* * *
“Don’t take to heart what people say to us. It’s nice to be congratulated, but if not, who cares? Do you think I signed the marriage registration for no reason? I signed it because I really like you and wanted to be your spouse legally. I wanted to make sure no one else could even look at you.”
I grabbed Taeshin’s cheeks firmly and made him look at me. Sometimes, Taeshin seemed to forget that I like him.
Or maybe he couldn’t believe it?
After loving someone for over ten years without reciprocation, maybe it felt unreal and hard to believe.
It was frustrating and disheartening to see him lack confidence occasionally.
“I like you, Lee Taeshin. I like you even when you’re drunk and acting silly, I like that you’re my spouse, and I like that you’re Haeju’s dad. I like all of it, so don’t feel down.”
Even when my brothers grabbed him by the collar and cursed, Taeshin just took it quietly. They still hadn’t accepted our relationship, so it could happen again.
Thinking about Taeshin silently enduring the abuse made my blood boil.
Come to think of it, now that the third brother knew about our marriage registration, the news would reach the other brothers too. I needed to make sure Taeshin didn’t take any calls to avoid getting hurt by their harsh words.
“You…”
“Ah, I shouldn’t have drunk.”
“Why? Are you dizzy?”
“I want to kiss you because I like Moon Sunwoo too much.”
Taeshin, who had been looking down at me quietly, hugged me tightly and buried his face in my neck. He sighed and mumbled regretfully that he wanted to kiss me. I gently patted his back without hurting him.
“You fool, hold on. Sober up quickly.”
“I am sober.”
“You’re talking nonsense because you’re drunk. Watch your step on the stairs.”
I held his hand tightly to prevent the drunkard who claimed he wasn’t drunk from getting hurt. Surprisingly, he walked well, probably because of his usual good posture.
When we entered the house, oddly enough, my third and fourth brothers were sitting in the living room.
“…Geonwoo hyung, Daewoo hyung? When did you come?”
“Hey, little bro, come here. It’s been a while, Taeshin.”
“Little bro’s here? Did Taeshin come too?”
“What’s this? Why are you here?”
I asked sharply at the strange atmosphere. It didn’t feel right to see my third brother, who had been upset about our marriage registration, sitting here.
“We’re going to stay at the main house for a while.”
“Here?”
“I plan to stay here for a while too.”
“Daewoo hyung too? Suddenly?”
It was suspicious. My brothers, who had been living independently for years, suddenly coming home together was highly dubious and suspicious.
I held Taeshin tightly, hiding him behind me, and gave them a sharp look. My third brother cleared his throat and smiled broadly.
“We heard that our little bro registered his marriage with Taeshin, so we wanted to congratulate you. Congratulations, Taeshin.”
“Yeah, congratulations, Taeshin, although it’s pretty filthy to say that to our little bro’s partner.”
“What does that have to do with you guys staying here?”
“Taeshin has officially become part of our family, so we can’t just sit still. We need to get to know each other as family.”
“And also see if he’s worthy of staying beside our little bro.”
What? Worthy? I knew they had ulterior motives. The sudden congratulations quickly turned into an intention to test Taeshin. I immediately growled at my brothers, and my third brother raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
“We’re not trying anything weird, just want to see Taeshin’s capabilities as your spouse, so don’t worry.”
“Yeah. We just want to see if Taeshin is the same guy before and after marriage since we don’t know him as well as you do.”
Taeshin squinted his eyes at his brothers’ words about wanting to see what kind of partner he would be. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t believe them.
Could it be that they were just doing this to make Taeshin feel uneasy?
Were they secretly calling him out to bully and say harsh things to him? As he cast a suspicious glance, the third brother erased his smile and spoke seriously.
“We’re serious, youngest. We need to see how Taeshin treats you to be at ease.”
“…You’re really not trying to bully him, right?”
“Youngest, don’t you trust your brothers?”
No, I don’t. Given how they’ve treated Taeshin so far, how could I? Staring intently at the fourth brother, who asked as if it was obvious, he wore an aggrieved expression.
“Alright.”
“Hey!”
“Good, Taeshin accepted it too?”
“No! Taeshin is just drunk and talking nonsense! Geez, he can’t hold his liquor and drank too much!”
I slapped Taeshin’s arm, who had been quietly listening and suddenly accepted. This drunkard! He didn’t even know what he was agreeing to in his inebriated state!
“By the way, Mom also agreed. She said she can be at ease if she sees how Taeshin treats our youngest.”
“Mom did?”
Mom! How could you invite all my brothers over when you said no to us moving out! It felt like a betrayal from my trusted mom.
If I had known this would happen, I would have spilled everything about how my brothers treated Taeshin!
I thought there was no need to bring it up, so I let it slide, but that was a mistake.
“…You better not bully Taeshin. I’ll be watching you all.”
Even with Mom’s agreement, saying no wouldn’t change anything. Since I needed her permission to move out, I couldn’t make a fuss. As I reluctantly agreed, the third and fourth brothers nodded at us.
“Don’t worry. We really just want to see what kind of partner Taeshin is for our youngest.”
They emphasized once more. I glared at my two brothers, intending not to let them off if they bullied Taeshin even a bit, and led the drunkard into the room.
“You!”
“It’s okay, Sunwoo. If I do well this time, the brothers will accept us.”
“Be quiet, you foolish drunkard. How could you just accept that?”
Just a moment ago, even his drunken antics were cute, but now, none of it seemed cute. How could he agree to such an obvious test just to gain my brothers’ approval?
“I can do it, Sunwoo.”
“I know! Still…”
“I don’t want you to have a bad relationship with your family because of me. So, just bear with it for a little while. If things go wrong with the brothers, you wouldn’t feel good either. …You like your brothers, don’t you?”
“…Yeah.”
I answered, looking at the floor, as Taeshin gently cupped my cheek. Like them or not, they were my brothers.
Right now, they wanted to trouble Taeshin and see us break up, so I hated them, but they were always loving and caring towards me.
If things could be resolved nicely, I would be happy, but I hated the thought of Taeshin suffering…
“…Then trust me, Sunwoo.”
After a moment of silence, Taeshin’s low voice made me look up. He was gazing down at me intently without a hint of a smile. Caught in his unwavering gaze, I barely managed to speak.
“If they bully you, you have to promise to tell me, okay?”
“Okay.”
Finally, Taeshin’s eyes curved into a kind smile. Seeing that smile, I firmly resolved myself again. Just try to mess with Taeshin. Brother or not, they’ll regret it!
The gentle pheromones that came along with cautious movements woke me up. Rustling under the covers, I opened my eyes to see Taeshin with his hair wet and glistening.
“Did I wake you?”
“Mm, were you dragged out again today…?”
For the past few days, my brothers had been calling Taeshin out at the crack of dawn to test his stamina in the training room, and it seemed today was no different. Sure enough, he nodded affirmatively.
“They don’t even let you sleep…”
“I got some sleep. You should rest more too, Sunwoo.”
Smooch.
“Mmhmm…”
With blurry vision, I looked at Taeshin’s freshly washed, handsome face before burying my face back into the blanket.
After a kiss on my forehead and some comforting pats, I fell back asleep and only woke up fully in the late morning.
“Damn it, again…”
It had been several days of waking up to find only Taeshin’s pheromones left in the room. Frowning, I rubbed my belly.
Ugh, Haeju. Seems like your uncles took Dad again.
I rubbed my noticeably rounded belly, groaning as I got out of bed.
The first card my brothers played to check Taeshin as a partner was a stamina test.
Using the excuse of assessing his stamina, they had been dragging him to the first-floor training room constantly, from evening to dawn, and making him exercise all day without any consideration for his exhaustion.
And they just lazed around! Watching them treat Taeshin like this, I couldn’t help but follow and make them join in.
“Youngest, we’re just trying to see Taeshin in a new light.”
“Yeah. And us watching him is like playing the role of coaches in an exercise.”
What nonsense!
“It’s alright, Sunwoo. And this exercise might be a bit too tough for them.”
Just as I was about to retort to my brothers’ annoying excuses about being coaches, Taeshin calmed me down and even defended them.
Fool!
Because you’re being so nice, they keep underestimating you!
“What?”
“Taeshin, what did you say?”
With Taeshin saying he was okay, my brothers, who seemed all too eager to make him do even harder exercises, suddenly reacted strangely.
Acting like lazy slugs, they suddenly sprang up with fire in their eyes.
“Are you looking down on us?”
“Hey, let’s see who does better!”
Thanks to Taeshin’s thoughtfulness, my brothers took it the wrong way and got all worked up. Are they idiots?
They’re thirty and twenty-eight years old, and they can’t even catch the nuances of someone defending them?
But genuinely misunderstanding, they started doing the intense exercises alongside Taeshin. Though they began with gusto, by the end, two of them were lying exhausted on the floor.
“Brothers, are you getting old?”
“Ugh, not yet… We’ll do it again next time!”
“Just for today… we’re letting it slide!”
* * *
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How dramatic!
❤️❤️