Chapter 16 - - My Brother is Gay?! Part 3 (1/2)

All throughout breakfast, I sat anxiously, stealing glances at Lee JiHan who sat across the table, waiting for him to change back to normal at any moment. All he did was eat. Like it had been for the past month, the moment I swallowed the food, positive comments flew out of my mouth. Unlike the past month, however, JiHan did not disappear but instead, stayed in his seat. Why is he acting like this?

Not used to the sudden change, I couldn't help but get a nagging feeling. I suddenly remembered the conversation I had with JiKyung last night and decided to start my mission.

&“Oh. JiKyung told me to look for a different place to live. He wants us to empty out of here and find a new place immediately.&“

&“He wants to empty out this house?&“ JiHan asked, surprised.

&“Yes. As soon as possible. I'll let you know the reason later.&“

Lee JiHan looked to be lost in thought at my words, but nodded his head. &“Yes. We should empty it out today.&“

My eyes grew wide at his lack of suspicion.

&“What?&“ I was expecting at least a little resistance.

How could he just agree with asking any questions? I couldn't believe it, but Lee JiHan ignored my question and threw another question at me instead.

&“Did you find a new place yet?&“

&“What?&“

&“If you're going to get out of here immediately, you should know where you're going to go next.&“

&“Oh...I was going to go looking today. Somewhere we can move in right away.&“

&“But finding a place won't be so easy. Until you find a place, let's just stay at my house.&“

&“Isn't that your parents' house?&“

&“No. I have an apartment under my name.&“

This 28-year-old owns an apartment, but someone like me who has worked for 28 years can't even dream to buy one. The world is so unfair.

&“If you had your own apartment, why were you living at your brother's place?&“

&“Because it's my brother's house.&“

I looked back at him, confused.

&“Once I started studying abroad, I was unable to see my brother often. I wanted to spend time at his house when I was back in Korea. I won't be able to see him for a long time when I leave, so I wanted to spend a lot of time with him here,&“ JiHan told me with a look of deep longing for his brother.

However, as soon as he stopped talking about his brother, for some reason, he stared out into space and sighed in defeat, as if none of this had been worth it.

&“Oh...but is it okay if we so suddenly leave your brother's house?&“ I asked cautiously.

Without any hesitation, Lee JiHan nodded. &“We'll start packing as soon as we're done eating. I'll do the dishes.&“

This unbelievable statement he'd uttered surprised me so much that I dropped the spoon I was holding.

***

Lee JiHan really did do the dishes, and he really did take me to his apartment. In front of the apartment door, JiHan put his fingertips on the door lock and calmly taught me how to use it.

&“This is the password,&“ he said and keyed in the password slowly so that I could see it. Then, in a composed manner, he added. &“You might get confused, so I'll write it down for you.&“

&“Uh, okay,&“ I answered, a bit baffled.

His ongoing kind actions felt like a dream. JiHan opened the front door wide and stepped aside to let me go in first. I shuffled nervously inside as he closed the door behind me. Passing me along the hallway, he lead me into the apartment.

&“It's smaller than my brother's house. There are only 4 rooms. I'll be using the master bedroom, you can choose any of the other rooms.&“

I quietly followed Lee JiHan and looked around. Smaller than his brother's house? You couldn't even tell the difference! Here or there, the living room itself was bigger than my stepmother's entire house combined. I had been following him muttering to myself when Lee JiHan stopped abruptly and turned around.

&“I'm telling you now, you can't stay in the living room,&“ he said strictly.

&“If...you aren't going to use the whistle here either, then there is no reason for me to want to stay in the living room,&“ I stammered.

&“I won't use the whistle. Here, or wherever.&“

&“Why?&“

&“Because I don't want to make you work anymore.&“

&“But if you don't make me work...then what do I do here?&“

&“You can just eat and sleep,&“ JiHan said nonchalantly and headed to the living room table.

Crouching down, he went to grab the pen and memo pad. Watching him, I seriously started to contemplate the reason behind all of this.

Why is he being so nice to me all of a sudden? A million things ran through my mind when suddenly a theory popped into my head, and my eyes grew wide. JiHan handed me the paper on which he'd written down the password. I looked up at Lee JiHan's eyes and with hope, opened my mouth.

&“Are you giving me approval for this wedding?&“

His initial reasons for making my life difficult was because he was against the marriage. So if he decided to no longer make my life difficult, then didn't it mean he was no longer against the marriage? Ah! I really hope this is the answer.

With my hands folded together in prayer, I looked at him desperately, but Lee JiHan replied back coldly, &“Never.&“

With my hopes crashing down around me, I dropped my hands weakly. Lee JiHan then stared directly into my eyes and continued. &“The reason for it has changed, but the result is the same. I am against this wedding.&“

&“Then why are you telling me to do nothing and stay here? The whole point of this was for you to decide whether you approve or disapprove of this wedding by keeping points on my good and bad attributes. That's why we decided to live together for two months. But if you tell me now that all I have to do is eat and sleep…&“