No. No.
It was a dream. It was just a dream. And he might have dropped the tooth somewhere.
Jihoon walked out of his room in a rush, almost tripped over his own feet. He quickly steadied
himself again, just when Seungcheol looked at him from the kitchen.
“What’s the hurry, Jihoonie?” He chuckled, turning off the stove. “Are you hungry? Don’t
worry, I’ve just finished making your breakfast. Sit down—oh, nice shoes! Did you just buy
it?”
Jihoon blinked. Was Seungcheol pretending not to know about it? It might have fooled him in
the past, when he got him the Halloween costume and a new backpack, but he was not a child
anymore. His brother could just be honest with him now.
“Hyung...”
“Yes?”
Jihoon stared at his brother. He found no pretense in his smile, no lie in his eyes.
He looked down at the meals Seungcheol had prepared for him. Perfectly cooked omelet and
sausages. The slightly burnt ones were on his brother’s plate. On the sofa, laid his freshly
washed and ironed uniform, no more dirt or crease seen. Even for the smallest, most trivial
thing, Seungcheol always and only wanted to give the best for Jihoon. There’s no way, no way
he’d give him an old pair of worn-out secondhand shoes.
“Jihoonie?”
His voice snapped him back from his thoughts. Seungcheol was looking intently at him.
Confused. Worried.
“Nothing. Nothing, Hyung. I was just wanting to ask you if we can have toasts for breakfast
tomorrow.”
Jihoon had a habit of looking down while walking, to avoid meeting people’s eyes. But that
morning, he kept looking down for another reason. The new shoes. It looked just like any
other ordinary shoes, but Jihoon couldn’t stop staring at it, as though expecting it to suddenly
change its form or turn feral and attack him. Should he just return it? But to who? He didn’t
know whose shoes it was. Maybe he could post it online to find the owner? But how would
he explain how he got it? What if they accuse him of stealing—
“Jihoon!”
He looked up. His steps stopped.