4) A Tingly, Itchy Feeling
In the end, he came down with a full-blown illness.
His body hadn’t completely recovered from the accident, and then he’d gone and gotten caught in the rain on top of that. From early morning, Yi-hyeon groaned as he suffered through a high fever, yet even so, he fumbled through his wardrobe, pulled a hoodie firmly over his head, and shut himself away in the corner of his room.
Just as Yi-hyeon had guessed, the moment his condition worsened, his ears and tail popped out without fail. Which meant they’d only disappear once he fully recovered. Until then, he couldn’t let anyone—absolutely anyone—see what he looked like.
Unaware of Yi-hyeon’s inner thoughts, the director grew worried and opened the door to his room.
“Are you really sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“‘You don’t need to go,’ my foot. In weather this hot, how bad do the chills have to be for you to be bundled up like that?”
Clearly concerned, the director said this wouldn’t do and told him to get up immediately so they could go to the hospital. Yi-hyeon was internally horrified, but he spoke as calmly as he could on the outside.
“I catch colds pretty often anyway. I’m really fine.”
“Are you going to keep being stubborn?”
“If it doesn’t get better by the afternoon, I’ll go then. I promise. I’m just really sleepy right now.”
At Yi-hyeon’s insistence that he’d try sleeping it off, the director let out a worried sigh, told him to be sure to call her if it got worse, and closed the door. At times like this, he even thought it was a relief to have such a frail body. If not, the overly concerned director might’ve hoisted him onto her back and sprinted all the way to the hospital.
Lying on the mattress, waiting for his ears and tail to disappear, Yi-hyeon heard the door creak open just a crack as Minseo, the youngest child at the orphanage, peeked his head inside.
“Yi-hyeoni hyung, you really sick?”
“No, I’m not that sick. But it’s a cold, so if it spreads, Minseo could get sick too. You shouldn’t come close, okay?”
“Mhm. But, Yi-hyeoni hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Director-teacher room, hyung friend came. Visiting sick.”
“What friend of mine would even co—”
A slick, grinning face flashed through his mind—the one who’d come right up to the orphanage gate just a few days ago.
Is he out of his mind, Han Jun…!
Yi-hyeon had no choice but to shriek and kick off his blanket as he shot upright.
Yi-hyeon felt like he was about to die. Even though he’d said not to come in because it was a cold, Han Jun had confidently walked straight into his room and was now perched on the desk chair, slicing an apple mango with a knife he’d personally bought, on a plate he’d personally bought.
If I’d known this would happen, I shouldn’t have brought Han Jun all the way to the orphanage gate that day, even if he was disappointed.
Yi-hyeon had never imagined that Han Jun would visit the orphanage again. He deeply regretted his own carelessness, but there was no turning back time.
“Should I give some to Minseo too?”
Han Jun popped a piece of neatly sliced apple mango into his mouth as if checking its sweetness, then asked Minseo with sparkling eyes. In response, Minseo—who was sitting snugly on Han Jun’s solid, steady knee, being gently bounced—opened his small mouth and went, “Ah.”
They’d only met for the first time today, yet anyone watching would think they were real brothers. Yi-hyeon’s head, already aching from the fever, throbbed even worse because of Han Jun.
But what could he do now that Han Jun was already here? He couldn’t just keep pulling a grim face at a guest who’d come out of concern for him. Deciding he’d respond briefly and then send him off, Yi-hyeon chose to usher out Minseo first, since his immune system was still weak.
“Minseo, you shouldn’t catch a cold from hyung, so how about you go out and play with your friends now?”
“Yeees!”
At Yi-hyeon’s words, Minseo hopped down from Han Jun’s leg.
“I bought lots of mango and snacks, so go share them with your friends.”
“Mhm!”
At Han Jun’s words, Minseo bowed his head politely, then headed out of the room—only to come back in again. Had he noticed how different Yi-hyeon looked today? Faced with those round, jet-black eyes staring straight at him, Yi-hyeon’s heart dropped.
“Yi-hyeoni hyung.”
“Mm?”
“Hyung, can I wear your necklace?”
A necklace?
What did he mean by that?
Yi-hyeon didn’t like accessories. If he had any extra money, he’d rather buy another snack instead. There was no way someone like him owned a necklace. Thinking Minseo must be mistaken about someone else’s, he spoke in a gentle voice.
“Hyung doesn’t have a necklace. Could it be Su-ah’s or Hyeon-seo’s?”
Minseo shook his head, his eyes bright with absolute certainty.
“It is hyung’s. Soondori had it in his mouth, coming out of hyung’s room—I saw it.”
Soondori was the orphanage’s dog. He liked Yi-hyeon the most, and whenever he found something he liked, he’d always carry it over and wedge it into the gap beneath the mat in Yi-hyeon’s room. So it wasn’t impossible that a necklace of unknown origin had been brought in that way and Minseo had seen it.
“Maybe Soondori liked it and brought it into hyung’s room. Later, let’s play a game together to find the owner, okay?”
“Mhm!”
The moment Minseo nodded and left, Yi-hyeon put on an exaggeratedly sick expression and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Ha… the fever won’t go down.”
Hoping that if he acted sick enough, the sharp-eyed Han Jun would take the hint and leave on his own, Yi-hyeon began an awkward performance.
Praying his acting would work, he deliberately coughed in front of Han Jun, who proudly claimed to be a germaphobe.
“Cough, cough. Ah, I feel so awful I can’t even treat you properly. Thanks for visiting me, but my condition’s really bad. I think I should sleep. The medicine’s probably kicking in.”
“Yeah?”
Han Jun placed the apple mango plate under the mattress and stood up from his seat, telling him to eat it when he got up. Relieved that he was perceptive, Yi-hyeon let out a silent sigh of relief.
“I’m too sick to see you out. Sorry. I’ll buy you bunny bunny choco milk when we go to school instead.”
“How did you know? That I like that.”
“I just said it because it’s the most popular thing at school.”
“Really? Okay. Then I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Get some good rest.”
Waving halfheartedly at Han Jun as he left the room, Yi-hyeon collapsed onto the mattress the instant Han Jun disappeared from sight.
“Wow… that was close.”
Wiping away cold sweat, he was just catching his breath when, not long after, he heard the director’s voice from the hallway.
“You’re leaving already? Lunch is soon—if it’s not inconvenient, why don’t you eat before you go?”
Why stop someone who’s already on their way out? Yi-hyeon liked how kind and gentle the director was to everyone, but this time, her kindness felt suffocating.
Refuse. Refuse, damn it. Go home and grill some Korean beef or something, Han Jun!
Crushing Yi-hyeon’s hopes, Han Jun asked cheerfully, as if he’d never had any intention of refusing from the start.
“What side dishes are there?”
“Sausage stir-fry and shredded dried squid.”
“I like sausage stir-fry. I’ll eat and go.”
It was over.
Ah… why is everything going so wrong?
Yi-hyeon had no choice but to lower his head.
Now that things had come to this, the only option was to recover as quickly as possible and make his ears go down. Locking his door in a hurry, Yi-hyeon still didn’t feel at ease, so he dragged a chair over and blocked the door. If anyone tried to come in, the sound of the chair scraping would wake him up.
Once everything was set, Yi-hyeon lay flat on the bed and declared that sleep was the best medicine. How long had it been since he closed his eyes? A sound that tormented Yi-hyeon’s keen hearing reached his ears.
Along with the lively thump of a bouncing ball, Han Jun’s voice rang out. What on earth was he doing now, and where? Muttering that there were limits to staying cooped up inside, Yi-hyeon struggled to his feet, forced open the creaking window, and leaned out.
