OLT_03

To Ha Giyeon, his older brothers were larger-than-life figures.  

Gigantic and dazzling… like the heroic warriors or princes from fairy tales who vanquish villains.  

Whenever he saw Ha Dohoon, he felt proud that this was his brother. Every little thing his brothers did seemed so cool that he wanted to imitate them. When they skipped school to go have fun, he followed and skipped too. Even if he was allergic to the food they ate together, he stubbornly forced himself to eat it anyway.  

That’s how cool and admirable they were to him.  

‘They just seem like regular high schoolers their age.’ 

Ha Dohoon slightly furrowed his brows as he approached Ha Giyeon.  

“What? Weren’t you asleep?”  

“I woke up a while ago.”  

Dohoon clicked his tongue, looking at Giyeon with disdain.  

“Skipping breakfast and just sleeping all day. When are you gonna get your act together?”  

Then, his eyes drifted toward the tray of tarts.

Oddly enough, Ha Giyeon wasn’t sitting in his usual spot at the breakfast table, the one he always occupied first. For a moment, they ate as usual, paying no mind, but something felt strangely off. The memory of briefly running into him early in the morning resurfaced. Why was he bringing plum tea at dawn? Dohoon had planned to take a sip out of courtesy and toss it, considering the effort put into brewing it.  

But then Giyeon had snatched the tea away, saying it was his, and disappeared entirely.  

It wasn’t that Dohoon had assumed it was for him, but the thought still left a sour taste in his mouth. Well, it’s possible, but… No. Even if it was his, wouldn’t Giyeon usually give it to him?

It didn’t sit right with him.  

"From now on-"  

"I already ate breakfast."  

"…What?"  

Ha Dohoon’s eyebrow twitched.  

Giyeon shrugged, picked up the tray, and tried to walk toward the kitchen. Just then, Choi Mujin frowned as he noticed Giyeon approaching him.

"Hey, if you're not gonna eat it, just throw it away."  

"I'm going to eat it."  

Why did they keep insisting he throw away perfectly good food? Didn’t they realize how expensive and rare these tarts were?  

"...you’re gonna eat it?"  

"Yes. You guys don’t like this kind of stuff anyway."  

Seeing their baffled expressions, Ha Giyeon belatedly remembered his past behavior. Back then, he would prepare snacks for them without being asked, or run out to buy whatever they wanted the moment they mentioned it.  

The memory was still vivid, sweating buckets in the sweltering summer heat just to fetch warm udon because they said they wanted it. Even when Kwon Jongseok demanded it right that second, Ha Giyeon had rushed out to get it, only for Kwon Jongseok to not even take a single bite.

And on top of that, they hardly ever ate anything he brought them.  

‘They weren’t going to eat it anyway.’

Was there even a point in him going out to get it?  

Ha Giyeon knew. It wasn’t that his brothers actually wanted the food, it was that they were toying with him, like throwing a stick for a dog to fetch. Was it lucky that he’d realized it, even if it was late?  

"Then what about us?"  

He didn’t feel his heart flutter or race at that smile anymore.  

Even as Kwon Jongseok leaned in with a grin, Giyeon just blinked at him.  

"You can tell the housekeeper or order delivery."  

It was the obvious answer. For them, who never bothered to do things themselves, it was a simple solution.

But that wasn’t the answer they wanted.  

‘Hyung, what do you want to eat? I’ll go get it right away!’  

The old Giyeon would have jumped up the moment they mentioned being even slightly hungry and rushed outside.  

Looking back now, his expression back then had been strangely blank.  

‘Don’t tell me…’ 

Was he sulking? It must’ve been because of that time they called him to bring the game console to the villa, only to leave him there alone. Lately, they’d only been hanging out among themselves, after all.  

Ha Dohoon let out an exasperated sigh.  

"You’re not a damn five-year-old… Are you sulking?"  

"……?"

"Just come over and watch us play games or something."  

As if offering a generous concession, Dohoon spoke, and Kwon Jongseok and Choi Mujin also eased their stiff expressions.  

"Ah~ So you were sulking? You missed hanging out with us, huh?"  

"Throwing a childish tantrum like this…"  

Choi Mujin frowned down at him before raising his arm to sling it around Giyeon’s neck—just like usual, intending to drag him off in a headlock.  

Whoosh.

"……?"  

Ha Giyeon dodged Choi Mujin’s arm like a cat slipping away, then bowed his head slightly and walked out to the kitchen with the tray. Left behind, the three of them just blankly stared at the empty space where he had been.  

"What the hell was that…?"  

"Giyeon-ie… must really be pissed."  

"Tch… This kid, seriously…"  

Dohoon irritably ran a hand through his hair.  

"Hey, forget it. He’ll get over it on his own."

"Well, it's not like it really affects us much."  

"Ah sh*t, this feels annoying."  

Though they were flustered by this unfamiliar situation and annoyed, they didn’t pay it much mind. At most, it’ll last a day. He was probably just acting out for attention, so ignoring him like usual would do the trick.  

But there was one thing they overlooked.  

Ha Giyeon had never once sulked at his brothers before.

***

'What does that mean?'

Ha Giyeon sipped his coffee in his room, replaying his brothers' words in his head. But he still couldn’t make sense of it.  

'Are they saying I’m sulking?'

Why would he be?  

He have never ignored them or complained under his breath. All he did was take a tart from the fridge.  

"...Or is it because I didn’t buy them snacks?"  

They don’t even take a single bite before throwing things away, why should he bother buying food? It’s a waste of money. Especially when he needed to save every penny! Unless they handed him a credit card, Ha Giyeon had no intention of running errands for his brothers anymore. He had to build up his savings. If he took even a few pennies lightly, he’d end up on the streets.  

A fleeting memory of his tiny goshiwon life passed through his mind, and his expression twisted in disgust. Bugs were a given, and the walls were practically made of paper, no soundproofing at all. People would deliberately moan, knock on doors, and through the thin walls...

"Ugh..."

Ha Giyeon didn’t want to think about it anymore, so he downed his coffee in one shot. The bitter taste flooded his mouth, jolting his awake.  

If he just sat around stupidly, he’d end up living the same miserable life all over again, rendering his regression meaningless.  

'Absolutely not…'

He refused to go back to that existence, worse than death. Clenching his trembling hands tightly, he grabbed his phone and laptop and started searching for part-time jobs. He applied to anything and everything he could find.  

"Preferably as far from home and school as possible…"  

Not that there weren't many part-time jobs near his house to begin with, but even if there were, he wouldn’t take them. The neighborhood where Ha Giyeon currently lived, including this very mansion, was mostly inhabited by people with deep ties to the corporate elite. Even if they weren’t formally acquainted, they all knew each other intimately, studying the competition their children would later face.  

They sized each other up, figuring out who was beneath them, and who could be trampled underfoot.  

Ha Dohoon’s family was in a position to crush others, but Ha Giyeon? He was the exception. A flaw in their perfect household. A disgrace.  

Especially when compared to Ha Dohoon. If he dared to attend a party, he’d be met with nothing but scorn and mockery. His parents had long since grown reluctant to bring him to gatherings, whether parties or family events.

'I don’t have to go anymore.'

He had stubbornly tagged along all this time, desperate to prove himself as a legitimate child of this household, to be acknowledged. But now, there was no need. His parents didn’t want him to seem like their son, and at this point, neither did he.  

If he could just fade into the background like air, existing as if he weren’t even there.  

"Perfect." 

Ha Giyeon sent out applications for part-time jobs in neighborhoods far from home. He desperately hoped at least one would call him back.  

"Ah, I need to go buy workbooks."

He threw on her coat and stepped outside.

***

"......"

"......"

Clink. The quiet morning meal was punctuated only by the occasional sound of tableware clattering. The usual atmosphere, eating in silence without a single word exchanged, didn’t sit well with Ha Dohoon.  

Tak, tak. 

For no reason, he scraped his chopsticks against his bowl and narrowed his eyes. His gaze drifted to the seat beside him—Ha Giyeon’s spot, where utensils were always set. It had already been ten days since Ha Giyeon last appeared at mealtime.  

Was he not eating? Or was he eating separately? Even after ten days of his absence, their parents showed no particular concern, no curiosity at all.  

Ha Dohoon was no different.  

Whether the boy ate or not, he couldn’t care less. The only thing that had changed was the absence of the guy who used to sit there every day.  

Tak.

"Auntie."

Ha Dohoon set his chopsticks down on the table and called out to the housekeeper in the kitchen.  

"Ha Giyeon, isn’t he eating?"  

"Giyeon already ate earlier this morning."  

Ha Dohoon’s face twisted in displeasure. That’s what bothered him. The guy who was always the first to sit down at the breakfast table, why was he suddenly eating early and making a fuss? He’d rather he didn’t eat at all. That lazy bum who could barely drag himself out of bed.  

Ha Dohoon wiped his mouth and immediately stood up from the table.  

"I’ll excuse myself first."  

"Sit down. It’s still breakfast time."  

"What, am I supposed to sit here and watch you eat?"

"Ha Dohoon."  

His father called him sharply, but Dohoon's eyebrow twitched defiantly.  

"Dohoon-ah."  

He had been about to ignore them and leave, but when his mother spoke in that placating tone, he had no choice but to sit back down. His father then called the housekeeper.  

"Go bring Ha Giyeon down."  

"Um... Giyeon left early this morning."  

"...Left? Him?"  

The kid who had been glued to the house all vacation, left early in the morning? Where the hell would he even go? It wasn’t like he had friends to hang out with. No way he went to a PC bang.  

'What the hell...' 

Dohoon’s head hurt. It was like the guy had suddenly changed overnight. For some reason, irritation surged inside him. Was he still sulking? Throwing a tantrum for attention?

It was obvious, Giyeon was acting out like this because he wasn’t getting any attention. He was starved for affection and care.  

"Haa..."

Normally, Dohoon would’ve ignored him, whether he kept sulking or not. But this time, he changed his mind. He decided to humor him, just this once. It was inconvenient not having someone to boss around, and he wanted to quickly smooth things over to get rid of this foul mood.  

So, Ha Dohoon called Kwon Jongseok and Choi Mujin over to his house.  

"What’s up? You never invite us over first."  

"Did Giyeon-ie ask you to call us for him?"

Kwon Jongseok laughed confidently, but Dohoon didn’t answer. Instead, he got up from the couch and, with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Call Giyeon for me."

"Giyeon-ie?"

"He’s left?" 

"Yeah. He left since morning."

Normally, they wouldn’t have bothered, but thinking about how they hadn’t seen Ha Giyeon for days, they picked up their phones.  

"Hold on, I’ve got too many contacts named Ha Giyeon-ie."

"Hey, wanna make it interesting?"

Choi Mujin grinned, shaking his phone.  

"Let’s bet on whose call he picks up and comes to the fastest."

"What’s the stake this time?"

"Let’s just go with watches."

All three took off their watches, each worth at least a few thousand, and placed them on the table, using Giyeon as the prize for their bet.  

But the bet never happened.  

Because Ha Giyeon didn’t answer a single call.

–

TL: Muji

Previous | TOC | Next