Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Come in.”

Doyeon followed Hyunoh into a green garden past a huge front gate. The breeze was scented, and it emanated from the depths of his house. It was the smell of the purple lilacs taking up most of the wide garden.

Doyeon held down his flying hair as he admired the garden in awe. “Your house is really nice.”

“I guess.”

Doyeon continued to observe the garden as he followed Hyunoh around.

This wasn’t a country house; it looked more like a mansion. The trees were so large that they seemed to make up an arboretum. There was bright light everywhere and fresh colors on every tree.

“Hyunoh, why did you join the plant club? You should just water the plants here.”

“There’s someone who takes care of the garden at my house.”

“Is it different?”

“It’s very different.”

Doyeon couldn’t tell what was different, but he nodded anyway and passed the garden. Whenever he stepped on the pebbled path, a nice jingle of clicks and clacks rang up.

When they reached the front door, a small figure ran out of the mansion.

“Oppaaa!”

It was Minhae, Hyunoh’s little sister. Doyeon looked on in surprise as she jumped into Hyunoh’s arms.

“Did you wait?”

Everything was new to him, from the way Hyunoh hugged his sister to the way he introduced her with the little girl in his arms. He looked like a father.

Was that how I appeared to Kangbin when I took care of Aeyoung?

“Minhae, this is Oppa’s friend, Doyeon.”

“Hello! I’m Minhae Gong, and I’m eight!”

“Hello. I’m Doyeon Yoo.”

“Hi! I’m good at drawing and jumping rope!”

“Aha. That must be nice.” Doyeon nodded. The brag had come from nowhere, but Aeyoung used to brag about her drawings while waking him up, so he was used to it.

Doyeon was led to the kitchen by Hyunoh, who carried Minhae.

“Our auntie got lunch ready. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Hyunoh asked Doyeon.

“No. You told me not to, so I held back. I wanted to know what lavish lunch you were going to treat me to.”

“Well, I hope you like it.”

There was a feast on a table that could seat at least twenty people.

Doyeon’s jaw dropped.

Do you always eat like this? Is this the secret behind your height? And you still buy stuff at school to eat, like that bread?

Doyeon had so many questions, but he decided not to ask them. He couldn’t, not when Hyunoh was eating so elegantly at the table. He was so quiet, and Doyeon wondered if that was how the rich ate.

“Here, have the galbi stew,” Hyunoh offered after checking Doyeon’s progress.

“Okay.”

“Why are you only digging into one dish?”

“I don’t eat a lot, remember?”

“I guess,” Hyunoh agreed, but he continued to push the galbi stew in Doyeon’s direction.

Doyeon felt like Hyunoh was signaling him to eat more, so he finished another bowl of galbi stew. It was the most delicious galbi stew he’d had in his life, except for the stew his mom made.

The three finished the meal together and headed out to the living room. Outside the large glass screens, the garden they had walked through stretched out endlessly.

“Damn, this is like those mansions that appear in dramas. It’s amazing,” Doyeon commented as he sat on the couch.

He looked around. There was a huge chandelier hanging down from the ceiling, the marble floors were sparkling clean, and the furniture and decorations were all very elegant and expensive.

“Do you want any fruit?” Hyunoh asked him.

“No. Thanks.”

“What do you like?”

“Tangerines. Grapes.”

“All right, wait a second.”

A few minutes later, Hyunoh brought a huge bowl of grapes and tangerines. Doyeon was surprised. He wondered if every rich household had an assortment of fruits in their refrigerator at all times.

“Thanks.”

Doyeon peeled the tangerine open, gave it to Minhae, and started on the grapes.

He actually liked mangoes, but they were expensive and small in size. There wasn’t a good chance of having one, so when anyone asked, he always said his favorite fruits were grapes and tangerines. Grapes and tangerines were easy to eat and easy to throw away.

Doyeon looked around some more as he peeled another tangerine. There was a whole glass window that was covered in a soft curtain.

“How do you wash the curtains? They’re really high up. Do you need to climb up a ladder?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it. You’re right though, how do they get them off?” Hyunoh repeated as he looked up at the ceiling.

They discussed several theories, like going up a ladder, using a stick, the curtain itself automatically detaching itself, and much more.

Meanwhile, Minhae brought out hair ties from her room. “I want to use these!”

There were blue glass bubble hair ties in her hand with golden stars that shone within each orb. Doyeon slid them down his wrist and looked around.

“Do you have a chair? Something that’s high enough for me to stand behind to braid her hair?”

Hyunoh got a large wooden chair from somewhere. Doyeon held onto an arm, wanting to help, but was surprised by how heavy it was.

And he brought it here like it’s some cotton plushie…

The class began immediately after Minhae sat down on the chair.

“I’ll try my best to make your hair pretty, miss.”

“Yes, sir! Thank you!”

Doyeon smiled at the little girl’s round face. He thought of Aeyoung, who’d left to play at her friend’s house on the same day.

Doyeon slowly brushed through Minhae’s hair.

“You need to brush out her hair first so there’s nothing tangled. When you brush it, start from the end and go upwards. If you brush from the top, all the tangles end up at the bottom and it hurts.”

Hyunoh nodded.

“I’ll teach you how to tie a single braid first. Here, take three large strands from the middle of the head and intersect them like this.”

“Right.”

“You put the right one under, left one under... and repeat, like this...” Doyeon whispered under the afternoon sunlight. It was a wash of soft yellow glow.

The child’s hair slid between his fingers, and the bubble beads on Doyeon’s wrist knocked together, ringing vibrantly with the scene.

Hyunoh’s eyes started from Doyeon’s neat fingers and moved up to Doyeon’s tightly pressed lips, to his soft nose, and to his cheeks that still had the fuzz of a teenage boy’s. White light caught on the edges of Doyeon’s lashes, which scattered whenever he blinked.

When Doyeon finished tying the ends of her hair, he turned to Hyunoh.

“Did you get a good look?”

“What...? Where?” Hyunoh faltered, lost in the conversation.

“Did you get a good look at the braid?” Doyeon grinned. He whispered a little “Tah-da!” as he pointed at Minhae’s hair. There was a single, pretty braid.

Hyunoh was silent for a long time before shaking his head. “I can’t remember everything.”

“Really? Aren’t you smart? What’s wrong? Well, it is hard. I did watch the YouTube video like, ten times on a slower speed.”

Doyeon took out the bubble tie at the end of Minhae’s hair, brushed it back out, and began to start on it again.

“Here, I’ll show it to you again.”

Hair began to weave like magic under Doyeon’s fingers, and this time, Hyunoh took a good look. He looked at Minhae’s hair that fell into order, then stood blankly next to Doyeon, who moved aside to let him have a go. Hyunoh began with brushing her hair, like Doyeon taught, then slowly braided the strands together. His fingers didn’t move as smoothly as he liked, though, resulting in a messy braid.

Doyeon stepped in. “No, you need to cross over here to keep the pattern going.”

Doyeon gently guided Hyunoh by pressing the back of his hand. The two’s fingers moved in tandem. The entire time, Hyunoh’s face and hands were stiff.

“Hyunoh, use your fingers. Why are you relying on my movements? You know, I just realized Hyunoh Gong isn’t good at everything.”

Doyeon’s laughter scattered like feathers in front of him, and Hyunoh could only stare at Doyeon’s pale face and smooth neck. In the meantime, Minhae’s hair was braided neatly.

When Doyeon took his hands off of Hyunoh’s and tied the ends of her hair, he turned to Hyunoh with pride.

“See, it’s pretty, right?”

“What...? Who?” Hyunoh replied with a stiff expression.

Doyeon rolled his eyes and took a step away from him to gesture at Minhae.

“Minhae’s hair. The braid’s pretty. Dude, what’s wrong with you today...? Come on, concentrate.”

Hyunoh rubbed the back of his neck in silence, and after a few seconds, he raised his head with his easygoing smile. He nodded.

“Yeah, it’s pretty.”

The golden star in Minhae’s blue glass bubble sparkled brightly.