The long, slender fingers gently stroked the snow-white silver hair. As he felt the soft texture slipping between his fingers, there was a knock on the hospital room door. After a brief “Yes” in response, Lee Heejun carefully opened the door and stopped when he saw Jung Jinhoo sleeping, hunched over the bed while sitting in a chair.
‘Sleeping?’ Heejun mouthed.
Jaeyoon nodded, and Heejun entered with even more careful steps, closing the hospital room door as quietly as possible before approaching Jaeyoon.
“Until you woke up, Jinhoo sunbae stayed by your side without getting proper sleep.”
“…I see.”
Jaeyoon gently rubbed the dark circles under Jung Jinhoo’s eyes, which seemed out of place on him. Thinking about how much he must have worried made Jaeyoon feel sorry for not returning sooner. He wanted to be by sunbae’s side, but the fear of never being able to return to his original world made it hard to decide quickly. That’s why it took a little time to come back here. As he brushed aside the bangs that were poking his eyes, Jung Jinhoo’s expression softened. Seeing him sleeping peacefully brought a smile to Jaeyoon’s face.
“So, tell me exactly what happened.”
“Huh?”
As Jaeyoon blinked blankly, Lee Heejun looked at him with straight, raised eyebrows.
“Why are you making that clueless expression? Who pushed you? Was it Kim Yeonwoo? Or Kim Doha?”
“Pushed? What are you talking about?”
This time, it was Lee Heejun who looked puzzled at Jaeyoon’s words.
“Then, did you really fall down the stairs alone??”
“…Wait, alone? Wasn’t there anyone else there besides me??”
Heejun nodded at his question. “Huh?” A disbelieving laugh escaped from Jaeyoon’s lips. They abandoned me in that situation? One corner of his mouth twisted upward in disbelief.
“I didn’t fall alone.”
“I thought so. But it seems like no one pushed you?”
Jaeyoon nodded up and down at Heejun’s words.
“Yes, I wasn’t pushed. I was saved from falling.”
“You? Who did you save?”
“Kim Yeonwoo.”
When Yeonwoo’s name left Jaeyoon’s lips, Heejun’s eyes lowered. So it was him after all. The image of Lee Minho flashed through his mind. How would his hyung take this news? He suddenly became very curious about what expression Minho would make.
“I grabbed him quickly when he was about to fall down the stairs, and the rebound made me fall instead. I’m just asking to be sure, but is Kim Yeonwoo…”
“He’s going about his life perfectly fine.”
“That’s a relief then.”
Lee Heejun’s expression crumpled. He looked at Jaeyoon, who had bandages around his head and right leg with an IV drip attached. He knew from Sim Hajun what condition Jaeyoon had been in when he fell down the stairs. He had been bleeding profusely. Hajun’s pale complexion while telling him about it was enough to show how serious it had been.
“When I saw your school uniform, I really thought… all the blood in your body had drained out, you idiot.”
“Haha… sorry. I mean, if he got hurt after I saved him while ending up like this, it would have been pointless, right?”
“You really are something else…”
Jaeyoon smiled and shrugged. He too was shocked when he heard that his leg was broken. It made him realize just how bad his condition had been. But from what Heejun was saying, it seemed it had been even more serious than he thought. He felt very sorry about that. Making them see him like that… Jung Jinhoo and Sim Hajun were still high school students, how frightened must they have been? How scared? He hoped it wouldn’t become a trauma for them. He briefly touched the bandage wrapped around his head before speaking.
“What about Hajun sunbae and Minh… hyung?”
“They both got called to school so they left.”
“Called?”
“It’s nothing serious. They’re both club presidents, right? The summer camp is coming up soon, so I think it’s about coordinating the schedule for that.”
“Ah, the summer camp…”
“It’s one of the school’s highlights, isn’t it? They’ll probably prepare something really impressive this time too.”
Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. The summer camp—the final stage where Lee Jaeyoon appears in the game. This is where Lee Jaeyoon confesses to Han Doyoon and disappears after having his heart trampled on. The document he had seen at Byun Junghwan’s house came to mind. The line ‘The reason Jung Jinhoo became a villain = Lee Jaeyoon’ bothered him.
Jaeyoon recalled his first meeting with Jung Jinhoo. At that time, they didn’t even know each other’s names. That meant that at the point when he was possessed, they were complete strangers… In the game, when and where exactly did their confrontation happen? How could Lee Jaeyoon be the reason Jinhoo sunbae became a villain…?
“Hey, what’s wrong? You look so serious… Are you in pain somewhere? Should I call the doctor?”
“Huh? Ah, no. I just have something to think about…”
“Something to think about? Like, how to mess up Kim Yeonwoo?”
‘Mess up…’
Jaeyoon smiled bitterly at the choice of words.
“Well, even if you don’t do anything, I think Jinhoo sunbae will take care of it thoroughly.”
“What do you mean by that?”
As Jaeyoon frowned, Lee Heejun briefly rubbed his chin with his hand. ‘Should I just tell him this on my own?’ he muttered to himself while taking his time, making Jaeyoon’s brow furrow.
“It’s related to me after all.”
“That’s true. Actually, it seems like Jinhoo sunbae is crushing Kim Doha.”
“What…?”
Crushing? As Jaeyoon looked puzzled, Lee Heejun said he didn’t know the details either and continued.
“Remember how the principal was bragging about our school’s drama club performing on an important stage?”
“Ah… That thing that made the morning assembly longer than usual?”
“Yeah, that’s been canceled.”
“Why?”
“According to Hajun hyung, it’s because they can’t put a student involved in controversy on stage, or something like that. It’s obvious…”
Heejun’s gaze shifted to Jung Jinhoo. Jaeyoon also looked down at him.
“You can pretty much guess who the student involved in controversy is and who created this situation.”
While you were lying here, Jinhoo sunbae seemed different from usual somehow… As Heejun continued, Jaeyoon carefully reached out and gently caressed Jung Jinhoo’s cheek. I hoped he wouldn’t become a villain because of Kim Yeonwoo, but because of me…
“You would do the same.”
“Huh?”
“If someone seriously hurt Jinhoo sunbae, you wouldn’t just sit still either, right? You would use everything at your disposal to crush them, wouldn’t you?”
“Well…”
“Jinhoo sunbae is the same. So don’t make that expression. Especially not in front of sunbae. If you do, he’ll feel even more sorry.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
He’s such a kind person. Jaeyoon gently placed his hand on top of Jung Jinhoo’s.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Hmm?”
“About Kim Yeonwoo, are you going to leave him be? Even if he didn’t push you, he left you there badly hurt after you saved him and just went off by himself. If Jinhoo sunbae and Hajun hyung hadn’t found you quickly, you would have been in real danger.”
“That’s true… But since he’s a minor, the police probably can’t punish him much anyway.”
“So you’re just going to let it go like this?”
After quietly looking at Jung Jinhoo, Jaeyoon lifted his head. Then he curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled brightly.
“For that, I’ve had too much taken from me…”
Kim Yeonwoo deliberately approached the people around Lee Jaeyoon and took away his precious people. Since he couldn’t beat Lee Jaeyoon himself, he probably wanted to feel the delusion that he was better this way. Like that junior who, after coveting Lee Kyungsu’s talent, ended up taking his girlfriend to feel a sense of superiority…
What should I do? I don’t really want to get back the people who so easily went along with being taken if I were to take revenge the same way… But there’s no guarantee that Kim Yeonwoo won’t approach the people around me again, blinded by jealousy. Even if I warn him, someone with his personality probably won’t listen properly. I hope he’s come to his senses a bit after I was seriously injured because of him.
“People don’t change easily…”
How should I handle this?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
