Vol 6 Ch 6

“Here you go.”

 

Lee Wooyeon handed the cup to Inseop, who thanked him.

 

“It’s not coffee?”

 

After taking a sip, Inseop looked up with wide eyes.

 

“What if you can’t sleep again tonight?”

 

Unlike before, when he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, Inseop struggled to sleep. Every night, Lee Wooyeon would sit by his bed and read to him until he drifted off.

 

“Is that so?”

 

Inseop smiled weakly and took another sip of his cocoa. He turned his gaze to the tranquil sunset over the sea.

 

With TV, computers, and even reading prohibited, finding ways to pass the time at home was challenging. So Lee Wooyeon often took Inseop on drives to various places. Today, they drove to the seaside, a place they had visited together before. Lee Wooyeon didn’t expect it to jog Inseop’s memory, but he thought that since the old Inseop liked it, the current one might as well.

 

“This is nice.”

 

Inseop muttered to himself as he looked around the beach. It was the same thing he had said back then.

 

‘I like it here. It’s refreshing, the sea is beautiful, and it’s quiet. Listening to the waves makes my heart race and feel excited.’

 

As Inseop listed reasons he had never thought of before, Lee Wooyeon had always thought, “The reasons don’t matter. Just being here with you, …together…”

 

“…What?”

 

“Hm?”

 

Lee Wooyeon responded.

 

“…Have I been here before?”

 

“Do you remember something?”

 

Lee Wooyeon asked urgently. Inseop shook his head.

 

“No, I just wondered… Sorry.”

 

“Why are you apologizing?”

 

“…….”

 

Inseop couldn’t answer. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, he knew Lee Wooyeon was always waiting for his memories to return.

 

“Yes, we’ve been here before.”

 

“Really?”

 

Inseop’s eyes, which had been downcast, widened in surprise. The younger Choi Inseop expressed his emotions much more openly and cutely.

 

Damn, this is driving me crazy.

 

Lee Wooyeon looked out the window, drinking his coffee.

 

“We came here to watch the sunrise on December 31st last year. You said you wanted to see the New Year’s sunrise.”

 

“Just the two of us?”

 

Inseop asked, astonished. Lee Wooyeon nodded. Inseop blinked a few times. His eyelashes fluttered like they were making a sound. Lee Wooyeon kept drinking his cold coffee.

 

“We must have been really close.”

 

“Why do you think that?”

 

“It’s not common to watch the New Year’s sunrise alone together.”

 

“What’s wrong with siblings doing that?”

 

Lee Wooyeon responded with a graceful smile.

 

Of course, if it had been Aaron, Nathan, or Logan planning to watch the sunrise alone with Inseop, Lee Wooyeon would have sworn to cut their throats.

 

“You said you wanted to make a wish while watching the sunrise, so we came together.”

 

Making a wish at sunrise. Eating cake on Christmas. Exchanging gifts on special occasions. These were all things Lee Wooyeon couldn’t understand, but he always gladly did them because Inseop wanted to.

 

‘What kind of wish are you going to make?’

 

That night, Lee Wooyeon had asked Inseop that question.

 

He figured the wish must be grand, considering they had driven all the way to the East Sea and were staying up late to make it.

 

I can’t say.’

 

‘Why not?’

 

‘They say if you say it out loud, it won’t come true.’

 

Inseop had answered with a seriousness that was endearing, prompting Lee Wooyeon to hold him and shower him with kisses. They stayed in the car, kissing and chatting about trivial things until the sun rose.

 

“What do you think the wish was? Back then.”

 

Lee Wooyeon asked the same question, hoping that this younger Inseop might share the secret. Inseop responded with a small smile and took another sip of his cocoa.

 

“Is it a secret?”

 

Lee Wooyeon asked, and Inseop nodded earnestly.

 

“They say if you tell, it won’t come true.”

 

Some things never changed.

 

Lee Wooyeon watched Inseop, who remained as purely innocent and endearingly lovely as ever, regardless of the passing years.

 

If only you could love me even a little like back then. If you just showed the smallest opening, I would cling to it like a leech.

 

The orange sun was sinking below the horizon.

 

“Wooyeon-ah.”

 

Lee Wooyeon swallowed softly. Every time Inseop, believing him to be his younger brother, called him that, it stirred indescribable feelings. He liked it so much that he wanted to beg Inseop to keep calling him that even after his memories returned.

 

“Why do you call me that? It makes my heart flutter.”

 

At Lee Wooyeon’s playful response, Inseop smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes. Lee Wooyeon wanted nothing more than to yank down Inseop’s pants and underwear and suck him until he melted.

 

Lee Wooyeon popped an ice cube into his mouth to cool himself down.

 

“I wanted to ask you something.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“…You know. Did I ever….”

 

Inseop fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. He seemed to be trying to broach a difficult topic. Lee Wooyeon knew this habit well but always pretended not to notice. He found Inseop’s hesitance so endearing that he enjoyed watching it leisurely.

 

“…Did I ever mention someone I was dating?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Lee Wooyeon raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question.

 

“Oh, no. You don’t have to answer if you don’t know. It’s just, I was wondering. Probably not. I mean, look at me.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“What?”

 

Inseop slipped back into formal speech, startled by Lee Wooyeon’s low voice.

 

“Having a lover isn’t such a big deal that it depends on who you are.”

 

“Ah…. It’s just, I…. Well, I….”

 

Inseop stammered.

 

“I’ve never had that. Never liked anyone.”

 

“Did it really never happen?”

 

As if confirming, Lee Wooyeon’s voice floated up, slightly animated.

 

“No, it didn’t. How could… I never had anything like that. I couldn’t even go to school, just stayed at home. You would naturally think so, but…”

 

“What do you mean, ‘naturally’? I didn’t either.”

 

“What?”

 

Inseop responded with an incredulous expression.

 

“Do I really look that promiscuous?”

 

“No! It’s not that. You’re tall, good-looking, and well, just…”

 

“Just what?”

 

Lee Wooyeon tilted his head slightly and met his eyes, prompting the next question.

 

“I thought you would naturally be popular, so I said that. It might have sounded offensive. I’m sorry. My Korean is a bit clumsy. Just because you’re cool…”

 

“I’m cool?”

 

Lee Wooyeon echoed Inseop’s words, asking again.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Inseop nodded enthusiastically.

 

“You’re really handsome. You could even be a model or actor.”

 

Have you ever been encouraged like that? Inseop asked cautiously.

 

“No, never. Should I try it now?”

 

Inseop nodded again.

 

Damn, seriously, this guy is consistently cute and ridiculous, even if he loses his memory.

 

Lee Wooyeon swallowed a curse and sipped his coffee.

 

“To be honest, I was really surprised. You said you were my younger brother. …But you don’t look like it at all.”

 

“What do you mean I don’t look like it? We look exactly alike.”

 

Inseop finally burst into laughter at Lee Wooyeon’s brazen reply.

 

“Hahaha. That’s ridiculous. No one would believe it.”

 

Despite Inseop’s laughter, Lee Wooyeon didn’t join in.

 

“You…”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Hyung just has to trust me, right.”

 

It was the first time. The term ‘hyung’ came from Lee Wooyeon’s mouth.

 

“Hyung… believes you.”

 

Lee Wooyeon’s forehead touched Inseop’s shoulder. Even though Lee Wooyeon’s body temperature wasn’t particularly high, whenever he leaned against him, he felt warm as if he was being enveloped. Feeling that warmth like the touch of Buddha inside his neck, Inseop responded awkwardly, pressing his shoulders back. However, instead of letting go, Lee Wooyeon pressed even closer and said:

 

“What kind of person do you think they would have been?”

 

“What?”

 

“If you had a lover, what kind of person would they have been?”

 

Inseop had been dreaming every day recently. The same person always appeared in his dreams. There was nothing he could remember about identifying the other person. However, what was certain was that the person had been very affectionate towards him. But he couldn’t even bring himself to say that he was dreaming of that.

 

“Just an affectionate and ordinary…”

 

“Do you want to date someone affectionate and ordinary?”

 

Lee Wooyeon’s voice, asking this, was strangely cold.

 

“Huh? No, I’m just…”

 

Inseop was confused by bringing up an unnecessary conversation. He felt like he was going to be laughed at for dreaming empty fantasies to his younger brother.

 

“I don’t have that.”

 

“……”

 

“There’s no such thing as an affectionate and ordinary lover, so don’t think about looking for such a thing.”

 

Inseop responded ‘yes’ in a hushed voice. The air inside the car cooled down.

 

“Should we stop now?”

 

Lee Wooyeon’s question broke the silence. Inseop just nodded his head as he returned home. Throughout the ride, he didn’t say a word.

 

Inseop washed and lay down in bed, feeling depressed. The moment he sighed, thinking that he didn’t sleep well today, the man came into the room holding a book. He sat down as usual, leaning his body against the head of his bed. Then, without saying a word, he opened the book and began to read the sentences.

 

… A gentle voice.

 

Inseop eventually fell asleep, leaning on Lee Wooyeon’s voice that day