Chapter 125: The Snow That Melted

Doyoon stood right in front of me, snow melting fast on his chestnut hair, turning the strands dark and slick. It felt too real—like a dream I hadn’t earned the right to wake up from. I just stared, mouth half-open, while Kim Minseok glanced back and forth between us, confused.

“Uh… who are you?” he asked Doyoon.

But neither of us answered. Our eyes were locked, pinned in place. Minseok turned to me, voice sharper now. “Hyung, you know this guy?”

Doyoon’s brow twitched, just once, like the question annoyed him. Without looking away from me, he said to Minseok, “One coffee, please. Same as his.” He nodded at my latte.

Minseok stood up awkwardly. “Y-yeah… sure.”

He looked baffled, but he was on the clock. The second he walked off, Doyoon slid into his seat. Just like that, we were face-to-face.

The café lights made him look sharper—thinner in the cheeks, eyes glassy and unreadable. I froze. Is this actually happening? I’d spent months convincing myself that if he ever saw me again, he’d walk right past. No hello. No nothing.

“How’ve you been?” he asked, calm as ever.

I sat there like an idiot, lips parted, no sound. So he kept going.

“I wrapped up everything back home. Thought I’d take a break. Visit.”

“Ah… yeah…” I barely managed a nod. Of course he was busy. Getting Seunghee into the vice chairman seat. Handling Choi Younggil’s funeral. His name had been all over the reports.

But this—this casual conversation—was that even allowed? Was I the only one who felt like the world had tilted?

I swallowed hard. “Did… Noona tell you where I was?”

He went quiet for a beat.

I pressed, voice tight. “Or Ria?”

A faint, knowing smile touched his lips. “Didn’t need to ask anyone. I’ve always known how to find you. Always.”

His gaze dropped. I followed it—and saw the ladybug necklace hanging outside my sweater. White knit, red bug. Couldn’t hide it if I tried. My face burned. I fumbled with it, trying to tuck it away.

He let out a soft laugh. “Still the same.”

“W-what is?”

“You hide when you’re nervous.”

Minseok returned with the coffee, sensed the tension, rolled his eyes a few times, and vanished again.

Doyoon leaned back, relaxed. “Kinda sudden, but… mind if I crash at your place?”

I blinked. “Huh?”

“Ria said you’ve got a nice spot. Living alone, right?”

Didn’t she say she wouldn’t tell?

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

He sipped his coffee, perfectly calm. “If not, no big deal. I’m actually here to meet someone new. Booked a hotel and everything.”

My stomach dropped. “New… person?”

He smiled, small and teasing. “At first, I hated you for what you said. But time passed. I got busy. And you were right—I was too young. No one around me I could trust. Now? I’m high up. Everyone’s so nice to me. Guess my world really was too small.”

I stared. He said it like it was a relief. But… was it?

“You got promoted?”

“Executive director at Haewon E&M. Not as loud as Seunghee’s news, so you probably didn’t hear.”

“Oh… right…”

My head was spinning. I tried to sound normal. “So this… new person?”

“Met them through work. Lives in Canada. Figured I’d come say hi. Christmas is coming, after all.”

The floor vanished beneath me.

He’d already moved on? And not even to Bae Jian?

I should’ve been happy. Instead, my chest caved in.

I grabbed my cup with shaking hands and downed the rest in one go.

“So,” he continued, “mind if I stay a few days? Wanna scope the area before asking them out.”

“They… live here?”

“They’ll be with me on Christmas, at least.”

“Ah… I see…”

I forced a smile. My whole body felt drained.

He watched me for a moment, then asked softly, “You’re okay with that, right? Us just being good hyung and dongsaeng. Like you wanted.”

“Yeah,” I lied. “Of course.”

I kept lying. “Our place is big. A few days is nothing. Stay as long as you want.”

“Then let’s go now? I just landed. I’m wiped.”

“Where’s your stuff?”

“Didn’t bring much. Was gonna buy everything new if you said no. Lucky me, huh? Guess that’s what brothers are for.”

I nodded. Stood up fast.

One more word and I’d start crying right there.

Outside, fine snow drifted down. No ice on the ground, but my legs wobbled anyway.

Doyoon caught up in two steps and grabbed my hand.

We walked in silence through the snowy streets. Me a little ahead. Him behind, holding on tight.

In a narrow alley, he spoke from behind me.

“Why are you crying?”

I sniffled. I’d tried to hide it. Failed.

He lowered his voice. “Want me to let go?”

I shook my head without turning.

He squeezed harder. “People here will think we’re dating if we hold hands like this.”

I didn’t care.

“Let them.”

“Really? You weren’t worried about that barista?”

“He’s nothing,” I snapped, still not looking.

“Then why’ve you been pretending to be fine?”

He yanked me back.

I spun into him—crying, stupid, exposed.

Under neon and streetlights, I saw his eyes were red too.

“When,” he whispered, “are you going to be honest?”

I couldn’t speak.

He knows. He came knowing everything.

He looked like he might cry. “Should I… not meet this person?”

My throat closed.

He grabbed my shoulders, voice slow and heavy:

“Would you be okay if I dated someone else? If I never saw you again—if I lived happily with them forever—would that really be fine? If yes, I’ll disappear. For good.”

A thick sigh slipped out. I hid the sound, but not the breath—white and trembling in the cold.

Just thinking it made my chest ache like it was splitting.

My eyes burned again.

“…No.”

Truth won.

He smiled—or cried, I couldn’t tell—and asked, “Why not?”

I knew: this answer decided everything.

Logically? I knew what I should say.

But logic had sent me running here. And for months, had I been happy?

Push him away now, and he’d vanish. Forever.

Six years flashed through my mind. My throat went dry.

He waited.

“No answer?”

I swallowed hard.

And said the words I’d buried for so long:

“I like you.”

He froze. Even his eyelashes.

Only the wind how, sharp and loud between us.

Afraid he hadn’t heard, I said it again, shaking, louder:

“I like you. Not as a hyung. Not as a brother. You. I like you.”

The next second, he crushed me in a hug so tight my ribs creaked.

His voice broke against my ear:

“You have no idea… how long I waited to hear that…”

People walked by, glancing at us clinging in the street.

I didn’t care.

I wrapped my arms around him slowly.

I was happy.

But the tears wouldn’t stop.

Something indescribable filled my chest.

“You sure this is okay?” I whispered.

He laughed, soft and wet.

Then his cold lips found mine—warm, desperate, real.

I closed my eyes.

How did I pretend not to feel this?

How did I think I could live without it?

When my heart was ready to explode.