TGT 1

The weather was bad. The wind was blowing, and the rain was pouring heavily. The clothes he had put on to look neat were completely soaked.

Seo Jeong-won shook off the water droplets from his oversized coat while recalling the last image he had of his brother.

Six years. No, it was about seven years. His brother left home when he had just entered middle school.

With a black duffel bag slung over his shoulder, brushing away Seo Jeong-won’s hand that gripped the edge of his sleeve, saying he couldn’t take him along. When asked if he would come back, his brother didn’t answer.

The only thing he said in a suppressed voice was, “Study hard.” That was the end.

Not knowing it would be the last time, Seo Jeong-won had only cried. If he had known it would come to this, he would have hugged him at least once.

“Seo Jeong-won-ssi?”

Now that he had just turned twenty-one, it was indeed seven years since they had last seen each other.

“I’m Kwon Tae-hee.”

“…Ah.”

“I knew you were young, but you’re really just a kid.”

Despite the slightly rude voice, Seo Jeong-won was speechless upon facing the man who had only been a brief phone call to him.

Seo Jeong-won had never met an adult like the person before him in his life. Especially in terms of appearance.

Forgetting why he had come here, he stared blankly at Kwon Tae-hee.

His face looked as if it had been sculpted by a god, or as if he was a god himself. Seo Jeong-won bowed his head politely toward the man, trying to control his repeatedly shrinking shoulders.

“Shall we go now?”

Despite the cold tone and low voice, warm light-brown eyes looked toward Seo Jeong-won.

The lips that curved elegantly as if drawn were beautiful. He couldn’t find a more fitting word. The man radiated even under the pale hospital lights.

“Cough, cough…”

When Seo Jeong-won burst into a slight cough, he naturally reached out and gently patted his dry back. Then, as if by habit, he made eye contact and opened his mouth softly.

“About the delayed contact… let’s just say it was adult circumstances.”

“…”

“Until now, I’ve been taking care of him out of moral duty, but recently the attending physician said there’s no chance of him waking up.”

Throughout the not-short time of entering the hospital, taking the elevator and getting off, he was gently embracing Seo Jeong-won’s back.

With each intermittent cough, concerned glances and touches like soothing a child followed.

“…Thank you.”

“You seem to have a cold coming on. Your clothes look thin too. I’ll take you back when we leave. It’s quite far, coming from there to here.”

Though Seo Jeong-won hadn’t mentioned where he came from, he seemed to already know. Walking down the corridor, Seo Jeong-won glanced out the window. The rain had intensified.

With the cold weather and having spent too much on taxi fare to get to the hospital, it was difficult to refuse Kwon Tae-hee’s kindness. Seo Jeong-won hesitated for a moment, then finally mumbled thanks and added.

“Still, there was a bus… that came directly.”

“That’s fortunate. Shall we go in?”

The door slid open smoothly. The hospital room was quite spacious and cool. All kinds of unfamiliar machines were connected to the person lying on the bed.

With half his face covered by a ventilator, it was difficult to confirm if it really was his brother.

Beep, beep, beep. The constant machine sound pierced his ears. Kwon Tae-hee strode closer to him. After briefly scanning as if checking his condition, he reached out toward Jeong-won.

Come closer and look. His tone was as indifferent as his gaze looking down at the bed. Even though they had broken off their engagement, if they were engaged, they must have been in love.

Like his voice on the day he announced he would remove his brother’s ventilator, today too, there wasn’t the slightest hint of sadness.

“Why… are you removing the ventilator? Can’t it be maintained… continuously?”

“There’s no reason we can’t. Although it will cost money.”

“…How much.”

At that question, Kwon Tae-hee closed his mouth and thought for a moment. His eyes were cautious, as if gauging whether he was asking for the amount or his intentions.

Kwon Tae-hee shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Seo Jeong-won, who had a hardened expression. It costs a lot. He gave a vague answer that wasn’t exact.

“A lot, a whole lot.”

“…”

“It’s not that I begrudge the money, but since there’s no hope, forcibly keeping him alive also seems wrong.”

As Kwon Tae-hee stepped aside at an angle, Seo Jeong-won slowly began to move. The distance between the two, who had been standing far apart, gradually decreased.

Seo Jeong-won forced strength into his trembling legs and approached the bedside. Only when he finally reached close proximity could he clearly see Seo Gyu-won’s face.

The man lying peacefully with a ventilator was indeed the brother he had longed for all these years.

The motionless eyelids, the short-cropped hair, the skin so pale it had a grayish tint—he didn’t look like a living person.

“A little… if you could wait a little longer…”

Tears welled up at the sight of his brother, whom he was meeting for the first time since becoming an adult. Since all their shared memories were from pitiful times, something hot surged up from his throat.

Seo Jeong-won looked up at Kwon Tae-hee standing beside him and, without realizing it, grabbed his sleeve and pleaded.

“Still, couldn’t you… wait just a little longer? He might wake up.”

“Gyu-won would be in pain. He wouldn’t have wanted to meet his brother looking like this either.”

“If you give him time…”

“It’s been a year since he couldn’t wake up. There has been enough time.”

Kwon Tae-hee reached out his hand. His touch was as dry as his expressionless voice. His long, neat fingertips held a warm temperature unlike his cold tone.

“I’ll repay the hospital bills somehow. If you just maintain the ventilator, I’ll somehow…”

“I know it’s painful. I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. But… there are things we can’t change, like now.”

“I can’t… let my brother go like this.”

Was he willing to take on hospital bills whose cost he didn’t even know, just because they were family, when he didn’t even know how his brother had been living?

It seemed like a childish thought matching his young age. Though he looked naive, he didn’t seem stupid—was he just too shocked to think clearly?

“Seo Jeong-won-ssi.”

Seo Jeong-won felt quite desperate at Kwon Tae-hee’s gaze directed at him. There was plenty of sympathy in his expression, but that was all.

He seemed to have already decided to remove his brother’s ventilator before Seo Jeong-won arrived. He was anxious. Removing the ventilator sounded exactly like killing Seo Gyu-won.

“Let’s go out for a moment.”

Saying this wasn’t a conversation to have in the hospital room, Kwon Tae-hee grabbed Seo Jeong-won’s wrist. As expected, it was thin. Even grasping it over his coat, it felt slender.

For some reason, he felt thirsty at the warm body temperature felt when his hand, which was generously wrapped around the wrist, touched the exposed skin.

Throughout crossing the hospital room, Jeong-won kept looking back to check on Seo Gyu-won. Then, struggling to keep up with increasingly faster steps, he asked.

“Where…”

“There’s a lounge.”

“I don’t care where. Just quickly…”

Kwon Tae-hee lightly ignored Jeong-won’s opinion. Only after reaching the end of the corridor did the lounge appear. Only then did he release the wrist he had been holding.

Kwon Tae-hee, who entered first, waited after pulling out a chair at the table. He seated Seo Jeong-won, who approached perceptively, and sat next to him rather than across.

“When did you lose contact with your brother?”

“As soon as I entered middle school, my brother manifested as an Omega… and left home. He was an adult at that time.”

“Gyu-won has quite a ruthless side to him. To cut ties with such a young brother.”