* * *
The sun was setting, and the autumn sunlight slanted strongly into the hospital room.
Soohyuk noticed the sunlight gradually expanding inside the room and murmured quietly to himself.
“…Is it too bright?”
Even though he knew the sunlight wouldn’t reach the bed, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy, so he drew the curtains.
With only a few fluorescent lights on in the room, it grew a bit darker once the curtains were closed.
“Phew.”
Sitting in the small chair for so long had left his body feeling stiff.
As he stood up, he stretched and loosened his muscles before sitting back down.
Although Jingyeom’s fever had gone down, his breathing was still louder and rougher than usual due to his lingering cold.
Soohyuk listened intently to the raspy sound that echoed through the quiet room.
Despite the loud hum of the machines, Jingyeom’s breathing seemed to linger in his ears.
Time passed surprisingly quickly, even though all he was doing was watching someone sleep.
He wished Jingyeom would wake up and look at him with those moist eyes, but all he could do was wait patiently, hoping for him to wake up.
Jingyeom, unaware that many were waiting for him to wake up, was too exhausted from the cold and accumulated fatigue to regain consciousness.
During that time, Jingyeom was drifting through his dreams again, experiencing them from the perspective of the protagonist rather than an outsider.
‘Another lucid dream.’
It wasn’t the dream he had hoped for to help him regain his memories, but it was a lucid dream, one where he was aware that he was dreaming.
However, like before, his body didn’t move according to his will.
Just like the last time, he couldn’t hear any sounds and had to rely solely on what he saw to figure out where he was and what kind of dream this was.
What he saw now was a stretch of green grass. His hands moved frantically, as if searching for something, digging through the grass.
‘My hands are small… Am I a child?’
His small hands kept moving without pause.
Then, suddenly, the grass receded from his view, and his perspective shifted upward until a fine-looking house came into full view. It seemed he had been squatting and had now stood up.
The small hands clapped together, then stretched forward.
Judging by the thin and short arms, it seemed he was indeed a child.
He was curious about what would happen next, but as the front door of the house opened, a brown puppy darted out. It pounced on him, knocking him over onto his back.
The puppy filled his entire vision.
‘…Cute!’
The puppy, panting with its tongue out, began licking him all over.
Then, as if someone called it, the puppy suddenly looked up and dashed back toward the house.
Through the now wide-open door, someone emerged, beckoning him over.
The sunlight was so intense that he couldn’t make out the person’s face.
And with that, the dream ended.
‘…What was that dream?’
Jingyeom still couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality.
He felt as if he had just forced his eyelids open, yet everything felt so different from before that he wasn’t sure if this was reality.
Moreover, he was still in a daze, unable to shake off the effects of the high fever he had endured.
His half-open eyes struggled to stay open, as sleep kept trying to claim him again.
Soohyuk, noticing the slight movement, immediately pressed the call button.
A nurse entered first, followed closely by Hoonil, who had received the alert.
After examining Jingyeom’s limp condition, Hoonil decided to postpone the tests he had planned to conduct once Jingyeom woke up, opting instead to let him rest peacefully.
“He’s fallen asleep again.”
Hoonil gently stroked Jingyeom’s head with a short sigh.
Despite being groggy from sleep, Jingyeom had recognized his surroundings and responded to voices, confirming that nothing was seriously wrong.
Concerned that Jingyeom’s heart might have been strained, they continued to monitor his heart rate.
Although it was slightly slow, it remained within the normal range.
“When he wakes up, he might be thirsty. His throat is sore, so he won’t be able to drink properly. Wet some gauze with water and place it on his lips.”
“Can’t he just drink water?”
“It’ll hurt because his throat is swollen. He’s receiving fluids, so he’s not dehydrated. His mouth is likely dry, so it’s to moisten it.”
Usually, moistening gauze and placing it on the lips is done for patients who need to fast or right after surgery when they’re extremely thirsty.
In Jingyeom’s case, he could technically drink water, but Hoonil suggested the gentlest method to avoid causing him pain.
Soohyuk nodded in understanding.
Even after that, Jingyeom occasionally opened his eyes, only to quickly fall asleep again.
“What is this, Sleeping Beauty? …Would he wake up if I kissed him?”
Soohyuk leaned forward, resting his elbows on the bed, and gazed at Jingyeom.
Every time Jingyeom moved even slightly, Soohyuk would speak to him, determined to make sure Jingyeom knew he was there.
It took a little while for Jingyeom to fully come to his senses, even though he could hear Soohyuk’s voice.
‘…Ah, I’m in the hospital right now.’
Collapsing from his peach allergy had been hard, but he had recovered quickly after taking medication.
This time, however, it was different.
He still couldn’t shake the memory of the pain he had felt in the early hours of the morning.
Not even after surgery had he felt this bad…
Even in this painful state, he could feel hands endlessly brushing over his head and face.
His body was too weak to move, and he felt like he could just sleep on, but the constant touching made it impossible.
His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t open his eyes fully to see who was beside him.
He could hear Soohyuk’s voice, but since he couldn’t see, he wasn’t entirely sure it was him.
Soohyuk placed his hand on Jingyeom’s cheek, which was still flushed with lingering fever.
Despite Soohyuk’s hand being cooler than before, Jingyeom’s cheek was still warmer.
When Soohyuk gently rubbed Jingyeom’s soft cheek with his thumb, Jingyeom let out a pained sound and rubbed his face against Soohyuk’s palm.
He seemed to be acting on instinct, seeking comfort without even realizing what he was doing.
“…This isn’t a test of my patience, is it?”
Despite his grumbling, Soohyuk didn’t remove his hand from Jingyeom’s cheek.
Instead, he stroked him even more, making sure Jingyeom knew he was there.
“…Ugh.”
“Don’t talk.”
Jingyeom’s voice was rough and cracked.
Following Hoonil’s earlier advice, Soohyuk placed a water-dampened gauze on Jingyeom’s lips.
“Ugh, look at those dark circles.”
Soohyuk swiped his thumb under Jingyeom’s eyes, causing him to squint tightly.
“Let’s not get sick anymore. My heart can’t take it.”
Having caught the flu a few months ago, Soohyuk could imagine how much pain Jingyeom was in.
While Soohyuk had recovered quickly due to his robust health, Jingyeom wasn’t as strong.
For anyone else, this would be a simple cold treatable with hospital care and medication, but seeing Jingyeom hospitalized like this reminded Soohyuk just how fragile he was.
“Your eyes are swollen now too, huh? I can’t even see your pupils. Did you swell up because of the cold, or did you sleep too much?”
Jingyeom, finally realizing that the person beside him was indeed Soohyuk, faintly smiled.
However, to Soohyuk, it only looked like his lips were twitching.
Jingyeom blinked repeatedly at Soohyuk with tired eyes.
His body felt heavy and dull, and he kept drifting off to sleep.
Eventually, he lost the battle with his drooping eyelids and fell asleep again.
“…Already asleep again.”
Soohyuk’s voice sounded empty, almost forlorn.
Sitting by Jingyeom’s side, countless thoughts raced through his mind.
He felt as if something terrible might happen if he let his guard down.
Just a few days ago, he had been abroad.
If he had heard this news while overseas, the anxiety of not being able to reach Jingyeom would have driven him mad.
He might have dropped everything and flown back to Korea immediately.
“Don’t get sick.”
When they were apart, he constantly thought about Jingyeom, missing him.
Now, being here with him, all he wanted was to touch him, to share trivial conversations.
The only reason he had rushed to finish his work and returned so quickly was to see Jingyeom.
“Phew…”
A deep sigh, laden with Soohyuk’s complex emotions, dissipated into the air.
There hadn’t been any issues when he provoked Jinwoo or confronted Wonbeom.
Soohyuk was confident he would be the one standing beside Jingyeom.
He had always believed that he was better than Jinwoo, who only knew him as a brother, and Wonbeom, who couldn’t properly express his feelings.
That confidence remained unshaken.
It was just that the newly arising issue of his “frail body” seemed to require some countermeasures.
By the time Jinwoo arrived, Jingyeom had somewhat regained his senses and weakly waved his arm to greet the two entering the hospital room.
Jingyeom had expected Wonbeom, so he was taken aback by the unexpected arrival of Secretary Yang.
Secretary Yang had never once visited him during any of his previous hospital stays.
So, while Jingyeom was puzzled by his presence, he was also glad to see him.
Secretary Yang placed the heavy bags he had been carrying onto the table and quickly moved toward the bed.
Despite being the last to enter the room, he was the first to reach the bedside.
“Oh dear! Jingyeom, you’ve lost so much weight! Is Secretary Baek starving you? What’s going on here? Doesn’t he feed you any meat?”
As soon as Secretary Yang saw Jingyeom’s face, he examined him all over, then furrowed his brows in distress.
“I knew something was wrong when you started peeling off the fried chicken’s coating the last time. You know, people need to oil their stomachs and intestines. Isn’t that right?”
“……”
“If Secretary Baek won’t buy you any, ask Director Seon. He’s got more than enough money to treat you to some high-quality Korean beef. And if you invite me, I’d be grateful.”
Secretary Yang rattled on without pause, leaving Jingyeom unable to respond, only staring blankly.
“They said it was just a cold, but was it something more serious? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“You didn’t give me a chance to speak.”
Soohyuk, who had been sitting in a chair, got up and stretched his arm out, mercilessly pushing Secretary Yang’s face away from Jingyeom.
* * *
♥️♥️
Hahaha..Secretary Yang is funny
Hahaha
wow
sec yang 😂
🫠 so intense.