* * *
Thanks to Junhee reaching out in the cup’s trajectory, Ki Taeryu’s head was unharmed, but Junhee’s wrist wasn’t so lucky.
The cup had struck his wrist, then shattered to pieces as it fell to the ground.
“I-I’m fine.”
He bit down hard on his lip to stifle the groan of pain.
He bit so hard that he tasted blood, but the pain in his wrist was so intense that he didn’t even notice.
The sudden shock felt overwhelming, perhaps because…
‘…It’s my right wrist again.’
It was the same wrist he had sprained when he fell before.
“Now, look at the monitor here.”
Junhee, still a bit out of it, turned his gaze to the screen.
“This is the current state of your wrist. Now, pay close attention to this.”
At the doctor’s words, the screen split in two, showing two similar images side by side.
“Do you see any difference?”
Junhee thought one of the images must be from another patient, since only one of his wrists had been scanned.
“…The size of the hand?”
“Wrong.”
“The bones…?”
“Wrong again.”
Though he didn’t know what benefit there was in guessing, failing twice drained all his enthusiasm.
His wrist was killing him, so why were they playing a quiz game?
The odd doctor smiled and continued the explanation.
“Look, Junhee, this ligament here is all torn up. It’s the triangular ligament between your wrist bones and the radius and ulna. It’s been damaged by the impact!”
Despite the grim diagnosis, the doctor’s tone was so upbeat that Junhee didn’t know how to respond.
“…So, is it okay?”
“Of course not! If it had torn any further, we would’ve had to perform surgery right away. Luckily, it hasn’t reached that point. For now, we’ll put you in a splint and go with conservative treatment while monitoring the progress.”
“Thank you.”
“A nurse will come in soon to treat you, so just wait a bit. Don’t run away.”
“…What? Oh, okay.”
The doctor left the exam room, leaving Junhee alone in the empty space.
Ki Taeryu had dragged him to the hospital without even asking for his opinion.
Junhee had been anxious, fearing his omega status would be discovered when filling out his medical records.
He had been on the verge of saying he’d come back tomorrow, but Taeryu didn’t even bother with registration and just dragged him straight to the doctor.
‘The doctor looked… like he’d seen a ghost.’
Clearly, the two of them knew each other.
Though surgery wasn’t necessary, which was a relief…
“Yoo Junhee?”
A nurse knocked on the door and entered the exam room.
“Taeryu, do you think this is your hotel room? You can’t just barge in here whenever you want!”
As soon as Kim Daeheon entered the break room, cigarette dangling from his mouth, he started complaining.
“Doc Kim, you’re my primary care physician.”
“Ha! Only when it’s convenient for you. In reality, you just boss me around whenever you need something. And hey, being your doctor doesn’t mean I’m supposed to treat every person you bring along, does it?”
Daeheon’s face was already twisted into a deep frown.
Taeryu silently took a step closer to him.
“What… What? You gonna hit me? If you do, my partner won’t let it slide.”
Daeheon, now wearing his white coat, flinched and raised his arms defensively.
“No smoking in this area.”
Taeryu snatched the cigarette from Daeheon’s mouth and, with a snap, broke it in two right in front of him.
“I know that. I was just so stressed, I had to light one up!”
“Maybe stop lecturing patients about quitting smoking and lead by example.”
“I’ll deal with it myself, thanks. Who cares if my lungs turn black and I drop dead?”
Daeheon gave a regretful look as his cigarette was tossed into the trash.
He then cleared his throat, checked his surroundings, and asked cautiously.
“Of course, it’s rare for you to bring someone here… No, it’s actually the first time. I’ll let it slide this once.”
“And if you didn’t?”
“…What could I do? You introduced me to my partner, so I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life.”
It wasn’t like there was anything catastrophic about seeing one more patient during his shift.
He had only wanted to make a fuss for once, but Taeryu was impossible to deceive.
There was no point in arguing any further.
Plus, from Daeheon’s perspective, Taeryu had been acting stranger than ever in recent years.
“But seriously, Taeryu, are you alright? You dragging a patient in here late at night— I thought I was seeing ghosts… or maybe my eyes were playing tricks.”
“They got hurt, so I brought them.”
“Now that you mention it, the injury is strange too. It doesn’t look like they were hit by an object. Anyone can see it’s a sprain. Did you push them?”
“…What?”
Taeryu’s brow furrowed slightly, as if he had been told something completely unexpected.
“Sure, there’s some bruising on the other side, but that’ll fade with time. The wrist problem isn’t from that. It’s torn ligaments from a sprain, so it’s a completely different thing.”
“I didn’t hear anything about a fall.”
Taeryu’s mood darkened, something Daeheon, who knew him well, could immediately recognize just from his expression.
Daeheon raised his voice, feeling a little guilty.
“Well, do you think I’m lying? It’s obvious the sprain happened within the last day or two, not some chronic issue. It must have hurt enough that they couldn’t have missed it, so they didn’t tell you!”
Taeryu muttered under his breath, repeating Daeheon’s last words as if processing them, while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
The sudden chill in his gaze made Daeheon unconsciously reach into his coat pocket, rubbing the cigarette pack.
“You’re hiding a lot.”
“I-I’m not hiding anything from you! I swear I’m not hiding anything!”
“Not you.”
Daeheon, who had been about to breathe a sigh of relief at Ki Taeryu’s reply, suddenly froze.
A ridiculous thought had just crossed his mind.
“Hey, Taeryu. Surely… Surely not, right?”
“What?”
“You… you couldn’t possibly be…”
Daeheon pulled his hand from his pocket and pointed a trembling finger at Taeryu’s face, covering his gaping mouth with the other hand.
“You’re not… threatening and intimidating innocent people, right? That’s a crime, you know. No matter how much of a rich heir you are…”
“A crime?”
“And before, with that whole omega allergy nonsense… Wait, was Junhee the scapegoat back then too…?”
Daeheon began frantically searching through his pockets, front and back.
Unfortunately, his phone was still in the examination room, making an immediate report impossible.
“I didn’t drug him.”
“You didn’t? Are you serious? Look me in the eyes and tell me! But don’t glare at me like that!”
“Do I look like the type who’d do that?”
Daeheon responded with a firm nod.
“It wasn’t me; it was Kang Heesung, that bastard… Never mind.”
“What? Kang Heesung? What does that moron have to do with anything?”
Taeryu waved his hand dismissively, as if explaining further was too much of a bother.
“Hey, why’d you stop mid-sentence? You’re driving me nuts!”
“Enough. Just hand me more meds.”
“Meds? You’re not asking for suppressants again, are you? Taeryu… I’m seriously warning you, you’re going to end up dead at this rate. I’ve told you so many times—extreme alphas like you shouldn’t rely on suppressants. You need to find a partner and have regular….”
Daeheon abruptly shut his mouth.
Taeryu had placed a long finger over his lips.
“Ugh, gross! Where do you think you’re putting your hands…?”
“Come out. Stop eavesdropping.”
Taeryu’s eyes were fixed on the slightly ajar door.
With quiet, cautious footsteps, Junhee emerged.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping… I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation, so I waited. If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”
Junhee’s light brown hair swayed as he bowed his head slightly.
Taeryu’s gaze followed the stray locks before dropping to Junhee’s right wrist, wrapped in a plastic half-cast.
His fingers, peeking out from the bandages, were twitching.
“Um, doctor, where should I pay?”
“No need to worry about payment.”
“Sorry?”
“I’ll get the money from this guy. You just focus on recovering quickly. Also, come to the hospital twice a week for follow-up. Can you manage that?”
“…I have work at the company.”
Junhee moistened his dry lips, looking troubled.
For today, thanks to Taeryu, he hadn’t filled out any personal information, but if he continued regular treatment, that would be unavoidable.
Eventually, his omega status would be exposed.
Attending a hospital with a doctor who seemed close to Ki Taeryu felt dangerous in many ways.
“I’ll receive further treatment at a hospital near the company. Thank you for today.”
With a final deep bow, Junhee exited the lounge.
“Taeryu.”
Daeheon nudged Taeryu’s side.
“What?”
“You’re really not involved, right?”
“I’m not.”
“He’s too normal to get mixed up with someone like you… Just don’t do anything to hurt him. You’re going to get into real trouble if—hey! Are you seriously walking away without hearing me out? Hey! Ki Taeryu! That bastard only uses me when he needs me and then runs off again! Fine, go! Don’t come back, you jerk! Ugh!”
* * *
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Nice