# Chapter 18
Our Terminal Apex
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
But I couldn’t get up despite being awake. My body was in such a terrible state that I couldn’t possibly rise. Despite being covered with a thick blanket from chest to toe in mid-May, my body trembled like an aspen leaf from chills while my temperature soared. Dizziness made my vision spin, and I had a stuffy nose with runny mucus, non-stop coughing and sneezing, and a throat so bad I could barely swallow… I had come down with a proper seasonal flu. I slept straight through an entire day like that.
After completely wasting a day, when I opened my eyes again, I was quite startled to realize this wasn’t my home. Where am I? It didn’t take long to discover someone sleeping face-down beside my bed. And I was utterly shocked when I recognized who it was.
Kim Pyeonghwa. That crazy #1 ranked guy.
So this must be his house… I was dumbfounded despite my illness. One minute he was ordering his gang members to beat me up, turning Park Hanseo into a bloody mess, and spouting nonsense, and the next, he brought me to his home and nursed me after I collapsed in the rain.
A thought occurred to me—what if his “nursing” consisted of just dumping me on the bed and treating me roughly? Looking back to when he tried to attack me with twenty gang members, it doesn’t seem like an entirely far-fetched assumption. After all, he seemed to harbor tremendous animosity toward me. Fuck. This gives me goosebumps. Absolutely not.
I knew this was Kim Pyeonghwa’s house, but I dozed off again. The flu makes people so weak. There’s nothing I can do except sleep…
After being bedridden for a full two days, I was finally able to properly get up on the morning of the third day. Damn. No matter how I look at it, Gu Haejin has an extremely weak constitution. How soon after recovering from indigestion did this happen…
Is he really a gang member?
“Are you… awake?”
“…Y-yeah. Hahah.”
Kim Pyeonghwa, who was entering the room where I was lying, discovered me awake after three days and froze at the doorway. His rarely surprised face was strikingly handsome. Wow, a feast for the eyes first thing in the morning. It would be nice to have a feast for the ears too. I managed to lean against the pillow and blinked my eyes, giving an awkward smile. Hahah. Look, I’m alive. Did you think I’d die from a mere flu!
“Grinning like an idiot.”
What’s with you?
As Kim Pyeonghwa’s expression soured, I had no choice but to drop my smile. Augh. That rude bastard! Are you saying my smile looks idiotic?! I felt indignant for a moment, but then had to admit it was true.
Having slept for nearly three days straight, my appearance was far from normal. Seriously matted hair, an oily face even without saying it, and the clothes that Kim Pyeonghwa had apparently changed me into instead of my rain-soaked uniform were a mess from all the sweat I’d shed while sick. Plus, I wasn’t fully recovered yet, still groaning, so from his perspective, I might indeed look like an idiot… I could oddly accept this.
“Wait a moment.”
Kim Pyeonghwa said this and went somewhere, only to return shortly. In his hand was a thermometer. Seemingly intending to take my temperature, he strode toward me. I flinched unnecessarily. The handsome guy’s face came close. Kim Pyeonghwa in his school uniform had a subtle scent of Cool Water cologne. He placed the thermometer in my ear and clicked it to measure my temperature.
“37.6 degrees. Fortunately, your fever has gone down.”
“Yeah… it has.”
“……”
“What. …What?”
Confused by Kim Pyeonghwa’s silent stare, I repeated the same words like a parrot. Then he placed his hands on the bed, trapping me between his arms, and brought his face close to mine. Suddenly, the distance between us was barely 50cm. I reflexively covered my mouth with both hands, sure that my breath must smell terrible.
“You always drive me crazy.”
“What…”
“Acting so cold all the time, but occasionally being so cute like this.”
Huh? When did I act cute…
Smooch.
I opened my eyes wide. What. What. What are you doing?!
Kim Pyeonghwa gently kissed the corner of my eye.
“Fuck. I can’t control myself.”
“Y… you…! Youuuu!!”
I was so shocked that I pointed an accusing finger at him.
What the hell did you just do?! Smooch? Smoooooch?? Did you just kiss my eye? Is that what happened?!
I was plunged into a cauldron of shock. I got kissed… kissed… by another guy… Arrrggghhh. As I struggled to form coherent words, Kim Pyeonghwa uttered even more astonishing statements.
“I held back from doing it on your lips.”
“What did you say?!”
“Go wash up so I can finish.”
Are you insane! What are you saying?! What are you going to do! What are you doing to a sick person, you bastard!!
If I could, I would have jumped up and slammed Kim Pyeonghwa to the ground right away. It pained me deeply that I couldn’t escape the bed because my body was still sick, and I couldn’t overpower him because he was stronger than me. Kim Pyeonghwa left the room, saying he would bring clothes for me to change into.
I struggled to calm my heart, which had strangely begun to pound intensely. Just to be clear, this absolutely wasn’t because I was excited or anything. I was just furious at that bastard’s crazy behavior!
Honestly, Kim Pyeonghwa seemed like the type who would actually do what he threatened, so I was terrified he might really do it, but I still needed to wash up. My condition was too much of a mess to resist bathing, and since I absolutely couldn’t stand feeling grimy, I headed to the attached bathroom on trembling, weak legs.
The flu truly is a suffering that shouldn’t be underestimated. My fever had gone down, but I still felt like it was the dead of winter, and above all, the dizziness was no joke. I had to repeatedly sit down and get back up whenever I felt dizzy, barely managing to wash myself.
After washing my hair with warm water, showering, and brushing my teeth, I found clothes that Kim Pyeonghwa had left at the door. Drying off and putting on the clothes was fine, but the problem was the clothes themselves.
There was quite a height difference between Kim Pyeonghwa and me. I’m 179cm and he’s 188cm. About a 10cm difference. Jang Seoldam is the tallest, but Kim Pyeonghwa is the second tallest. What suddenly pisses me off is why am I the only Apex in the 170s? All three of them are well over 180cm, why only me!
Anyway, the shirt, which appeared to be his, was long enough to reach the middle of my thighs, but it was wearable enough. However, the neck was so wide that my collarbones were completely exposed, which felt a bit awkward. The pants had an elastic waistband so they fit my waist properly, but they were a bit short, showing my thighs well. The already long top makes the pants barely visible. Damn. Anyone looking would think I wasn’t wearing pants at all. Sob.
After roughly putting on the clothes, I crawled back into bed. My already minimal energy had been further depleted by washing up. Cough, cough. I couldn’t stop coughing. Damn. I’m dying here. I pulled the blanket up to my neck. Damn it. I had been worried this might happen when I got caught in the rain, and sure enough, I got terribly sick.
“Gu Haejin.”
I snapped to attention at the sound of Kim Pyeonghwa calling me. He came in with a tray holding a bowl of porridge, placed a small table on the bed, and set the tray on it. It was abalone porridge. Look at that porridge visual. Amazing. So good. I silently admired how beautifully presented it was, despite just being porridge.
Could Kim Pyeonghwa have…?
“The housekeeper made it.”
…Of course not.
He sat next to me, scooped up a spoonful of porridge, and brought it to my lips.
What. Are you expecting me to be fed by you? I have hands, you know! I can do it myself! Don’t you know about the concept of self-reliance education? Do your own tasks yourself! We are capable, capable, capable! Self-reliant children! I may not be a child, but I’m an adult who can at least eat porridge on my own.
“Shut up and eat.”
Ah, yes.
Such a way with words.
As soon as I showed the slightest sign of rebellion, saying I could eat on my own, Kim Pyeonghwa’s expression hardened as if he were displeased. Oh my, fuck. This is too scary. What, just because you’re ranked #1? If you’re ranked #1, that’s everything!
In the end, I obediently ate the porridge as Kim Pyeonghwa fed me. Setting aside my petty pride about not being able to feed myself, I could feel happiness in the taste of the abalone porridge that proved I was alive. Mmm. Delicious. Porridge is indeed perfect when you’re sick. But I never want to be sick again…
Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the entire bowl. Even though it was so delicious, after eating a little, it became difficult to eat more. I firmly shook my head, indicating I wouldn’t eat any more.
“Can’t eat anymore?”
“Yeah.”
“Then medicine…”
“I’ll take care of the medicine myself.”
“…If you say so.”
Even though I was sick, I disliked taking medicine, so I vaguely said I’d handle it myself. I’ll get some from the hospital later. To my surprise, Kim Pyeonghwa simply accepted my firm answer. But his expression became strangely clouded. What’s with that uneasy reaction? An awkward silence quickly flowed between us.
Ah, right. Park Hanseo…
Belatedly, I remembered someone. I thought of that guy Hanseo who got beaten up by Kim Pyeonghwa and collapsed after fighting with the Focus gang members because of me. Come to think of it, I ended up like this because of him!
“Kim Pyeonghwa… what happened to Hanseo?”
At my question, Kim Pyeonghwa’s movements suddenly froze. That made me feel more unnecessarily tense. You didn’t just leave him there, did you?
“Your weakling officer, that Devil runt?”
What’s with ‘Devil runt.’ With this strange naming sense, I made a sour face and nodded. Kim Pyeonghwa gave a cold smile.
“Unfortunately, I dumped him at the hospital.”
What, dumped?! Oh, at the hospital…
As expected, the guy who never speaks politely dismissed Park Hanseo’s situation with that one sentence. Kim Pyeonghwa’s face looked too savage to ask anything more, so I had to stop. I see. It’s fortunate he didn’t die on the street. This guy does have some decency after all.
“Gu Haejin. Don’t mention another guy’s name in front of me.”
“What?”
What kind of baseless conversation is this?
Kim Pyeonghwa disregarded my reaction and warned:
“Don’t even think about other guys.”
“What does that have to do with you…”
“Because I’ll kill you both.”
Whoa.
I was about to quietly object but froze completely.
Out of nowhere, I was threatened with murder. Kim Pyeonghwa stared directly into my eyes as if he meant it. I had to roll my eyes around, trying to avoid his gaze.
What is this… Did he always treat me like this? It’s almost like obsession… In the novel I read, Kim Pyeonghwa showed this kind of attitude toward the female lead, Choi Marine, didn’t he? Questions filled my mind.
“I never say things twice.”
“Huh?”
“I said I’d finish it.”
“Mmph!”
I didn’t even have time to ask what he meant.
……!!
In an instant, Kim Pyeonghwa grabbed my wrist and pressed his lips against mine.
Huh? Huuuuh??
I went into a coma state as I felt Kim Pyeonghwa’s cool lips on my hot ones. I was helplessly ambushed with a kiss from Kim Pyeonghwa.
Crazy. I still have the flu!
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
