Little Il-hyun was playing on a tube in the pool. Mom. Please look at me. Mom. He repeatedly called his mother who was sitting in the chair, but she just sipped her wine and didn’t even look at Il-hyun.
Il-hyun waved his hand cheerfully over the tube to grab her attention a little more, but suddenly his body sunk into the water. He flailed his arms, unable to breathe as the water came up to his head. Help, help me. Mom! Mom, save me! Mom! Cough, cough,
She looked back belatedly as he gasped for air.
Her eyes were staring at him silently while holding a wine glass as if she was waiting for him to die. Gurgle, gurgle, the water flows down his throat, and he gradually loses strength as his body sinks endlessly. It was strange that he could breathe underwater when he wasn’t supposed to be able to.
Moreover, he wasn’t alone. Dozens of people under the water glared at him with eyes full of resentment. Between people whose heads were cut off and whose fingers were missing, his body sank all the way to the bottom. Now, the surface of the water felt incredibly far away.
The miserable dead slowly approached Il-hyun. Little Il-hyun was frightened and screamed at them not to come. Then someone jumped into the water—those who cut through the current and swim down, reaching out his hand without hesitation.
The moment the young boy grabbed the hand to survive, his eyes opened wide.
A white ceiling was visible through his blurry vision. He moved his eyes left and right. He can see the IV strings hanging over his head and hear the regular sound of a machine. He moved his hands and toes. The nurse who opened the door and came in checked and looked at him with a surprised expression. She disappeared and soon several people appeared.
The penlight’s bright light streamed into his eyes. Through the clearer vision, he saw people in gowns, and among them was Kang Yoo-jung. Kang Yoo-jung asked, “Are you awake? Can you hear me?” Il-hyun wanted to speak, but he was blocked by the oxygen respirator. Instead, he blinked several times and she smiled with joy. She must have been holding back her tears because her eyes turned red.
***
Nothing had changed when Ja-kyung went home after ten days. It was still quiet, and the number of guards stationed outside the house remained the same. Ja-kyung stayed in Kang Il-hyun’s bedroom on the first floor, not on the second floor. He hugged his pillow and blanket and cuddled up on the bed, where his scent lingered.
Only the sound of the second hand ticking on the clock sounded loud that night. Ja-kyung woke up many times to make sure there had been no calls from the hospital. The bed felt strangely wide when he turned over. Even the warmth of the ownerless bedroom had disappeared.
He had a dream when he closed his eyes for a moment. He went to play with Kang Il-hyun, but he disappeared. No matter how much he searched for and called his name, Il-hyun did not appear, so even though it was a dream, Ja-kyung’s heart sank and he was afraid. He couldn’t sleep after waking up like that.
The hours of waiting for the morning came went far too slowly. When morning arrived, the first thing Ja-kyung checked was that there had been no call from the hospital. He was disappointed to find out that there was no call, but at the same time relieved that there was no worse news.
Ja-kyung walked into the restroom and only washed his face to avoid getting water on the stitched wound before exiting. The house chef looked at him with concern, observing his bloated face from lack of sleep.
“Are you okay?”
Yes… He nodded. The number of people asking if he was okay has increased dramatically in the past few days. He said he was fine, but he wasn’t fine at all. He felt numb as if one side of his heart had been cut by a knife, and he couldn’t stand it because he thought of Kang Il-hyun even while eating or sitting down to rest.
Something may have gone wrong while he was here. It’s not like Il-hyun is getting better just because he’s in the hospital, but Ja-kyung was worried and couldn’t do anything else. He put on his clothes and tried to leave with the car keys after telling the house chef he was skipping breakfast.
She stopped Ja-kyung.
“Where are you going?”
“Hospital…”
Her eyes were drawn to his left leg, which was injured, but it didn’t matter. She let out a small sigh. He came out after she just told him to ask another staff to drive. He started the engine and drove away.
Wang Han called him after driving for nearly 20 minutes, furious. Ja-kyung persuaded him that he would return shortly. Wang Han threatened to tie Ja-kyung to the bed starting tomorrow. He drove for a while to the hospital after hanging up the phone.
The parking lot was empty as it was early in the morning, so he parked on one side and limped out. He entered the hospital and sat on a chair in front of the intensive care unit, as usual, waiting for time to pass. A familiar nurse comes out and her eyes widen when she spots Ja-kyung.
“Oh, didn’t you just leave the hospital yesterday?”
Ja-kyung put on an embarrassed expression. And then she gave him unexpected news.
“You came just in time.”
“Yes?”
“He woke up in the morning and moved to the regular room.”
Ja-kyung was ecstatic and jumped up from his seat. Really? She nodded. Ja-kyung couldn’t hide his joy and smiled brightly. After saying thank you several times, he hurriedly took the elevator to get to his room.
It wasn’t hard to find the room. Several men in black suits had already gathered at the door. They greeted Ja-kyung after recognizing him. Three letters of Kang Il-hyun’s name were written in front of the hospital room door. Ja-kyung was relieved to see that he had woken up, and he felt emotional.
He was wondering if he could come in. He took a breath in front of the door since he could not really open it. He was ready to knock when the door opened, revealing a long line of doctors. Kang Yoo-jung was one of them.
She seemed surprised when she saw Ja-kyung. She hadn’t told Park Tae-soo yet, so she asked how he found out. Her face also lightened noticeably. He couldn’t see Kang Il-hyun because the door was closed. His heart was restless, and his expression seemed to show it, so she smiled.
“Really… Is he awake?”
She made a troubled expression.
“Yes… But you shouldn’t go in now.”
“Why… why?”
Ja-kyung asked with a nervous face, and Yoo-jung answered playfully.
“I lied about Ja-kyung-ssi running away.”
I’m not responsible if he shouted as soon as you enter. She laughed and disappeared with the medical staff. Jakyung looked puzzled. Why did she tell such a lie… He cautiously opened the door, and Kang Il-hyun was sitting up in bed, his expression completely ferocious.
He really woke up. Tears welled up when Ja-kyung saw him looking fine. He didn’t want to show his crying face, so he turned around. Alas, I don’t believe in gods but thank God Buddha. Thank you for saving him. I will do a lot of good things in the future.
His throat was clogged with tears, and he heard Kang Il-hyun laughing in disbelief.
“You are here? I was getting so fucking pissed thinking you ran away again.”
“…”
“But why are you looking away?”
“…”
The smile fades from Kang Il-hyun’s face as Ja-kyung still had his back on him.
“Lee Ja-kyung.”
The tears he had been holding back spilled as Il-hyun called his name. Sniffle, sniffle. Tears streamed down his cheeks and landed on the floor. It was only then that Il-hyun’s voice softened as if he had understood the situation.
“No way… Are you crying?”
No, sob. Ja-kyung made a strange sound as he swallowed his tears. Il-hyun’s tone became more affectionate.
“Come here. I want to see your face.”
Il-hyun’s eyes narrowed as Ja-kyung reluctantly turned around. His eyes and the tip of his nose were red from crying, but it wasn’t exactly cute. He gritted his teeth trying to hold back the lust that rose up with laughter.
Fuck. It’s not something to say after dying, but I want to lay him down and fuck him right away.
Il-hyun wanted to take a picture of this. He looked for his phone but couldn’t find it anywhere. He gestured for Ja-kyung to come over to soothe his disappointment. His desire was momentarily forgotten as he noticed Ja-kyung’s limp leg and his expression hardened instantly.
“Did you hurt your leg?”
“It’s not that bad. It’s just a sprain.”
“What happened?”
Once again, the incident came back to mind and Ja-kyung choked up.
“You pushed me, damn it.”
Who asked for help, who sacrificed his life to save me, who told me to live for them. Who told him to die because of me. A wave of remorse and bitterness washed over him. Il-hyun grabbed a tissue from the bedside and told him to sit on the bed as Ja-kyung wiped away his tears with his bandaged arm. Il-hyun wiped away Ja-kyung’s tears and gently caressed his cheek as he sat down.
A mix of emotions crossed his face.
“Seeing you cry because of me, I guess you won’t run away from now on.”
Il-hyun didn’t even think about his own body and just checked how badly Ja-kyung was injured. This made Ja-kyung cry even more. Fuck. How embarrassing. If the Wang brothers saw this, he would be a laughingstock for the rest of his life.
He barely stopped crying and was sobbing when Il-hyun reached for his hand. Come here if you’ve finished crying. I want to hug you. He carefully hugged him so as not to put pressure on his injured arm and body, Il-hyun laughed softly in his ear.
His mischievous attitude from a while ago had gone and his voice was filled with tenderness.
“To die and come back to life… It’s not bad.”
