FOUR

Lee Haekyo stared bored at the view of the swimming pool in front of him. Today everyone seems busy arranging the corners of the house to welcome the arrival of the newlyweds. Even though he was quite sad because this morning when he met Kyunghee and congratulated the man, Kyunghee actually snapped at him again and forbade him to come to the wedding party. Even though he really wanted to come and see the wedding procession of his most beloved brother.

Sometimes when he is alone like this, he often thinks about himself now and himself in the past. Although not all of his memories can be seen clearly, he can feel that he was a successful man and not as pathetic as he is today. In fact, right now he could barely understand every sentence he read. The violent collision he experienced during the accident earlier had completely turned his world upside down. It was as if all the things he had done in the past disappeared without a trace.

Yet when he occasionally looks at the photos of his past successes, he looks so great and amazing. However, that is all in the past. Now he was just a worthless idiot. In fact the only family he had was disgusted and hated him so much.

Haekyo fiddled with the paper and pencil he was holding while gazing far away at the orange sky which was slowly turning into a dark, dense sky. Suddenly an idea crossed his mind. With a passionate spirit, Lee Haekyo began to scratch his pencil on the white paper that he had been holding. He plans to make a wedding gift for his brother. Even though the gift was in a simple form, at least he wanted Kyunghee to know that he was also happy with his brother's marriage.

Thirty minutes later Haekyo had successfully completed the drawing he had made with great effort. He wiped the sweat dripping down his forehead. Even though at first glance his drawing job looks easy, for someone with mental retardation like Haekyo, drawing can be a challenge for him. Apart from drawing activities that require synchronization between the right and left brain, Haekyo also needs to get used to his motor nerves to move his hands, so Haekyo definitely needs a lot of effort to do it.

“Sir, Mr. Kyunghee and Mrs. Hana have come,” told Aunt Nam to Haekyo.

Hearing that his brother and sister-in-law had arrived, Haekyo immediately jumped up happily from his seat while limping towards the front room. He wanted to be the first to congratulate his brother before the other maids congratulated the newlywed couple.

When Haekyo arrived at the main door, he immediately stood next to the maids who looked neatly lined up waiting for Kyunghee's arrival. While waiting for Kyunghee to help Hana get out of the car, Haekyo immediately prepared his drawing which he positioned in front of his chest, so that when Kyunghee and Hana were fully out of the car, they both could immediately see his drawing picture.

"Kkk-Kyunghee," called Haekyo cheerfully while waving the drawing paper.

Hana who saw that immediately smiled gently at Haekyo and intended to extend her hand to take the picture. Unexpectedly, Kyunghee was the first to take the picture from Haekyo's hands while observing it with a serious face. Hana who saw this looked happy, at least Kyunghee could appreciate the picture that his brother had made.

Even with Haekyo, the man looks so happy when his younger brother finally wants to be lenient with him, appreciating the result of the image he has worked so hard to make.

However, the joy did not last long. Unexpectedly, Kyunghee immediately tore the picture into four parts in front of everyone, especially in front of his brother, Lee Haekyo. While tearing up the picture, Kyunghee gave him a very hurtful look full of ridicule.

“Your drawing is really really shit. Your drawing is like the drawing of a three year old child. I'm really ashamed to have an idiot brother like you!”

Hana who saw this could only stare at the spot. Between shock and sadness. She didn't think that Kyunghee would do that. She thought Kyunghee had changed and softened a bit to Haekyo. But, it turns out that Kyunghee is still a very mean man to his own sibling.

"Kyu, what are you doing?" Hana asked sadly. Kyunghee seemed to ignore Hana's question and immediately walked away after tearing the picture from Haekyo.

As Kyunghee left, all the maids who had previously lined up there also dispersed and slowly disappeared from the Lee family's main door. Hana stared in disbelief at the departure of Haekyo who looked very shocked and also as sad as she was. Before leaving the main door, Lee Haekyo had time to wipe some of his tears that fell down his thin cheeks. It seemed that the man didn't want to show his sadness too much to everyone.

Hana saw from the inside, Aunt Nam wiped her tears because she couldn't bear to see her young master being treated arbitrarily like that after things weren't the same as before. When everyone had gone inside and left Hana alone at the door, the woman began to collect the pieces of paper that Kyunghee had torn up one by one. Luckily Kyunghee didn't tear it too small, so Hana could put the picture back together easily.

-00-

The atmosphere in the dining room seemed quiet when the dinner was taking place. In the main seat, Kyunghee seemed to start his dinner quietly. Since then he had not asked Hana to talk at all. Even though his wife had asked him various questions, Kyunghee was still cold and seemed to be hostile to her.

"Kyu, you want more?" Hana asked offering while lifting the vegetable spoon up high.

Cho Kyunghee shook his head once then resumed his eating activities. However, when Hana was about to return the vegetable spoon to its place, Haekyo suddenly thrust his plate at Hana and asked Hana to fill his plate with a spoonful of vegetables made by aunt Nam.

"I-I want more vegetables." Haekyo said lightly as if nothing had happened between them.

Hana can clearly remember how Kyunghee treated the man. However, Haekyo never considered this as something important. So that the man will easily return to normal without holding a grudge in his heart.

"What do you want? Alright, I'll get oppa a lot of vegetables. Do you like vegetables?" Hana asked trying to build intimacy with her brother-in-law.

"Yy-yes, that's how it is. Aunty Nam's ff-food is very delicious." Haekyo replied while holding his fork up high.

Hana smiled amused at Haekyo's cuteness. Although the mental disability limits him physically, he is psychologically warmer and healthier than Kyunghee's mental state.

Silently while eating her dinner, Hana compared the two brothers. Hana imagined how Haekyo's condition used to be before the accident took his normalcy. The man looks more charming compared to Kyunghee. Even though the way he eats looks funny and weird, in Hana's eyes it looks more classy than the way his husband, Kyunghee eats.

The sudden screeching sound of a chair made Hana immediately stop her daydreaming. She looked towards the source of the voice, and immediately found Kyunghee who was preparing to go to his study.

"Kyu, are you done? Do you want me to make you some hot tea?” said Hannah gently.

"No need. I will finish my work first. If you're sleepy, go to sleep first." Kyunghee said flatly and immediately walked away leaving Hana and Haekyo alone in the dining room.

After Kyunghee left, Hana began to feel bored and lonely. She felt neglected and insignificant in her husband's eyes. Even though their first night should have been spent sharing warmth together, Kyunghee's mood was actually getting worse at an inopportune time, so Hana herself was only able to be patient in dealing with Kyunghee's attitude which she honestly only found out after getting married.

"Ha- Hana," called Haekyo suddenly.

Hana then looked up and smiled kindly at Haekyo.

"Yes, what’s up? Do you need anything, oppa?” Hana then asked.

Haekyo shook his head slowly, but after that he just looked at Hana with a blank look like a dreamy.

"Oppa.. what's wrong?" Hana asked unsure. But then she can conclude, if people with mental disabilities will do this when he is thinking, due to the fact that people with such diseases will have difficulty thinking.

"I want to apologize for what happened earlier. You must be feeling embarrassed and annoyed."

“Oppa shouldn't have to apologize to me. I should be the one apologizing to oppa. Oppa, please forgive Kyunghee huh. I'm very sorry about what happened earlier, because I didn't do anything to quell Kyunghee's anger at you."

Haekyo smiled sweetly at Hana and nodded his head as a yes to Hana's request. After that he immediately left the dining room without saying a word to Hana. Although it is still difficult for her to understand Haekyo's behavior and mindset, in her heart Hana is determined to be able to understand Haekyo's behavior in the future.

-00-

Kyunghee ruffled her hair in frustration. He just got a call from Mr. Lee's lawyer, if he can't get all of the Lee family's assets directly after marriage because taking care of the transfer of ownership of assets requires a long process, so Kyunghee still has to wait even longer to realize his wish.

In frustration, Kyunghee rubbed her face uncertainly. He felt so angry at everyone around him, especially his older brother, Lee Haekyo. Because that man from the start had made his life hard. And with that man's disability, Kyunghee felt the upper hand. He wanted to hurt him as much as he wanted. Unfortunately his brother never felt really hurt by all the actions he did, so he always felt dissatisfied every time he hurt his brother's feelings.

Flash back

On a cold autumn night. A man in a black suit is walking alone down the deserted streets of Seoul. Right now he felt so lonely and empty. He has no one else in this world. In fact, his father didn't seem to care about him. Everything he did never reaped the praise of his father. In fact, his brother, the person he hates the most in the world, always gets what he wants.

Cho Kyunghee then stepped back while imagining the pain after pain he was feeling. Sometimes he thought of giving up and falling to his knees for the greatness of his brother, but the image of his mother who had always encouraged him always danced in his mind every time he wanted to give up and acknowledge his brother's greatness.

Without realizing it, he had walked quite a distance until he arrived at a deserted city park. There were only a few people who were spending their time in the park looking at the small number of vehicles passing by. Kyunghee exhaled slowly. A thin steam was instantly created as his breath repeatedly flowed through the cold air.

'This air is very cold. As cold as my heart.’

Kyunghee touched his frozen chest. Don't know since when his heart turned cold and sometimes uncivilized. All this time, unnoticed by the people around him, he began to do dirty ways to achieve his hopes. Including hanging out with the wrong people and learning some sneaky tricks. However, again Kyungee didn't care. As long as it can realize his wish, then he will do it with all his heart.

"You don't want to go home."

Suddenly a man came while placing a can of beer beside Kyunghee. Knowing exactly who the man sitting next to him was, Kyunghee chose to look away and had no intention of replying to the man's words. After all, the only source of her troubles and thorns in her life was that man, so he didn't want to bother establishing contact with the man he despised the most.

"You know, sometimes father just can't appreciate someone's work. Actually father is also very proud of you. He doesn't hate you at all."

"What do you know about father? From the beginning, my father never appreciated my hard work. It's always only you who gets everything from father." Kyunghee replied fiercely.

Hearing Kyunghee's answer, the man only smiled faintly. He knew how his brother was feeling right now. However, he still has to straighten everything out so that all these problems can be resolved.

"Really huh? I know very well the nature of the father. In front of you he never shows his concern, but when you're not around, father is very proud of you. He just wants you to grow. Doesn't a human only want to try harder after he feels competitive with other people? Imagine if father didn't treat you like this, would you still have the determination to compete with me?” Haekyo asked wisely.

The man grabbed a bottle of beer and gulped it all down. After this he intended to go home and let Kyunghee reflect on his own. He thought Kyunghee really needed time to reflect on all this misunderstanding.

"Nonsense. I don't believe your words at all. Everything you said to me was just useless that also came from a useless man like you. You bastard Lee. I really hate you," he cursed.

His breaths raced against each other, as if he had just run miles away. However, the man who was scolded by him actually smiled sincerely at him while giving him a warm pat on the shoulder.

"I'm not mad at you, but try to reflect on my words, then you will grow up." Haekyo messaged before he left leaving Kyunghee alone pensive in the garden.

Flashback end

That flash of memory made Kyunghee recall the events in the past that involved him and his brother, Lee Haekyo. Even though at that time and a few days later Cho Kyunghee continued to show unfriendly face, Haekyo patiently always treated Kyunghee in a friendly manner, like a brother would treat his own younger brother.

'Your only weakness is your good side Haekyo. And because of that good side of you, you just crumbled under my feet. You idiot' Kyunghee thought with a satisfied grin.