She never should have let him into her bedroom that night.
“Don’t fall asleep.”
…
Half-asleep and drifting.
“Didn’t I tell you not to sleep?”
Someone was trying to scare her awake.
“Hana Hee.”
A deep voice. The man carrying her on his back kept calling her name.
“Hana Hee. You’re not going to sleep, right?”
“...Mm.”
“I’m trusting you, kid.”
“Mmhmm...”
Even as she answered, Nahee’s head continued to bob.
Her eyes were tightly shut.
“We’re here. We’re here.”
The man hurried across the wide courtyard toward the three-story mansion.
Carrying Nahee on his back, Yoo Sunok took the stairs two at a time. His rapid footsteps finally stopped in the third-floor hallway when he spotted a familiar face.
“You’re back.”
The grinning man sucking on an ice pop was their housemate, Hwang Rakho.
“Hey, Rakho. Open Nahee’s room for me.”
“You think I’m going to do that?”
“Looks like you’re craving a taste of the bat after all these years—”
“I’ve already opened it.”
“Move.”
“You think I’m going to move—”
“Go get the bat.”
Rakho immediately disappeared from sight.
Leaving him behind, Sunok stepped through the doorway.
The largest room in the mansion.
Hana Hee’s bedroom.
Just walking from the door to the bed took a while.
Only after laying her down on the soft mattress did Sunok finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“She keeps getting heavier. Maybe it’s because there’s so much stuff in that head of hers.”
“I think it’s because she eats like a pig.”
At Rakho’s reappearance and unsolicited opinion, Sunok responded warmly.
“Go get the bat.”
Rakho vanished again.
A moment later, heavy footsteps approached.
“Hyung, there was a call— ...Oh, Nahee’s back?”
The second housemate, Nam Saik.
“Yeah.”
“She passed out?”
“Yeah.”
“What was she doing?”
“Looks like she had a few drinks with her friends.”
...
Mm.
Home.
Hearing the familiar voices through the haze, Nahee relaxed.
The house she shared with four men.
She seemed to be in her bedroom on the third floor.
The warmth of Sunok’s hand against her forehead reassured her.
So did the gentle touch as he pulled the blanket over her.
Wrapped in its comforting warmth, Nahee’s consciousness slowly drifted away.
“But what was the call about?”
“Your father.”
“Oh. Give it to me.”
Sunok hurried away.
“Yes, I’m answering.”
The bedroom door closed.
Complete darkness settled over the room.
No more light tickled her eyelids.
Behind the curtains.
Even the moonlight was blocked out in the third-floor bedroom.
Surrounded by the familiarity of the space, Nahee finally fell into a deep sleep.
...
Creak—
The sound of the door came much later.
A faint noise stirred her sleeping mind.
...Sunok?
Had he finished his call and come back?
It sounded like someone had entered the room.
The curtains fluttered softly in the breeze slipping through the window crack.
Dim moonlight illuminated the figure standing inside.
A large shadow that nearly filled the doorway slowly approached the bed.
The man pulled back her blanket.
As he sat beside her, one side of the mattress sank beneath his weight.
Then his hand—
Moved toward her clothes.
The buttons of her cardigan.
One by one, he began undoing them.
There was no hesitation in his movements.
The cardigan slipped from her shoulders.
All that remained was a sleeveless shirt.
The blanket was pulled back over her lighter frame.
“...Thanks. Good night.”
Still half-asleep, Nahee thanked Sunok and turned onto her side.
“Who did you think I was?”
...
She froze.
That wasn’t Yoo Sunok.
Quickly turning her head, she looked at the person beside her.
“Go... Taegang?”
Shock flashed across her face.
Go Taegang’s features emerged from the darkness.
“You seem pretty used to it.”
The man sitting on the edge of her bed spoke coldly.
“You and Yoo Sunok close enough to change each other’s clothes now?”
His gaze darkened.
“It’s not like that...”
“Then why was your first reaction to thank him?”
His immediate response was icy.
“What are you even talking about all of a sudden?”
“I’m asking if Yoo Sunok strips you every time you pass out.”
Their eyes met.
For a moment, her gaze trembled beneath his dark irises.
“Well... there have been times like that, but why?”
A man who—
Once seen, never really left your thoughts.
That same man spoke again, his words cutting into her.
“Just because you pretend to be siblings doesn’t make you siblings.”
One step closer.
“You’re not related by blood.”
Another step.
“You don’t even look alike.”
His face—
“Not close enough to be undressing and dressing each other.”
—Moved nearer.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
The distance shrank.
Soon their breaths would touch.
...
Gulp.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
...
...
Strange, wasn’t it?
Yoo Sunok. Hwang Rakho. Nam Saik.
She never felt awkward around any of them.
But Go Taegang...
This man alone...
Even after spending twenty years under the same roof, she had never truly grown accustomed to him.
The anxiety tightening in her chest proved it.
In the end, she looked away.
His eyebrows lifted slightly as he watched her dry lips fail to form a response.
“Why so quiet?”
“...Why are you saying things like that all of a sudden?”
She was used to Taegang picking fights.
But she couldn’t understand the intent behind this question.
The conversation made no sense.
“Did something happen with Sunok oppa?”
Maybe he and Sunok had argued.
Maybe that was why he was acting like this.
Moonlight filtered through the window.
The pale glow illuminated his thick forearm.
A clenched fist.
Prominent veins.
She stared at him for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Did you fight with him or something?”
...
For a long time, he simply looked at her.
Then he turned his head away.
“I’m saying you should change your own clothes.”
His voice was flat.
“Don’t leave your body in a man’s hands.”
Then he stood up.
“Yoo Sunok is a man too.”
The low voice sounded almost like a warning.
Feeling strangely tense, Nahee tugged the blanket closer.
“Even if Sunok oppa changed my clothes... he only took off my outerwear because he thought I’d be uncomfortable. You just did the same thing.”
His eyes met hers.
As always, they were deep and quiet.
Too unreadable to understand.
Then he approached again.
His long strides stopped in front of the bed.
“Outerwear?”
Leaning down, he closed the distance.
“Clothes are clothes.”
Then—
“There’s no such thing as ‘just outerwear’ when it comes to another man.”
His brow furrowed.
The roughness in his voice made her heart jump.
“Sunok oppa isn’t a man... he’s my oppa.”
A humorless breath escaped him.
“Oppa?”
His warm breath settled near her lips.
“If they’ve got something hanging between their legs—”
...
“They’re men.”
The corners of his sharp lips hardened.
His breath brushed against her sensitive skin, growing warmer.
Her heart erupted into chaos.
She had never spoken to Go Taegang like this before.
And that look in his eyes—
She had never seen it before either.
Her body slowly stiffened.
She found herself unable to speak.
Her trembling eyelids fluttered helplessly.
“Why are you... acting like this all of a sudden?”
