JKA 20

Saying it might be a seasonal cold since it was the change of seasons, the doctor told him to be sure to buy a mask on his way home, and Jiwoon nodded. When asked if he had done any strenuous physical activity, he had shaken his head, so it was perhaps a natural diagnosis. But how could he tell the doctor that he had sex all night, to the point of passing out? To be honest, it wasn’t a believable story.

If it were between two humans, it would be absolutely impossible. Isn’t it only possible because one party isn’t human and doesn’t get tired? The slight fever he had now and the muscle aches in his lower body all had a clear, separate cause, but feeling awkward, he decided to follow the doctor’s words, thinking it might be a cold.

And so, Jiwoon, who entered the pharmacy on the first floor of the hospital, absentmindedly picked up one of the masks hanging on the wall next to the entrance and headed to the counter, immediately presenting it along with his prescription. And the moment he raised his head to pay, his eyes met with a familiar face.

“Huh?”

Just as the hospital was crowded with people, so was the pharmacy. However, he hadn’t expected to run into someone he knew. Of all people, certainly not Im Hanbyeol.

“Jiwoon. Are you sick somewhere?”

“Why are you…”

Jiwoon faced Hanbyeol with a surprised look. Hanbyeol first entered the prescription he received from Jiwoon and scanned the types of medicine with his eyes. Although his main job was to receive prescriptions and handle payments, he also organized stock and assisted with dispensing, so he knew the names of medicines to some extent.

Moreover, since the medicines recorded on the incoming prescriptions were mostly similar, he could tell what was wrong just by a rough reading. The medicines on the prescription were painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and muscle relaxants. Hanbyeol rang up the mask as well and spoke to Jiwoon.

“Sit down and wait for a moment. Keep the mask on.”

“Uh, okay.”

Jiwoon first handed over his card to pay, and soon received it back along with the mask. Then, with a dazed look, he stepped back from the counter and sat down in a chair. People continued to pour in behind him, and Hanbyeol was busily moving back and forth between the inside and outside of the pharmacy.

He didn’t know Hanbyeol worked part-time at a pharmacy. Of course, he knew he had a part-time job. It was possible he had changed jobs during the time they hadn’t been in touch, but he was sure he had said he worked at a barbecue restaurant.

He had heard that he had been working there since high school and was close to the owner. Thinking about the atmosphere back then, he didn’t seem to have any intention of quitting, but was it because they had met in an unexpected place? Jiwoon, somewhat dumbfounded, followed Hanbyeol’s busy figure with his eyes.

‘He did say something had come up at home.’

Jiwoon muttered as he tore open the bag of the mask he was holding and put it on. If it was something that made him lose touch with others, it certainly wasn’t an ordinary matter. Come to think of it, Hanbyeol had often said he had to go to his part-time job after class ended, or that he had to go home early.

Although he got along well with his peers and seniors, he rarely stayed out late for drinks, except for necessary occasions. To be so sociable when he didn’t even hang out with people every day, Jiwoon thought he was an amazing person, but at the same time, he felt a strange sense of guilt.

That is to say, he wondered what on earth he had said to such a sincere person. If he had known something would happen at his house, he would never have said such things. That such a busy person had something happen in the meantime, and in the midst of his own circumstances, his crazy words were added on top—how much of a headache must he have had during the break?

He was the one who had thrown a nuclear bomb at someone else, but he himself couldn’t even contact him properly to apologize, and instead chanted about dying and even brought a crazy angel into his home—it was a situation that couldn’t be fully described by the word pathetic.

Just then, an elderly pharmacist came out and called Jiwoon’s name. Jiwoon hurriedly got up and received his medicine along with instructions on how to take it. He had tidied his hair a bit before coming out, but it wasn’t cut, so it was still half-covering his face. With the mask on top of that, his face was almost unrecognizable.

In this state, he could just take the medicine and leave. Hanbyeol had told him to sit and wait for a moment, but that probably meant to wait for the medicine. Even if that wasn’t the meaning, Jiwoon, who suddenly felt so pathetic, couldn’t muster the courage to face Hanbyeol again.

Honestly, if he had known he was working at this pharmacy, he would have taken a bus and gone even further to a different hospital. How did he end up choosing this one out of so many hospitals? He had just searched on a map and picked a decent internal medicine clinic, but he was just too unlucky.

The mask bag crumpled in his fist. The inside of the pharmacy was bustling with people coming and going, and Jiwoon gave a slight nod to the pharmacist who slid the medicine bag towards him. Then, just as he was about to snatch the medicine bag with his empty hand and leave the pharmacy, someone hastily blocked his path.

“Aren’t you going to throw away the trash?”

When he looked up, Hanbyeol was slinging on his bag and looking at him. He smiled, reached out his hand, and pointed to the trash can next to the entrance. Jiwoon was so flustered he couldn’t say a word. In one hand was the medicine bag, and in the other was the trash.

Jiwoon was flustered. That is, the trash he was told to throw away was the mask bag. But hearing the word trash from Hanbyeol’s mouth, he felt like his brain had short-circuited a little. Trash, yes. He certainly felt like trash. And at the same time, he wondered what on earth this man was to be so composed.

As he stood there blankly for a while, Hanbyeol reached out, took the trash from Jiwoon’s hand, and threw it in the trash can for him. Around that time, the bell on the glass door tinkled, and another customer who was about to enter the pharmacy stopped. It was because Hanbyeol and Jiwoon were blocking the way.

Hanbyeol had his back to the entrance, but he reacted quickly and squeezed his body against the wall.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Hanbyeol apologized repeatedly and this time pulled Jiwoon by the wrist. Just then, from behind Jiwoon, the pharmacist said in a voice tinged with laughter.

“What are you two lads, big as doorposts, doing blocking the entrance?”

At those words, Jiwoon quickly came to his senses, and everyone except him laughed. Jiwoon, with no time to laugh, pushed Hanbyeol’s hand away and hurriedly left the pharmacy, and Hanbyeol, with a good-natured face, said, “I know, right. I’m sorry,” and followed him.

Jiwoon walked with his eyes fixed on the floor, gripping the medicine bag in his hand as if it were someone’s hair.

From the moment Hanbyeol had approached him, bringing up the topic of their conversation that day, Jiwoon realized he could no longer avoid him. Hanbyeol, who probably wanted to avoid the topic more than anyone, had faced it head-on and tried to clear up the misunderstanding, leaving Jiwoon with no excuse to avoid him.

So, at a moment like this, he should have acted with composure. ‘Oh, you work part-time at a pharmacy. Are you getting off now?’ He should have made such very ordinary, small talk. That was the minimum courtesy he should have shown, having almost vomited out his disorganized feelings and failed to clean them up properly.

The problem was that Myeong Jiwoon’s social skills were not great enough to observe such courtesies without a second thought. For someone who struggled even to make proper eye contact and have a conversation, it was impossible. Besides, though it was a bit ridiculous, Jiwoon had already used up all the social skills he could muster by taking the bus to the hospital and even stopping by the pharmacy.

The occasional unfriendliness of busy people was rather comfortable. But why were the people he met today all so kind, why did they keep making him sit down and asking him this and that? The hospital was packed with people like bowling pins, but why couldn’t they just let someone like him go? He couldn’t stand how uncomfortable the seat was.

Cold sweat trickled down his back. A feverish heat rose throughout his body. He couldn’t tell if it was because he was sick, or because he was reacting sensitively to every single passing glance. Jiwoon just wanted to return to that small studio apartment as soon as possible. And then, climb onto the even smaller bed, curl his body up even smaller under the covers, and hold his breath.

But Hanbyeol, who couldn’t have known his feelings, caught up to Jiwoon in just a few steps. When he was caught by Hanbyeol for a total of three times, Jiwoon couldn’t hold it in any longer and shook off Hanbyeol’s hand from his shoulder, turning his head to stare at him.

Then, just as he was about to say something, Hanbyeol’s eyebrows drooped with a surprised look on his face.

“Sorry, you have body aches, right?”

“…”

“Uh, so.”

Seeing Jiwoon not saying anything, Hanbyeol rummaged through the cross-body bag he was wearing and took something out. When a long string of individually wrapped, round things came out of the bag and was placed in front of his eyes, Jiwoon frowned.

“…Condoms?”

Jiwoon muttered. Hanbyeol was silent for a moment at those words, then burst into laughter. At the sight of him bending over and cackling, Jiwoon became bewildered and looked closely at the object still in Hanbyeol’s hand. Then the word ‘vitamin’ written on the outer packaging caught his eye.

“They’re vitamins, vitamins.”

“…”

“You’re really funny.”

Hanbyeol squatted down, tore off one vitamin, and handed it to Jiwoon. Jiwoon, his face bright red, accepted the single, individually wrapped vitamin. Then he muttered to himself, ‘Fuck, nothing is going right.’ He was so embarrassed that he couldn’t even speak.

“Eat it. My younger sibling gave it to me. It’s just a children’s vitamin, like a snack.”

Right. What kind of fucked-up thought did he have looking at this children’s vitamin? Jiwoon sighed as he put the vitamin he received from Hanbyeol into the medicine bag. Then he managed to open his mouth.

“Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.”

Hanbyeol replied cheerfully and stood up. Then, with a somewhat strange expression, he scratched his head and asked Jiwoon, who was looking down.

“So, you might think I’m crazy for saying this. But can I ask you just one thing?”

“…”

“Can you see that too?”

Episode 13

“What?”

At 1129’s question, Eggerci scowled, then nodded with a look of realization.

“Yeah, that could be it.”

At that answer, it was 1129’s turn to frown. It was annoying to see him nodding and muttering to himself as if he had just figured something out, instead of giving a proper answer to the question.

“Not answering the question and just muttering to himself, does he really want to die?”

“No, no. It makes sense! If not for that, how could it be that none of the crazy shit I’m pulling is working at all.”

“Who the fuck asked to hear your whining?”

As 1129 annoyedly flicked the cigarette he was holding into the air, the butt disappeared in an instant. Eggerci, as if expecting 1129 to hit him, cowered in fear, then held his head up stiffly again as if nothing had happened.

At that sight, 1129 felt irritated, feeling like he knew why Eggerci’s face looked familiar. Looking closely, his actions and appearance somehow reminded him of Jiwoon. It was because their thought processes were foolish and their actions were similar.

“Oh, wait a minute. Why are those two together?”

Hanbyeol, who had been working part-time inside the pharmacy, was standing on the sidewalk with Jiwoon. It had happened in the brief moment 1129 and Eggerci had taken their eyes off them while bickering, hidden from human eyes.

Eggerci exclaimed, pointing at Hanbyeol and Jiwoon, and at his words, 1129 slowly turned his head to gaze at the two of them. Unlike Eggerci, 1129 showed no signs of surprise or panic. He just calmly surveyed the surroundings. The hospital and the pharmacy came into 1129’s view in order.

1129 actually smiled slightly upon seeing Jiwoon. It was a satisfaction that came purely from the fact that Jiwoon had moved as he had told him to. As if to prove it, there was something strange in his eyes as he looked at Hanbyeol.