Sitting in the passenger seat, Sarah stole glances at Hyunseung as he gripped the steering wheel. She had always known he was objectively handsome, but…
‘Was he always this good-looking?’
Now that she had finally acknowledged the deep love for Hyunseung she had tried so hard to ignore, he looked strangely even more handsome.
No.
It was as if a halo radiated from his face.
“Do I have something on my face?”
Perhaps feeling her gaze, Hyunseung touched his cheek and asked.
“N-No.”
Sarah hastily replied, turning her head toward the passenger window.
“Then why do you keep staring at me?”
“I wasn’t, though?”
“You were. Constantly.”
“I said I wasn’t.”
“Felt like you were going to burn a hole through my face.”
With his persistent teasing, Sarah’s face gradually flushed red like a ripe tomato.
Even amidst all this, she wanted to look at his face.
I wonder what kind of playful expression he’s making right now.
Even that cheeky look, which used to annoy her, now seemed utterly adorable.
Ah.
They say once someone starts looking cute to you, there’s no cure.
‘I’m in huge trouble.’
Realizing she was thoroughly doomed, Sarah thumped her forehead against the window. A small thud echoed.
“You’ll break the glass.”
At Hyunseung’s immediate follow-up tease, Sarah flared up and snapped her head toward him.
“What did you just—!”
Unable to finish her sentence, she ended up swallowing dryly. And loudly enough to echo through the entire car.
Gulp.
It was because the smiling face Hyunseung turned to her looked so terribly affectionate.
Her heart didn’t just beat wildly; it triggered a nonstop fit of hiccups.
On top of that, weren’t they currently in Hyunseung’s car, heading together to his house? Her heart couldn’t help but race twice as fast.
Thump, thump.
Hic, hic.
Thump, thump.
Hic, hic.
Hiccups burst out again and again, and the explosive pounding of her heart filled her ears. She was on edge, terrified that Hyunseung might actually hear it.
Honestly, Sarah, you’re really putting on a show today.
Swish.
Just as she turned her head to check if Hyunseung had noticed—
—♬♬♬
Hyunseung turned on some music. In the quiet car, the song played, drowning out the sound of Sarah Stewart’s racing heart. Could it be that he really heard it?
Did he turn on the music on purpose for her?
‘What the heck… he’s so sweet….’
Inwardly pleased by Hyunseung’s consideration, Sarah let out a soft giggle.
Before long, the car arrived at the parking garage of the luxury serviced apartment where Hyunseung lived.
It was known as one of the most expensive apartment complexes in the United States. She remembered hearing it went for tens of millions of dollars….
Fittingly enough.
The moment the vehicle pulled up to the garage entrance, waiting staff rushed over to take the car keys.
It seemed this apartment even offered valet service.
It was a moment that made her suddenly realize the sheer scale of Hyunseung’s wealth.
Presumably.
That wealth would only continue to grow as long as his abilities remained intact.
Deep down, it made Hyunseung look even more impressive.
Oh, of course, it wasn’t because he was rich.
It was because she liked Hyunseung for possessing the exceptional skill to amass such wealth in the first place. Both as a man and as a person.
It was something she respected and admired.
“Shall, shall we head up?”
Unless her ears were deceiving her, Hyunseung’s voice trembled ever so slightly as he pressed the elevator button.
“Y-Yeah….”
Only then did Sarah snap out of her admiration and step into the elevator.
As if all her fluttery feelings had vanished, tension instantly caused her body to freeze stiff.
Naturally, his family would be home, right?
Seriously.
Is he just going to hand me the misutgaru and tell me to leave?
Ding!
The elevator was unfairly fast, arriving at their floor before she could even sort through her tangled thoughts.
The doors slid open, revealing an enormous front door.
“…….”
However, Hyunseung merely stood there blankly without opening it.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to open it?”
Sarah asked, staring intently at Hyunseung’s profile.
Could it be that Hyunseung was nervous too, just like her?
“How am I supposed to punch in the passcode when you’re staring at me like that?”
As if.
Sarah shuddered as if having a mini-spasm and immediately turned her back to him.
“Ah, sorry.”
What in the world was I thinking? Getting all giddy and foolish just because he brought me to his place, what is wrong with me?
Beep-beep-beep-click.
Soon, as Hyunseung opened the door, a wide-open living room unfolded before them, with the sunset blazing crimson beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Wow.
It was a home so breathtaking that an exclamation escaped her lips without her realizing it.
Following Hyunseung across the threshold, a sudden thought crossed her mind.
No.
A certain scene flashed before her eyes.
In this gorgeous home.
Together with Hyunseung.
Just the two of them, side by side.
Falling asleep…
“Huh? Sarah unnie came along too?”
Guess it wasn’t just the two of them.
“Yeah, she’s just staying for a bit and then leaving, so don’t say anything weird and quietly stay in your room.”
“When did I ever say anything weird?”
“Seriously, we’re just going to chat for a moment before she goes, so get in your room.”
“Huh? I never even asked when she was leaving, but you making all these excuses just makes you look more suspicious, you know?”
“It’s not like that.”
Hyunseung seemed to be bickering back and forth with his younger sister, Hyuna.
Even though Sarah had learned a little Korean, following their rapid banter was beyond her ability.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Where’s the misutgaru?”
At any rate, judging by how thoroughly flustered Hyunseung looked, it seemed best for her to leave this house quickly.
Come to think of it.
Dropping by someone’s home past dinnertime like this really wasn’t polite.
“What’s the rush?”
However, Hyunseung grabbed Sarah’s wrist and added,
“Let’s say hello to my father first.”
“Y-Your father?”
“Yeah. Weren’t you going to greet him?”
“Of course I should.”
Sarah found herself nodding repeatedly, as if under a spell. His father, her potential father-in-law….
Right.
If things went well, they might become family, so she had to make a great impression now.
“I definitely want to. Where is he?”
Sarah asked, her eyes sparkling with determination.
“He should be in his room by now. He likes to sleep early in the evening.”
With that, she followed Hyunseung’s lead down the hall.
“Min Hyuna, you stay in your room.”
“I was just going to get some water before going in!”
“Always with the lame excuses about water.”
Hyunseung scolded Hyuna once more.
Sarah had no idea what they were saying.
Even so, she could tell they were truly brother and sister.
Is this what having a sibling feels like?
Having grown up as an only child, it was a dynamic Sarah could never have imagined.
Above all else.
An older brother like Hyunseung felt even more unreal, didn’t it?
Knock, knock, knock.
Just then, stopping in front of the door at the end of the hallway, Hyunseung knocked lightly and called out in a loud voice:
“Dad, we’re coming in.”
Sarah knew Hyunseung’s father was hearing-impaired, but because she was so nervous, she didn’t realize anything was out of the ordinary.
Presently.
The door opened, revealing Hyunseung’s father sitting on the edge of the bed reading a newspaper. His complexion looked far better than the last time she had seen him.
Seeing his son, his face broke into a broad smile, overlapping with Hyunseung’s own features. Looking at his father smiling so warmly and gently, another ridiculous thought abruptly popped into her head.
When Hyunseung grows old, will he look like that?
Even as an old man, he would probably look handsome… before she could linger on that thought for long:
—Hello.
Sarah raised her hands, greeting him in clumsy sign language.
“What was that?”
“I l-learned a little.”
“Ah.”
“I’m not very good at it, though.”
At the sight, Hyunseung asked with wide eyes.
Just as a sudden wave of embarrassment washed over Sarah and she began scratching the back of her head as if it were no big deal—
Pat, pat.
Startled by a sudden, gentle warmth against the back of her head, she turned to see Hyunseung reaching out, stroking her hair.
“You don’t have to learn it anymore.”
Then, he spoke in a tone warmer than anything she had ever heard from him before.
In that instant, it felt as though the entire world had ground to a halt.
Truly.
If his father hadn’t been right there, she might have lost all reason and thrown herself into Hyunseung’s arms.
There probably wasn’t a woman alive in this world who wouldn’t want to be held after receiving that smile, that touch, and those words.
Therefore, it was a foul.
A foul so egregious it deserved a straight red card.
“Dad, Sarah just stopped by briefly to say hello. I was going to send her home with some misutgaru.”
Caught up in the heart-stopping flutter, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual until that very moment.
“Long time no see.”
“Ah….”
“Make, make yourself at home.”
His father’s lips, which had once been sealed like an impregnable fortress, parted.
“See you, again.”
Not only that, but he spoke clearly—albeit awkwardly—in English. Wait a second, speaking? Did his father just physically speak aloud?
And in English, not Korean?
As Sarah stood utterly bewildered, unable to hide her shock, Hyunseung briefly exchanged a few words with his father to wrap things up and led her back out of the room.
“Y-Your father….”
Tugged along by Hyunseung’s hand, Sarah quickly bowed her head in farewell and exited, trembling like someone who had just seen a ghost before speaking hesitantly.
“First, drink this pack. I’ll pack up the rest for you separately.”
Hyunseung handed Sarah a pack of misutgaru to calm her down and continued,
“He can hear to some extent now. He’s learning to speak again, and while he was at it, he learned some English too. It hasn’t been long, but his pronunciation is pretty good, isn’t it?”
Looking at his nonchalant, playful expression, it almost felt like it really wasn’t a big deal.
Of course, it wasn’t insignificant at all.
Nor was it a bad thing. If anything, it was an occasion for great celebration.
Yet.
It was undeniably astonishing.
“Huh? Y-Yeah….”
As Sarah nodded repeatedly, still in a daze.
“This is the reason I disappeared for the past year.”
Hyunseung added in a calm, steady voice.
“And. It’s also the reason I came back.”
All this time, Sarah had worried about Hyunseung for vanishing without a word, had resented him, and had even blamed him after he returned without offering an explanation.
Yet.
She never imagined it would be for a reason like this.
And she never expected words like these to come out of Hyunseung’s mouth.
“So, even if you hate me, don’t hate me too much.”
How could I ever hate you when you’re like this? Do you have any idea how much I worried about you, how much I missed you?
And how relieved I was that you came back safe and sound.
Gulp.
Sarah swallowed down the words tickling her throat.
To say them out loud, this was Hyunseung’s house. There were too many listening ears, and too many eyes peering through the crack of the door….
“Huh?”
Eyes peering?
“Min Hyuna!”
Indeed, through the slightly open door crack, a pair of eyes had been sparkling for a while now, looking as if they had stumbled upon some delicious prey.
“If you don’t shut that door right now, consider your allowance permanently gone!”
Catching sight of those eyes, Hyunseung’s face instantly flushed with panic as he barked his threat.
“I told you to shut it!”
Siblings were, indeed, siblings.
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