He moved back a little and stroked Seunghyun’s rough cheek. Suhwan had suffered because of the strange drug, but Seunghyun, who had taken care of him and caught naps at the hospital, had suffered just as much. He had been concerned about parting with Seunghyun when his expression wasn’t good.
“I’m fine.”
Seunghyun, forcing a smile, raised his hand and patted Suhwan’s back. After taking off his shoes and leaving the entrance, Seunghyun said quietly.
“I’ll just go change my clothes.”
“Seunghyun, um.”
“Yes?”
Seunghyun, who was about to enter the room, turned around. Looking at the puzzled Seunghyun, Suhwan gathered his courage and asked.
“Can I ask who you met?”
At that question, Seunghyun’s face hardened as if troubled. Just by looking at his face, it was clear he was reluctant to answer.
Normally, Suhwan would have given up immediately upon seeing that Seunghyun didn’t want to talk about it, but now, for some reason, he didn’t want to do that. Suhwan moved closer to Seunghyun.
“Won’t you tell me? No, please tell me.”
“Hyung.”
“I want to know.”
He wanted to know who Seunghyun had met after talking with his brother, what had happened, and what he had been doing until now. He wanted to know everything without exception. And as his lover and fiancé, he had the right to ask and hear.
“Ha……”
Seunghyun opened his mouth and sighed. Pressing his throbbing head with his hand, he said in a tone that suggested he had a headache.
“It’s not really a good thing.”
“Tell me anyway.”
At Suhwan’s firm voice, Seunghyun looked troubled. After sighing again, he slowly began to speak.
“Well……”
***
The place Seunghyun headed after parting with Suhwan at the hospital was, ironically, another hospital.
Seunghyun, who went to a different university hospital nearby, looked around and checked his message again. Then he spotted a man smoking in the smoking area in front of the hospital.
“Hyung!”
The man called “Hyung” by Seunghyun, Lee Jaehyun, exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke. With a face that resembled Seunghyun’s but somehow looked more dissipated, he glanced at Seunghyun who was running toward him.
“What is this all about? Mother collapsed?”
“……”
“Where is Mother? Which hospital room?”
To these abrupt questions, Jaehyun said nothing and just kept smoking. Seunghyun, who had been frowning at Jaehyun, suddenly shouted.
“Hyung!”
“Shut up, I can hear you.”
Jaehyun stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and finally looked at Seunghyun. Looking up somewhat sideways at Seunghyun, who was slightly taller than him, Jaehyun opened his mouth.
“Mother is at home.”
“What?”
When Seunghyun had received the call earlier, Jaehyun had said their mother had collapsed and was in the hospital, but now he had brazenly changed his story. Seunghyun’s face contorted with anger.
“You lied?”
“Not completely. She almost collapsed because of you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
“I told you to be quiet.”
“Hah…”
Realizing that Jaehyun had lied to summon him, Seunghyun asked in a cold tone:
“Are you joking? And you had to lie about something like that?”
But Jaehyun merely snorted at Seunghyun’s icy demeanor. He continued to look at Seunghyun with a sideways glance.
“Would you have come here otherwise?”
“…”
Jaehyun was right. If he hadn’t brought up their mother, Seunghyun would have continued ignoring his calls. Seeing that Seunghyun didn’t deny it, Jaehyun clicked his tongue.
“I went to your studio apartment recently, but someone else was living there.”
“…”
“Are you living with that bastard now?”
Jaehyun’s disapproving voice struck Seunghyun’s ears.
Before moving in with Suhwan, Seunghyun had hidden this fact from his family. After HS had collapsed that way, Seunghyun’s parents were living as if they were criminals. Suhwan had pettily threatened them over the modest business they had just started. Seunghyun couldn’t bring himself to tell his already worried parents that he was living with such a man.
His parents had reluctantly agreed to the engagement, but they didn’t know about the cohabitation. But it seemed Jaehyun had figured it out long ago.
“Don’t tell Mother and Father.”
“Ha, of course not. They’d really collapse then.”
Jaehyun pressed his fingers against his throbbing head. His mother, who was already worried about Seunghyun being difficult to contact, had almost been hospitalized after skipping her medication. This was definitely something his fragile mother should never know.
“Since when?”
After mentally counting the days, Seunghyun spoke.
“About a month.”
“Ha, a month. Fuck.”
“Hyung.”
Jaehyun, who had cursed under his breath, walked past Seunghyun out of the smoking room. Seunghyun followed after him.
“Where are you going?”
“Just follow me without arguing.”
“I need to go back now.”
Seunghyun glanced at his watch as he spoke. Now that he knew his mother collapsing was a lie, there was no reason to stay with Jaehyun any longer. He was more worried about Suhwan, who had just been discharged from the hospital.
Jaehyun looked at the anxious Seunghyun with cold eyes.
“Why? Did that bastard tell you to come home at a specific time?”
“…It’s not like that.”
“Yeah, right.”
But Jaehyun didn’t believe Seunghyun’s words. After glaring at Seunghyun with displeased eyes, Jaehyun spoke with an unpleasant expression.
“At least take your medication. Your heat is coming soon.”
Then Seunghyun remembered something he had forgotten. Come to think of it, his heat cycle was approaching.
The suppressants Seunghyun took were made by Jaehyun. And he didn’t have much left of the medication he’d received from him. Seunghyun wasn’t happy about following Jaehyun, but he had no choice but to agree.
“Fine.”
“Honestly…”
Seeing Seunghyun following him with a visibly reluctant expression, Jaehyun clicked his tongue.
They drove in Jaehyun’s car to Yeonsin University. Jaehyun was a professor in the pharmacy department there. Jaehyun’s lab was very familiar to Seunghyun.
“Wait here. I’ll get your medication.”
Seunghyun looked around Jaehyun’s research lab, which he hadn’t visited in a long time. Near the entrance were instruments scattered about for student practice. After scanning them with indifferent eyes, Seunghyun went further inside.
Before cutting off contact, he had quite actively interacted with Jaehyun. It wasn’t because the brothers had a good relationship, but because of what Jaehyun was currently researching.
On one side of the desk, there were small leaf-like objects piled up. They were larger and plumper than ordinary leaves, and uniquely, each had eight leaves attached. They all differed in size and shape, and some even had seven leaves.
Star anise. Also called Chinese star anise, a Chinese spice. Jaehyun had been deeply immersed in researching this for a long time.
“Is your research going well?”
“Well…”
Jaehyun, who had returned with the medication, put the pill bottle down with a thud. Glancing at the star anise, Jaehyun spoke with an indifferent face.
“I extracted raw materials for six months this time, but I think I need to experiment more.”
“I see.”
“If things go well, I might be able to make an antiviral drug with it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
