Escape from the Iljinhoe Project 21

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# Chapter 21

Only after rushing out of Kim Pyeonghwa’s house could I finally let out a deep sigh. As expected, that number one ranked guy’s crazy personality hasn’t gone anywhere. What sin did his god commit? For a mere insignificant human to defy a god, I’ll admit your boldness is something else.

“Ugh…”

I rubbed my lips with my palm.

It was because of that damn kiss scene that kept coming to mind. Haah… Gu Haejin, you crazy bastard. No matter how I think about it, I can only conclude that I was out of my mind back then. When I should have slapped him across the face, I just stood there… At the moment Kim Pyeonghwa pressed his lips against mine, my strength completely drained, and I could only go along with it.

And in the midst of that, how good he was at kissing…

This was exactly why Kim Pyeonghwa—who in the novel was a foul-mouthed, prickly demon king who couldn’t possibly be any ruder—was so popular among many female students. Come to think of it, Choi Marine, who ‘was’ the female lead, also started feeling her heart flutter after being surprise-kissed, and her attitude toward that guy changed afterward… No, wait, what does that have to do with me being surprise-kissed?!

I’m currently heading to the hospital because of my cold. My fever has gone down, but maybe because I haven’t taken any medicine, the pain remained unchanged. Since I’d been there once before, I returned to the Gangnam General Hospital where I’d gone when I had acute indigestion. This time I walked in confidently, whether it was a big hospital or not! They say it’s good to go to a hospital you’re familiar with… and they were exceptionally kind… and above all, there were many super pretty nurses. Hehe. At this rate, I’ll become a regular.

“Oh my. Haejin. Didn’t you come last time because you had indigestion? Oh my. Just look at how pale your face is.”

“Haha. This time I think it’s a cold… I collapsed after getting caught in the rain.”

“Oh my. Colds are so severe during seasonal changes like this. Oh my. And you got caught in the rain too? My heart aches for you…”

“I was just planning to get a quick check-up and leave…”

“No way. I’ll specially tell the doctor to give you an IV before you go!”

What…? An IV?

My focus blurred at the nurse’s words, for whom “Oh my” was a habit. Excuse me, did I hear that wrong? IV means… an injection?

“You’ll feel better right away after one IV. What would we do if our Haejin is sick?”

“No, it’s okay…”

“Oh my! Don’t refuse. I’ll take good care of you~”

What do you mean you’ll take good care of me?

At the mention of an IV, I had to force a rotten smile. If there’s something I rarely fear in life, it’s needles. You might think, “You’re not a child, why would you dislike injections!” but I absolutely, extremely, terribly hate them more than anything in the world! That feeling of piercing through my skin is so creepy… And on top of that, it hurts, so I hate it even more!

But unable to refuse the nurse’s affectionate voice, my body ended up being forcibly laid down in the IV room. Ah… please no.

“Aaaack! It hurts, ma’am!”

“Oh my! Haejin, I haven’t inserted it yet?”

“But you’re about to… hueeeeeng.”

“Pfft. How cute. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

*Stab*

…It’s not okay at all!!

“Ma’aaam!”

How can you just suddenly stick it in?!

While getting the IV, I made all kinds of fuss. Trembling and grabbing the nurse’s wrist as the needle approached, I screamed with full resentment as it mercilessly pierced me. This is why I said I didn’t want it. I even felt like tears might come out. Despite my reaction, the nurse annoyingly secured the needle and disappeared with the words, “Just get it for an hour and then go.” Fuck. It hurts so much. Sob.

“Haah…”

I lay on the bed, staring stupidly at the IV connected to my right wrist, letting out a dry sigh. I have to stay like this for an hour. I’m going to die of boredom. Maybe I’ll play games on my phone…

Wait. That’s right. I suddenly sat up.

“Come to think of it, I missed three days of school…?”

Shit. I just realized I had unexcused absences. For three days. Ack. No! My precious student record! My grades! My college admission! I quickly pulled out my phone that was stuffed in the corner of my bag. The day I collapsed, before going home, my battery was only at 10%, so I just turned it off, but I wonder if there’s any battery left…?

First, I turned on the power that had been off.

Buzz– Whiiiiing– Buzz- Buzz- Whiiing—

“W-What the…”

As soon as my phone turned on, I was startled by the numerous vibrations I felt. Checking the screen: 301 missed calls. 72 KakaoTalk messages. What, fuck. What is this? This is crazy. How did I get so many calls and messages? I almost dropped my phone at the astonishing number I’d never seen before. Wow, I guess I’m popular. In the past, even if I turned off my phone for a week, I wouldn’t get half this many! It was strangely moving.

Even more surprising, most of these missed calls and messages were from…

Number Two Jung Ion

Staff Park Hanseo

Number Two Jung Ion

Staff Park Hanseo

Action Leader Shin Amin

Staff Park Hanseo

Action Leader Shin Amin

Number Two Jung Ion

…and so on.

[Where are you, Gu Haejin. -Number Two Jung Ion]

[Devil Apex…please be alive ㅠㅠ Help me atone for my sin of failing to protect you ㅠㅠㅠㅠ -Staff Park Hanseo]

[You weren’t hurt by the Focus Apex, were you? -Number Two Jung Ion]

[Thousand-Year Prince, where are you? -Action Leader Shin Amin]

[Why are you making us worry so much… -Number Two Jung Ion]

…and so on.

I knew it.

They were all those school gang guys. Among them, the trio had the biggest share. But why does this Gu Haejin guy insist on saving contacts with titles like “Number Two” or “Staff” in front of their names? Save them normally, would you! Fuck. I should be grateful they’re not saved as something like “Num2 Jung2on☆”? And Park Hanseo, why has this guy’s way of speaking always been like this? Ugh. This middle school syndrome!

Buzz!!

“Ack. Shit!”

What now? What’s with this half-hearted vibration sound!

The tacky vibration sound made me so annoyed that my mood soured instantly. I’m going to change it to a sensible ringtone right away! I’m going to use a girl group song!

[Number Two Jung Ion]

What was flashing on the screen was, of course, a call from Jung Ion, who had the most missed calls on my phone. Ah… somehow I don’t want to answer. After hesitating a bit, I slowly pressed the call button.

“Hello.”

– Gu Haejiiiiiin!!

Eardrum damage +100

I quickly moved the phone away from my ear, but I couldn’t avoid the pain of my ears feeling like they were being torn apart by the sudden and tremendous noise. To make matters worse, the volume was at maximum, haha. I caused a huge disturbance to several patients in the IV room.

Sigh… that bastard Jung Ion…!

“You’re hurting my ears, you crazy bastard!”

– What happened to you?! Why was your phone turned off! What happened with Kim Pyeonghwa!!

“Ask one thing at a time. Nothing happened to me, my phone was turned off to save battery and I just turned it on, and with Kim Pyeonghwa…!”

I paused for a moment.

With Kim Pyeonghwa… we kissed. I would never say that even if I died.

“Nothing happened.”

I mumbled quietly. Ah, I remembered again. Damn.

– …How can nothing have happened! You disappeared for a whole three days!

Jung Ion seemed angry at my too-calm reply. He shouted angrily, which was rare for him.

– That day, after you ran into that Focus Apex bastard, his minion came back looking like a bloody mess, but our most important Apex went missing, and on top of that, we couldn’t contact you—do you know how worried we were?! You, the lord of Devil! Gu Haejin, the Thousand-Year Prince, the number two ranked Apex! We were so anxious that you might have been severely beaten, kidnapped, and something terrible happened to you…! That cruel Kim Pyeonghwa might have… *sob*… Do you know how worried we were…

I was taken aback.

Is he crying right now… for real?