* * *

As soon as Yeongdeok finished speaking, a gust of wind blew, causing cherry blossoms to flutter down from the trees.

While Yeongdeok grumbled and shook the petals from his hair in annoyance, Seonwoo quietly watched the cherry blossom rain.

After all these years, more than a decade, to come full circle and meet like this…

“Cha Yeongdeok, you’re really bad at comforting people.”

But somehow, this honest exchange provided more comfort than any empty words ever could.

Seonwoo’s throat tightened as tears threatened to well up in his eyes.

His vision blurred, and the tip of his nose stung, but he shook it off, facing Yeongdeok with clear determination.

“I’ve never tried to comfort you. From the start, I’ve only been stating facts.”

“I know. You’re not the kind of person to offer that kind of kindness.”

With a small joke, Seonwoo checked the time and said he should at least attend one rehearsal before leaving.

Just before hurrying off, he turned back to Yeongdeok.

“One last question?”

“What is it?”

“What you said to me back then—was it for the same reason as now?”

Though the past was set by PetitRolang, the creator, Yeongdeok felt it hard to say.

But one thing he knew for sure—now, he did think that way.

“Probably.”

With Yeongdeok’s affirmation, Seonwoo’s eyes filled with tears, reflecting the light in a sparkling circle.

“I see…”

Seonwoo smiled faintly, moved by the realization.

As he stood there, Yeongdeok, noticing the cherry blossom petals tangled in Seonwoo’s hair, reached out to brush them off.

Though Seonwoo was a little crazy, standing there covered in petals made him look completely insane.

With that thought, Yeongdeok shook the fluffy petals from Seonwoo’s hair.

Seonwoo’s ears turned red from the gentle touch.

Gripping Yeongdeok’s hand, he spoke with newfound confidence.

“Forget everything I said earlier. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Leaving behind a vow to perform a piece so good it would make up for Yeongdeok skipping work for a day, Seonwoo walked away with enthusiasm.

There was no longer any sign of hesitation or doubt in his steps.

“What a bothersome guy.”

Yeongdeok shook off Seonwoo’s grip and rubbed his hand on his clothes, annoyed.

He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought of saying something at the moment Seonwoo grabbed his hand.

As the warm spring breeze stirred, cherry blossoms fell like snow.

Watching people excitedly take photos of the full bloom, Yeongdeok turned his back on them and headed toward the concert hall.

As the time for the recital approached, the audience began trickling into the hall.

“Yeongdeok Chicken!”

Yeongdeok, who was seated and reading a BL novel, turned his head at the sound of a lively voice calling his name.

“No, wait. Since this isn’t a club meetup today… Yeongdeok-oppa!”

Choa looked surprised to see him, but her expression quickly shifted to one of delight.

“Don’t tell me you came here to see my brother?”

“That’s right. It must be tough having such a pathetic older brother.”

“Our eldest brother is pretty pathetic,” Choa nodded in agreement without hesitation, owning up to her brother’s flaws.

“I thought you didn’t get along with him? So why are you here…?”

She seemed pleased that Yeongdeok had come to see Seonwoo’s recital, but was also puzzled.

“Your brother begged me to come. So, here I am.”

“The movie theater date must’ve worked wonders! I’m so happy you two made up.”

“Made up?”

“Isn’t that what happened? Didn’t you reconcile?”

“I wouldn’t know. I never fought with that punk in the first place.”

Yeongdeok never liked Seonwoo, that was all.

Seonwoo didn’t like him either.

So, in Yeongdeok’s mind, there had been no fight to begin with, and no reconciliation.

“Really? My brother never talks about anything related to you, so I didn’t know.”

Muttering about how it was unfair that she was left in the dark, Choa turned to look at the stage.

“I hope oppa’s in good condition today.”

“……”

“His nerves are as fragile as glass. I just hope everything goes smoothly without any issues.”

Her quiet murmur seemed genuine, like she really cared about her brother.

Yeongdeok found it fascinating that such family dynamics existed.

His older brothers were always trying to tear him down.

Thinking back, it seemed like it was all just part of the obsessive seme trope setup in a minor roleplay game called PetitRolang.

“With all the encouragement you’ve given him… If he has any sense of guilt, he’ll finish without a hitch.”

“Guilt?”

“I had to leave the store to someone else just to come here because of your brother.”

Choa blinked her eyes like a rabbit, then let out a small, deflating laugh.

“Yeongdeok-oppa, you’re really kind.”

“Me?”

“There aren’t many people who would go this far. At first, I thought, ‘How can someone be so unreasonable?’ But you always end up doing what the members ask, and you take care of my brother, too.”

Choa politely thanked him. Yeongdeok had never heard anything close to being called “kind” in his life.

He was used to being called emotionless, inhuman, cold.

The word felt strange, but not unpleasant.

As he listened to her chatter beside him, the lights in the audience dimmed, and the stage lighting grew more intense.

It was now 6 PM—the recital was about to begin.

“It looks like it’s starting.”

Listening to the performance of the first musician on the program, Yeongdeok waited for Seonwoo.

As confident as he’d sounded, if his performance turned out to be terrible, Yeongdeok swore he’d sue for disrupting his business.

When the first performer finished, applause filled the concert hall, then gradually died down.

The next person to step onto the stage was a man with striking hair, visible even from afar.

Choa whispered excitedly that her brother had taken the stage, and Yeongdeok observed him.

Despite the stiff tension in his shoulders, his eyes were still full of confidence.

Seonwoo, sensing Yeongdeok’s gaze, blatantly looked in his direction.

Under the stage lights, he smiled brightly and bowed to the audience.

The crowd began clapping, but Yeongdeok crossed his arms and didn’t so much as twitch a finger.

Choa nagged at him, urging him to clap too.

Irritated, Yeongdeok reluctantly clapped exactly three times.

Seonwoo sat at the piano, adjusted the distance to the pedals, and took a deep breath.

His delicate hands, pale as his hair and black as his eyes, touched the piano keys.

As if drawn into the music, he dove into the performance without hesitation.

As the passionate sound of the piano filled the concert hall, Choa quietly murmured to herself.

“It’s a Chopin piece. The title is…”

“Revolutionary.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Seonwoo’s hands flew across the keys with such confidence that Yeongdeok thought the piece suited him far better than the hesitant performance he had heard in the rehearsal room.

“…He plays well.”

At Yeongdeok’s muttered compliment, Choa beamed as if she had received the praise herself.

“If you told my brother that, he’d be over the moon.”

Yeongdeok had no intention of saying it to Baek Seonwoo. He was just stating a fact.

Seonwoo’s fingers danced effortlessly across the keyboard, his small movements making it seem as if he were dancing himself.

His fluttering eyelashes opened and closed in time with the music as if he were deeply immersed.

It was only at the piece’s climax that he stopped playing and took a deep breath.

Applause erupted from all around.

Seonwoo, staring blankly at the audience, let out a smile that seemed to overflow with emotion, a moment Yeongdeok’s eyes captured like a photograph.

After the recital, a photo session with the performers began on stage.

Choa headed up to give her brother a bouquet, but Yeongdeok turned in the opposite direction, toward the exit.

“Huh, you’re not going to see him?”

“I came to hear the performance. What more should I expect?”

“Still…”

“It’s fine. He looks busy anyway.”

Glancing at the stage, Yeongdeok saw Seonwoo surrounded by a crowd of people eager to take pictures with him.

Outside the concert hall, the evening had already fallen.

As he descended the stairs, debating whether to go to the shop or head home, hurried footsteps and a voice calling his name from behind stopped him.

“Cha Yeongdeok!”

* * *