A case of Transmigrating as a Sick Villain chapter 89

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Hoonil blinked his big eyes and chuckled at Jingyeom, who was staring back at him.

“To make sure you don’t forget, take a picture of it or write it down on your phone.”

Having finished the dressing, Hoonil perched on the edge of the bed, showing no intention of leaving. It seemed he still had more to say.

“You haven’t done much physical activity, so there’s not much to worry about. But still, don’t get hurt. You know what medication you’re taking, right?”

“I know. That’s why I’m being careful even now.”

An anticoagulant.

It was a drug that prevented blood from clotting.

As a result, once bleeding started, it wouldn’t stop easily.

Because of this, he had to be very careful in his daily life. If it were just his heart that hurt, he wouldn’t have said so much, but he couldn’t help but worry.

Jingyeom smiled gratefully at Hoonil, who was concerned about him.

He felt warmth in his heart, knowing he was loved by everyone.

He then cautiously brought up something he hadn’t been able to say to Jinwoo.

“Doctor… when I had the surgery, I had a dream.”

“What kind of dream?”

“A dream where I was in the hospital… My hands were thinner and more withered than they are now.”

It was just a moment, but the image of his hands had been seared into his mind.

He tried to dismiss it, knowing it was just a dream, but it kept floating around in his head.

He couldn’t tell whether it was simply a dream, a memory of his own, or a memory of Baek Jingyeom.

“I was wearing a patient’s gown.”

“Are your memories slowly coming back?”

“…Were my hands ever thinner than they are now?”

It was a careful but earnest question.

Hoonil straightened his posture and leaned towards Jingyeom, looking at his fidgeting hands.

“No, your hands have never been like that. They’ve always been this way.”

“Then, what did I see?”

“You said it yourself — it was a dream. So, it was a dream. No matter how much you say you’re not worried, it was a surgery. You might be mentally exhausted, which could have caused it to appear in your dream.”

“…A dream.”

So, it was a dream.

But as time passed, the dream didn’t become fainter; instead, it grew clearer.

He had an unfounded certainty that if he dreamed the same dream again, he would see it more vividly.

If it wasn’t a dream, he wanted to know whether it was his memory or Baek Jingyeom’s memory.

With his pre-transmigration memories still hazy, he was curious.

Since possessing Baek Jingyeom, there had been many events, so he hadn’t thought much about it.

He didn’t particularly want to find his old memories.

He believed it was a side effect of the possession and assumed they would naturally return when it was time.

But lately, perhaps because he was so happy here, he kept feeling a desire to stay and live here forever.

It might be a foolish wish, considering he couldn’t predict when the possession would suddenly end, but he loved this place so much.

He was so happy at this moment.

He thought that if he dreamt again, something might come to mind. However, contrary to his wishes, a few days passed without any dreams.

Even trying hard to think about the dream while falling asleep didn’t help. The lingering discomfort remained, but there was nothing Jingyeom could do.

Time passed, and the day of his discharge approached.

“Did you pack everything?”

“…I did, but did we have this much stuff?”

Dressed in regular clothes, Jingyeom folded his arms and looked at the piled-up luggage with a perplexed expression.

When he was admitted, it had only been one bag, but with the things he bought and those Soohyuk brought, it had multiplied several times.

“Guess we have to take a taxi?”

If there was less luggage, they could have taken the bus, but it was impossible to take public transport with all this.

Jingyeom quickly gave up on the bus.

“I brought the car.”

“A car? From where?”

“The director said I could use it today.”

“Wonbeom hyung? Then that means…”

It’s the company’s car…

He couldn’t finish his sentence, trailing off.

He wondered if it was okay to use the company car like this, but figured it wasn’t his concern, so he left it alone.

“I’m going to drop you off and then return to the company, so it’s fine. I’ll just drop off the luggage and come back. You wait here.”

“No, why bother? We can just carry it together.”

“You’re still a patient. Even if you’ve healed well, you need to be careful. You know that, right?”

“I know, but light things are okay.”

Not all the luggage was heavy, and they only needed to go as far as the parking lot, so the walking time would be short.

After a brief moment of consideration, Jinwoo seemed to decide it was okay and began dividing the luggage.

Meanwhile, Hoonil entered the hospital room.

“Are you all set for discharge?”

“Yeah, almost done.”

Jinwoo greeted Hoonil while tidying up.

“Isn’t this your clinic hours?”

“That’s right. I just took a little break to come by. Wow, you’ve really settled in here, haven’t you? So much stuff.”

At Hoonil’s remark, Jingyeom gave an embarrassed smile. There certainly was a lot of stuff.

“Need any help?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m taking some of this myself anyway. Besides, your hands are precious, doctor.”

“You keep saying my hands are precious… well, it’s true. A surgeon’s hands are their life, after all.”

Hoonil chuckled, and Jingyeom and Jinwoo laughed along.

“Did you pack the medicine and dressing bandages properly?”

“Yes, I put them safely in the bag.”

Jingyeom patted the canvas bag he often carried.

He had plenty of other bags, but for some reason, his hand always went to this one.

Maybe because it was convenient.

“Don’t forget to take the medicine regularly, and make sure to come by to get more before you run out. And while you’re at it, get some tests done too.”

“Yes!”

“Oh, and Jingyeom.”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t want to say this, but….”

Hoonil’s face, usually smiling in a playful manner, became serious, and Jingyeom gulped. He felt a wave of anxiety, wondering if something had happened to his body.

Jinwoo, too, watched Hoonil with anxious eyes.

“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on me?”

“…Pardon?”

Jingyeom tilted his head at the sudden remark.

“You call Soohyuk and Director Tak ‘hyung’ so diligently, but why do you always call me ‘doctor’?”

“……”

“You probably don’t remember, but I’ve known you longer than them. So, you should call me ‘hyung’ too.”

Why did people around him have such an obsession with being called ‘hyung’?

Was it because Jinwoo never called them that?

But he knew Jinwoo did call Hoonil ‘hyung.’ It wasn’t hard to use the word, but he was just curious.

Jingyeom gave a small smile to Hoonil, who looked at him as if urging him to try.

“Hoonil hyung, thank you.”

“Ah, that sounds much better than ‘doctor.’ Don’t overexert yourself if you’re in pain. You still have a long way to go to fully recover.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind!”

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It was summer when he was hospitalized, but now the weather had turned too chilly for short sleeves.

Though it was still far from the season of autumn leaves, the cool breeze, contrasting with the sharp sunlight, signaled the arrival of early autumn.

Jingyeom felt a bit estranged in the house he hadn’t seen for a long time. The house seemed strangely small compared to his hospital room.

It appeared he had spent too much time in the hospital.

Still, thanks to Jinwoo occasionally coming over to clean, the house was spotless.

Jinwoo, who said he had to drop him off and head back to work, had indeed left right after putting down his luggage.

Even as he left, he nagged him to eat properly, call 119 if he felt unwell, take his medicine—until the very moment he stepped out the door.

Of course, he knew it was all out of concern, but hearing it too often made him want to stop listening.

Left alone, Jingyeom unfolded a table and pulled out a crumpled notebook from his canvas bag.

Having worked on it bit by bit at the hospital, it was now almost done.

The problem was, the more he contacted people, the scarier it got.

He had even had some minor disputes with those he contacted initially.

Many had told him not to reach out again.

Not that he would, but it didn’t feel great.

He told those who wanted to meet him again that it would never happen, and for the persistent ones, he blocked them again, albeit with apologies.

He also recorded all these events in his diary app.

He didn’t delete any of the exchanged messages either, just in case Baek Jingyeom might see them someday.

He tried reaching out when Jinwoo wasn’t around, but with calls and messages coming in at all hours, Jinwoo eventually found out.

Already knowing about it, Jinwoo took the opportunity to tell him not to bother, to ignore them, but Jingyeom couldn’t bring himself to do that, so he kept trying as discreetly as possible.

Even if he wasn’t sending a message, simply using his phone made Jinwoo glare at him, so he focused on studying after Jinwoo returned home.

While contacting these people, a question came to mind.

“Why do they like Baek Jingyeom so much?”

If it was his looks, it would make sense for them to feel attracted at first, but it was curious how that attraction lasted so long.

Of course, when he first woke up in Baek Jingyeom’s body, he had admired his face too.

Even now, whenever he looked in the mirror, he found himself filled with satisfaction.

“If it wasn’t for his personality, he could have lived a really happy life.”

Even though he was playing a villain’s role, there was no denying that if Baek Jingyeom had been in a different position, he would have been quite popular.

“But what else did he do besides bullying Jinwoo?”

The details of the novel had become hazy. Since it was an unfinished novel, it was even harder to remember.

Baek Jinwoo’s tormentor. That was Baek Jingyeom’s role.

But there was no way he would have been publicly humiliated by Tak Wonbeom just for petty harassment.

There seemed to be something more, but he couldn’t recall what it was.

Not that it mattered much anymore.

Things had already deviated due to his interference.

But there was something vaguely unsettling that kept lingering in the back of his mind.

He felt sure there had been some kind of incident.

“But how could I remember something when I don’t even know where to start?”

Thinking lightly of it, Jingyeom began sending messages while looking at his notes.

Just maintaining these contacts was exhausting, and he wondered how Baek Jingyeom managed to deal with all this.

The responses from those who had given him gifts were evenly divided: some told him to do as he pleased, while others provided their addresses or bank account numbers, asking for the return of their gifts.

Jingyeom carefully wrote everything down in his notebook, making sure not to miss anyone.

The numbers he postponed contacting until the very end were those who seemed quite close to Baek Jingyeom.

They had shared some sort of ongoing relationship, rather than a one-time meeting.

“Dad…”

Baek Jingyeom and Baek Jinwoo’s father was one of them. He still hadn’t decided how to approach contacting him.

And then there was Jeong Sanho.

One of the few whose number wasn’t blocked and was saved by name. No messages had been exchanged, but there were plenty of call records.

He stopped calling after a few calls went unanswered. Then, a week ago, he received a single message.

Jeong Sanho: I’m ready (4:21 PM)

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