* * *
As Jinwoo opened his arms, Jingyeom entered them with a bright smile, wrapping his arms tightly around Jinwoo’s waist.
“Did you have dinner?”
“I did, but it didn’t taste good without you.”
“Let’s eat together tomorrow. I’ll make some stew!”
As they embraced each other tightly and exchanged words, Wonbeom’s lips twisted in disapproval.
‘They’re not even trying to hide it.’
Since learning a new truth, Wonbeom’s perspective had completely changed.
He started to assign meaning to all of Jinwoo’s actions.
‘It’s so obvious, it’s ridiculous that I didn’t notice before.’
He had always wondered why Jinwoo went to such lengths.
Jinwoo had always tried to cater to Baek Jingyeom’s needs, shaping his life around him.
Before Jingyeom lost his memory, it was a one-sided effort from Jinwoo, but after the memory loss, their relationship became mutual and affectionate.
Brothers can be close and engage in casual physical affection.
Especially after realizing how weak Jingyeom’s body was, Jinwoo’s care didn’t seem excessive.
Previously, Wonbeom thought Jinwoo was foolish for doing everything for his useless brother, Baek Jingyeom, assuming he was just messing up his own life.
It was irritating, but that was the extent of it.
However, after Baek Jingyeom started to cling to him, Jingyeom transitioned from being a useless brother Jinwoo had to support to an annoying presence.
Ironically, those feelings had now completely vanished, replaced by new emotions that had carved themselves deeply into Wonbeom’s heart.
Accepting these feelings made Jinwoo’s actions, which had subtly bothered him before, now impossible to overlook.
The only thing that changed was knowing the truth, yet everything felt different.
Looking at the two who seemed inseparable, Wonbeom finally spoke up.
“Secretary Baek, it seems you always fail to notice me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Director. I was so worried about my brother that I didn’t realize.”
“Cut the pleasantries and take him home to rest. He must’ve been through a lot today; at least let him sleep peacefully.”
At Wonbeom’s words, Jingyeom quickly turned his head, his large eyes wide and his nose wrinkled.
It was his way of silently asking why Wonbeom was breaking their earlier agreement not to mention it, but Wonbeom only responded with a snicker.
Jinwoo alternated his gaze between Wonbeom and Jingyeom, immediately understanding that something had happened.
He also realized that Jingyeom didn’t want to tell him about it.
“Thank you for your concern, Director, but I’ll take care of my brother myself. I appreciate you bringing him back. Would you like me to escort you to the parking lot?”
“No need. Just take him upstairs. You’ve had a tough day too, Secretary Baek.”
Wonbeom raised his hand to roughly ruffle Jingyeom’s hair before turning and walking away.
Jingyeom rubbed the back of his neck, watching Wonbeom’s retreating figure as he called out a farewell.
“Thank you for today! Please get home safely!”
As soon as they entered the house, Jingyeom collapsed right in front of the entrance.
He had managed to keep his strength while in front of Wonbeom, but once home, the tension evaporated. His legs couldn’t support him anymore.
He struggled to remove his shoes and shuffle inside, where Jinwoo, who had been quietly watching, reached out and lifted Jingyeom under his arms.
Despite being a grown man, Jingyeom was lifted effortlessly, making him let out a small huff.
“My armpits hurt!”
Without any technique, Jinwoo had applied force directly, causing pain in the skin and bones.
When Jingyeom wriggled in discomfort, Jinwoo gently set him down on the floor.
“You took your medicine on time, right?”
As Jinwoo helped Jingyeom out of his outer clothes, he asked the most important question first. Jingyeom nodded slowly in response.
“Even if you’re sleepy, wash up before bed.”
“…Okay.”
With Jinwoo’s help, Jingyeom undressed and staggered into the bathroom.
Once the door closed with a click, Jinwoo’s eyes turned to the pocket of Jingyeom’s discarded clothes.
Clenching his fist, Jinwoo reached out and grabbed Jingyeom’s phone.
‘I’m sorry.’
He silently apologized before checking the phone.
As expected, there were numerous unread messages and missed calls, making Jinwoo’s face contort in frustration.
He had never thought to check the phone before, but ever since seeing the threatening messages, he checked it every night. Jingyeom hadn’t set a lock on his phone, making it possible.
“…This bastard.”
The most persistent contacts had already been saved to Jinwoo’s phone.
He felt he could no longer let this continue and took photos of the messages and numbers with his own phone.
His power alone wasn’t enough to resolve this.
He didn’t have many people to turn to for help.
Though he had handled various matters before, he had never dealt with anything illegal, which made it even harder.
Then, two people crossed his mind, causing him to let out a deep sigh.
He had no choice but to ask for help.
He didn’t want to rely on them, but he couldn’t just stand by while Jingyeom was being threatened. And they were strong enough to be a lifeline.
Given that it concerned Jingyeom, they would undoubtedly offer help.
As Jinwoo continued to check the messages, he quickly returned the phone to its pocket when he heard the water stop running.
He had taken photos of most things, and since Jingyeom had a habit of not deleting messages, there would be plenty of evidence as long as the phone stayed intact.
‘…What happened to his lips?’
Jinwoo hadn’t asked Jingyeom about it, but he had noticed the slightly torn, reddened lips when he got close earlier.
Judging by the atmosphere between the two, something had clearly happened.
Jingyeom didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but the injury was too concerning to ignore.
How could he get Jingyeom to open up?
While Jinwoo was deep in thought, Jingyeom faced his own problem in the bathroom.
While brushing his teeth, the bleeding on his lips, which had finally stopped, started again.
“Ugh… What should I do about this?”
He knew that if he went out like this, Jinwoo would definitely ask questions.
As he worried about how to avoid drawing attention, an idea struck him.
‘I can just say I bit my lip while eating, right?’
Pleased with himself for coming up with a plausible excuse, Jingyeom felt a surge of pride.
Rubbing his hair dry with a towel, Jingyeom headed straight to Jinwoo’s room, where he found Jinwoo already in bed, reading a book.
‘I should say something first!’
Thinking it would be better to speak up before Jinwoo could ask, Jingyeom drooped his eyebrows, preparing his expression.
As Jinwoo looked up from his book, Jingyeom quickly fluttered his moist eyes, causing Jinwoo’s hand to tremble.
Jinwoo quietly moved his book aside and hid his hands under the blanket, fearing he might reach out and touch Jingyeom without realizing it.
“I bit my lip while eating dinner earlier.”
“That must’ve hurt. Let me put some ointment on it.”
Jinwoo got up to find some ointment, and Jingyeom followed him, standing close behind as he rummaged through the drawers.
“It had stopped bleeding earlier, but I must have irritated it while brushing my teeth.”
Jinwoo found the ointment and turned around, only to be startled by how close Jingyeom was, causing him to squeeze the tube too hard.
Feeling something sticky, Jinwoo opened his hand to find his palm smeared with the white ointment, which had burst out of the side of the tube.
“…Are you angry?”
“No. Why would I be? It looks like the ointment was already damaged. There should be a new one here. Just a moment.”
Noticing Jingyeom’s cautious question, Jinwoo smiled faintly as he wiped his hand with a tissue.
Then, he took out a new ointment from the drawer.
He carefully applied it to Jingyeom’s torn lip using a cotton swab.
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it’s fine. Ugh… the ointment tastes weird.”
“Don’t eat it. It’s not a deep cut, so it should heal quickly.”
After putting the ointment away, Jinwoo turned Jingyeom around, offering to dry his hair.
The slight warmth on Jingyeom’s rear from sitting on the floor made him giggle with amusement.
Despite the loud noise from the hairdryer, Jingyeom’s head began to droop as the exhaustion from spending the entire day outside and dealing with all the stress finally caught up with him.
His head dipped forward and then snapped back up in a series of jerks.
By the time Jinwoo finished drying his hair, Jingyeom was already fast asleep.
After tidying up, Jinwoo gently lifted the sleeping Jingyeom, who had his face nestled in Jinwoo’s lap.
He pulled back the covers and carefully laid Jingyeom down.
“…”
Normally, Jinwoo would have just covered him with the blanket and checked if he was sleeping well.
But tonight was different.
He worried there might be other injuries besides the one on Jingyeom’s lips, so he thoroughly checked every part of him.
Fortunately, there were no visible wounds.
When Jingyeom mumbled and curled up from the cold, I finally covered him with a blanket.
Jingyeom, with his mouth slightly open and breathing softly, looked so defenseless.
“……Sigh.”
Jinwoo’s gaze trembled as he looked at Jingyeom.
His hand slowly moved to Jingyeom’s lips, applying ointment and gently rubbing around them, which had become smeared earlier when Jingyeom had buried his face in his lap.
‘Should I go back to the living room?’
Although Jingyeom would fiercely oppose it if he knew, just being in the same space as him made Jinwoo’s heart pound.
Earlier, he had wanted to bury his face in Jingyeom’s exposed neck, which was revealed by the wind.
Once feelings start to leak out, they begin to escape from one’s control.
“What should I do, Jingyeom? What can I do?”
Jinwoo took Jingyeom’s index finger and hooked his own finger around it, closing his eyes.
He tried to hide and suppress his feelings that kept trying to emerge.
If it weren’t for Soohyuk and Wonbeom, he wouldn’t be this anxious.
Among all the people Jingyeom has met, Jinwoo had never seen anyone who seemed to truly give their heart. But now, things were different.
It was clear to Jinwoo that Jingyeom was being shaken by the two people actively pursuing him.
If Jingyeom were to leave his side, could he endure it?
“No. I won’t be able to endure it. ……How can I stay with you for the rest of my life?”
He used to think it would be possible if they were family, and it was indeed like that.
But now, that alone wasn’t enough.
Because they keep coveting Jingyeom.
They keep touching him.
He was afraid that Jingyeom might really leave his side.
And now……
“I’m greedy. ……Jingyeom, I’m so greedy for you.”
* * *
Just be poly
Poly 👍
I sense yandere 😏
Hello
Woah. If they arent’t fam, and a twin ithink they were ok for me but what was this? Well… hah. Next.
I read some spoilers a while ago from ppl who read the raws. And one of those said that Jinwoon & jingyeom actually not related. I don’t know if it’s true or not, cause I haven’t finished reading it myself🤣
Ouuuuu jinwoo…
Ah i get it now, so jinwoo use the “family” as an excuse to keep jingyeom by his side… so, they aren’t related ig
Auwww and here I am start to miss soohyuk😆
Ooffff, I honestly read this for the sickly mc tags and doting love interest but the harem harem here is also strong which I also love!!! This is catered for me 🤟😏
Soohyuk come back soon please TT
Good chapter
👍
❤️🩷
I hope they are not related, because that is just creepy