The Things Only I Can Do for Him

“Why? Last time he came to our dorm and watched the current season of Pick My Dol with us, he was really impressive too.”
“He said he’d never watched any season except ours, but he grasped how the whole program operated, and I was like wow, seriously.”

“Really?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I think he’s more impressive than you.”
“You’re the person involved, but Hanbyeol isn’t. No wonder Danyeong hyung and Yunsoo hyung feel regretful too.”
“……I suppose so.”
“Seeing him sort out situations with such sharp precision, I think he wouldn’t be bad at life in the entertainment industry either?”

Yuseong’s expression, which had been checking his phone, sank.
Then a small but firm voice flowed out.
“Hanbyeol can’t.”
“Huh?”
“……No. Anyway, we can release the articles now.”
“Since Hanbyeol is taking the CSAT, we can ask him to come to the dorm after it ends, right? Let’s buy him something tasty.”
“Does Hanbyeol like beef too?”
“Of course~.”

Yuseong’s expression returned to normal, as if asking when it was ever different.

****

The CSAT was over.

His parents were busy, so they weren’t home anyway, and his brother, thanks to the controversies being somewhat resolved, was in a period focusing on comeback preparations.

Meanwhile, Hanbyeol had gathered with his friends, putting their heads together.

“I’m screwed.”
“Ha, Hanbyeol-ah… are you okay?”
“I’m done for. Seriously, sigh… what do I do about this?”

Hanbyeol’s eyes were hollow.
Seeing Hanbyeol’s dead expression, Taeha patted his shoulder with a flustered expression.

After grading using the numbers he wrote on his admission ticket, Hanbyeol fell into despair.

No wonder his memory felt off.
For the first time, he felt like the meanings of English words he would normally recall instantly were erased like a blank slate the moment he picked up the test paper.

Even problem types he usually never got wrong felt strangely hazy in his head.

“I’m really screwed…”

At Hanbyeol’s muttering, Taeha patted him saying it was okay.
Eunhan and Jaehwi, who had rushed over from the next school right after the CSAT ended, looked at Hanbyeol with expressions of disbelief and scolded him.

“How many did he get wrong in Korean just now?”
“Two, I think?”
“……Should we kill him?”
“Why are his standards always insane?”

Eunhan and Jaehwi shook their heads side-to-side, saying they couldn’t understand the thoughts of people good at studying, but Hanbyeol only felt frustrated about his own situation.

That’s because the CSAT grade cutoff for the university he wanted to attend was extremely high.
Since the subject he got wrong the least was Korean, the situation for other subjects was as clear as day.

Of course, he had second and third choice universities, but his goal naturally had to be set on the one he most wanted to attend.

“Does it really seem impossible?”
“Yeah…”

Why did he go through the trouble of learning from his brother?
It was to try and follow in the footsteps of his brother (that bastard) who got a perfect CSAT score, enduring all that hardship in preparation.

As Hanbyeol made a distressed expression, Taeha, who had also been looking distressed, suddenly turned his head.

Black sunglasses, a mask, and a hat pulled down deep.
A person who looked extremely suspicious was watching them from afar.

Taeha briefly frowned, but Hanbyeol, not noticing, opened his mouth to lament.

“I know it’s unlucky. I know…”
“Huh?”
“It’s not that my standards are insane, it’s that there’s just no other way.”
“Am I the only one with insane standards?”
“Uh, Hanbyeol-ah? Choi Hanbyeol?”
“Hey. Is it because of us…? Did what we said upset you?”

The flustered Eunhan and Jaehwi examined Hanbyeol’s expression.

Normally, he would have playfully chided his friends and moved on, but this was the CSAT.
Because his score fell more than he thought, his mental state easily crumbled.

“I, my biological brother is Choi Yuseong.”
“Uh, uh… Your brother is Choi Yuseong…”
“He’s Choi Yuseong! No, not just that, I mean he’s that Choi Yuseong…”
“My brother was famous in everything he did, and I kept hearing ‘Choi Yuseong’s younger brother’ whenever I did anything.”
“You know what kind of talk I’d hear all the time just because we went to the same school. Since we were in the same class, you probably know.”
“……Well, yeah.”
“‘Are you Yuseong’s younger brother?’ ‘Ah, so your brother is Choi Yuseong.’ That’s it.”
“But, I’m not my brother, you know? I know our personalities and talents are different. I know that, but I’m still his younger brother.”
“…….”
“No matter how much effort I put in, I can’t be like my brother. I can’t even reach his toenails. Then there’s nothing I can do.”

Was it because he had such an outstanding person as a sibling?
Hanbyeol had always been compared to Yuseong.

Hanbyeol thought he had grown to at least average height.
177cm is above average, right!
But, thanks to Yuseong, who was over 180cm even as an Omega, he always had to hear that he was shorter than his brother.

Even when standing together, he was compared to the sharply handsome Yuseong, being told they didn’t look that alike, and his grades could never surpass his brother’s either.

“Am I good at dancing? Good at singing? Or good at studying?”
“I even hear things like ‘Well, at least he’s not as handsome as Choi Yuseong.’”
“Ha, Hanbyeol-ah…”
“The only thing I could even try to keep up with was studying. But the truth is, I couldn’t even keep up with that.”

How do you beat a perfect CSAT score?

He knew logically.
Yuseong is Yuseong, and Hanbyeol is Hanbyeol.
Even growing up under the same parents, personality, tendencies, and appearance differ depending on whether you take after your father or mother.

But no matter how hard he tried to think ‘I am different from that person,’ people are more prone to compare themselves to others than one might think.

At the sight of Hanbyeol, who seemed to have lost his soul, the two hesitant friends scratched their heads.
They had never imagined his mental state would break down to this extent.

As it happened, there was a dinner appointment with his parents, so Jaehwi and Eunhan couldn’t stay with Hanbyeol longer and waved goodbye first.

“……What help am I to my brother?”

Hanbyeol muttered, still out of it.

At the voice that sounded as if he had given up, Taeha finally hugged Hanbyeol and patted him.
Holding the person whose emotions didn’t subside easily, he patted gently at a pace similar to a heartbeat.

Hanbyeol, who had been muttering blankly, let out a sigh at Taeha’s hand comforting him.

‘……What a pitiful sight, Choi Hanbyeol.’

Many students feel emptiness after the CSAT, but he never imagined he’d be like this.

The two friends who left first were originally distant from CSAT studying or college prep.
They studied together just thinking it would be good to do well if they were going to do it, but they were actually thrilled, saying even if they got the lowest grade 9, they’d just get the exam student discounts.

And Taeha, who was comforting Hanbyeol, probably did well on the CSAT.
He wasn’t obsessed with test scores, but since his grades were always good, he probably did well.

“I really overreacted, didn’t I?”
“Mm…”
“Will Do Eunhan and Kang Jaehwi grab me by the collar tomorrow?”
“Maybe…?”
“If they grab me by the collar, should I grab them back too?”

At Hanbyeol’s words, Taeha let out a laugh.

“Then, I’ll grab them with you.”
“Grab my collar?”
“Ah, no…”

Seeing Taeha’s usual calm and kind demeanor, his fluctuating emotions gradually settled.

“You are you because.”
“……Because of what?”
“It means you’re different from Yuseong hyung.”
“……I obviously know that too.”
“Being good or bad at something doesn’t matter.”
“If I say it, of course I’ll sound unlucky…”
“Huh?”

At Taeha’s self-deprecating words, Hanbyeol’s eyes narrowed.

Taeha was still slowly patting Hanbyeol’s back.
Hanbyeol, who had lifted his head to look at Taeha, tilted his head in question.

“Hanbyeol, there are things you’re good at, right?”
“Me?”

He’s good at composing.
But, that’s only because he started learning before his brother.
There’s no guarantee he’ll be better than his brother in the future, who will keep listening to and sharing songs while active.

He’s not good at sports either.
He’s just not athletic.
He manages to keep up in PE class, joins soccer or basketball, but can only do clumsy dribbling, so he just passes the ball to a better friend when he gets it, let alone shoot.
And, housework? That’s something his brother made him do when he was young…

Seeing Hanbyeol seriously pondering what he was good at, Taeha broke into a cold sweat and laughed.

“Is it something to think about that seriously…?”
“Because no matter how much I think, I can’t find anything.”

Even thinking about what his brother was like at his age, it was the same.

Right now, Hanbyeol is still an ordinary high school student, anxious about his CSAT score, worrying about whether his desired university admission is possible because his CSAT score isn’t as high as he thought.

But Yuseong debuted at eighteen, receives an enormous settlement every year, and achieved a perfect CSAT score amidst all that busyness.
His skills steadily improved, and he’s still a top-tier idol.

“I really have no outstanding qualities.”
“That’s not true. You’re setting the wrong standard, Hanbyeol-ah.”
“No, what do you mean…”
“It’s not your brother; you have to think about what you have done. That’s what your brother did. Yuseong hyung isn’t you, Hanbyeol.”

Well, that’s true?
At the ordinarily correct statement, Hanbyeol blinked with a puzzled face.

“Think about what you’ve done well. You don’t need to compare with your brother.”

Korea is a fiercely competitive society.
The result of studying comes out as grades and is evaluated by scores.
Even if you want to study music, the results you create have to be better than what others make to catch people’s eyes.

Perhaps because he naturally saw his brother, who was ahead of him since childhood, he subconsciously imprinted him as someone he had to overcome.
Helping him because he’s family is one thing, but he still thought that ultimately, he had to surpass his brother to achieve something himself.

“Hanbyeol, you’ve done well so far. You’ll do well in the future too.”
“And, Yuseong hyung probably isn’t good at everything.”
“Uh…”
“He must have things he’s not good at too. Right?”

……Well, that’s true.

He’s not good at taking care of his body.
It was like that for a while, but the pheromone situation that still bothers Hanbyeol ultimately happened because he couldn’t take care of himself.

Come to think of it, he naturally thought taking care of his brother’s health was his job.

Because it’s something his brother can’t do, it’s something he should do.
Because his brother is good at everything he can’t do, he thought he had to take care of even the things he’s not good at to complete them.