Kyung Jiho said nothing and turned his head, then picked up a handful of lettuce from the opposite side of the burner where the frying pan was placed and put it next to Geun-yeong. This kid, whose face was especially cute when he gave clever answers, needed to eat vegetables like a rabbit at every meal.
Geun-yeong picked up one, then two pieces of lettuce that had been placed beside him. He placed them overlapping in his hand and stared at them for a moment, then smiled. The freedom after 72 hours had passed vainly, but it was okay. More than okay, he felt somehow happy. He was happy that someone reminded him of his insulin injection and prepared lettuce for him.
Not realizing that he was feeling up and down because of someone else, Geun-yeong placed a spoonful of rice on the two pieces of lettuce that felt as precious as a gift received on a special day. On top of that, he added a not-too-large piece of meat, a little bit of ssamjang picked up with chopsticks, and a broken piece of pepper, then folded it all together.
And as he brought it to his mouth, he somehow felt it was quiet. When he raised his gaze from the lettuce wrap poised at the entrance to his mouth, he saw that the eyes of all three people were fixed on his mouth. With the wrap held before his wide-open mouth, Geun-yeong’s eyes darted back and forth before returning.
Why, why are you all…
“Well now, that kid sure knows how to wrap a proper lettuce wrap.”
“It’s because he eats so prettily. Go ahead and eat. Eat quickly.”
Geun-yeong looked past Baek Moonjong and Bong Tae-gu, who had said things like a grandmother and aunt at his maternal home before turning their attention back to the meat in the frying pan, and looked at Kyung Jiho.
When their eyes met, the man let out a “hmph” and snorted before turning his head and lowering his gaze to look at the meat in the frying pan, still with a smiling face.
Why is he smiling?
Geun-yeong put the perfectly constructed wrap in his mouth and chewed slowly, thinking about why Detective Kyung was smiling. This too was a question that couldn’t be answered without asking. But since smiling was up to Detective Kyung, he couldn’t just ask why he was smiling. It was frustrating.
That’s why Geun-yeong wanted to get closer to Detective Kyung. If they became closer, he would be able to ask why he was smiling at times like this. And he could also nag him about buying too much meat, saying that eating too much meat isn’t good for health.
But in truth, there was another reason why he wanted to get closer to Detective Kyung. He couldn’t continue living in this house indefinitely. He would have to find his own place and live separately soon, but even then, he wanted to visit Detective Kyung’s house occasionally. And sometimes, he wanted to sleep under the blanket that was casually tossed to him and then leave. Like Professor Baek and Nurse Bong, he wanted to continue knowing Detective Kyung for 1 year, 2 years, and beyond. And after 5 years, he wanted to be able to boast to someone that he knew Detective Kyung’s past 5 years.
He wanted to keep living like that.
With such thoughts, Geun-yeong properly chewed and swallowed the wrap in his mouth before picking up another piece of cherished lettuce. Once again, he made a healthy wrap.
Most of the lettuce was eaten by Geun-yeong. Not only lettuce, but he was also the only one who ate rice. Of course Bong Tae-gu and Kyung Jiho didn’t, but even Baek Moonjong, who had diabetes, had pushed aside his rice and was focusing solely on eating meat.
Geun-yeong, who thought he wasn’t in a position to nag these people, silently worried about the others’ eating habits. So while thinking that he wanted to become friends quickly, he ate at his own pace without being swept up by others. Counting the pieces of meat, he put down his chopsticks after finishing his bowl of rice.
“Whew… he’s tough… I’m starting to get a little scared of this kid now?”
Baek Moonjong clicked his tongue as he looked at Geun-yeong.
“More scary than Geun-yeong is the professor who keeps eating like that despite having diabetes and hyperlipidemia.”
Bong Tae-gu delivered a sharp retort.
“You little bastard! I don’t want to hear that from someone like you who just wolfed down a pound of meat, and not from Geun-yeong! Let’s see if you can still say the same thing ten years from now!”
“The moment I develop hypertension, diabetes, or hyperlipidemia, I’ll quit meat completely and enter a temple.”
“I heard there’s more to eat at temples…”
Rice cakes, pan-fried dishes, traditional Korean sweets, fruits.
Baek Moonjong and Bong Tae-gu stopped their bickering at Geun-yeong’s matter-of-fact comment, and Kyung Jiho let out a bright “Hahah!” laugh in the quiet gap.
Baek Moonjong, glancing sideways at Kyung Jiho, put down his spoon that he should have set aside long ago. Having overeaten meat, his mouth felt dry. With a dry expression, he said:
“Anyway, I’m of the mind to eat and die happy. Make me a cup of coffee. Nice and sweet.”
“Aish, what’s an old man doing drinking coffee in the middle of the night? This is really serious—”
Despite grumbling like this, Bong Tae-gu was about to get up, and Geun-yeong thought, now’s my chance!
“No, I’ll do it!”
Shouting this, Geun-yeong sprang to his feet but immediately staggered back two steps and had to brace himself against the wall.
There was a dizziness as if his head was spinning.
When the kid who had jumped up like a spring staggered, the gazes of the three people who had looked up in surprise converged on Geun-yeong. Kyung Jiho, who had already half-risen and was reaching out toward Geun-yeong thanks to his reflexes, asked:
“What’s wrong?”
Geun-yeong blinked his momentarily blurry eyes to clear them and then removed his hand from the wall.
“…I think I stood up too suddenly. I’m… fine.”
“Ah. Orthostatic hypotension.”
Baek Moonjong, who never seemed to lack knowledge about anything, showed off, and Bong Tae-gu also nodded saying, “Yeah, that must be it,” as he got up.
“Honey, you sit down first. I’ll make the coffee.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll…”
Geun-yeong couldn’t finish what he was saying. His tongue wouldn’t move according to his will. It wasn’t just his tongue. His feet that should be heading to the kitchen, his arms, his hands—nothing would move. He couldn’t lift even a finger. It felt like something was sucking his body into the floor. He felt powerless.
The problem wasn’t that his body had become heavy as if he had drunk a lot of water and had no energy. The world started spinning. The kitchen, where his gaze had been fixed as the place he needed to go, gradually rose. The kitchen was where the ceiling should be. Where the kitchen should be was the living room floor. The world was spinning.
Ah… I know what this is…
It was certain. It was hypoglycemia. Geun-yeong, who hadn’t forgotten the bodily symptoms he had experienced when he collapsed from hypoglycemia before, could be certain that this too was hypoglycemia.
Rolling his increasingly unfocused eyes, he scanned the table that was somehow right in front of his eyes. He needed something sweet. Juice or candy, or even sugar if nothing else, but he couldn’t see any.
In the kitchen, if I go to the kitchen there might be something…
He thought he had reached out toward the kitchen. He couldn’t reach it. Meanwhile, the world continued to spin. Now the man with wide eyes, Detective Kyung, was in front of him. And Detective Kyung was also spinning along with the table, the ceiling, the kitchen.
The floor crashed into him. No, it was Detective Kyung who had suddenly intervened and crashed into him.
‘Ji Geun-yeong! Hey! What’s wrong! Kid!’
‘Oh my! Geun-yeong!’
‘Blood glucose meter! Quick, bring the blood glucose meter!’
He was confused about whether the voices he was hearing now were actually entering through his ears or if they were just echoing in his head. It was muffled as if he was underwater.
’36? That can’t be!’
‘It’s hypoglycemia! Turn off the device first!’
‘How do I turn it off?’
‘Take it off! Detective Kyung, just rip it off!’
‘Quickly call the police—no! 119! No, there’s no time! Carry him! Hurry and carry him!’
‘Shouldn’t we feed him something? There’s no juice! Sugar!’
‘Don’t feed him now! If it goes into his airway, it’ll be serious!’
‘Just carry him! Run! Detective Kyung, run quickly! He could die!’
It was quiet. No, it was noisy. While the voices of people were gradually becoming muffled, a shrieking noise like a scream that seemed to penetrate his ears arrived. Just when this sound seemed unbearable, quietness returned.
All sounds disappeared.
* * *
The man sitting in the study was staring at the monitor. Sometimes he would stare at his phone, and sometimes at the wall clock. He had spent half the day like that.
Probably by now, or a bit earlier, or maybe a little later. In any case, Geun-yeong would fall into hypoglycemic shock.
If immediate action was possible, he would recover, but if he was alone or in a situation with some idiot who was worse than being alone, by now he would be in a coma, brain damaged, or in cardiac arrest.
Hypoglycemia is not a problem if dealt with quickly. But without proper treatment, it can lead to death. That’s how frightening hypoglycemia is. That ignorant fool had disregarded and ignored his words. So Geun-yeong would now be hovering between life and death.
Because of that guy. Kyung Jiho. Because of that devilish man.
He couldn’t imagine the kid safely overcoming the crisis and recovering. In Ji Seokhun’s imagination, the kid had fallen face-first onto the hard floor. His nose was broken, his jaw dislocated, and his front teeth knocked out. Vomit flowed from his blood-covered face. Eventually, cardiac arrest came. The kid who had received CPR had broken ribs and entered the ICU. But in the end, he suffered brain damage and became hemiplegic.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
