TIN 18

This excuse about getting lost on the way never changed, did it? Perhaps Henry learned it from watching Joo Do-hwa. They both had a kind way of speaking, but the actual content wasn’t always very considerate.

Thinking about this a little further, I noticed there was something off about the situation.

“But why do you use honorifics with me?”

When I was younger, he had addressed me bluntly. If he was going to treat me like that “brother” from before, he shouldn’t be using honorifics. I thought it was a reasonable question, but Joo Do-hwa tilted his head to the side as if I had asked something quite interesting.

“You’re asking interesting things again.”

‘Again’? When did I ask interesting things before?

“Is it strange for an older person to use honorifics?”

There was a hint of puzzlement in his gaze, just as when I had asked various things on the first night I stayed here. Even though he didn’t seem like the type to show special deference, he apparently thought I wouldn’t be the type to question it.

“No…it’s just that you even speak informally to your aide.”

“Henry is also part of the security team.”

Was that the crucial difference? Whether it was an aide or security personnel, they would still be older than Joo Do-hwa.

“Anyway, you can speak comfortably with me too.”

I had no intention of getting into an unnecessary argument, so I simply wrapped up the conversation. This was what I wanted to say from the beginning.

“You don’t have to use honorifics with me.”

I didn’t dislike being treated well, but it felt as uncomfortable as wearing ill-fitting clothes. Since I wasn’t particularly polite, to begin with, it didn’t really matter whether it was a casual or formal speech that he addressed me with.

“It’s better if you don’t do that.”

However, Joo Do-hwa rejected my suggestion in a generous tone. Seeing my puzzled expression, he curled his lips in an enigmatic smile.

“When the speech becomes more comfortable, the actions become more comfortable too.”

And so what if the actions became more comfortable? He wasn’t treating me uncomfortably even now. No, in fact, I doubt anyone, including myself, would be treated uncomfortably.

“Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

“…”

Noticing my thoughts, he gave a slight nod in my direction. It was as if he could accurately see through my inner thoughts at times. I wasn’t the type to have my expressions give me away, yet he could still precisely guess what I was thinking.

“It’s not so much a problem as…if you’re going to call me ‘brother,’ it would be more natural to treat me casually, don’t you think?”

“Ah, well, about that.”

Joo Do-hwa nodded, lowering his gaze. The curled lip didn’t quite resemble a smile.

“If you become too comfortable, I might not be able to treat you like a brother.”

“…”

I straightened up from my half-seated position. So in other words, the reason for the honorifics is to maintain a minimum level of restraint. He was afraid that if I recognized I was no longer the ‘brother’ from the past, but a stranger, the etiquette he had maintained would all come crashing down.

“Just use honorifics.”

At my swift conclusion, Joo Do-hwa burst into laughter. Covering his mouth with the back of his hand, he crinkled his eyes as if finding things highly amusing.

“I don’t know whether to call this stubbornness or what…”

The laughter in his drawn-out words was palpable. He didn’t seem to be scolding me, just genuinely amused.

“You know, you’re surprisingly outspoken.”

Apparently, Joo Do-hwa was surprised that I didn’t seem to be afraid of him. Come to think of it, he had also expressed wonder on the first day that I used honorifics out of fear.

“Are you comfortable with me?”

It was a valid question. Joo Do-hwa was the heir to the Sae Group, the highest authority in the country, and someone who didn’t hesitate to kill with his own hands. One wrong word from me, and there was no telling what might happen to my well-being.

However, the environment I had lived in wasn’t exactly a walk in the park either. Joo Do-hwa or the Oceans boss could kill me just the same, so I ended up being too tired to constantly be on the lookout for danger. I had seen far worse fates than being gripped by momentary fear and having my daily life being disrupted.

“I’m not comfortable.”

But it wasn’t as if I was completely unaffected either. Even Henry was cautious, let alone Joo Do-hwa himself. As our eyes met, it sent a shudder through me, and his sudden appearance made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was more discomfort than fear, with his gently smiling face feeling like a time bomb about to explode.

The reason I could still act brazenly was thanks to the indulgence he himself had granted me.

“It’s only natural to feel awkward after not seeing each other for so long.”

At my casual remark, the smile faded from Joo Do-hwa’s face. His golden eyes took on a chilly, penetrating glint. The pheromones in the air grew heavy as well, but I calmly added one more sentence.

“You’ve grown a lot since we last met. Both of us have.”

Joo Do-hwa had said that I must imitate the brother he used to live with as a child. In that case, I shouldn’t show that I was afraid of him. I wasn’t sure how much immersion he wanted, but I knew I had an obligation to accommodate his request.

“Ah…”

He briefly wore a blank expression, then let out a dismissive chuckle, as if he had just realized my intention behind what I just said.

“That’s right. It’s been so long since we last saw each other.”

The cheerful smile on his face looked almost refreshing. To me, there was no imitation, but to him, my earnest performance must’ve worked.

“I’ll also get more comfortable with you. So from now on, feel free to be casual with me.”

‘No…you don’t need to get comfortable with me.’

Whether I felt awkward or not, he still approached me with a cheerful expression on his face. As he drew near, a cloying pheromone wafted over. Staring at him, he soon stood right in front of me.

“But, brother.”

His voice was unnecessarily soft, though his gaze scrutinizing me was anything but that.

“How did you solve this?”

Joo Do-hwa gave a slight nod toward the cube I had solved. It was the basic 3×3 cube, with each face divided into 9 squares.

“This? I just solved it.”

‘How did I solve it?’ I wasn’t sure how to answer that. It wasn’t as if I had accomplished anything extraordinary—this was something he could have easily solved as well.

“Is that so?”

Joo Do-hwa responded vaguely, then took the cube from my hands. After briefly examining all six sides, his long fingers began to scramble the previously solved cube.

With a focused expression, Joo Do-hwa mixed up the cube and then held it out to me again.

“Solve it.”

“…?”

It wasn’t a difficult request. I just thought it was a rather pointless task.

I took the cube from him and, just as I had done before, carefully matched the colors. Earlier, it had taken me a while, but thanks to my previous attempt, I could solve it much more easily this time.

“Done.”

Once again, Joo Do-hwa took the solved cube from me. The way he examined the completed six sides seemed somehow peculiar. At first, I thought he was surprised that someone like me, without any training, could solve the cube. But upon closer inspection, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Joo Do-hwa shrugged his shoulders. He tossed the cube lightly and caught it, clicking his tongue.

“I was going to teach you how to solve it.”

“Ah.”

As soon as he said that, a memory came to the surface. When I was very young, during my first days in this house, the child had brought a cube like this.

‘Big brother, do you know how to do this?’

The child had taken the cube out of a large toy box and started mixing it up and solving it, without even waiting for my response. The colorful cube seemed too big for the child’s hands, with him being barely six years old.

‘Look, you do it like this.’

Apparently, the child had wanted to teach me how to do it. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the talent for teaching. They didn’t even explain the method, just demonstrated a few times in front of me.

Luckily, after watching him make the attempt a few times, I was able to roughly figure it out. It was more accurate to say that I learned it because the child persistently refused to give up, rather than him having any actual teaching ability.

“You’ve done a lot of things for someone who grew up poor.”

Joo Do-hwa spoke in a dismissive tone, rapidly scrambling the cube. While he had struggled with it as a child, now he was able to handle it skillfully with one hand, his grown-up size making the cube look almost like a miniature in his palm.

“Of course…I know how to do it.”

I hesitated for a moment whether to say this. I couldn’t gauge how far he would indulge my act.

But my bemusement outweighed the hesitation I was feeling.

“You taught me when I was little, remember?”

Was he trying to recreate that memory? If he truly wanted to treat me as a ‘brother,’ he should have asked if I remembered him teaching me how to solve the cube, not act disappointed that I knew how to do it.

“I thought you might have forgotten after all this time.”

Ignoring the inner turmoil I must be feeling, Joo Do-hwa responded naturally, raising his eyebrows slightly. But he didn’t seem particularly surprised, likely assuming I would respond appropriately.

“…”

At this point, I started to have some doubts. Why didn’t he even bother questioning whether I was actually that ‘hyung’? Could it be that he already knew, but was simply testing me?