PCL Ch 51

“Hyung-a…”

A tiny finger touched my knee, and then I came back to my senses. I was thinking about everything, starting with what Lim Dae-han was discussing with his parents, and then I was startled by the shaky voice beckoning me and I looked at Dae-ryong in front of me.

I gently wiped Dae-ryong’s cheek with the back of my hand as he looked up at me while he sat on the bed with his stretched legs. Dae-ryong smiled as if he was in a good mood.

“I like Young-yeon-i…”

Dae-ryong mumbled and mispronounced my name naturally, but the man who would fix it hadn’t come yet, so I silently grabbed Dae-ryong’s plump cheeks and caressed them with both hands. Dae-ryong’s cheeks were as warm and soft as dough.

Dae-ryong, who felt my touch to his heart’s content, pointed to my toe with his hand.

“Hyung, would you like to take your socks off?”

“Me?”

When I asked the question awkwardly, Dae-ryong closed his eyes tightly and shook his head.  Then he extended out his small arm and bowed down as if stretching, till his hand reached his toes. He grasped the end of the sock and pulled it without saying anything. The  Socks stretched. It was barely caught in the heel, but there was no sign of the foot coming out. Dae-ryong simply yanked it straight up. He grimaced, as though frustrated, and yelled out, “Uuh…”

I probably should help…

I didn’t have a younger brother, so I wasn’t sure whether or not I should help Dae-ryong here. I was at a loss for what to do. Finally, I used my fingers to tap the socks on his heels. Then the white soles appeared out of nowhere.

Dae-ryong was able to take off his damp socks, which had become soggy, by pulling them down and set them down on the bed. He then pulled the other sock in the same way as the first.

Two pairs of socks the size of my palm were piled on the bed. I wrapped it up and placed it on the floor.

Dae-ryong lay on the bed and rolled around alone. He closed his eyes and then opened them, staring at the ceiling endlessly. There is a saying of an ugly five-year-old, but Dae-ryong was very meek and gentle so the title did not suit him.

Lim Dae-han appeared not long after. He yawned as usual and came with the sliding door open as if nothing had happened.

Dae-ryong was giggling as I tickled his tummy while lying on the bed and enjoying my pranks to his heart’s content. Dae-ryong’s sparkling eyes were immediately drawn to Lim Dae-han.

Lim Dae-han was holding a very small brushing cup that did not fit his size, possibly from his parents. Inside was a toothbrush that was far smaller than mine, as well as strawberry-flavored toothpaste.

I was going to ask what he discussed with his parents, but I missed the opportunity.

“Ki Young-hyun, wash up first. I’ll wash Dae-ryong.”

Lim Dae-han took a seat on the bed. Dae-han then undressed Dae-ryong of his clothes without hestitation. Dae-ryong’s hair grew tangled as Dae-han took off his clothing roughly. Dae-ryong grimaced slightly because he was uncomfortable, but he didn’t say anything.

My white underwear was exposed as soon as I stripped my top and bottom. Dae-ryong slid over and flopped down in the corner of the bed, his face more relaxed than before.

He wiggled his toes and buried his face in both fists. His body was infused with cuteness. It was so cute that his face was carefully poking out. Lim Dae-han, on the other hand, had a gloomy expression.

“Wash up.”

Lim Dae-han raised his hand and gently caressed my cheek instead of reacting to Dae-ryong. Lim Dae-han rubbed my cheeks with one hand, just as I rubbed, touched, and rubbed Dae-ryong’s cheeks like sticky rice cakes. I wore a glum expression as my cheeks were crushed in his grip. He smiled by himself. He was already a weird person.

***

Even as I was washing my body, I couldn’t get the thoughts of what he’d spoken to his parents out of my head.

Even though Dae-han washed Dae-ryong in the bathroom, I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep. I sat motionless on the bed, toying with the tips of my damp hair that hadn’t entirely dried, and looked around Dae-han’s room after thinking about this and that relentlessly.

A picture of a young Lim Dae-han, who appeared to be in the third or fourth grade of elementary school and wielding a wooden sword, hung on the wall. His manly features were similar to what he had now, but he still had baby fat on his cheeks and looked like a child.

I smiled silently as I gazed at the picture. Further than that, there were no other pictures. I didn’t expect Dae-han would place family portraits in his room because there were numerous in the living room and several in the house downstairs.

Dae-ryong, whose cheeks were ripe, appeared in Lim Dae-han’s arms as the sliding door opened. Lim Dae-han approached the bed and sat Dae-ryong down. Dae-ryong sat on the bed, put his hands between his thighs, and shook his legs crosswise.

Lim Dae-han pulled lotion and skincare from the shelf. It also contained baby lotion. He took it out together and first squeezed out the baby lotion.

It was slowly applied to Dae-ryong’s face and body. He applied it up to his knees as if massaging his legs, and he also applied it to his arms and neck. Dae-ryong wrinkled when Dae-han gently caressed his chubby cheeks with both hands.

I didn’t use lotion or other skincare at the time, so I was only observing him apply it to Dae-ryong. Lim Dae-han handed me the container after rubbing the toner on his face. I shook my head.  I don’t usually see him wash before me, or even if I wash with him, I was exhausted, so I’ve never seen him wash properly.

Lim Dae-han came with lotion in hand and sat facing me. He then smeared white lotion on my cheeks, tip of nose, forehead, and chin like rouge.

“Why don’t you put this on?”

“…”

When I was ready to raise my hand and rub it, Lim Dae-han placed a thin layer to my cheek, similar to how he applied lotion on Dae-ryong.

Lim Dae-han was gently caressing my cheek with the tip of his index finger as I looked up. He appeared to be attempting to soften it as much as possible, but he couldn’t stop it from being rough. Still, I liked that rough hand, so I kept my attention fixed on Lim Dae-han.

“…” 

“…” 

“…”

I felt a lukewarm glance from my side as I savored the sweetness to my heart’s content. I turned my head in the direction where I could feel the gaze.

Dae-ryong was looking at Dae-han and me. To Dae-ryong, what we were doing must have seemed weird. I gave a big smile and opened my arms wide. Then Dae-ryong leaped from his bed and ran up to me, hugging me.

“Hyung-a.”

“Yes.”

“Did you kiss my brother earlier?”

At the same time, shocking words fell on me along with the weight of Dae-ryong. Thud. My heart sank. When I swiftly turned my head to Dae-han, he also had a shocked expression on his face. Because Dae-han rarely panics, I became even paler and more nervous.

Dae-ryong was in my arms when Lim Dae-han reached out to him. Dae-ryong was pulled from my arms and seated on his thigh.

Dae-ryong, who had been dragged helplessly, sat slightly stiffer on Lim Dae-han’s lap than when he was in my arms. Dae-ryong was delicately grabbed by Lim Dae-han and turned towards me. Dae-ryong, who had become increasingly comfortable, laid on his side, cradled by Lim Dae-han’s legs. 

“Yong-i, I like it when my family kisses me, you dislike it?”

“… I like it.”

“You like it?”

“Yes…”

“Then kiss me here.”

Lim Dae-han held out one cheek to Dae-ryong. Dae-ryong’s small hand grabbed Lim Dae-han’s cheek and pulled his head out to kiss him. Lim Dae-han got up again and held out the opposite cheek to me.

“You too.”

“…”

I looked at Dae-han with a sullen expression. Lim Dae-han shrugged his shoulders.  Dae-ryong had his eyes on us. It didn’t seem strange.  Well, I doubt the child knows something.

I leaned in and kissed Lim Dae-han on the cheek with my arms on the bed and my body forward. The sound was cut short.

“Hyung, me… “

Dae-ryong put his hand on my sleeve and said. I kissed Dae-ryong’s cheek and lowered myself as though sinking into Lim Dae-han’s arms. 

“If you like it, kiss Mom and Dad too.”

“Yes…”

Lim Dae-han gave an absurd reason to convince Dae-ryong. I gave an awkward smile and a head nod.

“Let’s stop  and go to bed.”

He persuaded him to sleep less than two hours after he had eaten. Inadvertently, I checked the time on the wall clock. It’s not even ten o’clock. Dae-ryong, on the other hand, was forced to sleep against the wall by Lim Dae-han. Dae-ryong’s face was filled with regret. Because Lim Dae-han pointed his chin to the corner of the bed, I also had no choice but to lie down.

The center of the bed remained empty as Dae-ryong and I took the ends. It has to be Lim Dae-han’s space. The bed was big enough for the three of us to sleep in, but it seemed a little unfair.

Don’t you always put the youngest child in between? Or don’t the biggest person go to the corner?

I was speechless because he was so proud of his obnoxious appearance. Lim Dae-han turned off the light in the room without hesitation. It was pitch black. It was different from my room, where light poured in from the window because it was an apartment.

Lim Dae-han dug deep between Dae-ryong and me.

“… “

He turned his back on me. The sound of a pounding on Dae-ryong’s chest was heard. I stared at Dae-han’s wide back, squirming and clinging to his back like a caterpillar. As I kissed him around the shoulder blades, I felt his pat and listened quietly.

Lim Dae-han had a body that was like a mountain range. Dae-ryong was wiggling in his position. “Sleep and don’t play,” Lim Dae-han said firmly. I tightly closed my eyes, as though that was exactly what he was saying to me. I eventually fell asleep as I felt Lim Dae-han’s warm body temperature.

I had no idea how much time had passed.

“…” 

“…”

Lim Dae-han’s thick fingers came in front of me when I opened my eyes after detecting a strange object. As if he was ready to take out my eyeballs, I fiercely closed my eyes. To be honest, I was never afraid; I simply… I was simply caught off guard.

Lim Dae-han caressed my lashes tenderly. Lim Dae-han, who was caressing my eyelashes with his index finger as I cautiously lifted my eyelids, was staring at me with an expressionless face. He talked so softly that I could only hear him through his mouth shape.

‘Dae-ryong is sleeping. Let’s go.’

Indeed, the heart is at its own pace.

***