“One should live life like this guy…”
Having finished his shower, Jaehyuk finally vocalized what he’d been thinking countless times in his head.
Life should be lived like Lee Junghyun.
Even when something happens that could shake your entire life, you still eat and sleep.
And you think about it after waking up the next day.
That’s how life should be lived.
That way, there’s no stress.
Looking down at Junghyun, who was still sleeping in a strange position, Jaehyuk shook his head as if admitting defeat.
He shouldn’t try to understand this guy anymore.
He just needs to accept him.
Accept that this is how he is.
While brainwashing himself with these thoughts, he reached out to adjust Junghyun’s posture, which looked like it might give anyone who saw it a heart attack.
He lifted the right leg that was hanging off the bed, straightened the twisted waist, and as he was lowering the arm that was raised in a victory pose, the ring on Junghyun’s left hand caught on his fingertip.
This guy who doesn’t even wear a watch because it bothers him still wears this ring properly without losing it.
With a strange feeling, Jaehyuk twirled the ring with his thumb and index finger, then lifted Junghyun’s left hand.
Then he carefully placed his mouth on Junghyun’s left ring finger and bit down with all his strength.
Until his teeth reached bone.
And as expected, Junghyun’s kick came flying immediately.
It was a lightning-fast movement, but having experienced it once before, Jaehyuk could easily avoid it.
Meanwhile, Junghyun, who had for once woken up instantly, checked the teeth marks on his left ring finger and looked at Jaehyuk as if demanding an explanation for this behavior.
In response to that incomparably insolent gaze, Jaehyuk flashed a refreshing smile.
“Finally, I’ve found a way to wake you up in one go.”
“You bite my finger to wake me up?”
Junghyun shuddered, telling him to say something that made sense.
Fortunately, it didn’t bleed, but the teeth marks remained clear enough to make an impression.
Jaehyuk had healthy teeth and even his dental alignment was straight and pretty, but that actually made it scarier.
“Is this your oral phase?”
“Perhaps.”
“Haven’t you thrown away your personality too much in the past month?”
“Maybe.”
Jaehyuk had perfectly learned Junghyun’s way of speaking that tended to provoke anger in others.
Seeing how he had quickly picked up something he shouldn’t have—it wasn’t even mirror therapy—Junghyun made a serious suggestion for once.
“Let’s go to the hospital.”
“Don’t worry. I already went the day before yesterday and got medication just in case.”
“What medication?”
“Anti-anxiety medication and sedatives.”
“I think you should take them now.”
“I already did.”
Before meeting you yesterday, Jaehyuk added, leaving Junghyun speechless.
So that’s why you let me live yesterday, he thought.
“Didn’t you get sleeping pills?”
In response to this criticism suggesting he should just take them and go to sleep, Jaehyuk pulled out a medicine bottle from the drawer beside the bed and showed it to him.
Junghyun took the bottle and checked the ingredients list, his attitude deflating instantly.
“So this is the legendary sleeping pill… I’ve only heard about it but never seen it before… Does it work?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh dear…”
Now Junghyun understood why this man glared at him murderously whenever he was eating and woke him up whenever he was sleeping.
Yes, that makes sense.
Having accepted this, he gently placed the medicine bottle back on the side table.
Then he patted the spot next to him on the bed.
“Then, let’s sleep.”
“I need to work.”
“You can do it tomorrow. Everyone sleeps at night anyway.”
“Many people work without sleeping.”
“Then wish them good luck with their hard work. We’ll sleep.”
As Junghyun said this while patting the spot beside him once more, Jaehyuk hesitated briefly before finally climbing onto the bed.
He was annoyed that Junghyun could eat and sleep well while he was the only one stressing out, but as Junghyun said, it’s not like things would stop happening just because he stayed up working.
Whatever was going to blow up would blow up anyway, and when everything did explode, he’d just need to leave his uncle in a near-death state.
The noisy public opinion and his grandfather’s divorce pressure were problematic, but at this point, he felt like, what does it matter?
It would work out somehow.
It’s foolish to even think about it now.
“Sleep.”
“I need to feel sleepy to sleep.”
“That’s something I’ve never experienced, so I can’t advise you, but first close your eyes.”
Saying that this would make him fall asleep, Junghyun picked up the remote and turned off all the lights in the room.
Darkness instantly enveloped them.
With the curtains drawn, there wasn’t even any light coming in from outside.
Even in that complete darkness, Jaehyuk wasn’t sure if he would be able to sleep.
For exactly five seconds.
* * *
“…sir. Director?”
“…”
“Director?”
Startled by the softly whispering voice and the force shaking his shoulder, Jaehyuk opened his eyes and turned his disheveled face toward the source of the sound.
“Uh… Director Jang?”
The room was still dark.
But since it was only April and the curtains were drawn, he couldn’t tell the time from that alone, so he asked her.
“Did I oversleep?”
“Yes. But not by too much. More importantly, there’s something I need to tell you, so please get up.”
Director Jang had lowered her voice as much as possible to avoid waking Junghyun, but Jaehyuk thought it wasn’t necessary.
This guy wouldn’t wake up even if they turned on the lights and banged gongs and held a shamanic ritual right next to him—it was unnecessary consideration.
But that wasn’t important right now, so he got up from the bed and followed her out.
With only his phone in hand, he entered the kitchen where she was waiting for him.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked.
“Yes.”
As he rubbed his eyes with his haggard face and sat down at the island countertop, she carefully spoke while taking out a capsule to brew coffee.
“You seemed to be sleeping so soundly for once, so I tried not to wake you if possible, but I thought you should know about this.”
At her meaningful tone, Jaehyuk nodded as if urging her to continue. Her gaze then shifted to his phone on the table.
“You haven’t checked your phone yet, right?”
“No. I went to bed early yesterday…”
“Then, take a look.”
After suggesting he see for himself before they talk, Director Jang poured the freshly extracted coffee into a glass filled with ice. Then she placed the glass right in front of Jaehyuk.
At her look that seemed to say he should drink it and wake up first, Jaehyuk took a sip of coffee and immediately turned on his phone.
Seeing the messages that had piled up in the hundreds overnight, he ran his hand through his messy hair with annoyance.
“Something seems to have happened.”
“There are more brave people in the world than I thought.”
As she brewed a new coffee, she made a statement with an unclear meaning.
It wasn’t sarcasm but seemed to genuinely express surprise, so Jaehyuk opened his message thread with Yoonho, the least intimidating option.
The moment he saw the messages and images in it, he was wide awake.
This was more effective than caffeine.
Seeing Jaehyuk’s expression of evident shock, Director Jang spoke in a serious tone.
“You know the truth of this matter is important, right?”
She was saying he needed to resolve this somehow.
Jaehyuk clicked his tongue softly.
According to Yoonho’s explanation, around 2 AM, a user claiming to be a hospital part-timer had posted a medical chart on a large community site.
The name of the chart’s owner was censored, but the main point was that it supposedly belonged to the person currently at the center of the controversy, claiming they got married because pregnancy was impossible.
But at that level, it was practically the same as revealing the name.
That was what Director Jang had wanted to discuss.
“Can part-timers access these kinds of records these days?”
“We don’t know if it’s really a part-timer or someone pretending to be one.”
“Do you think CEO Cha Jinwoo’s side leaked it?”
“If your uncle could obtain the documents I had access to, he could obtain these too.”
Even if today’s younger generation would do anything for attention, they wouldn’t risk their entire lives for a few hours of fame.
Especially not against a major corporation.
“This will be quite problematic. While the Honorary Chairman may not care about the contract marriage, pregnancy is quite an important issue.”
“…I’ll need to deal with my uncle first. Please prepare breakfast. That guy will eat a ton for breakfast too.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare it right away.”
At her quick response, Jaehyuk got up from his seat again and headed toward the bedroom, checking each message that had arrived overnight.
Most of the messages were from his brothers and friends asking what’s going on, if it’s true, saying he’s in big trouble if it’s true, that his grandfather is very angry, why he’s not answering calls, if something’s wrong, and so on.
Ignoring those who seemed obviously excited about the situation, he only sent replies to his genuinely concerned brothers and cousins saying it was nothing serious, then entered the bedroom.
And he turned on the lights without hesitation.
Knowing that Junghyun wouldn’t wake up anyway, he walked heavily to the bed without muffling his footsteps and looked down at him.
As expected, Junghyun was sound asleep today too.
If one had to choose the most unnecessary thing in this world for Lee Junghyun, anyone would say it’s sleeping pills.
Admitting that he envied at least this aspect, Jaehyuk immediately grabbed Junghyun’s left hand. And this time, instead of biting his finger, he bit his wrist.
Again, with all his might, as if biting into ribs.
The next moment, as he easily dodged the fist that came flying at him, Junghyun sat up abruptly and looked at his left wrist with an expression of disbelief.
Seeing that face rarely showing such a mixture of wronged feelings, bewilderment, and irritation all at once, Jaehyuk smiled refreshingly.
Until just a moment ago, he had been in a bad mood, but suddenly he felt extremely happy.
Uncle, grandfather, incidents—who cares?
Not when I’m feeling this good.
“Get up. Something’s happened.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
