16
“Hey.”
As he approached that way saying “Hey,” Gu Wanjae quickly turned around.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing like that, probably just going home will be fine.”
“They said just go?”
“Results will come out, but there won’t be any problems. Just… your condition is a bit off. You’re walking around now anyway.”
“Is having a bad condition normal?”
“…Sometimes it can be bad.”
“Sometimes? Do you know how many times you’ve been weird now?”
Taein was at a loss for words at that. It was true that his body hurt strangely often. Was it around the end of first year? He gradually felt his stamina failing, then from second year he suffered from extreme fatigue. The headaches, stomach aches, and numbness throughout his body that started then continued or worsened until now. He didn’t know why this was happening either. Still, he couldn’t become serious along with him, so Taein smiled slightly and spoke.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s just bad luck being expelled.”
“That sounds like bullshit about bad luck.”
Gu Wanjae answered Taein’s words firmly, then described in detail what happened at home.
“Do you know how shocked I was at home…? I was hitting your cheeks so hard but you wouldn’t wake up, and your eyes were rolled back.”
“Your eyes were rolled back while sleeping?”
“No, when I opened them, your pupils were like this.”
Gu Wanjae lifted his eyelid to show the whites. Really? It seemed like he might be exaggerating. Taein, who had looked away from the eyes showing only whites, saw someone approaching. The person walking this way with a white coat fluttering was a doctor. The doctor who approached with big strides spoke before even reaching the bed.
“Student, when did you receive your trait examination?”
Trait examination. He had received it as mandatory in first grade of elementary school, and hadn’t received one since. Taein was diagnosed as Type A Beta. Type B Beta had the possibility of hormonal instability later, but Type A Beta had close to 0% possibility of that. It meant he would live his whole life thinking of Alphas and Omegas as fairy tales.
“In first grade of elementary school.”
“Did it come out as Type A then?”
“Yes.”
“Then this is really rare.”
Taein could see the doctor tilting his head. Taein answered for now, but didn’t know what that meant.
“Excuse me? What is?”
“If you look here, your hormone levels exceeded 80. Originally, this hormone doesn’t appear in Type A Betas. It either shows as 0, or at most around 0.01. But if yours is 80, that’s about the Omega average.”
“Ah?”
“Haven’t you been feeling quite unwell recently?”
“Ah…”
“There’s no case of Type A doing this… For now, student, according to the examination, your trait comes out as Omega. The X-ray too, and it doesn’t seem like there’s another problem causing hormonal abnormalities.”
“What?”
“Probably there was an error in the examination you had long ago… or the record itself might have been written wrong. Since there are no records after that, that possibility seems high… You were probably Beta B back then, not Beta A. Still, for not receiving management, there’s no major problem with your body. Originally it’s standard to visit the hospital regularly and monitor progress, but cases like yours are quite rare…”
The doctor with a troubled expression tilted his head slightly to the side. Taein’s face looking at him was full of bewilderment. What does this mean? His face looked like he was about to ask that any moment. The doctor just cleared his throat once and told him what to be careful about.
“Your condition might continue to be bad. What brought on something like shock this time was the medicine you took, student. That’s medicine we don’t prescribe to those with Omega traits. Because there are rejection reactions. But you took that medicine while already in bad condition. It might be okay for a while, but now you need to get proper prescriptions. Otherwise something big will happen.”
To the doctor who widened his eyes as if confirming, Taein showed no reaction. The doctor, having finished speaking, only recommended making an appointment at the special gender internal medicine department and left. It was a coat that fluttered particularly loudly with each step. Until the doctor left the emergency room, Taein couldn’t turn his head. He pretended to only look at the emergency room entrance.
People were passing by, and he could see the bed that had been empty earlier was now filled with a patient who had just come in. Taein only looked at that and didn’t turn his gaze to the side.
He knew Gu Wanjae was standing over there. It meant Gu Wanjae had also heard the doctor’s absurd words. What would he add to that? Taein’s head was complicated right now. Even in his daze, he couldn’t guess what he should say, whether he should laugh or cry.
5 minutes like that.
The first to take action was Gu Wanjae’s side. Gu Wanjae, who had been equally silent, let out a big sigh then headed for the emergency room entrance. The huge door made a whirring sound as it opened and Gu Wanjae could be seen going outside.
Taein’s eyes were on the slowly closing emergency room door.
Ah.
It’s over.
That’s just what he thought. He first thought it was over just like this. The best choice Gu Wanjae, who had staked his life on friendship, could make. Leaving silently. He might acknowledge him if they happened to meet later, but he thought it was over with that guy. He only hoped Gu Wanjae, who would spit at Omegas first, wouldn’t receive unnecessary shock. It was a different matter from him being shocked. Anyway, it was his business, and even if there was an error, these were words for him to hear. He didn’t want to inflict similar shock on Gu Wanjae.
Taein got up blindly and headed for the desk where the nurses sat.
He had been responsible for his own affairs since childhood. Even in this absurd, ridiculous moment, there were many things to do.
“Ah, excuse me. Earlier the doctor said… to make an appointment with another department.”
“Ah, yes. What’s your name?”
“Kang Taein.”
“Uh… yes. It says to visit the special gender medical department once. Shall I connect you there?”
“…Yes.”
Taein answered like that and received confirmation of the appointment schedule. The nurse, who only saw patients every day, didn’t seem to notice anything particularly strange about Taein. Only Taein felt strangely abandoned right now.
Taein turned around and headed for the bed where he had been.
He could go straight but pointlessly lay down on the bed. Then he got lost in thought.
No phone, and only a few coins. What should he do first? Should he come get his phone from Gu Wanjae’s house first? It would be difficult to take out his luggage right away. How could he take out all the luggage he had steadily moved over 2 years in one day? It was impossible. Time was needed. Time. Gu Wanjae would understand that much at least. Still, if he knew when Gu Wanjae wasn’t home, he could time it well and go back and forth.
Like this. Thoughts came one by one.
Whatever situation he was in, the responsibility was his. Time to be immersed in shock or leisure to blame life wasn’t given right now. Even if he wasn’t an Omega, even if he was going to die soon, he would have made hospital appointments and organized bedding. No emotion could be read in Taein’s eyes as he shook out the wrinkled bed.
He had to think about what to do next.
For now, going to the facility seemed good. Anyway, there was no one to contact him, and he didn’t really need a phone. Since Gu Wanjae often left the house during the day, he could briefly come out tomorrow at lunch time to get his phone. Taein, who finished thinking alone, bit his lips once and left the bed.
“……”
The emergency room’s space was visible or hidden depending on the position of the movable curtains. Taein, who passed through the movable curtain that had been next to him, raised his eyes at the sight of someone familiar.
“Just leaving?”
The one who spoke as if throwing the words was Gu Wanjae. There was no sign of urgency at all, as if he had been there for a while. It seemed like he had seen everything from rummaging through pockets to organizing the bed. Taein briefly pressed his lips together then opened his mouth.
“Yeah… I have to go.”
“Nothing like getting shots or anything?”
“They just said to make an appointment.”
“Uh…”
It wasn’t the “uh” of an answer. He made an “uh” sound as if thinking. Taein looked up at Gu Wanjae then lowered his head. Maybe Gu Wanjae felt awkward about leaving first. This could also be Gu Wanjae’s consideration if it was consideration. If you looked at him roughly, his personality seemed like a mess, but up close it wasn’t that bad. Rather, he belonged to the pure side. So he would feel sorry toward the guy he had labeled as a friend… Taein, who had been looking at Gu Wanjae’s feet, sighed so his shoulders dropped.
“…I’m going first. I’ll come get my phone tomorrow.”
Saying only that, Taein passed by Gu Wanjae and headed for the emergency room entrance.
His arm was grabbed before he had even taken two steps.
“What are you doing? What are you going to get?”
“I left my phone. I need that, so I’ll come get it tomorrow when you’re not there.”
“What bullshit are you talking about?”
Whether irritation was rising, Gu Wanjae mercilessly contorted his face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
