128 – Recolor

“…….”

Eun-ha remained silent. The question had been asked in a confusing tone. Was he asking simply because he was curious, or… was there perhaps a specific answer he was looking for?

“I don’t know…….”

“…….”

“I wonder if there ever was a time……?”

He answered hesitantly under a gaze so intense it felt burdensome. Meanwhile, he quickly searched through his memories, but there was no way anything would come to mind. It had happened about twelve years ago.

And immediately, Eun-ha caught the way the other’s eyes visibly lost their brightness. Reading that boy’s mind had always been an easy task.

Eun-ha’s eyes widened in surprise.

“……You’re saying there was a time?”

Yeon-jun pressed his already closed lips even tighter. His gaze remained fixed. After staring at Eun-ha for a moment, he slowly turned his head away.

“Maybe there was. Well…….”

“…….”

“I don’t really know either.”

He muttered, fidgeting with the nape of his neck. It was an ambiguous answer. Contrary to his casual tone, his expression had grown slightly clouded. He looked like someone who had been momentarily stung inside.

“…….”

What did all that mean? Eun-ha, whose lips were merely parting in shock at this unexpected revelation, shifted his gaze. [Read on Read BL Novels]He observed visit our siteYeon-jun stolen contentin the silence. The slightly tilted head. The heavily lowered eyelids. The hand fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. And the undeniably pouting lips.

He looked, for all intents and purposes, sulky. Feeling bewildered, Eun-ha placed a hand on Yeon-jun’s shoulder. He leaned his head in toward the body that was half-turned away from him.

“Yeon-jun. Are you by any chance pouting?”

“Pouting? Why would I be pouting. I’m not that kind of person.”

“What do you mean you’re not? Your lips are sticking out so far. No, more importantly, is it true?”

“…….”

“That it happened a long time ago? Really?”

“…….”

“How do you even remember something like that……?”

When he was only eight years old?

At that, Yeon-jun looked back at Eun-ha. He whipped his head around and locked eyes with him. Somehow, it felt like a silent protest. Eun-ha instinctively flinched under the blank, steady stare. He slowly slid his hand off the shoulder he had been holding. Even though the boy wasn’t glaring, it felt like he was. When he had no expression, he tended to look quite prickly.

After remaining silent for a while, Yeon-jun eventually withdrew his gaze, his mood appearing to wither and sink. Looking at that straight profile, Eun-ha organized the vast amount of information that had been entered into his head in a short span of time. We met a long time ago… in this house… I really don’t remember… It was then.

“……Wait. Then you knew all along?”

“Knew what?”

“That I was actually with your Noona…….”

“—Ah. That you two were dating?”

“…….”

“Yes.”

“Uh… really……?”

The words drifted out of his mouth in a daze. Naturally, this was a fact that Eun-ha had been completely unaware of.

Eun-ha was first surprised that Yeon-jun knew, and then slightly surprised that he himself had been ignorant of something the other already knew. Because Yeon-jun had never once hinted at it or mentioned it. That they had met in the past.

It was already nearing a hundred days since they had started dating. Eun-ha looked at Yeon-jun with eyes mixed with unfamiliarity, wonder, and other complex emotions. Feeling that gaze, Yeon-jun slowly lifted his eyelids to meet Eun-ha’s eyes, then pouted slightly and turned away. He leaned in, crouching low. Seeing that he seemed poised to burrow into his arms, Eun-ha adjusted his posture, and the boy lay down using his thigh as a pillow. Thanks to this, Eun-ha naturally rested his hand on the boy’s head. Feeling the arm that dug into his side to hug his waist, he absentmindedly stroked the hair winding through his fingers.

After some time had passed, Yeon-jun suddenly spoke.

“…I was too young, so my memories aren’t vivid. But I remember Noona bringing a male friend home.”

“…….”

“Things like Hyung wearing a school uniform.”

“…….”

“I think he greeted me, too.”

“…….”

“I think Noona really liked Hyung back then. That’s why I remember her always grabbing my eldest Noona, who didn’t care, or me, who was barely eight, to talk about her boyfriend. She’d occasionally show me photos she took with Hyung.”

“…….”

“She’d show me a photo of herself alone and keep pestering me, asking which one was better. Even when I said I didn’t know, she’d keep bothering me to look closer. I think I remember that part quite vividly. It was really annoying and I hated it. Because they both looked the same, but she kept asking.”

“…….”

“I think we ran into each other occasionally, and then Noona would nag me to greet him properly. She’d push my head down. And then she’d lock me in my room so I couldn’t come out…….”

“…You remember way more than I expected?”

At the unconscious mutter, Yeon-jun let out a faint, silent laugh. Then, after a few seconds of silence, he spoke calmly.

“Hyung doesn’t remember.”

“…….”

“I thought that would be the case.”

Eun-ha remained silent. He quietly read the atmosphere, wondering what stance he should take.

Fortunately, or perhaps not, Yeon-jun didn’t seem deeply offended. However, he didn’t [unauthorized copy]copy -->look particularly pleased either. It was as if a few rain clouds had gathered.

Eun-ha lowered his arm. Sliding the hand that had been stroking the hair to cup one cheek, Yeon-jun, who had his face half-buried in Eun-ha’s stomach, slightly tilted his head to look up at him. Eun-ha looked more closely at Yeon-jun’s exposed face.

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“Are you upset because of that?”

Yeon-jun merely cast a gaze upward without saying anything, then hugged Eun-ha’s waist again and buried his face. He mumbled softly from within.

“……A little.”

The pronunciation was accented, sounding more like a whine. Because it felt like a spoiled complaint, Eun-ha’s lips twitched.

‘…Honestly, he’s so cute…’

“Well… it’s not that I brought it up because I wanted you to remember…….”

“Yeah.”

“It’s because Hyung keeps wondering. Why I like Hyung.”

“…….”

Eun-ha, who had been looking down at the man clinging to him while using his lap as a pillow with a gentle gaze as if looking at a baby, blinked. It took a moment for him to understand. Why he liked him……? What did that have to do with them meeting in the past……?

“……Wait, are you saying you’ve liked me since then?”

A bewildered voice escaped him involuntarily. That was the only way he could interpret it.

Just as he was falling into confusion, what unauthorized copyreturned was Read on Read BL Novelsa snickering laugh. As if the idea was completely absurd.

“No. It’s not that. I was eight years old then, Hyung.”

“…….”

“And that was twelve years ago.”

“……Then?”

“Of course it’s not that I liked you for that reason—but just.”

“…….”

“I’m saying that something like that also happened in the past. To be precise, it’s not the only thing. So…….”

“…….”

“I wanted to tell you that it wasn’t as if I suddenly started liking Hyung’s face one day for no reason at all.”

His voice was soft and steady. At the neat and gentle tone, Eun-ha felt his mind clear up as he looked down at Yeon-jun. The boy tightened his grip on the waist he was holding.

“For me…… it’s like that.”

“…….”

“I didn’t really understand why Hyung is so anxious about our relationship.”

“…….”

“I thought knowing something like this might help.”

Eun-ha realized that the purpose of his visit today had been merely superficial. He hadn’t invited him over to his [Read on Read BL Novels]hous[stolen content]e to show him the cat, but……