YHP 27

This time, he would protect him no matter what.

He wouldn’t let it end so easily like that day when he had simply let the alpha who had insulted Jeong-in go. Even if he lost everything he had, no matter what he had to do. He would make sure he never appeared before Jeong-in again.

“Whoa…”

“I’m asking you who you are.”

He stared straight into the eyes of the thug who had threatened Jeong-in with a weapon. At that moment, Jeong-in suddenly tugged at Ho-jin’s sleeve.

“Are you crazy? Let go right now!”

Ho-jin silently turned his head to check on Jeong-in. He was relieved to see that he didn’t seem to be seriously injured, though his complexion was a little pale, probably from being so startled.

He had been wondering whether to go home and rest first, but he had come straight to the school just in case, and it seemed like something terrible would have happened if he had been even a little later.

“Are you hurt, hyung?”

“Let go of my hand first. What are you doing, being so rude?”

Jeong-in forcibly pried off Ho-jin’s fingers, which were stuck like stones. Then, he immediately stood in front of the thug. He carefully checked his wrist with a cautious hand, then frowned at the red handprint.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

The thug casually shook his hand a couple of times as if it were nothing, then fixed his gaze on Ho-jin once more.

“Hold on, this guy… I’ve definitely seen him somewhere…”

And Ho-jin was quite taken aback. He had clearly rushed over after seeing Jeong-in being threatened, but for some reason, Jeong-in wasn’t even glancing at Ho-jin and was only anxiously checking on the thug’s condition. Just as he was thinking that something seemed strange…

“Ah! Wait a minute, aren’t you that swimming athlete?”

The thug suddenly clapped his hands together and smiled brightly.

“That’s right. Gold boy, golden man Yoo Ho-jin. Oh my, what an honor.”

The thug rubbed his palms on his clothes, then offered Ho-jin a handshake. Ho-jin blankly glanced at Jeong-in. Then, Jeong-in, who was standing right next to the thug, sighed.

“…He’s a friend of my dad’s. Say hello.”

“Ah, oh…. What?”

The realization that he had committed a terrible discourtesy washed over him like a tidal wave of embarrassment.

“Ah, ah, hello. I’m Yoo Ho-jin.”

Ho-jin hastily took off his hat and bowed ninety degrees to him. He also didn’t forget to raise his trembling hands and accept the handshake he offered.

“I’m sorry. I, well…”

“I guess I look a little intimidating, huh?”

“No, not at all.”

He really felt like burying his head somewhere and dying. But as if the discourtesy from a moment ago didn’t matter at all, the man looked Ho-jin up and down with eyes full of wonder.

“Oh my, look at that physique. You look much better in person than you do on TV. How do you know Jeong-in?”

“Well, we met at school. I’m his dongsaeng.”

“Oh my…. That little shrimp is now this giant’s hyung?”

How amazing. Chuckling, the man suddenly bent down. He picked up the weapon that Ho-jin had forcefully knocked away from the ground and handed it back to Jeong-in.

“It’s wrapped up in newspaper, so it should be okay. Go inside and eat it little by little. Got it?”

He hadn’t had time to think about it earlier, but now that he looked at it again, it was much narrower than a knife. Judging by the conversation, it seemed to be some kind of food. In any case, Jeong-in, holding the unidentified object in his hand, smiled prettily at the man.

“Okay, I’ll save it and eat it little by little when I’m really hungry.”

“Wow? I’ll probably see you half-starved again next time?”

The sound of his hearty laughter echoed through the alley. The man tapped Jeong-in on the shoulder, saying he had to go, and turned around.

Jeong-in smiled and waved at him until the end. Then, he immediately glared at Ho-jin.

“…I’m sorry, hyung.”

There was nothing he could say. Ho-jin shut his mouth and quietly lowered his head.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

Jeong-in asked, looking at him with a light click of his tongue. He was probably just annoyed, but to Ho-jin, he just looked like a sulky lark. He almost laughed without realizing it because he was so cute.

“…Then rest well. I’ll contact you when it’s time for the next training session.”

He decided to retreat before he said something else.

“Wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

“Come to think of it, what happened to your phone?”

Jeong-in suddenly asked.

“It broke, didn’t it? Did you get it repaired?”

“Ah…. No. There’s no one I particularly need to contact.”

It had been quite a while. In fact, Ho-jin hadn’t even been thinking about it because he didn’t feel particularly inconvenienced without a phone. After all, communication with the dedicated team wasn’t a problem as long as he went to the designated place at the designated time, and if they needed to contact him, he could just use a public phone.

“Wait here.”

Jeong-in disappeared into the building. When he reappeared, he was holding a small box in his hand.

“Take it.”

“…What is this?”

What Jeong-in held out was a neatly packaged new phone box.

“I’ll restore the data separately, so use this for now.”

“Hyung, I can’t accept something like this.”

It was absurd. Even putting aside the fact that it wasn’t Jeong-in’s fault that his phone had broken in the first place, how could he accept something that he had bought with the money he had earned from working so hard?

“I have all the phone numbers in my notebook, so I don’t need the data restored either. I can just apply for a new phone from the company anyway, so you should get a refund for this…”

“I didn’t buy it with my own money. I can’t get a refund.”

“Then?”

“I got it from my aunt.”

“Then you should use it even more, hyung.”

At those words, Jeong-in sighed.

“No matter how I think about it, this company phone doesn’t suit me. You use it.”

“Then sell it secondhand, at least.”

“Sell something I got from my aunt?”

“Is it okay to just give it away to someone else, then?”

This time, he really couldn’t give in. There was no way he could accept something like this from someone who was taking time out of their busy schedule to help him train without asking for anything in return. But at that moment, Jeong-in said,

“I got it in the first place to give to you.”

Ho-jin’s fingertips stiffened.

“I’ll get scolded if I take it back, so just use it. Or throw it away if you don’t want it.”

I got it in the first place to give to you.

To give to you.

“…”

Oh my god, this person was thinking about me when I wasn’t around.

His chest felt tight and full. Barely managing to calm his wildly racing heart, Yoo Ho-jin accepted the box Jeong-in offered.

“Yes, I’ll take it.”

Ho-jin looked up.

“Instead, I’ll start making you dinner now.”

“…What?”

He quickly opened the box, took out the contents, and carefully placed the box in his bag.

“I opened the box, so there’s no going back. Even if you don’t like it, Hyung, it doesn’t matter, I’m going to do it no matter what.”

“Hey.”

“I’m going to bring it no matter how much you hate it, so throw it away if you’re not going to eat it.”

He repeated Jeong-in’s words back to him. Jeong-in then touched his forehead, looking like he had a headache. Watching him, Ho-jin smiled.

“Thank you, Hyung.”

“…”

“But if you give me something like this again, I’ll even make you lunch next time.”

Jeong-in didn’t answer. He could see him seething inside, which made him chuckle again.

“Rest well.”

There wasn’t much time left until dinner. How long would it take to buy the ingredients and finish cooking? Thinking that he should buy a separate insulated container so that the food wouldn’t get cold on the way back, he turned his back on Jeong-in.

The feeling of the ground beneath his feet was good. Ho-jin took out his dead phone, which had been shoved into a corner of his bag, and pulled out the SIM card. He didn’t think it would work, but fortunately, the SIM card wasn’t broken, and an antenna signal appeared quickly. Turning on his new phone, Ho-jin entered Jeong-in’s number first. Then, he turned around while making a call. He saw Jeong-in taking out his phone.

– Hello

“Hyung.”

Jeong-in, recognizing Ho-jin’s voice, turned to look at him with a sulky face.

Why was this so fun and funny? Ho-jin smiled foolishly and waved at Jeong-in.

“I called to see if the phone works.”

– I’m hanging up

“Hyung, but you know.”

He was about to hang up any second. Ho-jin quickly called out to Jeong-in.

“Today I….”

It was so hard.

He stopped, swallowing the words he couldn’t say anywhere.

“…”

He looked at Jeong-in’s eyes, which were looking at him from afar. The golden sunlight was shining on his hair.

Looking at it, everything didn’t matter anymore.

If he knew he would end up seeing him like this, he felt like it would have been okay even if today had been harder.

“…It’s nothing. Go inside.”

He waved once more. Jeong-in hung up without hesitation. He watched his back as he entered the shaded entrance of the building and turned around. The fatigue that had been weighing him down all afternoon had vanished.