#105
Despite experiencing this situation many times, Hwi-kyung always struggled each time. Because of this, he sometimes missed the timing for surgery, or the surgery went well but the recovery was poor. In the end, Hwi-kyung always had to hold Ok-ja’s funeral.
The death of his grandmother, who was practically his only family, never became easier no matter what he did. Though he stopped crying after repeatedly holding funerals, that didn’t diminish the despair.
“Hwi-kyung, look at me.”
“…”
“It’s natural to be scared. I’m afraid too, so you must be even more so.”
Gyo-ha looked at Hwi-kyung’s pale face. His already white face looked so blue it seemed ill. Since Ok-ja’s condition had worsened, he hadn’t been sleeping, and the dark circles under his eyes were darker than usual.
“I’ll make the surgery appointment for you. At the best hospital, with reliable medical staff.”
“Will I be able to go to the concert?”
“I can’t promise that. But we agreed not to give up before trying, didn’t we?”
All Gyo-ha could do for Hwi-kyung was schedule surgery appointments and arrange for a better hospital.
You’ll regret it.
The curse left by the system window was quite powerful. Gyo-ha recalled those words as Hwi-kyung grew thinner. That he would regret it when he could no longer turn back time.
* * *
There’s a saying that children who don’t receive proper parental care become more mature. While that’s not true for all children, it was certainly true for Jung Hwi-kyung. He was the type of person who seemed like he would have said “Mother, Father, thank you for giving birth to me” instead of crying “waah” when he was born.
But being mature didn’t mean he didn’t want to act spoiled. He had grown up well-behaved because there was no one to indulge him, but after all, Jung Hwi-kyung was just an ordinary person.
So when he began living with his grandmother, Hwi-kyung felt a sense of stability. Ok-ja would stroke his face with her wrinkled hands.
“Our cute puppy.”
Ok-ja was Hwi-kyung’s longest-standing support. Without her, Hwi-kyung would have gone mad long ago. Perhaps that’s why Hwi-kyung kept becoming childish only in front of Ok-ja. How can I live without you, Grandma? You should live with me until you’re a hundred…
“If you don’t sleep or eat like this, you’ll collapse instead, Hwi-kyung.”
“It’s just that the surgery seems to be taking longer than expected.”
“That’s why you need to take better care of yourself.”
Ok-ja’s surgery had been scheduled for last Friday evening. Having good connections was certainly beneficial. They were able to get a doctor who would normally have a one-month waiting list into the operating room in less than three days.
Hwi-kyung, having been employed for less than a year, had few vacation days he could freely use. But since Ok-ja’s surgery required a guardian, he had to use his available days and various forms of half-days and quarter-days.
Thanks to Lee Gyo-ha being his team leader, there was no misfortune of a superior preventing him from using his vacation days. Compared to previous companies that wouldn’t give time off for a maternal grandmother, BK Entertainment had better treatment.
“The problem is I don’t have enough vacation days. It’s also a bit awkward to call a separate caregiver.”
“Don’t worry about that and take as much time as you need. It’s not like we have any urgent projects right now.”
“Is it okay for a superior to say that? Others will criticize it as preferential treatment.”
“Let them criticize… If the team leader says it’s okay, what can the team members do?”
Hwi-kyung sat numbly in the waiting area outside the operating room for six hours. Consequently, Gyo-ha was also tied to the operating room. Hwi-kyung couldn’t leave Ok-ja, and Gyo-ha couldn’t leave Hwi-kyung.
Though it was absurd that Hwi-kyung was concerned about company vacation days in this situation, Gyo-ha planned to give Hwi-kyung about a week off using his authority as team leader. While paid leave might be difficult, since Hwi-kyung was Ok-ja’s only family, at least unpaid leave could be arranged.
After inviting him to his studio apartment and feeding and housing him well to fatten him up, Hwi-kyung had lost weight over the past few days. Gyo-ha rummaged through his pockets and gave Hwi-kyung a lollipop, suggesting he eat at least some candy.
“Did Lee Gyo-ha… listen well to adults when you were young?”
“No? I didn’t cause trouble, but I was terrible at listening.”
“I find that hard to imagine.”
“I think I never listened when told to stay still. Nor did I listen when told not to follow strangers carelessly.”
“You said you didn’t cause trouble, but you caused plenty.”
“I still often hear people asking how long I’m going to act like a child.”
The candy Gyo-ha gave was strawberry-flavored. A syrupy strawberry flavor that children would like. Hwi-kyung put the unwrapped lollipop in his mouth. Sucking on candy was healthier than smoking cigarettes to ease his anxiety.
Now Hwi-kyung couldn’t abuse his body like before. When he couldn’t die, he had desperately wanted to, but now that he couldn’t turn back time, he needed to take care of his health.
Since Hwi-kyung had said they should live together, Gyo-ha had confiscated everything bad for his health. He nagged so much about only drinking one cup of coffee a day that Hwi-kyung was getting scolded even before marriage.
But this control actually gave Hwi-kyung a sense of stability. When Gyo-ha handed him candy instead of cigarettes, and brewed barley tea instead of Americano, it felt like they were living together.
Moreover, Gyo-ha was the type of person who might do something unpredictable if left alone. Hwi-kyung thought he should at least die a few days after Gyo-ha. That way, Gyo-ha wouldn’t childishly talk about following him in death.
“I had no reason to grow up early. Even as I got older, I only thought about playing, eating, and living well. My sister would take over the family business anyway, and if I stayed in the States, I wouldn’t have to clash with Lee Sung-ha.”
Listening to Gyo-ha, Hwi-kyung bit the hard candy with his molars. Sugar fragments broke and scratched the roof of his mouth with sharp edges. But as the syrup pooled inside the candy burst out, the sharp pieces quickly dissolved in his mouth.
“Then I met you and became a bit more mature.”
“You’re still not very mature even now.”
“I admit I don’t act my age. But I’m helpful sometimes, aren’t I?”
“…You are helpful. It’s just bewildering.”
“See, I knew it!”
“The problem is that I’m not helpful to you.”
“That’s not true! I became more mature thanks to you.”
“…”
“You don’t believe me. It’s foolish to calculate practical benefits when it comes to someone you like anyway.”
Gyo-ha’s mental age was still difficult to gauge. Hwi-kyung gave up on categorizing Gyo-ha. Measuring and calculating was Hwi-kyung’s job, but he didn’t want to do that with Gyo-ha.
It was already late at night. Ok-ja’s surgery ended after eight hours. It wasn’t a difficult surgery, but the anesthesia had taken a long time.
When the operating room lights went off, a doctor in sterilized clothing came out and explained the surgical progress.
“She should be fine if the recovery goes well. Because of her age, the cancer cells have barely spread.”
Fortunately, hopeful words flowed from the doctor’s mouth. Gyo-ha watched the back of Hwi-kyung as he endlessly expressed his gratitude.
He would have no regrets in the future.
Relieved by the news that the surgery had gone well, Hwi-kyung turned and embraced Gyo-ha. Life returned to his face, which had been pale as if about to disappear until just a moment ago. Gyo-ha held Hwi-kyung and whispered that it was truly fortunate.
Ok-ja couldn’t live forever. People grow old, get sick, and eventually die. Unless some divine entity intervened to prevent death, as with Hwi-kyung, human death was natural.
But Gyo-ha planned to do his best for Ok-ja’s treatment until Hwi-kyung could accept that “natural event.” Lee Gyo-ha couldn’t turn back time, and reviving the dead was even more impossible for a mere human, but he could accomplish more than that.
Because Jung Hwi-kyung had wished to live a normal and happy life together with him.
So there would be no regrets. Hwi-kyung’s new wish-granter had never broken any promises made to him.
The day after surgery, Ok-ja regained consciousness faster than expected. Though she looked weak after major surgery, her condition improved enough to eat hospital food.
Despite her body aging with cancer cells unable to spread quickly, her recovery was as fast as a young person’s. The doctors, who had consistently said they weren’t sure what would happen due to her age, positively evaluated Ok-ja’s gradually improving condition.
“Such rapid recovery is rare. We’ll need to continue cancer treatment, but…”
“Has she passed the critical point?”
“Yes. But since we removed a quarter of her stomach, she’ll need careful care.”
Hwi-kyung wanted to quit BK Entertainment and stay by Ok-ja’s side all day, but both Gyo-ha and Ok-ja persuaded him not to resign.
In the end, Hwi-kyung stayed with Ok-ja throughout the unpaid leave that Gyo-ha had arranged. Despite Ok-ja’s boast that she could manage alone, her limited mobility meant she needed a guardian’s help not only with meals but even with going to the bathroom.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry…”
Even though it was natural to be cared for when sick, Ok-ja was always at a loss. There was someone else besides her grandson Hwi-kyung who came to help her.
“To make my future grandson-in-law go through all this trouble…”
“I’m doing this because I want to, what trouble?”
“Hwi-kyung has brought such a decent young man.”
Indeed he had.
“Hey, don’t you have to go to work?”
“Why would I go to work when Hwi-kyung isn’t there?”
“Are you really insane?”
During Jung Hwi-kyung’s unpaid leave period, Lee Gyo-ha also didn’t go to work.
To reiterate, Lee Gyo-ha wasn’t exactly a good person as a superior. He was remarkably negligent in his work…
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
