as he could.

“Actually, my parents passed away early. So my brother was like a parent to me. Back then… when I was almost kidnapped, my brother reported it to the police and ran around everywhere on his own… It was apparently complete chaos.”

Min-hyeon paused occasionally to steady his trembling voice. Jun-ho’s gentle silence somehow made his eyes sting.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure if this was longing for his parents. Even looking at their photos, nothing came to mind—he’d even thought, what would there be to miss? But whenever he talked about his parents to someone, his chest ached for some reason. Sometimes something would well up inside him. Min-hyeon tried to smile as if nothing was wrong, but the corners of his mouth stiffened awkwardly.

“So that’s why hyung comes to pick you up every day.”

“I guess so. He always calls, drops me off, picks me up. Sometimes when I’m out of contact, he tracks my location… It might look strange to others, but I can understand our hyung.”

At first, he’d thought everyone else was the same. But when this topic came up occasionally and people reacted by exclaiming that even parents wouldn’t be that overbearing, he realized for the first time that it wasn’t normal. Still, Min-hyeon could understand Min-woo’s unusual worry and controlling tendencies. After all, his situation was different from others’.

He hadn’t planned to go this far, but he’d ended up saying more than necessary. Feeling a little awkward, Min-hyeon added one more thing.

“Our hyung is just anxious. Afraid that something might happen to me again when I’m not in his sight.”

“That’s understandable.”

He agreed and showed empathy, but didn’t try to pry for more. Perhaps the reason Min-hyeon had ended up spilling even unnecessary things was precisely because of Jun-ho’s clean, curiosity-free attitude.

Min-hyeon had always found others’ curiosity difficult.

Until high school, he’d spent PE classes mostly sitting on the bench, just watching. Whenever he changed grades and met new friends, most of them were curious about his situation. Sometimes they’d ask him directly, sometimes they’d ask others who knew him. The first question would lead to the next, and insatiable curiosity would follow endlessly.

He felt uncomfortable with people who showed interest even in personal matters he didn’t want to talk about. Just like unwanted sympathy, pure curiosity could sometimes wound people. As a child, he hadn’t understood why he felt hurt—but now he did.

Min-hyeon thought the reason he felt at ease with Jun-ho was probably related to that. Jun-ho didn’t show curiosity. At least about things Min-hyeon didn’t bring up first, he never gave any indication. Even when he did hear something, he didn’t show it. It might seem indifferent, but knowing that this indifference was actually his gentle consideration made him all the more grateful.

So the atmosphere wouldn’t grow heavier, Min-hyeon spoke in a bright voice.

“I’d like to just live normally too, but what can I do? It’s because I’m so special.”

“I know that feeling. Wanting to live normally—I understand.”

“Someone like hyung must have it even harder, I think.”

“Someone like me?”

“Honestly, there’s probably no one at our school who doesn’t know you, hyung. You’re famous. For being handsome.”

“You knew about me too? Then how come I didn’t know you?”

At Jun-ho’s question, asked with wide eyes, Min-hyeon felt a pang of injustice. They say handsome people, having lived their entire lives with that face, don’t really grasp just how handsome they are.

“Well, at least you’ve noticed me now, so that’s what matters.”

“I wish I’d noticed you sooner. Such a waste of all that time passing by without knowing you.”

“Wow… Hyung, you really…”

With clear eyes that seemed unaware of the impact of his own words, he smiled beautifully. Min-hyeon lost the confidence to keep looking straight into those eyes. He turned his head slightly to the side and fanned himself vigorously.

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