BIGBUTADORABLE . BL0GSPOT . C0M
"Oh, Han Yeong-hae!"

"What?"

Tae-hwan was about to go back to the floor his apartment was on when he saw Yeong-hae in the open elevator. He was cleaning his hands from the dust after taking out the garbage in the lobby downstairs, wearing only shorts and a white sleeveless undershirt. He waved and greeted the neighbor boy as if he'd forgotten the absurd event of this morning. But Yeong-hae just made a face.

"I just got off work, man. You heading home?"

"No, Ha... I should ask you... Why are you wearing that?"

"What? They're just shorts though."

"Yes, but you walk around in them."

Yeong-hae didn't push the button even though the elevator just stopped and didn't go up. Seeing this, Tae-hwan took the trouble to lean forward and press the floor number. His stretchy underwear was accidentally revealed, exposing his sunburned lower body. This scared Yeong-hae and made him look away. But it backfired instead. Now he could clearly see the middle-aged man's chest in the elevator's mirror.

When he was younger, Tae-hwan's muscles had been full and bulging, but now that he had fat on them, they looked plump and soft. Yeong-hae couldn't help but salivate.

The boy pulled the wireless earphones out of his ears and looked at the surveillance camera and Tae-hwan, then turned slightly to block the camera. He resented Tae-hwan so much for walking around in such a lewd state.

"What the hell..." he even muttered in frustration.

Tae-hwan himself was also a bit frustrated that the boy acted as if he didn't want Tae-hwan around. But like an adult, he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he looked down at his outfit.

It's just ordinary.

But oh well, let me tell you something. A few weeks ago Tae-hwan bought a pair of five-piece shorts only to get the wrong ones. He didn't bother to return them, so today he just wore the pants (not knowing that they were called Dolphin Pants), the ubiquitous white sleeveless underwear and a black jumper. He wondered if it was because he had recently gained weight on his chest that the zipper was down and accidentally exposed his nipples.

(By the way, Tae-hwan wore a nipple patch to work because he was told that protruding nipples were impolite and offensive to others. His nipples, which were still firm, somehow loved to stick out).

So Tae-hwan quickly zipped up his zipper.

"Haah..."

Yeong-hae sighed.

"Why do you sigh so much for this big world, young man?"

"You. It's all because of you."

Tae-hwan gasped at the words Young-hae muttered.

"What's wrong with me? Do I have the same name as your professor?"

Suddenly he realized how strange it was to see such a small, waist-length creature grow up to have such a temper. Tae-hwan's eyes softened at the sight of the younger version of himself. Yeong-hae's wavy dark brown hair, like the hair on his belly, looked so rugged.

"Again, you talk to me like I'm still a kid!"

Sensing the look, Yeong-hae raised his head and glared at the middle-aged man.

"But you are."

"I'm not, how long has it been since I had a civil license?"

Yeong-hae stomped his feet and shouted, which made Tae-hwan afraid that the elevator would fall down. But it was amusing to see a kid twelve centimeters shorter than him throwing a tantrum.

An ID card was just an ID card. For forty-year-old Tae-hwan, it was just a way to prove that he was a citizen of the Republic of Korea. Unlike the little boy who kept insisting that he was an adult because the ink on the card had not even dry.

Tae-hwan couldn't help but smile at how young and cute he looked, and that made Yeong-hae even angrier.

"Oh my God, you're what, forty years old and you can't understand a word I'm saying! Damn it!"

"Why are you so moody since this morning, Yeong-hae? Do you need something to eat?"

Yeong-hae thumped his own chest in frustration, afraid that Tae-hwan would break his slender ribs. Ever since he was a teenager, this boy liked to glare at Tae-hwan or lose his temper like that, but how come it's getting worse now? What happened to the little Yeong-hae who used to beg to dangle on his body?

But Yeong-hae's face was still as pretty as it was when he was a baby. His slightly wavy dark brown hair and soft skin, his slender limbs unlike the strong Tae-hwan who had been over 180 centimeters since he was 17, his height of not even 180 centimeters (Yeong-hae always insisted that he was 180 centimeters, but Tae-hwan knew that the boy had stopped growing when he was 18, at 178.1 centimeters) and his small foot size of 255 millimeters always bothered Tae-hwan, although he didn't find it annoying or condescending.

"Why do I need to eat anyway?"

"Because you are like my own son."

Tae-hwan ruffled Young-hae's hair.

For Tae-hwan, who had never been in a real relationship, let alone married, Young-hae was not just a neighbor's son, but a blood brother. He's known him since he was in his mother's womb. And watching him grow from a fragile baby to the big man he was now, Tae-hwan felt that he understood a little bit about the emotions of a paternal's love.

"Why am I your son? I'm Han Seong-jong's son!"

But the boy insisted that he was a grown man now. In Tae-hwan's eyes, he was still a child, and he's just as cute. While he watched Young-hae annoyingly dodging his hand and tidying up his disheveled hair, Tae-hwan patted the boy's shoulder in frustration.

"So let's just be like strangers?"

"I'd rather do that!"

Yeong-hae's face was so determined that it made Tae-hwan giggle inappropriately for his age. He thought about how to deal with the cranky boy...

Ding!

The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival at the floor where Tae-hwan's and Yeong-hae's houses were next to each other. Since there were only two other families on the floor and they were often in and out of each other's houses, Tae-hwan already felt at home in the hallway.

"I'm going first!"

With hands buried in the coat pockets, Young-hae took the first step. His movement was so hasty and nervous that a pair of wireless earphones fell out of his pocket and rolled down the dark hallway. The earphones were so small and inconspicuous that Young-hae couldn't imagine where they had gone. But Tae-hwan, who had watched the whole thing from behind, already knew that the beanstalk-like head had landed at the boy's feet.

"Be careful, don't be rash."

Tae-hwan took a step forward, passing Young-hae who was fumbling for his earphones. Remembering that Manager Lim of the next department suffered from arthritis in his knees, Tae-hwan straightened his legs and leaned his upper body forward in an unusually flexible manner for his age. His hips were very high.

The pale, sunburned flesh of Tae-hwan's ass peeked through his shorts. He started to fumble with the earphones, but carelessly pushed them aside with his fingers, causing his ass to twitch and squirm nervously. And with his head down, the middle-aged man didn't notice that Young-hae's groin was at a similar height to his ass—something was bulging unnaturally there.

"...Ah, there you go."

Tae-hwan finally grabbed the earphones, grabbed his waist, and finally pulled himself up to hand them to Young-hae. But somehow the boy's face looked red. Tae-hwan wondered if it was because of the evening breeze and that the boy had caught a cold, so he put his hand on Young-hae's forehead.

Young-hae, on the other hand, shivered at the sudden gesture. He felt as if he had just been stung by a bee.

"You don't have a fever, but why is your face so red? Are you sick? Oh, why so quiet. Say something."

"...Mom, I think I'm about to lose my mind..."

Young-hae buried his face in his hands and mumbled something like a sob. Tae-hwan's eyes got serious. The boy must be really sick, for he suddenly looked for his mother.

"Do you have any fever reducer at home? I'm sure you do. I remember your parents bought them when you were a baby. Oh, if the fever gets worse while you're sleeping, call me right away. We'll go to the emergency room, okay? No, let's go to my house and sleep. Go to the hospital before you go to class if you're still sick in the morning. It hurts a lot, huh? It shouldn't hurt anymore."

Tae-hwan ran his hands through the hair that covered Yeong-hae's face, then pulled the exposed face toward him, scanning it here and there. The boy's eyelids fluttered with long lashes, his lower lip was red and swollen from biting it so often, and the corners of his eyes were slightly wet from tears. Even the skin of Tae-hwan's palms felt hot.

Yeong-hae's lips twitched and then opened. He didn't say anything at first, but after a moment's pause, he spat out words that didn't quite match his pitifully pretty face.

"I'm not a baby anymore! And why do I have to go to the hospital just for a fever?!"

"Aren't grown-ups get sick too? Hey, young Han! Take some medicine and eat your food or you'll get sicker!"

Contrary to Tae-hwan's concerns, Young-hae briskly shook off the hand caressing his face and stomped away. Tae-hwan called after him, remembering how hot his face had been in his hands earlier. But there was no answer, only the nervous clicking of the door lock.

Beep, beep, beep—

"Ha..."

The door slammed shut with a loud bang. Tae-hwan sighed deeply. Yeong-hae's complaint about being sick was just like when he was a child.





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