Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 29

When the knife-wielder died and Cheon Sejoo lost consciousness, Seonhyuk immediately took him and left the scene. He called Jinyoung, who was in the observation room, to clean up and went upstairs to check on Cheon Sejoo’s condition. Only after confirming that Cheon Sejoo was merely asleep did he leave the building. He had planned to take Cheon Sejoo home so he could rest comfortably, but he hadn’t expected Sejin to be waiting in the car.

Sejin had sarcastically asked if Seonhyuk knew Cheon Sejoo’s hand was hurt, but Seonhyuk was already aware of the injury. Sejin just hadn’t seen it, but the bandage on Cheon Sejoo’s hand had already been replaced with a new one. It was because the wound had re-opened and bled again from holding the knife.

“Get out.”

Soon, Seonhyuk drove into the parking lot and parked in the designated spot for Unit 4100. He turned off the engine, got out of the driver’s seat, and immediately hoisted Cheon Sejoo onto his back. As he carried the motionless Cheon Sejoo, who seemed dead, towards the elevator, Sejin hovered beside him with a suspicious expression. He seemed worried that the person was unresponsive. Seonhyuk ignored him and caught the elevator. Since he was registered for access, they were able to go up to the 41st floor without difficulty using the private elevator.

Moon Seonhyuk entered Cheon Sejoo’s home and went straight to his bedroom. He gently laid Cheon Sejoo down on his bed in a supine position, covered him with a blanket, and then returned to the living room.

“……”

Sejin stood defiantly by the kitchen island bar, his eyes filled with wariness. Seonhyuk gazed at his pretty face, which naturally drew attention, and felt annoyed. The fact that this ill-mannered brat was an exception to someone who rarely allowed anyone close, even if he showed fleeting sympathy, was deeply displeasing to him. But there was nothing he could do. He didn’t want to act against Cheon Sejoo’s wishes.

Moon Seonhyuk finally chose his words carefully and said to Sejin in a chiding tone.

“…Don’t bother the Section Chief.”

Having said that, Moon Seonhyuk disappeared towards the entrance. The moment he disappeared from sight, Sejin sighed. Everything was so incomprehensible. Why was the person who went to work sleeping after taking medicine? Why was that man so angry just because he called Cheon Sejoo by name, but didn’t care that his hand was hurt? And what kind of medicine did Cheon Sejoo take that was sleeping so soundly, like a dead mouse?

Unable to bear the frustration, Sejin pulled at his hair messily and then took a step. First, he went into his room, showered, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the kitchen and made himself food. He was starving because he had missed dinner after going to Hwagak. After filling his stomach, he finally started thinking again.

Cheon Sejoo was a person so meticulous about cleanliness that he would always shower immediately after coming home from outside. It was impossible that he wouldn’t be bothered by sleeping in bed without washing. But what bothered him even more was Cheon Sejoo’s hand.

Sejin sighed, recalling Cheon Sejoo’s right hand, which had been stained red with blood. What if it gets infected if I leave it? What if the flesh rots? He kept worrying. Finally, Sejin took out the first-aid kit from the kitchen cabinet. He gathered disinfectant, ointment, and sterile gauze and headed to Cheon Sejoo’s room.

He had entered his room every time he cleaned, but it was the first time he had entered while Cheon Sejoo was there. Unlike when it was always cool and quiet, the atmosphere was different with its owner lying there. Sejin felt the air, somehow heavy and subdued, as he approached the bed.

“Cheon Sejoo.”

He called out softly, but there was no answer. Looking down at him, Sejin swallowed dryly. The sight of him sleeping with his eyes gently closed was breathtakingly handsome. Even though he was a man, he was so cool that Sejin’s heart pounded. But whether Cheon Sejoo was handsome or not, that wasn’t what was important right now.

“Let me look at your hand…”

Sejin muttered quietly, then got onto the bed and picked up Cheon Sejoo’s right hand. Someone in the office must have looked at it, because the way the bandage was wrapped was different from how Han Jiwon, the Hwagak manager, had wrapped it earlier. Sejin pouted his lips, unwrapped his hand, and examined the wound.

Clotted blood had accumulated in the split opening. The sight made him frown, but other than that, the wound looked quite good. It didn’t seem infected or swollen.

Thinking that he just needed to change the gauze, Sejin sprayed iodine, wiped away the blood with an alcohol swab, and applied ointment to the wound. Then he took out sterile gauze, placed it on both the palm and back of his hand, and wrapped it with paper tape. It was clumsier than what Han Jiwon or someone in the office had done, but in Sejin’s eyes, it didn’t look bad.

After finishing the awkward treatment, Sejin pulled back the blanket covering Cheon Sejoo. Moon Seonhyuk had only removed his jacket, so Cheon Sejoo was still wearing a shirt and suit pants. Soon, Sejin noticed small splatters of blood on his white shirt and frowned. Was it blood that had splashed from his palm? It wasn’t a very pleasant sight. It was very unhygienic.

“…I’ll change your clothes.”

Sejin, after a moment of contemplation, whispered into Cheon Sejoo’s ear as if asking for permission. Cheon Sejoo was also a clean freak, so he would probably be grateful in the morning when he woke up and realized Sejin had taken off his dirty clothes. With that thought, he got up and headed to Cheon Sejoo’s dressing room.

On top of his dresser were Cheon Sejoo’s loungewear, which Sejin had left there to organize. He picked up the thin T-shirt and loose sweatpants that Cheon Sejoo usually wore, hesitated, and then even packed underwear before leaving the room.

When he returned to the bed, Cheon Sejoo was still asleep. Sejin approached and sat beside him. Then he gazed down at Cheon Sejoo’s handsome face.

Unlike when his eyes were open, he was defenseless when asleep. His usual distinctive boundaries were blurred. Sejin found himself captivated by the man who was both familiar and strange.

Just like when he saw the wound on his hand earlier in the day, a strange stir rippled in a corner of his heart. The fact that Cheon Sejoo could appear so vulnerable surprised Sejin.

When his eyes were open, Cheon Sejoo was the strongest person he knew. He was always relaxed, observing the world with a detached attitude as if everything was beneath him. The man who seemed impenetrable, as if a needle couldn’t pierce him, appeared tough enough not to be wounded by anything.

But the sleeping Cheon Sejoo was not like that. He was just a human. He seemed like an ordinary person who knew how to get angry at someone, how to desperately cling to someone, and how to grieve for someone, just like Sejin.

That huge discrepancy actually narrowed the distance in his heart. Sejin unconsciously reached out and touched Cheon Sejoo’s face. His fingertips brushed against the cool skin, and finally, with that small contact, Sejin realized that he was a person living in the same world as him. He wasn’t a man left alone and faded in the darkness, but a person right beside him.

As he did, his heart strangely pounded faster, and his throat felt dry. His face flushed hotly. It felt strange. Why am I like this? Sejin swallowed dryly, thinking he should quickly change his clothes and leave, and reached for his shirt.

One by one, as the buttons came undone, the rustling shirt gradually parted, revealing Cheon Sejoo’s pale upper body. Sejin mesmerized, traced his skin downwards. Moderately firm muscles, not thin, filled Sejin’s eyes. Sigh, sigh, his handsome chest rose and fell with each even breath he took like a baby.

“……”

Sejin’s cheeks flushed, and he pouted his lips. His body was so cool that he could only say he was envious. Unlike the bulky men from Shinsa Capital, Cheon Sejoo’s upper body, with just the right amount of muscle, was truly splendid. The slightly swollen chest muscles, the soft skin around his ribs, the broad shoulders that tapered into a slender waist—the lines were so… beautiful that they made Sejin feel inexplicably strange.

However, that perfect body had many scars. Sejin, unaware of his own distress, looked at his upper body with a faint frown. There were traces of stitched or long-torn scars on his lower abdomen, and a hand-span long scar running from below his left chest to his side was also visible. Sejin, seeing these, was once again convinced that Cheon Sejoo was not just a simple loan shark.

A scene from a noir film he had seen on TV flashed through his mind. Was that what he meant by “irreplaceable work”? Sejin thought quietly as he took off his shirt.

Still, the shirt was relatively easy to take off. He just had to slightly turn his body to pull out his arms and then pull off the clothes. But putting on the T-shirt afterwards was a little difficult. Sejin thought he should put his head through first, so he rolled the T-shirt up from the bottom hem. In that state, he leaned close to him, lifted Cheon Sejoo’s head with both hands, and grunted as he pulled the shirt through. After the T-shirt was caught around his neck, he had to put his arms through, and this was where the problem began. When he tried to put Cheon Sejoo’s arm in, he felt like his bone might break, so he couldn’t move it carelessly.

Sejin scoffed at his own absurd thought. There was no way such a firm and smooth arm would break from his touch, but he didn’t know why he thought that. Sejin sighed, then, so as not to cause him any discomfort, he leaned over and slowly pushed Cheon Sejoo’s arm into the shirt. After putting in the injured hand first, he bent down again to put in the other hand.

Sejin discovered something on Cheon Sejoo’s pale neck. His gaze fell upon a deep pinkish spot, a mix of brown and pink. Two tiny dots, like pinpricks from a mechanical pencil, were lined up neatly in the middle of Cheon Sejoo’s left neckline. They were so small and cute that one wouldn’t even know they were there unless looking closely.

Sejin suddenly remembered the red welts Cheon Sejoo sometimes came home with. Come to think of it, they were always in this exact spot. Were they marks from the woman Cheon Sejoo was seeing, from her sucking on the spot? Sejin found himself unconsciously empathizing with the unknown woman. This was truly…

…Truly.

Truly, what? Sejin frowned and lifted his head at the sudden crazy thought. His face was burning. He must be crazy. He must have caught something from being next to such a perverted person. Sejin patted his cheeks with both hands, as if to snap himself out of it, then focused on dressing him again. As he did, his touch on Cheon Sejoo became even more careful than before.

After painstakingly putting on the T-shirt, Sejin then placed his hand on his belt. Is this too much? Should I just leave it? He thought about it, then decided, What’s the big deal between men? and confidently unbuckled the belt. Anyway, he had seen Cheon Sejoo’s dick a few times. He was so careless that it wasn’t just once or twice. Thinking that, Sejin unbuckled his pants and underwear all at once.

“……”

However, there was a big difference between seeing it in passing and seeing it right in front of him. Sejin stared at Cheon Sejoo’s lower body, now exposed right before him, and his mouth fell open. His cheeks and ears instantly turned bright red.

‘Yours is big, isn’t it?’

He recalled something Cheon Sejoo had jokingly said one day. He was right. It was big… Sejin’s own wasn’t small for his height either. But it was quite elastic, so the size difference between erect and flaccid was significant, whereas Cheon Sejoo’s was big even when flaccid. It also seemed bigger because there was no hair and the color was light, just like how a person looks bigger in white or pink clothes than in black ones…

But why was there no hair? Sejin squinted, thinking that, then barely managed to tear his gaze away from Cheon Sejoo’s area. He sighed, a complicated sigh, thinking he should finish quickly and get out, then threaded the underwear he had brought through his legs.

As he lifted his feet and put them into each opening, Cheon Sejoo’s unusually neat ankles and steps came into view. He didn’t want to think about it in this situation, but Cheon Sejoo’s feet were truly beautiful. From the straight bones of his instep, like something taken from a mannequin, to the blue veins running beneath the skin covering them… not a single part was untidy.

After briefly admiring Cheon Sejoo’s feet, Sejin quickly pulled the underwear, draped over his ankles, upwards. He lifted his legs and turned his waist until he finally got the boxers on. By then, his back was soaked with sweat.

Why is he so heavy? He desperately wanted to stop here, but Sejin didn’t give up, panting as he pulled Cheon Sejoo’s pants on him too. This was his attempt to repay Cheon Sejoo’s kindness, taking this opportunity.

“Ah…”

But just as he was about to pull the pants all the way up, something bothered his eyes. A man’s genitals should be neatly tucked into his underwear, but perhaps because he had turned his head while putting on the underwear, Cheon Sejoo’s was bent to one side inside.

Sejin was in serious conflict. If he left it like that, Cheon Sejoo might experience great pain when he woke up in the morning due to natural physical reactions…

“Fuck…”

Being a man himself, he couldn’t ignore the impending pain. Finally, Sejin squeezed his eyes shut and reached his hand into Cheon Sejoo’s underwear. He neatly adjusted what felt soft and smooth, even more so without hair than his own, and then hastily got off the bed. Then he remembered he hadn’t covered him with the blanket, so he reached out again and pulled the blanket up to his neck before finally leaving his room.

Cheon Sejoo woke up late in the morning. Discovering the familiar ceiling, he stared blankly at the light for a moment, unable to grasp the situation, then suddenly frowned and turned his head. It was his room. When did I get here? He tried to sit up, recalling the memories of last night, but felt dizzy and lay back down in the same spot.

With his eyes closed, he stretched out one hand, groping for the spot where he usually left his phone. But he found nothing. Ha, he let out a short sigh, covered his head, and only after a few minutes did he recall what had happened last night.

He had caught that bastard in the workshop. He had rushed to kill the bastard who had injured Haewoong, unable to leave him be, and just when he thought he had killed him, a stinging sensation had come over him. What was that? Was it a drug? It wasn’t an anesthetic, so it must have been a sleeping pill, an aphrodisiac, or some other drug…

Thinking that, he touched his body with his hand. Fortunately, he was still dressed, so it wasn’t an aphrodisiac. His head was just a little dizzy, so it probably wasn’t a drug either; it must have been a sleeping pill.

If he had mixed several drugs, he could have killed him instantly. Should he call this misfortune or fortune? Cheon Sejoo swallowed a bitter smile and slowly sat up.

Looking around, he saw his phone lying on the other side of the mattress. Cheon Sejoo rolled across the bed towards it and was first called Seonhyuk.

But when he switched to the speakerphone, his sleeve felt empty. Looking down, Cheon Sejoo chuckled at seeing his T-shirt backwards, then was startled to realize his underwear had also been changed. Did a lot of blood splatter? Why did it go this far…?

“Yes, Section Chief. Are you alright?”

Moon Seonhyuk immediately asked about Cheon Sejoo’s well-being as soon as he answered the phone. “I’m fine,” he replied briefly, then checked on the workshop’s status.

“What happened? And Haewoong?”

“The kid’s a bit sulky but he’s fine. The bleeding has stopped well, and the swelling seems to be gone. The guy you caught died on the spot, and I disposed of the body. The one who wasn’t awake woke up this morning and is fine. I’ve roughly tidied the workshop, but the drugs are mixed, so you’ll have to sort that out yourself, Section Chief.”

“Right… You’ve worked hard.”

He thought Moon Seonhyuk must have had a lot to do. Taking him home, changing his clothes, tidying up the messy workshop, and even finishing the disposal – it was enough to make him feel sorry just hearing it. At Cheon Sejoo’s praise, Seonhyuk cleared his throat awkwardly and replied,

“Not at all. You must be disoriented from the sleeping pills, so please rest today. I’ll go in for the interrogation later. Haewoong is determined to go, so you don’t need to come, Section Chief. I’ll call you right away if anything happens.”

“Okay… Understood. Contact me.”

“Yes, please rest.”

Though he desperately wanted to help, he wasn’t well enough to stubbornly ignore their reassurances and rush out. Cheon Sejoo let out a deep sigh, hung up the phone, and lay back down on the bed. The lingering effects of the sleeping pills still held him.

Cheon Sejoo’s eyes, drowsily closing, suddenly snapped open as he remembered a presence he had forgotten. Kwon Sejin. That kid was waiting for him in the car. Holding his phone, Cheon Sejoo frantically called Moon Seonhyuk again.

“Seonhyuk-ah.” 

“Yes, please tell me.” 

“Did you see the kid who was in the car yesterday?” 

“Yes, he came into the house with me. When he asked why your condition was like that, I told him you were sleeping after taking some medicine. You don’t need to worry.” 

“Alright, thanks. Go back to your work.” 

“Please rest.”

He had been worried Sejin might think something strange, but it was a relief that Seonhyuk had explained. He didn’t know if Seonhyuk had explained it nicely, but at least he probably made it understandable, even if it was a bit rough.

With a relieved mind, Cheon Sejoo closed his eyes again and spent a long time on the bed. It wasn’t until after noon that he left his bedroom and headed straight for the bathroom. They had changed his clothes, but of course, they wouldn’t have bathed him, would they? From the moment that thought crossed his mind, he felt utterly uncomfortable.

When he came out into the living room, the house was quiet. Sejin seemed to have already gone to school; the dishes from his breakfast were neatly stacked in the sink. Cheon Sejoo stripped off all his clothes in front of the bathroom and went inside.

Before turning on the water, he quietly looked down at his right hand. The bandage wrapped around his hand was different from what he remembered. It seemed someone had tended to his hand again after he fell asleep in the studio. Seeing the astonishingly clumsy work, it wasn’t Moon Seonhyuk. Was it Seo Jinyoung? He felt he needed to teach him how to treat wounds. He appreciated the effort, but this was a bit much.

Cheon Sejoo peeled off the sloppily wrapped gauze and examined his palm and the back of his hand. The scabbed wound was clean, without swelling. There seemed to be no need to go to the hospital separately. He held his right hand up, preventing water from directly touching the wound, and turned on the faucet.

Washing for a long time with hot water cleared the hazy, foggy feeling in his head, leaving him refreshed. Like a habit from when he lived alone, he placed the towel, after wiping himself dry, on his head. He then left the bathroom, gathered his discarded clothes, and headed for the laundry room. Sejin’s nagging about leaving clothes in front of the bathroom, even for a moment, had somehow made it a habit to put laundry directly into the basket.

He walked past the alpha room, used as a storage space, and entered the laundry room. Sejin ran the washing machine at least once every two days, and it seemed today was the day, as a good amount of laundry had piled up. Since he was already here, he decided to do the laundry and picked up the laundry basket.

As he carelessly shoved the clothes into the washing machine, Cheon Sejoo narrowed his eyes and looked down at the scrap of cloth in his hand. Among the dry laundry, there was a single damp piece of underwear. Small, pitch-black cotton drawers.

“……”

Cheon Sejoo quietly stared at it, then let out a dry chuckle. Just like a man… He then shrugged his shoulders, laughing in exasperation, and tossed Sejin’s underwear and the rest of the clothes into the machine, closing the door. He poured in detergent and fabric softener, started the washing machine, and left.

Throughout his walk back to the living room, suppressed laughter escaped his lips. The fact that he now had an excuse to tease Sejin unconsciously brought a smile to his face. Just thinking about Kwon Sejin denying it vehemently already brought him joy.

Once out, he walked past the living room and had his meal in the kitchen. He took out the frozen rice Sejin had prepared for emergencies and the side dishes Sejin had made, eating a late lunch. Indeed, Sejin’s cooking suited his taste better than the side dishes from Ihwagak or those made by Moon Seonhyuk. Sejin tended to season lightly, and the subtly harmonious blend of sweet and salty flavors felt perfect.

After finishing his meal, he belatedly checked the messages piled up on his phone. One from Moon Seonhyuk asking him to call when he woke up, one from Hae-ung asking if he could attend the interrogation, one from Chae Beom-jun asking for a favor when he had time, and finally, one from Sejin.

Stray dog Go to the hospital first when you wake up. Your hand might rot. 8:37 AM

He was saying scary things. Was he that worried? Cheon Sejoo looked at Sejin’s message and quietly raised his palm. The bleeding had stopped, and the wound didn’t look that serious to him. It seemed it would heal without much trouble in about a week, even without going to the hospital.

However, remembering Sejin’s insistence on going to the hospital since yesterday, Cheon Sejoo eventually got up and changed his clothes. Sejin would undoubtedly nag him about whether he had gone to the hospital as soon as he returned from school. If he said no, Sejin would cluck at him so loudly it would make his head ache. He thought it would be better to go and get some medicine than listen to that. Cheon Sejoo tried to rationalize his thoughts in this way as he left the house.

Searching for a hospital, he was fortunate to find a newly opened orthopedic clinic in the commercial complex below his apartment. It was a relief not to have to go far. Cheon Sejoo roughly put on a hoodie with the hood up and sweatpants before getting into the elevator. He got off on the first floor, entered the corridor leading to the commercial complex, and went straight up to the second floor where the hospital was located.

“Good Korea Orthopedic Clinic.” Seeing the name, it seemed to have been opened by someone who graduated from Korea University Medical School, but Cheon Sejoo didn’t think it would be someone he knew, so he thoughtlessly finished his registration. During that time, he declined the paper the staff member offered, asking for an autograph if he was a celebrity, but accepted the coffee they personally brewed and handed him, even though it was self-serve.

“Thank you.”

When he smiled and bowed his head in greeting, the receptionist returned to her seat with a look that suggested life couldn’t be more rewarding. He waited for his turn, sipping the warm coffee. It was a weekday afternoon, and not many people visited the orthopedic clinic, so Cheon Sejoo’s turn came quickly.

“Cheon Sejoo, please come in.”

At the hospital staff’s call, he got up and headed for the examination room. As he walked down the small corridor between the reception and the examination room, he saw the medical staff’s information board on the wall and his face stiffened.

There must be thousands of doctors currently practicing medicine who graduated from Korea University Medical School, but it had to be someone he knew. And not just someone he knew…

“Cheon Sejoo?”

Ha Yeoreum. Looking at the familiar name and photo, Cheon Sejoo pulled his hat deeper over his eyes and opened his mouth. It seemed better to go to another hospital.

“I’m sorry, but something urgent came up.”

However, before he could attempt to escape, the examination room door burst open. Cheon Sejoo clenched his mouth shut and turned his head, but the small figure who popped out first surveyed him from head to toe and snorted, as if she knew this would happen.

“Mr. Cheon Sejoo! Come in!”

Ha Yeoreum, her eyes narrowed fiercely, shouted at Cheon Sejoo and disappeared back inside. The sudden appearance of the doctor left the staff member looking flustered for a moment, then she pointed to the examination room for Cheon Sejoo.

“She… wants you to come in?” 

“…” 

“Come in!!”

Since he didn’t respond, she shouted louder. Cheon Sejoo bit his lip, blaming himself for his carelessness. He had written down his phone number and even his address when he registered, so there was no way to escape from Yeoreum.

If he ran away now, she was the kind of person who would come to his house and ring the doorbell three thousand times in 24 hours. Damn it… Finally, he sighed, picked up and put down his hat, and awkwardly stepped into the examination room.

“Hello.”

Yeoreum, sitting in the chair in front of the monitor with an angry expression and crossed arms, greeted him while glaring at Cheon Sejoo. Cheon Sejoo sat on the examination chair in front of her and nodded his head. He couldn’t bring himself to say “Hello” back. And Yeoreum, receiving his nonchalant greeting, let out an incredulous snort, then pointed out his behavior.

“If you received a greeting, shouldn’t you return it, Mr. Cheon Sejoo?” 

“…Yeoreum-ah.” 

“Ah, yes. Unfortunately, I am not doing well. Because my one-of-a-kind friend, Cheon Sejoo, suddenly cut off contact and disappeared five years ago. I was really worried if he died without a trace somewhere, but would that friend understand even one-hundredth of my feelings? Seeing you living so well like this, I’m so annoyed that I wasted so many nights worrying.” 

“…”

Cheon Sejoo couldn’t say anything and remained silent as Yeoreum, as if she had been waiting, fired back at him. He and Ha Yeoreum had known each other since their university orientation. Yeoreum, who was less than 160cm tall, was a woman with a sharp mind and amazing speaking skills, contrary to her small and cute appearance. She and Cheon Sejoo became close after a certain incident during the orientation.

At first, Yeoreum had even cursed at Cheon Sejoo, thinking he was making fun of her short stature, but after realizing that he wasn’t someone who deliberately attacked others’ weaknesses or tormented them, she became closer to Cheon Sejoo than anyone else.

It was Yeoreum who stayed by Cheon Sejoo’s side for all three days of Hyein’s funeral and even followed him to the crematorium. It was also Yeoreum who visited him in the detention center, asked for the reason, and comforted him when Cheon Sejoo was caught by the police after learning the reason for Hyein’s suicide and trying to kidnap the perpetrators for revenge. She also gathered classmates to write a petition during the trial, and when Cheon Sejoo was suddenly released due to insufficient evidence and went into hiding, she searched for his whereabouts for over a year. It was all Yeoreum.

However, to make excuses, Cheon Sejoo had no energy to care about anything else besides Hyein’s death at the time, and after that, he couldn’t bring himself to face Yeoreum, so he couldn’t go to see her. It wasn’t much different now. Cheon Sejoo avoided Yeoreum’s gaze. Seeing this, Yeoreum shook her head with a sigh.

“This is absurd. Utterly absurd…”

Her murmuring voice seemed tinged with moisture. Thinking about it now, he really had been too much. Cheon Sejoo, who hadn’t contacted her for five years despite her running around everywhere to save him, was an irredeemable piece of trash. He had no intention of denying that fact.

But even though he should have said, “Thank you, I’m sorry, even now,” Cheon Sejoo couldn’t open his mouth and hesitated. He was afraid of the relationship with Yeoreum that would inevitably restart the moment he spoke. He was scared that she would despise him if she knew how he was living. As he remained silent, Yeoreum spoke first.

“Haa… You hurt your hand.”

Saying that, Yeoreum took Cheon Sejoo’s right hand, which was neatly placed on his knee, and spread it open. She thoroughly examined the palm and back of his hand, where the puncture wound remained, fulfilling her duty as a doctor.

“I don’t know how this happened, but it’s such a clean wound that there’s nothing more to do. You don’t need stitches; if you leave it as is, it’ll heal perfectly, so just be careful using your right hand, and just in case, get some antibiotics and take them for about three days, apply ointment well, and watch out for infection… You know all this without me saying, right? How could you not know? You graduated at the top of your class from Korea University Medical School.” 

“…Yeoreum-ah.” 

“Yes, the examination is over. You can leave now.”

Just moments ago she was muttering as if she was about to cry, but now Yeoreum gave him the cold shoulder and ordered him out. Cheon Sejoo wanted to apologize to her, even just three words: “I’m sorry,” but because Yeoreum was ringing the bell and shouting for the next patient to come in, he couldn’t say a word and had to get up. However, before he left the examination room, Yeoreum spoke to Cheon Sejoo in a voice barely audible.

“Answer my calls.” 

“…”

Cheon Sejoo didn’t respond to her and closed the examination room door. But Ha Yeoreum was someone who couldn’t do anything without getting a definitive answer. The door burst open again, and Yeoreum glared at Cheon Sejoo with sharp eyes and said,

“I said, answer my calls.” 

“Alright.”

Yeoreum hadn’t changed at all. Unlike him. Cheon Sejoo realized that fact and opened his mouth. Only after looking directly into her round eyes and replying “Alright” did Yeoreum, her eyes welling up and turning red, disappear.

Cheon Sejoo stood in the corridor for a while, then seeing the next patient enter the corridor, he left. He paid, got his prescription, stopped by the pharmacy, and instead of returning home, he headed for the walking path leading to the Han River.

Perhaps because it was a weekday, there weren’t many people by the Han River. Cheon Sejoo walked aimlessly with an expressionless face, passing by occasional cyclists.

Eight-year-old Cheon Sejoo fell in love with his younger sister, Hyein, the moment she arrived with the sound of rain. He had thought he was alone in the world, but the fact that he now had a family made him regard Hyein’s existence as more special than anyone else’s. After holding his sister Hyein in his arms, his life revolved around her.

When he left school, he would run the short distance, wanting to see her even a second sooner. When he studied, he worked hard, thinking that when Hyein went to school later, he would teach her many things.