Should I just make a mistake and say I need to go out right now? But if I say that, the members and Director won’t let me leave when I’m injured. Just as I was pondering what to say, Seon Hobeom swiftly snatched my phone away.
He tried to answer the call, but fortunately, it disconnected just before he could press it, so he failed.
“Ah, what? I was about to answer it…… Crazy. 54 missed calls?!”
Seeing the missed call history on the screen, Seon Hobeom freaked out and asked me again.
“Be honest. How much did you run off with?”
“Is this because Jerim didn’t pay back the money he borrowed from Go Yoon sunbae-nim?”
“Just how much did you borrow?”
Before I knew it, I had become someone who had borrowed a huge amount of money from Yoon hyung. I vehemently denied it to clear Yoon hyung of this false accusation, but—
“That’s not it, sunbae-nim is worried about me and wants to see me.”
“Isn’t he worried you’ll run off with the money? Hey, who calls a junior 54 times?”
I only made the situation worse.
“How much did you borrow? I’ll pay back at least some of it for you.”
“He’s really coming because he’s worried.”
“You’re saying Go Yoon is worried about a junior and personally coming all the way to the hospital? That Go Yoon?”
Director Gye, who knew the most rumors, dismissed my words as absurd, and even Onseol, whom I had believed to be the most rational, kept pressing me seriously about how much I had borrowed, making me feel frustrated.
‘Hyung, you should’ve managed your image better……’
On the other hand, I also felt upset wondering just how bad Yoon hyung’s image must be for them to react like this.
“The call’s coming again.”
Yoon hyung had already been labeled as a loan shark in their minds.
“I’ll answer it.”
“Ah, no! ……Ugh.”
“Jerim!”
Seeing Onseol about to answer the phone, the thought that I had to stop him came first, and I forgot that my back had been stitched and reached out my arm.
“Are you okay? Did the stitches come undone?!”
Seeing me clutching my shoulder in pain and collapsing, everyone panicked not knowing what to do, but even in the midst of this, I shook my head vigorously.
“Ugh…… But really, it’s not like that, sunbae-nim wants to meet because he’s worried about me. He’s already at the hospital parking lot now, so I think I need to meet him.”
When I firmly denied it, the members and Director finally gave up with sighs. Still, they seemed uneasy about sending me alone, and as everyone hesitated and pondered, Park Eden seemed to remember something and said with sparkling eyes,
“Then let’s do this.”
* * *
After taking his position, Ka Jerim tried to send Go Yoon a text message about his location.
< [Hyung. I’m here at hospital parking lot A15? Over here.]
[+] [You absolutely can’t call me Cha Hohyeon here……]
But as Jerim was quickly typing a follow-up message, his eyes widened.
‘He already read it?’
Because the “1” had disappeared in an instant. He blinked in surprise at Go Yoon’s quick response speed, and in the meantime, hearing the sound of a car door closing nearby, he stretched his neck out like a meerkat and looked around.
‘Did Yoon hyung park his car nearby?’
And discovering a man with his face covered by a mask smoothly appearing from the corner ahead, he stammered “Uh, uh……” in confusion. The mask covered most of the man’s small face, but the atmosphere he exuded and those proportions—it was obviously Go Yoon.
In that brief moment when Jerim hesitated in confusion, not having imagined they would meet this quickly, Go Yoon, who had been looking around, locked eyes with Jerim.
“Cha Hohy……!”
“Su, sunbae-nim!”
As if to stop Go Yoon from calling him, Jerim shook his head vigorously and loudly cut off Go Yoon’s words. At Jerim’s sudden action, Go Yoon narrowed his eyes, then as if he had caught on to something, he carefully looked around while slowly approaching.
“What.”
After looking around again and confirming no one was there, Go Yoon tilted his head as if asking why, and pulled down his mask. Toward Go Yoon who had revealed his face, Jerim carefully mouthed the words ‘Call me Ka Jerim’ silently so no sound would come out.
“……Jerim-ah.”
“Yes.”
Hearing Jerim’s response, he frowned with a face that seemed displeased about something, but soon obediently changed to calling him Jerim.
“Are you okay?”
Go Yoon thoroughly examined his body while making Jerim stand and circling around him once, but naturally, since it was covered by clothes, he couldn’t tell how badly he was injured. Go Yoon frowned at Jerim who just smiled and wouldn’t tell him.
“How did you get hurt like that?”
“I just got slightly scratched by a prop while doing choreography on stage. I’m really okay.”
Go Yoon stared at Jerim who was smiling and saying he was okay. There was no credibility to those words since he was the type to endure pain well, but there was no way to confirm it here and now. Since he was someone who couldn’t lie, Go Yoon kept looking into his eyes, but he just kept grinning, so Go Yoon couldn’t help but let out an empty laugh.
“Stop smiling.”
“Hyung?”
“……You’re enduring it because your back hurts.”
To think he’s smiling so brightly when he’s injured. It’s quite annoying, but for some reason, why do I want to hug him whenever I see his smiling face?
Thinking it was a truly strange feeling, Go Yoon stroked his chin and spoke to Jerim who was still standing there with a dazed expression.
“You don’t know how shocked I was, do you?”
“Huh?”
At Jerim’s clueless expression, Go Yoon raised his head, ran his hand through his hair, and frowned.
“There was even an article saying you were hurt so badly you went into the operating room. Of course, I didn’t believe it at first either, but you didn’t answer your phone at all.”
Right after the stage ended, Jerim had collapsed as his strength gave out, and he had bled more than expected, so he was quite dizzy. So he was dragged out with the members’ support, and that got exaggerated into a serious article.
“Ah, no way. I didn’t know the false report would be this bad…… I came to the hospital totally fine and energetic.”
But Jerim held back. Saying he had bled a lot would only add to Go Yoon’s worry.
Looking at Jerim who said it was really just a small wound, that it was okay, and apologizing for not being able to respond to his calls, Go Yoon finally muttered “Thank goodness” with a relieved expression.
“I thought all sorts of things…… I even posted something related to you on SNS thinking maybe you couldn’t contact me because you lost your phone.”
He couldn’t reach him so much that he even thought maybe he had lost his phone. So he used his SNS, which he had never used before, to write a post related to Jerim. He thought that through that post, someone would surely contact Jerim himself.
“But anyway, are you really okay? The treatment?”
“It was a small wound, so they just disinfected it and that was it.”
He didn’t bother mentioning the stitches and glossed over it, and Go Yoon looked at him suspiciously, but seeing Jerim smile brightly saying he was really okay, he let go of even the lingering suspicion.
“I told you to contact me right away if anything happens.”
“I’m sorry. But this matter was so minor that telling hyung about it was a bit—”
“Hey, Cha…… No.”
Go Yoon quietly looked at Jerim’s face as he checked his surroundings.
“It’s not minor.”
Was it because he had lost him once before? Even though it should feel awkward for him to be so attached to Jerim like this, Go Yoon didn’t think of himself as awkward. Rather, the past days of regret kept coming to mind, making him want to do everything for him even more.
“You yourself are not at all minor to me right now.”
Jerim felt strangely ticklish at those words. He knew it was just an expression for a cherished member, but since Go Yoon was so stingy when it came to expressing himself to the members, hearing him say this seemed especially ticklish. But on the other hand, he was also worried.
What if. What if I disappear again?
Will hyung be able to endure it then?
Having such dark thoughts, he forced himself to relax his expression at the thought that Go Yoon was in front of him. Go Yoon approached such a Jerim, grabbed his wrist to examine it, and frowned.
“Why are you so thin?”
“Hyung, you won’t believe this, but food doesn’t go down well.”
When he was Cha Hohyeon, he had loved eating. He was also the type to gain weight easily, so while he liked eating, he suffered quite a bit from strict dieting and fasting right before comebacks for body management.
But after entering Jerim’s body, even his appetite disappeared, so he only occasionally ate a lot once in a while and didn’t seek out food on his own. That’s why his already thin body gained weight even more slowly.
“Let’s go eat meat later. Anyway, since I already posted on SNS, I should go back and promote you……”
Ding—clatter.
Just then, a coin rolled out from behind a pillar, making a loud noise as it spun around before stopping. The moment the sharp noise echoing in the parking lot ceased, there was the sound of someone inhaling, and that was also the moment Go Yoon’s eyes, which had been speaking affectionately to Jerim, turned cold.
“Who’s there.”
He placed his hand on Jerim’s shoulder, then remembering his wound, lowered his hand and slowly grabbed his wrist, pulling him behind himself.
“……Is there a reporter? Stay here.”
“Hyu, hyung!”
Jerim hastily grabbed the arm of Go Yoon who was about to leave him behind and turned pale.
‘My back hurts.’
What was he supposed to do when even raising his arm slightly made his back pull? While grabbing Go Yoon, the stitched area pulled severely, but Jerim forced himself to relax his expression and said to Go Yoon,
“Let’s just go. Ah, and…… I happen to have time now, so I can stop by hyung’s place for a bit.”
“Yeah. That’s all good…… but wait a moment.”
Go Yoon, who already hated reporters enough to be fed up with them, had no change in his decision.
