– What did he say? Hey, that lawyer doesn’t seem like an ordinary person. As soon as I showed him his business card, things got processed quickly.
“His name certainly commands a damn expensive price. And he said he works in the legal team, so he must have some clout, I guess.”
– Even when we had a contract proving we emptied the grave, they acted like ‘sue us then.’ They treated us like beggars coming to extort money with information they already knew.
“I guess they had something prepared on their end?”
Since he said it was handled well, he thought it had been resolved easily, but apparently that wasn’t the case either. The boss spoke to Eunchan in a lamenting tone.
– From their perspective, that’s also right, I guess. They had everything set up and only the contract was left, and we came asking to take a cut of the pie. When I was on the phone with someone high up, they told us to figure it out ourselves, that they had nothing to give us.
“Is that when you sold it?”
– I had to grab at any straw, what choice did I have? When I asked if they knew someone named Han Inju in their legal team, they immediately asked how I knew that person.
“And what happened then?”
– They hung up saying they’d talk to the lawyer, and then they contacted us again a little later and said they’d give us money and take the contract.
“Doesn’t Han Inju seem suspicious?”
– Still, he helped us. Whatever they want there, accommodate them as much as possible. Don’t think about investigating anything.
The boss was right. There was no need to know what Han Inju did or what kind of person he was. Who Kim Haengbok was, or the relationship between the land and the mansion—there was no need to investigate those either. However, one corner of his heart felt uneasy. It was suspicious how far the legal team lawyer’s power reached, and it was also suspicious that a busy person would go out of his way to accompany him on an investigation.
“Boss, can you investigate Han Inju for me?”
– Are you crazy? What did you hear from what I just said? No. What are you going to do by investigating?
“I went down to Muan today, and the person named Kim Noeul hasn’t received the land yet. They said the landowner is Kim Haengbok. And Han Inju already knew that. But why are they looking for Kim Noeul?”
– Kim Haengbok must have said he won’t give the land unless it’s Kim Noeul.
“Han Inju said that too. But he said I specifically have to find him. That it can’t be anyone else.”
While fiddling with the metal railing of the stairs, Eunchan let out a big sigh.
– You and Kim Haengbok don’t know each other, do you?
“It’s a name I don’t know. And there’s a mansion on that land. That’s owned by a foundation, but they said if the land is resolved, the mansion will naturally be resolved too.”
– Why is it so complicated? Just find Kim Noeul. If you can’t do it, at least pretend to work hard on it and get out.
“I want to do that too. Boss, you don’t have anything to do anyway. Just look into Han Inju a little bit for me.”
– We could get in trouble and end up losing everything if we mess with the wrong thing.
“We don’t have anything to lose anyway.”
You can only lose what you have—right now they had nothing, so there was nothing to harm them. Eunchan straightened his knees and stretched.
– Alright, fine. Where are you now? At home?
“At the hospital. He said the stalker showed up.”
– I’m not cursing at you because things worked out well this time, but you son of a bitch, if you do it again next time, you’re dead by my hands.
“I’m telling you I paid for the lawyer’s name value.”
– Hang up, you bastard.
“Go inside.”
After finishing the call with the boss, Eunchan immediately sent a text to Hyungsik.
[Are you busy? If not, look into someone named Kim Haengbok for me, even if it’s just an internet search]
He didn’t have high expectations. Still, it was better to do something than nothing, like chanting sutras to an idle mouth. Eunchan dusted himself off, stood up, opened the emergency stairwell door, and entered the lobby. He was tired.
* * *
When he returned to the hospital room, Miro was organizing the bed. The books Eunchan had bought were neatly arranged on the table, and the clothes that had been in the luggage bag were also folded neatly on the sofa.
“When did you open this again?”
Eunchan let out a hollow laugh as he looked inside the empty luggage bag. Miro, who had even organized the blanket well, approached Eunchan holding the doll in one hand.
“I, I organized Eunchan’s luggage. Since you’ll be staying here continuously……”
“You’re quick to act. Miro-ssi, sit here for a moment.”
He sat on the sofa and patted the seat next to him. After hearing from the security guard, Eunchan judged it would be better to relocate. Of course, Miro’s opinion and the attending physician’s judgment were needed first.
Miro sat obediently next to him, placed the doll on his lap, and stared intently at Eunchan. His gentle eyes looked just like the doll. Feeling burdened as if four eyes were looking at him, Eunchan took Miro’s doll away.
“Whyyy……”
“Listen to me. You have a home, Miro-ssi.”
Miro nodded his head, his eyes on the doll Eunchan had taken. Eunchan continued speaking while holding the rabbit’s ears with both hands full.
“How about we ask the doctor and if it’s okay, you get discharged and stay at home? I saw that it’s easy for outsiders to enter the hospital.”
The hospital room door could be locked, but it was useless since nurses had to come in at dawn to check vital signs.
“Will Eunchan also come home?”
“You said you live alone, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Every day will be difficult, but I’ll stop by often.”
Miro’s house wasn’t close enough for Eunchan to commute to. At Eunchan’s answer, the corners of Miro’s mouth stretched long.
“If, if we stay together……”
“I said I’ll try. Let’s do that for now, okay?”
Eunchan, holding the doll with stern eyes, urged Miro for an answer. Miro reluctantly nodded his head but seemed displeased as he chewed on his lips. Eunchan quickly put the doll back in Miro’s hands.
Miro neatly smoothed out the rabbit’s ears that Eunchan had crumpled, then stroked the fur along the grain. Eunchan organized tomorrow’s schedule in his head. Before going to work, he’d have a consultation with the doctor about Miro, then go to the company and clean up the grave relocation request he’d received…… He’d left the window at home open, so he needed to close it again and hide the emergency key in the fire hydrant too.
Yawning widely, Eunchan rubbed his heavy eyes. He was hungry, but exhaustion came first. When Eunchan showed signs of sleepiness, Miro spoke to him.
“Sleepy?”
“Yes, I’m tired today.”
He wanted to lie down on the bed Miro had organized. The moment he laid his head on the pillow, he felt like he could fall asleep immediately.
“Come here.”
Eunchan took Miro’s extended hand and stood up. As Miro pulled back the blanket, Eunchan didn’t refuse and immediately got into position and lay down.
“Miro-ssi should sleep too.”
It was still a bit early to sleep, but it wasn’t exactly early evening either. Eunchan fixed his pillow and grabbed Miro.
“In, in a little bit……”
“Okay then. If you’re bored, read the books I bought.”
Eunchan pointed to the table, saying there was a lot to do over there. However, Miro went around the bed, climbed onto it, and sat leaning against him. Then he lifted the rabbit doll’s arm and waved it.
“Sleep well.”
“……Yeah, you sleep well too.”
Eunchan responded to the greeting the doll gave. Then the rabbit raised both arms high and wrapped them around its round head. It seemed like it wanted to draw a heart above its head, but its arms were too short, barely reaching its ears.
Miro’s blank face and the rabbit doll wrapping around its own head were so cute that Eunchan forgot about sleeping and burst out laughing.
Early in the morning, Eunchan opened his eyes because his arm had gone numb. Like a cicada, Miro was clinging to Eunchan’s right arm, sleeping while breathing softly. Behind him, the rabbit doll lay with its nose pressed against Miro’s back. Eunchan roughly pulled up the blanket and covered Miro with it, then carefully extracted his arm.
Checking the time, it was still 8 AM. Since Miro tended to wake up late, breakfast was delivered to the hospital room late in the morning to match Miro’s morning. Since they couldn’t eat together, he planned to buy a meal ticket at the hospital cafeteria downstairs, roughly have breakfast alone, and then meet with Miro’s attending physician. Eunchan carefully got up so as not to wake Miro.
After a simple wash, he changed into the most presentable-looking clothes among the garments Miro had neatly folded. After arranging his shirt collar, he picked up the air conditioner remote and changed it from cooling to fan mode. Eunchan took off his slippers, put on his sneakers, and approached the sleeping Miro again.
He placed the doll in Miro’s empty arms and greeted him.
“Good morning.”
Even if Miro couldn’t hear, the rabbit doll would. Recalling yesterday’s cute appearance, Eunchan quietly walked out of the hospital room.
After eating breakfast at the hospital cafeteria, Eunchan headed to the examination room following the manager’s guidance. He came prepared to wait a long time, but he was lucky.
“Please wait just a moment. He just said his surgery finished.”
“Yes.”
Sitting in the examination chair, Eunchan stole a glance at the desk mirror placed on the desk. His hair was somewhat disheveled, but it wasn’t an ugly face. He didn’t have much body hair to begin with and it didn’t grow fast either, so he didn’t need to shave often. Eunchan stroked his smooth chin and thought of Miro’s appearance. Come to think of it, it seemed like he didn’t shave often either. His pale, white face was just smooth without a single blemish.
Did he receive some kind of special treatment? There were a lot of lotions and skincare products in the bathroom. Eunchan had secretly applied lotion to his face once in a while without Miro knowing. Should I buy something good and try it too…… Eunchan pondered while thinking of the cosmetic shops along the street.
“Did you wait long?”
“Ah, no. Hello.”
Just then, Miro’s attending physician, who had finished surgery, returned. The doctor smiled and put on the gown hanging on the coat rack.
“Good morning.”
“Yes.”
Eunchan read the embroidered letters on the gown. Neurosurgeon. Miro’s attending physician was a neurosurgeon.
“Shall we look at Miro-ssi’s condition first?”
The doctor clicked the mouse a few times and soon displayed a full screen window for Eunchan to see. Eunchan eagerly stuck his head out and tried to understand the text that appeared on the screen, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
