ACTSV chapter 80

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When Jinwoo came home from work, he was not alone. Behind him were Soohyuk and Wonbeom.

Jingyeom, who had been sitting on the bed, stood up. As his bare feet touched the floor, he felt the cold chill of the ground.

“Uh?”

“What, were you going to greet me barefoot? Forget it. Your feet must be cold. Put on some shoes.”

Soohyuk approached the bed before Jinwoo did. He slipped his arm under Jingyeom’s armpit and lifted him to sit on the bed.

Then, bending down, Soohyuk lightly brushed Jingyeom’s feet with his hand.

“Why are you so out of it? Did something happen?”

“…No, I guess I was just surprised to see you.”

“If you’re happy to see us, then just be happy. Why be surprised?”

Soohyuk, now sitting upright, asked in confusion, then glanced over Jingyeom.

He didn’t seem to have any problems.

Meanwhile, Jinwoo set a fruit basket down on the table in front of the sofa and then moved to gently nudge Soohyuk aside.

“Didn’t you see the message I sent saying I was coming with them?”

“Really?”

Jingyeom, who had only just seen the message, smiled awkwardly and placed his phone back on the small table.

The message from Jinwoo had come 30 minutes ago.

He hadn’t heard the message alert because he was watching TV and having dinner.

Jingyeom’s gaze shifted to the fruit basket Jinwoo had set down.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a gift for the hospital visit. I felt it was rude to come empty-handed, so I brought it.”

The answer came from Soohyuk.

Although Jinwoo had brought it, Soohyuk was the one who had purchased it.

Of course, the actual preparer was Soohyuk’s secretary.

Understanding, Jingyeom gave a short nod and slightly tilted his head.

Finally, Wonbeom, who had come in last, closed the hospital room door and stood in front of it without coming closer.

“Hello!”

When Jingyeom greeted loudly, Wonbeom, who had been surveying the hospital room, finally directed his gaze towards the room’s owner.

“I asked for the best room in this hospital. Is this it?”

From Wonbeom’s perspective, it did seem bigger than the previous room.

“It is the best, right?”

“Probably?”

“This place is way too expensive!”

Wonbeom, who had been slowly approaching Jingyeom, hesitated in his steps.

“…It’s not expensive.”

Although there was a long pause before his response, hospital expenses were never a burden for Wonbeom.

However, from Jingyeom’s standpoint, the cost did seem excessive.

Jingyeom slipped his feet into the slippers by the bed, walked past Jinwoo and Soohyuk, and stood in front of Wonbeom.

“It’s already tough to stay here for a little while… I might have to stay for over a month. That means the room cost alone would be in the tens of millions! Tens of millions!”

“It won’t come to that. Don’t worry about that and just rest.”

“I overheard everything earlier!”

After finishing all the tests, Jingyeom, who felt cooped up in the hospital room, had wandered around the hospital.

When he stopped by the café on the first floor and got a cool drink, he overheard a conversation between some people in hospital uniforms.

“A VVIP patient moved into the ward, right?”

“Yeah, I heard it’s a heart surgery patient who’ll be here for over a month.”

“A whole month there? Wow… they must have a lot of money. Doesn’t that cost tens of millions a month?”

Shocked by the conversation, Jingyeom almost dropped the drink he was holding.

He had guessed it would be expensive, but the amount was far beyond what he expected.

The previous room was already good, so there was no need to upgrade to an even better one.

Wonbeom clicked his tongue as he shifted his gaze to the side.

“…Tsk.”

“You knew, didn’t you?”

Jingyeom unconsciously grabbed Wonbeom’s jacket as he asked.

He had thought Wonbeom didn’t know the price and just requested the best room, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I want to change rooms! The one from last time was more than enough. No, any other room would be fine too.”

Jingyeom lightly tugged on the jacket as he spoke, trying to meet Wonbeom’s eyes.

As Jingyeom kept pulling on his jacket, Wonbeom’s gaze shifted to the small white hand holding it.

He could have simply told Jingyeom that moving rooms wasn’t possible and that he should stay here, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

The thought of Jingyeom letting go of his jacket made him keep his mouth shut.

Without understanding Wonbeom’s thoughts, Soohyuk, who had been watching with narrowed eyes, stepped in.

“This room or that one, it’s all the same.”

Jingyeom turned his head. Jinwoo and Soohyuk were now in his line of sight.

“Just stay here. That way, it’ll be easier for us to visit.”

“…Huh?”

“We’ll visit often, even if not every day. You’ll be bored alone, right?”

“….”

“What, don’t you want that?”

Of course, he didn’t. If they came often, he’d welcome them with open arms.

Today, Jinwoo had been with him in the morning, and though he spent half the day alone for tests, he already felt the urge to be discharged.

But then again, considering that they said it would be easier to visit if he stayed, he had to reconsider.

Even if it was uncomfortable for him, it would definitely be more convenient.

Moreover, since Jinwoo mentioned commuting from the hospital, this place would be better if he wanted to make it easier for them.

As Jingyeom didn’t respond and just blinked, Soohyuk added.

“Seems like you don’t want us to visit.”

Jingyeom quickly shook his head at that remark.

“No! Absolutely not! I’d be happy if you visited often!”

His urgent voice grew louder.

Soohyuk smiled and stood beside Jingyeom.

Then, in a natural motion, he gently peeled Jingyeom’s hand off Wonbeom’s jacket.

It was such a smooth action.

“You like it this much, huh? I guess I’ll have to come every day.”

Soohyuk softly smiled as he held Jingyeom’s small hand and pulled it towards him.

He’d already seen Jingyeom in patient clothes several times.

Going forward, he wanted to see him in regular clothes instead of hospital attire.

“You look unnecessarily good in this.”

“Sorry?”

“I mean the patient clothes. How does it make sense that they look good on you? Geez… your face really works hard.”

Jingyeom looked up at Soohyuk with a pouting expression.

His brows slowly furrowed, and he squinted his eyes.

He couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or an insult. It seemed like a compliment, but somehow, it left him with a strange feeling.

“Aren’t you hungry? It’s probably past dinner time at the hospital, right?”

“I already ate.”

The three of them had entered the room just before 7 PM.

They had come straight after work, but the roads were so congested that it wasn’t easy to make their way there.

Jinwoo, who had taken the cardigan from the hanger, gently placed it over Jingyeom’s shoulders.

“You’re busy with work, so there’s no need to visit often. You really don’t have to.”

“I’m not busy. You guys are the busy ones.”

It was only natural that Wonbeom had more work to do than Soohyuk.

Soohyuk, who had been looking around the room, noticed the stuffed animal at the head of the bed.

“That’s the one I gave you, right?”

Wonbeom reacted first to that remark. His gaze shifted from Jingyeom to the stuffed animal in an instant.

As the topic shifted to the stuffed animal, Jingyeom beamed and nodded.

Jinwoo, who had been cautiously watching the situation, gently wrapped his arm around Jingyeom’s shoulder.

“It’s about time you left. There’s still a lot to sort out since it’s the first day of admission.”

It was still a subtle hint to leave.

Given it was the first day of admission, the two didn’t plan to stay long anyway.

“…Did you say Director Sun gave you that stuffed animal?”

Wonbeom asked just before leaving the room.

“Yes. He bought it for me during his last overseas trip. He said it looks like me, but I’m not so sure about that….”

It didn’t seem to resemble him at all, but since the person who bought it said so, he decided to just accept it.

Wonbeom alternated his gaze between the fluffy polar fox stuffed animal and Jingyeom.

‘Where exactly do they look alike?’

No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find any resemblance. He couldn’t understand the idea of comparing Jingyeom to a mere stuffed animal.

Wonbeom, standing in front of Jingyeom, reached out his hand. His fingers touched the stuffed animal’s protruding snout.

With a large hand pressing down on it, Jingyeom widened his eyes and looked up at him. He was so startled that he momentarily forgot to breathe.

Wonbeom’s gaze on the stuffed animal was rather menacing.

‘He said it looked like me… but he squashed it!’

Not even a minute had passed since it was mentioned.

‘Doesn’t he have any ill feelings towards me anymore?’

From what Jingyeom had seen of Wonbeom so far, he hadn’t shown any hostility. On the contrary, he had been more protective.

Jingyeom, wondering if he had been too trusting and let his guard down too much, tightened his grip around the stuffed animal.

He subtly turned it to the side, trying to free it from Wonbeom’s grasp, but it wouldn’t budge.

Jingyeom’s light brown eyes quivered as he looked up at Wonbeom.

‘Ah….’

Noticing his gaze, Wonbeom relaxed his grip, and Jingyeom hurriedly hid the stuffed animal behind his back.

Then, he quickly lowered his eyes.

‘I must’ve scared him.’

Realizing how his gaze might have looked, Wonbeom let out a short sigh.

“You don’t look like it at all.”

He spoke while gently stroking Jingyeom’s small head. His voice was softer than usual.

Jingyeom, still holding the stuffed animal behind his back, glanced up cautiously.

“You’re much more….”

“……”

“……It’s so pale.”

It was hard to believe that someone could be paler than a snow-white doll.

Since Wonbeom had taken his time before speaking, it sounded like he was making an excuse.

As an awkward silence hung between Jingyeom and Wonbeom, Jinwoo stepped in.

“He’s waiting under the car. Let’s go down.”

During that brief moment, Jinwoo had sent a message to Wonbeom’s driver to have the car ready.

Jinwoo naturally positioned himself in front of Jingyeom, extending his arm as if to guide them toward the door.

It was a gesture that meant they should leave the hospital room immediately.

Soohyuk and Wonbeom obediently walked toward the door.

“I’ll come again. Until then, take good care of him.”

As Soohyuk pointed at the doll with a nod, Jingyeom gave a slight nod in return.

Wonbeom stared at Jingyeom intently before turning to leave.

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