3 Paths to Love

Chapter 41

The cicadas sang, their humming travelling through the humid breeze. Every surface the sun touched sizzled, including the stone courtyard in the middle of the quaint hanok house.

Seunghyeon sat in the outdoor walkway and scooted back into the shade, grumbling. Airing out his shirt, he scanned the courtyard, from the grey stone fence with the rickety metal gate to the closed sliding doors leading to the kitchen. Silence.

With nothing to do until their neighbour drops something off, Seunghyeon rolled onto his side and pulled out his phone, dialling Sunny.

They had been good about staying in contact. Texting and sending pictures every day. Though, seeing Kwangsun's face in real-time was rare.

He adjusted his hair in his video before the call picked up and he was greeted by a giant nose taking up the entire screen. Seunghyeon jerked back.

"Uh... hello?"

The person- or kid pulled back from the screen and said something that was definitely not Korean or English.

Seunghyeon blinked and furrowed his brows. "Is Kwangsun there?" he asked, slowly in English.

The kid looked equally confused. Behind him, two legs appeared, climbing over the couch the kid must have been hiding behind. The kid gasped and whipped around. "Tayo! No! Tayo!" He shrieked and dropped the phone.

With the thudding of multiple running feet and inaudible yelling and the camera violently shaking, Seunghyeon sniggered as there was a click of a lock and the shaking stopped.

"Sorry about that," Kwangsun said, holding his phone up, relieving his bright smile. "Hey, kitty, what's up?"

Seunghyeon chuckled and laid his head on his arm. "Nothing, just bored," he said, his smile softening as he took in Kwangsun's face. Videos really had nothing on the real thing. "Was that one of your cousins?"

"Yup. He's going through his annoying phase. Thinking he can go around picking up people's phones," Kwangsun tsked before using his hand to cover his yawn.

"It's okay. We were both equally confused," Seunghyeon said. "What was he saying, by the way? He was saying something like 'tayo'? Does that mean help?"

Kwangsun chuckled. "No, it's my name."

Seunghyeon perked up. "Your name?"

"Yeah. My family here calls me Eyitayo. Tayo for short. It means sufficient joy. According to my dad," Kwangsun said, smirking before turning offscreen. By the way he touched his face, he was looking into a mirror.

Seunghyeon nodded, a smile tugging on his lips as he watched him. "That's cool," he hummed. He hadn't heard a name like that before and the meaning was very fitting. "Maybe I'll start calling you Tayo too," Seunghyeon piped up, giggling.

"No," Kwangsun snapped. Seunghyeon paused, being met with Kwangsun's comical pout with his eyes deeply furrowed. Seunghyeon's heart skipped, which he brushed off by rolling his eyes.

"Keep calling me Sunny. You're the only one that does," Kwangsun said nonchalantly and turned back to the mirror.

Seunghyeon blinked. His cheeks grew hot and he fought the urge to curl into a ball. "Fine," Seunghyeon managed dramatically. He shook his head before focusing back on the screen. "Why's he there, anyway? I thought all your young cousins were staying with your grandma?"

Kwangsun clicked his tongue. "Yeah, but all the young ones made a fuss yesterday. So, he, his brother and my sisters stayed the night. Though, we're definitely sending them back after breakfast. We're going to pick up our suits today and there's no way we're taking the kids into the city."