Click, click, ktak.
"...!"
Hearing the door open, Yeo Ri jolted into a sitting position. She hurriedly covered up her nakedness with the blanket, staring at the door in horror.
"Sh*t!" Hyuk cursed. He had not kept track of the time, and before he knew it, Gun was home. He scrambled to find his shirt. Luckily, he had kept his pants on.
Just as he reached out to grab his discarded shirt, the door opened, revealing the sight to Gun.
Gun stared at the scene with wide eyes, his mouth agape.
"O-Oppa," Yeo Ri stuttered. Her hands that was holding onto the blanket tightened.
Gun had seen them!
What was she going to do now? What could she do?
"T-this is a misunderstanding, Oppa," she weakly said.
Gun's heart skipped a beat and it felt as if all the organs in his body plunged down to his feet. His eyes froze over as he glared at Hyuk, full of hatred.
"What the f*ck have you done to Yeo Ri, you b*stard?!" He stormed inside, slamming the door behind him. Instantly, he threw a heavy punch towards Hyuk.
On any normal day, Hyuk would have easily dodged the hit, but instead of doing that, he simply stood still and received the punch. He knew he deserved it. Even if nothing had happened in the end, they were still so close to doing it. It was unforgivable.
"You sick f*ck!" Gun yelled, punching him again without holding back.
Hyuk quietly took the blows.
"Oppa! Stop!" Yeo Ri almost tripped as she tried to stand up, wearing nothing but the blanket. She didn't want them to fight. She looked at Gun pleadingly, "I can explain, Oppa! This was my fault, so please—!"
Seeing Yeo Ri's desperate look, Gun tried to calm himself. "Get dressed, Yeo Ri," he ordered, his voice low. He was fuming. It felt as if he had been betrayed. By whom, he was unsure.
Hyuk pulled on his shirt. Then, he picked up Yeo Ri's dress from the floor, passing it to her. In a softer tone, he repeated Gun's words, "Go and get dressed, Yeo Ri-ah."
"The two of us are going to talk outside, so take your time," he added.
Yeo Ri shot an uneasy gaze at the two. Clearly, they didn't have any intentions of just talking. But still, she could not stop them.
The two men walked out.
Outside, they confronted each other.
"Lee Hyuk, how dare you." Gun dropped all formalities, glaring at Hyuk with a wrathful gaze. His body shook as he held back his desire to sock the b*stard again.
Hyuk kept quiet. He had already explained himself to Jin Goo and In Guk, and did not feel like doing it all over again. The little sh*thead could think whatever he wanted, but he would not let Yeo Ri's reputation be questioned.
"I didn't sleep with Yeo Ri," Hyuk says.
"Don't f*cking lie to me, you sick f*ck! What the hell were you doing with Yeo Ri, then?! Why was she—?!" Gun grabbed Hyuk's collar roughly.
"..." Hyuk looked away.
"Answer me, you motherf*cker!" Receiving no replies, Gun hotheadedly punched him again.
Hyuk stumbled. He glared at Gun angrily, spitting out blood. He had accidentally cut the inside of his cheek. He touched the corner of his mouth which throbbed with pain from Gun's punch.
"F*ck!" He had already taken one-too-many hits so he wanted to retaliate. "That does it!"
The two exchanged punches for a while, beating each other black and blue.
Gun fought like he had nothing to lose. If he had remembered that he was carrying a knife, he would have probably taken it out and shank Hyuk at the spur of the moment. But fortunately, he was not able to think of it. His mind and body were savagely screaming for him to beat Hyuk up into a pulp. That way, perhaps, he could satiate the rage inside him.
"You f*cking b*tch!" Gun roared.
The two reached a deadlock.
Luckily, the neighbours heard the commotion and stopped the fight. The upstairs neighbour, a male college student, hurriedly called for backup. He was not strong enough to stop the fight himself so he went to fetch the landlord.
Shim Yong Pil arrived at the building with an entourage consisting of his drinking buddies, staring at the two in bewilderment. "Hey! You two are brothers, so why are you fighting?! Stop, stop!"
The two were dragged off of each other, each held back by someone.
"What's wrong with you two? Is it something that can't be solved without throwing your fists around? You two should be getting along rather than fight!" He scolded. He had brothers too, and sometimes things could get rowdy, but he had never seen two brothers fight as if they were out for each other's blood. If someone were to see them now, they might think that the two brothers were mortal enemies instead.
"Why don't we go inside and talk about this civilly, hm?" He mediated.
"You disgusting f*ck! I'll kill you!" Gun growled, stretching his arms as if wanting to strangle the life out of Hyuk. He tried to break away from the person holding him back, but the man held onto him without moving a single inch.
"F*cking try it then, sh*thead!" Hyuk taunted in response.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Shim Yong Pil placed himself between the two, trying to be the peacemaker.
Suddenly, the door to the brothers' house opened, and the little sister walks out.
Yeo Ri looked at Hyuk and Gun with a saddened expression. The two's relationship had always been rocky at best, but because of her, their already thin brotherly bond might be broken for good. 'If only I didn't exist, then things wouldn't have turned out this way,' she thought morosely.
Seeing Yeo Ri come out, everybody quietened. Even the two brothers stopped struggling. All eyes focused on her.
Yeo Ri clutched her dress, her lips quivering. "Please stop fighting," she sobbed.
She looked at Gun, then knelt on the ground. "Oppa, please don't blame Hyuk-oppa. He didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault. Everything was my fault. Please stop fighting," she pleaded.
"Yeo Ri-ah!" The two brothers made a move, as if wanting to help her stand up.
"What are you doing?! Get up! The ground is cold!" Hyuk barked. "Get up now!"
"Yeo Ri-ah, stop that! Do you want to go back to the hospital again?!" Gun angrily said, frustrated by her actions. What wrong? She was innocent. There was no way his baby sister could ever do something wrong in his eyes. He pinned all the blame on Hyuk. After all, he was the older man. It was definitely him who forced himself on Yeo Ri.
"I'm sorry, Oppa. I'm sorry—"
Auntie Shim came to the scene and quickly pulled Yeo Ri off from the ground. Yeo Ri relented, insisting on kneeling, but she could not beat Auntie Shim's strength.
"Let's go inside and talk things out properly, okay?" Auntie Shim coaxed.
Seeing that the situation had finally cooled down, Hyuk and Gun were finally released from their shackles.
Auntie Shim and Uncle Shim sent away all the other people, then ushered the Lee trio to sit down and discuss inside their house.