My brother is an Idol

Chapter 25: Chapter 25
Chapter 25

Hyunsuk, blank-faced as usual, left the living room and went to his room.

Jiwoo said quietly, “Oops! I guess he’s right, which means we can’t really get mad at him. Wow, I gotta say I thought I was going to faint! Now I feel weak and tired, I’m going to bed.”

After he left, it was now only Hyoyoung, Hyojun, and Kiwook. No one said a word, but the tension was obvious in the living room.

After a long silence, it was Hyojun who finally opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry that I punched you. It was wrong of me.”

Kiwook smiled faintly and tapped Hyojun’s shoulder as a gesture of forgiveness. Hyojun added calmly, “I’m off to bed too.”

After he left, only Kiwook and Hyoyoung were left. Kiwook slowly approached her, while Hyoyoung continued to look down on the floor while leaning against the wall.

Kiwook hugged her gently and apologized, “I’m sorry.”

***

Kiwook caressed her back soothingly for a while before holding her face in his hands. Looking deeply into her eyes, he asked her, “Do you want to go for a walk?”

Hyoyoung didn’t look away.

“A walk?”

“Yeah. It’s late, but it would be nice to go for a walk. What do you think?”

Hyoyoung nodded quietly and took his hand. They left the house, and listening to the front door close, Jiwoo asked Hyojun, who was sleeping in the same bedroom.

“Hey, Hyojun, are you ok?”

“What if I’m not?”

“Your heart…”

“It doesn’t matter. If Hyoyoung finds out about me, it would be too much for her to take. For now, I need to remain as her older brother.”

“And what if you have to stay as her brother forever?”

“If that is what Hyoyoung needs, then that is what I will have to do.”

“Oh my god… but what about your happiness?”

“I will have to be happy with the fact that Hyoyoung is happy. I am ready for that if necessary.”

“Phew… I just don’t like this. By the way, why did Hyunsuk do this?”

“Who knows? He is so strange.”

“Aren’t we going to confront him about this?”

“And then what? What would that change? I mean, what he said is true. We should be ashamed of ourselves.”

***

While Hyojun and Jiwoo talked in their bedroom, Hyunsuk was busy working on his laptop and talking on the phone in his room.

He said on the phone, “It was an interesting experiment. A bit risky, but still good. I think it was very informative. Oh and… please keep our CEO abroad for an additional month or two. After the Maldives, maybe Ibiza or Split? He loves to travel, so it shouldn’t be hard to convince him. Maybe make it look like he won a free pass to a music festival or something. Just make sure he doesn’t come back to Korea anytime soon and regain control over this group. As for the stock assignment, just follow the instructions I sent to you through email. And please look into a few more different funding options. I’ll talk to you later.”

After hanging up, Hyunsuk started to work on his laptop again.

“Very interesting. This is fun.”

He crossed his arms and stared at the screen. On it was a picture of Hyoyoung and many complicated numbers and research information surrounding it. After studying the screen for a long time, Hyunsuk finally closed his laptop and went to bed.

In the dark, he murmured to himself, “They’ve been gone for a while now. A long walk, I guess.”

He must have thought of something funny because he grinned.

***

Hyunsuk was right. Kiwook and Hyoyoung were on their sixth trip around the neighborhood. But despite the time together, their conversation was limited to three sentences.

“Are you cold?”

“No, I’m fine. How about you, Oppa?”

“I’m fine too.”

They just walked together in silence for a long time. They held each other’s hand and after a while, a smile slowly started to appear on Kiwook’s face. Hyoyoung glanced at him, and when she saw his grin, she smiled as well.

Hyoyoung finally asked, “I’ve been wondering… why me?”

“That would be like asking me why I’m a human. It just is. It has always been you, Hyoyoung. From the very beginning.”

At Kiwook’s quiet but sincere answer, Hyoyoung needed slowly. After another short silence, she finally said to him, “Let’s go back home now, I need to get some sleep.”

Hyoyoung smiled affectionately at him as she pulled on his arm. And just like that, their two-hour walk ended.

***

Hyoyoung really needed the sleep, but when she finally lay down on her bed, she couldn’t fall asleep. All her senses were hyperactive even though her body felt heavy and tired.

Just then, she could hear the serene sounds of guitar strumming and singing.

It was Kiwook.

Hyoyoung left her bed and opened her window a little.

Outside her room, Kiwook was singing quietly while playing his guitar. It was a beautiful slow song and Hyoyoung felt like she was dreaming.

It was a calm love song. A confession. And the song was followed by a lullaby.

Just for her.

His voice made her happy. She sat down underneath the window with a smile, and even though she wasn’t in her bed, she fell asleep quickly.

It was the best sleep she had in a long time.

The next day, Hyoyoung left her bedroom feeling refreshed. She hummed quietly as she got ready for school. It seemed like everyone was sleeping in, so she made sure she left the house quietly.

“Wow, I feel so well rested!”

When she walked down the front steps, she was surprised to see Kiwook who was waiting for her outside.

“Oh Oppa, you’re already awake?”

“Yeah, I will walk with you for a bit.”

“Oh, um…”

“It’s fine. I’ll only walk you till we reach that apartment building. It’s only about 100 m. It should be ok.”

Kiwook offered her his hand with a grin, and she took it.

It felt so surreal, walking to school while holding Kiwook’s hand. When they reached the building, Kiwook squeezed her hand before letting it go.

He whispered to her, “When you are done with school, make sure to come straight home. You know we have a live show today, right?”

Hyoyoung nodded with a grin, and Kiwook stepped closer to her.

To her surprise, Kiwook kissed her forehead.

“Huh?”

“I told you that I will kiss you again. Not your hand, but somewhere else.”

Her face red, Hyoyoung turned around and ran away. She felt like her forehead was burning. The feeling of his lips on her skin was shocking.

His lips… they were smooth yet rough. They were warm and hot at the same time.