Chapter 15: An Unexpected Interruption

‘Well… it’s not like anything happened.’

Yoonwoo thought with a grimace as he spread the bedding in the small room. It wasn’t the first time he’d slept in the same space as Yeon-chae.

During the summer MT, they had slept in a large room with thin blankets spread nearby. The only difference was that back then, layers of drunkards had been scattered between them.

He changed into comfortable clothes and slipped under the covers. Lying there, only blinking, he felt a strange tension.

It was like a groom on his wedding night, waiting for his new bride to finish showering and enter the bedroom. Thinking the analogy was odd, Yoonwoo restlessly shifted his body, eventually lying on his side with his back to the door.

Why was Yeon-chae taking so long in the shower? It felt like more than ten minutes had passed since Yoonwoo had finished, yet there was still no sign of him.

Just then, the door behind him creaked open. The fresh scent of lemon body wash wafted to his nose, tickling his chest.

Even though he had used the same product, the fragrance emanating from Yeon-chae’s body seemed sweeter.

“Yoonwoo sunbae. Are you asleep?”

“…No.”

He hesitated for a moment, procrastinating, but pretending to be asleep felt awkward, so he eventually sat up. As he turned his head, Yeon-chae’s smooth legs immediately caught his eye.

His gaze involuntarily traveled upwards, past the thin shorts, towards the upper body clad in a white T-shirt.

The T-shirt, somewhat loose around the abdomen, stretched taut across his chest, clearly outlining his physique. Even the short sleeves, which weren’t tight, hugged Yeon-chae’s firm arms.

Above his broad, sloping shoulders and straight neckline, his prominent Adam’s apple stood out. Having just washed his face, his damp complexion was more radiant than usual, and his peach-toned cheeks were as clear as a child’s.

A drop of water fell from his neat, wet bangs, trickled down his cheek, and settled on his slender jawline. Yeon-chae casually ran the back of his hand along his chin. Yoonwoo found himself unconsciously parting his lips.

“Yoonwoo sunbae?”

“Huh?”

The questioning voice calling his name snapped him back to reality. Yoonwoo hastily stood up and fumbled to turn on the air conditioner.

The rattling noise of the old, worn-out unit filled the awkward silence. He told himself it was just the oppressive heat that made his cheeks and the back of his neck feel so flushed.

“Can I sleep here?”

Yeon-chae gazed down at the bedding where Yoonwoo had been lying and asked. No particular expression flickered across his radiant face.

Perhaps he had showered with hot water, as only the tips of his ears were flushed, as if the heat hadn’t completely dissipated.

Feeling somehow abashed, Yoonwoo simply nodded without a word. Yeon-chae quietly asked again.

“Will sunbae also sleep here?”

“Huh? Uh… I was planning to.”

Yeon-chae’s rich, low voice gently brushed against his ear. His tone was difficult to decipher, leaving Yoonwoo feeling a little flustered.

Consequently, an excuse spilled from his lips almost without thought.

“Well, our kids are Alphas, but I thought it might be awkward for you and them to sleep together… I mean, brothers can sleep together, right? I’m not an Omega or anything…

It would be good to give you a separate room, but the master bedroom bed is for two, and it’s a bit cramped for another person on the floor… But if you’re really uncomfortable, I can just go sleep somewhere else…”

“Sunbae.”

Yeon-chae cut off Yoonwoo’s rambling, which had seemed destined to continue indefinitely. Then, he reached out a hand towards Yoonwoo’s face, which had been turned vaguely towards the air at a 45-degree angle to his left.

Yoonwoo’s cheek fit perfectly within Yeon-chae’s large hand. The palm cradling his face was soft, yet surprisingly cold.

‘Hadn’t he showered with hot water?’ Yoonwoo thought, a completely irrelevant question in that moment.

“I like it.”

Unable to meet Yeon-chae’s gaze directly, Yoonwoo mumbled.

“Oh, I like it too…”

The intense gaze fixed on his cheek felt pleasantly tingly.

“Hyung, what are you doing in there?”

At that very moment, a voice called Yoonwoo’s name from beyond the wide-open door.

“Oh? Oh, Jinwoo. You’re here already?”

“Already? It’s midnight.”

“Uh, haha, th-that’s right…”

Startled by his brother’s sudden intrusion, Yoonwoo quickly sprang away from Yeon-chae. Yeon-chae’s hand, suspended mid-air, faltered for a moment before dropping loosely to his side.

Yoonwoo stiffly turned his body. Jinwoo, who had apparently just arrived home, still wearing his backpack, eyed Yoonwoo and Yeon-chae suspiciously, alternating his gaze between them.

“Who are you?”

He abruptly asked Yeon-chae. A hint of aggression tinged his voice, but Yeon-chae seemed unfazed, his eyes crinkling as he smiled brightly.

It was a dazzling, radiant smile. Yoonwoo’s mouth once again hung slightly open.

“Are you Yoonwoo sunbae’s brother?”

Yoonwoo had secretly worried, remembering how Yeon-chae had been shy even with his peers during the summer MT. However, to Yoonwoo’s surprise, an unusually gentle and kind voice flowed from Yeon-chae’s full lips, rendering his concerns baseless.

While Yoonwoo was slightly taken aback by this unexpected turn, a conversation began between Jinwoo and Yeon-chae.

“Yes. Who are you?”

In stark contrast to Yeon-chae’s amiable demeanor, Jinwoo maintained a sullen expression. Until last year, Jinwoo had been completely cheerful, but upon becoming a second-year high school student, he seemed to be experiencing a belated puberty, and his personality had abruptly changed this year.

He had grown so much that he complained of knee pain every morning, and as his baby fat disappeared, his features had become subtly sharper; unlike his former self, who laughed easily and was full of charm, he was now taciturn.

Perhaps because of this, Jinwoo’s reaction and attitude were different now compared to when he first saw Sihyung—Seowoo’s husband (or rather, his lover at the time? Or just a casual fling?)—in front of their Seoul home last year.

Yoonwoo frowned deeply, displeased with his younger brother’s rude behavior. Even if it was due to puberty, it felt like discrimination, and he didn’t like it.

“Jinwoo. What kind of way is that to talk to your brother’s guest—”

“I’m Oh Yeon-chae, Yoonwoo hyung’s junior. I’ve heard a lot about you from sunbae. You must be tired, coming home so late after studying.”

“My story? I haven’t heard anything about you.”

“…Hey, Eun Jinwoo!”

Yoonwoo’s attempt to gently scold Jinwoo was interrupted by Yeon-chae’s polite reply, but in return, Yeon-chae received an even more insolent tone.

Yoonwoo finally raised his voice. The tempestuous teenager shot him a defiant glance.

Yoonwoo spoke sternly.

“Speak respectfully, Eun Jinwoo.”

“It’s alright, sunbae. You must be tired, so please go inside and sleep.”

‘Since when had he been so lenient?’ At school, no one dared speak to Yeon-chae like that. It was astonishing that Yeon-chae was tolerating Jinwoo’s behavior.

Regardless, Yoonwoo, mortified by the teenager’s rude attitude, sighed and gently pushed Yeon-chae’s back.

“Go on and sleep, Yeon-chae. Don’t mind him… I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Sunbae, you should come in too.”

“Go in where together?”

Just as the atmosphere was starting to ease, Jinwoo abruptly interjected again. Yoonwoo glared at his brother, who seemed particularly troublesome today.

“We should go to sleep now. You hurry up and wash, then sleep.”

“Are you sleeping in that room too, hyung?”

“Then where would I sleep? We can’t all three lie in the master bedroom bed.”

“Why three?”

“Did you forget about Kangwoo? Oh, but why isn’t Kangwoo here?”

Now that he thought about it, the other twin hadn’t been seen for a while. He had naturally assumed Kangwoo would be with Jinwoo, but there was no sign of him in the master bedroom or the bathroom.

Jinwoo snorted, as if Yoonwoo was asking too late. His slender profile looked so annoyingly smug that Yoonwoo wanted to smack him.

“He didn’t come with me. He’s staying at Hanse’s house tonight.”

Hanse was the neighbor kid who always hung out with the twins whenever they came to Tongyeong. Since they always went around as a trio, if Kangwoo was going, he should have taken Jinwoo too.

Yoonwoo couldn’t understand why Kangwoo had gone to Hanse’s house alone. With a displeased look, Yoonwoo gestured to Jinwoo.

“Alright. Anyway, hurry up and wash, then go to sleep. Yeon-chae brought eel stew for you guys, so eat it if you’re hungry.”

“Eel? I’m not hungry.”

The teenager, seemingly full of nothing but discontent with life, didn’t budge at the allure of eel. Instead, he simply looked Yeon-chae up and down with an air of contempt.

Yoonwoo’s cheeks flushed, and he shrieked.

“Just get in there, already!”

“Hyung, you come in with me too.”

However, to Yoonwoo’s utter astonishment, the answer he received was relaxed and even leisurely, despite his outburst.

Yoonwoo raised one eyebrow.

“What? Why? What are you talking about?”

Jinwoo replied with an unreadable expression.

“I told you Kangwoo isn’t here, didn’t I? You and I can just sleep together, so come to the master bedroom. We should give the guest a room to themselves.”

Thud.

The sound of the towel Yeon-chae had been holding dropping to the floor echoed.

“Why are you acting like that towards Yeon-chae?”

Yoonwoo eventually couldn’t overcome the teenager’s stubbornness and lay down beside Jinwoo. Perhaps tired from studying late, the young skin on his cheek felt rough.

When Yoonwoo reached out and patted his cheek, Jinwoo pouted, sticking out his lower lip. Yoonwoo asked coaxingly.

“You liked Sihyung hyung when you first met him, didn’t you? Don’t you like Yeon-chae?”

Although Sihyung and Yeon-chae’s situations and circumstances were different, their status as his brother’s guest was largely the same. Yet, their reactions were so strikingly different that it puzzled him.

Perhaps feeling a little appeased by Yoonwoo’s comfort, Jinwoo’s perpetually sullen expression softened slightly as he buried his face in his pillow and mumbled.

“Sihyung hyung is kind. And gentle.”

“Yeon-chae is also kind and gentle.”

“No, I don’t think he is.”

“How would you know? You’ve only seen him for five minutes.”

“His eyes are suspicious.”

“What? His eyes?”

“Yeah. He looks like he has ulterior motives. And big brother is shrewd; even if you leave him alone, he manages fine on his own. I’m just worried Sihyung hyung might get taken advantage of.”

“Hey, I’m shrewd too.”

“The problem with little hyung is that he *thinks* he’s shrewd. He’ll get swindled while wide awake.”

“Who’s going to swindle me…? Yeon-chae? What would he gain?”

The words coming from the ‘little guy’ were astonishing. The teenager, now more than a handspan taller than Yoonwoo, was no longer ‘little,’ but his audacity was truly bewildering.