TGMND 73

“… Ahem.”

At Yeo-woon’s mumbled comment about the former boxing coach’s appearance, Yoon Ji-gu cleared his throat and lightly touched his own cheek. When they arrived at the traditional Korean restaurant, Yoon Ji-gu immediately clung to Yeo-woon’s side, as if afraid that his brother Yoon Ji-ho would latch onto him. Yeo-woon looked at him scurrying to his side and chuckled.

“Why are you laughing again?”

Yoon Ji-gu asked with an annoyed face. At first, his expression seemed scary, but now it was amazing how it didn’t bother Yeo-woon at all. He realized anew how important a person’s image could be. Yeo-woon smiled, thinking of his younger sister who never sent a message first unless he contacted her.

“Because you’re cute.”

“…What?”

“I said you’re cute. Really like the youngest child. …My sister used to be like this too.”

At least until she turned fourteen… There was even a time when he sent “It’s my birthday today…” to his sister on his birthday, and a week later, he barely got an “Ok” in response. Since they only saw each other’s faces during holidays, he had thought several times that he wanted a sibling who acted more like a real sibling.

“…”

Yoon Ji-gu’s face turned beet red at Yeo-woon’s words. He froze for a moment before his second brother caught up to them and playfully put him in a headlock. As Yeong grabbed Ji-gu’s hand and murmured, “Uncle’s turning red,” his second brother let go of his neck.

During the meal, the conversation topics were predictable. As expected, the only common interest between this family and Yeo-woon was Yoon Ji-gu.

The family inquired about how Ji-gu was doing, and Yeo-woon glanced at him, who was fidgeting nervously as if afraid his grades might be mentioned. He briefly held Ji-gu’s hand under the table to calm him down.

“Of course. Although I only see him at the swimming pool, he’s very diligent and shows up every day.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t seem quite right.”

Yoon Ji-ho smirked and tilted his head.

“Huh? I’m not lying, it’s true.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t believe you, Mr Yeo-woon.”

“…?”

At Yoon Ji-hyuk’s words, accompanied by a smile and a nod, Yeo-woon turned to the side to see Yoon Ji-gu frozen like a broken toy. Wondering why he was acting like this, Yeo-woon stared at his profile until Yoon Ji-gu stiffly turned his head.

“Ah, No. Just now hyung…!”

“What? I didn’t say anything weird as promised.”

Did I say something wrong? When Yeo-woon whispered just loud enough for him to hear, Yoon Ji-gu sighed deeply as if his chest felt tight. Why is he like that? Yeo-woon couldn’t understand what he was thinking at all.

“What? Yoon Ji-gu, did you already make sure your neighbor keeps quiet?”

“No, I didn’t!”

When the cafe owner asked with an incredulous laugh, Yoon Ji-gu snapped and shook his head.

“Did you just call him hyung?”

Moreover, his brothers chuckled at the fact that Yoon Ji-gu called Yeo-woon ‘hyung.’

“He used to call us ‘hey you’ for years, but Mr. Yeo-woon gets to be called hyung so quickly.”

“It looks like Ji-gu really likes Mr. Yeo-woon.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t say that!”

Yoon Ji-gu tried to stand up abruptly, bracing himself on the table, but he sat back down halfway and muttered while covering half his face with his large hand.

“If you say stuff like that, he’ll get the wrong idea…”

“…?”

Why is he looking at me like that? Yeo-woon offered a polite smile in response to the stares directed at him. Yoon Ji-gu’s expression then changed to one of even greater frustration.

And then, suddenly, the secrets about Yoon Ji-gu began to spill out.

“Did you know that from middle school until he was twenty, he refused to call us ‘hyung’ no matter what?”

Starting from Ji-gu’s declaration that he would no longer call his two brothers ‘hyung’ for some reason, everything up to the most recent events came pouring out.

“A catering buffet?”

When Yeo-woon asked in disbelief, Yoon Ji-gu’s mouth clamped shut. It was an episode about Yoon Ji-gu moving out to live on his own.

While on leave from the military, Yoon Ji-gu was lazing around the house eating snacks when Yoon Ji-ho dragged him out and forced him to work out for six hours. Angered by the sudden full-course workout during his rare break, Yoon Ji-gu didn’t speak to Yoon Ji-ho all day. When Yoon Ji-ho was away, Yoon Ji-gu sold his keyboard and guitars at a bargain price. He used that money to order a catering buffet for the house. All because he wasn’t allowed to eat some snacks.

He invited his few neighborhood friends to help finish the leftovers, and by the time Yoon Ji-ho found out, Yoon Ji-gu had already fled back to the military as his leave ended. This repeated several times even after he was discharged. When their father nagged him to stop staying home all the time, all the fishing gear would get sold off. Eventually, he was allowed to move out before he could sell off everything in the house.

“Still, we were worried about how well he’d adjust outside… I’m glad he found a good neighbor.”

“No, I’m the one who’s grateful. When I collapsed before, Ji-gu-ssi… I mean, Ji-gu took care of me.”

“Him?”

When Yeo-woon waved his hands and spoke, his family asked in disbelief. Yeo-woon couldn’t fathom how Yoon Ji-gu lived at home to elicit such reactions. He thought Yoon Ji-gu was just a bit shy, but there were some unexpected aspects to his personality.

“…Unexpected?”

Yoon Ji-gu looked down at Yeo-woon and muttered quietly as if concerned, then remained silent for the rest of the meal.

***

“Thank you for the meal.”

“No, thank you for coming on such short notice.”

They exchanged pleasantries as they got out of the car. Yeong, who had been drowsy and whining in Yeo-woon’s arms, was now fast asleep. Yeo-woon was about to hand the sleeping child over to Yoon Ji-hyuk when he noticed a man carrying something out of the building entrance.

“Huh?”

When Yeo-woon exclaimed with his eyes widened, the Yoon brothers simultaneously turned to look in the direction he was staring. It was a vaguely familiar face.

“It’s the thief…”

At Yeo-woon’s words, the man looked up. His expression contorted as soon as he saw Yeo-woon, and he started running in the opposite direction. We need to catch him! But before Yeo-woon could finish that thought, the brothers had already sprung into action. The thief was subdued after just a few steps and made to kneel on the asphalt.

What’s going on? People inside the cafe also started murmuring and poking their heads out like meerkats. Yeo-woon handed the child to the confused cafe owner and said:

“Please go inside the cafe, ma’am.”

“Sh-should I?”

“Yes, take Yeong and go inside, Mom.”

At Yeo-woon’s and Yoon Ji-gu’s words, he glanced back, still holding the spirit, and pushed open the café door. Yeo-woon watched the boss enter and then turned back to the thief, Yoon Ji-gu following closely behind him.

As the two stood in front of the man, he looked up at Yeo-woon and gritted his teeth. He muttered in confusion, “What the hell, who are these muscle freaks?” The man, with his arms tightly held by two muscular men, was holding a white envelope in one hand.

“Mr. Yeo-woon. We caught the….”

Seeing Yoon Ji-hyuk’s face, which seemed to say they had caught him but didn’t know what to do next, Yeo-woon snatched the envelope from the man’s hand. It had the Daehan University mark and was addressed to “Yoon Ji-gu.”

‘…It’s not my mail?’

Although he wasn’t sure what was going on, Yeo-woon felt he needed to hide this fact from Ji-gu’s family. He discreetly passed the envelope to Ji-gu, then crouched down to meet the man’s eyes.

“I told you before, leave your number if you need anything.”

“…”

“But I don’t think you needed anything from me, you had something to Ji-gu.”

At these words, the expressions of Yoon Ji-gu’s brothers changed. The man glared at Yeo-woon, then turned his head sharply to look at Yoon Ji-gu, who was standing next to him, clenching his teeth. Disgust spread across his pale face.

“…Why.”

After a long silence, the man spoke in a resigned voice.

“My life was ruined because of that bastard. Can’t I at least do this much?”

“….?”

Do they know each other? Yeo-woon turned to look at Yoon Ji-gu. Yoon Ji-gu was staring down at the man with an indifferent expression, but his eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Who… mmph.”

Yeo-woon quickly stood up and covered Ji-gu’s mouth. It was clear from his expression that he didn’t know the man. Asking who he was wouldn’t help here.

“I broke up with Ji-hyo and Soo-jeong because of you, I lost my part-time job, I lost my year-long scholarship, and I had to work my ass off to pay back money. Yoon Ji-gu, you bastard, are you saying you can’t even endure this much?”

“…”

Yoon Ji-gu’s eyes narrowed as if he realized something at those words. He removed Yeo-woon’s hand from his mouth and spoke nonchalantly.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have been two-timing.”