# Chapter 12
I supported Heerim, who looked like he might faint at any moment. As I wrapped my arm around his waist to steady him, he stumbled and buried his face in my shoulder. He breathed heavily, his respiration unstable.
“Are you okay? Why would someone who was perfectly fine suddenly…”
“Jaeo hyung. I can’t… breathe…”
“What? Heerim? Heerim!”
Heerim’s body, which had been taking shallow breaths, went limp. I immediately laid him down and checked his condition. He seemed to have lost consciousness. I placed my palm on his forehead, and his body was chillingly cold. His labored breathing was now barely audible unless I listened carefully. This was a situation where I needed to call an ambulance rather than the police.
“If Heerim’s behavior seems strange or problematic while you’re together, contact me immediately.”
I recalled my earlier conversation with the Director. Though I should have called 119 first, I was as if possessed when I dialed her number instead.
“Director! Heerim has collapsed!”
I shouted as soon as the call connected. I heard a small gasp on the other end of the line.
“I’ll call 119 right away.”
“No! Don’t report it! You mustn’t report it!”
“What? Then how do I…”
“Where are you right now?!”
“On the pedestrian overpass between Hanguk High School and the park!”
“Wait. I’m coming right now, so absolutely! Do not report it! Absolutely not!”
The call ended after she emphatically cautioned me. I stared blankly at my phone screen before checking on Heerim. Lying there with his pale complexion, he looked like a corpse. With a sinking feeling, I put my ear to the left side of his chest.
“It’s, it’s too slow…”
Heerim’s heartbeat, faintly audible, was extremely sluggish. Even without medical knowledge, I could tell this was a serious situation.
“How can I just leave him like this?”
My mind went completely blank. I didn’t know what to do. At this rate, something terrible would happen before either the paramedics or the Director arrived.
To make matters worse, Heerim’s already slow pulse was now barely perceptible. I couldn’t just sit idle in this situation.
“Heerim. Excuse me for a moment!”
I placed my interlocked hands on the center of his chest and applied my full body weight to compress it. I had worked at a snack bar in a water park before. All employees received CPR training at that time. I was concerned I might not remember since it had been quite a while, but fortunately, my body remembered.
“Heerim! Wake up! Heerim!”
Despite compressing his chest until sweat beaded on my forehead, he still showed no response. I immediately lifted his chin. During my training, we were taught to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after chest compressions.
Though unsure if I could do it properly, I figured it was better than doing nothing, so I urgently pressed my lips against Heerim’s. His lips were cold yet soft. I blew as much air as possible into his mouth to ensure he could breathe properly. Then I raised myself to continue chest compressions. Or rather, I tried to. If only Heerim hadn’t suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
“Heerim? Have you regained consciou—!”
Before I could finish speaking, Heerim wrapped his hand firmly around the back of my neck. Then he pulled me toward himself.
“Mmph—!”
Before I could grasp the situation, Heerim’s lips devoured mine. Simultaneously, his tongue invaded between my parted lips. His tongue, which had not only regained warmth but became hot, entangled with mine.
I tried to push Heerim away from this act that could no longer be called artificial respiration, but the more I tried, the stronger his grip on me became.
“Mmmh, mph!”
When I struggled to exhale at the right moment, Heerim gently stroked the nape of my neck. Then, just as I had done, he blew his breath into me. Instantly, a sweet fruity scent spread through my mouth.
“More, more.”
“W-wait. Heerim… mmh, mmph!”
Heerim explored my mouth like someone who had been starving for a long time. At the same time, his large, firm hand desperately embraced my neck. I could feel his determination not to let go in that touch.
“Nnh.”
When I realized that someone wanted and needed me, a strange excitement began to creep up. This unfamiliar yet thrilling sensation was about to completely devour my reason.
“Mmm.”
Just as a moan escaped through my parted teeth without my realizing it.
“Haa. Ha.”
Heerim, who had been kissing me intensely, pulled his face away with a hot breath. He met my eyes with a dreamy expression. His face, which had been corpse-like and pale, now had a reddish tint. His eyes were also moistened, making his slightly unfocused gaze appear extremely sensual. Looking at that sensual face made saliva pool in my mouth involuntarily. After sharing my gaze for a few seconds, Heerim dropped his head weakly.
“Heerim?”
“…”
Heerim, who had lost consciousness again, was now breathing steadily and peacefully.
“What on earth is this…”
I felt like I had been swept up by a huge wave and barely escaped. I wiped my moistened lips with the back of my hand. It was the trace left by Heerim’s lips and tongue.
What did I just do?
I was only trying to perform first aid, but somehow Heerim’s tongue was in my mouth…
Aaaaaaahhhhh!
I internally screamed while vigorously rubbing away the traces of the kiss on my lips. I wasn’t a child and didn’t harbor fantasies about my first kiss, but I never expected it to happen like this. It was extremely bewildering, humiliating, and unfair.
“Jaeo.”
“Aaaaaack!”
Someone placed their hand on my shoulder as I sat there, lost in thought. In this already alarming situation, I now screamed out loud.
“Are you alright?”
“D-Director!”
Though it seemed like less than ten minutes had passed since our call, the Director was standing next to me.
“How’s Heerim?”
“He regained consciousness briefly but just fainted again.”
“Can you explain what happened?”
The Director calmly examined unconscious Heerim’s condition. I explained the recent situation step by step while pacing anxiously beside her. I felt like a student who had been dragged to the faculty office without knowing why.
“So, I caught the flasher. Then Heerim suddenly collapsed, so I performed CPR… You know, there’s a method of giving artificial respiration during CPR, and I did that. But during the, um, artificial respiration, Heerim…”
The memory of the passionate kiss with Heerim made my ears burn, and I kept stumbling over my words like a fool. Not knowing how to continue, I trailed off awkwardly, at which point the Director, who had been examining Heerim, turned her head sharply to look at me.
“You gave him artificial respiration?”
“…Yes.”
Her expression suggested she had an inkling but couldn’t quite believe it. Even though I hadn’t lied, being under the Director’s gaze made me feel as if I had committed a grave mistake, and my shoulders hunched involuntarily.
“Let’s talk about this when we get back to the office.”
“Um, Director. Wouldn’t it be better for Heerim to go to the hospital?”
“He’ll be fine, just follow me.”
I wanted reassurance that the unconscious Heerim was really okay, but the atmosphere was ominous. In the end, I couldn’t ask anything more and just followed the Director.
“I-I’ll carry him.”
“It’s fine.”
The Director carried Heerim on her back, despite his much larger build. I was greatly surprised by the Director’s unexpected strength but didn’t show it as I followed behind.
We drove in the Director’s car, which was parked under the pedestrian overpass. When we arrived at the office building, Jeongmun, who had been contacted, came out and carried Heerim. Heerim appeared to be in a deep sleep. Seeing how casually they handled Heerim, it seemed this wasn’t the first time such an incident had occurred.
“He’s definitely fine. Besides, this isn’t something hospitals can solve anyway.”
The Director said as she casually threw her jacket onto the sofa and ran her hand through her hair. She seemed to notice that I kept looking worriedly at the sleeping Heerim.
“What’s wrong with Heerim? Is it his heart…?”
“I appreciate your concern, but that’s not something you need to worry about.”
Was there any need to answer so coldly? I bit the inside of my cheek in embarrassment. I sensed a wall between them that I couldn’t penetrate.
“Now, Jaeo. About what happened earlier, could you tell me more properly?”
The Director pulled me, who was standing awkwardly, to sit on the sofa. Perhaps sensing my discomfort, she looked at me with a warmer tone and a slight smile than before. Nevertheless, her gaze was extremely scrutinizing.
“Tell me everything that happened, from the beginning, without leaving anything out.”
“Um, well… So what happened was.”
I started by telling her about meeting the client, having coffee at the café, and then encountering Jaeyeon during surveillance and chasing the pervert. When I mentioned how the fleeing flasher’s legs suddenly buckled, the Director’s eyebrows twitched slightly upward.
“Right after catching the flasher, Heerim collapsed. So I performed CPR…”
“And during CPR, you gave him artificial respiration, right?”
“Yes.”
The memory of the deep kiss with Heerim made my ears burn, but I tried to appear calm as I nodded.
“Hmm.”
After my explanation finished, the Director hummed while rubbing her temple, seemingly in thought. I sat tensely, discreetly wiping my sweaty palms on the leather sofa.
“When you gave artificial respiration, did your tongues touch?”
“Kuhuk. Kek! What?! Kek.”
I choked on her unexpectedly explicit description. As I continued coughing, Jeongmun brought me a cup of water. I drank it in one gulp and tried to calm myself with deep breaths, but my face felt like it was about to burst into flames.
“Let me ask again. Jaeo, did you kiss Heerim?”
“T-that…”
“Your saliva mixed, right?”
The direction of her questions was becoming increasingly strange.
“Is that part important right now?”
“It is important.”
I could see displeased wrinkles forming on the Director’s forehead as I kept avoiding her questions.
“Jaeo.”
I didn’t want to discuss this topic anymore, but the Director wouldn’t let me go.
Finally, I rubbed my face dry and answered in a small voice, almost as if talking to myself.
“A little… his tongue might have come in just a little…”
“I see. So you did do it with Heerim.”
Director, why are you phrasing it like that? I was just giving artificial respiration.
I felt like crying.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
