I quickly greeted him while following Baek Woojin, who was holding my hand tightly and leading me. Then Professor Choi waved his hand as if telling us to hurry and go.
*
We safely returned home and before we knew it, it was deep into the night. After putting both Hyeol and Kkotsu to bed, I was just about to go to sleep myself. My throat was dry, so I briefly came out to the kitchen.
“You’re studying again today…”
As always, Baek Woojin was studying at the dining table where he could see Kkotsu’s room.
“Can’t you sleep?”
“Ah, my throat is a bit dry…”
I got water from the water purifier and stole a glance at Baek Woojin.
He must have heard everything we talked about earlier…
Was Baek Woojin pretending not to know even though he knew? I was curious about his thoughts. Especially why he was helping me this much.
Of course, it was something I could ask directly. But somehow I was afraid to bring up the topic first.
Just in case, Baek Woojin might have feelings for me…
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“Yes?!”
That’s when it happened. I was suddenly startled and raised my voice when my name was called. Baek Woojin seemed equally surprised as he glanced at Kkotsu’s room once before asking me.
“By any chance… did the professor say anything else?”
“Something… else…?”
I fell into thought. How much had Baek Woojin heard from where to where? He couldn’t have heard everything, right?
Professor Choi had asked about who Baek Woojin was currently seeing, when he was getting married, and talked about children. Or before that…
‘That kid has no romantic experience at all.’
‘He’s never been sincere about anyone until now. He’s a guy who doesn’t even know what the feeling of liking someone is.’
“…”
I looked at Baek Woojin silently. From the first time I saw him until now, Baek Woojin was so perfect that calling him handsome wasn’t enough. His way of speaking was cold and rational, but the more I got to know him, the more gentle he was…
That such a Baek Woojin had never sincerely liked anyone even once… honestly, I couldn’t believe it.
“Was it… difficult to talk about?”
As I continued to just look at him silently, Baek Woojin asked in a voice filled with concern.
“No, no. There wasn’t any particular conversation.”
I shook my head and denied it excessively.
“…”
Then Baek Woojin stared at me silently. Looking at those upright, shining black pupils, my heart somehow became complicated.
“Then… Woojin-ssi, please go to bed early too…!”
In the end, I couldn’t say anything to Baek Woojin and quickly escaped from there as if running away.
*
“Kkotsu, does it hurt a lot…?”
The next morning, Kkotsu had finally caught a cold. I had suspected it the day before, but overnight his fever rose and he couldn’t move from bed at all. I wondered if he might have caught it from Jeonghan, who had been suffering from a cold for over a week, but Kkotsu didn’t have a runny nose and only had body aches.
“The fever isn’t very high… I think it’s probably muscle pain.”
Perhaps because Baek Woojin was a doctor, he spoke very calmly while examining Kkotsu’s condition.
“Is it okay not to take him to the hospital?”
“I’ve contacted his primary physician for now, so let’s try to bring down the fever until then.”
I was surprised that Kkotsu had his own primary physician, but since Baek Woojin was someone with so many friends, I quickly accepted that too.
“Then I’ll just quickly take Hyeol to the school bus and come right back home.”
At my words, Baek Woojin sent me a slightly puzzled look.
“Woojin-ssi needs to go to work…”
I was thinking of sending Hyeol to kindergarten and taking care of Kkotsu myself. Since I was living in this house as a dependent, I wanted to at least help with nursing the sick child.
“I can stay home and look after Kkotsu. I told you I used to be a kindergarten teacher, right? I learned child care too, so don’t worry too much.”
“…”
“Really…”
When I spoke in a slightly dejected voice, Baek Woojin hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“Then I’ll ask you to do that.”
“Yes! Then I’ll go and come back quickly!”
I took the hand of Hyeol, who was already wearing his kindergarten bag and waiting, and headed to where the school bus would arrive.
“Should we wait here…?”
As I came out toward the entrance of the officetel complex and looked around, Hyeol, who was next to me, poked my leg with his finger.
“Hm?”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“Ah, you mean Kkotsu?”
“Yes.”
I thought he wouldn’t be particularly interested whether Kkotsu was sick or not, but Hyeol asked first.
“No, he just has a little body ache. A doctor will come now and he’ll get better.”
“Mmm…”
When I explained in a way that told him not to worry, Hyeol nodded as if he understood and turned his head to the other side.
That kid, is he embarrassed about showing interest in Kkotsu…?
“The school bus is coming.”
Just in time, a yellow school bus that could have come out of a cartoon was running toward us.
“Wow… there are a lot of kids taking the school bus.”
Even from the outside, the inside of the bus was bustling with children. Seeing the children who looked very happy, I thought I should have had Hyeol use the school bus much earlier if I had known it would be like this.
Clunk.
“Hello, Hyeol’s father!”
“Yes, hello, teacher.”
As soon as the school bus stopped, the door opened and a kindergarten teacher appeared to help the children board. She greeted me warmly and let Hyeol into the bus, and the children who had been sitting quietly until then all stood up at once.
“It’s Hyeol!”
“Hyeol!”
“Hyeol! Here, come this way!”
“No! Hyeol, come sit next to me!”
“Hyeol! Hyeoooool!”
It was complete chaos. The children who were all shouting toward Hyeol tried to grab his arms and hug him as soon as he got on. If the kindergarten teacher inside the bus hadn’t stopped them, Hyeol’s clothes might have been torn apart.
“No… the kids, why…”
When I was flustered, the teacher who opened the door looked troubled.
“Oh my, Hyeol is very popular… Don’t worry, father, we’ll take good care of Hyeol. Now, please go in…!”
“Ah… yes…”
Clunk, the door closed. Hyeol sat by the window in the back seat with an indifferent expression and waved at me. I waved back at him the same way.
After the school bus left, I suddenly came to my senses.
“Will he be… okay…?”
I knew he was a child who would do well wherever he went, but I worried whether he could handle it alone.
Click.
When I returned home like that, it seemed the primary physician had come in the meantime. Baek Woojin was listening carefully to what the primary physician was saying in front of Kkotsu’s room.
“Then, make sure he takes his medicine well and let him sleep soundly for about a day, and he’ll be completely better.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. Thank you.”
“Well then.”
The primary physician nodded at me once and left the house.
“Is Kkotsu okay?”
“Yes, it’s not serious enough to need an injection, and he’ll be fine if he rests well for a day.”
“That’s a relief…”
“Did you send Hyeol off well?”
“Yes, it was my first time sending him by school bus… there were a lot of kids riding it.”
“Then we should send Kkotsu that way soon too.”
I briefly imagined Hyeol and Kkotsu sitting side by side on the school bus. It seemed much better than being bothered by an unspecified number of people once Hyeol’s partner was decided.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
