* * *

“Are you crazy?!”

“What?”

“No, Jinwoo hyung, why? What’s the big deal about going into a hotel room with Taeshin that you need to call and tell someone in America? Taeshin and I slept in my room together just last month, and in his room too. And it’s nighttime there, he’s probably asleep.”

Moon Jungwoo, our eldest brother, was the most understanding and gentle of my four brothers.

He was like a father figure, given the 14-year age gap.

His words carried a lot of weight, making them hard to disobey.

No matter what trouble I caused, he always pampered me and took my side, but he was particularly sensitive about the people I associated with.

He had always warned me since I was young that strange people tended to stick around me.

Indeed, if any friend caught his eye, he would tell me to gradually distance myself from them.

Strangely enough, those friends would end up causing trouble and transferring schools.

Lee Taeshin had failed to meet his standards.

It was when he unexpectedly visited the main house during the day while attending university.

Taeshin and I were playing with Lego in the middle of a circular train track in our playroom.

Jungwoo hyung entered after knocking, saw Taeshin, and immediately sent him home.

My eldest brother, who had sent Taeshin away with the excuse of wanting to talk to me, sat me down and said just one thing:

“Don’t play with him.”

“Why? Taeshin is nice…”

“Just don’t.”

“……”

It was the first time my brother spoke so firmly. Although he smiled while saying it, I found it quite scary, as if I was being scolded for doing something wrong.

So, I couldn’t say much and just mumbled until it was time for him to leave, but I didn’t listen to him.

By then, Taeshin had already promised to be my loyal follower for life.

We had written it down on paper, made a pinky promise, stamped it, copied it, and even laminated it.

How could he tell me not to play with Taeshin?

I figured he didn’t know what he was talking about and continued to play with Taeshin in secret, defying him for the first time.

Eventually, I got caught and was scolded again.

This time, it was a real scolding for not playing with him.

I ended up crying and arguing with my brother, refusing to speak to him.

I was so angry that I continued to ignore him and played even more with Taeshin.

One day, when we were playing and ran into my brother again, he called Taeshin aside instead of me.

“Why! What are you going to say to Taeshin? Taeshin, don’t go!”

“Moon Sunwoo.”

“Taeshin is nice! You don’t know anything! I hate you!”

I was afraid he would say something mean like telling Taeshin not to play with me, so I blocked Taeshin and shouted at my brother.

Although Taeshin had some shortcomings, he wasn’t someone to be ostracized.

He was the best in his grade, quick to understand and follow instructions once taught.

How could my brother stop me from playing with him just because he thought Taeshin was strange?

I was deeply disappointed in him and cried angrily.

My brother, looking troubled, eventually separated us and took Taeshin away.

I banged on the study door, crying, but it didn’t open.

Despite the commotion outside, the door stayed firmly shut while my brother and Taeshin talked for a long time.

It was already sunset when they finally came out.

After that, my brother didn’t stop me from playing with Taeshin anymore, though he didn’t exactly allow it either.

Taeshin had several more meetings with my brother and moved from being disapproved to on hold, and then finally accepted.

Whenever I asked Taeshin what they talked about, he would just smile and say “tests.”

It seemed my brother was trying to figure out how much Taeshin lacked, but he didn’t know anything about him.

“He’s first in the entire school, you know.”

When I finally got permission to play with Taeshin, I proudly told my brother.

He looked at me silently and sighed briefly.

“Tell me if he does anything strange.”

There was no subject mentioned, but I knew who he meant.

I nodded then, but Taeshin was always a bit strange, so I never reported anything to my brother.

In any case, my brother didn’t scold us when we played loudly and fell asleep in the same room.

Only Moon Jinwoo, who was sensitive, would complain about the noise.

My brother just gave us the usual advice to play moderately before leaving.

Even now, if I mentioned staying in a hotel room with Taeshin, he wouldn’t think much of it.

But if Moon Jinwoo made a fuss, my brother might get worried unnecessarily.

“And you, Moon Sunwoo, why did you tell us not to mention staying in a hotel room with Taeshin when you were sleeping in rooms together until last month? Did something happen?”

“N-no! Nothing happened!”

“Lee Taeshin.”

Moon Jinwoo, looking suspiciously at me, turned to Taeshin.

Taeshin, who had been standing like a statue in front of me, looked up at Jinwoo.

When he just blinked without saying anything, Jinwoo frowned.

“Did something happen in the hotel room?”

“We slept.”

“Hey!”

“With Sunwoo. Drunk.”

“Nothing happened! I drank a whole bottle by myself and passed out immediately. What do you mean?”

I quickly covered Taeshin’s mouth, fearing he might start a shocking revelation.

“…Drunk?”

“Yes, drunk! Taeshin only had one drink, and I drank the rest. It was so strong that I passed out right away… Why would you drink such strong stuff with your lover? Do you drink it just to pass out? Is that the point?”

I couldn’t understand why Jinwoo would prepare strong liquor for a romantic date.

Shaking my head, I noticed Jinwoo’s temples pulsing.

I finally realized what I had just said.

Oh no.

“Moon. Sunwoo.”

Jinwoo called my name through gritted teeth.

Sensing danger, I tried to flee behind Taeshin, but Jinwoo was faster and grabbed me by the collar.

“Was it you?”

“Ow! It hurts! Let go!”

“Did you have nothing better to do than mess with other people’s stuff?”

“Even if my mouth is crooked, I should speak straight. You and I aren’t strangers!”

“800 apology letters.”

Dragging me by the collar, Jinwoo muttered something outrageous. How could someone write 800 apology letters?

“You drank a wine that was 800,000 won (around 580 USD) worth, so you should write that much.”

“What? I only drank one bottle, how is that so expensive?”

“That one bottle costs 800,000. Do you want to write 800,000 letters instead?”

“……”

I widened my eyes at the cost of the bottle and saw Taeshin standing by the front gate, watching us.

Desperately hoping for help, I looked at him, but as expected, Taeshin made an unhelpful comment.

“Since I only had one drink, I should only write my portion, right?”

“What nonsense. I don’t care if you drank 20% or 10%, you both write 800 letters.”

“…Oh.”

“Are you a collector of apology letters or something?”

“Do you want to die, Moon Sunwoo?”

“Oops. Sorry.”

Seeing Taeshin meekly accept the 800-letter punishment, I tried to negotiate, but it was futile.

In the end, I was dragged to the study by Jinwoo.

“I was wrong. Please cut me some slack.”

“Be quiet.”

“Hyung.”

Even though I called him “hyung,” something I never do, and lay prostrate, Moon Jinwoo didn’t even snort.

He threw three bundles of A4 paper onto the table, splitting them in half and ordering me to fill them out as punishment.

Infuriated at having to cancel his half-day off, he later added another bundle and disappeared.

“What’s with writing reflections at this age?”

Grumbling, I wrote “Reflection” in large, neat letters on the A4 paper.

I’d rather be hit, but Moon Jinwoo must have noticed my durability from my mom’s beating and shifted to non-violent punishments.

Eight hundred pages meant writing 20 pages a day for over a month.

I should have realized when I was made to write book reports as punishment in my first year of high school that this was Moon Jinwoo’s harsher way of disciplining.

‘I stole Mr. Moon Jinwoo’s wine. I am sorry. I am reflecting on my actions. I will not do it again…’

I paused after writing that much. I felt it needed to be longer, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Adding, “Let’s not touch each other’s food from now on,” or “I didn’t want to know about my brother’s romantic affairs,” would undoubtedly reset the reflection or double it.

“Aren’t you writing?”

Across from me, Lee Taeshin was sitting there, papers laid out but without holding a pen, staring at me.

I stopped struggling with my reflection and tilted my head, seeing Taeshin glance down at his blank sheet.

“Was there nothing?”

“What?”

“That day.”

Answering, Taeshin slowly made eye contact with me. Soon, I realized what day and what he meant by “nothing,” and I couldn’t move.

Ah… there was that.

The incident with Taeshin that day wasn’t just about the 800-page reflection.

I had let go of my reason after drinking too much, resulting in a much bigger mess.

* * *