<48>
Even thinking about it now, nothing specific comes to mind. At the time, Jaekyung was busy separating the crying and clinging Choi Eunseong from Jang Yeonhu, focusing on examining Yeonhu’s abdomen which had slammed against the edge of the sidewalk. His shoulder and arm twisted at bizarre angles were also concerning. There was no room to pay attention to his expression or gaze. Jaekyung couldn’t even blink comfortably until the ambulance arrived.
‘Jaekyung, a-are you… not hurt…’
‘Yeah. Your boyfriend is fine and unharmed. Shut up. The ambulance is coming soon… Just hang on, okay? Just a little longer.’
He naturally thought those words, barely squeezed out, were asking if Eunseong was okay. But perhaps, in fact, it wasn’t about Choi Eunseong but directed at himself?
‘Why, already… not… yet…’
Jang Yeonhu’s unintelligible muttering grew fainter as it went on. By the time the paramedics arrived, he had completely lost consciousness.
“But now I really understand. After confronting hyung’s family, I even understand why the attorney went so far as to offer me an envelope of money back then.”
“…”
“I don’t have many friends… I didn’t understand the relationship between you two, I’m sorry.”
Whatever Choi Eunseong had imagined before and whatever anxiety he had felt, it was probably closer to reality than this absurd conclusion now. Han Jaekyung’s lips moved slightly as he watched Eunseong repeatedly bow his head in gratitude, but he ultimately decided not to respond at all.
The past has no power. Having decided to be Jang Yeonhu’s sincere friend, it really means nothing now.
“…I’m going to sleep for a while, so wake me up if anything happens.”
“Yes. Sleep well.”
Turning to face the wall, Jaekyung closed his eyes and pretended to sleep for a long time, sifting through his complicated thoughts.
‘Why, already… not… yet…’
But he still couldn’t understand the context of Jang Yeonhu’s last words. Until now, he hadn’t had the presence of mind to reflect on them, but once he became conscious of them, weren’t they particularly strange? Surely he wasn’t asking why the ambulance was coming already when it wasn’t time yet.
What could it be… No matter how he turned it over in his mind, the puzzle pieces wouldn’t fit together. Jaekyung decided to push the unresolved question to a corner of his troubled mind. Having spent last night alternately dozing and waking on the sofa after giving up the guardian’s bed to Madam Yu, his physical strength was starting to fail. Sleep washed over him.
* * *
That night, Jang Yeonhu’s finger twitched. It was a very slight movement, but Han Jaekyung, who was focusing all his attention on any sign from him without the slightest movement, detected it immediately.
Choi Eunseong, who had reportedly endured several nights in the hospital lobby, had already gone home, and the Vice Chairman, who was late returning from work, had not yet arrived, so it happened to be just Han Jaekyung alone with Jang Yeonhu.
Dr. Park, who came running at his call, examined various symptoms including pupil response and delivered the hopeful news that the progress was very good and that he would likely regain consciousness soon.
“At first, even when he wakes up, he might just open his eyes without any particular cognition. And that might only be for a few minutes a day. Then he’ll start responding to language, making proper eye contact, staying awake for longer periods…”
“…Doctor.”
“That’s how our Yeonhu will wake up. That’s how he’ll wake up, Jaekyung.”
Dr. Park, who had been trying to maintain the most objective attitude as the attending physician, soon hugged Jaekyung and burst into tears. In her intermediate position between doctor and guardian, she must have been just as anxious watching Jang Yeonhu not waking up.
The secondary possibilities—that there might be language disorders, or that motor function in certain parts of the body might be diminished—were not important at all. For people who had been struggling in despair for several days, the mere fact that Jang Yeonhu was fully alive was enough.
Though they would wait and see for a month, Jaekyung was anxious about the possibility that if the coma lasted longer, the chances of recovery would decrease and he might become a vegetative patient. Even knowing it wasn’t Choi Eunseong’s fault, he was filled with rage a dozen times a day. His tumultuous feelings were difficult even for himself to control.
“God, oh my goodness… Thank you.”
A prayer of gratitude spontaneously burst forth even to a deity he had never believed in. Just then, with a sliding sound, the hospital room door opened and the Vice Chairman walked in, looking tired.
“I’m a bit late. But… Dr. Park is here at this hour. Co-could something have happened…!”
“Vice Chairman! Yeonhu’s finger just moved! He might wake up soon! Right, Dr. Park? I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“…!!”
The Vice Chairman, whose heart had sunk to the bottom thinking something serious might have happened to his son while he was late, could only open and close his mouth at the unbelievable news. Overcome with emotion, he couldn’t even ask if it was really true.
“That’s right, Vice Chairman. I confirmed it myself.”
Dr. Park, with her face soaked in tears, smiled faintly, proving that this situation wasn’t a dream.
“Th-this isn’t, this isn’t right… I should at least call Yeonhu’s mother and father…”
“Tomorrow. It’s too late now.”
Indeed, it was already well past midnight. It wouldn’t be entirely good to make the heart of an old father, whose heart had become as fragile as a bird’s since the unexpected accident, race unnecessarily. The Vice Chairman, regaining his composure with effort, just smiled broadly with his mouth open like a child, even after Dr. Park left the room.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course I’m happy. Attorney Han, you’ve worked hard.”
Was it because he was usually blunt and insensitive in everything? Jaekyung had never thought that Jang Yeonhu and the Vice Chairman looked alike, but seeing his gently curved eyes, he caught a glimpse of Jang Yeonhu. Or rather, in this case, it would be more appropriate to say that Jang Yeonhu resembled the Vice Chairman.
“I’ve already talked with his father. Once he wakes up, we’ll do whatever Yeonhu wants.”
If he doesn’t want to take over the business, they won’t force him; if he says he doesn’t want to get married, they’ll accept it; and if he somehow needs to live with that young man… of course, they’ll follow Yeonhu’s wishes on that too. His low voice, filled with evident amusement, laid out these hopeful words.
In over twenty years of knowing him, Jaekyung had never seen the Vice Chairman talk this much, except during company New Year’s addresses.
“Ah. Maybe this is uncomfortable for Attorney Han to hear.”
He seemed embarrassed, belatedly realizing he had been rambling. Han Jaekyung merely shook his head saying, “Not at all,” with an insincere smile displayed on his face like a picture.
“Not at all. What would be uncomfortable? That’s all in the past. You know, Yeonhu and I… we’re really just friends.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
After one storm had passed, the remaining breeze seemed trivial. Even the awkward atmosphere that had inevitably remained was completely washed away by the hopeful news.
“…Yes. That’s truly fortunate.”
Jang Yeonhu is going to open his eyes. Because nothing in this world is more important than that now.
“I should charge his phone. It’s probably the first thing he’ll look for when he wakes up.”
“Good idea.”
“I received it from the emergency room, where did I put it… Ah, here it is.”
The cell phone was carelessly stuffed inside a large locker at the very back of the hospital room. It had been placed in a pile with Jang Yeonhu’s backpack and dropped wallet that the paramedics had collected from the scene and left at the emergency room, and had never been organized.
After placing the phone, its back panel roughened from being scraped against the asphalt, on the bedside table and connecting the charging cable, Jaekyung felt somehow elated. Though he’d been told that Yeonhu wouldn’t immediately open his eyes and get up like in a drama, still… he couldn’t hide his mounting expectations.
The Vice Chairman gave up the guardian’s bed to Jaekyung and sat at the sofa table to handle pending work. Apparently, since the Chairman had almost withdrawn from company affairs after Jang Yeonhu’s hospitalization, there was a sudden increase in documents that needed to be processed.
Under the dim light, the red light indicating charging status blinked on Jang Yeonhu’s phone screen, then soon changed to green.
Lying on his side and staring blankly at that light, Jaekyung reached out absent-mindedly and turned on the phone. He thought that if there were any trivial reporters or media contacts since the accident news had already been published, he would block those numbers in advance. The suddenly brightening screen made him flinch as his eyes stung. With the unconscious Jang Yeonhu right beside him, unlocking the fingerprint lock was no problem.
As expected, from missed call records to messenger and message alerts—the phone looked like it was about to explode. He started organizing the message inbox, blocking numbers one by one from the top conversation. Just by glancing at the first line visible in the preview, he could tell at a glance whether a message was important or not. After blocking about a dozen numbers this way—
> [I saw the article. Still, keep your promise. If not…(See more)]
A strange text caught his eye. Jaekyung swallowed dryly and tapped on the conversation window. The number wasn’t even saved in contacts, but why did it bother him so strangely?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
