“As expected, you’re quite capable.”
As the car started moving, Junghyun casually spoke as if nothing was unusual.
The probing phase was over. Whether intentionally or not, he had given Junghyun many hints, and Junghyun had picked up on all those signals. And he probably knew that Junghyun had already noticed everything.
Pretending otherwise would only make things worse.
So when Junghyun calmly showed his hand, he responded matter-of-factly.
“Enough not to be outdone by anyone.”
“I think it’s more than just ‘not being outdone.’ I’ll gratefully accept the VIP ward. It would be stranger not to accept it.”
“If you rushed out during dinner, they must be important to you, so I should do at least that much. I’ve received a general report about the situation, but are they alright?”
“Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any problem with the brain or internal organs. They were lucky.”
“It’s a bit much to call right arm and leg fractures ‘lucky’… but I heard it was a major accident, so that’s fortunate. Go home and rest for now. You look tired.”
Come to think of it, he wasn’t wearing a suit.
It occurred to Junghyun that he might have been waiting there for quite a while.
That meant he had something to talk about.
“Hyung, what about work?”
“I don’t have any morning appointments, so I can go in a bit late. You don’t need to go to work, right?”
“No, nothing urgent.”
“Then, let’s go home.”
As he spoke, he switched to the left lane and waited for the left-turn signal.
Junghyun glanced at him from the corner of his eye, then turned to look out the window.
The sun had fully risen now, brightly illuminating the downtown area surrounded by tall buildings.
But despite that, the scenery looked desolate.
The streets, still not completely cleared of snow that had fallen a few days ago, looked messy and busy in various places.
Just as he was thinking that today would be cold too, his eyes began to close.
He knew he should keep his eyes open, and he definitely needed to talk with him, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open.
It felt as if someone was forcibly pushing his eyelids down. He couldn’t resist that force.
And in an instant, his consciousness faded away.
***
His consciousness was sinking endlessly.
Junghyun was in a deep, comfortable sleep, his consciousness settling like sediment into warm, pleasant waters.
Floating pleasantly in unconsciousness without even dreaming, his body suddenly stopped at some point. Then, as if being pulled by something, his consciousness began to rise.
His eyes opened, and he saw the dim room.
It was the bedroom.
Junghyun blinked, wondering why he was here.
He clearly remembered being in Jaehyuk hyung’s car, heading home, and closing his eyes because he was too sleepy.
And then…
His memory cut off at that point.
“Ah…”
It seemed he had fallen into a deep sleep again.
Feeling dismayed, he barely raised his body, which felt like it was sinking into the bed, and checked the clock beside him. It was five o’clock.
Judging by the light beyond the curtains, it wasn’t dawn. It was afternoon.
This was surprising, even though he hadn’t slept properly earlier.
He had slept for nearly 10 hours.
Thanks to that, his mind was clear.
Feeling unusually refreshed, he immediately got out of bed and left the bedroom, where he smelled something delicious.
Only then did he remember that he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday. As he approached the source of the smell, Director Jang, who was cooking, sensed his presence and looked his way.
“Perfect timing—I’m preparing a meal, and you woke up just in time.”
“…Yes… Um, where’s hyung?”
“He went straight to work after moving you this morning. He said he’ll be late today, so you’ll have to have dinner alone.”
Her completely normal attitude made Junghyun realize that he hadn’t taken any action yet.
Well, there’s no benefit in making a fuss beforehand.
It’s best to handle this as quietly as possible.
“The meal will be ready soon. Would you like to eat first? You must be hungry after sleeping all this time.”
“Yes, I’ll eat.”
Feeling not just hungry but slightly dizzy, he asked for the meal and then returned to the bedroom to check his phone.
There were several missed calls and messages from Yoonho hyung, and several messages from his uncle.
Since his uncle’s messages were a continuation of last night’s conversation, he sent a quick reply and then checked Yoonho hyung’s messages.
[Yoonho hyung] What are you going to do about this?
[Yoonho hyung] Are you dead? Even if you’re dead, let me know before you die.
[Yoonho hyung] Are you really dead?
Seeing messages that started with impatience and ended with worry, he immediately pressed the call button.
He no longer cared that Director Jang was outside.
At this point, he didn’t have the energy to worry about such things. He leaned back on the bed and waited, and soon heard an urgent voice.
— “You sure took your time to call back?”
“Sorry. I’ve been asleep until now.”
— “How can you sleep at a time like this?”
“Sleep does come. Desperately.”
At that, Yoonho paused briefly, then continued with a long sigh.
— “Damn, you were pregnant.”
Junghyun agreed with Yoonho’s lament that he had forgotten because too many extraordinary things had happened.
“I forgot too.”
— “I can forget, but you shouldn’t.”
“I still don’t feel it at all.”
— “The fact that you’re sleeping until this hour is evidence of pregnancy. Wait, come to think of it, you said you spent the night at the hospital because someone you know had an accident?”
“…How did you know?”
— “Why else would I have been trying to contact you so urgently? Jaehyuk hyung called me this morning. I don’t know how he got my number, but he said you couldn’t come to work today and that he’d see me soon. It was just a one-minute call, but it gave me an arrhythmia so bad I had to take Uhwangchungsimwon.”
“…So? What did he say?”
— “What would he say? I just vaguely replied that I’d see him soon.”
“That’s fine then. I’ll handle it somehow, so try to avoid him until then. It’ll be resolved soon anyway. Just stall for time.”
— “How will you handle it?”
“There’s nothing for me to do. He already knows everything.”
Since Yoonho hyung needed to know, Junghyun shared this important fact first. After a moment of silence as if Yoonho was thinking, he asked again.
— “…Wait, does that mean… Jaehyuk hyung knows all about your stalking?”
“Yes.”
After Junghyun’s surprisingly calm response, Yoonho’s mumbling could be heard.
— “He didn’t mention anything like that to me?”
“Maybe he’s planning to confront you in person.”
— “Hey…”
At Yoonho’s reproach to stop saying scary things, Junghyun lightened the mood.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t get involved. I just called to let you know.”
— “How can I not be involved? In this situation?”
“I’ll have to figure something out.”
— “How? Now you’re the one person in the world he should absolutely never trust.”
“Jaehyuk hyung won’t involve other people either. It wouldn’t do any good if this story leaked out.”
— “…That’s true. If this gets out, people will come running like a pack of dogs from all directions. Especially his uncle.”
“So it’ll be handled as quietly as possible. Well, even if the divorce comes later, living together would be impossible, so we’ll work something out.”
— “Isn’t there something else you need to talk about first?”
“What?”
— “The pregnancy.”
Junghyun tried to end the call quickly, not wanting to think about this topic right now.
“I’ll hang up. We’ll talk details tomorrow.”
— “Are you going to work?”
“I can’t just stay cooped up at home.”
Staying at home wasn’t a good option. Spending the entire day with the perceptive Director Jang would be suicidal.
Until he could properly finish his conversation with hyung, it would be better to stay away from this house as much as possible.
— “Alright. Then come to my office when you get to work tomorrow. Let’s come up with a plan.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”
After finishing the brief call with Yoonho, Junghyun put down his phone and exhaled a long sigh.
Now that he thought everything had been discovered, he actually felt more at ease. His body already felt heavy and lethargic, making even thinking troublesome, so this was actually for the best.
He could resolve things this way. After all, he had been planning to bring it up himself.
So it didn’t matter.
Though he felt a chill inside his chest, it was okay.
No, it would be okay.
It had to be okay.
Not being okay wasn’t an option.
He needed to face him, talk, and resolve this situation.
As soon as possible.
But contrary to his wishes, from that day on, he couldn’t see him.
## Chapter 14
[Mountain Ginseng] I’ll be late again today.
Looking at the notice-like message that arrived as expected, Junghyun stared down at his phone in bewilderment.
It had been four days already.
Using the excuse of being busy even on the weekend, he hadn’t shown his face, and today, Monday, he again left for work without waking Junghyun. And after going to work, he only sent a message saying he wouldn’t be home until after midnight again today.
Being busy was understandable. He was always a busy person.
But this wasn’t just being busy.
Their daily routine had included calling each other at least twice a day and exchanging messages at least five times a day, even if it was just for show to pretend they were a good couple.
Above all, unless he was working overnight, he would wake Junghyun up, even out of stubbornness, to have breakfast together, but for the past few days, he hadn’t woken him.
For this reason, Junghyun would fall asleep before he returned and wake up after he left for work, leaving no time to see each other’s faces.
Throughout all this, sleep continued to overwhelm him without consideration.
Even if he tried to hold out until he returned from work, he couldn’t overcome the drowsiness.
His eyelids would fall heavily as if he’d taken sleeping pills, and when he woke up, he was already gone.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
