Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 28: Come to Me

"Good work today."

"You too, sunbae."

Ha Giyeon gave a tired smile as he faced Son Suhyeon.

He’d just flipped the sign to “Closed” and glanced around the quiet café. It was always busy, but today had been especially chaotic. A new menu and an ongoing promotion had drawn in more customers—and a girl who saw Suhyeon had called over her friends, which made things even more hectic.

Suhyeon had spent the day turning down people asking for his number, while Giyeon was stuck behind the counter making drinks.

To make things worse, a customer had dropped their cup, and the iced coffee spilled all over him. Thankfully it was cold—if it had been hot, it could’ve been a disaster.

Suhyeon, mistaking it for hot coffee, had stopped mid-sentence while turning someone down and come running over in a panic.

Giyeon had just wiped himself off as best he could and kept working, but even the T-shirt under his shirt had gotten soaked. Though it had dried by closing time, a large coffee stain remained.

"What are you doing? Let’s go change."

"Ah... yeah."

Snapping out of it, Giyeon followed Suhyeon to the changing room. He walked to his locker and began unbuttoning his shirt as Suhyeon changed beside him.

Suhyeon glanced at his shirt.

"You got a stain on it."

"Ah... I tried rinsing it with water earlier, but it wouldn’t come out."

The stain was big—chances were, he’d have to throw the shirt away. If that happened, Secretary Kim Seunghyun would probably buy him a new one, but who knew if it’d even fit properly. More than anything, Giyeon didn’t want to use his parents’ money.

He had spare shirts, sure, but wearing just one over and over wasn’t an option.

‘Buying a new one would mean more spending... I should just try scrubbing it out.’

He took the shirt off and was about to hold it up and inspect the stain when—tap—a hand caught his arm.

“...?”

He blinked in surprise at the sudden touch. Suhyeon’s large hand was gently wrapped around his arm, his eyes fixed on the skin where he’d grabbed him.

"What’s with this bruise...?"

Giyeon followed his gaze and saw the deep blue mark on his arm.

‘A bruise...?’

And not just on one arm—both.

Weird. No one had hit him. So why...?

His mind blanked for a moment—but then, the memory hit him. Lunch break. When Kwon Jongseok had grabbed his arms. It had hurt—but he didn’t think it would leave bruises.

He couldn’t bring himself to say it outright, so he was about to make something up—say he bumped into something, or—

"...Who did this to you?"

“...!”

The low sound of Suhyeon’s voice made Giyeon flinch. At some point, Suhyeon had gently taken hold of both his arms. It didn’t hurt—unlike when Kwon Jongseok had grabbed him. But those eyes—

There was anger in them.

Unmistakable and heavy, it made Giyeon shrink back instinctively, glancing at Suhyeon’s expression. When his arms started to tremble slightly, Suhyeon finally let go, loosening his grip.

"...Sorry."

"A-ah, it’s okay."

Though he apologized, Suhyeon still didn’t let go completely.

The way he was holding Giyeon was nearly identical to how Kwon Jongseok had—yet Giyeon didn’t push him away. Or rather, he couldn’t.

Because where Jongseok’s stare had cornered him, Suhyeon’s was filled with concern. The way he touched his arm was so careful, like he was holding a flower.

"...Probably got it messing around with the guys."

"For a prank, it’s pretty bad."

Suhyeon gently brushed his hand over the bruises, and the touch tickled. Giyeon tried to pull away, but Suhyeon didn’t stop. He kept examining the bruises—far too closely.

‘Finger marks...’

The blotchy pattern in the same spot on both arms—someone had gripped him tightly.

Suhyeon’s expression turned even more grim.

He could usually tell just by looking at a wound how someone got hurt. Back in the orphanage, the director’s beatings left constant bruises on the kids.

Suhyeon hadn’t been spared, either. Some kids ran away, unable to take it. But he had stayed until middle school graduation. Part of it was that independence was tough—but more than that, he had stayed for the younger kids.

All the other kids his age had fled, one by one. He’d been the oldest left behind. He’d tried to ignore them, but when the little ones cried, he couldn’t turn away.

He was just a kid himself—but inside that place, he’d been the one they clung to. He couldn’t abandon them.

Because he was older, he got hit more. And once he left, he couldn’t stop what happened in his absence. The only thing he could do was patch up their wounds. Every time he saw one, he knew—how they were hit, kicked, stomped on, pinched. Whether he wanted to or not, he knew.

Maybe that’s why.

Looking at Ha Giyeon now brought that back. He’d seen too many kids try to cover up their pain with forced smiles and lies. And now Giyeon was doing the same.

‘If this wasn’t a joke, if someone really hit him...’

Even so, there was nothing Suhyeon could do. He couldn’t take the blows for him. And as long as Giyeon kept denying it, he couldn’t report it either.

That same helplessness from the past threatened to rise again—

"Sunbae...?"

“...Ah.”

The fog in Suhyeon’s eyes cleared. He finally saw the person he was holding—Giyeon’s face, flushed and anxious, eyes darting everywhere.

What was he—

“...!”

He suddenly realized he’d been rubbing the soft, tender skin of Giyeon’s arm—and pulled his hand away in a hurry. He wasn’t some pervert, but he’d been unconsciously kneading that warm, squishy flesh.

Giyeon turned away quickly, pulling out his zip-up hoodie and throwing it on. The spot Suhyeon had touched still felt warm, and the flush in his face wouldn’t go away.

‘What the hell is wrong ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) with me...’

Suhyeon turned as well, putting on his outer shirt and sighing quietly. He clenched and released his hand—the one that had held Giyeon’s cold arm.

"Make sure... you put ointment on that."

"Y-yeah... don’t worry."

"Worry? Who’s worried..."

It sounded like worry. Wasn’t it? Giyeon gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of his neck.

"Stop smiling. Let’s go."

After changing, they checked the café was properly locked and stepped outside. They walked side by side.

Suhyeon was headed home, and Giyeon was going to the bus stop.

Maybe it was because of what had happened in the locker room, but the usual easy conversation between them had been replaced with a strange awkwardness. The walk to the bus stop felt much longer than usual.

‘Why did sunbae react like that...?’

Suhyeon’s intense reaction to a couple bruises was odd—but somehow, it didn’t feel bad. He’d been flustered when Suhyeon touched his arm, sure, but not uncomfortable.

He didn’t want to leave things like this, so he tried to come up with a way to speak naturally.

‘Just say something light...!’

He thought about telling a lame joke, like the oden one from before—but that was the only one he knew. Should’ve memorized a few more.

As he looked around, searching for an idea, a pink petal fell in front of him. Cherry blossoms were falling like snow from the trees.

Giyeon slowly opened his mouth to speak.

But there was one thing he hadn’t accounted for—he was terrible at talking, and his timing was even worse.

"Ch–Cherry blossoms are pre– bleh!"

“...?"

The moment he spoke, a gust of wind blew a petal straight into his mouth. He’d meant to say they were pretty—and instead, he ate one.

Spitting and coughing, Giyeon tried to get the petal out. Suhyeon, watching, turned his head away, lips pressed tight. freēwēbnovel.com

Giyeon stared at his trembling shoulders.

"Sunbae."

"...Yeah."

"Why are your shoulders shaking?"

He stepped closer, and Suhyeon covered his face with a hand. His eyes were tightly shut, cheeks twitching. Anyone could see he was holding back laughter.

Son Suhyeon—the guy who never laughed—was laughing.

Giyeon was shocked, but not in a bad way. Whatever kind of laugh it was, he’d made Suhyeon laugh, and that alone made the corners of his mouth curl up.

Once Suhyeon finally managed to calm down, he lowered his hand—and just then, Giyeon pulled a petal from his mouth with a little flick of his tongue. He was going to just swallow it, but—

"Hahaha!"

Suhyeon burst into open laughter. His smile curved high, eyes crinkled with genuine amusement. It was the first time Giyeon had ever seen his face look like that. He couldn’t look away.

Still smiling, Suhyeon reached out. Giyeon flinched slightly, but the touch was gentle—it brushed against his hair.

"You had a petal in your hair."

Suhyeon held up the soft pink blossom. It looked like a scene from a movie or drama.

Maybe that’s why—

Click!

"Ha Giyeon...?"

His hand had moved on its own, snapping a photo with his phone.

The petals, the smile, the gentle curve of Suhyeon’s eyes.

All of it was now inside Giyeon’s phone.

"Ah...!"

He stared blankly at the photo for a moment, then snapped back to reality. Suhyeon was looking at him with a baffled expression.

‘That wasn’t even sneaky. I just straight up took a photo...’

He must’ve really lost it from exhaustion. Flustered, Giyeon tried to explain.

"I–I’m sorry! You were smiling so nicely, I couldn’t help it... I’ll delete it right away!"

He opened his gallery to erase the photo, but Suhyeon suddenly reached out.

"Let me see it."

"Huh...?"

"Just want to check if it came out weird."

Suhyeon casually took the phone and stared at the photo for a long time—then handed it back.

"See? It’s a good one, right? Haha... I’ll delete it now—"

"Don’t."

The unexpected reply made Giyeon freeze. He stared at Suhyeon, dumbfounded—only to see Suhyeon pull out his phone and snap a picture of him.

"Now we’re even."

"Wh–what? Sunbae, what are you—"

"You look ridiculous."

"Delete it! I’ll delete mine too!"

"Nope."

Suhyeon waved his phone in front of him like a trophy. Giyeon didn’t know whether to be shocked or speechless.

Was Suhyeon always this playful?

Panic rising, Giyeon jumped and tried to grab the phone, but with the height difference, it was hopeless.

"Sunbae, please delete it!"

"Bus is coming. Go."

With his long legs, Suhyeon quickly outpaced him. Giyeon barely caught up when they boarded the bus. Not that he could reach him anyway.

As the bus idled at the light, Giyeon turned to the alley and watched Suhyeon disappear from view.

***

The present, so different from the time before regression.

His brothers. His mother. His school. His relationships. Everything had changed little by little, and yet...

There were still things he hadn’t seen coming.

“Me and Giyeon are joining the Career Debate Club!”

Nam Taekyung shouted, raising his hand—talking about the very club his brothers were in.