[Call me when you can. I’ll answer no matter what, even in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn.]
Geun-yeong, who had been staring quietly at the message, moved only his fingers to reply.
[Can’t talk. Sorry.]
Then he sighed. He wanted to talk to Detective Kyung. He wanted to tell him to please apologize to Professor Baek Moonjong and Nurse Bong Tae-hee for quitting without notice. No, more than that, he wanted to thank him for letting him stay at his house for several days. He was so grateful to Detective Kyung, and also—
[Call me. You don’t have to speak. Just listen to me.]
Thanks to the quick reply, Geun-yeong had to cut off his thoughts. What he wanted to say to Detective Kyung was important, but he was curious about what he wanted to say that made him go so far as to use Donghwa to deliver a phone. Was he going to ask how he was doing, just a casual greeting? Or did he have something else to say?
After pondering, Geun-yeong opened the desk drawer and took out a portable player. He placed it in a position where it would be half-hidden by his body but about half visible to the camera. He unraveled the earphones and put them in his ears, connecting the jack not to the player but to the phone. With fingers hesitating over the screen, he firmly pressed the call button.
[See? You can do it.]
Because he was so glad to hear the voice mixed with laughter that appeared immediately before the call connection tone even rang, Geun-yeong almost responded.
[I know you’re in a situation where you can’t talk. Just listen.]
Yes.
Geun-yeong apologized for not being able to answer and responded inwardly.
[Geun-yeong, I’m going to tell you something shocking.]
What?
While silently questioning, Geun-yeong thought. What could Detective Kyung say that would shock him? That he wasn’t really a detective? But that wouldn’t be very shocking. Or… is Professor Baek Moonjong ill? But that seems a bit disconnected from the phrase “something shocking,” and above all, it didn’t seem like he would have Woo Donghwa deliver a phone to say that. Or maybe Nurse Bong Tae-gu got a lover, or confessed to Detective Kyung…
Oh… that would be a bit shocking.
But that wasn’t something that needed to be urgently conveyed through Woo Donghwa. No matter how he thought about it, that seemed odd. It probably wasn’t related to Boramchan Clinic. It seemed like an issue related to the detective himself and to him, but what shocking thing could pass between Detective Kyung and himself?
Maybe… some kind of… confession…
Having thought that, Geun-yeong felt his heart beating lightly.
[When you’re mentally prepared, ready not to be shaken no matter what I say, tap your finger on the floor or desk once.]
Eager, Geun-yeong immediately tapped the desk.
Tok. The sound of him tapping the desk without delay because he was too curious passed through, and there was silence on the other end for a moment.
[Don’t just tap recklessly, man.]
After being scolded, Geun-yeong curled his fingers that had moved rashly out of anticipation. Detective Kyung, who seemed to sigh once, was speaking in a more subdued voice.
[Geun-yeong. When you’re ready to stay calm and not be surprised even if I say something as preposterous, as shocking as ‘you don’t actually have diabetes,’ then tap.]
Me not having diabetes? That level of shocking fact?
That would be like mackerels flying and sparrows swimming. In other words, it’s impossible. The only thing as shocking as himself, who had suffered from diabetes all his life, being suddenly cured overnight, would be like a person who had lived as a man all his life turning out to be a woman—at this point in his thoughts, Geun-yeong felt goosebumps all over his body.
Um… maybe Nurse Bong… is a woman…?
That seemed to be the level of issue.
But strangely, it wasn’t shocking. He felt goosebumps for a moment at the plot twist, but somehow it was quickly accepted. Whether she was originally a woman, or a man who had gender reassignment surgery to become a woman, he didn’t know, but anyway, it seemed possible that she might show excessive masculinity if hormone treatment failed afterward. It was surprising but not shocking.
So this also didn’t seem like an issue worth having Woo Donghwa deliver a phone to discuss.
Then what could it be? Something as shocking as me not having diabetes. Even if Nurse Bong turned out to be a woman, it wouldn’t be that shocking. Or maybe not Nurse Bong but someone else… is…
As he was thinking this, Geun-yeong again felt goosebumps all over his body. This time it wasn’t just goosebumps. The hair on his head stood on end, and his startled heart raced rapidly.
C-could it be… Detective Kyung… is…?
Quite flustered and utterly unable to stay calm, Geun-yeong searched his memory. He recalled when Detective Kyung came out of the bathroom in his underwear.
I… I think it was there.
Though he quickly lowered his head, he definitely saw it. It was clearly bulging. Quite bulging. There was something. It wasn’t not there. It was a lot. No, it shouldn’t be a lot. It was big. Quite.
Was it… artificial…?
[Geun-yeong.]
From the receiver, a particularly deep bass voice was urging him. It couldn’t possibly be called a woman’s voice. Even the housekeeper ajumma with a low voice for a woman doesn’t go that low. Modern medicine might change various things, but he knew that one thing, the voice, couldn’t be changed. So, that couldn’t… be… possible…
[Geun-yeong?]
Once again, a voice too good—no, no, no! Too low—was calling his name. After imagining about Detective Kyung’s identity, he had already wasted a lot of time, but Geun-yeong still couldn’t calm down. He was very flustered, and he felt he would be greatly shaken if he actually heard it.
Not yet, not yet.
Geun-yeong, who was trying to steady his slightly quickened breathing, realized he had been still for a while. That appearance would have been quite strange. Conscious of the camera behind him, he quickly turned a page of the book.
[…Can I tell you now?]
No, please don’t tell me, he wanted to say. He wanted to ask for a hint first. If it was about Detective Kyung’s gender, he wanted to say not to tell him at all. But he couldn’t speak. All he could do was tap the desk.
Then, with a sudden thought, he stopped his hands that had been fidgeting on the book.
It doesn’t matter anyway.
It was fine if Detective Kyung was a gangster, and it was fine if he was a detective. It was fine if he was a man, and it would be… he would be momentarily flustered, but it would probably be fine if he was a woman. It didn’t matter. It was fine no matter what kind of person he was. He was a good person. Detective Kyung is Detective Kyung. He is a benefactor who helped him without questioning or judging when he was in trouble, a person he was grateful to. The fact that he is a good person doesn’t change.
Geun-yeong felt sorry toward Detective Kyung. Mackerels weren’t flying, sparrows weren’t swimming, and his diabetes hadn’t been cured overnight. For such a trivial matter, for an issue about someone else’s gender identity, he had been shaken and unable to stay calm. He was ashamed of himself.
Geun-yeong lowered his hand that had been on the book. After hesitating for a moment, he tapped the space beside the book once.
[Good. Whatever I say, don’t move a muscle, just listen.]
Tok.
[You can stop tapping now.]
Yes.
[You recently had a blood test at Choi Internal Medicine in front of Samjeong Station, right?]
What? Thanks to the topic suddenly jumping somewhere unexpected, his eyes that had been directed at the desk came back to the book.
Yes.
[In the test results, your C-peptide came back normal.]
Huh?
[You know what that means better than I do.]
I know. I’m not ignorant about what “normal C-peptide” means. I know, but I can’t understand it. I have Type 1 diabetes. Therefore, that value absolutely cannot come back normal. Damaged beta cells in the pancreas cannot recover no matter what, so Type 1 diabetes is incurable. That’s why I’ve had to take insulin injections all my life. I will have to continue to do so in the future. But, but why did that value come back normal?
[I had the substance remaining in the syringe from the device you were wearing analyzed.]
Why… analyze the substance…? It would obviously be insulin…
[It was normal saline.]
The gaze fixed on the book was slowly rising. The eyes fixed on the front of the desk, where there was nothing, were shaking severely.
Mackerels were flying. Sparrows were swimming.
To be continued in Sugar Boy Volume 3.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
