#037
Lee Yeonwoo hastily massaged the back of his neck. It was to help relax the muscles that had tensed up from surprise without him realizing it, but Kang Dojun interpreted that action sensitively.
“Can’t breathe? Should we leave now?”
“No… That’s not it.”
“Is it stuffy?”
“It’s not that.”
Kang Dojun looked around. There was no one showing interest in them, except for the employee who had asked about the fit of the shoes.
He turned his back to the employee who was looking at them from afar waiting for an answer, hiding Lee Yeonwoo. What fault could the employee have, but currently Lee Yeonwoo’s condition was more important.
“Are you okay? Let’s go home quickly. Or do you want to go to the hospital?”
“No, I’m really okay.”
He thought that Kang Dojun had a tendency to be slightly overprotective beyond just worrying. He also suspected that maybe it was because the shock from what happened in the elevator yesterday was so great.
Yesterday was just a little… after that incident, it was a series of stress, so he had reacted sensitively. Lee Yeonwoo decided to prove that he was okay himself.
He approached the employee himself and asked them to bring another size of the same product as the shoes he was wearing.
While the poor employee went to find the size again, Lee Yeonwoo called out to Kang Dojun.
“Do I look sick today?”
“…No.”
“Then why are you so worried? Yesterday the stress was just… just like this!”
Lee Yeonwoo deliberately made exaggerated gestures, trying to reassure Kang Dojun.
“It just piled up like this, and kept just, so that’s why.”
Just, what are you saying? Kang Dojun stared at Lee Yeonwoo who was enthusiastically trying to explain something using hand and body gestures.
“Anyway, that’s how it was then. But now I’m okay. Do you understand? And I’m going to the hospital tomorrow too, so don’t worry.”
“…Okay.”
He couldn’t understand at all, but Lee Yeonwoo, who was somehow trying to express that he was okay and making an effort to reassure him, was endearing.
“But why size 280?”
“It’s for you, hyung. I’ll buy it for you. Let’s wear them together.”
“Mine? How did you know my foot size?”
Kang Dojun answered with silence. He had never mentioned his foot size, so how on earth did the internet know?
“Your birthday is also listed here, hyung. September 8th.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“…For what?”
“The internet. I should have asked you, hyung.”
People he didn’t even know learned his information through the internet, broadcasting media, mass media, etc., and came all the way to his village, so he had come to Seoul where Kang Dojun was as if fleeing, but he had done the exact same thing to Kang Dojun.
“It’s okay. I’m used to it too.”
“Is that something that becomes okay just because you’re used to it?”
Lee Yeonwoo asked with wide eyes in surprise. He had said it with genuine curiosity about whether that was really possible, but it reached Kang Dojun with a different meaning.
‘It was a bit creepy too.’
He just seemed to have become numb. He had to become numb to survive in this industry.
Kang Dojun pulled up Lee Yeonwoo’s mask that had slipped down and was hanging on his nose.
As the variety show “Rural Conquest” became a hot topic, the public’s interest in Lee Yeonwoo was burning hot.
‘What kind of broadcast is it?’
Kang Dojun, who hadn’t been able to check the broadcast yet, had only heard reactions from around him. Fortunately, Han Taegu also didn’t want his career to be damaged, so he didn’t do devil’s editing.
Well, he had built up an image over the years, so viewers wouldn’t believe malicious editing anyway, and Han Taegu clearly knew that if he tried, those arrows would turn toward him as the PD.
Lee Yeonwoo too… currently he was receiving hot attention, but as time passed, he would also disappear from the topics as if it never happened.
Because he knew well the ugliness of this industry. When that time came, he absolutely, absolutely wanted to tell him not to set foot in the entertainment industry, never to appear on broadcasts again.
“Don’t become a celebrity.”
You won’t be able to handle it.
Lee Yeonwoo firmly adjusted his mask so it wouldn’t slip down and said as if making a resolution.
“I won’t do it even if I die.”
* * *
The next day, Lee Yeonwoo opened the front door boldly wearing his newly bought shoes.
The reason was to go to the long-awaited hospital.
Kang Dojun had been restless until he left the house for filming, telling Lee Yeonwoo the name of the hospital he recommended and how to get there.
It wasn’t much of directions – he just told him to absolutely take a taxi.
He stood in front of the elevator and pressed the button.
Yesterday when they went to the department store and came back, he had pressed buttons at 3-floor intervals with Kang Dojun so they could get off anytime if symptoms appeared.
Fortunately, Lee Yeonwoo endured well and safely rode the elevator up to the 17th floor.
And today he was alone. Ignoring Kang Dojun’s advice to absolutely use the stairs when alone even if it was a bit difficult, Lee Yeonwoo stared at the open elevator.
It looked like a giant deep-sea fish opening its mouth wide as if to swallow him whole.
“Hoo-ha.”
He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Lee Yeonwoo didn’t press buttons at several-floor intervals, but only pressed the 1st floor. Yesterday he had done that at Kang Dojun’s request, but he was worried that residents would be annoyed if the elevator stopped at every floor.
Soon the iron door that had swallowed Lee Yeonwoo closed tightly.
Ding-
When the black screen displayed the number 1 in red letters, the iron door opened and spat out Lee Yeonwoo.
He staggered while wiping the cold sweat streaming down. He exhaled heavily and muttered in a trembling voice.
“It’s… it’s nothing.”
While doing so, he took out his phone with trembling hands. His head had gone completely white. It felt like he had sprinted full speed for several hundred meters. How was he supposed to get there… Ah, what was the hospital name again?
His cognitive ability had significantly dropped, unable to think simple thoughts, and he impulsively called Kang Dojun.
He was filming now so there was no way he would answer, but he didn’t have time to think about that.
But contrary to expectations, after the dial tone rang a few times, his voice could be heard immediately.
Yeah, where are you? Are you on your way?
With just a few words in a low, gentle tone, he began to calm down gradually. As he was quietly catching his breath, Kang Dojun spoke again.
Yeonwoo? Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you okay? Should I come?
“How can you come when you’re filming?”
…Right.
Lee Yeonwoo also knew that it was something Kang Dojun had said thoughtlessly, that he couldn’t actually come.
Still, for the moment he said those words, it seemed like if he answered “Yes,” he would rush over immediately.
Should I send Daeho at least?
“The manager? No, it’s okay. I’ll just go by myself.”
Go carefully. Make sure to take a taxi. If you feel nauseous or stuffy, ask the driver to stop.
“I know.”
These were precautions he had heard until his ears were about to tear yesterday.
If anything happens, don’t hesitate to call.
“Yes.”
Lee Yeonwoo moved his lips as if he had something to say. Kang Dojun seemed to notice over the phone and quietly waited for him to speak.
“Hyung, don’t you turn off your phone when you’re filming?”
Last time when he was acting, he heard that during filming he would turn off electronic devices like phones and only read scripts the whole time.
Kang Dojun said as if pointing out a very obvious fact.
I was waiting for your call.
At his words, Lee Yeonwoo became fully alert. He couldn’t concentrate on acting and was worrying about him, while he was pathetically panting just from riding one elevator. Suddenly energy surged up.
He said in a vigorous voice as if making a resolution.
“I’ll go to the hospital and come back.”
Yeah, go carefully.
Lee Yeonwoo, filled with courage, hung up and hurriedly headed to the hospital.
* * *
Lee Yeonwoo came out of the hospital like someone whose soul had been thoroughly shaken out. He had given the courage he brought to the doctor. No, it seemed like it had been taken away.
He muttered blankly into the air.
“…Me?”
It was time to learn more about himself that he hadn’t known until now. He quietly lifted up the medicine bag clutched in his hand. He still couldn’t believe it.
His pocket vibrated.
“Hello.”
Oh, did you go to the hospital well?
“Just now. But is this really a good place?”
Yeah, isn’t it ** Hospital that sunbae-nim recommended? I heard that place is good… Why? How was it?
At Shin Gihyeon’s question, Lee Yeonwoo moved his lips.
“I don’t know. It’s a bit strange.”
What’s strange about what the doctor said? Panic? Alcohol addiction? Depression? Did you get medicine?
Lee Yeonwoo quietly blinked his eyes.
What is it? How much was the medical fee? Say something.
“You should just become a doctor.”
For the medical fee, although Kang Dojun had desperately prepared a card for him, he paid with his own money.
And the diagnosis was a complex mix of the disease names that Shin Gihyeon had recited. Usually it wasn’t a severe stage, but the levels would rise when suddenly receiving extreme stress. Drug treatment was necessary.
“No wait. Don’t become a doctor. I don’t think you’d be good at counseling.”
What are you talking about by yourself.
The counseling teacher spoke so well that he ended up talking about his high school days before he knew it. But after spilling it all out, he felt much more relieved.
Right. Last time in the elevator was because stress had peaked too much the day before, and today he had endured well and overcome it, coming to the hospital by himself.
They said the patient’s mindset was important, and he already felt better.
After hanging up with Shin Gihyeon, Kang Dojun called.
“Hello.”
Did you go to the hospital?
“Yes, I went and came back well. It’s nothing much.”
What’s the diagnosis?
Lee Yeonwoo answered while catching and getting into a taxi.
“I’ll tell you later. Are you done filming, hyung?”
Yeah, I’m on my way home. Should I come pick you up?
“No, I just got in a taxi too. I’ll see you at home.”
“Okay. Come back safely.”
He told the taxi driver his destination and read the names of the medicines written on the prescription bag. They were things he had never heard of in his life.
They said if he just took these and consistently received counseling, he would get better quickly.
He needed to get better quickly, look around Seoul a bit, then return to the countryside and take care of his precious bees.
Although Uncle Cheolsu contacted him every morning to check on the bees’ condition, he wanted to go see them directly, hear the sound of their wings, and look closely inside the hives.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Thank you.”
After paying, he opened the common entrance door with the house key Kang Dojun had prepared for him and pressed the elevator button.
He was waiting for the elevator with a pounding heart, taking deep breaths, when someone poked his shoulder from behind.
When he turned around, Kang Dojun was smiling with his mask slightly lowered.
“Hyung?”
“Did you go well? You need to wear your mask properly.”
Kang Dojun pulled up Lee Yeonwoo’s mask that had slipped down to below his nose. Lee Yeonwoo asked as if flustered.
“Why didn’t you go up first and rest…”
Kang Dojun smiled, crinkling his eyes softly.
“I wanted to ride up together.”
He said “You’re scared alone, aren’t you?” while stroking Lee Yeonwoo’s fine hair.
“You went without a hat? Because it was hot? Stuffy?”
“…Because it was hot.”
“Your hair is dark, so wearing a hat would shield you from the sun better. It would also block people’s gazes.”
Lee Yeonwoo quietly blinked while listening to his words.
To be honest, the relationship between Kang Dojun and himself was formed through just ten days of meeting a few months ago and then steady contact. He had friends of several years too. So if asked whether Kang Dojun was closer than them, it would probably be about even. The enjoyment, fun, familiarity, and friendliness when together were all similar.
“Did you eat? It’s almost dinner time. Is there anything you want to eat? Omelet rice again?”
However, there was something relatively superior. Kang Dojun was definitely the one who knew about him well, cared for him, worried, was concerned, and consistently looked after him.
His friends didn’t contact him every single day for months either.
Even now, knowing that he was afraid of elevators, he had waited in the lobby.
He was being observed in detail.
It might have been because his original personality was gentle, but it felt like receiving unconditional love.
For Lee Yeonwoo, this was the second time in his life he was receiving this since his grandmother. It made him feel touched somewhere, unfamiliar, and also pleasantly tickled his heart.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
