My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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7.

She couldn’t quite remember what she’d answered him.
She must have rambled about whatever was in view, because soon enough Kang Hyun’s car pulled up beside Lee Jin.
He stepped out and draped his jacket over her shoulders, then opened the passenger door and helped her inside.
It was warm. Safe.
She couldn’t explain why his scent clinging to the jacket soothed her so thoroughly.
He didn’t ask questions. He simply drove, and it struck her as almost funny that she’d been agonizing over how to explain any of this.
Her mind wasn’t clear enough to conjure excuses anyway. She’d cried too long; everything felt numb.
Lee Jin remained buried in his jacket, watching the city blur past the window—neon and streetlights streaming past in a careless rush.
Only when the car turned into the parking garage at Cheong Juk Je did she realize where they were going. The familiarity calmed her.
They passed through a lawn-bordered garden and entered the main house, where soft golden lighting eased her mind further.
“Want something to drink? Or should I get you something to eat?”
Kang Hyun’s question as he opened the refrigerator made Lee Jin’s eyes widen.
The place was furnished and appointed, yes, but it was still essentially vacant.
Kang Hyun lived in his officetel. Cheong Juk Je sat empty, maintained but unused.
“There’s food here?”
Seeing her surprise at this detail, Kang Hyun laughed softly.
“We’ve prepared all the essentials, so don’t worry.”
On the plate he’d retrieved from the refrigerator, fruit was arranged beautifully by variety.
It looked as though someone had prepared it beforehand.
What Lee Jin didn’t know was that after hanging up with her, Kang Hyun had called the maintenance staff and urgently instructed them to stock the place with necessities—but to her, it all seemed mysteriously arranged.
He set the plate of fruit, cheese cake, and tart on the table, then returned with wine and glasses.
“If you’d rather not, there’s sparkling water, or tea.”
“No. I’ll have that.”
She’d been craving alcohol anyway, her nerves too raw for anything else.
As Lee Jin watched the deep red wine fill her glass, it suddenly struck her how bewildering this moment must be from his perspective.
A sigh escaped between her teeth. She’d been crying when she picked up the phone—he must have been shocked.
Embarrassed by the thought, she drank the wine he offered her quickly, then asked:
“Why don’t you ask what happened?”
Kang Hyun let out a hollow laugh at the sight of her drinking wine like water, and answered:
“Why should I? You’re not crying now—that’s enough. If you’d wanted to tell me, you would have in the car.”
That was fair. Lee Jin was grateful he wasn’t pressing her.
Whatever happened, it was between her and her mother—not something that needed packaging or explanation.
“I don’t know what’s wrong, but get it all out anyway. Holding things in only makes you sick.”
“If that were easy, everyone would live to a hundred.”
Her petulant retort struck Kang Hyun as endearing, and his lips curved into a smile.
“Then Lee Jin especially should live to a hundred.”
His teasing remark drew a small smile to her lips.
How many people existed with whom you could share such pointless, easy conversation?
Lee Jin found herself looking at Kang Hyun with new eyes—at this man who had somehow wedged his way into her life and made himself indispensable.
“What?”
Noticing something different in her gaze, Kang Hyun tilted his head and asked.
“Nothing. Just… I thought when I left home, I’d have nowhere to go. But there’s this beautiful house, and someone who listens to me. It’s just… nice.”
Lee Jin murmured it almost absently, her fingers fidgeting.
“Would you like to live here?”
Then came words that made her doubt her own ears.
“What?”
Lee Jin’s head snapped up in surprise, her eyes widening visibly.
“If you’d like, you can stay here while you’re making the pottery.”
Ah—pottery. Her eyes, which had been trembling with something undefined, steadied once more.
What on earth had she been thinking?
Even now, the realization of her misunderstanding struck her as absurd, and she let out a short, breathless laugh. Heat crept up her cheeks.
“I suppose. Though if I don’t have anywhere to go every day like today, I’m not sure…”
At her answer, Kang Hyun smiled without meaning to.
Cute. So she could only accept his kindness if she had nowhere else to turn.
Kang Hyun was the sort of man who would go to great lengths for his own purposes, but he kept that truth hidden behind his smile.
“Then please feel free to use this place whenever you have nowhere to go.”
Lee Jin laughed along with Kang Hyun’s smooth-tongued charm, then spoke.
“Anyway, thank you. I keep imposing on you, and I’m sorry for that, and grateful too.”
“That’s not an imposition. And it’s fine if you impose on me. You don’t need to apologize for this.”
Lee Jin couldn’t tell whether Kang Hyun was being strange today, or if she herself was the one being strange.
The faster her heart raced the more she listened to him, the more it seemed like she was the strange one.
She suddenly noticed the wine glass in her hand and set it down quickly. The odd feeling might have been the wine’s fault, after all.
Kang Hyun let out a quiet laugh at her transparent behavior.
Lee Jin was generally intelligent and capable, but occasionally she revealed gaps like this. He found this side of her quite endearing.
“Want to rest?”
“What?”
Her eyes widened.
He had deliberately chosen an ambiguous phrasing just to see that expression, but now that he had gotten the reaction he wanted, several impulses tormented him.
“You looked tired, so I wondered if you wanted to get some sleep now.”
“Oh, I’m fine. I should probably just head home…….”
“You don’t want to go home today anyway.”
……
How could he read her so uncannily? Lee Jin, caught dead to rights, sealed her lips shut.
“This house has several bedrooms. Surely you don’t think I can’t put you up for one night.”
Kang Hyun clicked his tongue and rose from his seat.
“I’ll show you to your room. Come on.”
Lee Jin nodded and followed in his wake.
As they walked past the living room, the distinctive wooden scent of a traditional Korean house settled her mind.
Lee Jin’s gaze was briefly stolen by the quiet landscape visible beyond the glass window.
Lanterns scattered throughout the darkened garden cast a warm glow.
“Use this room. If you open the curtains, you’ll be able to see the garden through the window.”
The room he had given her was likely the finest in the house—not one of the numerous guest rooms, but the kind a master of the house would use. It was excessive consideration.
Lee Jin thought this kindness went beyond what he would show her as a friend’s younger sister.
“Thank you.”
She answered immediately, but confusion flooded through her.
Scenes of him being too generous to her kept surfacing, tangling together, and everything became muddled.
As she tried to escape into the room, he caught her by the wrist.
“Lee Jin.”
At his call, she slowly looked up at him. Her confusion probably showed plainly on her face.
She felt a twinge of guilt, as if she had committed some crime. How could she be misinterpreting his kindness so impurely?
If Lee Hwan found out, he would tease her endlessly about when she had developed such a princess complex.
“It’s just that you’re too kind to me. It makes me feel a certain way.”
“Feel what way?”
Aware of his grip on her wrist, Lee Jin fidgeted for a moment. But Kang Hyun showed no sign of letting go.
Lee Jin exhaled and tried to arrange her face into an expression of indifference as she spoke.
“You’re just looking out for your friend’s sister because you feel sorry for her, but it’s excessive. It causes misunderstandings. For me, and for others.”
Kang Hyun chuckled and looked directly at Lee Jin as he asked.
“What if it’s not a misunderstanding?”
“What?”
Lee Jin held back the tumult inside her and met his eyes in bewilderment.
She could not look away, trying to determine whether he was teasing her or if there was some other hidden meaning.
“I’m not so noble a person that I’d be excessively kind to someone I’m not interested in.”
He traced her cheek slowly.
“No, you’re so good—”
Lee Jin shook her head to protest, but could not continue.
Because his hand, which had been stroking her cheek, had begun to brush against her lips.
In that touch, she felt an undeniable desire.
“Brother…….”
Lee Jin called out to him in a thin, barely audible voice.
It was probably an unconscious plea for him to stop this unfamiliar behavior.
But somehow the atmosphere grew even more tense, and before she could resist, their lips met.
Lee Jin was caught off guard because she hadn’t expected him to kiss her. More than that, the way he moved was anything but ordinary, as if he meant to dissolve her.
Startled by the intensity of contact, Lee Jin trembled and tried to pull back.
But when her back touched the wall, there was nowhere left to retreat. That only deepened the kiss.
Kang Hyun, drawing her in thoroughly as he toyed with her lips, pulled away after a moment and spoke.
“There you have it. Someone who dreams of throwing himself at you the moment an opportunity presents itself can’t possibly be a good person.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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