<50>
Part 3. The Con Man’s Tea Time
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Oh my, eat more. Why did you eat so little? Is your appetite gone?”
Looking at Madam Yu’s exaggeratedly arched eyebrows, Jaekyung couldn’t bring himself to say that he was too uncomfortable to eat any more. As soon as he put down his spoon, Yeonhu, who was still in the middle of eating, naturally prepared to finish his meal and stand up with Jaekyung.
While unable to say a single regretful word to Yeonhu who was getting up from his seat, Madam Yu shot a plaintive gaze only at Jaekyung. It was clearly her wish for Jaekyung to remain in this uncomfortable situation so she could feed her precious son even one more spoonful.
I’m really going to get indigestion at this rate. Jaekyung shook his head and stood up from his seat. It’s best to eat comfortably, even if it’s just one meal. He firmly pressed down on Yeonhu’s shoulder as he was about to rise with him, and said decisively:
“I have work to do, so don’t follow me. You’ll be in the way. If you want to come, finish your meal, eat some fruit, and wait at least an hour before coming.”
“That long…?”
“Yes. You’re distracting when you’re around. If you don’t like it, I’ll just go to work.”
“No! Okay, okay. I’ll do as you say.”
Behind the dejected Yeonhu, Jaekyung could see Madam Yu smiling broadly and mouthing “thank you.” Jaekyung just sighed deeply and walked slowly to the study. How did things end up like this…
* * *
“I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier, Jaekyung. Who is this person exactly?”
It was something neither Choi Eunseong, who had been desperately waiting for his lover to wake up, nor Han Jaekyung, who had been trying to calm his complicated feelings while looking down at his unconscious friend, had dared to anticipate.
‘What do you mean who am I, Yeonhu hyung? Are, are you joking right now?’
‘Pardon?’
‘Hyung, it’s me, me… Your boyfriend, Choi Eunseong!’
‘I’m meeting you for the first time today, what kind of nonsense is—ugh!’
‘Yeonhu!’
‘Hyung!!’
Yeonhu complained of a headache and lost consciousness again. Afterward, he didn’t wake up until other family members who had dropped everything and rushed over at the news of his awakening arrived, and Dr. Park Eunhye, who had hastily finished her outpatient consultations and come up to the VIP room.
‘We did another brain CT and fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any additional bleeding or other problems.’
It was around five or six in the evening when Dr. Park tentatively addressed the group who had been anxiously watching Yeonhu sleeping with his brow furrowed as if something wasn’t quite right. The Chairman, who had already asked Jaekyung and Choi Eunseong about the situation multiple times, slammed his fist on the table and erupted with a thunderous voice, demanding to know what the problem was then.
‘…We’ll need to do diagnostic tests after Yeonhu wakes up to be certain, but for now, I suspect temporary amnesia. It’s rare, but it can certainly happen after traumatic brain injury.’
‘Is there any danger to his life?’
‘No. The surgery went well and his progress is good. Even if it is memory loss, this kind of traumatic amnesia is, as I said, temporary and will recover within days, or at most, a few weeks.’
If the amnesia persisted for more than two weeks, the prognosis would likely be poor, but Dr. Park deliberately refrained from adding unnecessary information to the situation. Naturally, everyone who had been anxiously watching her lips exhaled in relief.
‘We can’t be sure when his memory will return, but for now, maintaining the patient’s psychological stability is most important. We must avoid raising intracranial pressure that could cause rebleeding at the surgical site.’
‘Jang Yeonhu couldn’t remember Choi Eunseong… Then he must not remember the past few months.’
‘Attorney Han is right. And Choi Eunseong.’
His fingernails were all bitten ragged, not enough with just ten fingers. Dr. Park, as if she were terribly ashamed, called out to Choi Eunseong but kept hesitating and couldn’t continue speaking. It’s okay, please tell me whatever it is. In the end, it was Choi Eunseong who made the first move. His attitude was quite resolute, as if there was nothing he wouldn’t do for Yeonhu.
‘If you’re really okay with it, I’ll speak frankly too. …Honestly, I don’t know how this will sound to Choi Eunseong at this timing. But as a doctor, I would advise that it’s better for Choi Eunseong not to meet Yeonhu until his memory recovers naturally.’
‘What? What do you mean—’
‘Didn’t you say he collapsed after hearing about Eunseong earlier? I’m asking as Yeonhu’s sister before being his doctor. I’m sorry.’
No one in that place, except the parties involved, could know what had transpired between Yeonhu and Choi Eunseong.
But one thing was certain: Yeonhu, who didn’t recognize Choi Eunseong at all, wouldn’t easily accept him as his current boyfriend. Especially not in a situation where Han Jaekyung was also firmly present.
‘…No. You don’t need to apologize.’
‘Choi Eunseong.’
‘You said his memory will return soon. It’s not like we’re breaking up forever. …I’m fine. I’m just glad that hyung is safely awake. Really.’
Despite his words, Choi Eunseong’s face had already turned pale. He packed his things and hurriedly left the hospital room as if he were fleeing.
The family members who had said they would do whatever Yeonhu wanted once he regained consciousness only awkwardly cleared their throats and glanced sideways at Choi Eunseong’s retreating back. No one stopped him.
Jaekyung felt nauseated. Because he, too, had not stopped Choi Eunseong, even for the sake of courtesy.
The deeply sleeping Yeonhu opened his eyes effortlessly the next morning.
‘Ugh, why does my head feel like it’s about to split open?’
‘…You’re awake?’
‘Oh, it’s Han Jaekyung. By the way, where am I? Am I hospitalized? Just for a headache?’
Hearing that playful, low voice made everything that had happened feel like a dream. Jaekyung, trying to control his surging Adam’s apple, replied, “You were very sick.”
‘I must have been very sick to be hospitalized. By the way, where are the adults? They’re not the type to stay quiet.’
‘The Chairman and Vice Chairman went to work. Your aunt said she was going to get some sleep after nursing you all night.’
‘That’s welcome news to my ears.’
‘What is?’
‘What else?’
Yeonhu, whose age was uncertain, grinned and reached out his hand. Then, without any hesitation, he intertwined his fingers with Jaekyung, who was standing by the bed, and pulled him toward himself.
Jaekyung began to feel increasingly certain that his predictions would be correct. Dr. Park had said she wasn’t sure how much Yeonhu would remember, but Jaekyung was different. The way he whined, saying “Come here quickly because I’m sick”…
‘I mean it’s nice to be alone with my boyfriend.’
It was something he hadn’t heard since that summer at eighteen when they broke up.
After being relegated to Han Jaekyung’s sincere and loyal friend, Yeonhu had never once said he was sick or tired in front of Jaekyung. He had only steadfastly remained by his side like a servant on 24-hour standby.
The lover who would act childishly when he sneezed, saying he felt sick and wanted to be nursed, asking to skip class together and go to the nurse’s office, had disappeared like a mirage long ago. That was definitely the case.
‘Being sick is nice. It’s been so long since I could be comfortably alone with you.’
‘…’
Yeonhu grinned. Blowing away the long years during which he had said every moment with Jaekyung was hell, he still had the young face of that eighteen-year-old summer, full of sweet dreams.
‘Jaekyung. Should we just run away like this? To somewhere we don’t have to be mindful of the adults. Anywhere is fine. Okay?’
I wish I could go blind. At that moment, Jaekyung prayed fervently. It seemed like that would at least put his mind at ease.
* * *
“Han Jaekyung!”
“…Oh. You’re here.”
“What’s this, you’re not even surprised.”
Was he planning to surprise him? Yeonhu, who had suddenly hugged Jaekyung from behind while he was lost in reminiscence, seemed deflated as he released his arms, continuing to grumble.
“Ah. Thirty-something Han Jaekyung is too much. Our Jaekyung used to startle so easily at whatever I did.”
Clearly the same body, the same face, yet a person could change dramatically with just a difference in memory. His exaggerated deep sigh made him look impossibly young.
It was also because an eighteen-year-old, newly excited about his first love, was too young for a thirty-one-year-old weary of the world with nothing left to be surprised about.
Pretending to flip through documents that he hadn’t read a single word of despite holding them for a while, Jaekyung grumbled, “If you don’t like it, just break up with me now.” The eighteen-year-old Han Jaekyung was at least twice as picky as he was now, and he wasn’t the type of person who changed just because he was in a relationship, so Yeonhu’s beaming expression didn’t change at all.
“No way, who would I break up for? I’m going to stick to Jaekyung like a leech until I die.”
“As if.”
“Just wait and see. I’m confident.”
The words “The confident guy who put on that show trying to get permission for someone else after just ten years” rose to the tip of his tongue, but Jaekyung calmly swallowed the surging words. It wasn’t something to say to someone who didn’t even know what he had done.
“But how long are we going to hide that we’re dating? I thought we would have gotten permission with time to spare after about ten years.”
Yeonhu, who felt as if he had time-traveled to a thirty-one-year-old body when he opened his eyes, was completely innocent.
As if he couldn’t even dream of the possibility that he had broken up with Jaekyung, after accepting through repeated explanations that he was no longer a high school student in uniform but a thirty-one-year-old who had been a working adult for a long time, he naturally apologized to Jaekyung, saying he was sorry that they couldn’t celebrate their anniversary this year. When Jaekyung wondered what he meant, it turned out that one of the days during his hospitalization was the date when eighteen-year-old Yeonhu and Jaekyung had started dating.
‘I’m sorry. You couldn’t do anything because of me. In return, I’ll make next year’s anniversary really special. Now that we’re both adults, we can travel freely, right?’
He should have shaken his head and said no. That we’ve been broken up for a long time. That I finally kicked you away despite your desperate clinging, and then like a fool, I worked you to the bone for years. That’s what he should have said, but…
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.’
‘How can I not worry? Ugh, it’s so unfair. I haven’t even reached one hundred days with you yet, but it’s already been over ten years since we started dating. What am I going to do about all those memories I’m missing?’
‘…Stop caring about useless things and focus on getting better.’
He just couldn’t bring himself to say it. Because the first love he had met again after thirteen years was too sweet even for Han Jaekyung.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
