Chapter 249 (1/2)

‘And yet here I am.’

He pressed the passcode into the door lock. The passcode hadn’t changed. His father’s meaningless obstinacy could be felt here as well. He was probably waiting for his son that he believed one day would lower his head to him and come back.

He opened the door. The first things he saw were a pair of trainers tidied up neatly, and the second one he saw was Geunseok who hurriedly exited his room. Geunseok, who clearly seemed nervous, looked at him with a dazed expression for a while. Geunsoo waved at him first.

“Long time no see.”

“...Why are you….”

“I think you know the reason better than I do.”

Geunsoo took off his shoes and entered. He pushed aside Geunseok who attempted to block his entry and opened the main bedroom. He could only see the neatly tidied bed.

“What about father?”

“He’s not here yet. Rather than that, what are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it about time he comes back?”

Seeing Geunseok so restless, Geunsoo smiled bitterly on the inside. This was the first time he saw Geunseok so restless since middle school. At that time, he took Geunseok to Daehak-ro while holding his hands.

“Fuck off from this place.”

That shout didn’t contain any tyranny but just desperation and unease. Geunseok kept looking at the door with shaking eyes. It was though he felt that the world would end once the door opened.

Geunsoo opened the refrigerator to take out some cold water. Meanwhile, Geunseok walked towards the veranda with uneasy steps. He was tiptoeing to look outside. He was probably looking for their father’s car.

“Hey, are you crazy? What are you going to do if father comes home?”

“Don’t get excited and drink some water. You look pale.”

“I, I need to clean it before father comes home.”

Geunsoo stopped Geunseok who was about to pick those shards with his bare hands. Just what made him like this? Geunsoo felt as though Geunseok was really standing on the edge of a cliff. He was practically struggling to come back to life.

“Hong Geunseok.”

“What!”

“Are you still going to keep living in this house?”

Hearing those words, Geunseok flinched. He raised his fear-stricken eyes to look at him for a while before shaking his hands off him and started picking the shards up again.

“Get out. Don’t get your hands cut.”

Geunsoo brought a dishcloth and gathered the shards up before dumping them into the trash can.

“If you’re here to bully me then just go. I’m miserable as it is.”

Geunsoo then asked his brother while looking at him in the face.

“Did you get beaten by father?”

When Geunsoo himself told his father that he would continue the acting club, he received a slap on his face. When his face was turned against his will, he felt a sense of defiance welling up inside him, and revealed those feelings to his father without restraint. After that, there was no violence. Rebukes and reprimands became harsher, but there was no physical beating.

“....”

Geunseok started taking steps backwards with a fearful expression. This was a reaction he saw frequently since young. This impolite brother has splendid judgement in situations that were under his control, but the moment anything escaped his plans, all of his thought process stopped. Usually, people at least try to take action in situations that were beyond their control with tenacity and get through the matter, but Geunseok had nothing like that. The moment he encountered a barrier, he would go into a groggy state. It was as though he was a car engine. An engine was perfectly capable of handling what was within its RPM limits, but the moment that limit was breached, it would immediately start failing.

Geunsoo realized that his brother’s reaction was not normal. This wasn’t at a level he would be from just a few rebuking remarks. He was stricken with fear. He scanned Geunseok from top to bottom. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt and full-length pants. As Geunseok was sensitive to heat since young, he would wear short sleeved shirts and shorts starting May. The fact that he was wearing long sleeved clothing meant that…

“Why are you wearing long sleeves?”

“....”

“Is it bad to the point that you can’t tell me?”

“Please, just don’t ask anything and just fuck off!”

Geunseok ran away to a corner and screamed. To Geunsoo’s ears though, it sounded like a desperate plea for life.

Geunsoo’s expression stiffened as he approached Geunseok and grabbed his arm. Both he and his younger brother were around 180cm tall. Although Geunseok’s physical stature was larger, Geunsoo won in terms of pure strength. Taking down his struggling brother, Geunsoo rolled up his younger brother’s sleeves. Although the forearm didn’t have any wounds, he could see blue bruises on his upper arm.

Geunsoo frowned. Even if his father decided to have the kid lie down and stomped on him, this kind of injury wouldn’t be here. Moreover, there were also long bruises as though he was hit by something thin. At that moment, Geunsoo’s eyes caught a golf bag right next to the air conditioner.

“Did you get hit by that?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Geunseok was about to cry. Geunsoo then had a look at Geunseok’s back. He could see bruises underneath his clothes. The moment he saw those blue and black wounds, he felt his mind go cold.

“He actually went all the way.”

This went beyond discipline. Geunsoo considered his father to be capable of restraint despite being authoritarian, but it seemed that he was mistaken. Geunseok swore at him and tidied his clothes. He could practically see the strands of rage emanating from his brother.

“Don’t put your nose in my business and just fuck off!”

His younger brother really wasn’t cute. However, he couldn’t just let him be.

“Hey, you should leave the house.”

“What?”

“Come to my house. You can take care of the food and the laundry.”

“Are you crazy? If father finds out, I’m dead. FUCKING DEAD!”

“You’ll die even if you stay here. I don’t want to see a news broadcast telling me that a kid died from domestic violence. He crossed the line. Beating up a kid with a golf club? He’s out of his mind.”

“Go alone. I have to stay here.”

Geunseok shook his head and did not move from the spot.

“You’re staying here?”

“Don’t pretend that you care about me at this point. He does not like you being with me, so just please, just ignore me like you always did! I’m fucking disgusted by you pretending to be a brother after all this time.”