The basketball court in the park where Jaeyoon had spent countless hours running around with Hyungwon since high school was now thickly blanketed with snow. The temperature had plummeted overnight, and there wasn’t a single person in sight.
Jaeyoon stood there, wearing only a thin coat, glancing around as if waiting for someone. When his phone buzzed, he looked down and let out a soft chuckle.
[What do you want for Christmas?]
The tips of his ears and cheeks were bright red from the cold, and a small smile crept up on Jaeyoon’s face.
Christmas Eve was tomorrow, and Hyerin had been sending him an endless stream of excited, cheerful texts since morning.
Even through the dry text, he could almost hear her lively voice.
[You]
He quickly typed a short reply with his frozen red hands and sent it.
Right then, a familiar voice called out from nearby.
“Hey!”
“…Oh, you’re here?”
“What’s the big idea calling me out instead of just coming over?”
Hyungwon trudged over, hunched up against the bitter wind, his hands buried deep inside the pockets of his padded jacket.
Jaeyoon hurriedly stuffed his phone into his coat pocket and turned to him.
Hyungwon grimaced, scanning Jaeyoon from head to toe.
“Aren’t you cold?”
Jaeyoon just shrugged, and Hyungwon visibly shivered, curling up even more just from looking at him.
He glanced around the court where they used to dribble basketballs before winter came and spoke in a slightly teasing tone.
“What, you wanna play a game? The ball won’t even bounce with all this snow.”
Normally Jaeyoon would’ve said something back, but today he just lowered his gaze and smiled faintly.
Hyungwon let out a long sigh.
“Whatever it is, spit it out fast. If you drag it out, it’s gonna be harder to say.”
“I’ll start with what I was planning to tell you a couple of days ago. I was gonna say it around this time anyway.”
“At least make it make sense. For someone who makes a living off words, you’re really bad at context.”
“I’m moving to England next week.”
“…What?”
“I’m not planning on coming back. Thanks for everything until now. Goodbye.”
He said it all in one go, his face expressionless.
Hyungwon turned his head in disbelief, then slowly lowered his gaze, muttering,
“You heartless bastard… So that was what you were going to say two days ago.
What’s today’s topic, then?”
Understanding Jaeyoon perfectly despite the fragmented words, Hyungwon asked.
Jaeyoon took a deep breath before finally voicing the words he’d been turning over in his mouth for a while.
“I… don’t want to go. I want to stay here.”
“…”
“Sorry. I wasn’t a good friend or a good hyung to you.”
Hyungwon, catching onto something, narrowed his eyes.
“You… was Joo Hyerin at your house last weekend?”
Jaeyoon blinked slowly and nodded.
A short, sharp question followed.
“…Did you sleep with her?”
“Yeah.”
“…Is that so?”
Without another word, Hyungwon slammed his fist straight into Jaeyoon’s face.
A dull thud echoed across the empty park.
The punch, heavy with weight and fury, sent Jaeyoon sprawling onto the ground.
He spat out the metallic taste of blood that filled his mouth, watching it stain the pure white snow with sticky red.
Clutching his aching jaw, Jaeyoon silently looked up at Hyungwon approaching him.
Hyungwon roughly grabbed Jaeyoon by the collar and pinned him to the ground.
Jaeyoon braced himself for more punches, gritting his teeth—
but instead, Hyungwon, breathing heavily, simply let out a deep sigh and dropped down beside him.
Thrown off by the unexpected move, Jaeyoon blinked up at the gray sky.
His whole body chilled against the snow, and next to him, Hyungwon started cursing viciously.
“You fucking bastard. You’re not even human. You know how much my parents care about you, and you got horny for my sister? After raising Joo Hyerin like she was your own?”
“…Why aren’t you hitting me more? I came ready to be beaten to death.”
“If I hit you again, Hyerin might never talk to me again, you asshole. That lunatic would probably run away with you, screaming about love, family be damned.”
“…Hah.”
As Hyungwon shuddered in disgust, Jaeyoon closed his eyes and let out a soft, bitter laugh.
Every time they exhaled, puffs of white breath floated toward the sky and disappeared.
After staring up at the heavens for a long while, Jaeyoon finally opened his mouth and spoke slowly.
“I actually didn’t like you when we were kids. You were loud, obnoxious, always bossing people around — I found you insufferable.”
“What, you bastard?”
“The first time I got dragged over to your house just because you were good at games, the first thing that caught my eye wasn’t you — it was Hyerin. Following you around, begging for your attention, she looked like a talking puppy. I thought… if I had a sister like that, maybe I wouldn’t be so lonely.”
Jaeyoon chuckled faintly, eyes still closed.
“From the second time on, I wasn’t going over to see you. I was going to see Hyerin. Didn’t you know?”
Hyungwon, who had been silently listening, let out a laugh that sounded more like a scoff.
“Yeah right. Wasn’t she even louder and more obnoxious than me?”
“That’s called being cheerful, dumbass. Anyway, she used to keep looking at you, hoping you’d notice her, and then go back to her room all disappointed. It reminded me of myself, I guess. I was lonely at home, too.”
“…”
“Maybe I’m just making up excuses. Maybe there was no reason. Maybe… I just loved her from the very beginning. Even back then, even when she was just a little kid…”
Jaeyoon smiled as he recalled the first time his eyes had met Hyerin’s.
How she had watched him with guarded suspicion, as if to say *‘Don’t take my brother away.’*
That wary glance, the way she had turned away — it had been adorably haughty.
And the day she finally smiled at him with sparkling eyes,
Jaeyoon had been intoxicated — with a twisted pride and possessive delight.
He had wanted to steal her away from Hyungwon.
He had wanted her, plain and simple.
“In my world, Hyerin’s the brightest thing there is. Everything else is boring, but she’s… fun. I live in winter, and she lives in spring. That’s why… I want her so much. She’s the only thing I’ve ever been greedy for in my entire life.”
“…”
“Give her to me. I’ll do anything. Just… let me have her.”
His voice was steady, but it trembled ever so slightly.
Hyungwon, who had been gazing up at the same painfully gray sky, let out a long sigh and finally spoke.
“She… She didn’t even cry when I went off to the army. Just picked her nose like it was nothing. But when you enlisted? She bawled her eyes out. She even tore through my phone, making me swear to take lots of pictures of you.”
He sighed again, his breath heavy with the weight of old memories.
Then, clicking his tongue, Hyungwon muttered,
“I tried so damn hard not to hand her over to a twisted pervert like you. Did everything I could, because I’m her brother, goddamn it. But… I guess it’s time to let it go.”
“…”
“No matter what I did, she kept choosing you. That ridiculous scarf she obsessed over — it was yours. That guy she said she wanted to spend her whole life with — it was you too. You and Hyerin… you’re both crazy, seriously.”
Letting out another huge sigh, Hyungwon finally turned his head to meet Jaeyoon’s eyes.
“Just like you said. Do whatever it takes. Make her happy. She’s an adult now. I’m officially retiring from playing the villain in this messed-up love story.”
“And if we ever…”
“If you two dare break up after all this talk about some ‘epic love’ bullshit, I’m coming for you. There won’t be Hyerin around to stop me next time. You know me — I’m old-fashioned, stubborn as hell, and conservative to the bone.”
Despite the fierce warning, Jaeyoon tightly shut his eyes and grinned so wide it almost split his face.
He let out a series of relieved, breathy laughs, happiness practically spilling out of him.
Nodding hard, Jaeyoon replied,
“Yeah. Your punches hurt like hell. I better be careful.”
“You got punched and still laugh, you psycho…”
Hyungwon clicked his tongue sharply, pulling himself up.
“Come on, let’s get out of here already.
This ain’t some coming-of-age movie, and we’re not a pair of lovesick idiots lying around in the snow.”
“Yeah… I’m freezing my ass off.”
“Seriously, why the hell are you wearing just a coat in this freezing weather?”
“Why do you think? I dressed up to impress you, hyungnim.”
“Ah… fuck. That title gives me chills. Can I take it back?”
Hyungwon scrunched up his face and hugged his shoulders, shivering as he asked.
Jaeyoon shamelessly answered,
“Too late. Hyungnim.”
Their stifled laughter carried off into the quiet park, swept away by the biting winter wind.
![Tell Me You Like It [R19]](https://moonlightnovel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TMYLI.webp "Tell Me You Like It [R19]")
