Peeking through the doorway, Sim Hajun looked into the hospital room and met eyes with Jaeyoon, who was wearing a gentle, benevolent expression.
“Please come in.”
“I wanted to double-check thoroughly in case I was interrupting something!”
Watching Hajun enter with a satisfied expression, Jaeyoon bit the soft inside of his cheek hard.
“Hurry up and come in.”
“Were you two together?”
Seeing Lee Heejun entering behind him, Jaeyoon’s eyes widened. No way, did Heejun also see that?! At Jaeyoon’s startled gaze, Heejun shrugged and said:
“I ran into him on the bench in front of the hospital.”
“Ah…”
After watching Jaeyoon nod his head for a moment, Heejun pulled several notebooks out of his bag and handed them to him.
“He asked me to give you these. And to say sorry he couldn’t come himself.”
“You didn’t need to go to all this trouble when you’re busy…”
“He’s doing it because he wants to, so don’t worry about it. Besides, he enjoys working. Otherwise, he wouldn’t volunteer for annoying jobs like class president.”
Jaeyoon smiled slightly at Heejun’s shrug.
“By the way, who is Jinhoo sunbae having such a serious phone conversation with?”
When Heejun glanced at Jung Jinhoo who was on the phone near the window, Jaeyoon slowly smiled.
“Just, well…”
“Well?”
“He has some matters to take care of.”
Heejun’s eyes narrowed at Jaeyoon’s gentle smile.
“Hmm…”
Jaeyoon simply responded with a smile to the stare, and then opened one of the notebooks Sim Jaeha had organized. After slowly examining the notebook with its neatly written notes, Jaeyoon opened the top drawer of the nightstand beside him. Inside were all the notebooks Sim Jaeha had sent previously. Jaeyoon placed the new notebook on top of the pile and carefully closed the drawer.
“I should treat him to a meal after I’m discharged.”
“Just throw him a cup of instant ramen.”
Jaeyoon smiled at Heejun’s indifferent remark.
“Did you go out?”
“Huh?”
“I just noticed the wheelchair is in a different place than usual.”
Looking at the wheelchair placed beside the sofa, Jaeyoon was inwardly impressed.
‘Should I say he has good eyes, or good memory…’
“I went out for some fresh air because it was stuffy in here.”
“Well, staying in a hospital room all the time definitely gets suffocating.”
“…It would have been better if I hadn’t gone out.”
“Why? Did you run into someone you didn’t want to meet?”
Heejun had said it jokingly, but he frowned when he saw Jaeyoon’s expression crumple.
“Really…?”
“Yeah…”
“Who??”
Jaeyoon glanced at Jung Jinhoo who was still on the phone, then quietly mumbled:
“The student council president.”
“Ugh…”
Heejun grimaced as if he’d tasted something bitter.
“Why was the student council president here? Don’t tell me he came to see you?”
Jaeyoon nodded slightly at his question. Heejun’s expression soured further. He shook his head and leaned back in his chair.
“That’s the worst.”
“Once someone like Han Doyoon becomes obsessed, it never ends!”
“Whoa?! What? How long have you been standing there? Actually, how much did you hear?”
Jaeyoon and Heejun looked with surprised faces at Sim Hajun who had suddenly appeared beside them. Blinking slowly as he ate the apple in his hand, Hajun swallowed the piece he was chewing and answered with a bright smile.
“Everything from beginning to end? I have exceptionally good hearing!”
I could hear everything from the sofa~ Heejun frowned at the cheerfully smiling Hajun.
“I was so focused on the conversation I forgot you existed. Tsk…”
“I’m not the type of person you should forget about!”
‘That’s true…’
Ignoring Hajun’s indignant response, Heejun furrowed his brows in frustration.
“So Han Doyoon likes Jaeyoon?”
“No, that’s…”
Thud-!!
The moment Han Doyoon’s name was mentioned, Jung Jinhoo roughly placed the cup he was holding on the table. The coffee inside splashed onto the table. Seeing him staring with cold, sunken eyes, Hajun quietly hid behind Heejun’s back.
“What? Did I step on a landmine??”
“Yep.”
“I feel like if he wasn’t on the phone, he would have rushed over and grabbed my neck to subdue me~”
“Why so specific? Have you experienced it multiple times?”
“Yeah…”
Heejun shook his head at Hajun’s gloomy response.
“Looks like Jaeyoon has gotten involved with something troublesome.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean Han Doyoon~ He’s the type to play with people and then discard them when he gets bored.”
“You seem to know him well?”
“I’ve had a lot of dating experience!”
Heejun looked with disapproval at Hajun, who spoke proudly.
“So I can roughly gauge people at a glance! That type becomes even more troublesome if they develop genuine feelings! It’s best to avoid getting involved as much as possible!”
“So the Student Council President Han Doyoon isn’t hyung’s type either?”
At Heejun’s words, Jaeyoon’s eyes widened. Type? What’s with that sudden comment? Heejun just shrugged at Jaeyoon’s confused stare.
“Just that this hyung’s type is interesting people.”
“Han Doyoon isn’t an interesting type. Nope.”
As Hajun nodded to himself, Jaeyoon’s mind was filled with question marks.
“Jaeyoon.”
Hearing his name, Jaeyoon turned to look at Jung Jinhoo. Having finished his call, Jinhoo approached Jaeyoon’s bed, pushed Hajun aside, and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Why only me~”
Ignoring the voice of complaint, Jinhoo gently took Jaeyoon’s hand and spoke while gazing affectionately at his blue eyes.
“I’ve finished all the preparations. We can go whenever you want.”
Jaeyoon’s light pink lips curved into a smile.
***
“Yes, yes. Don’t worry too much. Yes…”
A long sigh escaped Kim Doha’s mouth as he ended the call. As he brushed back his unkempt bangs, Doha turned his head at the presence he felt beside him.
“What’s… wrong…?”
Seeing Kim Yeonwoo asking with a worried expression, Doha answered that it was nothing and shook his head. Then he properly covered Yeonwoo with the blanket that had slipped down.
“Go back… to sleep.”
“What is it? What happened??”
But Kim Yeonwoo quickly sat up, rejecting his gesture. Then he stared at the phone in Doha’s hand.
“Who contacted you?”
“…My parents. They said a business partner reached out again.”
“Business partner…?”
“Yes, it seems they want to resume the business deal.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why, why? Jung Jinhoo had interfered with it, right? So why would they suddenly want to resume the deal now? It’s too strange!”
Kim Yeonwoo’s pupils trembled rapidly with anxiety. After quietly observing him, Kim Doha let out a tired breath.
“…I’m going to meet Lee Jaeyoon tomorrow.”
“What…?”
“So about this situation…”
“Doha, why are you meeting Lee Jaeyoon? Why, why…?! No, don’t meet him!”
“Calm down, I need to meet Jaeyoon. I need to somehow resolve this situation by meeting him…”
“No, no! I don’t want you to meet Lee Jaeyoon!”
Kim Doha tried his best to calm Yeonwoo down as he clung desperately to his clothes. But Kim Yeonwoo wouldn’t properly listen to what Doha was trying to say. He just kept repeating that he didn’t want it, as if having a fit.
“Only Jaeyoon can stop Jung Jinhoo. That’s the only way to resolve my parents’ situation too.”
“You don’t know that! It’s not certain! Who knows what kind of ideas Jaeyoon will put in your head if you meet him! What if he takes you away from me like he did with everyone else? Then I, I really…”
Kim Doha watched with mixed emotions as Kim Yeonwoo trembled and dropped tears onto the blanket. He knew that after Lee Minho, even Im Hangyeol had left Yeonwoo’s side. Kim Yeonwoo, who had been starved for attention and obsessed with love since childhood, was extremely afraid of people leaving him. Knowing this well, Kim Doha embraced Yeonwoo. As Yeonwoo desperately clutched his collar like a lifeline, Doha closed his eyes tightly and then reopened them.
Kim Yeonwoo, who relied only on him, who had no one but him. It was what he had wanted so badly, what he had achieved, but it brought him no joy at all. Instead, only emptiness remained in Kim Doha’s heart.
‘This isn’t the version of you I wanted…’
He had to meet Jaeyoon tomorrow and set everything right.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
