30
“……”
The fifty thousand won bill that had been forced into his hand was crumpled in Taein’s palm.
Taein said “shibal” and looked at Gu Wanjae who had turned to lie on his side, then got up from his seat. He dropped the money on the floor with a thud. Hearing that sound, Gu Wanjae only turned his head to the side and confirmed the money had fallen. He immediately looked at Taein with raised eyes, and his eyes held the question “why?” Taein looked down at Gu Wanjae with lowered eyes and said this before turning around.
“I’m done too, shibal bastard.”
He walked straight out of the living room to the corridor next to the kitchen. Behind him, he heard a pained “hey” sound but ignored it. Opening and closing the front door didn’t take even a few seconds. He caught an elevator that was just going down, went down to the first floor, and headed to the bus stop.
“Shibal bastard, even when I help him, he acts up…”
Eat shit. Taein, who had even raised his middle finger alone, quickened his pace at the sound from beside him. It was a bus with long intervals between services. He had to take that bus to get to school relatively quickly. Though the bus stop was right in front, it was close. Taein barely ran and got on the bus. There happened to be a front seat available, so he sat down there.
Taein’s eyes were fixed on the upper part of the officetel. He wondered if that friend bastard who acts up even when helped could do anything by himself. Would that bastard even prepare porridge to eat? There probably wasn’t even medicine at home. Even while feeling upset, Taein worried about his friend and shook his head. If he wants to suffer alone, whatever. Having gotten on the bus in a bad mood, the worry didn’t last very long. Taein soon turned his eyes away.
After arriving at school, he dozed off. It was the aftermath of sleeping in the living room the night before. Gu Wanjae slept deeply even on the living room sofa, but Taein didn’t. It was because the living room was too spacious. Accustomed to a small room and small bed, he couldn’t sleep comfortably in wide spaces. The bright exterior through the floor-to-ceiling windows was like that too, and the officetel area itself was too spacious. The room didn’t feel that spacious because it had a lot of furniture.
I should get used to it now, Taein rubbed his eyes and fatigue was evident on his face.
It had been three years since they started living together. From the beginning, the sleeping arrangement issue was naturally resolved. When one person went into the room to sleep, the other would sleep in the living room. Gu Wanjae did prefer the living room over the bedroom. He said it felt good to sleep with all the curtains drawn back. Thanks to that, Taein usually slept in the room, but there were times like yesterday when he slept in the living room. The aftermath was continuing.
“Ai-shi… my head…”
He even felt like someone had hit the back of his head hard. Had he slept this poorly? Still, he did sleep. Taein, who had his hand on his neck with his eyes closed, stayed like that until the bell rang and the teacher came in.
If he lay down, his head hurt more, so throughout class he only massaged his neck. Even after class ended, his condition wasn’t good. Every time there was a break, he went to the window to get some air, and during lunch time he walked around the school building, but the dizzy feeling remained.
Eventually, Taein, who couldn’t shake off the unpleasant feeling, grabbed his bag as if stealing it and left school.
A school where any Tom, Dick, or Harry skips classes was convenient at times like this. Since everyone’s the same, not many people say anything. The only thing you hear is “Are you even going to graduate? Hey, you bastard.” Moreover, Taein had adequately met his attendance days so he didn’t get nagged by teachers about graduation issues. He would just bow his head to teachers who laughed saying “Oh my, you delinquent bastard,” or end conversations by conveying Gu Wanjae’s regards.
Tomorrow would be the same.
Behind Taein, who familiarly got on the bus, the school was getting farther away.
Taein got off at the bus stop and looked for a pharmacy first. Not only his own medicine, but he thought it would be good to buy Gu Wanjae’s medicine while he was at it. It bothered him that he had gotten unnecessarily angry in the morning to ask how his condition was. Though his voice hadn’t gotten loud, the conversation had ended with irritation. Taein, who had been fiddling with his phone in front of the pharmacy, only made a “tseup…” sound before going inside.
“Welcome.”
“Um, I came to buy headache medicine.”
“For a student to take?”
“Yes, but not general use… Omega…”
It was a word he could never get used to no matter how often he said it, but it was necessary at times like this. Omegas vulnerable to drug shock had to be careful even when choosing general painkillers. Even if he hid it elsewhere, stating his trait first was essential in places like pharmacies. At first, he had bought any painkiller because of some unknown embarrassment, but then he couldn’t even take it anyway and just wasted money. Taein, who averted his gaze as if embarrassed, looked at the medicine the pharmacist offered and rummaged through his back pocket.
“Is there anything other than this?”
“Ah.”
The image of Gu Wanjae lying flat in the living room came to mind. Taein traced his memory and described Gu Wanjae’s condition in as much detail as possible.
“Please give me cold medicine too. It’s for a friend and he’s a Beta. He has a fever… his face is a bit red. He looked like he had trouble moving…”
“Something like body aches?”
“Ah, yes.”
“This one and this one. Take them after meals. Two pills each.”
The total cost of medicine was 15,000 won. His only cost 4,000 won, but Gu Wanjae’s medicine was 11,000 won. Since there were two types, it couldn’t be helped. Taein, who came out with the medicine in a bag, quickly moved his steps to the traffic light that had just turned blue. Since it was an officetel in a commercial district, there was nothing nearby that wasn’t there. Even a department store was just across the street.
An officetel in front of a wide sidewalk. Usually he entered without thinking, but after buying medicine, he belatedly felt reluctant. Since his head hurt too, maybe it would be better not to see each other’s faces. Even while thinking that, he pressed the communal entrance password. It was the number Gu Wanjae had taught him in first year, going “yeong-yeong-yeong-yeong.”
The hesitation was the same even standing in front of the front door. Taein counted to ten then pressed the password. He usually carried a card key, but today he had forgotten to bring it. The door opened and what he saw was white sunlight. Taein squinted momentarily then immediately focused. What he saw was…
“Oh.”
He hurriedly took off his shoes and ran to the living room. What occupied the center of the vast living room was Gu Wanjae, exactly as he had seen him in the morning. He was lying face down looking to the side. Taein approached and crouched down beside him.
“Hey.”
“……”
“Hey.”
He was motionless as if dead, but when Taein put his hand on his cheek and said “hey,” his eyelids moved slightly. Soon Gu Wanjae opened his eyes and raised his pupils upward.
“What… hey.”
“What about you? Is this why you didn’t go to the hospital?”
“Bastard… be quiet…”
Gu Wanjae, who said his head hurt and closed his eyes tightly, made an irritated expression. Still, he seemed better than in the morning, as his face was less red. His voice was much better too. He had wondered if he had fainted like that, but that wasn’t it either. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing him frowning, he seemed livable. Thinking he had worried for nothing, Taein pushed the medicine bag to the side as if crumpling it.
“What is it?”
Hearing the rustling sound, Gu Wanjae looked up.
“Medicine.”
“Can’t you tell by looking? Where do you hurt?”
“I did buy my medicine too. But yours is more.”
“Why yours? Where does it hurt?”
“Is me hurting actually hurting? Just a bit dizzy. Hey, I described this roughly but.”
Taein rummaged through the medicine bag intending to give Gu Wanjae medicine. The cold medicine he had bought two of earlier. He was trying to take out one of them when Gu Wanjae grabbed Taein’s hand. Touching his hand while lying down, Taein’s arm stretched downward.
“No wonder it looked pale.”
Saying that, Gu Wanjae turned over Taein’s palm and spat out another word with a serious face.
“Your blood isn’t circulating, you bastard.”
“What do you mean blood isn’t circulating…”
Taein looked down and belatedly saw his own hand. It was pale, but not to a serious level. Gu Wanjae becoming sensitive about his health condition, surrounding surveillance, etc. wasn’t a matter of just a day or two. Still, today he would be hurting more. Though he had gotten better than before, if judging by complexion alone, Gu Wanjae would be much worse. Taein couldn’t check his own face since he couldn’t look in a mirror, but he thought so. Gu Wanjae massaged Taein’s hand and arm, then even sat up.
“Shibal, I think there’s one weird bastard at school.”
“What bullshit.”
“I saw it. When there are many Alphas around, Omegas get their blood drained.”
“Hey, there aren’t that many.”
He understood what he meant. In the case of Omegas with unstable hormones, being in places with many Alphas would often deteriorate their condition. Concerned about that, the hospital had separately prescribed medicine. But his symptoms weren’t severe due to late changes, and there weren’t that many special genders at school itself. Besides, it wasn’t some infectious disease, and his condition wouldn’t worsen just from brushing past Alphas. His headache was just a commonly experienced headache.
“Just take your medicine.”
“Shibal, Kang Taein… because I have a friend like you, I’m suffering unnecessarily…”
Ignoring him, Taein headed to the kitchen and got a cup of water. While walking, he said:
“If I wasn’t here, who would give you water to drink? Just eat your medicine.”
When he put the water cup to his mouth, he gulped down the water with a displeased face. Taein also took out two pills each and handed them to Gu Wanjae.
“…Did you take the bus?”
Leaving only that question, Gu Wanjae put the pills in his mouth. Taein, who held up the water cup accordingly, watched Gu Wanjae’s bobbing Adam’s apple and answered.
“Yeah. There weren’t even people on the bus.”
Gu Wanjae, who pushed away the water cup, opened his mouth with an expression saying that was ridiculous.
“Bullshit. Even if there were no people, there would be more than in a taxi. You’re sick now because of that too.”
“How is this being sick? Worry about yourself.”
“Only your mouth is alive.”
“You’re the one with only your mouth alive. Saying you’ve never caught a cold. Even this morning, if you had quietly gone to the hospital, it would have been fine, but you made that fuss and almost caused a fight…”
“Hey, enough. Shut up.”
“Yes.”
Taein answered in a sarcastic tone saying “ye-es” and got up with one corner of his mouth raised. When Gu Wanjae couldn’t convince others of his forced logic, he would say things like “shut up,” “be quiet,” “shut the fuck up.” Taein had never quietly shut the fuck up. This time he was sick so he decided to let it pass once. Taein put the cup on the dining table and sent his gaze to Gu Wanjae. Seeing him close his eyes while lying face down, he seemed about to sleep again like that. Having taken medicine, he’d probably be fine after sleeping.
He had felt it since earlier, but the weather was clear enough to improve one’s mood. The sunlight falling on Gu Wanjae’s large body looked particularly clearer. Taein thought he should sleep too and took headache medicine. He swallowed the medicine with the water Gu Wanjae had left and entered the room. A cozy, small room compared to the living room. He planned to recharge here what he hadn’t slept yesterday.
He changed clothes and got into the bed covers that made rustling sounds.
Taein fell asleep quickly.
“Ugh.”
He woke up around evening. He could roughly tell evening had come. Because the surroundings were dark. Taein frowned and looked around. Nothing was visible. There were only things he could feel.
“……”
Behind him, Gu Wanjae was sleeping with his hand on his waist.
“What is this…”
Though they had sometimes fallen asleep together in the living room, they had never done this in bed. But whatever the reason, removing his hand was first. It seemed like his hand had come up while tossing and turning. Understanding it that way, he tried to remove the hand, but suddenly hunched over from a sharp headache. It seemed like this would be exactly how it felt if the stinging sensation he felt once during the day became stronger. Taein, who held his head from the irritating pain, stayed hunched and still for a while.
Even until then, Gu Wanjae’s hand hadn’t been withdrawn.
“Ai…”
He made the “shi” sound rolling in his mouth. It hurt. Setting aside his headache, his whole body hurt as if he had been beaten, as if Gu Wanjae’s fever cold had been transmitted to him. Was it because he slept too deeply? Taein, who had been lost in thought while hunched over, frowned one eye and raised his head at Gu Wanjae’s suddenly moving hand.
“Hey.”
“……”
“Hey, Gu Wanjae.”
Only after calling twice did Gu Wanjae open his eyes. With a face just as irritated as his own. He seemed dazed, having just woken up.
“Ah… ugh.”
Gu Wanjae seemed to be in bad shape too. He had thought he was getting better earlier. Taein, who had been looking at Gu Wanjae frowning as much as possible, turned to lie down with an annoyed face. It was awkward to tell him to leave, and he couldn’t slap his cheek to make him come to his senses. He’d probably go to the living room when he came to his senses just sleeping like this.
Maybe Gu Wanjae was comfortable sleeping in the room too. Usually not, but at least when he was sick. That’s why he slept in the room yesterday too. With such thoughts, Taein gave up on properly waking Gu Wanjae. Though it was a double bed, it was a narrow bed for two people including Gu Wanjae to lie down. When it seemed like Gu Wanjae had instinctively put his hand on his body to use the bed widely, he couldn’t remove the hand anymore.
Eventually, thinking he had a headache too, Taein closed his eyes again and forced himself to sleep.
He thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep because it was uncomfortable, but that wasn’t the case.
He fell asleep quickly.
He dreamed too. It was a dream of Gu Wanjae wearing a school uniform and going to school like in first year. He was chasing after Gu Wanjae shouting “Why are you running and making a fuss? Did you hear what I said?” Later, that became embarrassing and he laughed. His voice and Gu Wanjae’s giggling laughter were spreading embarrassingly loud throughout the neighborhood.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
