# Chapter 36
CRASH—!
“Gu Haejin!!”
Haejin lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor amidst glasses that tumbled in disarray. Eundo rushed to him, taking him into his arms. Haejin’s face was alarmingly pale, and his entire body was damp with cold sweat.
Apex! Gu Haejin Apex!! The Devil executive trio wailed, calling out Haejin’s name. Though they knew the Devil Apex had a terminal illness, Wooju and Sara, who were seeing him collapse before their eyes for the first time, remained frozen in place, unable to move.
The scene was literal pandemonium.
“Hey… hey. Gu Haejin. Wake up. Please open your eyes!”
“AAAAARGH. Apex!!”
Eundo shook Haejin several times, but there was no response. Ion finally couldn’t hold back and kicked the table. CRASH BANG!! Many tears fell from Ion’s eyes. Eundo couldn’t believe the situation. His pupils, overwhelmed with shock, lost their light. Soon tears welled up.
This can’t be happening. It’s not time yet, right? Right, Gu Haejin? Tell me it’s not.
“Fuck. Wake up, please!!”
“Hnngh. Apex! Apex…!!”
Eundo carried Haejin on his back, erupting with anguish. He rushed out of the café and began running to the hospital without a plan. The gang members, including the trio, followed Eundo. Hanseo wept, calling out Haejin’s name. Wooju, who had maintained the most composure among them, recited the location of Gangnam General Hospital to Eundo. He didn’t know what came over him. Eundo felt like he might collapse at any moment, but he endured and kept running.
He had to save Haejin. This couldn’t be happening. I can’t let you go this meaninglessly! Please live. Haejin. Gu Haejin. Please stay alive. I’m begging you. Please don’t die…
“Where’s the doctor! Where’s the damn doctor!!”
“Save Haejin! Save Gu Haejin right now!”
“If our Apex dies, fuck. We won’t let you all off the hook! Waahhh!!”
In the emergency room, the gang members shouted at the top of their lungs, calling for a doctor. Doctors rushed over at the tremendous commotion and quickly laid Haejin on a hospital bed. One doctor approached Eundo.
“What happened…”
“Eek!” A short scream erupted. Eundo grabbed the doctor by the collar and pushed him against the wall.
“100 million or a billion, fuck! I’ll give you whatever amount you want, just save Gu Haejin.”
Eundo looked as if he might attack someone at any moment, yet was precarious with tears streaming down his face. The doctor, bewildered, could only slowly nod.
“……”
After Haejin was handed over to the doctor, the atmosphere among Eundo and the gang members waiting outside the chaotic emergency room became frighteningly subdued. Wooju leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, lost in thought, while Sara sighed beside him. Amin crouched on the floor praying, and Hanseo was painfully crying, tearing at his hair. Ion paced back and forth several times, biting his lip anxiously, while Eundo sat on a chair, blankly staring into space like someone who had lost his mind.
None of them could believe the current situation. They weren’t even sure how they ended up here. They were just unbearably anxious that something might happen to Haejin.
When Eundo saw Haejin collapse before his eyes, he felt his mind go completely blank. He couldn’t think of anything. Even now, the cool body temperature from Haejin’s sweat remained on his hands that had held him, and the image of that pale face, devoid of any vitality, was etched in his eyes and wouldn’t disappear. Eundo covered his face with his trembling hands.
“What do we do? Our Apex… if he’s collapsed to this extent, doesn’t it mean his illness has gotten serious? Sob…”
“Shut up, Park Hanseo. We don’t need to talk about that… sniff… we already know. So stop it.”
“Hnnnggggh… uuuuuuu. Apex…”
“Please… please…”
It was devastating.
The trio, in particular, burst into painful tears. Witnessing Haejin’s illness firsthand brought unbearable sorrow. All the worries they had accumulated about Haejin, compounded by various Iljinhoe problems, exploded at once, and painful emotions began to crash over them like waves. It was like hell.
“Guardian of Gu Haejin… all of you?”
Just then, a doctor appeared before them as they anxiously awaited the results. Everyone jumped up and approached urgently.
“How is Gu Haejin?!”
“Is our Apex in serious condition?!”
“He’s okay, right? Please tell us he’s okay!!”
“Huuuuuuh. Please.”
Eundo clung to the doctor’s coat. Inwardly, he prayed frantically.
Don’t die, Gu Haejin. Tell me you’re okay. You’re not that weak! You’re the Thousand-Year Prince!! The doctor maintained silence for a moment, then opened his mouth with a grim expression.
“It’s shock.”
Thud.
Actually hearing about Haejin’s condition from the doctor’s mouth was more shocking than expected. Despite their faces contorting miserably, the doctor continued calmly.
“It’s temporary, of course, but fortunately you brought him in quickly. If you had arrived a little later, it could have been dangerous.”
“Ha. …I see.”
Eundo barely managed to reply.
“The patient is currently asleep. After getting a good rest and waking up, he should be able to leave the hospital tomorrow. We’ll be moving him to a general ward soon.”
“Yes… thank you.”
“Then, I’ll be going.”
The doctor closed his chart, said goodbye, and turned around. Then, as if remembering something, he added:
“Oh, by the way, did you all know?”
“What?”
“There’s a record that the patient was brought to our hospital once before for the same reason.”
“……!”
“Please be especially careful from now on. The patient himself probably knows what I’m talking about better than anyone.”
After the doctor disappeared, the gang members couldn’t move from that spot for a while. To think that Haejin had previously been brought to the hospital after collapsing for the same reason… Even the trio didn’t know that fact.
Of course they didn’t. They had no idea that Haejin had a strawberry allergy. Haejin had always had a strawberry allergy, so he never even touched strawberries. That’s why strawberries were the thing he hated most. The Thousand-Year Prince Gu Haejin was the one who absolutely despised strawberries.
As the doctor said, before entering middle school, Haejin, not knowing he had a strawberry allergy, ate strawberries for the first time and nearly died after fainting from an allergic shock. Of course, this incident happened before Haejin met the trio, and he never felt the need to mention it. Besides, since Haejin was usually cold and indifferent by nature, they had no way of knowing even if they had wanted to.
So they didn’t know. That this entire situation had been caused by a strawberry allergy.
“How long has the Apex been hiding his illness…?”
In any case, this was the moment when the terminal illness rumor about Gu Haejin—which would upset him if he heard it—was irrefutably proven. The gang members, thoroughly deceived by the bombshell from the doctor who strangely never mentioned allergies even if it killed him, lost their minds and wept as if the sky had fallen. Waaah. Sniff sniff. Khung!
Haejin was moved to a general ward.
And it was a VIP-class private room with the best facilities at Gangnam General Hospital, arranged by Eundo who mobilized all sorts of power. Haejin, changed into luxurious silk patient clothes and properly laid on the bed, had several difficult-to-pronounce IV needles inserted into his delicate, white wrists.
The humidifier whirred softly, and under the bright fluorescent lights, Haejin was in a deep sleep, as if dead. His spotless, fair skin beneath his closed eyelashes looked particularly white, perhaps due to his illness. His chest quietly rose and fell as he slept.
The trio quietly gazed at him.
Their Apex became more beautiful and lovely the more they looked at him. He had always been confident and proud, and although he had shown weakness recently, he still radiated coldness. Especially when fighting, he was more respectable than anyone. It still didn’t feel real that Haejin wouldn’t live long. Ion mumbled softly.
“Someone once said, ‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'”
“…Is that a Conan quote?”
“Yes. The truth is that our Apex is terminally ill.”
Hanseo and Amin sadly nodded.
“Gu Haejin…”
Eundo carefully placed one deeply trembling finger against Haejin’s cheek.
He felt a warm temperature. Tears welled up in his eyes. It was different from Haejin’s sweat-drenched body temperature earlier. At that time, he really thought Haejin was dying. The coldness from then was unforgettable, making it so painful to see Haejin like this.
Was I wrong to ask to meet you? Was I wrong to bring up the alliance? If I hadn’t, would you not have ended up like this? After gently caressing his cheek as if touching something precious, he brushed aside Haejin’s disheveled hair. Eundo gazed at Haejin with a gentleness and softness unlike anyone else.
I just wanted to treat you to something delicious, using the alliance as an excuse to meet you. Because you’re ranked 2nd. Because we’re in opposing positions… And also because you’re such a handful. Worthy of the name Thousand-Year Prince. Eundo smiled painfully.
So I acted tough in return, but I never disliked you. Rather, when we faced each other with our fists, I thought you were true to your name and cool, and I felt honored to be able to fight someone like you. I was grateful that you appeared in the rankings, that you became 2nd ranked, that you stayed as the Devil Apex, that we could lead the gang world together. You were both my enemy and someone I respected.
Unfortunately, Eundo, who had been sitting across from him, hadn’t properly heard Haejin’s last mumbled word: “strawberry.”
“Choigang Apex.”
“Yeah.”
Jung Ion, the Number Two of Devil, respectfully called out the name of Oh Eundo, the Apex of Choigang.
While still looking at Haejin, Eundo answered in a clear voice. On Wooju, who was standing behind Eundo, sighed slightly at Ion’s calmer-than-ever demeanor and took a step back. He could roughly anticipate what was about to be said.
“Is the alliance offer still valid?”
……!!
Everyone except Wooju was surprised by the unexpected words from Ion’s mouth. Hanseo and Amin grabbed Ion’s shoulders, and Sara was about to say something but was stopped by Wooju’s intervention. And Eundo silently met Ion’s eyes. Ion’s face was solemn, as if he had made a decision, like the calm before a storm.
“It is.”
“Ha. Our Apex said it right before he collapsed. That an alliance would be okay. Then.”
“……”
“I’ll follow the Apex’s orders.”
Ion’s gaze grew even more serious. Jung Ion, who had shown the strongest opposition when the alliance was first mentioned, now agreed to it solely because it was Haejin’s order.
“So… even if the Second National Gang War breaks out, Choigang Apex Oh Eundo. Promise me that you’ll at least protect our Apex.”
“Jung Ion.”
“Devil will cooperate with everything as much as possible. Protect Haejin from the others.”
“……”
“I’m asking you.”
Ion bowed at the waist. The one who had never bowed his head to anyone except Haejin was now bending his waist to Eundo, breaking all his pride for the sake of his friend and king, Haejin. Eundo watched Ion without batting an eye.
Silence continued for a while. In the quiet room where only Haejin’s steady breathing could be heard, Eundo finally spoke.
“I won’t protect him.”
“What?”
Ion bit his lower lip and immediately raised his head.
“With Gu Haejin’s personality, he’s not the type to be protected by anyone.”
Eundo grinned.
“We’ll go together. That’s what an alliance is.”
He grasped Haejin’s hand. He held it tightly as if to convey his words.
“That’s who your Devil Apex, the ‘Thousand-Year Prince,’ is.”
-July 22, 202x, Friday, 16:25:48.
2nd Ranked Iljinhoe “Devil (Apex Gu Haejin)”
3rd Ranked Iljinhoe “Choigang (Apex Oh Eundo)”
As of this time, alliance.concluded.-
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
