Chapter 117
“By the way, ahjussi, aren’t you going to work? Did you send Director Nam alone again?”
“How could I leave when you’re sick?”
Yoo Siwoon said this as if he couldn’t understand how anyone could do such a thing as leaving a sick person alone.
“If I felt better, I would have liked to go running in the park with you.”
“Are you feeling cooped up staying home?”
“A little. No matter how spacious it is, home is still home.”
“Get better soon, then. We’ll go running when you’re well.”
Eunseong nodded in agreement.
The watchful gaze that was nursing and monitoring him with utmost care felt somewhat burdensome. He would have been fine alone; sometimes he needed time to himself, but at some point, Yoo Siwoon had become ever-present. He never wanted to leave Eunseong alone and would sometimes search for him around the house with an expression like a child who had lost his mother’s hand. And when he found him in unexpected places, he would visibly relax.
“Get some sleep. I’ll stay beside you.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
Yoo Siwoon, who had been looking down tenderly at Eunseong as he kept his eyes open, grew quiet. He was staring at Eunseong with a contemplative expression.
“…Do you have something to tell me?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“I told you before. You’re not good at hiding things. It looks like you have something to say.”
“…”
It was clear that Yoo Siwoon was hesitating about something. Eunseong looked curiously at his tensed eyes.
“…Has something happened? Something bad?”
“No. Nothing’s happened.”
His forced smile looked even more suspicious.
“I don’t think that’s true. Your expression… doesn’t look good.”
“…”
“It’s okay, tell me. As long as you’re not telling me to go to New York alone, everything’s fine.”
Seeing him firmly biting his lower lip as if restraining himself from speaking, Eunseong, who had been lying in bed, struggled to sit up. Yoo Siwoon brought a pillow to support his back so he could sit comfortably.
“What is it?”
“I’ll have to tell you eventually. I was planning to wait until you felt better.”
“What is it that’s making you act this way?”
“It’s about your father.”
“…”
Though Yoo Siwoon had only said that much, had only mentioned his father, Eunseong’s startled heart sank. A cold sensation crawled up his spine like a shudder. From his expression and troubled tone, it was clearly not good news.
There was only one conclusion to bad news about his father. Eunseong was suddenly, very suddenly, overwhelmed with bitter regret, wanting to sew shut his own mouth that had spitefully cursed his father, saying he might have drunk too much and frozen to death on the street.
Even though Yoo Siwoon hadn’t said anything yet, tears immediately welled up in Eunseong’s eyes. Tears he himself couldn’t believe were falling began to drop heavily.
“…It’s bad news, isn’t it?”
Eunseong asked, praying that it wouldn’t be what he feared, that it please wouldn’t be that. His voice broke into small fragments like glass. Yoo Siwoon, unable to meet Eunseong’s gaze, slowly nodded while biting his tightly rolled lips.
“…He really died?”
“…”
“He really… died on the street?”
His trembling voice was gradually infused with sobs.
“The police are still investigating. It seems he was associating with some unsavory characters. I heard he was severely injured but treatment was delayed.”
“…Dad really, he’s really dead?”
Instead of answering verbally, Yoo Siwoon nodded once. Everything looked blurry through Eunseong’s tears, only Yoo Siwoon’s nodding silhouette visible like a shadow.
“Really… is it true?”
“Why would I lie about something like this?”
“Really… my father is dead?”
“…”
“I shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have asked you to find him. I should have just lived without knowing. I should have believed he was living well somewhere. I should have done as you said.”
His sobbing voice carried sadness and self-blame.
Every time his father had hit him, Eunseong had cursed him. Wishing he would just die, drop dead somewhere, saying he had no right to be a parent when he lacked both qualification and will, couldn’t even take responsibility for his own child. He had often harbored such harsh thoughts, begging for him to just die and stop making his life miserable.
He couldn’t even plead that those were just angry thoughts, that he hadn’t really wanted it. Eunseong had actually wished for it. That it would be better to have no father than one like him. After he started earning a small income, he had been waiting for an opportunity to leave him.
But in the time they’d been out of contact, his father had really died. According to Yoo Siwoon, miserably, without proper treatment in time. In this country where hospitals are everywhere.
“Where, where is… where is my father now? Where, where is he?”
“…I’ve taken care of everything. I had him laid to rest in a good place.”
“What? What about the funeral? Fun… eral, the, Dad, the.”
As Eunseong was trying to say something in confusion through blurred eyes, his upper body swayed and then collapsed against Yoo Siwoon’s chest, who quickly grabbed him. As if this were a signal, a wail that had been trying not to make sound burst forth. Clutching Yoo Siwoon’s clothes, Eunseong broke into violent sobs.
Director Nam hurriedly arrived at Yoo Siwoon’s house with a doctor. As soon as they opened the door, Yoo Siwoon appeared as if he had been waiting for them.
“What happened? What happened to Eunseong?”
He had received an urgent call to bring a doctor immediately. Through his anxious questioning, sounds like crying could be heard.
“What is this… is that Eunseong crying?”
“Hah, he cries until he faints, then wakes up and cries again, then faints again… His condition is very poor. This way.”
Yoo Siwoon led the doctor to Eunseong’s room.
Eunseong was crying face down, in a state of shock. Tears flowed like a leaking faucet.
Because he had genuinely hated his father, he was unable to cope with his death. It wasn’t a disease that killed him, nor age. It was as if Eunseong’s curse had killed him. After watching the doctor connect an IV and treat Eunseong, who had exhausted all his energy from crying, Yoo Siwoon couldn’t bear to watch anymore and left the room.
Director Nam, who had been standing in shock, questioned him about what had happened.
“Why is he suddenly like this? What happened?”
“I told him about his father.”
“Seo Jeong-gi?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him… he passed away?”
Yoo Siwoon nodded briefly, looking back at Eunseong’s closed door with uncomprehending eyes.
He didn’t expect Eunseong would take it naturally, but he didn’t anticipate such an extreme reaction. There wasn’t a tender bond between them from Seo Jeong-gi raising and caring for Eunseong well; in fact, Eunseong had been making serious plans to run away from his violent father.
“What exactly… did you tell him? You didn’t tell him the truth, did you?”
“I just mentioned that he seemed to have gotten involved in something bad.”
It wasn’t something that could be hidden forever. Even before, Eunseong had felt Yoo Siwoon was hiding something. It was impossible to keep lying every time Eunseong asked about Seo Jeong-gi.
Director Nam sighed with concern. It was just a matter of timing; it was something Eunseong would have to be told eventually.
“I didn’t expect he would take it so hard.”
In his eyes as he looked at the continuous crying that seemed about to break but didn’t, there was both concern and puzzlement at Eunseong’s overwhelming grief. Seo Jeong-gi had abused Eunseong.
“The shock seems too great. How long has it been?”
“About two hours, I think.”
“Two hours?”
“No matter how much I comfort him… he doesn’t seem to hear.”
Eunseong’s reaction was so unexpected that Yoo Siwoon regretted bringing it up. He had thought Eunseong was determined and brave enough to leave home and abandon everything if necessary, so seeing him collapse like this was even more surprising.
After a while, the intermittent crying stopped, and the eerie sound that had been echoing through the house disappeared, leaving everything quiet. Soon there was a soft click as the door opened. The doctor quietly left Eunseong’s room carrying his medical bag.
Yoo Siwoon immediately approached him.
“Is the patient all right?”
“His blood pressure is a bit high, and he shows signs of dehydration, so I prescribed an IV. I also administered a very small dose of sedative. He’ll calm down soon.”
“Is there any other concern?”
“There don’t seem to be other symptoms, but would you like a more thorough examination if necessary?”
“For now, let him rest, and I’ll contact you again if there are any issues.”
Yoo Siwoon thanked the doctor and entered Eunseong’s room. Director Nam escorted the doctor outside.
“Thank you for your help. Our staff will drive you back to the hospital. Please handle today’s visit to our CEO’s house as usual.”
The doctor firmly nodded, indicating absolute confidentiality.
While Director Nam was seeing the doctor off, Yoo Siwoon returned to the sleeping Eunseong’s side, watching him carefully as if handling fragile glass. That look of treasuring something felt not like tenderness but like an obsession that could take one’s breath away.
Eunseong’s breathing, having moaned and cried like a beast in a cage, was still rough. Yoo Siwoon’s hand patted and caressed him. His breathing calmed like a lie and soon became quiet.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
