PAHO 59

“Hyung-ah, there’s blood, blood on your face.”

Turning pale at the sight of the blood that was not just soaking his white face but dripping down, Nam Haejin stammered. Confirming the drops of blood trickling down the side of his hand, Na Taebeom tore off some tissue paper from the dispenser on the wall and handed it to him.

“Don’t press hard, just gently plug the front of your nose.”

Blinking his dizzy eyes, Nam Gyeonhwa gently covered his nose with the tissue. Swiftly guiding him to the sofa, Na Taebeom rummaged through the refrigerator. He came back with an ice pack wrapped in a towel.

“Put it on your nose.”

“…It’ll stop if I just leave it.”

“The kid will calm down faster if it stops quickly, won’t he?”

Frowning, Na Taebeom forcefully placed the ice pack in his hand. After checking Haejin’s face, which looked like it was about to burst into tears at any moment, Nam Gyeonhwa obediently placed the ice pack on the bridge of his nose. As the cold sensation soothed the heat in his stinging nostrils, the slight dizziness also seemed to subside.

“Hyung-ah, are you okay? Is it, bleeding, a lot?”

Nam Haejin, who had come closer, asked. Hearing the faint coughs mixed in with his sniffles, Nam Gyeonhwa lowered the ice pack from his face and checked his complexion. His face looked a little flushed, and just as he thought, he had a slight fever.

“I’m, I’m okay.”

“What do you mean, okay? You’re coughing, too.”

Forget the nosebleed; the top priority was to give him his evening medicine right away. The prescription medicine, did I leave it in the bedroom? Just as he tossed the ice pack carelessly onto the sofa and was about to head to the bedroom, his arm was caught.

“Where are you going in the middle of stopping the bleeding?”

“I have to give him his medicine.”

“Medicine?”

Na Taebeom’s gaze, with one eyebrow cocked, shifted to Nam Haejin, who was standing by the sofa, coughing. Holssi Syndrome. He had heard it was a rare underlying condition with fewer than a thousand cases found in the country, but he hadn’t realized that a brief shock could cause a fever to rise so quickly and even affect his breathing.

So this is why he was always going on about the kid. Na Taebeom gazed steadily at Nam Gyeonhwa, who was carefully feeding Haejin water and medicine, alternating spoonfuls so he wouldn’t choke.

At first glance, he seemed to have no desire for anything, but his desired goal was firm, and for that reason, it was easy to exploit the weaknesses he possessed. Even Na Taebeom himself was in a position to use Nam Gyeonhwa’s desperate situation, yet, on the other hand, the thought that this desperation might be exploited by others was unpleasant.

For example, Won Hyeonseong. As someone who preferred negotiation over threats, he would likely prefer to win over someone like Nam Gyeonhwa, whose desperate situation was so clear. It was for that reason that he had intentionally put Nam Gyeonhwa forward as bait, but recently, he had come to hate the idea of showing him to Won Hyeonseong at all. The moment he allowed contact, he would have no choice but to intentionally provoke that crafty bastard’s interest, and how could he bear to watch that?

By the way, are those two really just brothers? To say they weren’t related by a single drop of blood, any third party who didn’t know the situation could easily mistake him for a biological child he had given birth to and raised himself.

Could he really be his own child? Na Taebeom, who was intently studying their two faces in turn, checked the caller ID on his phone as it suddenly rang. It was a call from Gil Useong.

Beep. At the sound indicating a temperature reading, Nam Gyeonhwa checked the display of the in-ear thermometer. 37.1 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, the fever showed no signs of rising further.

“You’re not dizzy or anything, are you?”

Taking his hand from his forehead, Nam Gyeonhwa asked, and Haejin quietly nodded his head. He had taken his medicine and his breathing wasn’t labored, so it didn’t seem necessary to go to the medical center right away.

“It’s too late. Let’s just, brush our teeth and go to bed.”

“Okay.”

Haejin, who was fiddling with the blanket draped over his shoulders, turned his eyes, bright with delight, at the sound of the door lock opening. Na Taebeom, who had gone out to answer the phone call, was just entering through the doorway. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had assumed he had gone home, blinked his eyes rapidly in surprise at his appearance.

“…You’re not leaving?”

“Me?”

Na Taebeom, who was tapping the dirt off the heels of his sneakers, tilted his head. At the nonchalant question, Nam Gyeonhwa checked the clock. The hour hand was just about to reach the northernmost point.

“It’s almost twelve o’clock.”

“Let me sleep here.”

“What?”

At the sudden request, Nam Gyeonhwa blinked his eyes, bewildered. Did I hear him wrong? Na Taebeom yawned and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m too lazy to drive.”

“Right now, you mean, you’re going to sleep here?”

“Why? Can’t I?”

Na Taebeom, who had approached him at some point, leaned his head in close. Nam Gyeonhwa, whose lips had gone dry with bewilderment to the point that he was speechless, backed away.

“…There’s no place to sleep. And definitely no bedding.”

“I can just sleep in the living room. I don’t cover myself with a blanket much anyway since it’s hot.”

“It’s uncomfortable for me.”

“Why is it uncomfortable?”

“How could it possibly be comfortable for you to suddenly say you’re sleeping over like this?”

“But, the streets are scary at night, so I can’t go home alone.”

At the tone, which was just like a child’s whining, Nam Gyeonhwa stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. What did I just hear?

“The streets, are scary…?”

“Of course they’re scary. No matter how tough I am, it’s dangerous to wander around without my exclusive bodyguard. I could get into trouble.”

“…”

Far from getting into trouble, no one would even approach him. It was a far-fetched claim, but there was no way to refute someone’s personal feelings. If he were a man who could be reasoned with, he wouldn’t have been so insistent on being allowed to sleep over just before midnight in the first place. Groaning inwardly, Nam Gyeonhwa shook his head again.

“…Still, you can’t. Besides me, Haejin lives in this house too.”

“What does the kid think? About me sleeping over? Do you not like it?”

“Me?”

Suddenly singled out, Haejin hesitated for a moment, then glanced up at Na Taebeom.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t like it.”

At the much more favorable response than expected, the two men’s fortunes were divided. Seizing the advantage, Na Taebeom lowered his body, brought his lips to Haejin’s ear, and whispered something. Giggling because the breath tickled him, Haejin’s eyes lit up with joy.

“Hyung-ah, you know. Let’s have the director sleep over at our house. Okay?”

At the whining tone in his voice, Nam Gyeonhwa glared at Na Taebeom, who was feigning innocence. It was obvious that he had coaxed him with something in return. Looking down at the eagerly expectant Haejin, Nam Gyeonhwa ran a hand through his hair.

“The director has to go home.”

“But, the director said, if you let him sleep here, he’ll let me go see the cat this week.”

“A cat…?”

“Yup, Mr. Mason’s cat.”

At the readily given answer, Nam Gyeonhwa swallowed a sigh. It seemed he had figured out that Haejin was particularly fond of animals and had offered the cat as a condition.

“I can’t…?”

“The cat, you know, you can’t even see it for long because of the fur.”

“I can just watch from afar, with a mask on, and without touching it…”

The excited voice gradually grew smaller. In place of the discouraged Nam Haejin, Na Taebeom abruptly stepped forward.

“You’re being too harsh on the kid.”

“That’s because the director is instigating an innocent child.”

At his defensive tone, Nam Gyeonhwa ran a hand through his hair and retorted coldly. Na Taebeom shrugged his shoulders.

“So just let me sleep over.”

“I told you. It’s uncomfortable…”

“Do you hate the idea of me sleeping over that much?”

At his growling gaze, Nam Gyeonhwa bit his lip. In truth, there was no reason to hate it. The claim that there was no place to sleep was also an excuse. It wouldn’t be much of a problem to make up a decent sleeping spot for him on the living room sofa. However, for Nam Gyeonhwa, who had to go to his logistics job at one in the morning, having Na Taebeom hanging around in the living room would restrict his range of movement. He didn’t know if he was a light or heavy sleeper, but he just didn’t want to create an uncomfortable situation by running into him if he happened to be awake.

However, judging by his thorny expression, it seemed that simply saying no would only provoke his stubbornness. So far, he hadn’t demanded any sexual favors in front of Nam Haejin, but he could snap and change at any moment. Na Taebeom would surely be capable of that and more.

Nam Gyeonhwa picked up a cushion and threw it into his arms.

“Don’t complain later if the sleeping arrangements are uncomfortable.”

Picking up the clock he had left in the room and checking the time, Nam Gyeonhwa carefully got up from his bedding. Nam Haejin, who had had a harder time falling asleep than usual due to a slight cough, fortunately showed no signs of waking. He quietly changed into a spare set of clothes he had prepared in advance, then took off the device he wore around his neck and placed it neatly next to his sleeping mat.

The laundry room-cum-veranda connected to the bedroom window had a window that led outside. The sturdy triple-sash window was designed to be used as an emergency exit in case of a fire, so it didn’t have any security bars. Nam Gyeonhwa opened the window very carefully so as not to make a metallic sound. The height looking down from the window was quite high for a single story, but he jumped over the windowsill without hesitation. His landing was stable, yet his right ankle throbbed. He felt his ankle and swallowed a sigh. He was just leaving the house once, but he already felt weary. After firmly retying his shoelaces so they wouldn’t come undone, he was about to head down the slope.

“Where are you going at this hour?”