Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 91: Ha Giyeon’s Hyung

The reason Ha Dohoon, who reeked of sweat and loathed playing basketball, had decided to participate was obvious: it was for Ha Giyeon to see him.

He wanted to see that same childhood face—eyes sparkling as he looked at him. He hadn't expected Giyeon to be playing volleyball, and what he hadn’t predicted at all... was that the kid was surprisingly good at it.

Giyeon had always lacked athletic talent, and more than that, he hated sports.

...Did he practice or something?

This version of Ha Giyeon that he didn’t know left a sour taste in his mouth.

Family was supposed to exist for one another, to create an eternal ally founded in love. Blood—the deep, crimson thread—proved that bond, and Ha Dohoon believed it was unbreakable. So why did the boy who used to stand behind him seem to be getting farther and farther away?

He’d thought it was just a phase.

But the longer time passed, the more Giyeon seemed to ache, get hurt, suffer—right by his side. Then, with others, he would smile like he was happy, chatting away easily.

Was this right?

Did Giyeon want to be ignored so badly that his very presence caused him pain? That couldn’t be true—he used to only smile when he was next to me.

But even that smile now felt like a distant dream.

Ha Dohoon hated the future. Not because of some vague fear of the unknown—but because the more time passed, the more it felt like Ha Giyeon was slowly drifting away from him, until one day, like some discarded object, he might vanish entirely. That fear gripped him.

If he wanted to keep ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Giyeon close, he’d have to polish him, hide him, and preserve him like a treasured item.

But he kept slipping out of his grasp.

There was supposed to be nothing about Ha Giyeon he didn’t know. Likewise, Giyeon wasn’t supposed to hide anything from him. They were each other’s only brothers, tied by blood, irreplaceable. That’s why he had to find out. He had to know which bastard had made Ha Giyeon smile like that—made him call someone “hyung” with that kind of affection.

Sure, Giyeon had once called Choi Mujin and Kwon Jongseok “hyung,” but that was back before he’d grown up—just childish friendships. They themselves knew the distance between them and Giyeon now.

For Giyeon, the one and only hyung—until the day he died—was Ha Dohoon.

The moment he cut ties with those two, Giyeon should’ve gone back to calling them “sunbae” or treating them like strangers. They’d only been friends in the first place because they lived in the same neighborhood. That paper-thin bond couldn’t compare.

Because they were family.

Even if Ha Giyeon came to hate him, he would always still be his younger brother. They could fight and resent each other, but eventually, forgiveness was inevitable.

But no one else—no one—was allowed to be called hyung by Ha Giyeon.

Calling someone that meant they were close. He needed to find out who it was, how they met, pry everything out of him—and then deal with it. Buy him off and have him transfer schools, or stage an “accident” and get him suspended or expelled—just like he’d done back in middle school.

But first, he had to crush these little bastards.

“You fucking...”

“...Hoo...”

For what felt like the umpteenth time, Ha Dohoon was facing off against Son Suhyeon one-on-one—and the curse was practically chewed out of his mouth.

He’d figured this guy wasn’t a pushover the moment he beat Choi Mujin, but this was worse than expected. That tall build and sheer speed—blink and he was gone.

Suhyeon was in a similar state. Ha Dohoon was much better than Mujin, and he was struggling to keep up.

Each of their teams had taken one set, with the final third set remaining.

Ha Dohoon and Suhyeon, the two players who had scored the most and pushed themselves the hardest, were still locked in a dead heat.

Ha Dohoon’s class was ahead by one point, and he had the ball.

Son Suhyeon stood in his path, blocking him.

“Hey. You know Ha Giyeon, right?”

It happened suddenly. Ha Dohoon, visibly drained, threw the question out of nowhere.

The words kicked Son Suhyeon’s weary body and mind back into gear. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Yeah. I know him.”

Because you just hurt him a little while ago.

He swallowed the rest of what he wanted to say.

And the moment he gave that answer, Ha Dohoon’s eyes lit up. He raised the ball to shoot—

Thunk!

“He’s cheering for me right now.”

“...!”

Son Suhyeon’s hand slammed the ball away.

Snatching it from where it bounced, he cut through Ha Dohoon like air and bolted for the hoop.

Dohoon chased after him, but Suhyeon had already launched into a leap under the basket, ball in hand.

A perfect dunk.

Clang!

“Game over! Class 1-8 wins basketball!”

“Wooooow, that dunk was insane!”

“Did he just dunk? No way—is he some kind of athlete?”

Ha Dohoon’s class had lost by a single point. Though his teammates tried to comfort each other, clearly disappointed, only Ha Dohoon stood fuming, glaring daggers at Son Suhyeon.

His last words had shaken him.

He’d glanced toward Giyeon’s class instead of keeping his eyes on the ball.

That hesitation had cost him the game.

And that vague, slippery way Suhyeon had answered—like he knew Ha Giyeon, but not really—only made his anger rise.

He moved to approach him, ready to interrogate how close they were.

But just then—thump, thump, THUMP—something charged forward and launched itself at Son Suhyeon.

It was that damn dinosaur again.

***

Before the basketball game started, Ha Giyeon had put his mask back on and zipped himself into the dinosaur suit again.

Everyone else was already in costume to cheer, so he didn’t particularly stand out.

It was hot after just finishing his match—but who cared? He could cheer for Son Suhyeon freely, and that was all that mattered.

Even if the opponent was Ha Dohoon.

If this were before the regression, maybe he would’ve cheered for Dohoon. But not anymore.

“Dohoon sunbae, fighting!”

That was Nam Taekyung, shouting encouragement by his side.

Just like Taekyung cheered for the one he liked, Ha Giyeon cheered for the person he liked too.

“Game over! Class 1-8 wins basketball!”

With a sharp dunk, Suhyeon brought the fierce match to an end.

Giyeon, worried the whole time that Suhyeon might get hurt, rushed toward him with the crowd the moment it was over.

Suhyeon, basking in his classmates’ cheers, flinched when the dinosaur barreled toward him—then opened his arms wide.

“...!”

Giyeon leapt into his arms without hesitation.

Suhyeon caught the dinosaur-suited body and spun him around in a joyful circle.

Did he know it was me?

The crowd laughed at the scene, but Suhyeon didn’t care.

Even through the mask, Giyeon’s face was so clearly lit up—so openly delighted—that it was impossible to miss.

That smile was beautiful, and Suhyeon smiled back just as brightly.

He really was someone who couldn’t help but be loved.

“You want the chocolate I left at my seat?”

Still holding him, Suhyeon eventually lowered Giyeon gently and grabbed his hand, leading him out of the gym.

Suddenly, a towel was thrust toward them from the side.

“Here. Wipe your sweat.”

“....”

Suhyeon frowned at the towel that Nam Taekyung had offered.

There was confusion—why him?—but mostly, sheer irritation on his face.

He’d seen Taekyung try to offer that towel to Ha Dohoon earlier and get ignored. Now he was handing it to him?

What the hell was he trying to pull?

Suhyeon turned away, squeezed Giyeon’s hand tighter, and muttered, “Let’s go.”

He dragged Giyeon along and left the gym without sparing Taekyung another glance.

When Giyeon glanced back, he saw Taekyung angrily hurl the towel and stomp off somewhere.

“Eyes front. Don’t look anywhere else.”

Startled by Suhyeon’s words, Giyeon snapped his head back around.

Suhyeon chuckled and led him toward his class tent.

Once there, Giyeon unzipped the sweaty upper half of his dinosaur suit, and Suhyeon handed him a cold bottle of water.

Giyeon drank gratefully—then received a double handful of chocolate.

“Why do you have so much chocolate?”

“...Just ended up with it.”

He couldn’t admit he’d brought it in his backpack from the morning just to give it to Giyeon.

Giyeon promised to eat it all and turned to leave the tent, but at that moment, Suhyeon’s classmates returned in a crowd and spotted him.

“Hey, aren’t you from Class 1-8?”

“You’re that volleyball guy, right?”

“It’s him! The one who basically carried the game!”

They swarmed around him, praising him left and right, overwhelming Giyeon until he couldn’t even speak.

Suhyeon stepped in and shielded him.

“You’re scaring him. Move.”

“Oops, were we too much?”

“You like hamburgers?”

Now they were just handing him food.

Caught off guard, Giyeon found himself with an armful of snacks, and bowed with flustered gratitude.

“Th-thank you!”

“Come by anytime, cutie!”

Suhyeon kicked the guy’s butt and escorted Giyeon out of the tent.

Glancing at the pile of snacks in Giyeon’s arms, he muttered,

“...You don’t have to eat any if you don’t want to.”

“They gave it to me... I’ll share it with my classmates.”

“...But eat the chocolate yourself.”

Suhyeon ruffled his hair, then as if remembering something, grabbed the sleeve of Giyeon’s dinosaur suit and pulled it up.

He slipped the red armband he was wearing onto the suit’s upper arm.

“Wear this. So I can find you easily.”

With a soft “See you later,” he turned and walked away.

Somehow... his back looked stiff as he left.

Giyeon stared at the armband on his arm, then headed cheerfully to his class tent.

***

The school sports festival was nearly over, with only two events remaining.

The luck-of-the-draw race and the relay final.

But right before the luck-of-the-draw event, a problem hit Giyeon’s class.

“Is he fucking insane?”

“...I have no excuse.”

Their designated runner had gotten carried away after their volleyball win, tried a windmill move... and twisted his ankle.

He was now a disgraced mess, quietly sitting in shame.

Vice Class President Kang Minyeong was scrambling to find a replacement.

Their class was the only one that hadn’t sent a runner yet, and they were out of time.

According to the rules, the runner had to wear a costume. But everyone in costume had either wandered off or thrown theirs off and gone to play.

Normally, the class president would help manage this—but Nam Taekyung was sulking somewhere because of his mood, so that was no help.

Then—

“Giyeon-nim!”

The injured guy all but crawled to Giyeon, flopped down, and begged.

“Please! I humbly beg you to take my place in the race!”

Making someone who’d just played a match run again? Was he crazy?

Just as someone moved to pull him away, the announcement came: the race would be disqualified unless their runner showed up.

And there stood Ha Giyeon, still wearing his dinosaur suit around his waist.

Kang Minyeong didn’t even hesitate. He grabbed Giyeon’s hands.

“Giyeon! Please! Can you take his place in the luck-of-the-draw race?”

“...Huh?”

“I’m sorry—we just finished a game and you’re tired, I know, and I really shouldn’t be asking this, but... aside from the relay runners, you’re the only one in our class who’s fast enough. I’m not asking you to win—just participate. That’s all. If you’re too tired, it’s okay. Really.”

He said it all in one breath, face full of desperation.

And the announcer was still yelling.

Giyeon couldn’t bring himself to say no.

He was tired, yes—but the chocolate had helped him recover a bit. He could still run.

So he agreed.

Kang Minyeong thanked him repeatedly, then suddenly grew solemn and held something out.

Giyeon stared in disbelief.

“Giyeon, do you know what luck-of-the-draw really means?”

...Was that a banana?

“This isn’t a normal race. It’s an obstacle course. A tem battle.”

This wasn’t going to be a regular event.