Chapter 115
Ye jun
Si Woo finally clicked the cuffs open and my wrists dropped like dead weight. They hurt bad, red rings around them from all the yanking I did earlier. He did not say anything soft or nice. No sorry, no you okay. He just grabbed a towel from somewhere and started wiping me down rough, like he was cleaning up a spill he did not care about. His hand pressed hard between my legs, cleaning the mess we made, and every swipe made me wince because I was still sore as hell.
He leaned in and pressed his lips to one of the hickeys on my neck, the big one that stung the most. "These stay," he muttered against my skin, voice low and bossy. "Don’t you dare cover them tomorrow. I want everyone to see who fucked you up this good."
I tried to shove his face away but my arms felt too heavy. "Get off me with that crap. We should stop this whole thing, Si Woo. For real this time. It’s messing me up bad."
He laughed right in my ear, that mean little huff he always does when he thinks I am full of shit. "Stop? You say that every damn time and then spread your legs again five minutes later. Shut up." He kissed the next hickey on my chest, right over my nipple that still throbbed from his teeth. "This one looks nice. Purple suits you, baby bro. Makes me want to add more."
My stomach twisted. I hated how my body still reacted even when my brain screamed no. "I mean it. This is fucked. I cannot keep doing this with you. You are my brother, dude. What the hell is wrong with us?"
He pulled me against his chest instead of answering, arms wrapping around me tight like a trap. It was supposed to be cuddling but it felt like he was pinning me there so I could not run. His leg hooked over mine, keeping me stuck. "You are not going anywhere tonight. Not after that little speech you gave while I was still inside you. Remember? All that crap about how your life is ruined because of me. Cute."
I squirmed but he just squeezed harder. "Let go. I need to think straight and I cannot with your dick still half hard against my thigh."
"Thinking straight never did you any favors, you are not straight anyway," he shot back, voice dripping with that annoying fact. He kissed another mark on my thigh, slowly. "Look at you. All marked up like my personal property. Bet you will be walking funny tomorrow at work. People are gonna ask questions and you will have to lie through your teeth."
Work. Tomorrow. The word hit me like a slap. I sat up fast, ignoring how my ass protested. "Shit. Work. And Ohm." My chest went tight all of a sudden. I had not even called to check on Ohm after he got shot. Not one text, not one call. I was too busy getting railed by my own stepbrother and crying about how much I hated it. What kind of friend does that? My eyes started burning and I blinked hard because no way was I crying again tonight.
Si Woo noticed the shift. He tried to pull me back down but I shoved him off. "What? You remembering your little boyfriend now? After I just wrecked your ass?"
"He is not my boyfriend, asshole. He is in the hospital because someone tried to kill him and I did not even bother to call. I am the worst." I got out of bed on shaky legs, every hickey and bite mark screaming as I moved. My neck looked like a crime scene in the mirror. No way I could hide all that at work. "I need to go see him. Right now."
"It is the middle of the night, dumbass. Visiting hours are over." Si Woo leaned back on the bed, arms behind his head, looking way too smug for someone who just heard me panic. "Come back here. We can go tomorrow."
"No. I have to do something." My brain raced. I could not show up looking like this, all sexed up and guilty. And I needed an excuse for why I had not checked on him earlier. Fever. Yeah. If I looked sick, maybe they would buy that I was too out of it to call. I stumbled to the kitchen, grabbed two onions from the counter, and started peeling them fast.
Si Woo followed me, naked and still smirking. "What the fuck are you doing with onions? You hungry now?"
"Shut up. Old trick. Put them under my armpits and in my socks. Makes you look like you got a fever. Hot and sweaty and gross." I sliced one onion quickly , stuffed pieces under my arms, and taped them there with whatever I could find. Then I shoved bigger chunks into my socks and pulled them on. My feet already felt weird and itchy. "I am sleeping like this. By morning I will look like crap. Red eyes, hot body, headache. Perfect excuse."
He laughed so hard he had to hold the doorframe. "You are actually doing the onion thing? Like some old grandma remedy? That is the dumbest shit I have ever heard. You are really that desperate to cover for not calling your precious Ohm?"
"Unlike you, I actually care when my friends get shot at." I grabbed a blanket and a hot pot of steaming water, set it near the bed, and crawled under the covers with the onions burning my skin. The smell was awful, like I was marinating in regret. "Go away. Let me fake sick in peace."
Si Woo did not leave. He just watched me from the doorway, shaking his head. "You are pathetic. But fine. Fake your little fever. Just remember those hickeys are staying. If Ohm asks, tell him you got fucked by your owner."
I flipped him off and buried my face in the pillow. The onions made my eyes water almost right away. Good. That would help the red look tomorrow. Sleep did not come easily with the burning and the guilt, but I passed out eventually, dreaming of hospitals and guns and Si Woo laughing in my ear.
When I woke up later that day, my head pounded like someone hit it with a hammer. My body felt hot all over, skin sticky with sweat. Eyes burned when I opened them, and my throat scratched like I had been yelling for hours. The onions worked way better than I thought. I looked in the mirror and almost did not recognize myself. Pale, red-eyed, hair messed up, and those damn hickeys still dark on my neck and chest. I pulled on a hoodie anyway, even though it was too warm, and rushed out.
The hospital was so busy as usual. My parents were already there when I got to Ohm’s room, standing outside talking quietly with his parents and the doctors. They saw me and rushed over, Mom hugging me tight. "Ye Jun, you look terrible. Were you sick too?."
"Yeah, fever hit me hard," I lied, voice raspy on purpose. "Sorry. I should have called but I could barely move." The guilt sat heavy in my stomach because part of that was true. I had been moving, just not in any helpful way.
Dad patted my shoulder. "Go in and see him. We will wait out here a bit."
I nodded and pushed the door open. Ohm looked smaller in the hospital bed, bandages on his shoulder and side, machines beeping steady. But he smiled when he saw me, that same easy smile that always made me feel lighter. I sat next to the bed and grabbed his hand without thinking. His fingers squeezed back weak but warm.
"Ye Jun. Finally. Thought you forgot about me," he said, voice tired but teasing. "You look like shit, man. What happened?"
"Fever. Bad one. Slept through most of yesterday like an idiot." I squeezed his hand harder, throat tight. "I am so sorry I did not come sooner. Or call. I feel like crap about it."
He shrugged the good shoulder. "Hey, you are here now. That is what matters." We sat quiet for a minute, just holding hands. It felt nice, normal, nothing like the chaos with Si Woo. But then Ohm got serious, eyes locking on mine. "Listen. I have been thinking a lot since it happened. About who did this. What I will do if I figure it out."
My stomach dropped. "What do you mean?"
"If I find out who tried to kill me," he said slowly , voice dropping lower, "I am going to make them pay. I will kill that person myself if I have to. Make sure they suffer for every second. No mercy."
The words hit hard. Ohm had always been the calm one, the guy who joked through everything. Hearing him talk like that, all cold and angry, made my chest hurt. I nodded anyway because what else could I say? "Yeah. I get it. They deserve it."
He pulled his phone out with his free hand, thumb scrolling quickly . "I already have something. Look." He turned the screen toward me. Pictures. Messages. Some guy I did not know, but the name connected right to Si Woo. Payments. Meetings. A gun mentioned like it was no big deal. My brain froze. No way. Si Woo could not. He would not.
I stared at the phone, mouth dry. "This is fake. Has to be. Si Woo is my brother. He would not shoot at you. Why would he even..."
Ohm watched my face close. "It is real, Ye Jun. I checked. The shooter has ties straight to him. Money trail does not lie."
My head spun. The room felt too small, the beeps too loud. I pulled my hand back without meaning to. "No. You are wrong. He is an asshole, yeah, but not a killer. Not like that."
"Look at the dates. Look at the messages." Ohm kept his voice steady but his eyes were hard. "You have to make a choice here. Believe me and do what you promised to do. Help me get justice. Or take your stepbrother’s side. Pick one, because you cannot do both."
I sat there, heart hammering so loud I thought the machines would pick it up. Si Woo’s face flashed in my mind, all those hickeys he left, the way he pinned me down last night, the way he laughed when I cried. Then Ohm’s hand in mine, the promise I just made to kill whoever did this. My eyes burned again, not from onions this time. Everything felt messed up and heavy, like I was standing on the edge of something I could not come back from.
"Ye Jun?" Ohm said, waiting. "What are you going to do?"
I opened my mouth but nothing came out right away. The choice sat there between us, sharp and ugly. My brother or my friend. The guy who wrecked me or the guy I should have protected. My hands shook and I gripped the bed rail tight so he would not see.
Outside the room my parents were still talking, voices muffled. Inside, the silence stretched while Ohm watched me, waiting for an answer that could blow everything apart. I did not know which side I was on anymore. And that scared me more than anything.