TWELVE 19

Gi Seoin refastened his tie. A suitcase stood by his side. Inside were the items he had used during the week he spent with me.

“I can’t come over this evening.”

Gi Seoin said as he put on his shoes at the last moment.

I knit my brows slightly, wondering why he was stating the obvious.

His vacation ended today. The guy who had spent all day wearing pajamas and joking around with me had to put on a suit and return to society. Naturally, we would each sleep in our own homes. It was only natural. There was no real need for him to go out of his way to say he couldn’t come this evening.

“Why?”

And yet, I reflexively asked for a reason. Even to my own ears, my tone sounded like someone who couldn’t accept a natural thing as natural.

“My parents asked me to come over.”

“Ah, then you should go.”

I replied as I shoved my foot into a sneaker. Gi Seoin, who had been watching me quietly, knelt down. My shoelace was undone. His long fingers moved delicately, tying the lace into a knot. I worried about the suit he had pulled out for the first time in a while getting dirty.

Gi Seoin and I left the house together. Ever since I got hurt, he had consistently opened the car door for me and even closed it after I got in.

They say humans are creatures of habit. Gi Seoin’s consideration, which felt embarrassing at first, had now become second nature.

“Contact me when your treatment is over. I’ll take you home.”

Gi Seoin said. I buried my back into the seat and replied.

“I’ll take the bus back. It’s not like my leg is hurt, and my shoulder pain has improved a lot, so I think I can do that.”

Gi Seoin glanced at me. His gaze was a silent command to just allow him to give me a ride. However, I had my own reasons for not doing so.

“You worked hard taking care of me for a week, and I don’t want to call you away in the middle of your workday. It’s your first day back after leave, so go work hard.”

“A brief moment doesn’t matter…”

“If you keep acting like this, rumors will spread that you’ve been led astray in your later years, you know?”

I cut off his stubbornness with a joke.

“I’m really fine, so just focus on work. I’ll contact you when I get home. That way, my mind will be at ease.”

Gi Seoin closed his lips in a straight line, looking dissatisfied. He was likely battling his own persistence while weighing my feelings. He was a guy who was quite full of consideration.

“The lunch and dinner boxes are in the fridge. Eat them.”

“I didn’t see you packing lunch boxes; when did you do it?”

“While you were washing up.”

“My, my, aren’t you the prince of domesticity. Thanks.”

“Is there such a thing as a domestic prince?”

Gi Seoin countered my silly joke in a blunt tone. In the past, even a snort would have been an excessive reaction, but the guy had changed quite a bit over the week.

“There is, he’s called Gi Seoin.”

“He sounds like a pitiful prince.”

“It is a bit like that; doing laundry and dishes…”

I chuckled. Like this, we drove down the road today as if it were an extension of the past week. But soon, the moment the hospital building appeared at the edge of my vision, I stepped out of the illusion. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the illusion cast me off.

“You don’t have to walk me to the lobby. Hurry to work. You’ll be late.”

Gi Seoin, who was waiting for me to get out after opening the passenger door, flinched as if his inner thoughts had been read.

“Do you know where to go?”

“Am I a child? I know.”

I wondered if, in Gi Seoin’s eyes, I was still a child. Just as he was to me.

“Drive carefully and work hard, my puppy.”

I patted him on the back.

Gi Seoin opened his lips as if to say something, but in the end, he said nothing and got into the car. I waved at him and then headed toward the hospital.

“How have you been feeling?”

The doctor asked with a professional smile hanging on his lips.

“I think the pain has improved a lot. It hurts a bit in the morning and at night, but in the afternoon, there’s almost no pain.”

Without lying, I spoke while emphasizing that I was as okay as possible.

“So, regarding that, is it okay to take off the brace? It’s a bit uncomfortable for moving around.”

“Hmm… First, let’s take a look at the condition and then talk.”

If only I could take off the brace, it would be wonderful. If so, it would be much easier to find work.

I had bought a month of time thanks to Gi Seoin, but since I promised to pay him back and had to prepare for next month, I had to return to the front lines of making a living as soon as possible.

After the re-examination and the tedious physical therapy—which I hated from the start—I faced the doctor with a heart that felt like it was making a lifelong wish.

“So, how is it…?”

“You’re young, so the recovery is certainly fast. If you look here, can you feel that the damaged area has significantly improved even to the naked eye?”

Honestly, looking at it, I wondered if it really had improved, but I nodded my head vigorously.

“Yes, I see.”

“The movement has become much more comfortable when rotating the shoulder, too. You can consider the inflammation to be almost completely gone. We will stop the antibiotics.”

“Ah, yes, yes. Then the brace…”

“Primarily, I recommend you continue wearing it, but since you say it’s uncomfortable for daily life, I will say… it wouldn’t be too much to take it off for short periods.”

Whoa! I felt like let out a shout of joy.

If I was allowed to take it off for a while, I could just find a job with short working hours. Heavy labor would be difficult, but this was plenty. The week of playing and eating had been worth it.

“Thank you!”

Unlike when I entered the hospital, my steps as I left were as light as a cloud. I picked up my phone as I headed toward the bus stop.

[I’m doing okay haha I was praised for my recovery speed being incredibly faast]

[Incredibly fast]

[Typing with one hand so typos ㅠㅠ]

[I’m at the bus stop!!]

Because I was typing with one hand, the speed was slow. By the time I sent the message, I was already at the stop. I looked for my bus number on the electronic board. Arriving in 16 minutes. Since it’s a bus with long intervals, it’s coming earlier than I feared.

Perhaps because of the brace, someone sitting on the bench at the stop offered me their seat. I said I was fine and moved to a spot slightly away from the stop. The bus stop wasn’t shaking like a bus and my legs were fine, so it was embarrassing to be offered a seat.

I was searching for a job while waiting for the bus when my phone rang. I thought it might be Gi Seoin, but upon seeing the saved name, I swallowed hard.

“Hello, owner!”

—Mr. Seungkyung, your voice sounds energetic? I guess I don’t have to ask if you’ve been well.

The owner’s voice was also full of energy.

—How is the arm?

“I’m actually on my way back from the hospital right now. They say the recovery is fast.”

—Wow, then you can work soon?

“Yes, I don’t think it will take as long as six months. I think I could even do light work as long as it isn’t something physically demanding right away.”

I brought up the last part on purpose. It was because I hoped he might give me even a simple task.

—Is that so? That’s wonderful.

The owner’s voice brightened.

—Did you say you were on your way home?

“Ah, I’m still waiting for the bus.”

—Is the hospital far from the shop? Do you want to come by for a bit?

“Are you at the shop, owner?”

It was still morning. The bar would open in the evening, so it was a bit burdensome if the owner was opening the shop in the morning just because of me.

—If you say you’re coming, I’ll go. My house is close to the shop, so I can get there quickly.

“I’m worried you won’t be able to rest because of me…”

—For me, meeting people is resting.

He certainly seemed like an extroverted personality. I was the type to get along with most people well, but if asked if I were extroverted, well. If I had to pick, I seemed closer to an introverted personality.

—Don’t feel pressured. Contact me on the day you want to come. I can go out anytime.

He must have noticed I felt pressured and was being considerate. He was a delicate and kind person.

—Actually, my house is right below the shop.

…Plus, he’s rich.

‘It’s a bar opened by a guy with a silver spoon and tons of money because he loves alcohol so much.’

Then again, Lee Jongki had said that as well. Wealthy and fond of alcohol and people—it seemed being a bar owner was his calling. I was very envious of the fact that he could do the job he wanted and enjoyed without hesitation.

I finished the call, promising the owner a next meeting. Soon, the bus headed toward my house arrived.

As soon as I arrived home, I didn’t even change my clothes and started making calls to labor offices first. Explaining my situation, I argued that I could do any job as long as it wasn’t high-intensity manual labor.

However, all the answers that came back were, ‘The only spots available are for manual labor.’

The occupations recruited through labor offices were mostly manual labor. I knew this, but it was true that I had hoped just in case, so I couldn’t shake off the disappointment.

At this rate, there was no choice but to look for a job while pretending to be fine before my shoulder healed. I laid my back against the floor. A weight like a boulder—helplessness—pressed down on me.

At this moment, I felt like my mood wouldn’t be sinking this much if I were with Gi Seoin…

At the thought that flashed reflexively, I rubbed my face vigorously.

Over the past week, without even knowing it, I seem to have become excessively dependent on Gi Seoin. It was by no means a good change.

“Get it together, Woo Seungkyung. Seungkyung…”

Warning myself, I rubbed away the Gi Seoin floating around in my head. Even if he didn’t disappear, I did it again, once more, repeatedly.

‘Because it’s not normal! Between normal friends, it’s not like that. You and I are friends, and so if you do that, I… feel uncomfortable.’

The person who said that was none other than me.

Yes, these kinds of feelings were not something one should have between normal friends. I crumpled up my heart, which was fluctuating at will, and threw it into a corner.