Gentle Giant 98

Gentle Giant Chapter 98

Chapter 6

Thunk. The cast that had been securing Dain’s fingers and wrist fell to the floor with a light sound.

The doctor checked Dain’s hand once and grinned. At that refreshing smile, Dain also lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Just because the cast is off doesn’t mean it’s over. You need to continue receiving treatment and exercise those stiff joints. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Just in case, you’ll need to wear a brace for a while too. Then let’s have you receive physical therapy before you go today.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

Dain left the examination room with a relieved heart. Fortunately, his progress was good so he was able to remove the cast a few days earlier than scheduled. Since it had been so long since he’d bent his fingers, there was pain and it felt awkward, so Dain just gently rubbed his fingers while waiting for treatment.

“Jung Dain-ssi, please enter room number 2.”

At the therapist’s words, Dain quickly entered the treatment room and within just a few minutes, tears welled up in his eyes.

He had simply nodded when they said his wrist and fingers would have stiffened while in the cast, so they would do joint exercises.

And as soon as those words ended, Dain had to feel the pain of his bones breaking again under the therapist’s merciless hands that twisted his hand. With such a calm face, the therapist applied so much pressure that Dain almost instinctively tried to pull his hand away.

After the frantic physical therapy session passed, Dain completed payment with his forehead covered in cold sweat. Perhaps seeing many patients like Dain, the nurse offered formulaic comfort.

“It hurts a lot, right? It’s supposed to hurt more after the cast comes off.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But you must exercise at home, okay? Otherwise your fingers will never bend for the rest of your life.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. So receive treatment properly and exercise consistently. Here, I’ll give you this brace too.”

“Understood. Goodbye.”

Dain politely said goodbye and left the hospital.

So it’s supposed to hurt more after the cast comes off. If he doesn’t exercise, his fingers will stiffen permanently.

Today was scarier than when his fingers were broken.

Dain hurriedly took out his phone and wrote a message. It was to inform Juho about what he’d just learned at his appointment. He turned on the camera to take a photo of his fingers wearing the brace and sent it along.

[3:27 PM│(Photo)]

[3:27 PM│Juho, I got my cast off ㅋㅋ But they say I need to exercise my fingers and it might hurt more ㅠㅠㅠㅜ I just did joint exercises during physical therapy and it really hurt ㅠㅠ]

Still, he was secretly happy that his typing speed was faster than when he was typing with one hand. Though his fingers still felt numb, the angle at which they could bend had definitely increased compared to the beginning.

Not long after sending the message, Juho called.

“Yeah, Juho.”

-Hyung, does it hurt a lot? I’ll massage it for you when I get home later. But hyung, why did you go to the hospital alone? You could have gone with me tomorrow.

“My lecture ended early today so I went when I thought of it. The doctor said I healed quickly because I’m young and told me to remove the cast.”

-Still, you should have gone with me…

A voice full of disappointment flowed through the phone. Dain was flustered because he didn’t know Juho would be this disappointed.

“Were you very disappointed? Next time I go for treatment, let’s go together, okay?”

-Of course. Next time we absolutely have to go together. Got it?

“Yeah!”

-Promise.

“Promise!”

-Hyung, did you hook pinkies? If you don’t do that, the promise is void.

“Huh? Pinky?”

Dain looked down at his fingers, then quickly folded his other fingers and held out only his pinky. Is this right now? But how do I show this? Dain’s head tilted to the side.

Then Juho’s low laughter tickled Dain’s ear.

-How cute. Hyung, you were really trying to bend your finger just now, weren’t you?

Juho was teasing Dain. Standing on the street, Dain’s face flushed red.

“Ugh! Juho, you…!”

-Ahem, hyung, rest at home. I’ll finish work quickly and come home. Don’t go anywhere in between, okay?

“Okay. See you later.”

Juho quickly hung up to avoid Dain’s scolding. He could do this because he knew that if he used work as an excuse, Dain wouldn’t say much.

* * *

“Yes, hyung. I’ll call you again when I get off work.”

After the brief call that had lightly lifted his mood, Juho’s gaze turned to Managing Director Kim who was standing beside him. He seemed to have said something before the call, but Juho had been so surprised by Dain’s message that he had barely listened.

Juho raised one eyebrow as if asking him to say it again. The man who had just been smiling mischievously while teasing his lover had quickly returned to a cold expression.

Managing Director Kim, who had caught his breath at that deadly atmosphere, relayed exactly what he had said before, not missing a single detail.

“The U.S. headquarters says they’re dispatching an executive team to the Asia branch for about two weeks for a management evaluation.”

“Management evaluation?”

“That’s right.”

A sneer escaped from Juho’s mouth. Behind the flashy excuse of ‘management evaluation,’ there was obviously the low-grade curiosity of the owner family.

Though he had known about it, hearing that they were really coming made Juho scratch his temple irritably. Just his being here would be an enormous burden on the employees here, but they were insisting on barging in to see something good.

Maybe it was because they shared the same bloodline, but all the family members including himself were selfish, self-centered bunch.

“Mother said Lee Jugeon is coming. Is that correct?”

“Yes. CMO Lee Jugeon-nim is coming as the head of the executive team.”

“I understand. Please assist him well, Managing Director Kim. And you don’t need to worry about me while Lee Jugeon is here.”

“Yes.”

Juho gestured with his hand as if he didn’t want to continue the conversation anymore. Recognizing the gesture, Managing Director Kim quickly operated his tablet.

Soon a tablet containing files delivered from each department was placed in Juho’s hands. To leave work even a little earlier, Juho checked only the parts he needed to review and quickly moved on.

Then something seemed to displease him and the page stopped turning for quite a while. For him who was focused on work, the family talk had long been forgotten.

Managing Director Kim, watching such Juho from the side, swallowed a sigh inwardly.

No matter how strong his personal tendencies were, Juho’s attitude after hearing about his family just now was worse than toward strangers. He thought Juho would at least be curious about the exact dates, but he seemed completely uninterested.

He thought that Juho might not see his older brother Lee Jugeon’s face even once during those two weeks. And that didn’t seem like an unfounded worry.

The department responsible for the documents where Juho’s eyes had been lingering was the marketing team. Finally, Juho placed the tablet on the table and called for the marketing team leader.

The team leader had to come when called by Juho before leaving work and give lengthy excuses. But naturally, those excuses didn’t work at all.

* * *

On his way home, Dain also sent the photo to Dahee. He felt too sorry for worrying her last time, and it had been weighing on his mind that he hadn’t been able to contact her for a while since Dahee had become too busy to even see her face after that.

[4:16 PM│(Photo)]

[4:17 PM│Noona, I got my cast off today ^.^ㅋㅋㅋ I have to receive physical therapy and exercise for a while, but just getting the cast off feels so refreshing ㅠㅠㅋㅋ]

Fortunately, not long after sending it, a reply came from Dahee as if she had checked Dain’s message.

[Noona: Look at your fingers, they’re still swollen ㅠㅠㅠ? How are you supposed to do finger exercises?? Doesn’t it hurt when you receive treatment ㅜㅜ?│4:59 PM]

[Noona: Oh right, did you hear that the youngest is going to Seoul next week??│5:03 PM]

A question mark appeared on Dain’s face. This was completely new information to him. Come to think of it, he realized it had been quite a while since he’d called home.

Dain quickly sent a message to Dahee and called the youngest. It should be time for school to be over now.

After several rings, the voice of the youngest, Dahoon, came through.

-Yeah.

“Dahoon, can you talk on the phone right now?”

-Yeah.

He was still the same blunt younger brother. Even though it had been weeks since he’d properly heard his voice, the youngest was replacing his greeting with just one word, “yeah.”

“Noona just messaged me saying you’re coming to Seoul next week. Is that true?”

-Yeah.

“When? Why?”

-Wednesday, for early admission interviews.

“Ah, oh! Youngest, did you pass the document screening?”

-Yeah.

Dahoon wanted to come to the same school as Dain. So like Dain, he had diligently managed his grades throughout high school. Since he had been on a sports team in middle school, he had to put in two or three times the effort of other students. However, Dahoon didn’t slack off, didn’t give up, and consistently did what he had to do quietly.

Thinking that his younger brother had grown up enough to prepare for early university admissions on his own, Dain’s nose tingled.

But still, why hadn’t he mentioned this until now? Dain asked Dahoon for more details. The youngest was good in every other way, but he was too taciturn. So taciturn that not talking about things he should talk about was a common occurrence.

“Congratulations, Dahoon! But youngest, why didn’t you tell hyung about it? Hyung didn’t know anything.”

-Ah, sorry.

“No, it’s okay. It’s fine since I know now. So you’re coming on Wednesday?”

-Yeah.

“You’ll stay at hyung’s place, right?”

Dain’s eyes sparkled. It would be the first time seeing him in months since the beginning of summer vacation. It had been even longer since Dahoon had come to Seoul, so he must be curious about many things. I have to show him everything from A to Z.

Enthusiasm began bubbling up in Dain’s heart. He was thinking of going to his place on the weekend to clean thoroughly. Perhaps feeling Dain’s excitement, Dahoon gave an unusually long answer for the youngest.

-I want to go to Dongdaemun and Raccoon World.