Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 25

Fever

In my third year of high school, there was a period leading up to the Suneung (College Scholastic Ability Test) when I studied through the night. Choi Taegyeom, my parents, and even my homeroom teacher told me to take care of myself, but their words didn’t reach me, as I was already consumed by anxiety.

It was one of my chronic ailments. When I felt pressured or thought something was difficult, I would immerse myself in it to an absurd degree. Even when I thought about giving up, I couldn’t, and even though I knew I should do things in moderation, it just didn’t work. Once a negative thought took hold, I couldn’t hear anyone’s words until that negative feeling subsided.

‘You’re really going to get into big trouble if you keep this up.’

Around that time, Choi Taegyeom, who was in a different class, worried about me every day on the way to school. With a serious expression, he’d check my complexion, and if my bag felt a bit heavy, he’d snatch it without hesitation. Touching my forehead or checking if my throat was swollen was also his role.

‘I’m worried about you.’

I usually brushed off other people’s worries, but I couldn’t do that with Choi Taegyeom’s. He was the one who watched over me most frequently and closely. How could I possibly ignore him, who would stay in my classroom until school was about to start, and then come find me every break time once classes began?

Of course, hearing his worries didn’t change my behavior. I continued to overdo it despite his concerns.

Then, summer vacation began. As high school students often do, the vacation period was replaced by ‘forced’ attendance disguised as ‘self-study,’ and the problem was that I, being particularly vulnerable to air conditioning, caught a cold.

A fever over 38 degrees Celsius in weather exceeding 30 degrees? I left home in a daze, but Choi Taegyeom, who touched my forehead, firmly blocked me.

‘Rest at home today.’

In truth, even I knew my body wasn’t normal. Skipping meals and not sleeping properly; it would be strange if my body were healthy. I should have rested at home as Choi Taegyeom said, but the pressure of the Suneung blocked all of that.

‘I’m fine.’

‘You’re not fine…’

‘Really, I’m fine.’

In the end, I headed to school with Choi Taegyeom. “What’s wrong with resting for a day?” “Who can stop Lee Yoonwoo’s stubbornness?” He mumbled once while tidying my hair and again while carrying my bag, but ultimately, he couldn’t stop me.

‘Tell me if it gets hard.’

Even after arriving at school, Choi Taegyeom checked on my condition several times. He frowned at the blasting air conditioning, then pulled out his gym top from his bag and draped it around me. Not satisfied with that, he even brought a blanket from somewhere and covered me with it.

‘Ha, why are we in different classes…’

I remember him muttering with a frown. Even asking my deskmate, whom he’d never spoken to, to tell him if I was having a hard time.

‘You’re really overbearing,’ I mumbled softly, and Choi Taegyeom just lightly ruffled my hair.

Fortunately, enduring the morning classes wasn’t difficult. Although every teacher who came into the classroom asked, “Yoonwoo, are you really okay?” I was, somehow, okay. It felt almost excessive how Choi Taegyeom came to see me every break time.

‘Are you really not going home?’

‘I’m just self-studying left, why would I go?’

‘Precisely because it’s self-study, you should leave early.’

As soon as lunchtime arrived, Choi Taegyeom brought hot porridge in a thermos. He said his parents had made it for me. The warm egg porridge was delicious, but my stomach felt bloated because of the high fever.

‘I can’t eat any more.’

Choi Taegyeom tidied up the porridge without a word and handed me medicine. I hadn’t even gone to the hospital, yet he had antipyretics and cold medicine. When I joked about how well-prepared he was, a wronged voice replied, ‘It’s because of you.’

Anyway, he was a kind person. What kind of friend would carry porridge and medicine for a sick friend? Constantly nagging and taking care of someone also requires affection. He held onto me until the very end, even when my own parents had given up.

I felt something was wrong with my body just before lunchtime ended. He had been touching my forehead every five minutes, and perhaps his anxiety had reached its peak, as he pulled my arm, suggesting we go to the nurse’s office. I also felt something was off, so I got up without a word and followed him.

But as soon as I stood up, my vision spun. My surroundings turned black, and a ringing sound filled my ears. Light gathered, then scattered, everything became a chaotic blur.

‘I’m dizzy, so…’

‘I can’t walk.’

I don’t know if I said those words or not. My mind drifted far away, and the last thing I saw was Choi Taegyeom’s face, pale with shock.

‘…Lee Yoonwoo!’

After that, it was a continuous nightmare. I climbed mountains that never ended, no matter how high I went, and walked paths that never finished, no matter how far I walked. Amidst the indistinguishable boundary between dream and reality, bombs exploded all around, and my insufficient breath suffocatingly tightened my throat.

It felt like my breath would just stop like this. So this is what it’s like to die from sickness. I should have rested at home, Suneung or not. Amidst various regrets, I grabbed onto someone as if clutching a lifeline. Fortunately, the other person didn’t push me away and gently stroked my hair.

Sleep quickly enveloped me. Each time a cool hand caressed me, my body felt a little more refreshed. The cautious touch, as if comforting me, passed through my sweat-soaked hair, reaching my forehead, cheeks, and neck. I also seemed to feel a soft touch on my lips along with the gentle rubbing of my cheek.

And when I opened my eyes, I was home.

A familiar ceiling, a familiar bed, and an even more familiar face.

‘…Choi Taegyeom?’

Choi Taegyeom looked at me with his usual deep eyes. If it weren’t for his slow blinking eyelids, I would have believed time had stopped. His lips were tightly pressed, and there wasn’t even the slightest tremor in his gaze towards me.

It felt strange. The wet towel on my head, the rattling fan, and even him, with his unreadable expression. My lips twitched for no reason, and my throat felt sore.

It was even more so because the emotion of ‘worry’ was dripping from Choi Taegyeom’s face.

It was too heavy to be just for a sick friend. It wasn’t an emotion put on for show; rather, it was closer to the lingering remnants of uncontained anxiety. Was I hallucinating because I was sick? I did think that. The emotion he showed was so much more profound than anything before.

Everything felt unfamiliar. Amidst it all, Choi Taegyeom let out a faint sigh and softly called my name.

‘Lee Yoonwoo.’

My heart dropped with a thud. My name, usually so ordinary, felt sweet at that moment. The way he lowered his eyes, ran his hand through his hair as if frustrated, and narrowed his brows while meeting my gaze.

‘Anyway, you really have a knack for making people worry.’

There were so many things I wanted to ask. How did I get home, why was he here? Why was there a bandage on his arm, and why, why was he looking at me with such an expression?

But pushing all of that aside, only one thought came to mind.

‘I went to the hospital.’

I like you.

‘I got an IV, and they said there’s nothing wrong, so I brought you home.’

I like you.

The small budding emotion grew in a very short instant. My pounding heart was quickly consumed, and my throat felt completely choked.

‘Your parents went back to work.’

If you ask me why, I want to say I don’t know. Was I too sick to think straight, or was I crazy from the heat? Or perhaps, had I just discovered an emotion I hadn’t noticed before?

I like Choi Taegyeom.

The moment I realized it, there was no turning back. My heartbeat was so loud that I couldn’t even hear what he was saying.

I’m screwed.

As I was thinking that, he slowly reached out his hand.

‘Are you still sick?’

A cool hand touched my forehead. I felt like I had sweated buckets while sleeping, but he touched my forehead without any hesitation. Choi Taegyeom’s hand was so large that it covered my entire forehead and even my eyes.

‘You don’t have a fever, but…’

If I opened my mouth, a confession felt like it would spill out. That I liked him. That I loved him. I might have said it without a filter. Whether I was caught up in the atmosphere or the cold, one thing was certain: I wasn’t in my right mind.

‘…My head hurts.’

So I whined, and fortunately, Choi Taegyeom covered me with the blanket without a word. He squeezed the wet towel and placed it on my forehead, then awkwardly patted my chest. Thump-thump, my heart pounded with each movement of his hand.

‘Sleep more.’

There was no way I could sleep. My fever had already gone down, and aside from feeling languid, my body was in peak condition. After a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while and getting an IV, the accumulated fatigue must have melted away. To make matters worse, even with my eyes closed, I could distinctly feel his gaze.

‘…What about school?’

‘Is school important right now?’

I spoke haltingly, but the surging emotions didn’t subside. My throat just choked up again at Choi Taegyeom’s gentle voice.

‘Your parents said they’ll be late.’

‘…’

‘I’ll stay until they come, so sleep well.’

Taking care of each other when sick was a normal part of our lives. When Choi Taegyeom was sick, not me, I would always look after him until his parents arrived. Naturally, it was also normal for Choi Taegyeom to stay by my side.

‘Sleep, and when you wake up, let’s eat and take medicine.’

His soft tone was etched in my heart. It was just an ordinary day, no different from any other, but that day felt special. The same was true for Choi Taegyeom’s subsequent words.

‘Don’t make me worry so much.’

My molars ached. My fingertips tingled, and my eyes felt inexplicably watery. I like you, Choi Taegyeom. The one phrase I couldn’t utter circulated in my chest.

After that, Choi Taegyeom continued to comfort me for a very long time. Until my pounding heart finally calmed down, until my hazy mind once again fell into the abyss of sleep. And until the thought that I liked him came to mind countless times.

Nineteen, the beginning of a terrible fever.

The campus was filled with the scent of spring. Newly sprouting leaves, cautiously emerging flower buds, and couples multiplying like mushrooms, intoxicated by the atmosphere. What magic did the season of spring cast, that even those who were usually utterly dry were now wandering the campus, searching for a romantic partner?

“Hyung, how do I look today?”

Among them, Park Sungjae, whom I met in the lecture hall, was more enthusiastic about courtship than anyone else. His hair was styled, and his clothes were neatly arranged, unlike his usual disheveled appearance. His white shirt and cotton pants suited his bulky frame quite well, but I couldn’t help but feel like a bear had dressed up.

“You’re dressed nicely.”

I lowered my mask and replied indifferently. Park Sungjae, who was stroking his hair, tilted his head, asking why I was wearing a mask.

“Just, a cold.”

“Ugh, colds are nasty these days.”

My body hadn’t felt good since morning. Nothing in particular hurt, but I generally felt listless and lacked strength. From my long experience, this was clearly the prelude to a cold. If I let my guard down even a little, I’d catch a fever in the blink of an eye.

“Do you have plans today?”

“Yeah, I’m meeting someone I was introduced to later.”

Park Sungjae had a wide smile across his face. He grinned so broadly his ears seemed to reach, humming a tune as he adjusted his collar. A sense of déjà vu suddenly struck me.

“…What about the person you were introduced to last time?”