GB 35

The assigned accommodation was quiet. It was natural, as all the guests would have gone to the New Year’s party and not returned yet.

A heavy, stiff atmosphere, completely at odds with the New Year’s mood, permeated the room. Haero slammed the door shut and locked it. 

Yoon Moo-hwa, who had called Haero’s name a few times at the door, turned away thinking he might need some time, but at the same time, he had to struggle to erase the persistent thought of the master key in his mind.

Yoon Moo-hwa was sitting with his legs crossed, looking at the screen across the connecting room. His slightly tilted body seemed to reflect his state of mind. Almost nothing was registering in his head. And as if to mock such a Yoon Moo-hwa, a message came from his father, Yoon Sang-won, at that moment.

[I heard Haero submitted an application to the Naval Academy. Acceptance is a given, it’s just a matter of whether he’ll be first or second. It’s good news. Send him my congratulations.]

Yoon Moo-hwa briefly clicked his tongue and deleted the message.

However, as if anticipating his son’s reaction, Yoon Sang-won sent consecutive messages.

[I’ll come to the entrance ceremony too. It would be good to take a picture together.]

It would only be good for his political career.

Useless talk. Delete.

[From now on, let’s attend small gatherings too, not just New Year’s parties. It might be good to bring Haero along.]

Delete.

[Ah, right. Haero has come of age too. I’ll send a gift to commemorate him becoming an adult.]

Del…

“Shit.” Yoon Moo-hwa, who rarely used profanity, lost his composure and swore.

Right. Haero had become an adult. Only now did he understand why Haero had looked at him with such a flushed, excited face on the terrace that day.

He knew it intellectually, but his anger had overshadowed it.

Becoming a cadet?

Becoming a cadet wasn’t just a romantic first step towards being on the same ship as Haero thought. Cadets have a status equivalent to soldiers. It would mean becoming a soldier. “Brother,” “Haero.” Such affectionate titles would become some sort of secret, unfair act that had to be done in private.

Unless they were family, as Haero said, his actions towards him would become favoritism.

Yoon Moo-hwa irritably furrowed his brow and sank into the chair. He stretched out his legs and folded his arms. While it might be easy to overlook due to the perfect balance and sculptural beauty, the fact that there was no space left in the large chair showed just how big his physique was.

Even with his large body lazily stretched out, the threatening feeling didn’t disappear. Yoon Moo-hwa was now irritated by every little thing and even took off his eye patch.

Although he never enjoyed smoking, today it felt unbearable not to put a cigarette in his mouth. He felt more stressed than when he had to finish a voyage with depleted water supplies.

Yoon Moo-hwa opened the drawer, took out an e-cigarette, and stood up.

Feelings of guilt towards Haero, discomfort in dealing with him that he was reluctant to put into exact words, and unresolved anger all mixed together. Despite being the type who didn’t attach any meaning to things like New Year’s Day, he couldn’t help but think, “What a mess from the very start of the year.”

As Yoon Moo-hwa entered the main room through the connecting room, a loud clattering sound hit his ears.

“……”

“Ah…”

Haero was there.

Haero looked a bit flustered. Fortunately, he was reaching out to pick up an unbroken glass, but his fingertips were clumsy and flailing about. Yoon Moo-hwa’s face crumpled even more.

The bottle of alcohol in Haero’s other hand tilted as well. The situation was clear. Yoon Moo-hwa quickly approached, picked up the fallen glass, and with his other arm, grabbed Haero’s tilting wrist. The alcohol only slightly wet the bottle’s neck.

“Are you protesting now?” Yoon Moo-hwa asked quietly, still holding Haero’s wrist.

“No,” Haero retorted sulkily.

Given the strong alcohol, neither Haero’s mind nor his tongue was fully functional. But like typical drunkards, Haero firmly believed he was fine.

“I drank because I’m allowed to.”

Haero tried to snatch the glass from Yoon Moo-hwa’s hand. He easily avoided his gesture by simply moving his arm slightly backward.

“You’re drunk. You shouldn’t drink strong alcohol alone when you don’t even know your limit.”

“You made me drink alone.”

A weak hand pushed against Yoon Moo-hwa’s chest. As he moved back about a finger’s width, there was a cracking sound of glass being stepped on. What seemed intact apparently had a chip at the bottom. To his surprise, it was Haero who stumbled backward. 

Yoon Moo-hwa gathered both wrists of the drunkard about to fall backward in one hand. He first put down the glass, then placed the bottle Haero was precariously holding beside it. How much had he drunk? It was hard to gauge without knowing how full it was originally.

Angry yet dumbfounded, Yoon Moo-hwa pressed his lips tightly.

But Haero felt the same way.

Who’s scolding whom now?

Yoon Moo-hwa seemed to have completely forgotten. The promise to teach him about alcohol on the night he became an adult.

“Get drunk in front of me, make a fool of yourself. That way, dangerous things won’t happen later when you’re out somewhere.”

Come to think of it, Yoon Moo-hwa was excessively obsessed with his safety. As if he were a child he had to watch constantly.

Whether emboldened by the alcohol or still trusting and playful with Yoon Moo-hwa, Haero waited for him to openly get angry at him. Even if he exploded frighteningly, it would be fine. He felt that would bring a change to this relationship. He didn’t know what kind of change, but Haero felt suffocated. He felt breathless and thirsty.

Yoon Moo-hwa looked at him, swallowing a sigh. 

Haero’s heart pounded with tension. He would say it’s because of the alcohol, but…

Instead of getting angry, Yoon Moo-hwa suddenly lifted Haero and sat him on the bar. That was all. Even though he was wearing slippers, he said it was dangerous and made him sit up there. When he squirmed to get down, Yoon Moo-hwa hissed threateningly through his teeth. Then he cleaned up the mess Haero had made.

“You’ve completely forgotten your promise and you’re just scolding me?” 

Looking down at Yoon Moo-hwa’s silent back, Haero complained with a sense of injustice. He straightened up after throwing the glass shards in the trash and stared at Haero. His eyes were cold. His face was expressionless.

Yoon Moo-hwa’s body seemed to split into multiple images and merge back repeatedly. One annoying body, two, three, four, and then back to four, three, two, one.

Haero jumped down abruptly. Yoon Moo-hwa reached out towards the stumbling Haero, but he ignored him. Ye could do it alone. In his outstretched hand was the e-cigarette. Haero snatched it, his eyes widening.

“Now I can do this too.”

Then, before Yoon Moo-hwa could stop him, Haero took a puff.

Haero coughed as smoke billowed up. Yoon Moo-hwa grabbed his hands again, binding them, and tossed the device aside. The sound of plastic rolling on the floor hit their ears.

“We don’t make you an adult so you can do unhealthy things. You’re drunk. So go in and sleep.”

Yoon Moo-hwa, both wanting to smoke and thinking he should put him to bed, headed towards the room with Haero. 

Haero tried not to be dragged, but his feet slid along helplessly.

Before crossing the bedroom threshold, Haero grabbed the doorframe and resisted. Yoon Moo-hwa effortlessly lifted him onto his shoulder.

“Don’t. Don’t do this… I hate you… What did I do so wrong? I have the right to make my own decisions now…”

Listening to Haero’s incoherent words, Yoon Moo-hwa snorted.

Noticing the mini-fridge door in his room was open, he kicked it shut and headed for the bed. 

Haero weakly pounded on Yoon Moo-hwa’s back with his fists.

Yoon Moo-hwa didn’t budge. As Yoon Moo-hwa’s body tilted and his back was about to touch the bed, Haero clung to him with all his might.

With his waist still tilted, Yoon Moo-hwa swallowed a sigh. “Drunkard.”

He chided, but Haero shook his head vigorously.

Just like a child.

“And you say you’ve grown up?”

“…I have grown up. There’s nothing I can’t do now. There are just things I choose not to do.”

“Alright, I’m sure. Now, let go of my legs, Haero.”

“I can do everything now. I even have… sexual autonomy.” Haero mumbled. 

“Sexual autonomy.” Yoon Moo-hwa snorted. 

Haero was not only his younger brother, but sometimes, a bit rudely, he felt like a puppy he had raised since infancy. Of course, this was meant with an endearing gaze. Watching him whine and insist he was all grown up was simply amusing. Especially attaching sexual words to Haero was laughable in itself.

“I understand. I understand, okay?”

Haero felt a surge of emotion, thinking Yoon Moo-hwa wasn’t even listening to him. He wrapped his hands around the thick neck in front of him and pulled sharply. 

Yoon Moo-hwa’s artificial eyes, now face-to-face with the drunk’s eyes, adjusted rapidly with a sound almost inaudible to human ears.

“You don’t believe me.” There’s a sweet smell of alcohol. “You think I’m still a child who believes babies are born from stomachs.”

Since childhood, since he was Number 8, Haero had found it extremely difficult to be seen as a child. Perhaps it was due to the environment where he would have been abandoned if he didn’t pull his weight. Instead of telling him there was no need to be so urgent now, Yoon Moo-hwa was planning to just casually agree with him.

But then Haero lifted his head and moved forward. They were close enough for their noses to touch.

With drowsy eyes, Haero boldly declared, “I know what adults do too.”

Then he tilted his head.