[Two Months Later]
Crisp, crisp.
Grandma Yoon, peeling an apple, glanced at the man by the window through her glasses that had slipped down her nose. The six-person ward in the university hospital was always bustling with patients and their guardians. However, the innermost seat by the window was always quiet. No visitors came. It was a seat belonging to a young man who looked to be in his twenties. In fact, his youthful face was more fittingly described as that of a boy. Today, he sat vacantly, staring out the window, looking quite lonely.
“Oh dear, he looks like a young student.”
Grandma Yoon placed three freshly peeled apple slices on a paper plate. Ignoring her grumbling husband, who had been complaining about his back for months, she thought she should offer an apple to the lonely-looking young man. As Grandma Yoon stood up, her husband, sitting on the bed, grabbed her wrist.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to share some apples with that student.”
Her husband raised his bushy white eyebrows. He glanced toward the window and clicked his tongue.
“Don’t. Mind your own business.”
Grandma Yoon sighed and began to scold her husband.
“Honestly, you’re heartless. I see no one has come to visit him for days, and he looks pitiful. We have plenty of apples. What’s there to be stingy about?”
Her husband shook his head disapprovingly. His expression indicated that the apples were not the issue.
“That kid is a lunatic, so no one comes to see him.”
“Huh?”
Grandma Yoon plopped down into a chair and looked at her husband.
“You don’t know because you haven’t been to the hospital in a while, but he tried to jump in front of a car to kill himself, and someone else got hit trying to save him.”
“Really? He must have jumped in front of a car to kill himself. Isn’t that just an accident?”
“No, I’m telling you it’s not. He even said he wanted to show everyone how he was going to die. When he first came in, he was going crazy, saying he would find the person who got hurt instead of him. He pulled out all the needles from his arm. Goodness.”
Her husband clicked his tongue again, looking displeased. Grandma Yoon subtly cast her gaze toward the man by the window and then spoke again to her husband.
“He doesn’t look like that now. He’s sitting so quietly.”
“How can you know what’s going on in a madman’s head? A guy in a black suit came by once, and I guess he heard about the person who got hurt instead of him. It must have been serious. Ever since then, he’s been sitting there like a corpse, not eating. He doesn’t even leave the ward. He seems to hate the empty space so much. I feel uneasy sharing a ward with someone like him. What bad luck.”
Grandma Yoon placed the plate of apples on her lap and let out a hum, sniffling. The cautious glances she had been casting earlier had now turned overt. It was closer to pity than curiosity.
“Still, he must have his reasons. He looks pitiful to me.”
“Oh come on, is there anyone in this world without issues? Even so, causing trouble for others is—”
Creak, the sound of the door opening interrupted them. Her husband instinctively looked toward the door and clamped his mouth shut. Grandma Yoon, filled with curiosity, alternated her gaze between her husband and the man in the black suit who entered through the open door. Her husband shook his head repeatedly, tensing his lips.
“Did this guy eat honey or something? Why is he suddenly so tight-lipped?”
“Ahem, could you please close the curtains?”
“Oh dear, it’s suffocating. Why close the curtains—”
Her husband whispered to her in a low voice.
“That man who just came in is the same suit guy who visited that lunatic last time.”
He seems to be someone important… It would be troublesome if we got entangled. Close the curtains quickly. Grandma Yoon looked at her husband with dissatisfaction as he spoke in a hushed tone. However, she too reluctantly stood up. She stole a glance at the man in the black suit as he walked toward the window.
“Mr. Baek Sanho.”
The man in the black suit stood tall in front of the young man by the window. Holding the curtains, Grandma Yoon watched the scene. She tried to feign indifference, but she couldn’t quite pull it off.
“You can be discharged today. The paperwork has been taken care of.”
The young man by the window continued to stare vacantly out the window. The man in the black suit let out a shallow sigh as he observed him.
“…I’m sorry.”
Though it was just five words, there was a lot of meaning in between. He briefly bowed his head to the young man by the window and turned to leave. The young man slowly turned his head.
“……”
Grandma Yoon, who had only caught a glimpse of one cheek and the prominent bridge of his nose, was seeing the man’s face for the first time. His small face was filled with delicate and beautiful features. However, strangely, it felt cold. She thought it looked like a glass that could shatter at any moment, and she pulled the curtains shut. At that moment, she could finally hear the voice of the young man by the window.
“…Please tell the chairman… just one thing.”
“……”
“Just one thing.”
“…Mr. Baek Sanho.”
“Tell him that our story isn’t over yet.”
Grandma Yoon thought she heard a sound like a sigh from beyond the curtains.
***
The corridor of the VIP ward was wider than that of the six-person ward. It might have felt that way because there were fewer people passing through. Sanho was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the VIP room. It wasn’t the hard, long plastic stool typically found in hospitals, but a soft velvet sofa. The plush sofa placed in the clean corridor made it look more like a hotel lounge than a hospital ward.
“……”
Medical staff occasionally passed by, glancing at Sanho as they went. His shabby appearance was certainly out of place here. However, their gazes were not solely due to his shabby attire. They knew he came here every day to spend time.
“……”
Two months ago, Sanho’s injuries were not severe. The solid embrace that had wrapped around him had absorbed most of the impact. Just simple fractures and bruises. Considering he had been hit by a large frozen delivery truck, it was quite light.
However, the one who had wrapped around him was in a different situation. Thanks to the innate traits of a dominant alpha, his physical injuries healed relatively quickly, but he had not woken up for a long time. The medical staff, as if given special instructions, kept their mouths tightly shut and did not answer Sanho’s anxious questions. After begging for a long time, the only answer he received was that it was a “coma due to shock.” They surely knew more. Their meaningful glances suggested as much. But it seemed they would never tell Sanho everything.
It was not the medical staff but the man in the black suit who always stayed by Siwoo’s side who mentioned the possibility of “memory loss” to Sanho. He conveyed the message in a businesslike and dry tone. Even that was so brief that it was hard to discern his intentions.
“It’s not certain, but when the director wakes up, he may not have a complete memory. We are conducting regular tests, but… his brain waves are unstable.”
“That means….”
“For the director, it may be a blessing or a curse. But, either way.”
He paused for a moment and looked at Sanho.
“Once the director wakes up, do not get involved with him again.”
“……”
“You pushed the only person who wanted to see Mr. Baek Sanho and the director together into the path of a truck.”
Sanho could not tell how the man in the black suit looked at him. Sometimes it seemed like pity, and other times it felt like resentment. However, he silently took care of Sanho. Whether it was an action he willingly took or a directive from someone else, Sanho could not know. Just receiving brief updates was enough for Sanho to endure.
It was also he who informed Sanho that Siwoo was in the VIP room. However, it was only after he had secured a promise not to enter the room that he revealed this fact. The tightly closed door of the VIP room felt like a prison without bars. Being even a little closer to the person lying beyond the firmly shut door was a hope that resembled pain.
Sanho sat for a long time in front of the VIP room, like a herbivore stranded alone in a desert, lost in thought. But he could not come to any conclusions. The only person who could provide an answer was the one lying beyond the door, seemingly dead.
What does my senior think of me?
Thinking back, he had never clearly stated it. Even in front of the glamorous club where he had sent him off, his words had been ambiguous. “I have something I want to tell you. I’ll tell you next time we meet, for sure.” The vagueness of his words made the world constantly insist that he would not choose Sanho. Sanho could not deny it. Anxiety sat in the middle of his heart, devouring all the fragile hopes that bloomed.
Even so,
I want to hear the words “I love you.”
I wanted to hear what he said he would tell me. Even if it was a misunderstanding of sympathy or pity as love, I wanted to hear those words. That was all Sanho desired. Not the kind smiles given to everyone, not the kind words spoken to everyone, but the words he wanted to say only to him.
Ultimately, the filtered essence of his tightly woven thoughts was Sanho’s deeply rooted desire and longing. Though it was a twisted desire, the longing for it was pure, without a speck of foreign matter.
I don’t want to lose my senior to someone else’s dirty gaze; I don’t want anyone to touch my senior; he’s solely mine.
His twisted heart had begun its race long ago without him noticing, and there was now no way to stop it. The only way for Sanho to halt his twisted race was this one method.
Sanho slowly blinked. The lighting in the ward, reminiscent of a hotel lounge, flickered behind his eyelids. A middle-aged man dressed in dark, monochrome clothing walked across the corridor from a distance. His wide-brimmed hat obscured the man’s face. Sanho continued to blink, not casting even a glance toward the man. In truth, Sanho’s empty eyes seemed incapable of holding anything.
“……”
The middle-aged man approached naturally and sat down beside Sanho. The plush sofa swayed. He leaned slightly forward, resting his elbows on his knees. The way he tapped his toes suggested he had no particular interest in Sanho either. A brief moment passed.
Suddenly, a small laugh echoed. It was soft, but the sharpness of the laughter pricked at his ears, evoking a sense of familiarity. The blurred focus in Sanho’s eyes began to sharpen.
“If we hadn’t met like this, I might have really liked you.”
The middle-aged man sitting next to him spoke with a hint of laughter in his voice. It was not something one would say as a first greeting. Sanho slowly turned to look at the man. The middle-aged man tilted his head as if to greet Sanho with his eyes. It was a familiar habit. Sanho’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“…Chairman Jin Tae-seok.”
At Sanho’s words, Chairman Jin chuckled lightly.
“You don’t even use honorifics anymore.”
Sanho silently gazed at Chairman Jin. The face of Chairman Jin Tae-seok, who resembled the person lying quietly in the VIP room, was calm and composed. He had come in a comfortable outfit, as there were many eyes watching. He hated being the subject of gossip.
“……”
“Oh. I have no reason to be here. Isn’t it silly to come see my son, who cut ties first?”
“……”
“Right, would there be any value in me coming to see you?”
Sanho’s stiff lips struggled to move. Even the small movement of his lips required immense courage. Finally, a low voice slipped through his lips.
“I have something I need to discuss.”
“Go on.”
“I will have my senior.”
Chairman Jin burst into a hearty laugh.
