FETCH 13

Was that so.

Come to think of it, his voice did seem a bit off. The low, locked tone had been rolling unsightly across the floor for a while now. He hadn’t realized it. It made sense, as Jaechan lived alone and had no reason to talk to anyone until he left the house.

Moreover, since he had moved his part-time job hours early, he hadn’t even had a reason to call Park Minjun, whom he contacted almost every day. Only then did Jaechan figure his voice must be quite a mess.

Still, compared to his voice, his physical condition was decent. Jaechan adjusted the air conditioner’s wind strength.

“No, I’m okay. I’m on my way now. Is it okay for you to be on the phone like this?”

— I said I’m doing it, so what are they going to do about it.

In any case, Han Kang was Han Kang. He could hear the voices of the team leader and the team manager calling him in the background, but Han Kang prioritized Jaechan over them, saying “One moment,” as if he were on a very important call.

It felt good. But the grin was short-lived. His head throbbed, causing Jaechan to instinctively grab his temples.

He certainly seemed to be unwell. Had he caught a cold? Yet, seeing as he still had energy, it didn’t feel like body aches. Why? He was so sensitive to the cold that he didn’t even turn on the air conditioner properly at home, and he had slept soundly all bundled up in his blankets.

He concluded that if things really didn’t improve, he should buy some medicine. Jaechan left a short message for Han Kang, who was still holding onto the phone, saying, “I’ll be there soon, see you later,” and hung up first. If he didn’t, it was obvious Han Kang would keep holding the phone even in front of the photo wall.

Even while feeling ill, Jaechan’s lips curled up into a smile. The way he acted was quite commendable. Even though Jaechan himself, who liked him, would bluntly hang up the phone when it was a nuisance, Han Kang never once treated Jaechan carelessly. Even if he had to leave a spot urgently against his will, he always made sure to finish the conversation properly.

That had been his long-standing habit since they were young. When they were busy putting effort into recovering from monster damage, the development of mobile devices was also slow. So, in the days when they didn’t have cell phones, whenever they called on the house phone, Han Kang would say, “Let’s hang up now,” and then hold onto the phone for a long time. Because of that, it was always Jaechan who hung up first.

It was the same when they went to school together. Since they lived in the same apartment complex, it should have been enough to part ways in front of the building entrance, but Han Kang always walked Jaechan to his specific building entrance, which required several more steps. After that, he would stand outside and watch him until the elevator doors closed.

After a long while, once he arrived home, he would always send a message saying he had arrived. When asked what took him so long, he would reply, “I waited to see you go up before leaving.” As if he had watched until the elevator came to a complete stop.

Then and now, his heart tickled when he thought of him. Jaechan liked the way Han Kang hadn’t changed. Thinking that might be why he couldn’t escape this emotion, like an ant-lion’s pit, he finished parking.

Now the situation was reversed. Picking up and seeing off had all become Jaechan’s responsibility.

“Ehyu,” Jaechan let out a sigh and scanned the bustling exterior of the airport. Aside from the fact that it was good Han Kang hadn’t changed a bit, he resented his own body, which was equally unchanging.

If he didn’t manifest as a Guide here, would they just continue to stay as friends like this forever? That wouldn’t be bad, but… he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied and thirsty for more. Jaechan needed a change.

As he got out of the car, his head was now dizzy. He was stepping forward out of inertia, but he couldn’t distinguish whether he was going the right way or not. Heading toward the gate Han Kang had told him in advance, Jaechan pressed near his temples several times to steady himself.

If he were just blatantly, terribly sick, he would at least go to the hospital. But it wasn’t that; his body just felt strange. He felt nauseous, yet at the same time, he felt fine.

The ground seemed to heave, and his surroundings felt like they were spinning. Whether it was cold sweats or not, he alternated between being cold and hot, and his breath gradually became stifled. He felt like he might live if he turned on the hand fan he brought and felt the breeze, but even that was very brief.

“Ha-ah…”

It was when Jaechan stopped walking slowly, grabbed a pillar, and let out a deep sigh. Suddenly, the surroundings became noisy, and the sound of “Dudada,” running feet rushed in all at once.

The sound of feet lightly treading the floor quickly gathered like a downpour, creating a massive noise.

“What is it, what is it?”

“Did a celebrity come?”

The humming sound of people asking each other was so loud. As those voices were added one by one, the gazes of the people wandering inside the airport busy searched the surroundings. Then, “Someone’s over there!” someone’s shout was heard. Similar voices of puzzled people followed immediately, sucking in the footsteps of those watching the situation.

“Should we go too? Didn’t a really famous celebrity come?”

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

He didn’t even have the spare energy to look around at what was happening. Jaechan barely endured the urge to collapse while clutching his stifled chest.

Ah, my body is really strange.

His body swayed as he collided with people who had started running all at once for some urgent reason. He had no room to respond to the half-hearted apologies heard each time.

The world spun. Looking at the view ahead which turned yellow in an instant, the idle sentiment of “So this is what it means when they say the sky turns yellow” burst out.

He was definitely unwell. Han Kang had said he had to do a press conference anyway. He concluded it would be better to sit somewhere while waiting for his call.

Jaechan slowly looked around and checked the chairs placed here and there. After moving his steps slowly to avoid colliding with the people running “Udada,” he finally sat down and curled his body.

His heart thudded violently. Beyond being painful, it felt like a tight pulling sensation, and then his stomach turned as if he would vomit at any moment.

Why is it like this…

No matter how sick he had been, he had never felt like this, so he was flustered.

It was like his eyes were tingling. No, maybe his hands and feet were all tingling. It felt like he had eaten very spicy food and the stimulation was spreading through his entire body.

It felt as if all the energy in his body was being drained, and even all the moisture was being sucked out. He wanted to lie down right now and breathe evenly. Come to think of it, he couldn’t even distinguish how he was breathing right now.

“Ah, ha-eu…”

Jaechan, who let out a pained breath, clutched his heart, huddled his body as much as possible, and hugged himself tight. It was painful. A chill set in and his whole body trembled, yet even so, cold sweat flowed down his forehead.

‘Did I eat something wrong? Could it be that I took too much medicine?’

Only now did he remember being told there could be side effects. Could side effects that had never existed suddenly appear?

He had to hurry and meet Han Kang, and he had to get better quickly so he could answer Han Kang’s call properly.

Even while in pain, he became anxious, worried that he might show Han Kang his sick appearance. He didn’t have time to be like this, right now…

It was when he squeezed his eyes shut against his fading vision and then opened them. Even while feeling the commotion around him subside, Jaechan couldn’t make any reaction.

“Heok, Han Kang.”

He just looked straight ahead at a voice heard from somewhere.

A man wearing the uniform issued to national athletes stood before him. The corners of his mouth, which wore a flashy flower necklace and a glittering gold medal around his neck, were pulled tight.

It was a bright smile no matter when he saw it. Just by looking, it felt like his stomach, which had been churning until now, was settling down quietly. No matter where he was hidden, Han Kang always found Jaechan. Jaechan straightened his back and posture again and forced a smile toward him.

“Honey!”

That damn “honey” talk… People will misunderstand if they hear that.

“Pik,” a laugh leaked out for a moment.

“What’s this, why are you like this?”

Han Kang, who had pushed through the massive crowd, was suddenly standing in front of him. His face, turned pale with shock, was quite a sight. Jaechan weakly replied with a “What,” and scanned his face.

“Good job with the match.”

The moment he offered the comfort he had saved to deliver directly with his own mouth.

“Hey, hey!”

The world spun and the strength in his entire body gave out. As if someone had struck a chisel against his temple, a pain like his head was breaking accompanied by a ringing in his ears set in, and his strength drained away.

His gaze fell rapidly from high to low. Simultaneously, there was no gap to catch his consciousness as it drifted far away. He felt something solid being placed behind his back to support him, but that was as far as it went.

“Jaechan-ah!”

He had no energy to answer even Han Kang’s urgent voice.