The Saint Wants to Rest - Chapter 25.2
Choi Jae-heon only loosened the strength in his arms after Ian struggled. However, he did not let go of the hands gripping Ian’s shoulders. His eyes trembled unsteadily. It was a murky gaze, a mixture of relief and rage.
“Pack your bags.”
“Huh?”
“You cannot stay here anymore. Since the address has already been leaked, those bastards will come again. Even if they didn’t, I was planning on moving anyway.”
It was because Vermouth knew where they lived. This time, he intended to go somewhere that the man could not easily approach.
Choi Jae-heon tried to enter the room without even listening to Ian’s answer. At the sight of his back, which was tinged with urgency, Ian grabbed the hem of his clothes.
“Hyung, wait a minute! Where are we going after packing our bags?”
“There is a safe house. It is under the guild’s name, so reporters and even Vermouth cannot enter easily. There is also an underground bunker, so it is fine to stay there if push comes to shove.”
“Hyung!”
Ian raised his voice. Choi Jae-heon paused and looked back. Ian bit his lip and then spoke firmly.
“I am not going. I am not going to hide.”
“…What?”
“If I hide, it becomes like an admission. And is Vermouth the type of guy to give up just because I hide? That madman will chase me even if I flee to the ends of the Earth. You know that.”
There was nothing wrong with what Ian said. Vermouth was a monster who did not fit within the common sense of this world. However, Choi Jae-heon could not accept it. No, he did not want to admit it.
Leaving Ian in this kind of situation was torture to him in itself.
“So? Are you saying you will just run into that bastard? Are you going to do an interview in front of reporters saying, ‘Yes, we are dating’?”
Naturally, his words became harsh.
“It is not like that! We have to face it head on and solve it. I cannot hide behind Hyung forever.”
“Hide!”
Choi Jae-heon suddenly let out a shout.
His voice was so loud that the living room echoed. At that action, Ian’s eyes widened in surprise. This was the brother who was always kind. Since meeting again after five years, or even before that, he had never seen him show this kind of anger.
Choi Jae-heon wiped his face roughly with his hands. It felt as if his insides were burning up.
Since realizing his own heart at Hong Seo-yun’s house last night, everything had become a mess. Every time Ian mentioned Vermouth’s name, every time he worried and suffered because of that guy, a hot lump surged up from within his stomach.
Jealousy. Yes, this was hideous and sticky jealousy.
He hated that the madman was stirring up Ian’s life. He could not stand the fact that Ian’s head was entirely filled with that man. A dangerous impulse reared its head, making him want to lock Ian away in a place where no one knew and make him live only looking at him.
“…Is it because you like him?”
Choi Jae-heon’s voice sank low. It was a silence like the calm before a storm.
“What?”
“That bastard, I mean Vermouth. You were so terribly entangled, did you develop some kind of hateful affection? Is that why you do not want to avoid him?”
Ian was dumbfounded. He could not understand how such a question could come up in this situation.
“Hyung, what are you talking about? Why would I like that bastard! I told you several times that I hate him. I said he makes my skin crawl!”
“Really?”
“I said really! That guy is a stalker, a criminal, and just crazy…!”
Thud.
Choi Jae-heon took a large stride forward and pinned Ian against the wall. At the suddenly narrowed distance, Ian stopped speaking.
The look in his brother’s eyes was different from usual.
The eyes that used to curve kindly were now frozen coldly, and within them flickered a desire that was too sticky, deep, and dark to be considered the worry of a brother.
“Then what about me?”
Choi Jae-heon asked.
“Huh?”
“You said you hate Vermouth. Then what about me? Do you like me?”
It was a completely unexpected question. Ordinarily, Ian would have answered, “Of course I like Hyung,” because they were family. Because he was the only one in the world on Ian’s side.
However, the “Do you like me?” that Choi Jae-heon was asking now had a different nuance. He was not simply trying to confirm affection. It was a voice that seemed to crave something more.
A cold sweat ran down Ian’s spine.
Choi Jae-heon’s hand traveled down Ian’s cheek and brushed against the nape of his neck. His thumb pressed firmly under the chin, tilting Ian’s head up. It was an excessively dense and overbearing touch for physical contact between brothers.
“Ian, answer me.”
Choi Jae-heon’s face drew close, right before Ian’s. His hot breath seemed as if it would touch Ian’s lips.
“I am asking how you feel about me.”
Ian stopped breathing.
His heart pounded like crazy. He smelled a scent he had never smelled from his brother before, no, the scent of a male.
This was not a question an older brother should ask a younger brother.
Ian’s eyes shook, losing their place to look. Choi Jae-heon met his gaze obsessively, as if he would not miss even a single tremor.
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