By Zephyria 
===
After playing to their hearts’ content in the penthouse’s private pool, they returned to the room to find several bottles of champagne, wine, beer, and various appetizers prepared by Cha Se-jin. Before heading in to wash up, Ju Yi-deun went to the table and carefully examined a bottle of champagne submerged in ice.
“Wow, this is seriously expensive.”
Watching Ju Yi-deun rave about how it was a champagne he had always wanted to try, Eun-won smiled and was the first to enter the bathroom to wash up. He felt wonderful, having laughed so much and played like they were children again with his friends.
He loved seeing his friends—who had always been the ones helping him—be so genuinely happy and delighted by what Cha Se-jin had prepared. He was also incredibly grateful to Cha Se-jin for being so thoughtful and attentive to both him and his friends. He wanted to make sure to express his gratitude more sincerely when he returned.
Once he had washed and dried his hair, he stepped out to find his friends, who had rushed out with their hair still damp, taking photos of the beautifully arranged drinks and appetizers from every possible angle. As Eun-won approached, Yoon Ji-woon threw an arm around his shoulder and bounced with excitement.
“Man, I feel freaking great. This is insane. Seriously, look at all this. I’m so lucky to have a friend like you.”
While Ju Yi-deun, finished with his photos, uploaded stories to social media, Jung Woo-min looked through the room service menu and ordered a few more things. Although they had eaten their fill of meat, they had become hungry again after swimming and playing.
“Hey, what should we drink first? Should we start with the champagne?”
“We definitely have to start with the most expensive one. If we drink something else first, the flavors will mix. We have to enjoy this with a clear head. With reverence.”
As the champagne cork was popped, a cheerful pop! echoed through the room. An excited Jung Woo-min poured the champagne, its bubbles rising softly, equally into four tall flutes. They all raised their glasses, clinked them with a clear ring, and took a sip. It was cool, refreshing, and not too strong, so Eun-won enjoyed it as well.
“…Wow, this is crazy. It tastes amazing.”
“Expensive stuff really is different.”
“Hyung, his scale is seriously on another level. I would’ve fainted if he just gave us one bottle, but three bottles of champagne and two of wine…”
After another sip of champagne, Eun-won set his glass down and popped a piece of mango into his mouth. The sweet and tangy flavor made his mood feel just as sweet and tangy.
“How am I ever going to pay him back for this… I don’t think we’ve even been that good to you.”
“Right. I mean, Yoon Ji-woon has been close since the first semester, but we haven’t even known you that long, and we’ve really done nothing for him…”
“Hey, I wasn’t even around during Seo Eun-won’s cycle. I’m the one who should feel guilty for tagging along.”
“Ah, then please leave us now,” Yoon Ji-woon joked, laughing. Ju Yi-deun and Jung Woo-min looked at Eun-won. Seeing their faces, which looked happy yet somehow apologetic, Eun-won shook his head as if telling them not to feel that way.
“You guys have done so much for me. I can pay back the Director myself, so you don’t have to think like that.”
“Even if you try to pay him back, I don’t think he’d accept it.”
“Huh?”
“When we were eating earlier, I noticed Hyung really couldn’t take his eyes off you. He kept making sure you were eating and gave you all the best pieces of meat.”
As Yoon Ji-woon spoke, having observed the situation closely, Ju Yi-deun and Jung Woo-min chimed in.
“True. He was surprisingly… sweet?”
“Honestly, the only reason he’s doing this for us too is because he likes you.”
“That’s it. Honestly, there’s no reason for him to go this far for us. It takes money, time, and it’s a hassle.”
Listening to the flood of words, Eun-won felt his ears grow hot. He opened a soda from the ice bucket next to the champagne and took a sip.
He had tried to convince himself that Cha Se-jin’s kindness was merely a habit, that it wasn’t because he liked him, and he had worked hard to keep his heart from racing by believing that was the truth. But hearing his friends’ words, his emotions began to take shape, and a voluminous feeling filled his heart to the brim.
“…Does it really look like that? Does the Director… really look like he… likes me?”
“Yeah! Who would go this far if they didn’t?”
“Since he’s… married… maybe it’s just a sense of responsibility…”
“Does a sense of responsibility produce that kind of look? He was seriously just looking at you the whole time. I’d understand if you were a kindergartner who’d disappear the moment someone looked away, but you’re not. And only parents feeding a baby or people in a relationship get that happy when someone eats well.”
Instead of answering, Eun-won took another sip of the soda. The fizzy sensation traveled down his throat, but the afterimage of his friends’ words remained, swimming chaotically in his heart.
A relationship… dating. Dating…
His friends’ words definitely made Eun-won’s heart flutter. How could he not be happy when they said the person he liked seemed to like him back? In particular, the word ‘dating’ stirred his heart intensely. However, he couldn’t simply lean on those words. It was because of something he had heard directly from Cha Se-jin.
‘I’ve never dated anyone. Did I not tell you before? To be honest, I want to have sex, but I don’t have the desire to date. It’s a hassle.’
He tried to steady himself, telling himself it was likely just the manners one shows to a partner they have to live with after marriage and that he shouldn’t expect anything. But perhaps because of the alcohol, his heart kept lifting, and he found himself wanting to believe what his friends were saying.
Maybe, just maybe, perhaps… even just a little bit.
Among all that kindness, could there be even a tiny bit of affection for him? Just as he felt fluttery when looking at Cha Se-jin, could Cha Se-jin also feel something similar, just a little, just occasionally, when looking at him?
Of course, it could be a delusion. If he hoped and fluttered only to realize it was all a misunderstanding, he would end up disappointed all over again. He had to avoid concluding anything until Cha Se-jin showed and told him directly.
But his heart was the problem. Having discovered love, his heart acted on its own, creating a constant thumping. Thump, thump. The vibration of his heart, echoing up to his ears, kept invading his mind and knocking on the door of his reason.
Amidst the loud laughter of his friends, the bright lights, the clinking of glasses, and the rattling of ice, an unfamiliar expectation bubbled up and popped like champagne bubbles. Pulling a large cushion into his arms, Eun-won leaned his cheek—flushed either from the champagne or because of Cha Se-jin—against the cushion and thought.
Even if all these thoughts were nothing more than his own greedy anticipation, he wanted to lean into this flutter just a bit more, at least for tonight.
* * *
Beer cans clinked lightly and then parted. They had decided on wine, but Cha Se-gyu had suddenly craved beer and brought some, so they shifted course toward beer.
Perhaps because he tried to avoid beer or soju to maintain his physical condition, the beer he drank after a long time felt incredibly refreshing and delicious. Having already emptied one can and opened another, Cha Se-jin took several consecutive gulps and sank deep into the sofa in the courtyard.
“Everything’s ruined because of you. Do you really want to drink beer after working out like that?”
“I suddenly craved it like crazy, so what? You can just drink wine.”
“How am I supposed to drink wine alone when you’re right here drinking that?”
Cha Se-jin shook his head, took another sip of beer, and leaned his head back. He was still curious about what Eun-won was doing, and his fingertips itched with the urge to contact him. He thought being with his brother might help, but nothing had changed.
“How is Seo Eun-won doing? Do you think he’s adjusted to our house? I’m so busy we hardly run into each other.”
“Yeah, well. I think he’s adjusted well. He gets along with Se-na too. If there’s a problem, it’s just that he doesn’t get to see Mom and Dad much because they’re busy. He seems to find them a bit intimidating.”
“Why wouldn’t he? He’s not at an age where dealing with the elders of the family is easy, and it’s not like he can spend every day eating and interacting with them, so it’s bound to be difficult.”
“That’ll be resolved as he lives here. Besides, I’m here, so it’s fine.”
Surprised by Cha Se-jin saying something quite heavy so nonchalantly, Cha Se-gyu swallowed the beer he was holding and looked at Cha Se-jin. Receiving that gaze, Cha Se-jin flicked his crossed foot and tilted his head with a “Hmm?”
“You said something heavy.”
“I did? What did I say? That it’ll be resolved as he lives here?”
“No, the part after that.”
“That it’s fine because I’m here? Why is that?”
“It sounds like something that makes a person rely solely on you. It’s not a phrase to be thrown around lightly.”
Cha Se-jin didn’t immediately understand his brother’s words. He had simply said that even if the environment wasn’t one where they could sit around every day and chat about their day as a family, Eun-won would be okay because he was with him. He couldn’t understand why the conversation was going in that direction.
“How long are you planning to stay by his side?”
“Why are you overthinking this? I’m always talking about the present. I’m by his side now, so the current Eun-won is fine.”
“And what happens if you suddenly decide you only want to be there until today? Will you say it then? ‘It’s fine until today because I’m here, but from tomorrow I won’t be, so you won’t be fine’?”
“That’s an over-interpretation. Why jump to such a conclusion? Aren’t you reading too much into it?”
“Even if you don’t, the person listening might. Especially if they’re someone who needs at least one thing to hold onto.”
“…….”
“As you said, Seo Eun-won came this far looking only at you, holding onto that one word of yours. You should always keep that in mind. It might be a light word to you, but Seo Eun-won might be clinging to every single word you throw out and then forget as you turn away.”
He felt like he understood, yet he still didn’t quite get it. Everything seemed fine on the surface, everything was flowing smoothly, so he couldn’t understand why he had to go out of his way to worry about such things.
Feeling his appetite for alcohol drop after the nagging, Cha Se-jin placed the half-empty can on the table and leaned back. Cha Se-gyu laughed at the look of annoyance on his face and finished his drink.
“Your phone’s ringing.”
Cha Se-jin’s phone on the table vibrated. Cha Se-gyu glanced at the screen, saw an unsaved number, and spoke to Cha Se-jin, who had turned his back to him to perform some sort of mental control to soothe his mood.
If he was going to be like that, he could have just gone to the annex; the way he was trying to calm himself while turned away was exactly the same as when he was a child. At five, nine, in middle school, and in high school, Cha Se-jin always acted like that whenever he was nagged or scolded.
As the vibration persisted, Cha Se-jin finally turned around and picked up the phone with a grumpy expression. He looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen and answered.
“Yes.”
—Mr. Cha Se-jin?
“Who is this?”
—It is your number. It’s me. Ji-yeon. Won Ji-yeon.
“Who?”
—Don’t you remember me? We met around July at the Lee Joo Trading 20th Anniversary party.
Listening to the voice explain in detail when and where they had met, Cha Se-jin rubbed his furrowed brow in irritation. Honestly, he really didn’t remember. He had met so many people in that manner; how could he remember everyone he had met and where? It wasn’t an important memory at all, so nothing remained in his head.
“So, what is this about?”
—I want to see you again. I’ve thought about it a lot. It might not sound like it, but I’ve been agonizing over this call for several days. How is your time right now? If you’re free, do you want to come out? Maybe we could have a drink together…
He didn’t need to hear any more. Cha Se-jin hung up the phone and tossed it back onto the table. Soon, the vibration returned along with the black screen displaying the same number. Since he had never given out his number, it seemed someone had sold it. Thinking that whoever it was should be killed once caught, Cha Se-jin poured the wine he had brought and downed it in one go as if it were water.
“Who is it that you answer like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I seriously don’t remember.”
Having guessed what kind of call it was, Cha Se-gyu shook his head. The vibration of the phone with the unfamiliar number stopped, then continued for a long time, stopped again, and repeated.
Just as he was about to tell him to either answer it or block it because it was annoying to listen to, the vibration started again, and Cha Se-jin picked up the phone and answered irritably.
“Hey, between the bastard who sold my number to you without my permission and you, who lacks the sense to just disappear and keeps acting out—who should I destroy first? Ah, since you said you wanted to meet me, should I destroy you first? Who knows? Maybe if I see your face, I’ll remember when we fucked?”
He was venting his frustration, wondering how to destroy them to relieve this shitty mood, but there was silence on the other end. What, they were silenced by a few words like that, yet they kept calling? Thinking the call might have been cut off, Cha Se-jin looked at the screen with sharp eyes, and his eyes widened.
…Eh? What. Huh? Huh……? What is this.
On the screen, instead of an unfamiliar number, the name ‘Eun-won’ was written.