ITDW 37

When he stepped onto the floor, he felt the unique give of the wooden flooring. Though it was a less sturdy material, it had the feel of wood steadfastly bearing weight. Even without a creaking sound, the wooden floor gave off that impression.

Jaeri went to the fireplace and stared at the flickering flames for a long while. He could see the firewood burning red inside, turning to ash from the ends. That meaningless sight reflected in his eyes strangely captivated his gaze.

Jungyoon followed Jaeri’s gaze. Seeing the loneliness in the child’s eyes, he stood behind him and quietly hugged Jaeri.

Warmth spread out from his back in concentric circles. The warmth was so sudden, it pierced his heart so unexpectedly that he did not know how to respond. The emotion was expressed in its purest form.

Jaeri’s shoulders shook. He himself did not know why he was crying. The tears just came. The downpour that had been falling in his heart was pushed out a little, and it rained from his eyes.

Jaeri was flustered even as he cried. If his hyung were to ask, “Why are you crying,” he would have nothing to say. It was embarrassing to say, “Just because it’s warm.” There was no suitable reason.

Jaeri was ashamed of that. It felt like he was being found out as a being weak enough to cry over something so small. Even though it was in front of his hyung, still….

Fortunately, Jungyoon said nothing. His lips simply landed briefly on Jaeri’s ear.

“Jaeri, your ears are cute.”

As silent tears flowed, his words continued.

“Small, covered in fine hair, soft, sensitive, and they often turn red.”

“…Yes.”

Jaeri barely managed to answer in a tear-filled voice.

“They listen well, and they can’t pretend not to hear. They’re smart and kind ears.”

“…Yes.”

“In my eyes, they’re very pretty, and cool.”

“…Yes.”

After finishing a brief tour of the house they had not been to in a long time, they ate a simple lunch that was already set on the dining table. Jungyhoon also had a glass of white wine. And then the brothers went out for a walk.

The winter afternoon sunlight reflected off the snow piled softly on the ground, making it sparkle. He walked a path that was so familiar, yet it had been so long that it felt strange.

He walked from the mansion to the public health center where Jungyoon had worked as a public health doctor, and from the public health center to the elementary and middle schools Jaeri had attended. Walking that familiar path, Jaeri exhaled deeply.

So to speak, those were days like early spring. Just as things that had hibernated and died reawakened, sprouted new buds, and took in the nourishment of the earth and sky, those were such days for Jaeri.

And it was also the only period when he had a lot of time to spend with his hyung.

The elementary and middle schools Jaeri had attended were a 15-minute and 20-minute walk from the public health center, respectively. After school, Jaeri would go straight to the public health center, play there, and wait until Jungyoon got off work to go home with him. He had loved that so much. However, Jungyoon, concerned that Jaeri was not making friends, allowed him to do so only two days a week.

On the days they returned together, they would sometimes buy something to eat outside, or play basketball before going in. Jungyoon had taught Jaeri how to play basketball, and surprisingly, Jaeri learned well. His ball-handling skills were lacking, perhaps because his hands were not large, but he was good at shooting. He even made difficult 3-point shots well.

With a light step, Jaeri passed by the basketball hoop where he used to practice all day on the days he did not go home with his hyung. The young Jaeri had loved it so much when his hyung praised him.

They walked along the frozen lakeside and watched people who had drilled holes to go fishing. He had once said he wanted to try that, but his hyung had cut him off, saying he could not.

‘Smelt are freshwater fish, and freshwater fish have a lot of parasites, so no.’

‘Then, I’ll just catch them and not eat them, I can just release them again….’

‘Kim Jaeri.’

‘…Yes, hyung….’

‘When I say no, you should know that’s what it means, right?’

‘…Yes….’

Jaeri watched the fishermen with a look of disappointment.

After that, Jungyoon had taken Jaeri to a fishing spot, but Jaeri had not found it fun at all. He had not wanted to go fishing; he had wanted to drill a hole in the frozen ice of a lake and cast a line into the water flowing beneath that hole. That thing you could only do in winter.

It was not that he did not understand the sentimentality of the season. Jungyoon simply did not want to show Jaeri something gruesome.

He would rather kill the fish he caught than release them back. If you do not release a fish back into the water, it dies. Therefore, if you are not going to eat it, you should not catch it.

After their walk down memory lane, the brothers returned home with slightly chilled bodies. They each sat in their own rocking chairs and drank a cup of warm tea. The sound of firewood crackling in the fireplace could be heard. It was a mild afternoon. Jaeri put his teacup down beside him and dozed off, rocking in his rocking chair.

“Jaeri, go inside and sleep.”

“…Yes.”

As soon as he heard his voice, Jaeri got up immediately as if he had heard an order from a superior in the army. He walked unsteadily up to his bedroom on the second floor. The scent of wood that permeated the air was familiar with every step.

Towards evening, as Jaeri was coming out of his bedroom, he heard his hyung’s voice from downstairs. It sounded like he was on the phone, and his voice was angry.

“So what went wrong and how.”

Jaeri stopped in his tracks at the top of the second-floor stairs, unable to come down further. His hyung’s voice was calm, but he could tell he was furious. Just as Jaeri was carefully trying to go back to his bedroom on tiptoe so as not to make a sound, he made eye contact with Jungyoon.

Jungyoon gestured for him to come down, and Jaeri had to go down with a nervous heart.

“Don’t make excuses. Report the progress properly.”

Jaeri sat on the floor, far away from him. He was sitting on the sofa, and the rocking chair was too close to the sofa. The only place to sit far from him was the floor.

The wooden floor was not very warm. Even with the heating on, it still held some of the winter ground’s chill.

He was looking at the wood grain, then looked at his hyung, and their eyes met again. He gestured for him to come closer, so Jaeri went right in front of him. Jungyoon pointed to the tip of his own foot with his finger, so Jaeri sat at his feet.

Jungyoon continued to speak while stroking Jaeri’s hair.

“Has it been traced where that mistake came from?”

Jaeri looked up at his hyung, but his expression was scary, so he dropped his gaze to the floor.

“…You don’t know?”

Jungyoon switched his phone to speaker mode and placed it on the table. Then he had Jaeri get up and sit next to him. The leather of the sofa made a rustling sound.

— About this mistake… I have nothing to say. Whatever I say will just be an excuse.

Jungyoon caressed Jaeri’s cheek. Even though his expression was indifferent, Jaeri could tell he was really angry. His eyes said so.

Jaeri shrank back for no reason, even though he had not done anything wrong. He stayed still as he was touched.

“Yoonjae. What do you think I’m talking about right now.”

Jungyoon said, looking at Jaeri as if he were speaking to him.

— It won’t happen again. So don’t worry, Mr. Vice President,

There was a clear intention of sarcasm in Yoonjae’s title of ‘Mr. Vice President.’ Jungyoon’s eyebrow twitched as he cut her off.

“Root them out. Find where the mistake came from.”

As he uttered the words ‘root them out,’ Jungyoon roughly swept his thumb over Jaeri’s lips. The still-unhealed lips were smudged.

— If you root them out, what then? Does that help clean up what’s already happened?

Yoonjae said, sounding frustrated. He chuckled lowly and continued speaking. He undid Jaeri’s pajama buttons one by one.

“Cleaning up is a given, and I’m now instructing you on measures to prevent recurrence. Why do you think the phrase ‘eradicate root and branch’ exists.”

When he said the words ‘eradicate root and branch,’ Jungyoon’s hand, as if unintentionally, lightly brushed against Jaeri’s nipple. Jaeri flinched in surprise. He almost made a sound for a moment and raised his hand to cover his mouth.

— …Oppa.

“Kim Yoonjae. Do you think this is a joke right now, with hundreds of billions at stake, can’t you open your eyes and assess the situation properly? It’s not like I’m teaching a kid, why do I have to instruct you, no, request of you, to do this and that, one by one?”

As Jungyoon said that, he finished undressing Jaeri’s top, sat him on his lap, and held him in his arms. A large hand emerged from behind and stroked Jaeri’s arm, caressed his stomach. Jaeri’s body flinched with every stroke. He found it amazing how his hyung could make his actions and words seem so separate.

His actions towards him were quite gentle, but the voice that fell upon his noona was ice-cold.

At that cold voice, goosebumps rose on his shoulders. And on the other hand, he wished that if he were to work at his hyung’s company in the future, he would instruct him one by one, telling him to do this and that, at least for him.

— …Since you entrusted it to me, please entrust it to me until the end.

The venom in Yoonjae’s voice was gone. In any case, as the person in charge of the team that made a mistake on the job, she could not be more disagreeable.

“I treated you like a professional, but if the results you bring are this sloppy…. It’s disappointing, for me.”

He stroked Jaeri’s shoulder, where goosebumps had appeared. However, his hands were cold and did not help in calming the goosebumps.

— …And I’ll take care of my team members myself. Don’t assume that your thoughts are all correct, oppa.

“As expected, our Yoonjae.”

Jungyoon lowered his head next to Jaeri’s face, whom he was hugging, and muttered, meeting Jaeri’s eyes as if to say, ‘isn’t that right.’

— What is.

“Pretending not to know after having found them all. Let’s see, how you handle it.”

Jungyoon began to touch Jaeri’s stomach again. His hands were still cold. A stiff tension entered Jaeri’s body.

— …There’s also the issue of team morale, and I don’t kick my people out in the middle of things, it’s not something for you to interfere with, oppa.

Since Jungyoon had found out, there was no use in trying to deny it. His head would already be filled with evidence.

“So let’s see a little of your leadership.”

He wrinkled his expression and added.

“Why do you keep making me say the same thing, it’s annoying.”

— What did I do.

“You understand words even less than Jaeri. I’m hanging up.”

Yoonjae hung up the phone without even a goodbye.

“Right, Jaeri?”

Jaeri could not answer and just held his hand that was touching his own stomach. And he brought up a suitable topic to change the subject.

“…Hyung, I’m cold….”

Even though he was holding him, cold was cold. However, instead of giving Jaeri his clothes, Jungyoon put his hand on his pants.

“…Hyung.”

And his hand went inside those pants. Jaeri was expecting something and was also mentally prepared, so he was not greatly surprised. Though he had not known it would be now.

Seeing Jaeri sitting still without avoiding him, Jungyoon laughed from behind with a sound like escaping air.

The large hand that had entered his pants stroked his warm thigh. His thigh trembled slightly, perhaps due to the cold hand, or perhaps due to nervousness.

“…Hyung, if… if I join the company. If I make a mistake while working… are you going to get angry like that? Like you did with noona.”

Jungyoon wrapped one arm around Jaeri’s waist.

“I’ll teach you everything one by one.”

“…Yes.”

Jungyoon squeezed the flesh of Jaeri’s inner thigh.

“Were you that worried about it?”

Soon after, he stroked the inside of his thigh up and down, and the side of his hand brushed against his genitals, creating a hazy pleasure. Now his hand had also lost some of its chill.