TGMND 72

“Oh, look, a cat.”

Yeo-woon muttered. As they were nearing home, a scruffy tuxedo cat appeared from the bushes. The cat, with white socks on its feet and entirely black except for its muzzle, stared at the two of them intently before meowing. Just as they were about to pass by thinking how cute it was, Ji-gu suddenly turned and approached the cat. His steps were hurried.

‘But why isn’t it running away?’

The cat didn’t flee as Yoon Ji-gu approached. Instead, it sniffed Yoon Ji-gu’s outstretched finger before flopping onto the ground and pushing its head into his hand. Yeo-woon, whose words were cut off by the cat, belatedly approached and crouched down in front of it.

But up close, the cat didn’t look good. The skin under its eyes was scratched, revealing pink flesh. It seemed to have been in a fight with other cats nearby. The cat was covered in wounds all over its body.

“Hey, why are you like this again?”

You stupid thing, I told you not to get into fights. You should resolve things peacefully. This is really upsetting! Yoon Ji-gu muttered as if having a conversation with the cat, then suddenly realized Yeo-woon was there and flinched. He picked up the cat’s front paw, examining it all the way to its belly before finally letting go of the squirming cat. The cat then glanced at Yeo-woon and Ji-gu before leaping away towards the park.

“Its leg is hurt too.”

Yoon Ji-gu’s voice had a lower tone, revealing his concern for the cat. Remembering that Yoon Ji-gu had been feeding a cat before and that sometimes a cat would come to the café entrance for a snack.

Yeo-woon realized he genuinely cared about the injured cat. Trying to lighten the mood, Yeo-woon shifted the conversation to a different topic. As they talked and reached home, they saw a familiar car parked again. Yeo-woon decided he could no longer curse the owner of that car.

“…”

The car was indeed beautifully parked, but it was because it belonged to Yoon Ji-gu’s mother…

“… Go ahead inside. I’ll tell her to move the car.”

“Oh, no. The car is parked so perfectly, without a single scratch! She must be an excellent driver…”

Yeo-woon tried to give a compliment, but it backfired. Yoon Ji-gu picked up his phone to call his mother. She didn’t answer.

“Let’s go. My brothers are coming over today, and we’re going out for dinner.”

“Eating out? Earlier, you said you were just going to have ramen for dinner…”

“I didn’t forget, okay?”

I see… So he did forget.

It seemed he only just remembered upon seeing his mother’s car guarding the front of the house. Yeo-woon said goodbye to Yoon Ji-gu, who was openly sighing while standing in front of the car and pressed the elevator button. Strangely, the way home hadn’t been boring at all.

“I should suggest going home together more often.”

Yeo-woon hummed a tune as he tossed his bag in front of the bathroom. He took off his top in the hot weather and grabbed a cup of water from the fridge. Just as he was about to sit in his computer chair to relax, the doorbell rang.

“Who is it…?”

At the door, Yoon Yeong, who looked exactly like Yoon Ji-gu, was ringing the doorbell with tears welling up in his big eyes. Yoon Ji-gu stood beside him with his arms crossed, and Yoon Ji-hyuk, holding the child, bowed his head awkwardly.

“Hello. Earlier when we were parking, Yeo-…”

“I’m Lee Yeo-woon.”

Yeo-woon thought Yoon Ji-hyuk had forgotten his name from the way he stuttered, so Yeo-woon introduced himself again. Yoon Ji-hyuk smiled sheepishly, while Yoon Ji-gu glared at Yoon Yeong disdainfully. Yoon Yeong ignored Yoon Ji-gu and reached out his arms to Yeo-woon.

“Hello, Yoon Yeong.”

Yoon Yeong smiled through his tears at Yeo-woon’s greeting. Yeo-woon looked back and forth between the two brothers in bewilderment as he picked up the warm child.

“My child saw you going inside and suddenly started crying.”

“…Me?”

“I feel bad, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to treat you to dinner tonight. Are you free?”

“I told you. He’s probably just playing games and has nothing better to do.”

Yoon Ji-gu mumbled quietly on behalf of Yeo-woon, only to get pinched in the side by his brother and promptly fall silent.

“Me? I heard you were going out to eat with your family…”

It was too sudden. Yeo-woon wondered if it was okay for him, a complete stranger, to join their family dinner… It was beyond his understanding that they would treat a mere neighbor to dinner just because a child cried.

“See? Yeong, stop being stubborn and say bye-bye to that uncle.”

Yeong clung tighter to Yeo-woon’s neck at Yoon Ji-gu’s words.

“No. Uncle, be quiet.”

“You be quiet.”

As Yeo-woon had noticed before, Yoon Ji-gu surprisingly could communicate even with a child barely reaching his knees. While Yeo-woon watched in a daze as Yeong and Ji-gu engaged in their childish argument, he looked up at Yoon Ji-hyuk. Yoon Ji-hyuk, also familiar with the situation, let out a deep sigh. It seemed the stress of parenting was no small matter.

“But if I come, will your mother and the others be okay with it?”

“The second one doesn’t mind, and my mother said it’s fine too.”

“Oh… So the second brother is coming too.”

It was a proper family gathering. Yeo-woon looked at Yoon Ji-gu, who obviously thought he would refuse, but instead, he nodded.

“Then I’d be happy to join.”

Yoon Ji-gu gasped in surprise at Yeo-woon’s words. Yoon Ji-gu looked at Yoon Ji-hyuk, who looked relieved as he went to press the elevator button again, then whispered in Yeo-woon’s ear.

“What the hell are you thinking!”

“I haven’t had dinner yet either…”

“…I’m saying just in case, but don’t get any weird ideas.”

What weird ideas could I possibly have? Yeo-woon thought for a moment and recalled the day he woke up at Yoon Ji-gu’s house after catching a cold. And the misplaced report card from that day. Yoon Ji-gu clearly didn’t want it discovered.

‘Did he really think I’d tell his mother about it?’

Yeo-woon smiled faintly, thinking Yoon Ji-gu worried too much. He had no ill will towards him, and what right did he have to tell on him anyway?

***

“Our youngest is here?”

As soon as they got off the elevator, they were greeted by a man waving at Ji-gu with a childish voice, as if addressing a neighborhood dog. The man with a short haircut like an athlete was also quite bulky. Yeo-woon inwardly muttered that the muscle genes in this family seemed to have a strong self-assertion.

And like a dog… no, the café owner, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the neatly parked car, looked up. Yeo-woon remembered seeing her face a couple of times when visiting Cafe Earth. The cafe owner, who was also Yoon Ji-gu’s mother, lowered the driver’s window and smiled brightly at Yeo-woon.

“You live next door to Ji-gu, right? We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“Hello, boss.”

When Yeo-woon bowed politely in greeting, the cafe owner waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh my! What’s with the ‘boss’, I’m no café owner! I’m just a neighborhood auntie.”

However, she seemed to like being called the café owner(boss), as she covered her mouth and smiled shyly. Yeong, who had been in his arms, tugged on Yeo-woon’s sleeve, wanting to be put down. As soon as he was put down, Yeong toddled over to the passenger side and climbed into the car.

“You get in first, Mr. Yeo-woon. I’ll sit in the front with Yeong.”

Pushed by Ji-hyuk’s hand, Yeo-woon opened the back door in a daze. Behind him, Ji-gu came running as if escaping and put his hand on Yeo-woon’s shoulder.

“What are you doing? Get in quickly. Hurry.”

“Has our youngest gained weight?”

“…Ah, shut up, seriously.”

In the meantime, Yoon Ji-gu was forcibly put in a headlock by his second older brother. As he got into the car, his brother kept squeezing his arm, commenting on his muscle mass. Yoon Ji-hyuk, the eldest, agreed, saying he needed to manage his weight better.

‘It doesn’t seem like they have a bad relationship…’

Yoon Ji-gu’s expression was sour. He muttered curses under his breath. No matter how you looked at it, their relationship wasn’t bad, but Yoon Ji-gu didn’t seem to like his brother’s one-sided affectionate behavior.

In the front seats were the child and his father, and in the back seats were Yeo-woon and the second brother with Yoon Ji-gu between them.

“I did a bit of professional boxing in my school days, but I hurt my shoulder. Now I run a small gym.”

During the 20-minute car ride to the traditional Korean restaurant, Yeo-woon introduced himself to the man he was meeting for the first time. Yoon Ji-gu watched in amazement as Yeo-woon, with just a single “Wow, I see,” managed to extract everything from his second brother’s name and age to his every move.

“Wow, I briefly learned boxing last year too.”

“…!”

At those words, Yoon Ji-ho’s face lit up, and he asked about Yeo-woon’s exercise history, even subtly badmouthing the gym Yeo-woon had attended. When Yoon Ji-ho mentioned how expensive the lessons were despite not being taught directly by the owner and having a coach with only one year of experience, Yeo-woon felt a bit wronged. He felt like he had been scammed. No wonder the place looked so shabby.