FETCH 7

— Oh, Jaechan.

Jaechan let out a pained moan, “Keung,” as he gripped his cell phone. He couldn’t even remember when he had placed the call, but Park Minjun’s voice was coming through the receiver.

Wondering if he had passed out somewhere else after drinking, he rolled his eyes—which felt tightly strained—and scanned his surroundings; the scenery was familiar. It was home.

Estimating his field of vision, it seemed the place where he was lying was on top of his bed. He let his head bounce once, “Thump.” The pillow felt soft and stable against him.

Then why did he call?

“Yes, hyung…”

He answered slowly while carefully working his brain. For a moment, his vision spun and heat lurked throughout his entire body. No sooner had he let out an aching “Euk” than an urgent shout of “Why!” came from the other side.

“Ah, ah. Hyung.”

It seemed he had called subconsciously because he wasn’t feeling well. He had to quickly find someone to cover his shift if he didn’t show up for work.

His thorough sense of responsibility, exerted even while in pain, was truly worthy of praise. Jaechan let out another moan, “Keung,” and turned over to lie on his side. The sky he saw immediately was just blue, but because his head was spinning, the sunlight wasn’t very welcome. It was the same sunlight as usual, but his eyeballs felt like they were going to burst.

“I don’t think I can make it today because I’m not feeling well.”

— Uh, where does it hurt? Your voice sounds really bad too. Should I take you to the hospital?

“No, I’ll try going by myself.”

— Can you make it?

“Ah, you think I can’t even manage that?”

He tried to answer with a shallow laugh, pretending to be fine, but that was only temporary. His distorted expression showed no sign of smoothing out.

His insides hurt. Beyond just hurting, his skin stung as if someone were pricking him with needles. He felt like he was shivering, and cold and heat seemed to strike him alternately.

Worry for him poured out continuously from across the receiver. The words saying to tell him right now if it was too bad and that he would come pick him up went on endlessly, eventually becoming a lecture.

Jaechan just laughed without any response. Park Minjun was a hyung he had been close with since childhood, along with Han Kang. Then, recently, after opening a pork cutlet restaurant, he had asked Jaechan for help.

It wasn’t that he was particularly desperate for money, but he was interested in part-time work itself. Besides the fact that he hadn’t gone to university, he had become bored living alone because of Han Kang, who had become much busier around that time.

Because of that, he had somehow become a bit closer to Park Minjun. Perhaps that was why his worry was understandable and he was grateful for it. Jaechan laughed lowly, “Heu-heu.”

— You’re laughing?

“Hyung, I’m fine. If I think I can’t make it, I’ll call an ambulance and go, so hyung, go prepare for the opening.”

— Really now… If you’re really sick, make sure to contact me, okay, uh?

“Yes, I’ll call you.”

Barely managing to hang up, Jaechan struggled to lift his body. He had only raised his upper body to lean against the headboard, but his head rang with a “Ting.” A ragged breath burst out from his mouth, “Huk.”

The breath that shot out was so hot it felt like his head was cooking. He definitely felt like he should go to the hospital, but he couldn’t move his body as he wished.

Even in the midst of that, the area around his chest felt itchy. He knew this wasn’t a flutter of excitement or joy, but a reaction caused by expectation. For some reason, his heart seemed to beat more wildly than usual, “Kung-kung.” Jaechan placed his hand over his chest, feeling the aching flesh around the resonance of his heart.

‘I hope it’s really manifestation fever this time.’

Jaechan held the slowly blooming hope deep in his chest.

They said that usually, when Espers or Guides manifest, symptoms similar to a bad cold or flu appear. After suffering from headaches and fevers, in severe cases, they even faint right where they stand. He had heard that because of that, there were cases where people even got minor concussions, and Jaechan was just envious of every one of those dangerous symptoms.

And for good reason; for several years now, every time he suffered from a body ache, Jaechan had been hoping that this painful agony consuming his body was due to manifestation fever. Of course, every time he dragged his feverish body to the hospital, all he got back was a single heartless comment from the doctor saying, “It’s a mild cold, get an injection before you go.”

Jaechan called a taxi with his phone and fumbled to put on his clothes. First of all, whether it was manifestation or whatever, he had to go to the hospital to get a diagnosis, so he set the destination as the hospital.

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to toss back the medicine he always took. Nothing was written on the white pill bottle, but Jaechan had purposefully kept the medicine container right in front of the entrance so he wouldn’t forget to take it every morning and evening. It was a bit of a hassle to have to clear it away whenever Han Kang came over, but he had no choice because otherwise he would forget every time.

「I’m going to the hospital-dang」

After leaving a message for Han Kang, Jaechan took difficult steps and left the house.

.✦ ݁˖

By the time he regained consciousness, he was already at the hospital. An IV was plugged into his arm as he lay in the emergency room, and no doctor was visible nearby.

Someone’s words came to mind, saying that the best thing in an emergency room is for the doctor not to be by your side. Then does that mean I’m not an emergency this time either?

Well, after getting the IV, blinking his eyes was much easier than before. As he sat up, feeling much better, a nurse who spotted him approached.

“You can leave once the IV is finished.”

“I was wondering why I was sick…”

He let his voice trail off, feeling embarrassed for no reason. It was a bit embarrassing to ask with his own mouth, ‘Did I not manifest as a Guide?’ As he hesitated, the nurse smiled kindly. Then, she said very clearly.

“It’s a cold and body ache. The payment has all been settled, and you can go home once the IV is finished.”

The nurse, who drove the point home with a softly smiling face, was heartless. But he couldn’t act like a crazy person toward her, shouting, “Why! Why didn’t I manifest!” Jaechan answered politely, “Yes.”

Fuck, I’m consistently taking the medicine that those famous researchers supposedly made, and yet I didn’t manifest this time either. Wasn’t that all just waste material?

Thinking that his manifestation as a Guide had gone down the drain again, he felt a momentary surge of irritation and frowned, but only for a second. Jaechan suddenly snapped his head up.

The payment was settled? He didn’t even have proper memories after getting into the taxi, so who settled the payment?

It was just as he was tilting his head in confusion, not understanding. As if she knew what his question was, the nurse pointed toward a noisy corner.

“Esper Han Kang came earlier and settled the payment. He said you were a precious person.”

Jaechan slowly turned his head to look where the nurse was pointing. His gaze followed a bit late because he was busy giving his thanks.

Just as the nurse said, at the entrance of the emergency room, he saw Han Kang, whose head stood a full level higher than the others. Whether he was surrounded by a crowd that recognized him, Han Kang had a troubled expression, yet he was fulfilling each and every request the people were making.

Han Kang, swept up in the crowd, was a sight to behold. His excellence stood out even more, and the fact that he was receiving an enormous amount of interest from many people was palpable.

However, that didn’t mean his heart was at ease while looking at him. Jaechan watched him blankly while sitting awkwardly on the bed. Even as he tried to glance over toward him every now and then, Han Kang, caught in the fervor of those around him, was restless.

He looked exactly like a puppy who had lost its owner.

It seemed he had come flying here after seeing the message I sent, but if he was going to come, he should have stayed by my side; he didn’t know why he was doing that outside.

Then his eyes met Han Kang’s. Jaechan waved his relatively free arm toward him. Those handsome eyes opened wide. Then, as if the person who had been hesitating until now was someone else, he pushed through the surrounding crowd in an instant and strode toward him, “Seongkeum-seongkeum.”

His steps, “Kung-kung,” thumping down, looked almost urgent. Toward Han Kang, who had approached that closely, he gave an awkward smile.

“Hey, why are you so…”

He was about to say, Your expression is frozen, but.

Before he could even speak, Han Kang grabbed him and hugged him tightly. At any other time, he would have just hugged him back, but right now, there were many people watching around them. No matter how much society had opened up, it wasn’t very common for two guys to be stuck together like this when they weren’t even an Esper and a Guide.

“Hey, Han Kang.”

Jaechan tried to push his shoulders, but the body, as solid as a rock, didn’t budge. The surrounding gazes followed them blatantly. Feeling embarrassed, Jaechan applied strength again to try and push him away. Han Kang only applied more strength to pull their bodies closer and wouldn’t be pushed away at all.

If this keeps up, what does that make me, someone who used my strength as a fellow man?

Embarrassment flooded in for a different reason, but he decided to focus on the fact that he was a patient and Han Kang was a physically sturdy Esper, not even a regular person.