adora • lookism

23. Home

"I don't like how that bastard was looking at me."

Ari clung to the neck of the man closest to being her real big brother in any life, breathing in the comforting scent of woodsmoke and wilderness. Resting her head against his shoulder, she let the deep reverberation of his voice resonate familiarly in the hollows of her ribcage.

"He probably didn't like how you were looking at him either," Ari quipped, voice languid with the drowsiness that kept gumming in her mind like tree sap. She slumped bonelessly into the strong arm holding her aloft. "Thanks for picking me up, oppa."

He sighed. Up close like this, the rise and fall of his broad chest made it feel like she was leaning against a shifting pile of boulders. "I can't believe you were about to let that boy into your house when you're in this state."

"I wasn't. Isn't that why I called you?" Ari had texted him to come quickly even back when she was waiting with Yui for Doctor Hangyul, and then again to hurry him up to her apartment while she was waiting in the convenience store.

Hangyul Baek was good looking and nice to her, and Ari was grateful that he'd come to help. But after he'd almost robbed a kiss from her in the pharmacy's parking lot, in full view of the public eye, she wasn't going to let him into her home. Just because she looked like someone who could easily be taken advantage of, didn't mean she had to let it be true.

At least Hangyul had enough qualms to stop when he thought he was about to be caught. Unlike a certain someone back home, who...

Haha.

Her cousin clicked his tongue in disapproval. "What would you have done if I wasn't in the area?"

"I would have asked someone else, then."

"Hm." He paused, thoughtful. "The bastard looked far too happy to be here. I should find him and see how fucking happy he is without teeth."

"Oppa, you promised not to fight," Ari nagged tiredly, lifting her head off the fluffy collar of his coat with a little glare. "Besides, he's the director of a hospital and someone from my work, at that. It'll be a pain to deal with the aftermath if you do something to him."

"That young kid was a hospital director?" He glanced sideways at her, his dark eyes sharp with intelligence. "Your work sounds more suspicious every time I hear about it. Does your mom know what the hell you're doing?"

"Does your aunt know how you're getting all that fresh ginseng?"

"That's a low blow."

"Hmm," said Ari, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

He reached out to open the door to his customized Rubicon, easily setting her in the massive passenger seat with one hand. "Damn creepy how much you sound like aunt when you do that."

"Good." Ari sank into the cushy seat and closed her eyes. "Oppa, did you hunt any boar recently? Mom said that dad came up with a new recipe a while back and I really wanted to try it."

"I thought you said you had a stomach ache."

"I'll probably be okay to have a few bites by the time we get home. This is what we call the power of modern medicine." Ari smiled sleepily, her voice becoming fainter. "I guess you might not have heard of it in your jungle, mountain man."

Taesoo Ma let out a thunderous bark of laughter. "Brat, you're real cheeky today," he said. "Shut up and go to sleep; traffic'll take us about an hour. And I'll see what I can do about the boar."

Ari yawned, happily leaning the seat all the way back. "Hehe. Thanks, big bro."

She was out like a light before he even pulled out of the parking spot.