TGMND 74

“…!”

At those words, Yeo-woon turned to look at the man. It was unbelievable. Two-timing with that face? It was a sign of the world ending.

“If only you hadn’t spread rumors!”

“I didn’t spread the rumors. Your girlfriend wrote that post. That’s what happens when you borrow hundreds from women to pay off other debts and get caught on a date?”

“You sent DMs to Soo-jeong with photos of me and Ji-hyo together!”

“…That noona said she wouldn’t mention names.”

By now, a crowd had gathered around them. People were whispering, saying things like, “He’s a thief. He’s robbed five houses around here. And he even has a weapon!” Baseless rumors were spreading.

Yoon Ji-gu frowned, then asked casually as if he remembered something.

“You’re the one who terrorized my Instagram, right?”

“…So what. Compared to what you did, you’re… ugh!”

Yoon Ji-ho kicked the man’s side and muttered threateningly.

“Answer properly, you thief.”

“Why would I be a thief… sir!”

He tried to speak informally but added the honorific out of fear. It made him look even more pathetic.

“You stole this, didn’t you? Even though it’s not yours.”

Yeo-woon tapped the envelope from Daehan University that Ji-gu was clutching tightly.

“It’s just one document…”

“You even opened and looked at it?”

The opening was tattered. It seemed he had opened it, checked the contents, and hurriedly left with it. It was unclear what he intended to do with it.

“You stole something that’s not yours and you don’t even live here. You admitted it was intentional and even had a grudge against him. This should be enough for punishment.”

“He also plastered my grades all over the school bulletin board for defamation.”

I didn’t know it was him, but… Yoon Ji-gu grumbled, pleased that Yeo-woon was backing him up. Hearing this, Yoon Ji-ho’s forehead vein bulged. He kicked the man’s side again, shouting.

“You’re the one who sent my brother to the military!”

“Military?”

At Yeo-woon’s murmur, Yoon Ji-gu hurriedly tried to brush it off as nothing. But it didn’t seem like nothing. Yoon Ji-hyuk smiled kindly as he helped the man up, patting his back.

“You may not know this, but our family is quite wealthy.”

“…So, so what.”

“Not wealthy enough to completely ruin your future. But enough that Ji-gu could live his whole life without working if he wanted to. From what I gather, your family situation isn’t great if you had to take a leave of absence over a scholarship. Can you afford lawyer fees?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“You’re the one who made threats. Our youngest felt so threatened by you that he decided to join the military, even though he swore he’d wait for unification.”

Waited for unification? The embarrassing story from the restaurant earlier wasn’t the whole thing.

“Why are you bringing that up, hyung?!”

Yoon Ji-gu couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

“Also, you’re probably the one who painted the ‘F’ in front of our house last year. How did you know our address?”

“Hyung, he’s in the student council.”

Yoon Ji-gu tattled, half-hiding behind Yeo-woon. Not that hiding did much to conceal his large frame.

“How about this. If you come inside and confess everything you’ve done, without omitting anything, I might consider dealing with this without pressing charges… Well, I’ll at least consider it.”

The man looked like he was contemplating, perhaps due to financial constraints. The two brothers started dragging him into the café. The gathered crowd began to disperse. Yeo-woon handed Ji-gu the candy he had brought earlier. Ji-gu looked down at the bag of candy and muttered, “I don’t like scorched rice flavor.”

“I didn’t know he was someone you knew. I thought he was a real thief since he kept lurking around since last time.”

“…I didn’t remember his face either.”

That was understandable. His face wasn’t particularly memorable.

“Were you very surprised?”

“…Not really. And I didn’t join the military because of him. I got my draft notice and had nothing else to do, so I went for fun. It just happened to coincide with the incident of being publicly humiliated at school with my grades… I really don’t care much. When I returned to school, no one even remembered me.”

“…”

“I thought you might be someone from school. So at first… I thought hyung had moved here following me. But, but that was reasonable to suspect. I couldn’t help but be surprised when we kept running into each other!”

Judging by how talkative he’d become, he must have been quite shocked. The man was now trapped in the cafe, receiving a stern lecture with even the mother joining in.

“But… you know, I didn’t do anything wrong. He was seeing another girl while dating someone else and sometimes went out with people I’d never seen before, so I just asked about it in DMs because it was strange… I didn’t even ask in a weird way. I just, you know, asked if she had broken up with that guy. …He borrowed money from both women and used it to go on trips with other people, buy couple rings, and try to get expensive gifts. Then he got caught. But that’s wrong, isn’t it? That senior publicized it on the community site, so things got a bit out of hand, but that’s not my fault either. Did I do something wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything? Come on, tell me. Was that my fault?”

“Oh, no, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. You did well.”

But what’s with the two-timing? With that face? It seemed Yoon Ji-gu cared quite a bit for someone who looked like he’d ignore even witnessing an affair. For someone who seems completely uninterested in others’ business, he even went as far as to send DMs to inform… It was unexpected.

“…What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Huh?”

“…Why do you keep saying I’m unexpected since earlier?”

Since earlier?

Yeo-woon tilted his head in confusion, trying to recall if he had said something similar before. His dark eyes flickered in sync with the blinking cafe sign lights. Would it be his imagination to think that Yoon Ji-gu’s expression seemed tinged with disappointment?

“What if.”

Yoon Ji-gu, who had been needlessly tapping the ground with his toes, raised his hand to fiddle with his reddened earlobe. He casually lifted his head to look at Yeo-woon.

“If I’m very different from the personality you know… does that bother you?”

“…?”

Yoon Ji-gu’s face was tense as if he was extremely nervous. It was hard to guess what kind of answer he wanted to hear, and Yeo-woon wondered why he was suddenly acting this way. But sensing that he seemed to be wrestling with a significant concern, Yeo-woon rolled his eyes and fell into thought.

“I think…”

“…”

“It probably wouldn’t matter?”

“What do you mean?”

Yeo-woon carefully chose his words for the sensitive Yoon Ji-gu. During this pause, the impatient Yoon Ji-gu grabbed Yeo-woon’s shoulders, shaking them slightly while urging, “Don’t beat around the bush. What do you mean?”

“I haven’t known you for long, so it’s natural for me to find things unexpected when I see sides of you I didn’t know about.”

“Is that… a compliment?”

He didn’t seem to understand.

“What I mean is… You might actually be talkative and different from the personality I know. But that doesn’t mean the side of you I’m seeing now isn’t real. Are you acting right now?”

“No.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

The guy next door might still be shy around him. But just because that shyness fades over time doesn’t mean Yoon Ji-gu will suddenly become someone else. Yeo-woon was not sure if this was the answer Yoon Ji-gu was hoping for, but this was what he thought.

“They’re both you.”

“…”

It wasn’t a particularly profound statement, but Ji-gu’s eyes widened in surprise. Their gazes intertwined in the air. On a humid summer night, the rhythmic jazz music flowing out each time the cafe door opened lingered in their ears.

Yoon Ji-gu continued to fiddle with his reddened ears for a while before slightly averting his gaze.

“…I got it.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Ah, I just mean I understand, so don’t take it too deeply. Okay?”

“…?”

There wasn’t really anything to take deeply… Yeo-woon’s lips twitched briefly before he smiled and nodded.

-Vol 2 END