“I told you I wasn’t in a relationship.”

    He could also understand from his perspective. If he had seen such a message on Seo-oh’s phone, he would have been just as surprised. Of course, at that time, Kwon Seo‑oh’s reaction had been a bit extreme.

    After that, the conversation paused for a moment. In the silence, the only thing that filled the air was the creaky sound of the swing. The misunderstanding seemed to be cleared up, so maybe it was time to leave. As Nam-woon awkwardly tried to get up, Seo-oh, who had been looking at Nam-woon’s profile, suddenly spoke up

    “Remember when you came home late one day, and we fought in the yard?”

    “What about it?” 

    “You asked me why I didn’t tell you in advance through a message when I told you to come in early.” 

    He remembered. That day, Seo‑oh had sent a message telling him to come in quickly but never explained the reason. It wasn’t until the next morning that he learned it was because of Se-han’s award dinner.

    Seo-oh lowered his head and mumbled,

    “I did it because I wanted to see you.”

    “…?”

    “I thought you would be happy if Se-han got an award.”

    Seo-oh pursed his lips once.

    “But if I sent a message, I wouldn’t be able to see your face.”

    “……”

    “I wanted to see your happy face.”

    I’m sorry for getting angry at you, Hyung. Seo-oh apologized for the last time.

    Nam-woon couldn’t say anything. He just felt a gentle breeze had suddenly begun to blow over a perfectly still sea in a corner of his heart. Seo‑oh’s meaningful eyes stared directly into Nam-woon’s.

    “Did you really just come to our school because you happened to pass by?”

    The ice cream he was holding melted and was dripping steadily down Seo‑oh’s hand. But Seo-oh didn’t notice.  Nam-woon continued to keep his head down without answering, but noticing the flushed nape of Nam-woon’s neck, Seo‑oh understood his silent reply:

    Hyung, you missed me too. 

    ***

    “Wooni Hyung!”

    Se-han quickly ran over with his short legs and hugged Nam-woon tightly. ‘How have you been?’ At Nam-woon’s awkward smile, Se-han burst into uncontrollable tears. 

    “Why are you crying, Se-han?”

    “Waaah… I, I, waaah… Hyung, hic, sob…”

    Se-han’s face was tear-streaked, and he couldn’t even speak properly as he burrowed into Nam-woon’s arms. Seeing that, Nam-woon felt his heart ache and wiped Se-han’s face with his palm.

    . “Hic... It’s hic, It’s my fault…”

    “Se-han didn’t do anything wrong.”

    “Sniff.”

    Se-han let out a sobbed breath. His little body still trembled intermittently. Even just looking at Nam-woon’s face made Se-han sad, and his expression fell again. He had cried so much that snot began to form at the tip of his nose—the droplet from his right nostril gradually shrank, then swelled up again.

    Nam-woon looked at Se-han, who was trembling with a serious expression. Se-han’s large eyes, soaked in tears, met Nam-woon’s eyes with an innocent gaze.

    “Did you put soap in your nose?”

    “Huh?”

    “Look at this, Se-han. Soapy water seems to have gone into your nostrils. Bubbles keep coming out of here.”

    Nam-woon took a Dal-kong’s pencil case from Se-han’s bag and reflected Se-han’s face. The pencil case they bought together at the shopping center had a mirror on one side. In the mirror, in Se-han’s nostrils, droplets were repeatedly contracting and expanding. Se-han made an “hmm?” expression at the sight. Not missing his chance, Nam-woon asked,

    “You can make soap bubbles come out of both nostrils?”

    “Hahahaha…!”

    Se-han laughed while crying. He laughed so hard at the sight of his own snot bubble that he forgot to wipe his tears for a while. Finally, Nam-woon, who had calmed him down a bit, hugged Se-han tightly.

    “I’m sorry, Hyung.”

    “It’s me who’s in the wrong. What did Se-han do wrong?”

    Se-han kept apologizing even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Nam-woon looked at Min-chan with a perplexed expression. What should we do? He keeps crying. Min-chan sighed deeply and said,

    “Kwon Se-han, Hyung says you didn’t do anything wrong, so why do you keep apologizing? If you think about it, the Hyungs were the ones who fought.”

    “That’s right, Se-han, stop crying. Otherwise, the first graders will look down on the second graders.”

    “Uh, okay.”

    Se-han wiped his tears with his small hands after being scolded by Dong-soo and Min-chan. Min-chan then shot a cold glance at Nam-woon and said,

    “If you run away from home, our mom says you’re going to give everyone a miserable time. So, Wooni, stop running away now.”

    “Uh? Uh, got it…”

    Min-chan glanced at Seo-oh standing beside him, then turned his head and said nothing. Hey, what’s this? Picking and choosing who to nag? It was a bit ridiculous, but he held back because they were cute elementary school kids.

    Thanks to the support of his friends, Se-han stopped crying and fixed his gaze on Nam-woon. Suddenly, he leaped and wrapped his arms tightly around Nam-woon. When Nam-woon, surprised, asked why, Se-han declared in a determined voice,

    “I’ll protect you, Hyung!”

    “Huh? Uh, sure…”

    Stroking Se-han’s head, Nam-woon said,

    “I’ll protect you too, Se-han.”

    “Let’s protect each other!”

    “Yeah.”

    “But did the Hyungs really reconcile?”

    “Probably.”

    As Se-han’s sorrow seemed to ease a little, Nam-woon took Se-han’s hand and approached Seo‑oh. Then Seo‑oh said,

    “Let’s go home now.”

    But suddenly, Se-han let go of Nam-woon’s hand and, boldly declared,

    “I’m going to sleep over at Min-chan’s place tonight.”

    “What?”

    “Tonight, I’m sleeping over at Min-chan’s!”

    “What? Why?”

    Really, why? Didn’t you say earlier, as you looked at me, that you missed me so, so much? As soon as Se-han confirmed that Nam-woon and Seo‑oh had reconciled, he slipped away from the Hyungs and, in an unexpectedly mature manner, turned to his friends and said again,

    “Tonight, I have to sleep with the kids. So you two Hyungs should sleep together.”

    Nam-woon couldn’t help but be taken aback by the words, because the one night he’d slept without Se-han was the night he’d almost gotten his ass opened at super speed. Nam-woon shouted urgently.

    “What are you saying, Se-han? Tonight, all three of us should sleep together!”

    “What? Why?”

    “Because today is the day the Hyungs reconciled!”

    “Yeah, that’s why we’re having a celebration party.”

    It was absurd.

    “What, the reconciliation was between the Hyungs, why are you guys celebrating?”

    At those words, Dong-soo stepped forward as if it were obvious.

    “Of course we have to. We were the ones who worked hard to make them reconcile!”

    It was so hard to get here. Dong-soo suddenly had an angry look in his eyes. Nam-woon looked at Min-chan, but he also had his arms crossed and a blank face, shining his glasses, clearly agreeing with Dong-soo. Nam-woon urgently pleaded with Se-han.

    “You said earlier that you would protect Hyung, Se-han. It’s dark at night, so you have to protect Hyung.”

    Se-han said, “Ah,” and pointed his short index finger at Seo-oh.

    “When I’m not here, our Hyung will protect you!”

    What are you talking about? The one who tried to open my ass was your Hyung.

    Whether Se-han knew Nam-woon’s inner turmoil or not,  Se-han turned his back coldly and put both hands in his pants pocket. Then he shouted in a loud voice

    “Kids, let’s go!”

    Min-chan and Dong-soo followed Se-han closely, chattering away. This is absurd. Nam-woon stared at the backs of the three kids. The kids were talking to each other as they left. 

    “Baek Jang-mi Hyung says that the movie we saw today is coming out again next year.”

    “Wow, really?! Baek Jang-mi Hyung will watch it too?”

    “Yeah. They’re planning to gather at the office to go see it together. And there’s a pop-up store opening at Central Shopping Center in October!”

    “Oh, I’ve been to Central Shopping Center before! I went there with the Hyungs last time.”

    “Amazing! Cool, right?”

    “Yeah. It’s super huge and there are so many people that the line is super long. And there are tons of claw machines…”

    Se-han was constantly moving his lips, he didn’t even glance back once. Nam-woon stared at him with his mouth open.

    “Mrs. Soon-i said that when he is older, he’ll play with friends of the same age rather than with his Hyungs. She said it gets worse as you get older.”

    From the side, Seo-oh offered some heartfelt consolation to him.

    “……”

    After the noisy kids and employees had all left, the office, now empty except for the two of them, was suddenly filled with silence. Ah, this is so awkward. Nam-woon coughed and said,

    “Should we go home now?”

    Seo-oh hesitated slightly at Nam-woon’s words and then spoke up.

    “Hyung, can’t we go to your house tonight?”

    “…Huh?”

    “I want to go to your house.”

    The unexpected words came out of his mouth.

    “I’ve never been to Hyung’s house before.”

    Nam-woon’s face turned white.

    I’ve never been there either.

    Nam-woon had always made excuses to Seo-oh about going home. Even earlier, when Seo-oh asked where he had been all this time, Nam-woon claimed he was at home. But the truth was that Nam-woon was actually a homeless person. If it weren’t for the office, he would have been sleeping in a box at Seoul Station.

    “Uh, well, you see…”

    When Nam-woon trailed off without answering, Seo‑oh’s expression grew increasingly grim. Seeing Seo‑oh’s face darken, Nam-woon quickly made up his mind. Yes, it’s better to be honest. After all, they’ve already made up, and if my lie is discovered, I’d be forced to run away again. It might be a bit late now, but I have to confess

    “Seo‑oh…”

    When his name was suddenly called in a serious tone, Seo‑oh looked up.

    “The truth is, I don’t have a home.”

    “…What?”

    “Since I don’t have a home, I’ve been crashing at your place. I’m sorry.”

    “What do you mean? You don’t have a home?”

    Frowning, Seo‑oh turned toward Nam-woon.

    “Well, you see…”

    “So all this time, clinging to our place like a bug was really because you had no home?”

    It was a blunt statement, but it was true. When Nam-woon was about to make the announcement that he was actually homeless.

    Ding!

    But just then, a notification interrupted their conversation:

    [Emergency Sub-Mission occurs: Find Seok Nam-woon’s Home!]

    What? Whose home? Nam-woon couldn’t believe it.

    [Sub-Mission Objective: Make Kwon Seo-oh Happy!]

    [Reward: Seok Nam-woon’s house address and front door password]

    Crazy!

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