What awakened his deeply sunken consciousness was the unusually dazzling sunlight. The sunlight that had been warming his feet climbed up along his ankles and finally stopped at his eyes, waking him from his deep sleep. Under the strong sunlight that kept stabbing at his eyes, Junghyun whined and pulled the blanket over his head. And as he burrowed deep into the blanket, the sunlight hovering around his eyes was blocked.
Instead, it was hot. So hot that he could barely breathe.
“Hot!”
Unable to bear it any longer, he kicked off the blanket and sat up, but the pain that pierced through his entire body made Junghyun tremble without even being able to scream. And only then did the memories of last night flash by like a revolving lantern, making him realize why his body was in this state.
“Damn…”
It hurt. With just a little exaggeration, it felt like all the muscles in his body had been slashed to pieces with a blade. While he was groaning in pain as everything ached and throbbed unbearably, this time a dry cough burst out. His throat felt like it was burning up.
Come to think of it, the room was too hot and dry. While groaning at the feeling of his throat being scraped with sandpaper, Junghyun got down from the bed and thought “Oh no” the next moment. He had no memory of putting on clothes, so he looked down, but fortunately he was dressed. It was a sky-blue long-sleeved t-shirt and pajama pants of the same color.
It seemed that person had dressed him. At his caring action, still mistakenly thinking that he got cold easily, Junghyun looked down at his clothes and smiled bitterly. He probably had taken care of the cleanup too. That’s the kind of person he was originally. He’s unsuitably caring, and that’s what’s really burdensome, he thought with meaningless resentment as he got down from the bed. Then he fumbled his way out of the bedroom to find the kitchen.
Every step he took felt like his leg muscles would tear, but thirst was more urgent than pain. With an intense thirst that hit his mind like what a vampire who couldn’t drink blood might feel, the moment he entered the kitchen, he took out a water bottle from the refrigerator and opened the cap. And immediately gulped down the water.
After instantly emptying one bottle of water on the spot, he finally felt like he could live. The feeling of his throat being ground by a machine finally disappeared, but due to the remaining thirst, he was taking out another water bottle from the refrigerator when he heard a familiar voice.
“You’re awake?”
At that low voice, Junghyun paused while opening the water bottle and thought “Oh no.” He had forgotten because it had been so long. That Director Jang was always here during the day.
In this awkward situation in many ways, wondering what to do, Junghyun eventually offered the most safe greeting.
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
When he turned to her and greeted her as if nothing happened, she also smiled and returned the greeting.
“I’m always doing well.”
After finishing her words, Director Jang gestured with her eyes for him to finish drinking his water, then approached the refrigerator and began taking out vegetables from inside. Then she asked naturally.
“You should eat, shouldn’t you? It’s almost lunchtime, so what would you like to eat?”
“…Anything.”
“Then shall I make seaweed soup and spicy stir-fried pork? You like spicy pork, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Even though it had been a month, she prepared the meal so naturally without asking anything, and behind her, Junghyun opened the water bottle cap and carefully drank water. While doing so, he kept glancing at her with his eyes.
He had many things he wanted to ask, but he hesitated because it was difficult to bring up the words, when she, who had just taken out green onions and onions from the refrigerator and stood in front of the counter, casually threw out some words.
“The director woke up on time and went to work. He’ll probably come home early today.”
At that story he had been most curious about, Junghyun let out a small sigh. He was worried because he didn’t look well, but he was relieved that going to work on time meant his condition was okay.
“Today, for the first time in a while, he slept until I woke him up. So although he woke up a bit late, he ate breakfast properly in the morning and left without vomiting.”
Very dryly, without any intention to blame, just like making a simple report, at her tone, Junghyun, who had been drinking water, took the bottle away from his mouth. He had heard such stories, but he thought surely not, but it seemed to be true.
“…Did he keep vomiting?”
“Yes. So he couldn’t eat. Since he’s a sensitive person, he was repulsed by the idea of eating and vomiting.”
That seemed likely. He was quite picky about hygiene, so the act of eating and vomiting itself would have been uncomfortable. Plus, the act of vomiting itself is also a burden on the stomach, so it seemed he didn’t eat at all.
“I hope you continue to do so in the future. One more thing to mention is that he slept in the bedroom for the first time in a month. He couldn’t enter that bedroom during that time.”
At her continued explanation, Junghyun unnecessarily shook the water bottle in his hand. He had sensed it, but hearing it directly from a third party didn’t feel good.
“His mental strength is weaker than he looks.”
“It is surprising. Even though he’s someone I raised like my own, I didn’t know he was so mentally vulnerable. Among the brothers, he’s relatively the strongest, and I didn’t raise him weakly either.”
“Alphas themselves are quite fragile. They’re really useless.”
After throwing out the words somewhat lightly, like a joke, he drank water again, when suddenly her short-sleeved clothes caught his eye. It was early for the season, but it seemed like an unavoidable choice. The house was as hot as a dry sauna, and the kitchen would be even hotter since it used fire.
“Um, it’s a bit hot, can I turn down the heating?”
“I’d be grateful if you did.”
At her tone that seemed willing to let him turn it down as much as he wanted, Junghyun immediately turned around and lowered the boiler temperature to 25 degrees.
“The nights are still quite cold in Korea, I guess.”
Probably that’s why hyung had raised the house temperature so much, he muttered while adjusting the boiler temperature, and Director Jang, who was trimming onions, spoke in her still indifferent tone.
“The nights are still chilly. But during the day it’s quite hot, but the director wouldn’t let me touch the boiler.”
“Why?”
“He told me not to touch anything in the house. Not the temperature, not the humidity, not the bedroom. I had no choice but to organize the dressing room, but he wouldn’t let me organize anything except cleaning, so the boiler temperature stayed the same.”
“…”
“It’s okay for now, but I wasn’t confident I could endure that temperature even in midsummer, so I was relieved that you came back before summer. I’m getting old, so the heat is hard on me.”
The more he heard, the more uncomfortable he felt, and Junghyun just kept shaking the innocent water bottle. Director Jang, who confirmed his appearance with a sideways glance, opened the upper cabinet and finally threw out the main point.
“If you have something you want to ask, ask me. You look like you have a lot of curiosity.”
At her proposal, which was perceptive as expected, Junghyun hesitated for a moment, then lifted his head thinking that since Jaehyuk wasn’t here anyway, what was there to know.
“Where did he sleep during that time?”
“He said he didn’t want to enter the bedroom, so he slept in the study.”
“What about exercise?”
“He couldn’t do it. Because he couldn’t sleep properly.”
Junghyun, who had been continuously shaking the water bottle, suddenly stopped his hand. That was the first time he heard that story.
“Did he have insomnia?”
“He was originally sensitive, so he wakes up easily even at small noises. That’s innate. Even when he was young, he couldn’t sleep deeply. So when he lived at the main house, all the hyung-nims were kicked out to the annex to empty the entire second floor for the director. After such sleep training and independence, he got better, but for the past month he couldn’t sleep properly, so his life rhythm was a mess. But since he slept a bit yesterday and went to work, he should be fine. I hope he sleeps well tonight too.”
At her concern for him, Junghyun shook the water bottle again. Since that was his original tendency, it might not be entirely his fault, but still, hearing such stories didn’t feel good.
“That’s really troublesome.”
“That’s how Alphas originally are. Selfish, egotistical, burdensome, and overwhelming. It’s not just their innate tendency, but everyone raises them to be picky. Because they’re precious people. So they’re very troublesome.”
“I suppose so…”
“If you’re done with your questions, now I’ll ask mine.”
At the arrow that suddenly turned back, Junghyun tensed up a bit. When she said to ask what she wanted to ask, it meant she would also ask if she had something she wanted to ask, so he had hesitated, but unconsciously threw out the first question. So he also had to receive her questions.
“Please go ahead.”
“Are you going to divorce?”
At the directly thrown question, Junghyun hesitated a bit before answering.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“There are various circumstances.”
“What if you confess those circumstances to the director?”
“He already knows everything.”
“If he already knows everything, that means the director has accepted it all… but I don’t understand why you’d still divorce?”
“Because I don’t want to disappoint him anymore.”
“If he already knows everything, there shouldn’t be anything more to disappoint him with.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
