* * *

“I don’t need any counseling. I won’t accept it, so there’s no need to bring in a renowned doctor.”

Before Jinwoo could say anything, Jingyeom firmly stated his position.

“Why? It must be uncomfortable not knowing your own memories and being swayed by them.”

“I wasn’t really swayed, though? It’s not particularly uncomfortable, and I don’t have a strong desire to find them either. I’d rather not talk about this anymore…”

Jingyeom furrowed his brows slightly.

Even if Soohyuk’s intentions were purely to help, Jingyeom didn’t appreciate this kind of assistance.

After all, it’s not like the memories were his, and he might never recover them.

Every time the subject was brought up, it just made him feel uneasy.

As Jingyeom flatly rejected the offer, Soohyuk lightly nodded, respecting his wishes.

He wasn’t going to force anything on someone who clearly didn’t want it.

When Soohyuk gave up so easily, Jingyeom’s eyes narrowed.

It was odd that Soohyuk brought up memories so suddenly, and even mentioned a doctor, only to back down just as quickly.

It left a strange, lingering discomfort.

Soohyuk, noticing Jingyeom watching him carefully, smiled brightly.

“Oh, right. You should put a lock on your phone. What would you do if you lost it again like last time, without even setting up a pattern?”

“That’s inconvenient. Besides, I didn’t expect to lose it…”

“Still, you should. You’ve got personal information, and you probably use banking apps too. It’s dangerous.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Jingyeom slowly nodded.

Before, he hadn’t felt the need to lock his phone because his social circle was small, and he rarely went to unfamiliar places.

Losing his phone didn’t even cross his mind.

But once he’s discharged, he’ll start living a new life, and that could bring all sorts of unpredictable situations. It seemed like a good idea to finally set a lock.

Suddenly, the suggestion to lock his phone struck him as odd.

For Soohyuk to know it wasn’t locked… meant he must’ve looked at it again.

Of course, Soohyuk had taken his phone once before, but that was months ago.

Besides, Soohyuk had been in possession of his phone while he was unconscious.

Jingyeom stared at his phone for a moment before cautiously speaking.

“…Did you, by any chance, look at my phone?”

“…”

When Soohyuk didn’t answer, Jingyeom’s brows knitted tightly.

“Oh my god! Did you really look at my phone?”

“It wasn’t locked. So, yeah, I did. That’s why I’m telling you to set a lock.”

“Ugh!”

Jingyeom let out a short cry before immediately checking his phone.

First, he looked at his call logs and messages.

Apart from a few new spam messages, nothing had changed since the last time he checked.

“Why did you look at my phone without permission?”

“I told you, it wasn’t locked, so I did.”

When Jinwoo made a comment, Soohyuk shrugged his shoulders, nonchalant.

He really had just looked at it because there was no lock.

And while he was at it, he had also checked the messages.

As Secretary Yang had mentioned, it was full of nonsense from Baek Myungjun and Jeong Sanho.

He also got a sense of how Jingyeom communicated with others regularly.

There weren’t many people Jingyeom talked to, and it seemed like he had deleted a lot of his messages.

Other than the occasional spam, there wasn’t much left.

Soohyuk chuckled softly as he watched Jingyeom scan his phone with such intensity.

Even though Soohyuk hadn’t messed with anything, it was clearly getting on Jingyeom’s nerves.

Wonbeom, who had been quietly standing nearby, approached Soohyuk and asked, “So this is why you wanted to take his phone?”

“I wanted to check for myself. Just in case there was anything else.”

“And, was there?”

“Secret.”

When Soohyuk replied playfully, Wonbeom raised his left eyebrow.

The fact that Soohyuk said “secret” instead of “no” suggested there was something.

“I already looked at his phone without permission, so it wouldn’t be right to gossip about it too. If you’re that curious, ask him yourself. What’s on your phone? Oh, I can tell you one thing though.”

Soohyuk’s gaze shifted from Wonbeom to Jinwoo.

“It’s really… touching.”

Jinwoo furrowed his brows slightly, realizing that Soohyuk was talking about him.

“What is?”

“Every message.”

“You’re not even trying to hide the fact that you looked, are you?”

“What’s the point of hiding something that’s already been exposed?”

While Jinwoo and Soohyuk exchanged irritated glares, Jingyeom was still frantically checking his phone.

“Doesn’t look like anything’s changed…”

Nothing seemed different.

He had wondered if Jeong Sanho or Baek Myungjun had contacted him, but they hadn’t.

Then he remembered the diary app where he’d written about everything.

The one saving grace was that the diary required a password to open.

Even if Soohyuk had looked at his phone, there was no way he could’ve seen the diary.

Relieved, Jingyeom exhaled softly.

Finally, done checking his phone, Jingyeom shouted at Soohyuk, his eyes sharp with anger.

“Even if my phone wasn’t locked, you shouldn’t just look at it without permission!”

“Are we really strangers?”

“Of course we are!”

Feigning shock, Soohyuk asked the question, and Jingyeom responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

In response, Soohyuk narrowed his eyes and blatantly licked his lower lip, staring at Jingyeom in a way that made his intentions clear.

Then, he said something that made Jingyeom lunge forward in a panic.

“I thought we were pretty close. Remember that time when you kissed me—”

“Mmmp!”

Jingyeom only meant to cover Soohyuk’s mouth, but since he was holding his phone, he accidentally hit Soohyuk’s nose instead, making a loud sound.

Soohyuk winced in pain, but Jingyeom, overwhelmed by the vivid memory of what Soohyuk had just started to say, couldn’t pull his arm back.

In that brief moment, Jingyeom’s heart raced, shocked by what he had almost let slip.

Despite the pain, Soohyuk’s lips curved upward, and his honey-brown eyes glinted with amusement as he watched Jingyeom’s reaction.

Clearly, Soohyuk found both the situation and Jingyeom’s flustered response entertaining.

Jinwoo and Wonbeom exchanged suspicious glances, unsure of what had just transpired between the two.

There was only one word that came to mind when hearing “kiss,” and though they were willing to dismiss it as unlikely—since it was Jingyeom after all—the fact that it involved Soohyuk made them think twice.

Jinwoo’s gaze drifted toward Jingyeom’s lips.

Though he had been drunk at the time, he hadn’t forgotten the sensation.

The memory of those soft, moist lips was still vivid.

But the idea that Soohyuk might have experienced the same sensation made his hands clench unconsciously.

Though neither of them had outright admitted to kissing, the current atmosphere suggested that something had happened between them.

Wonbeom, who had been silently observing, moved forward and gently pried Jingyeom’s arm away from Soohyuk’s mouth.

Soohyuk raised his eyebrows, as if disappointed by the interruption.

Once Wonbeom had helped Jingyeom sit properly, he let go of his hand.

“Be careful of germs when you’re sick. Don’t touch anything outside carelessly.”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“…Yes.”

Soohyuk, feeling somewhat deflated, let out a hollow laugh after being treated like a germ.

If that’s how things are, not only should he avoid touching Jingyeom, but Wonbeom should too.

Yet, it seemed like Jingyeom was much more lenient with him.

However, Soohyuk had no intention of pointing out Wonbeom’s behavior, so he just smiled faintly.

After all, the purpose of his visit had been fulfilled.

He returned Jingyeom’s phone, delivered a new one, and asked some questions he’d been curious about.

Time flew by with the four of them together after such a long time.

When darkness finally settled, Soohyuk and Wonbeom prepared to leave, and Jingyeom couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“If you say it like that, it makes me not want to go.”

“…”

“I’ll come again. Now that you’ve got a phone, we can keep in touch more often. If you miss me, feel free to call anytime.”

With a playful flick of his bent finger, Soohyuk tapped Jingyeom’s cheek and smiled.

Seeing this, Wonbeom, who had been standing still, reached out and lightly pinched Jingyeom’s cheek.

It didn’t hurt, but since it was the first time Wonbeom had done something like this, Jingyeom’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Even if I reply late, I’ll make sure to respond, so reach out to me too.”

“…Yes.”

“Both of you, hands off now.”

Jinwoo swatted away their wrists and pulled Jingyeom toward him, glaring at them as if to say, “Where do you think you’re touching?”

He then made a show of rubbing both of Jingyeom’s cheeks with his hands.

“I washed my hands earlier.”

“Too late.”

Soohyuk, bewildered, muttered, but Jinwoo cut him off firmly, telling them to leave.

Sensing the mood, Soohyuk quickly reached out, lightly tapped the spot where Wonbeom had touched, and withdrew his hand.

“Alright, we’re really leaving now. Don’t cry because you miss me. Just call.”

After the two left, Jingyeom sat on his bed, staring blankly out the window.

Soohyuk had occasionally come to mind, but he had never really thought about missing him.

Yet, seeing him today, he felt an unexpectedly strong sense of happiness.

When Soohyuk left, he was surprisingly disappointed. He wished they could have stayed longer, but since they had jobs to return to, he had to swallow his disappointment.

Although he was happy to see Wonbeom too, it wasn’t quite the same.

Besides, Soohyuk’s presence reminded him of the events at the mansion, which he had been trying hard to forget, and his face heated up.

Jingyeom rubbed his cheeks furiously with his fingers.

“Forget it! Just disappear!”

But there was something more urgent than these thoughts.

Now that his long-awaited phone was back, the first thing he needed to do was contact Jeong Sangho and Baek Myungjun.

Even though he wanted to wait for a time when Jinwoo wasn’t around, such a moment never really existed, so he decided to send the messages before going to bed.

“I’m turning off the lights.”

“Okay! Good night, Jinwoo!”

“Sweet dreams, Gyeom.”

With the hospital room lights turned off, Jingyeom lay in bed, preparing to send a message when he opened his diary app.

Ever since he became aware of Soohyuk’s and Wonbeom’s feelings, he hadn’t written any entries.

But that didn’t mean he deleted the ones he had already written.

“Did they not see it?”

The comment about setting a lock on the app had stayed on his mind.

Though he had organized things before, he hadn’t deleted the messages he exchanged with Jeong Sangho and Baek Myungjun.

It was obvious that Soohyuk and Wonbeom already knew about his relationship with Jinwoo, so those messages didn’t bother him.

However, Jeong Sangho’s messages made him feel uneasy.

That message about being “ready” — it felt like he’d been caught in the middle of something suspicious, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Jingyeom decided to delete the diary app.

There was no reason to keep it since Baek Jingyeom wasn’t coming back, and nothing good would come from holding onto it. If Jinwoo were to see it…

“No! That’s not happening.”

Shaking his head quickly, he deleted the app with firm resolve.

Then, he sent messages to Baek Myungjun and Jeong Sangho.

But even after a few days, there was no reply.

It seemed like they hadn’t even checked the messages.

He really needed to get in touch with them, but his phone remained off.

He was already hitting roadblocks from the very beginning.

* * *