Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 81: The Same Person

Son Suhyeon stepped into Ha Giyeon’s room and, rather than looking around, walked straight toward him. He approached the bed where Giyeon was lying and checked his complexion.

He’s asleep...

Ha Giyeon lay there without the slightest movement, eyes closed, face visibly more gaunt than usual. Whether he hadn’t rested properly or something else was wrong, he looked even worse than he had before coming home. Suhyeon reached to tuck Giyeon’s arm—resting awkwardly on top of the blanket—under the covers to make him more comfortable, when a small bandage on his arm caught his eye.

Not far from the bed, an IV stand was set up. It looked like he had been given fluids. Suhyeon began to worry—had he had a high fever? His gaze paused when he noticed a large bandage on the back of Giyeon’s hand.

“......”

The IV had clearly gone into his arm, so why was there such a large bandage on his hand? If they had trouble finding a vein and had to try the back of the hand, they would’ve used a much smaller bandage. But this one was so big it covered the entire back of his hand.

What kind of injury had this small body gotten this time...?

Suhyeon remembered how, the day before, while wiping Giyeon’s body with a wet towel, he had frowned at the stitched-up leg wound and tried to be even more careful. It must have been a serious injury from falling during soccer class.

A stitched leg, a body still burning with fever, accumulating wounds, and a family that only made things worse.

Everything in this house seemed to be tormenting Ha Giyeon. He was terrified that these once-indifferent people were now suddenly showing interest in him. When he was younger, he would’ve been happy to receive even a little attention—but now, even that attention made him so afraid that he kept his guard up at all times. The ones who neglected him and inflicted harm until fear took root—were the ones who called themselves his “family.”

In this house, Giyeon had always been treated as abnormal when compared to Ha Dohoon. He had been cast aside. Suhyeon, at least, had only been treated that way by complete strangers. But Giyeon... he’d been abandoned by the people he should’ve been able to rely on.

And now they stood beside him as if trying to become something meaningful. Why did that feel so revolting? If Suhyeon took his eyes off Giyeon for even a moment, it felt like he’d get hurt again. It made him anxious.

Suhyeon gently took his hand—as if handling fragile glasswork—and tucked it under the blanket. He had no intention of waking him. Just seeing his face was enough.

After gazing at Giyeon’s face for a long time, Suhyeon finally turned his head and looked around the room. He didn’t know much about brands or what made for good furniture, but even he could tell the furnishings here were expensive.

Even if they mistreated Giyeon, they probably still spent money on the room so outsiders wouldn’t notice. That’s what he assumed. If you lived in this house, you had no choice but to use luxury things... yeah, that’s what he thought.

But something felt off.

Unlike the nearly new furniture, the white wallpaper had yellowed slightly at the edges. It wasn’t obvious at first glance, but if you looked at the corners of the wall, the faint yellowing revealed how old it was.

Guess they didn’t have time to bother with the wallpaper.

They might’ve bought new furniture but hadn’t thought to redo the walls—the part that truly defined the room’s atmosphere.

Suhyeon recalled the rest of the house he’d passed through on his way to this room. The elegant white-patterned wallpaper throughout the house had not a single blemish. It was so clean it could be mistaken for a new house.

Is it just Giyeon’s room? ...Am I being too sensitive?

As he turned his gaze again, his eyes happened to land on a thick album tucked into the bookshelf. It looked like a childhood photo album—perhaps filled with images from Giyeon’s early years.

“......”

He glanced at the bed. Giyeon was still asleep, eyes closed. He just wanted to take a quick look. At the little Ha Giyeon, toddling around as a baby.

...Maybe he was even cuter back then.

Suhyeon reached out and carefully pulled the album from the shelf. He moved slowly, afraid the slightest sound might wake Giyeon. The album was heavy, packed with photos. Placing it on the desk, Suhyeon opened it, heart pounding.

And as soon as he saw the first page, he doubted his own eyes.

“This is...”

A family photo. Two parents and two sons, smiling peacefully as if they were a picture-perfect family. Any family can look happy in a photograph. But as Suhyeon stared at the image of Ha Giyeon’s family, a strange unease settled in.

All four of them wore soft smiles. Yet Giyeon’s expression stood out—it wasn’t a real smile. His lips were barely curled, his eyes forced. Only someone who had seen Ha Giyeon’s true smile would have noticed it. A staged photo taken for appearances, to show off a “family.”

Unable to look at the unsettling image any longer, Suhyeon flipped the page. And the more pages he turned, the more his frown deepened.

Were there... no real pictures of Giyeon?

There were plenty of travel photos of just Ha Dohoon, and many of the three of them—Dohoon and the parents. But the photos of Giyeon? They were all taken from a distance, as if he were a background character in someone else’s story.

“...Ha.”

His elementary school graduation photo showed the contrast even more starkly. Dohoon stood proudly, surrounded by his parents, holding a bouquet and diploma. His formal outfit made it clear they had come to celebrate.

But Giyeon was alone. Clutching a bright bouquet and his diploma, he stood by himself in front of the camera. His head was slightly lowered, small hands gripping the edge of his coat, and his eyes—red and puffy, like he’d been crying.

Why would someone cry on their graduation day—a day meant for celebration? It made sense for someone like Suhyeon to be alone. But Giyeon shouldn’t have been.

This... couldn’t be called a family.

These people were not a family.

It made no sense. Wasn’t Giyeon their own child? Why treat him like a stranger? Ha Giyeon was someone you couldn’t help but love. Even if there were things about him you disliked, wasn’t it a parent’s role to embrace and love him anyway? To raise him like this—even though he was their own—how was that any different from someone like Suhyeon, who had been discarded?

Suhyeon realized, with bitter clarity, that what he’d heard from Giyeon had only been the tip of the iceberg.

“Mmh...”

“...!”

At the sound of Giyeon stirring, Suhyeon jumped, hurriedly slid the album back into the shelf, and turned around. He stepped toward the bed just as Giyeon’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. Beneath the still half-closed lids, hazel eyes slowly emerged, blinking without focus.

“Giyeon.”

Suhyeon called his name softly. Giyeon’s head turned slowly toward him and, without saying a word, he simply stared. Seeing his dazed face, Suhyeon brought a hand to Giyeon’s forehead. It wasn’t hot anymore. Seemed like the fever had finally broken.

As he started to lower his hand, he gently brushed down Giyeon’s hollowed cheek and slid his thumb along the skin near his eye. Giyeon didn’t react—just stayed there, eyes half-lidded. Then, all at once, he murmured a single word.

“...Pretty.”

“...?”

Startled by the unexpected comment, Suhyeon blinked rapidly. Giyeon’s eyes were still fixed on him.

“Me...?”

“...Pretty.”

He’d been called handsome before, maybe even striking. But no one had ever called him pretty.

“I’m... pretty?”

At his question, Giyeon nodded obediently and lifted his hand, waving it in the air as if trying to grab something. Suhyeon chuckled softly and leaned his face into Giyeon’s hand.

The weak hand brushed against his cheek. As Suhyeon smiled and pressed his cheek against it, the warmth from Giyeon’s fingers and hair spread over his skin. Slowly, Giyeon’s half-closed eyelids began to lift.

His eyes sparkled—and his hand went rigid.

“S-Suhyeon sunbae?”

“Did you sleep well?”

“......!!”

His entire face flushed bright red. Giyeon yanked his hand away and hurriedly pulled the blanket over his head, covering his face completely. Muffled, erratic breathing escaped from under the covers, as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

Suhyeon bit his lip to suppress a laugh and rested his hand on the blanket. At the touch, Giyeon’s body flinched.

“Wh-Wh-Why are you here...?”

“I dropped by to give you something...”

He let his words trail off and smiled slightly. Gently lifting the edge of the blanket, Suhyeon peered inside. Giyeon, eyes squeezed shut, turned his head, and their eyes met.

“You think I’m pretty?”

“......!”

Giyeon thrashed beneath the covers like a panicked caterpillar, curling up in the blanket. Suhyeon burst into laughter and grabbed the quilt.

“E-Eek...!”

“You don’t want to see this pretty face again?”

“Aah...!”

The way Giyeon reacted to every little thing—Suhyeon found it too cute to resist. He tugged at the blanket, eager to see his face. Giyeon clutched it tightly, but it was no use. Weakened from being sick and just waking up, he stood no chance against someone who had once carried him uphill.

In the end, Suhyeon won ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the tug-of-war, and Giyeon was forced to face him. But Suhyeon, now off balance, tumbled forward onto the bed.

Just before their upper bodies collided, he caught himself with one hand on the mattress, barely avoiding impact.

“......”

What he came face to face with was a flushed cheek, red-rimmed eyes, and a breathless Giyeon.

Those wide, round eyes looked up at him—and Suhyeon forgot to breathe. A sharp, tingling sensation traveled up his spine.

His heart pounded like it was in a sprint. Giyeon’s breath, brushing against his skin, tickled his face. That tickle pierced straight into his chest. Unconsciously, Suhyeon curled his fingers against the sheet.

He wanted to look deeper into Giyeon’s slightly parted, crimson lips. He wanted to touch them, to draw out the hot, soft tongue hidden inside. The desire rattled through his mind, and the intensity of it frightened him—but it also left him parched.

As Suhyeon swallowed hard, his throat bobbed—and so did Giyeon’s.

Their noses were so close, they almost touched.

And then—

Knock knock.

The doorknob turned.