Kim Yeonwoo’s pupils shook rapidly at the angry voice. The voice of resentment directed at him rang in his ears like tinnitus.
“Why, why are you angry at me?”
“…What?”
“It was all Lee Jaeyoon’s fault, so I… He, he tried to push me down the stairs! We got into a physical fight, and that’s why he fell down the stairs. Yes, that’s… that’s what happened!!”
Im Hangyeol released Yeonwoo’s hand as Yeonwoo raised his head with gleaming eyes. Yeonwoo looked at Im Hangyeol in confusion as he stepped away, one step at a time.
“Hangyeol?”
Im Hangyeol swatted away the hand reaching out to him and covered his face with one hand.
“You, why have you changed so much? You weren’t like this before. You used to be…”
As Im Hangyeol struggled to voice his confusion, Lee Jaeyoon’s image suddenly flashed in his mind. Jaeyoon grabbing Yeonwoo’s collar in anger. What could have made him angry enough to raise his hand?
Now he regretted not persistently asking Jaeyoon for the reason. He should have properly heard what happened from Jaeyoon’s own mouth. Then he should have made a judgment. But he had been stupid then. Blinded. He had let go of his best friend without listening to a single word of explanation…
Now he finally understood the reason for Jaeyoon’s hurt, pained expression that he couldn’t comprehend back then. Im Hangyeol bit his lip hard. His heart ached as if being stabbed with a needle.
‘What have I done to you? As your supposed best friend, I believed only the person I liked, got angry at you, and rejected you. There’s no worse trash than me…’
“…Just answer one thing for me.”
Kim Yeonwoo looked at him with trembling eyes at his low voice. Slowly removing his hand from his face, Im Hangyeol opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“That time when Jaeyoon grabbed your collar, did he really threaten you first?”
“What…?”
“Did he really come to you first and suddenly grab your collar and get angry when you hadn’t done anything?”
“Y-yes… Jaeyoon suddenly grabbed my collar and told me not to meet Doyoon sunbae…!!”
“…But back then, you said it was because of Minho hyung.”
“-!!”
Im Hangyeol, who had been looking at Kim Yeonwoo with a hollow laugh, suddenly frowned deeply.
“What’s the truth? No, since when have you been lying to me? Is the you I’ve known all this time really you?”
“I, I…”
Flustered, Kim Yeonwoo quickly grabbed Im Hangyeol’s hand. Looking down at him with a dry gaze, Im Hangyeol indifferently removed Yeonwoo’s hand and turned his back.
“Hangyeol!!”
“I can’t unconditionally believe in you like Kim Doha does. So, let’s end this.”
“I-I’ll explain everything. Just now, I was too out of my mind…”
“I can’t trust you anymore.”
“Huh?”
Im Hangyeol turned his head and met Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes as he spoke.
“I said I can’t trust you anymore. Kim Yeonwoo.”
“Why, why…?”
Looking at Kim Yeonwoo, who was staring at him with an expression of complete incomprehension, Im Hangyeol closed his eyes tightly and then opened them. It didn’t feel good to see the bottom of someone he once loved. He slowly turned his back. Pushing away Kim Yeonwoo who tried to hold him back, he left the room.
***
Crunch, crunch, the sound of eating an apple echoed in the hospital room. Jaeyoon, who had been absentmindedly chewing on the cute rabbit-shaped apple that Jung Jinhoo had peeled for him, soon turned his gaze to the window. He could see a clear blue sky. The wind was cool, and it seemed like a very nice day.
“…Sunbae.”
“Yes?”
Jung Jinhoo, who had been putting apple pieces on the fork that Jaeyoon had finished using, looked up when he heard his name called. After hesitating briefly at the sight of Jung Jinhoo slowly blinking his large eyes while looking at him, Jaeyoon carefully opened his mouth.
“Can we go outside?”
“Huh?”
“I’m so bored just staying in the hospital room…”
“Ah…”
The golden eyes quickly scanned Jaeyoon’s body. Seeing Jung Jinhoo seriously staring at the newly wrapped bandage on his head and his leg in a cast, Jaeyoon worried he might not be allowed outside until he was completely healed. He firmly gripped Jinhoo’s hand and spoke with drooping eyebrows.
“They say it’s not good to stay in the hospital room too much. Let’s just take a short walk, okay?”
The tips of Jung Jinhoo’s ears turned bright red. After his lips trembled slightly, he finally surrendered. Yes! Jaeyoon raised both hands in joy, and Jung Jinhoo smiled softly at him.
“Wait, let me get the wheelchair…”
“No, crutches are enough!”
Jaeyoon pointed at the crutches next to him, startled as Jung Jinhoo approached the wheelchair placed in one corner of the room. Just for one leg in a cast, why use a wheelchair… Though he shook his head from side to side in refusal, Jung Jinhoo was also adamant.
“You hurt your head. You shouldn’t overdo it.”
“I’m fine…”
“No.”
‘It’s just a small cut on my head… And just a fracture on my leg…’
Jaeyoon frowned and pouted at Jung Jinhoo, who had been treating him like a critical patient since before, not even letting his feet touch the ground.
‘I think he’s being overprotective because of how I looked covered in blood when I fell down the stairs and how I fell into a coma…’
Seems like I gave him a bad trauma. Jaeyoon sighed quietly. He couldn’t blame Jung Jinhoo for being overly sensitive since it was all his own fault. All he could do was slowly, without rushing, show him that he was okay.
Now accustomed to it, Jaeyoon put his arms around Jung Jinhoo’s neck and nestled against him. After carefully being placed in the wheelchair, he gave a quick kiss on Jinhoo’s forehead. Looking at Jung Jinhoo, who was staring at him with wide eyes, Jaeyoon smiled brightly with reddened cheeks and said, “Shall we go?”
‘He’s fine when he does it himself, but gets embarrassed when I do it… How cute.’
Having been at the receiving end of Jung Jinhoo’s advances lately, Jaeyoon was slowly burning with a desire for revenge. No matter what, I’m much older, so I can’t just keep taking it.
Jung Jinhoo, unaware of what Jaeyoon was quietly plotting, carefully pushed the wheelchair so that he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. The fresh air greeted him as they came out of the hospital after a long time. In a space without any medicine smell, he felt his stuffy feeling instantly disappear. Jaeyoon took a deep breath and then exhaled.
A cool breeze passed by, gently rustling their hair. Jaeyoon, leaning back in the wheelchair and feeling the warm sunlight, was curling up the corners of his lips when he suddenly frowned at the person blocking his way.
‘I was enjoying not seeing that face for a while…’
“You look healthy?”
Jaeyoon felt his high spirits from a moment ago drop rapidly at Han Doyoon, who was smiling with his eyes curved. Jaeyoon sighed deeply and brushed his bangs aside.
“What brings you here?”
“What other reason would there be for me to come to the hospital?”
“Is the student council president sick too?”
At his words, Han Doyoon smiled brightly and bent his waist.
“Not me, but you.”
‘As if I didn’t know that and asked? Are you being sarcastic?!’
“I see, I wondered who was visiting, but it was to see me. Have you completely forgotten the warning I gave you last time?”
As Jaeyoon curled the corners of his mouth and smiled, Han Doyoon’s eyes narrowed with apparent pleasure. As Han Doyoon reached out to touch Jaeyoon’s hair that had been messed up by the wind, he chuckled as his wrist was roughly grabbed. Looking up to meet his gaze, the golden eyes narrowed.
“Preventing anyone from touching the owner, just like a dog.”
‘What did you say, you jerk?!’
As Jaeyoon looked at Han Doyoon with irritation, he closed his mouth at what Jung Jinhoo said next.
“Still better than a pest that keeps clinging to someone who dislikes them.”
Jaeyoon gave Jung Jinhoo a mental thumbs up for not being intimidated at all.
“I think that’s enough of a hospital visit, so why don’t you leave now?”
“That’s disappointing. I came to see you, breaking through such tight security.”
‘Tight security?’
As Jaeyoon frowned, Han Doyoon smiled, his light pink lips forming a curve. Then, with an exaggerated expression of surprise as if to say “you didn’t know?”, he said:
“It’s been difficult to come visit because of the guard dog. There were many people who wanted to see you. Especially, someone like Kim Doha?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
