Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 36: Not Relying

While changing into the clothes Choi Mujin kept bringing him, Ha Giyeon accidentally caught sight of his own back.

The bruise near his shoulder blade had turned green. He just figured he must have bumped into something there too, and didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t bleeding or anything. So what if he had a few bruises.

But he never imagined Choi Mujin would react that strongly. The hand gripping his shoulder was trembling, and his face had hardened more than ever before.

“......”

Seeing that expression left a bitter aftertaste in Ha Giyeon’s mouth. The way Mujin frowned like he was in pain looked so much like worry that Giyeon couldn’t suppress the rising displeasure.

Choi Mujin had no right to worry about him. Not now. Not with a face like that...

“Let go!”

Ha Giyeon swung his arm sharply to shake off Mujin’s hand and turned his body away. Mujin, as if he hadn’t expected to be pushed away, stared down at his own hand before curling it into a fist.

Giyeon tossed aside the shirt and quickly pulled on a short-sleeved T-shirt.

“Ha Giyeon, let me see your back again. What the hell is going on with it?”

“I just bumped into something.”

“Bumped into what... What about your arms?”

Backing up slightly, Mujin caught sight of the bruises in the same spot on both of Giyeon’s arms. This time, he grabbed him with more force.

“Tell me properly. Your back and arms—what the hell happened?”

“...Just messing around...”

“Is someone hitting you?”

Choi Mujin’s fierce gaze drilled into him as he questioned him.

Ha Giyeon pushed against Mujin’s chest with both hands, trying to get him to back off. But Mujin didn’t budge at all. Instead, he only stared more intently at the bruises on his arms.

“Was it that bastard from earlier? Those guys hit you?”

Mujin spoke, half-convinced already.

The ones back in the classroom who had acted cocky, saying they’d go to Giyeon’s house. Especially the one who grabbed Giyeon’s hand—that one pissed him off the most. Who the hell did that punk think he was, putting hands on someone?

“No. They know Ha Dohoon’s my brother—why would they mess with me? I just got hurt by accident. I don’t even remember where it happened.”

“You keep changing your story. You’re obviously lying. Just tell me who did it already.”

“I said I don’t know! And it’s not like you need to know, either... Let go of me!”

Mujin let go of Giyeon’s trembling arm and opened and closed his own hand. Giyeon had gotten so thin, it felt like he’d break with just a little more pressure.

‘Is he not eating? Is that why the others think he’s easy to pick on and hit?’

But as Giyeon had just said, his real brother was Ha Dohoon. No one would be crazy enough to lay a hand on him knowing that. They probably thought Giyeon was close to him.

So if those bruises really were from playing around, Mujin couldn’t bring himself to believe it. The way Giyeon was hiding it, the weird tension between his words and actions—none of it felt right.

This was the kid who had never once hidden anything from him.

‘Fucking idiot...’

If someone was hitting him, he should’ve just come to Mujin. He used to run to him crying when they were little. But now that he’d entered high school, he was acting tough—trying to seem like some grown-up. Mujin hated it.

Back then, Giyeon’s overly gentle-looking face made him an easy target. There were even kids who bullied Giyeon just to vent after getting picked on by Dohoon or Mujin.

At first, Giyeon would just take it in silence. But after Mujin saved him once, he started clinging to him a little. When Mujin beat up the ones bullying him, Giyeon would look at him with sparkling eyes, like he was some hero from a comic book.

Mujin liked that look so much, he kept helping him. Later, he started teasing him instead just because his crying face was funny.

But now, that same kid was hiding things from him.

‘What kind of bastard is it, that he won’t even say anything? Don’t tell me... was it his parents?’

His family?

In that moment, a memory from Mujin’s childhood flickered through his mind.

A fist swinging. A child collapsing under it. Blood dripping from the head—and yet, the fist kept swinging. The kid on the ground was Giyeon. And the one beating him? Of course, it was Ha Dohoon.

The person who could hit Giyeon was right next to him. Including Dohoon, even his parents.

Dohoon had already hit him once before. Mujin hadn’t seen the parents lay hands on him, but knowing how much they hated Giyeon, the possibility was still there.

But the likeliest culprit was still Ha Dohoon.

If he was the type to hit Giyeon whenever he got mad... if that was why Giyeon was rambling and couldn’t get his story straight...

Giyeon could be hiding it on purpose. He liked and respected Dohoon. Even if Dohoon hit him, he’d probably laugh it off and come back to him, just like when they were kids.

“Son of a bitch...”

It had been a long time since Mujin felt his blood boil like this. The last time he got this pissed was when he beat the hell out of someone for saying something disgusting to Giyeon.

Giyeon had finished changing and was now staring at him like he was afraid.

‘That bastard Ha Dohoon... I thought he just calmed the kid down...’

But maybe he didn’t calm him down at all. Maybe he beat the fear into him.

Back then, Mujin figured Giyeon deserved the hit—he’d broken something their father gave them. But this time? Beating someone just because they didn’t apologize for being upset?

Convinced now that Dohoon had hit him, Mujin reached out to get a better look at the injuries.

“...!”

Giyeon flinched and recoiled.

An enclosed room. Someone bigger than him reaching out with a large hand. Dim lighting.

To Ha Giyeon, all of it was pure fear. It was too much like the factory before the regression, where they beat him for being slow at work. He clenched his shaking hands tightly. Choi Mujin had never hit him before—but he couldn’t be sure he never would. Even at the factory, the people who had seemed safe would suddenly turn on him and strike.

Mujin saw the fear in Giyeon’s wide eyes and pulled his hand back. He turned and walked out of the dressing room. Giyeon quickly followed, finally exhaling in relief when he stepped into the brighter hallway.

“Where the hell are your parents? Do they not give a shit about you?”

“...Huh, what?”

“Of course they don’t.”

To them, Ha Dohoon would always be the important one. Whether they knew Giyeon was being hit or not wouldn’t make a difference.

“You could’ve told me. Or even Kwon Jongseok. Why the hell would you just sit there and take it, like an idiot?”

“...Why would I tell you guys anything?”

Giyeon asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. There wasn’t a hint of awkward acting in his voice. Mujin looked into his ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) eyes—and it hit him like a punch to the head.

He’d thought Giyeon still relied on him. Up through elementary school, whenever something happened, he always came running.

‘Why... no, since when...’

Since when had Giyeon started looking at him like that—with those dull, emotionless eyes that depended on nothing? Since when had he stopped expecting anything?

Mujin felt disoriented, like he couldn’t see straight. His heart ached, and his hands were trembling. He didn’t even realize how anxious he was.

***

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

Ha Giyeon gently distanced himself from the dazed-looking Mujin, grabbed his bag, and left the room. He practically ran for the elevator and pressed the button impatiently.

There was no reason to stay here any longer. He’d worn the clothes, so Mujin seemed satisfied. Better to leave before he got questioned more about the bruises.

As soon as the elevator hit the first floor, Giyeon dashed out of the department store. He had about an hour before his shift started, so he headed toward the nearby subway station.

“...A phone case store?”

He stared at an unmanned phone case shop behind him. Now that he thought about it, he’d meant to buy one as a gift for Son Suhyeon but forgot because he’d been so busy.

The signal had just turned green, but instead of crossing the street, Giyeon turned toward the store. It was empty, as expected from a self-service shop, and the walls were lined with phone cases.

“So many types...”

He looked for Suhyeon’s phone model and scanned through the options. He had to pick something that would suit Suhyeon.

He thought about getting a simple black one, but it seemed too cheap and unthoughtful, so he looked at pricier ones. Most of them were covered in cute animal designs—dogs, cats, that sort of thing.

‘He doesn’t seem like he hates animals.’

Suhyeon would sometimes feed stray cats and dogs in the alley behind the café. Giyeon had even seen a sparrow perch on Suhyeon’s shoulder and eat rice off it once. He looked like some damn Di*ney princess.

“A dog might be better.”

One case showed a white puppy with its tongue out, smiling—it looked just like the kind of dog Suhyeon would find cute. Giyeon bought it and headed toward the café with a light step.

Meanwhile, back at the department store, Choi Mujin stared at his phone.

[Ha Giyeon: I’m going ahead.]

“...Hah.”

Like a child left behind by his mom, Mujin stood there alone in the department store, trying to process this strange moment.