SATURDAY 65

“…Jang Sehyeon, this son of a bitch….”

My uncle spat out the curse as he threw his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, then slowly opened them. His face looked as though he were so angry he couldn’t control himself. I cautiously grabbed his arm to calm him down. Of course, even in that moment, I imagined my uncle shaking off my hand.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“Un, uncle.”

“Ah…. Sorry. It’s okay. Give me the medicine; I’ll hold onto it.”

“No, I heard even just possessing this is illegal.”

“I suppose so. I know a doctor, so I’ll handle it through him. Don’t worry.”

Come to think of it, even when he wasn’t feeling well in the past, my uncle never seemed to go to Inhyun University Hospital. I suddenly became curious and was about to ask more, but my uncle pointed at me and gave a slight flick of his finger.

“Buckle up.”

“Ah, okay.”

As I buckled my seatbelt with a bit of a fumble, my uncle immediately started the car. The car soon left the alleyway near the house and headed out onto the main road. Caught at a signal, my uncle stopped the car, glanced at me, and suddenly burst out laughing.

“Why, why?”

“We’ll have to stop by a mart first. To buy you a lint roller.”

Only then did I look down at my body with an “Ah.” My sweater and pants were a mess with Lili’s fur. Usually, I roll a lint roller over myself at the entrance before coming out, but today I forgot because I left in such a hurry.

“There’s tape in the front. Try to do something with that at least. It looks itchy just watching you.”

“Okay….”

When I opened the glove box, there was indeed tape inside. I rolled a piece around my hand, tore it off, and asked as I picked the fur off my clothes.

“But, is it itchy? Do you have a fur allergy or something, uncle?”

“No, I just said that. I do have a friend with a cat allergy, though.”

“I see…. Then your friend won’t be able to meet Lili.”

My uncle laughed.

“Well, I’m not sure if he’d even want to meet a cat. He’s a guy whose tastes are so hard to pin down.”

“….”

I stared blankly at my uncle for a moment. It was the first time I’d heard him talk about someone he knew, and the nuance and tone of his speech were mysterious. It felt like he was talking about someone he was interested in….

I was going to ask in detail, but before I knew it, the car arrived at the hospital. There were no reporters at this hospital, so it was much quieter and more comfortable than Inhyun University Hospital.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t received word yet that my parents’ intensive treatment had ended. Were they still hovering between life and death? The tension that had relaxed slightly while talking with my uncle surged again. I had to fiddle with my chest for a long time to suppress the sourness rising lightly.

If it were Mr. Taeseon, he would have noticed my state immediately, but my uncle didn’t have a very sensitive personality. He was just looking at his phone, so I pressed down on my chest with a somewhat relieved heart.

We took the elevator straight from the first floor to the consultation room, where a doctor was waiting. The doctor asked this and that, nodded as if understanding, and prescribed some medicine.

However, that wasn’t the end. The doctor was tapping on the keyboard with a serious face throughout our conversation, and even let out a small sigh after giving the prescription.

As I watched, wondering why she was acting like that, the doctor spoke. Although she spoke in a roundabout way, the gist was that my condition was very poor.

“How are you feeling right now? You came because your anxiety is severe, right?”

“Yes…. I’m constantly anxious. It’s like….”

“Like?”

“I’m on a battlefield. I’ve never been on a battlefield, but….”

“It can feel that way. Well then, let’s run a few tests.”

The female doctor, who looked to be in her forties, spoke with a kind smile. After that, I was dragged all over the hospital. After receiving an EEG, a heart ultrasound, and even a brain MRI, over two hours had flown by. My uncle stayed by my side and took care of me the entire time I was being tested.

Coming out after the MRI and changing my clothes, I immediately checked my phone. There was still no contact from Mr. Taeseon. When I walked out of the dressing room, I saw my uncle talking on the phone with someone.

“Why should I do that? Ah… hang up for now.”

I could vaguely hear the person on the other end shouting something, but my uncle callously hung up. Then, changing his expression, he asked with a smile.

“Why did your face suddenly turn so bad? Did something happen?”

“Well….”

Actually, I thought there would be a message from Mr. Taeseon by the time I finished the tests. But there was no word at all. I looked up at my uncle and spoke.

“…You’re anxious because the General Manager went to Manila?”

“Yes, it’s strange, isn’t it? Sorry….”

“No, not at all. That can happen sometimes. Isn’t it about time he’s still on the plane? He’ll contact you as soon as he lands. Don’t worry.”

In fact, it was already past the arrival time. That was also why I was becoming more anxious.

But as if those words from my uncle were some magic spell, the phone suddenly began to vibrate. Country code 63… it was the Philippines. I answered the phone in a fluster.

“He, hello?”

― Inyoung-ah? Sorry I’m late calling. The flight was delayed. I just arrived in Manila.

The noise of a crowded airport could be heard around him. My heart felt a bit at ease for a moment, but as soon as I thought about how Mr. Taeseon had to be in Manila from now on, I started to feel nervous again.

“Mr. Taeseon…. You’re only going to safe places, right?”

Then Mr. Taeseon laughed.

― Of course. The car is armored, and there are bodyguards. The meeting places and accommodations are highly secure, so really, don’t worry.

An armored car? That sounds a bit cool….

While I was thinking that, I heard someone calling Mr. Taeseon over the phone. He seemed busy. I spoke quickly.

“I understand; please be careful. And contact me when you have time….”

― Of course. Is that all you have to say? Nothing else?

“Else?”

― There’s something I want to hear. Don’t you have anything to say to me, Inyoung?

I hesitated for a moment and then murmured in a small voice.

“I miss you….”

― I miss you too. I love you.

“…Yes, me too….”

I hung up the phone with my face slightly flushed. My uncle was staring blankly at me. It hit me—I had completely forgotten my uncle’s existence while I was on the phone.

“Your face is red.”

I felt my face turn even redder because of my uncle, who spoke with a smile.

“Y-yeah.”

“Let’s go to the consultation room.”

“Okay….”

As he said that, my uncle grabbed both of my ears tightly.

“It hurts, why are you doing that?”

“It’s hot, so hot. I’m going to get burned.”

Laughing playfully, my uncle let go and headed to the consultation room first. I followed behind, covering my burning face with my hands.

∞ ∞ ∞

I went through a long series of tests, but there was nothing particularly wrong other than my heart beating a little fast. Although the anxiety symptoms were severe, it seemed they were at a level that would be fine if I took the prescribed medicine, as I didn’t even receive a tranquilizer injection.

Professor Jang used to tell the psychiatry professor to let me get them occasionally….

When I asked if it was okay not to get one, the professor at this hospital kindly told me that those have a dependency risk and are only given in emergencies. For some reason, those words made me feel relieved.

After spending a long time at the hospital, I returned home with my uncle. Lili was indeed sitting in front of the middle door.

“What’s this? Has she been waiting all this time?”

“No, I think she knows we’ve entered after hearing the car entry notification.”

“…A cat?”

“She’s smart.”

“Hearing the entry notification…? Huh, how remarkable.”

My uncle tilted his head, washed his hands, and as he came out drying them, he asked.

“Inyoung, aren’t you hungry? I heard earlier that you didn’t eat breakfast.”

I had only said that because I was asked during the blood test and hadn’t eaten anything today, but it seems my uncle heard it.

“Maybe you couldn’t eat because I called right after you woke up. Do you want to eat something?”

“Yes…. There should be people in the annex. Shall I call them?”

“Forget it, I’ll whip something up for you.”

At those words, I stopped my hand which was about to pick up the intercom. My uncle had often cooked for me before.

My uncle’s cooking skills are quite excellent. On the other hand, the staff who were all newly replaced this time—although there was a person in charge of cooking—were still in the stage of finding someone who suited me and Mr. Taeseon.

My uncle rummaged through the cupboards and the refrigerator, then placed pasta noodles, beef, mackerel, asparagus, and olive oil on the counter. Among them were ingredients that made me think, ‘Was that in the house?’ It was natural that I didn’t know what was in the kitchen, but still….

In less than thirty minutes, my uncle served oil pasta topped with mackerel and garlic scapes, a well-seared steak, sautéed asparagus, and side dishes of young radish pickles and cabbage pickles.

On top of the steak, a thumb-sized piece of butter was melting into the heat of the meat, and the asparagus smelled of fragrant garlic. The oil pasta looked quite spicy, sprinkled with plenty of red Vietnamese chilies.

How did he make all this in an instant? As I looked at my uncle with a surprised face, he placed a small plate down and asked, “Why?”

“No…. Did you make these pickles just now too?”

“What, it’s not like I’m a wizard. They were in the fridge.”

“Ah….”

My uncle even made sparkling water with lemon, cilantro, and lemongrass.

I wondered if such heavy food would go down since I hadn’t eaten anything since morning, but it literally went down smoothly. The mackerel and pasta paired very well, and the meat melted in my mouth.

As I finished all the food in an instant and was rubbing my stomach, my uncle quickly cleared the table.

“Oh, I’ll help too….”

“I’m done.”

My uncle had already finished organizing everything and had put the empty dishes into the dishwasher. Then, as I was fumbling to brew coffee, he came over and meddled.

“You drink decaf. I heard caffeine isn’t good for anxiety.”

“Really?”

Just as my uncle said, I brewed regular coffee for his portion and decaf for mine, and took them to the living room. Lili, who had been snooping around the kitchen since he started grilling the mackerel, had quieted down after being given feed and a can, and was now grooming herself on the cat tower after finishing her meal.

During that time, I checked my phone several times. It was past the time Mr. Taeseon should have arrived at his accommodation, but there was no contact. Was he having a meal first?

Even after taking the medicine, the anxiety didn’t fade much. This is because real anxiety cannot be soothed with medicine.

Just then, my uncle’s phone rang.

“….”

My heart fluttered strangely again. I stared blankly at my uncle as he answered the phone with an expressionless face.

“…I understand. Please contact me immediately if any other information comes in.”

“Uncle?”

After my uncle hung up the phone, I called out to him.

A strange premonition. A strange… sense of anxiety.

My uncle avoided my eyes for a moment, then came and sat in front of me, grabbing both of my shoulders and looking into my eyes.

“Inyoung-ah, don’t be too shocked and listen well.”

“…Why, why…? What’s wrong….”

“The General Manager, right now….”

My uncle took a breath and continued slowly.

“They say they cannot determine his current location.”