#098
The next day, Hwi-kyung dragged Gyo-ha to a university hospital. He couldn’t sleep worrying about Gyo-ha’s wound that wouldn’t heal.
“Are all American hospitals quacks? I heard even just getting a diagnosis costs hundreds of dollars there because hospital fees are so expensive.”
“I have insurance, so it doesn’t cost that much for me.”
“I heard they just prescribe narcotic painkillers and call it a day…”
“No, it’s not that bad, really.”
Despite having sought medical attention early, the condition was still like this. Hwi-kyung had fundamental doubts about the level of American medical care. Was it right to go to America with Ok-ja? From Hwi-kyung’s nationalist perspective, the hospital standards in Korea seemed better than in America.
However, even Korean hospitals couldn’t find an effective treatment for Gyo-ha’s hand. His hand was still festering, and the wound area was slowly expanding to his wrist because he carelessly used his right hand.
The injured party himself was completely carefree. He even got a chopstick correction device from somewhere and was practicing moving beans with his left hand. Hwi-kyung was so frustrated that he hit Gyo-ha with the chopstick correction device.
“Ow, ow, that hurts.”
“I hit you so it would hurt. What are you doing instead of trying to get better?”
“Wouldn’t it be good to become ambidextrous?”
What’s good about that! Hwi-kyung struck Gyo-ha’s back once more. Lee Gyo-ha acted like a sage one out of ten times, but the other nine times he was just a child. Hwi-kyung could never predict him.
“Aren’t you worried that the wound is getting bigger?”
“Well, it should be fine for now, right?”
“…”
“Okay, I’ll try my best to find a way to heal it.”
From there, the two went on a tour of various famous university hospitals. Some places said he needed a skin graft, while others said they had never seen such symptoms and wanted to take cell tissue samples for research.
However, the common opinion from all hospitals was the same. It’s strange that it’s still festering and bleeding even after taking anti-inflammatory medication. It would be better to do detailed tests… Of course, even with detailed tests, they couldn’t find a specific treatment method. It seemed more likely that a new disease named after Gyo-ha would be reported to the medical community before they found a treatment method.
“They’re all quacks, whether in America or Korea.”
“The doctors would be sad if they heard you say that.”
“Whether they are or not… Does this make any sense? It’s only getting worse.”
As time passed, Hwi-kyung became more sensitive instead of Gyo-ha. Gyo-ha’s wound kept expanding as if it was self-replicating, and it was still bleeding.
“This won’t do.”
Finally, Hwi-kyung decided to take drastic measures. Since it seemed the hand had become like this because of the system window, he decided to seek a shaman instead of a hospital.
“Let’s go to the Shaman grandmother.”
Gyo-ha just kept spouting nonsense about how he could now use scissors with his left hand, regardless of Hwi-kyung’s serious tone.
“I can live as a left-handed person. They say left-handed people are more creative.”
“Ah, really…”
No matter how he thought about it, Gyo-ha’s suggestion to join BK Entertainment seemed like something that needed careful consideration. Not only had Hwi-kyung lost all affection for the BK Group, but having Lee Gyo-ha as a superior once was enough.
What could be done with this frustrating person? If they had been in the same company all along, Hwi-kyung would never have been able to like Gyo-ha. After all, workplace superiors are beings whose likability drops just by breathing.
In the end, Gyo-ha gave in to Hwi-kyung’s nagging and went to find his maternal grandmother, who was said to be recuperating on Jirisan Mountain. It was fortunate that he had learned the Shaman’s location through Jung-hye in the previous iteration.
“What if even your grandmother can’t figure it out?”
“Then I’ll just have to live with your right hand.”
“Is that perhaps a proposal?”
“Who proposes like that?”
Even on the way to find the Shaman on Jirisan Mountain, Gyo-ha upset Hwi-kyung in various ways. If Hwi-kyung, who was driving in Gyo-ha’s place, hadn’t threatened, “Be quiet before I suddenly brake on the highway like you did,” Gyo-ha would have surely continued to upset him endlessly like flipping jeon on a holiday.
* * *
The Shaman, who had recently been stuck at the foot of the mountain for training due to a sudden loss of spiritual power, was startled by her grandson’s unexpected visit (they had called, but the Shaman didn’t answer because she was meditating).
“My goodness, what on earth have you been doing?”
However, Hwi-kyung and Gyo-ha were unfazed by the Shaman’s intense reaction. It was thanks to having experienced the Shaman’s outburst in the previous iteration.
The Shaman became even more agitated by their lukewarm response. Her reaction was more severe than in the previous iteration. She quickly realized what had caused Gyo-ha to injure his right hand.
“And why is your hand like this? What did you touch to end up in this state?”
“…The system window?”
“The sys… what?”
“The system window. There was such a thing.”
“And who’s that next to you?”
“The person I’m going to marry soon.”
“What?”
“I never said I would marry.”
“Okay. Then… he’s my destined partner? Something like that.”
“You’ve finally gone mad.”
The Shaman dragged Gyo-ha to a corner.
“You injured your hand because of that boy, didn’t you?”
“Well, it’s not really Hwi-kyung’s fault…”
“Aish, even when you cause trouble, you cause this kind of trouble. Listen, this will never heal.”
The room where the Shaman was staying was simple. It was unbelievably small for a space accommodating the mother-in-law of BK Group’s chairman. Of course, it didn’t need to be luxurious since it was set up for recuperation.
But because of that, Hwi-kyung could hear everything the Shaman was saying. No matter how much they whispered in the corner, the distance was only a few steps. Even if he tried to pretend he couldn’t hear, everything was audible at this distance.
“You say it will never heal?”
Hwi-kyung abruptly inserted himself between Gyo-ha and the Shaman. Does that mean he’ll have to live with this ever-expanding wound for the rest of his life? That was really troublesome. It would be one thing if the wound would scab over, but the thought of living with a hand that would never heal was terrifying even to imagine.
“I can’t help with something like this. I don’t know what you carelessly touched, but in the process of grabbing and burning it, you put up your right hand as collateral.”
The Shaman, who had been pondering for a moment how to explain this phenomenon, opened her mouth again after a while.
“To put it simply, you paid a price.”
“What do you mean by price?”
“You made a wish trying to get rid of something.”
“…”
“You must have desperately wanted it. The fortunate thing is that you fulfilled your own wish yourself. Seeing that it keeps bleeding, it probably wasn’t a wish that should have ended with just one hand.”
Lee Gyo-ha wished for Jung Hwi-kyung’s happiness. So he wished for the system window to disappear. But there was no way the system window would grant such a wish. Why would the system window grant a wish to separate from Jung Hwi-kyung? However, Gyo-ha was a person who could fulfill his own wishes.
Because of that, the system window was caught by Lee Gyo-ha. Wherever Gyo-ha grabbed, the text broke, arms disappeared, and eventually, it shattered completely.
Lee Gyo-ha didn’t need an entity to grant wishes. He was the type of person who would take care of things himself rather than relying on others.
The problem was that after fulfilling the wish, he thought this: ‘If I can save Jung Hwi-kyung with just my right hand, it’s a bargain.’
That’s how the price of the wish was set. As a result, his right hand continued to fester and open up. The Shaman just clicked her tongue.
“I’ll help stop the continuous bleeding and festering. Then the wound won’t spread further.”
“That’s enough.”
“But the scar will remain for life. Even when the bleeding stops, you’ll occasionally feel pain like phantom pain.”
Even at the words that he would have to live feeling pain for the rest of his life, Gyo-ha seemed unbothered. Losing one hand in exchange for saving a person… He still had such a carefree thought.
But Jung Hwi-kyung, who wasn’t as broad-minded as Lee Gyo-ha, was in a state of panic. Although Gyo-ha said it was fine, to Hwi-kyung, everything seemed like his fault.
Not only had he forced Gyo-ha through graduate school more than ten times with forced regression, but now a right-handed person had gained freedom at the cost of his right hand. Hwi-kyung vaguely felt that he should take responsibility for Gyo-ha.
Seeing Hwi-kyung’s expression worsening by the moment, Gyo-ha slightly furrowed the ends of his eyebrows. It was obvious what Hwi-kyung was thinking without even looking.
“Hwi-kyung.”
“Yes.”
“Instead of negative thoughts, if you feel sorry for me, just buy me a pair of gloves later.”
“…Gloves?”
“And if you still feel sorry after giving me that gift, you could marry me.”
The out-of-nowhere proposal once again cut off Hwi-kyung’s overthinking. Now, the only question filling Hwi-kyung’s mind was, ‘Is he serious?’
Having smoothly organized Jung Hwi-kyung’s thoughts, Lee Gyo-ha let his maternal grandmother’s nagging about not making reckless vows go in one ear and out the other.
Gyo-ha’s vows were never ‘reckless’. The same went for granting wishes. Although it wasn’t done with intention, in the end, Lee Gyo-ha’s thoughtlessness and friendly attitude became the foundation for saving Jung Hwi-kyung.
It was truly paradoxical. Gyo-ha’s goodwill didn’t always work in a good direction. Hwi-kyung had gone through all sorts of hardships because of Gyo-ha’s goodwill. But in the end, it was that ‘goodwill’ that saved Hwi-kyung.
That which is nothing special and not grand, which anyone can have but fewer people than expected actually bestow. That abstract emotion that sometimes makes people look foolish and makes those around them say they don’t know how to calculate gains and losses.
Now, the two had escaped from the middle of hell. Even if the pain continued, the bleeding would stop, and time that had been going in circles would start to flow with direction.
“I think that’s enough for me.”
How strange is it that a person saves another person whom even a godlike being couldn’t save?
Gyo-ha paused for a moment to wait for Hwi-kyung following behind. When Hwi-kyung stood on the same level, Gyo-ha extended his left hand to Hwi-kyung. A request followed to properly hold this hand since it was fine.
Hwi-kyung didn’t hesitate and willingly grasped Gyo-ha’s outstretched hand firmly. Gyo-ha’s hand was always warm. And his body heat naturally transferred to Hwi-kyung, like a fire spreading.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
