My brother is an Idol

Chapter 19: Chapter 19
Chapter 19

Jiwoo exclaimed, “Wow, that sounds like real love to me.”

“Well, at this point, I can’t say it out loud. I can’t call it love yet. When I do call it, whatever it may be, I want to do it in front of Hyoyoung first.”

“Hmm…”

“So Hyojun is…”

Kiwook was going to continue when Hyojun’s room door opened and Hyoyoung walked out.

Hyojun announced, “Math time is over. Who’s next?”

Kiwook raised his hand slowly. Hyojun walked up to him and tried to put his hand on his shoulder, but Kiwook was faster this time. He grabbed Hyojun’s hand and squeezed hard. He whispered to Hyojun, “Not again. I won’t let you push me around anymore.”

Hyojun frowned and squeezed back as he replied, “You are her tutor and nothing more. Don’t do anything stupid.”

***

Kiwook had a blank face until he entered Hyoyoung’s room with her. After the door closed behind them, he grimaced and complained, “Oh my god, I feel like my hand is going to break. What the heck!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Your brother! Gosh, why is he so strong?”

“Yeah, Hyojun Oppa has crazy hand strength. Let me have a look at your hand. Oh my god, it’s so swollen!”

“I know! If he squeezed any harder, my hand would’ve been destroyed. I can’t even move it anymore. What the heck!”

“Oh no! I thought you guys are going to start practicing your choreography tomorrow, right? This is bad then, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

“Give me your hand.”

“Huh?”

“Give me your hand now! I can put on some anti-inflammatory cream for you. It’s good for muscle aches.”

Hyojun must have put all his strength into squeezing Kiwook’s hand, because it was red and swollen. Hyoyoung frowned and focused on applying the cream on Kiwook’s hand.

He asked her quietly, “How did you know that we start practicing tomorrow?”

“Don’t you remember that I am in your fan club? Knowing about The M is my job as a fan.”

“Then, are you going to come with us to practice?”

“Are you going to wear the shorts again tomorrow? Because after practice, don’t you have a live show again with the fans? Well, I guess it might work. The fans like it sometimes when their idols wear their own regular clothes.”

Hyoyoung started to massage his hand, which made him gasp in pain.

“Arg! That hurts!”

“Keep still. I need to rub it so the cream gets absorbed.”

A silence fell and suddenly, Kiwook couldn’t hear a thing. Until now, there were many noises outside that he could hear. The sound of the loud cars, the other members in the living room chatting noisily, faint music from the neighbors, and a baby crying in the distance…

He could hear all these noises, but suddenly all he could hear were his own breath and his heart pounding loudly.

Kiwook could feel the blood pumping through his veins. His hand Hyoyoung was holding was burning and tense. It was still red, and he couldn’t tell if it was because of Hyojun’s squeeze or because Hyoyoung was touching it.

Hyoyoung seemed oblivious to his feelings. She finished massaging his hand indifferently and announced, “All done.”

She took out a disposable wet towel to clean her hand and continued, “It looks like it’s just inflamed, no permanent muscle damage. So later tonight, you should put a cold compress on it, ok? Make it cold. Now, we are going to be working on Korean and literature, right? Well, you should know that I’m actually pretty good at these subjects.”

Hyoyoung sat down at her desk and turned toward Kiwook. They looked at each other and Kiwook turned red, while Hyoyoung seemed completely at ease.

“Really? So you are good at languages?”

“Yeah, I’ve always been good in this department.”

“Then why don’t we take a break and just talk? You must be tired from your intense math lesson.”

“No way. That’s not right. If you promised to tutor me, you should do your job. What’s the point of chatting? Let’s just start working on some problems.”

“Hyoyoung…”

Kiwook gently took Hyoyoung’s arm, but she turned away and refused to look at him. Her arm trembled slightly, but she didn’t say anything else.

Kiwook sighed and said to her, “Alright. Let’s study.”

Hyoyoung was clearly determined to ignore his feelings, so Kiwook let her arm go. He sat down beside her and looked at the textbook.

Time passed by slowly.

It was hard to tell, however, how much time had passed. To Hyoyoung, it felt surreal to be with Kiwook in her room.

He explained things with a calm voice. He was reading the textbook paragraphs, but to Hyoyoung, it sounded like a gentle love confession.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, the knocks woke Hyoyoung up from her daydream.

“Who is it?”

The door opened and Jiwoo peaked in.

“Hey, you guys are so focused! Literature must be very interesting. It has been over two hours since you started, don’t you know that?”

Kiwook jumped and checked his watch.

“Oh, you’re right! I didn’t notice. I think Hyoyoung needs some rest. Let’s give her a break before starting her next lesson.”

“Of course! Besides, we have to go to our own practice, Kiwook.”

“What practice? Isn’t it supposed to start tomorrow?”

“That’s what I thought, but they called and told me that there are already a few guide songs ready. We should go to the recording studio now.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll get ready. You are coming with us, right, Hyoyoung?”

Kiwook grinned at her.

Ba-dum!

Hyoyoung wasn’t prepared for his smile, and when it came at her, her heart started to pound loudly.

‘Oh my god! That was too much.’

Her face reddened as she replied, “No, I’m going to stay home and study. You don’t need a stylist today, right? You guys go ahead without me.”

Kiwook looked at her in disappointment, but he nodded in the end and left the room.

Hyoyoung thought to herself, ‘Snap out of it, Hyoyoung Ahn!’

She was finally alone in her room, and she felt faint as if all the blood had drained from her body. She laid on her bed weakly and closed her eyes. She could remember Kiwook’s voice as he read an excerpt from her textbook. Strangely, she could remember every word as well.

‘Wow, how is it that I can remember every single word he said?’

Kiwook had such a charismatic and hypnotic voice that could move people. His voice was low but focused as well as warm and memorable.

She loved his voice.

She felt sorry for her brother Hyojun, but she couldn’t help how she felt. Whenever she remembered Kiwook and her childhood, her heart started to pound. She now remembered Kiwook protecting her. She also remembered the feeling of his hand and his chest.

She remembered the way he looked at her and the way he used to call her name and talk to her.

His calm whispers to her…

Everything about him made her heart ache.

But the truth was, she wasn’t ready to accept Kiwook’s feelings. She was worried about the other members, her brother Hyojun, and her parents.

And also…

She was worried about Kiwook’s parents whom she might someday have to meet.