Chapter 48
With exams right around the corner, Ji-won had significantly reduced his gaming time. Kwon-ju had asked, “Should I run dungeons for you while you study, hyung?” but Ji-won refused, saying, “Stop talking nonsense and focus on your own studies.” Having someone else play his game while he studied might sound like a kind gesture, but from a distance, it was basically just turning the other person into an errand boy.
Exam period didn’t mean he had no time to log in briefly, so he had naturally clicked “participate” on this week’s guild war vote in the announcement channel. Studying during that time wouldn’t improve his scores anyway. If he’d really cared about that, he should have started studying much earlier.
“…”
As he tried to concentrate in silence, Ji-won oddly felt his body heating up today. Maybe it was because he’d been sitting all day without releasing heat. Then again, those abnormally thick textbooks were enough to make anyone feel stuffy and hot just by looking at them.
“Why is it so hot…”
Maybe because May was approaching soon. Ji-won, who was particularly sensitive to heat, pulled out the air conditioner remote that had been stashed away in a drawer for quite some time. He was glad he’d cleaned it a few days ago, just in case, though he hadn’t expected he’d want to turn it on so soon.
He set the temperature to 27 degrees, and as he lay down under his thick blanket, it felt perfectly comfortable, making him drowsy. He’d sleep for just one hour. His promise to himself that he’d focus on studying until the guild war had already been long forgotten the moment he got into bed. Since he was generally good at hearing alarm sounds, he placed his phone by his pillow without worry and closed his eyes.
* * *
Something’s wrong. I can’t reach him.
Kwon-ju bit his lip as he stared at the KakaoTalk chat window where the notification “1” wouldn’t disappear. It might not be strange for an adult man to be out of contact for a few hours, but Ji-won was different. It was 20 minutes before the guild war started—there’s no way he wouldn’t log in. And he wasn’t the type to join offline either. Not even checking KakaoTalk.
[Guild][HolyKnightKnight: Is anyone with the guild master right now]
[Guild][Chelling: ?]
[Guild][Chelling: Come to think of it, he hasn’t logged in yet]
[Guild][Ppojjo: Maybe he’s logging in offline?]
[Guild][Kkangki: There’s only 20 minutes until the war begins..;ㅅ;]
If it had been an hour earlier, it might have been understandable. But even the guild members were starting to find it strange, chatting about how they hadn’t heard anything about him not coming today. When even regular guild members gave notice when they couldn’t attend, the guild master suddenly going silent was definitely unusual.
He might not like Kwon-ju visiting without notice, but something felt very wrong. Kwon-ju considered waiting a bit longer, but his heart kept pounding anxiously, so he quickly grabbed just his phone and wallet, hastily shoved his feet into his shoes, and left home.
Scrolling through their previous KakaoTalk conversations, Kwon-ju found the address Ji-won had sent him and ran with all his might. Though it took less than five minutes to arrive because it was nearby, there was no answer even after pressing the doorbell more than ten times. Not checking his phone, not playing the game, and not at home? Folding his doorbell-pressing finger into a fist, Kwon-ju pounded on the door.
“Hyung! Are you home?”
The banging was loud enough to echo through the hallway, prompting a woman from next door to open her door and peek out.
“My goodness, so noisy. What’s going on at this hour?”
“I’m sorry… my friend isn’t answering his phone.”
“I heard that young man go inside earlier though?”
The neighbor explained that the walls were so thin that she could hear people coming and going from the next apartment when she was home. This confirmed Kwon-ju’s worries. Could he have collapsed inside? All sorts of anxious thoughts instantly took over his mind.
He had seemed fine when they last parted. He’d laughed like usual, with no signs of hiding any illness. Could he have fallen in the bathroom and gotten a concussion? Or maybe he left his phone outside and got locked in the bathroom? All kinds of negative scenarios from TV shows and news floated through Kwon-ju’s mind.
Just in case, should I break down the door? As his thoughts jumped to this sudden extreme conclusion, Kwon-ju took a deep breath. Just then, the phone he’d carelessly shoved in his pocket vibrated briefly.
[2345]
Kwon-ju, who had set a special notification just for Ji-won’s KakaoTalk messages, immediately checked his phone. Four digits. Without needing to think, it was obviously the door password. Though he was relieved that contact had finally been made—suggesting there was no concussion or being locked in—just eliminating two of many possible scenarios didn’t assure Ji-won’s safety.
Thinking about it again, whether he had briefly gone out for something urgent or was at home, there was no reason to simply send the password without any explanation. Kwon-ju immediately placed his hand on the door lock, entered the four digits, and pressed #. The door opened with disappointing ease.
Practically throwing off his shoes as he entered, Kwon-ju noticed the bathroom with its door open and light off. He’s probably not in there. There was only one other door visible without needing to look around.
Striding through the dark living room, when Kwon-ju opened the bedroom door, he was struck by a sudden chill that made him briefly wonder if it was winter. Despite wearing long sleeves and pants, the air seeping through the small gaps felt cold enough to freeze his bones.
Why is the room temperature like this? Though it wasn’t fully summer yet, the room was not just cool but freezing cold, like stepping into a freezer. Turning his head, Kwon-ju discovered someone lying on the bed and hurriedly walked over to grab his shoulder and shake him. His heart sank.
“Are you conscious?”
Seeing the phone in Ji-won’s right hand, it seemed he had barely managed to send the password after hearing the door knocking. After confirming he was conscious, Kwon-ju picked up the blanket that had half fallen to the floor and covered him, then checked the air conditioner. 17 degrees? It was an unbelievable temperature for mid-April evening, even seeing it with his own eyes.
“Hyung.”
Though Ji-won seemed conscious, he couldn’t open his eyes, so Kwon-ju placed his hand on his cold cheek. This would be unimaginable under normal circumstances, but that wasn’t important now. He needed to somehow transfer warmth to that ice-cold skin. My hands aren’t particularly warm though. After pulling the blanket up to Ji-won’s neck, Kwon-ju rubbed his hands together to generate heat, feeling it wasn’t enough. Then he carefully held Ji-won’s ice-cold hand.
“Hyung. Can you hear my voice?”
“Yeah… I can hear…”
“Can you open your eyes?”
Ji-won’s usually neat brow furrowed as he seemed unable to control even his eyelids. Seeing this clearly abnormal state, Kwon-ju briefly considered calling 119 emergency services. When Ji-won finally managed to open his eyes and their gazes met, Kwon-ju raised his voice without realizing it, his pent-up worry bursting out.
“Who sleeps with the air conditioner set so low!”
Air conditioner too low? At the sharply ringing voice, Ji-won tried to focus his blinking, blurry vision and checked the temperature displayed on the wall-mounted air conditioner.
“…I set it to 27 degrees when I went to sleep, why did it drop so much…”
His voice was barely audible, speaking in almost a whisper. Kwon-ju pressed his palm against his forehead. What could have caused it to drop 10 degrees? He tried to turn it off first, but couldn’t find the remote anywhere.
Well, there’s only one place it could be. Kwon-ju rummaged through the blanket and found the air conditioner remote buried there. He immediately turned it off and placed it on the desk. How can someone so careless take care of others? Recalling Ji-won’s reputation in their department, Kwon-ju sighed and scolded him.
“This is what happens when you put the remote on the bed and fall asleep on it.”
Am I getting scolded right now…? Even in this situation, Ji-won found it fascinating that he had never seen Kwon-ju raise his voice like this before. His eyelids felt heavy as he blinked slowly, and even that was so difficult that his vision kept blurring.
As much as he wanted to collapse back into sleep, he couldn’t with Kwon-ju in the room. Ah… and I haven’t even cleaned up. Finally forcing his eyes open, Ji-won asked in a cracked voice:
“Why did you come?”
“The guild war is about to start, but you weren’t logging in or answering messages.”
“Ah.”
Wouldn’t people normally assume I’m sleeping? Ji-won tried to think of anyone else who would come all the way to his home just because he wasn’t answering messages, but without a doubt, there was no one. Most people would just think “whatever” even if he suddenly disappeared in the middle of chatting.
Unable to describe the feeling, Ji-won kept quiet, but his dry throat made him cough repeatedly. Kwon-ju watched with concern as Ji-won lowered his head, covered his mouth, and coughed endlessly, then went outside. Intending to bring some water, he opened the refrigerator but found nothing visible, making him think the appliance might be brand new.
Kwon-ju took one of the bottled waters lined up in the door storage, poured it into a plastic cup, and quickly heated it in the microwave. During this process, he noticed instant rice and various cans stacked nearby, which made him sigh—Ji-won always told him to eat well, but apparently didn’t do so himself. He should eat good food instead of spending time taking care of others. Kwon-ju felt fortunate that they had at least eaten dinner together for a while when Ji-won had offered to buy him meals.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
