It had been over six months since Ugyeong was hit by a speeding car and underwent major surgery. Because the driver was Seol Gicheol, the police and the insurance company looked on with suspicion, wondering if the family had conspired to stage the accident, but the insurance money was paid out normally, perhaps due to sheer luck. It was a large sum that remained even after settling all surgery, hospitalization, and treatment costs.
Only Seol Gicheol knew the truth of that day's accident.
In any case, the one who had overcome his own crisis was sentenced to actual prison time and had spent nearly half a year behind bars for none other than an assault charge.
He said he had gone to visit a real estate office of a friend he was on "hyung" and "au" terms with, lost his temper at boastful words that rubbed him the wrong way, and swung his fist. But whether it was bad luck, the acquaintance on the spot suffered serious injuries, including a crushed nasal bone and a torn forehead.
"Ugh, stop it. Stop it. Do you want to go straight back to a detention center the moment you're released?"
Hong Mijeong, who cared more about the overturned alcohol table than her niece getting hit, cleaned up her seat and belatedly approached to pull the two apart.
"You stop too and go inside."
Hong Mijeong, who had been forcibly pushing the stiffly standing Ugyeong, blinked upon discovering a shopping bag fluttering at her niece's wrist.
Gulp. Having swallowed her greed, Hong Mijeong casually spoke up.
"What is that?"
"It's nothing."
"What are you hiding for. Let me see."
Seol Gicheol, who had been downing the remaining alcohol straight from the bottle, looked back at the two people scuffling in front of the door. Ugyeong held on, trying not to have it taken, while Hong Mijeong made a fuss trying to steal it by force.
"These crazy bastards," he spat out a slurred curse, digging his index finger into his earhole as if annoyed by the noise. In the meantime, Ugyeong's face, flushed red, grabbed the shopping bag with both hands and pulled it toward her.
"Please don't. I really can't let you."
"Can't let me? How dare you talk like a dog when your aunt wants to see!"
Seol Gicheol, who had been watching to see how far it would go, snatched the shopping bag with a brutish hand. Several boxes tumbled out of the overturned bag with a rustle.
Hong Mijeong immediately ran over and picked up one of the small boxes. It was a box with a different texture from the start.
"Oh my, it's a watch!"
Blinded by greed, Hong Mijeong whipped out only the watch from the box, fastened it around her wrist, and held it up under the fluorescent light.
"This is so pretty. The design is sophisticated and makes me look young. Honey, what do you think, does it suit me? Huh?"
"Ah, get that away from me."
Unlike the uninterested Seol Gicheol, Hong Mijeong stood in front of the mirror, striking all kinds of poses and beaming.
Though three people existed, it was as if only two were present. Ugyeong, standing alone in the corner, gathered the torn shopping bag and scattered boxes into her arms. She wanted to stubbornly snatch the watch back, but she was so exhausted she didn't have the strength left to do so. No, she wouldn't have handed it over easily anyway to an aunt by marriage who coveted her niece's belongings.
Click. Closing the door, she shuffled over and sat on the bed. The heavy bag pressed down on the mattress, and her body sank heavily too.
Excited voices seeped through the crack of the tightly shut door. It seemed there was a fashion show in the middle of the night.
Ugyeong let out a hollow laugh, took off her bag, and lay down on the bed. Pulling the blanket over her head and finding a comfortable position, she suddenly recalled the moment she had been in Taeheon's embrace.
She hadn't seen his expression, but he had seemed startled when she talked about her dead mother. He hadn't known what to do, sorry and pitiful. She hadn't disliked his touch. Because it was a complete warmth that only a pitiful person could feel.
[Thank you for the gift. I'll use it well.]
She took out her phone, typed out a message, and sent it.
Though nothing had actually ended up in her hands, she consoled herself that his heart alone was hidden somewhere no one else's hands could reach, and that was enough.
[Sleep well. See you tomorrow.]
A reply came from him. Telling her to sleep well.
It was her first time having someone watch over her night and tend to her sleep. So a few tears fell. Out of gratitude, because she liked him. Because she missed him.
* * *
A cool breeze burst in through the open terrace door. On the other side of the fluttering curtains, in the makeshift kitchen, the espresso machine had just stopped working. Over the mug steaming with heat, the remaining coffee drops fell, drip by drip.
"Taeheon."
Taejun, who had stopped at the end of the stairs, looked around for Taeheon, who wasn't in sight. Judging by the smell of coffee spreading throughout the living room, he should be close by. Having made his judgment, Taejun first moved his steps toward the dress room with the shortest route.
"Were you here?"
Taeheon, who had been carefully choosing clothes while stroking the underside of his chin, raised his eyes slightly, asking what was up. Taejun momentarily set aside what he had to say and glanced around the dress room. New clothes that coincided with his reason for coming caught his eyes one after another. He immediately narrowed his gaze.
"Has something happened to you these days? Or did you suddenly develop material desires? Why are you shopping so much?"
"I just had some things I needed to buy."
"But you even withdrew cash."
"That was for something I needed to spend on."
"On what."
Taeheon, who had taken out a striped shirt and held it against his body, paused. Taejun quirked his eyebrows as if telling him to hurry up and speak. The sight of him was exactly like a loan shark.
It was quicker and easier to tell the truth to his parents and receive an allowance, but because the nagging he would hear afterward was a hassle, Taeheon had often taken money from his older brother and spent it. His brother was capable, had quite a bit of money, and was the type to take charge of family matters, so he was easy to persuade.
In any case, it was true that his spending had grown lately.
He had given a guy who messed with Ugyeong some money under the pretext of medical expenses, worried the punk would make a fuss about a slightly torn throat. Whether the guy had hit her or for some other reason, Ugyeong's watch had broken, so he bought her one. A headset seemed more comfortable than dangling earphones with long cords, so he bought her one of those too. He lied and said he had received it as a gift.
It was a potentially misleading gift, but fortunately, she accepted it without refusal. The tension at that moment was indescribable. It was a past event now so he could laugh, but at the time, he had really been terrified.
"Where did you spend that money? Tell me quickly."
"Ah, I'll pay you back, won't I? Just wait until I graduate from school. I'll pay you back right away."
"Did you get a girlfriend?"
"...No."
"You did."
"I said no."
Taeheon replied with a straight face and then took off his clothes in one go. After shooting a glare at Taejun, who was watching him like a pervert, he draped the shirt over his shoulders.
"What are you denying again when your red ears are confessing everything."
Taejun strode over, swept his broad shoulders with both hands, and smiled leisurely. At the same time, he pinched the reddened earlobe not painfully.
"Date. Meet people, go on dates. Nothing is better for your mental health than that."
"What's with you. Worry about yourself, you ruined the last blind date."
"Ruined? It wasn't ruined. We just mutually agreed to..."
"Mutually agreed? You got dumped one-sidedly by her."
Taeheon grumbled for no reason and went outside, picking up the coffee he had set down in advance. Just as he was about to take a sip of the appropriately cooled coffee, Taejun quickly snatched it away.
"Have you been sleeping well?"
"Yeah."
"How's school."
"So-so."
Taeheon answered perfunctorily, took out a new cup, and brewed more coffee.
Taejun pulled out a table chair, sat down, and propped his chin, staring intently at Taeheon's back, which somehow looked excited. In the side profile that occasionally came into view, the previous sharpness or sensitivity could no longer be found.
"Your expression looks better than before."
"Is it."
"Yeah. Much better."
"There are fun things, and annoying things too."
"What things."
Taejun's voice suddenly lowered. He set down his mug and approached within a few steps. At the same time, he glanced around to see if their parents on the first floor might come up.
"Is someone bothering you? Who is it, which bastard is it. Tell me."
"What's with you, disgusting."
"Even if it's disgusting, say it. Who knows, I might be able to help."
"You are already helping plenty."
"Really?"
Even though it was nothing much, Taejun's expression changed immediately. For someone with a personality who would take the lead in anything family-related, there was no greater praise.
"In that sense, raise my card limit a little."
"What?"
"I don't have any proper hobbies, so shouldn't I at least relieve stress through shopping? And I think I'll have more than just one or two things to buy for her going forward."
"Ah, more than one or two things to buy? So there is someone after all?"
Taeheon inadvertently let slip words that hinted at someone's existence, then flinched and turned around. Taejun was snickering, thrilled by his younger brother's dating life as if it were his own.
Damn it. Swearing, Taeheon scowled and dashed into the room to hide his flushed face. He suddenly felt hot. He opened the window and grabbed whatever was at hand to stir up a breeze, but his burning earlobes remained unchanged.
"As if it's dating."
He made a belated excuse, but he couldn't say that this fierce reaction—his body heating up, his heart pounding wildly, this tingling emotion—didn't fall under the category of dating. The impulse to keep thinking of her, to want to buy her something, to want to do things for her was unmistakably affection.
It had been quite a while since he had recognized and acknowledged the feeling. Therefore, the words of third parties who tactlessly barged in to interfere were particularly unpleasant.
One such day was when he was called to the teachers' office by his homeroom teacher.
"Taeheon, are you close with Seol Ugyeong? It's not that, but I thought this year is especially important for you and your parents. It's a time when you need to prepare for the college entrance exam that's not far away, and you need to graduate safely after doing well in school."
So what are you getting at? Unable to understand the intention behind all the beating around the bush, he listened silently, when the homeroom teacher took a look at his mood and then revealed his true feelings.