#61
Even in this situation, Taemin’s lips were very soft. Idam, who was feeling this without realizing it, suddenly came to his senses. This wasn’t the time for such things. He gently pushed Taemin’s shoulder away in a roundabout manner. Taemin then willingly backed off. For some reason, his face seemed to be more animated.
“Are you not in pain?”
The stunned Idam checked the wound on his hand once more. The handkerchief that had been white was now bright red. The bleeding seemed severe, which made Idam wonder why Taemin was acting this way. He couldn’t possibly not feel the pain. Or had he gone mad from the extreme pain? Idam’s heart sank as if facing a cliff.
“Let’s go to the hospital first.”
He hurriedly grabbed Taemin’s wrist. At the same time, Taemin’s eye-smile became more pronounced. Idam realized that he must have gone completely mad from the pain. This made him feel even more guilty.
But in reality, Taemin wasn’t out of his mind. He was just feeling an intense joy from seeing Idam worry about him and not knowing what to do. Those large eyes looking at him blindly. The fair hands fumbling to wrap the handkerchief. The pheromones blossoming like flowers proved that this was a heaven created by Idam.
For some reason, it felt incredibly good to see this fairy-like person looking only at him and worrying about him. It felt like he could do even worse things if he could feel this way again. As a result, he couldn’t control his expression at all, and a smile kept leaking out. This only deepened Idam’s confusion.
Meanwhile, loud footsteps were heard from the open door, and a group of men rushed in. Idam tensed up, worried that they might be Ahn Juhan’s gang. But he relaxed when he saw Secretary Kang’s face and recognized some of the other men. He felt relieved as the tension eased.
“Are you both alright?”
Secretary Kang approached and checked Taemin’s hand, freezing in shock.
“C-CEO, are you hurt?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Taemin grinned as if he had received a medal. Secretary Kang looked at him with a face that seemed to say, “What’s wrong with this person now?” and examined Taemin’s hand a bit more closely.
“It looks like a pretty deep cut. Are you sure you’re okay?”
The handkerchief was clumsily wrapped around, and the knot looked so loose that it might come undone at any moment. So he reached out to retie it. At that moment-
“Don’t touch it.”
Taemin’s eyes, which had been smiling like a clown just moments ago, instantly turned as cold as if he had summoned the winter god. He sharply brushed off Secretary Kang’s hand.
“I like it this way.”
“What? But…”
“I’m going to the hospital right now, so clean up here.”
“Ah… Understood.”
The intimidated Secretary Kang bowed. It was an action born from the thought that he shouldn’t upset him right now. Taemin put his arm around Idam’s shoulders and walked away with him.
Faced with this Taemin, Secretary Kang was dazed like someone lost in a sea of confusion. In a world where all sorts of dirty deeds were commonplace, such knife fights weren’t uncommon. Taemin occasionally got hurt like a monkey fallen from a tree. At those times, Taemin was always as calm as someone with congenital insensitivity to pain. He had even driven himself to the hospital once with a knife still stuck in his arm. But now, his eyes were shining, and he looked extremely pleased. As if he had just won a trophy.
Secretary Kang had thought Taemin was out of his mind since meeting Idam, but he felt that he was going crazier day by day. Because of this, he felt like he might go crazy too, but he managed to calm himself down. For now, the priority was to clean up the mess of a scene.
* * *
“Will he be okay?”
Idam, sitting in the back seat of the sedan, rolled his big eyes and looked out the window. He saw a white building with a sign that read “Je-il Hospital.”
After leaving the wedding hall earlier, Idam had spotted the sedan parked at the entrance. It was the same sedan he often rode when going out with Taemin. Idam got in feeling as if he was entering his own home, and they headed to the hospital together.
Taemin used his uninjured left hand to hold a wet wipe and cleaned Idam’s hands. They had gotten Taemin’s blood on them while tying the handkerchief. He also kept checking if Idam had any injuries. Idam felt even more sorry as Taemin showed concern when he was the one who was hurt.
They soon arrived at the hospital. Idam tried to get out of the sedan with Taemin, but he stopped him.
‘It’s not a deep wound, so there’s no need for you to come along. I’ll be back soon after getting treatment, so wait here.’
‘B-but I want to help you, CEO.’
Rationally speaking, even if Idam went along, there wasn’t much he could do directly. But since Taemin’s injury was his responsibility, he wanted to help by supporting him or lending his shoulder to lean on. Above all, the desire to be with him was stronger.
‘Then you can help me properly when we get home. For now, just rest here.’
‘Ah… Okay…’
Idam readily agreed as Taemin requested a different form of help. Then Taemin headed to the hospital with the driver. So now Idam was alone.
Idam folded his hands as if in prayer, hoping that Taemin’s wound wasn’t deep. He gently closed his eyes. The image of Taemin shielding him from Ahn Juhan flickered in his mind. Above all, the hand that had grabbed the blade was vivid in his mind’s eye.
Taemin was the first person to tell him that his pheromones were good, and the first to throw his whole body to save him. And now, it was the first time he felt this aching in his heart.
‘I’ll be gentle with you from now on.’
Taemin’s voice caressed his ear. Idam felt a hot ecstasy. What was this? Why did his chest feel so ticklish and numb? He was confused. Idam opened his eyes again. His large pupils trembled, moist as if dipped in honey.
At that moment, he sensed a shadow approaching the back seat. Idam quickly turned his head towards where the shadow fell.
He saw Taemin opening the door and getting in. Idam’s gaze hurriedly went to his right hand. It was wrapped in bandages like a glove. Worried that it might be a bigger wound than he thought, concern bloomed in him.
“Did the treatment go well?”
“Yes. They said it’s not a serious injury.”
Even though he said this, to Idam it felt like he had suffered a terrible injury, and his heart felt very uneasy. The tears that had momentarily stopped began to well up again.
“Did you need stitches?”
The cut had looked quite deep even to the naked eye. So this was a question asked for confirmation.
“Yes.”
“I see…”
Idam felt like a lump of lead was burrowing into his chest. But Taemin continued nonchalantly.
“They said it’s not that deep a wound. It’s fine.”
“How long did they say it would take to heal completely?”
“They said it would take about ten days at most, but it will probably recover faster.”
“I hope you get better soon.”
Idam wiped away the welling tears with the back of his hand and then carefully touched Taemin’s right hand. The bandage was quite thick, but Taemin’s body temperature was high, so the warmth could be clearly felt.
What would have happened to Idam by now if he hadn’t been there today? It was more terrifying than a thunderous night. Thanks to Taemin, Idam was safe like this now.
“By the way, how did you find me earlier?”
Along with the gratitude towards him, a question arose. Idam had wanted to terminate their contract and hadn’t even told him where he was staying.
“Actually, after meeting you this afternoon, I had you followed.”
“Ah…”
“When you suddenly said you wanted to terminate the contract, I was curious where you got that money from. Then I got a call from an employee who was watching you. He said suspicious men had barged into the motel and you had run away.”
“Ah…”
“I also brought my employees to try to find you. But you weren’t answering your phone, and the employee who called couldn’t tell exactly where you had gone, so it was frustrating. Just as I was considering increasing the search personnel, I sensed your pheromones. When I followed that scent, I found you being roughly treated by some bastard.”
“Yes…”
Idam touched his neck. The sensation of almost being strangled by Ahn Juhan was chillingly recalled. Taemin also stared at Idam’s slender neck.
“That bastard went to the same orphanage as you, right?”
“Huh? You know even that?”
“I told you.”
Taemin gently grabbed Idam’s chin.
“I know everything about you.”
Heat began to rise in his blue eyes. That gaze moved to Idam’s lips. His lips slowly began to draw closer. Idam knew this wasn’t the time for a kiss, but he felt like he should comply if that’s what Taemin wanted, so he gently closed his eyes.
“Why are you suddenly closing your eyes?”
“Huh?”
At Taemin’s unexpected question, Idam opened his eyes with a dumbfounded expression. He saw Taemin’s puzzled face. Feeling as if he had gotten ahead of himself, Idam quickly shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
His face was burning with embarrassment, and he wanted to fan himself, but he refrained, thinking Taemin might find it even stranger. So, as he was rolling his eyes around trying to change the subject with different words-
“Ugh!”
Suddenly Taemin groaned. Startled, Idam quickly looked at him.
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“It’s throbbing a bit.”
“Huh? Don’t you need to go back to the hospital?”
Idam was about to reach out to open the car door when Taemin grabbed his shoulder and pulled him. In an instant, Idam’s thin body was embraced as if sinking into Taemin’s body.
“There’s no need for that.”
“B-but you said it hurts…”
Idam’s voice trembled. At this point, Idam felt like his heart would fall out if Taemin felt even a little pain. Gradually, Taemin’s eyes became fox-like, and then he suddenly changed his expression. He immediately put his hand to his forehead.
“I think it would hurt less if you kissed me rather than going to the hospital.”
“What?”
How could a kiss make his injured finger feel better? Idam was bewildered.
