Pulled out by his wrist, Sim Jaeha recalled the scene he had just witnessed with a dazed expression. Jung Jinhoo stroking Jaeyoon’s hair while making eye contact and talking with him. There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about it. They just looked like a close senior and junior. But strangely, whenever he remembered the two of them, his face felt burning hot, as if scalded by fire. This feeling was like…
‘Like when I secretly watched an adult movie with my older brother at night with the lights off, our heads wrapped in a blanket without our parents knowing?’
It somehow made him feel embarrassed.
“Hey.”
“Huh, what??”
“What are you spacing out about?”
“Oh, nothing…”
Sim Jaeha quickly looked up at the voice calling him. Lee Heejun’s brow furrowed at the sight of him awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
“Are you catching a cold?”
“Whaaat?”
“Your face is red.”
“No, it’s not?!”
Sim Jaeha quickly covered his cheeks with both hands. Seeing this, the purple eyes narrowed.
“Are you overexerting yourself again?”
“Huh??”
“Didn’t I tell you to manage your condition properly whether it’s class president duties or studying? How can someone so meticulous about work be so careless about his own body?? Are you an idiot?”
“I’m not an idiot!”
As Sim Jaeha shouted defensively, Lee Heejun sighed softly and touched his forehead.
“There’s a pharmacy nearby, let’s go get some cold medicine…”
The hand reaching for Sim Jaeha’s arm stopped midair. After briefly staring at Jaeha, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, Heejun awkwardly put his hand in his pants pocket.
“…Take some cold medicine. Don’t overdo it and collapse, making your brother cause a scene.”
“Oh? Um…”
After Heejun closed his mouth, an unbearably heavy silence fell between them. Sim Jaeha was biting his lip while awkwardly rolling his eyes, then carefully opened his mouth. Hey, about that… But his words were interrupted by Heejun.
“Are you going to see Lee Jaeyoon now?”
“Huh? Oh, yes…?”
Sim Jaeha nodded, remembering how he had entered the hospital room, just seen Jaeyoon’s face, and left without having a proper conversation.
“Make sure to buy cold medicine on your way back.”
“Wait, hold on! Aren’t you coming with me?”
When Sim Jaeha, with round eyes full of confusion, quickly asked as Heejun turned his back, Heejun paused for a moment and slightly turned his head to look at him. Under his gaze, Jaeha unconsciously gulped, and after briefly lowering his eyes in thought, Heejun finally spoke.
“I have an appointment, so I need to go.”
“Oh…”
“I’m leaving.”
After casually waving his hand and turning around, Sim Jaeha unconsciously reached out towards Lee Heejun’s back, but slowly lowered his arm as the figure grew more distant. With his head down, he clenched and unclenched his directionless hand before slightly tilting his head.
“Why did I try to stop him?”
‘When he said he had an appointment…’
After blinking in a daze, he sheepishly scratched his cheek.
Did I not want to be alone?
***
“Jaeyoon, can I come in?”
Jaeyoon awkwardly smiled and welcomed Sim Jaeha, who was peeking his head through the slightly opened door of the hospital room. Jaeha glanced nervously at Jung Jinhoo standing next to Jaeyoon’s bed before carefully approaching.
“Where’s Heejun?”
“He said he had an appointment and left first.”
“Ah…”
‘It seems like he’s deliberately keeping his distance from the class president…’
“Oh right, here…”
“You didn’t have to bring all this.”
As a high school student… Jaeyoon swallowed the rest of his words and received the juice box that Sim Jaeha was holding out. Looking down at the box containing the kind of juice bottle typically given during hospital visits, Jaeyoon took out an aloe juice in appreciation of Jaeha’s thoughtfulness, only to have it snatched away by Jung Jinhoo.
“Sunbae?”
“You shouldn’t eat anything stimulating right after waking up.”
“But I’m fine…”
‘It’s not like I’ve been lying down for that long…’
But Jung Jinhoo was firm. He took the juice bottle and box from Jaeyoon’s hands and began neatly arranging the juices in the refrigerator. Watching him blankly, Jaeyoon suddenly came to his senses and turned his head. He gently grabbed the shoulder of Sim Jaeha, who was similarly frozen in place, causing him to jump in surprise as he met Jaeyoon’s eyes.
“Thank you. I’ll drink it after I eat.”
“Yeah, don’t force yourself to drink it. And I’m sorry… I should have thought more carefully about what to bring for a hospital visit.”
Jaeyoon smiled warmly at Sim Jaeha, who was drooping his eyebrows with a dejected expression.
“Even if I don’t drink it, there are plenty of others who will. It’s the thought that counts with these things.”
Jaeyoon’s comfort seemed to have an effect, as Sim Jaeha’s expression brightened a bit.
“Oh, right!”
Suddenly widening his eyes, Sim Jaeha rummaged through his backpack and pulled out several notebooks. Then, he gently handed them to Jaeyoon, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression.
“What’s this?”
“Well, it’s notes summarizing everything we’ve covered so far…”
“Ah~!”
“It’s hard to catch up if you fall behind. You’re good at studying, Jaeyoon. So I organized what I could…”
Jaeyoon quickly skimmed through the organized notes. The notes, written in neat handwriting that matched Sim Jaeha’s personality, were summarized in an easy-to-understand way. Even without attending the classes, they were more than sufficient to understand the content. This wasn’t because Jaeyoon was an adult, but because Sim Jaeha’s abilities were exceptional.
‘He’ll be well-liked at his company later. He’d also make a good teacher…’
“Thank you, class president. Thanks to this, I won’t have any problem keeping up with the lessons.”
“Really? That’s a relief. I’ve never taken notes for someone else before, so is my handwriting messy? Is it hard to read?”
“If this is hard to read, then all handwriting in the world would be difficult to read.”
“No, what are you saying… it’s not that good~”
Though he denied it verbally, he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from rising.
“When will you be discharged?”
“Hmm…”
‘I don’t really know, since sunbae always talks to the doctor.’
Jaeyoon turned his head to look at Jung Jinhoo. Sim Jaeha also followed his gaze, and Jung Jinhoo, who had been checking a text message, moved his thumb to reply to the sender before smiling and approaching Jaeyoon.
“What is it?”
“When will I be able to leave the hospital?”
“You need to stay in the hospital for about two weeks to monitor your condition, and if there are no issues, you can be discharged.”
“Two weeks…”
‘That’s longer than I thought.’
As he furrowed his brow, Jung Jinhoo gently pressed his finger between Jaeyoon’s eyebrows. In response to Jaeyoon looking at him with round eyes, Jung Jinhoo smiled and said:
“Don’t be dissatisfied. You need to recover properly before being discharged.”
“Yes~”
After expressing slight dissatisfaction by dragging out the last syllable, Jung Jinhoo chuckled softly. As Jung Jinhoo brushed aside the long bangs that reached his eyes, Jaeyoon looked up slightly, and Jung Jinhoo smiled beautifully, his golden eyes curving into half-moons. In that moment, overwhelmed by an unexpected urge to kiss him, Jaeyoon quickly bit his lip hard to regain his composure.
‘The class president is right here. That could have been bad…’
“It looks like I’ll be stuck in the hospital for two weeks no matter what.”
Speaking in a brighter voice to dispel his embarrassment, Jaeyoon slightly furrowed his brow at the sight of Sim Jaeha, who was standing there in a daze.
“Class president?”
“Huh, what?!”
Seeing Sim Jaeha startled enough to jolt his shoulders, Jaeyoon squinted his eyes. His cheeks are a bit red…? After examining Jaeha’s face closely, Jaeyoon placed his hand on his forehead. Ignoring the surprised “Jaeyoon?” he checked for a fever and frowned.
“Class president, I think you’re coming down with a cold.”
“Oh, I don’t think so?”
“Huh?”
‘That’s not a clear denial. What does he mean “I don’t think so”?’
As Jaeyoon raised one eyebrow with a puzzled expression, Sim Jaeha hurriedly put his backpack on his shoulder and stood up.
“I’ll be going now. Visiting hours are almost over anyway!”
“Wait, class president, your cold…”
“Jaeyoon, take care of yourself! Understand? Your body is your wealth!!”
“Class president, you also need to take care of your cold…”
“Eat well, and don’t kick off the blankets even if it gets hot! Got it?”
“Cold…”
“I’ll visit again!!”
Take care of yourself first!! Watching Sim Jaeha rushing out, Jaeyoon barely restrained himself from shouting. Lee Heejun will probably take care of him. As he leaned back against the cushion to calm himself, Jaeyoon frowned. The perceptive Lee Heejun couldn’t have missed Sim Jaeha’s condition. Is he trying to reduce his interest while keeping his distance?
‘If Heejun doesn’t take care of him, will the class president… be okay?’
Recalling the festival, Jaeyoon was already filled with worry. There were so many issues to deal with, and they just kept increasing.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
