By Zephyria 
He wondered if Min-ho was picking someone up, but Min-ho kindly gestured toward him from a distance, guiding him to park. I’ve been caught. A sigh of defeat escaped him. He closed the distance at a slow, leisurely pace, only slightly pushing up his face shield.
‘When did you find out?’
‘Your motorcycle is just too conspicuous. What are you doing? Park it already.’
Since he wasn’t wearing glasses, his bloodshot eyes were exceptionally visible. That was why. Gyu-oh gave up on the tailing and obediently parked the motorcycle. However, he didn’t take off his helmet until the end. Because he was sure he’d get hit a few times.
‘Hand it over.’
Gyu-oh flinched and stepped back to avoid the outstretched hand. Even though the man was about two knuckles smaller than him, he found himself instinctively protecting his body.
‘…What?’
‘The keys.’
He gripped the motorcycle keys tightly and moved his hand behind his back. But Min-ho only gave him a blunt look without saying anything further. A silver watch flashed through the gap of his neatly pulled-down sleeve.
Even among those who fought for hierarchy, trying to suppress and dominate each other with force, Min-ho stood out. He seemed to lack ambition, yet he possessed a strange power that overwhelmed others. That was probably why no one could say anything even when he took care of Gyu-oh, who was bullied by the gangsters.
‘…When are you going to give them back?’
‘When you come to your senses.’
‘I just came to my senses right now. Why on earth did I follow you, Hyung? Was I possessed? I feel like something went in and came out of me.’
Despite the string of nonsense, Min-ho ruthlessly snatched the keys. Then, he tapped the helmet with the tangerine keychain attached to them.
‘You’ve never even been penetrated. Do you even know what it feels like for something to go in and come out?’
‘Wow… that’s harsh. You don’t have to be this harsh, Hyung.’
So you have no intention of hiding it now, huh? Muttering, he lowered the face shield again, completely hiding his face. He was glad he hadn’t taken off the helmet. His flustered expression would have been plain to see.
‘That’s why, you blockhead. Who told you to follow me like a stalker?’
Min-ho gave a small smirk and put the motorcycle keys in his own pocket.
‘….’
I just wondered what kind of bum you were meeting. He couldn’t bring himself to say that and just let the keys be taken. Min-ho left the parking lot as he was, and Gyu-oh had to go up to his house still wearing the helmet.
“Tsk, I could have not been caught.”
He must have seen the taxi driver in the next lane saying something to me when I stopped at the signal. I should have stayed further back. Then I would have known which hotel Hyung went to, what kind of car the bum he hooked up with had, and I wouldn’t have lost my motorcycle keys. Anyway, now that I know the cause of the failure, I just have to not get caught next time.
Regret always grew belatedly. Gyu-oh stepped on the accelerator and increased his speed. It was because he felt that if he arrived late, something else he would regret would happen.
“Are you in?”
He flung the door open and knocked afterward. Min-ho, who seemed to have just finished a call and was pulling the phone away from his ear, flicked his eyes up. The sensitivity that had been lingering in his pupils immediately subsided upon facing him.
“If you’re going to do that, don’t bother knocking.”
A short scolding followed, asking who knocks while opening the door. Still, he wasn’t kicked out, so that was enough.
“I’m just maintaining the etiquette for one’s elders.”
“Etiquette, my ass.”
Min-ho smirked, took off his glasses, and covered his eyelids with both hands. His face seemed to have a bit more color than yesterday, which made Gyu-oh’s mouth feel bitter for some reason. Did he sleep well? Then he really did with that bum… Observing Min-ho, Gyu-oh perched on the edge of the desk and reached out his hand.
“Who is it?”
His fingertips touched Min-ho’s phone. It was warm, meaning he had been on a call for quite a while. There was a password, but since Gyu-oh had set it himself, there was no problem. Gyu-oh fiddled with the phone as if it were his own. 1212. As he pressed the plain and simple numbers in sequence, the lock opened.
“Ji-ho.”
“Ah.”
Ji-ho was a younger sister with a significant age gap from Min-ho, currently living in Germany as part of a ballet company. He was told that when he first met her, it was the time when Ji-ho had just received an offer to study abroad and was contemplating it. Knowing the family’s financial situation, Ji-ho had insisted on not going, and Hyung had apparently insisted on sending her no matter what.
It had been nearly ten years since he had sent her to study abroad, partly out of stubbornness. Even though she had established herself to some extent, Min-ho was still fervently supporting Ji-ho.
“What did she say?”
“She told me to come visit when she gets a vacation.”
His tone didn’t reveal much emotion, but he seemed quite excited. Perhaps he looked less tired not because he met someone last night, but because he spoke with his sister. Or maybe, he just wanted to believe that.
“You didn’t tell her you couldn’t go again, did you? Ji-ho would be happy if you at least said you’d go.”
“…It’s better than a hopeless expectation.”
Min-ho, leaning his body completely back into the chair, moved his lips with his eyes closed. Unless Ji-ho came to Korea, the siblings would not meet. Min-ho was always busy and lived overwhelmed by work, and he hoped his sister wouldn’t be deeply entangled with him. Despite sharing the same blood.
Seeing the expression that conveyed bitterness, Gyu-oh shifted his gaze. It was obvious his mood had sunk. Gyu-oh pressed Min-ho’s thigh with the edge of the phone and changed the subject.
“Think about the vacation later. We can only talk about work once Mu-gyeong Hyung arrives, right?”
“Yeah. I heard he just boarded the plane. Sit and wait, or sleep.”
As soon as work was mentioned, Min-ho snapped his eyes open and tried to find and put on his glasses. Gyu-oh, who had stuffed Min-ho’s phone into his own pants pocket, quickly reached out to stop the movement. He pulled the arm of Min-ho, who was looking up at him with a questioning gaze.
“What?”
“Come here.”
Since there was still a long time before Mu-gyeong arrived, there was no need to be buried in documents right now.
He forced Min-ho to sit on the long sofa and pushed his shoulder hard. Min-ho, who resisted and didn’t budge easily, grabbed Gyu-oh’s wrist. Even though the grip was loose, the pressure was surprisingly significant.
“What are you trying to do?”
The tone was quite sharp, but Gyu-oh wasn’t intimidated by such a thing. Not giving up, he pressed down hard on the shoulder, and finally, Min-ho’s upper body tilted.
“You should get some shut-eye, Hyung. You have nothing to do in the meantime.”
“What do you mean nothing? Look at all this work piled up.”
Even if work was piled up like a mountain, there were things that didn’t need to be done by Min-ho alone. He could help sufficiently.
“Ssshp, if I tell you to lie down, lie down. Don’t make me say it twice.”
“To your Hyung…”
“Yes. Please stay still so I don’t have to say it twice, Hyung-nim.”
He eventually forced Min-ho to lie down and even took off his shoes. Min-ho struggled, but when Gyu-oh pressed down firmly on his calves with his knees, he soon became docile.
“Hey.”
“I know, I know.”
Pulling his body back, Gyu-oh held Min-ho’s shoes by the tips of his fingers and moved away from the sofa. He played the ‘Music for a Lonely Dog’s Sleep’ that he had saved previously. At the sound of the gentle rain falling, Min-ho let out a short, hollow laugh.
“You really do everything.”
“That’s my specialty.”
Leaving the phone on the desk, he brought Min-ho’s jacket. When he rolled it up and tucked it under Min-ho’s head to serve as a pillow, Min-ho accepted the touch obediently again. He doesn’t look it, but he’s surprisingly soft.
“I’ll categorize the documents perfectly. Get some sleep in the meantime.”
Gyu-oh perched on the low table in front of the sofa and reached out. He stayed still for a long time, covering Min-ho’s eyes. Every time Min-ho blinked, the sensation of eyelashes brushing against his palm was transmitted. The ticklish feeling was unfamiliar, but Gyu-oh did not withdraw his hand.
After blinking a few more times, the eyes closed quietly as if in resignation. After enduring for a while longer, Gyu-oh slowly withdrew his hand. Min-ho immediately bent his arm and placed it over his forehead. Under the shadow cast by his forearm, his two eyes remained closed.
“…Do it well.”
Gyu-oh swallowed a small laugh at the slightly languid voice. Then, he quietly headed toward the desk.
“Don’t worry.”
He walked with careful, muted steps, fearing he might be too loud. Sitting in the plush chair, he sifted through the mountain of documents piled up.
Min-ho always insisted on doing everything himself, even tasks that could have been delegated to others. Most things were like that. It was as if he wanted to be buried alive by work. Gyu-oh thought that such a ghost-like devotion to work was probably why even sleep fled from him. Shaking his head, he turned his gaze back to the papers.
While immersed in his work, Gyu-oh quietly checked the sofa. He could see the crown of Min-ho’s head as he lay peacefully, and his chest rising and falling at a steady pace.
“Thank goodness.”
He seems fast asleep. If he hadn’t caught even a short nap, he probably would have drunk heavily again or called out some loafer. Gyu-oh wondered if it was a relief to be able to curb Hyung’s escapades like this, but he couldn’t hide a certain bitterness in his heart. The bones on the back of his hand stood out white as he gripped the unfamiliar fountain pen tightly.
“…….”
After watching the sleeping Min-ho for a while longer, Gyu-oh took out the phone he had tucked in his pocket. It was Min-ho’s phone—the same model as his own, but completely devoid of any fun.
He habitually scanned the traces left on the phone. As expected, there was nothing special. All the contacts of the guys he’d had one-night stands with had been wiped clean.
“……Thorough.”
Do you really think I wouldn’t know? Gyu-oh scanned the phonebook with practiced ease. He had discovered a pattern while checking Min-ho’s phone from time to time.
There were over 400 contacts in the network, most of whom were people he knew through work. But scattered among those saved with proper names were entries consisting of unknown combinations of numbers; those were Min-ho’s one-night partners.
He could tell the total number had increased by two since last month, but it was hard to distinguish whether they were business partners or one-night stands.
“Sss.”
Gyu-oh inhaled through his teeth and rubbed his chin. The reason for saving the numbers of one-night partners like this was to ensure they would never meet again. It meant that once a name was changed and the number blocked, they could never contact Cha Min-ho again.
As he scrolled through the numerous numbers with his thumb, he felt strangely complicated. He decided he should increase the number of company dinners. If there were more days where he forced Min-ho to drink and sleep, he certainly wouldn’t be able to look in that direction. His mysterious sense of mission grew stronger today.