Jeongwon, whose legs were completely crushed by the car body, instinctively knew. That the face of Soohyun before his eyes now would be the last thing he would see before leaving this world.
“Soo… hyun… ah.”
“Jeongwon… Jeongwon-ssi… what do I do.”
Compared to Jeongwon who was devastatingly broken, Soohyun was too fine. It was because Jeongwon had turned the wheel excessively to protect the passenger seat.
“I wanted to… make you… happy….”
“Jeongwon-ssi… don’t… don’t talk! Blood… blood!!”
“I… love… you….”
The blood flowing from Jeongwon’s forehead flowed down along his eyes. Seeing his face as if shedding tears made of blood, Soohyun sat in the passenger seat and cried while struggling. The seatbelt, broken from the shock of the accident, wouldn’t come undone and instead tightly bound Soohyun’s body.
“Jeongwon-ssi!!!”
After desperately calling the name of his beloved, Soohyun lost consciousness just like that.
* * *
“Jeongwon… Jeongwon-ssi!!”
When he came to and opened his eyes, what entered Soohyun’s vision was an unfamiliar ceiling. Soon the pungent smell of medicine that stung his nose—he wished everything was a dream. The image of Jeongwon covered in blood confessing his love was vivid before his eyes, but he wished it had been a dream. No, it had to be a dream.
“Soohyun!”
“Ma’am….”
Chaeho’s parents were by his side. Soohyun sat up in the bed, blinked his eyes, and looked around.
“What about Jeongwon-ssi? At the hospital… did that person come to the hospital?”
“Soohyun. You can’t move yet. You need to rest.”
His legs lost strength. The moment his toes touched the floor, as he staggered and was about to collapse forward, Chaeho’s mom and dad caught Soohyun. His whole body trembled pathetically. Surely, something terrible hadn’t happened….
“Where is… Jeongwon-ssi? What about treatment?”
“Soohyun, wait, let’s sit down first and talk.”
“What about Jeongwon-ssi?!”
His voice searching for Jeongwon cracked terribly. His limbs trembled at the feeling of his heart being stabbed with a needle. A nurse who had been contacted that Soohyun had woken up entered the hospital room.
“Lee Soohyun-ssi, how are you feeling? You can’t be standing like this right now. Lie down first.”
“Jeongwon… Jeongwon-ssi.”
“You need to rest absolutely, and I heard you’re pregnant, is that correct?”
“What? Yes, yes.”
“You need to receive obstetrics and gynecology treatment too. Please wait a moment.”
At the words obstetrics and gynecology treatment, Soohyun’s face turned pale. Sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing his belly, Soohyun’s eyes widened. The baby, my baby, Jeongwon-ssi’s and my baby….
“Soohyun, you heard what the doctor said, right? She said to lie down.”
“Ma’am, Jeongwon-ssi… please.”
“Soohyun… Soohyun… what should we do… Soohyun.”
“Ma’am…?”
“Soohyun, don’t be too shocked. Steel your heart.”
“Where is Jeongwon-ssi right now…?”
Chaeho’s mom couldn’t continue speaking and only had tears welling up. Soohyun muttered that it didn’t make sense and just kept shedding tears.
“I need to see Jeongwon-ssi. Right now.”
“Soohyun, Soohyun. Your recovery comes first. You have to think about the baby too.”
“I need to see Jeongwon-ssi! Right now!”
Blood vessels tangled like a net in Soohyun’s eyes as he cried out. Surely that kind of thing he was thinking hadn’t happened. He must be lying in another hospital room somewhere, a bit more injured than me, so he must be somewhere else now receiving treatment. No, he had to be.
‘I wanted to… make you… happy….’
Soohyun, who had rushed out of the hospital room, grabbed the handrails attached to the corridor walls and walked and walked again. Though he was walking barefoot without even wearing shoes, Soohyun didn’t even know he was barefoot.
“Lee, Lee Jeongwon-ssi, where is Lee Jeongwon-ssi right now?”
Barely composing his thoroughly wet and trembling voice, Soohyun asked in front of the nurses’ station. No one answered Soohyun’s question.
“Lee Jeongwon… Lee Jeongwon-ssi. He’s 185cm tall and wears glasses, there was a traffic accident… a freight truck hit our car… in the driver’s seat… where is Lee Jeongwon-ssi….”
A nurse approached Soohyun, who was muttering with a face covered in tears and snot.
“What’s wrong, patient?”
“Jeongwon-ssi, I want to know where the patient who came with me is.”
“Name?”
“It’s Lee Soohyun. Someone named Lee Jeongwon should have come to the hospital with me. We had a traffic accident.”
“Ah.”
The complexion of her face, heavily shadowed with fatigue, darkened. Soohyun covered his mouth and shook his head. Tears flowed down like a faucet had been turned on from his eyes that had grown as large as they could possibly get.
“That… that can’t be. He was definitely in front of me.”
He had told me he loved me. He said he would make me happy, we had happily talked about what to put in our house, how to decorate the baby’s room…. Until just a few hours ago, he was the one who smiled happily in front of me and kindly held my hand….
“Soohyun! You can’t be out like this!”
“Ma’am, I want to see Jeongwon-ssi.”
“Soohyun, just a bit… let’s see him a bit later. Okay? Let’s do that, Soohyun.”
“No… no. I… I want to see Jeongwon-ssi right now. I also… I also.”
I have to tell him I love him. I have to tell him I’ll make him happy. Because he’s someone who gave me so much, I have to tell him thank you and I love you more. I can’t… I can’t send him off so emptily like this….
“Right now. Please. Ma’am, I beg you. Jeongwon-ssi… Jeongwon-ssi.”
Soohyun’s body collapsed to the floor. Chaeho’s mom also cried as she held him sobbing with his shoulders trembling.
“How pitiful. Our Soohyun. How pitiful. Soohyun. Mom’s heart hurts too. Soohyun, Soohyun.”
Tears that flowed from his eyes came down his cheeks, gathered on his chin, then dripped onto the patient gown. Watching the water droplets seep into the clothes, Soohyun trembled without even making a sound. He, his beloved, the one he loved so much—could he really have left him behind? Was it really true?
Soohyun got up. Only then noticing he had no shoes, he went into the hospital room where he had originally stayed and put on slippers. Because he was going to see him, he wanted to look a little more presentable. Chaeho’s mom, who had been following his precarious figure, caught Soohyun as he tried to leave again.
“Where are you trying to go? You need to rest. Your body isn’t normal right now either!”
“Please let me see Jeongwon-ssi. Please let me confirm with my own eyes.”
Soohyun wiped his tears with his fingertips. And he lowered his voice, trying hard to maintain composure. Seeing Soohyun’s face with his mouth firmly shut, Chaeho’s mom reluctantly took his hand and headed somewhere.
“I’m Lee Jeongwon-ssi’s guardian.”
Jeongwon looked like he was asleep. On his face lying on the cold steel bed, the wounds from the accident remained intact. With a face that seemed like he would open his eyes at any moment and even a faint smile on his lips, he had entered eternal rest.
“Jeongwon-ssi, it’s Soohyun.”
“……”
“I’m this fine… so why are you this badly hurt, Jeongwon-ssi?”
“……”
“Hurry and wake up. We have to have our bonding ceremony soon. We promised to raise the baby well. You said you’d make me happy. You said you loved me.”
“……”
His calm voice gradually shook helplessly. Soohyun carefully stroked Jeongwon’s cold face.
“If you… quietly… sleep like this… what am I… supposed to do. Jeongwon-ssi.”
‘Soohyun, I love you.’
His confession circled his ears. He desperately longed for the warmth of the person who stroked his hair with a smile, who caressed his cheeks and whispered that he was pretty and lovely. But all that Soohyun’s fingertips felt was only cool coldness.
“Jeongwon-ssi….”
He had just thought he could finally be with someone, but Soohyun couldn’t believe the fact that he had become alone again. It seemed like he would open his eyes and wake up at any moment and hold his hand.
“Soohyun, steel your heart. Jeongwon-ssi saved you.”
“What… do you mean by that?”
Chaeho’s mom firmly gripped Soohyun’s arm.
“Jeongwon-ssi turned the steering wheel the other way. To save you. They said it would have been hard to be safe if it weren’t for him. Soohyun. So steel your heart. You know you have to, even for Jeongwon-ssi’s sake, right? Our Soohyun…. You’ll be okay. Everything will… be okay.”
“That’s… that’s….”
Thinking of his mate who had turned the wheel the opposite way even knowing the car would hit them, his heart broke. Saving him, even in the moment of dying, Jeongwon had confessed his love to him. Soohyun gripped his belly with both hands.
