# Chapter 145
With a hypothesis close to certainty, I bit my lip and ran after him. I couldn’t let anything happen.
Worried, I moved quickly on my leg that wasn’t fully healed yet, and while it took effort, it wasn’t particularly painful. This was thanks to the rehabilitation training I had been diligently doing until now.
After confirming that Moon Seoheon was going down in the elevator, I sighed and picked up my phone. I planned to call Yoo Wono and ask where he was. Fortunately, Yoo Wono answered the phone right away.
“What? I just arrived, don’t tell me you want me to leave…”
“So where are you right now?”
“…The parking lot. I was about to go down to the basement, but they said I couldn’t because of the rain, so I came out.”
He must have taken a taxi. I wondered why he couldn’t go down because of the rain, but right now, Moon Seoheon was more important.
“Then stay right there. I’ll come to you.”
I heard him mumbling something in response, but I hung up without listening. The elevator that had gone down to the first floor was just coming back up, so I quickly entered, and The Four who followed tried to stop me.
“It’s raining heavily outside. Where are you trying to go?”
“The first floor. Get out if you’re going to interfere. Unless you want to see me go crazy.”
Kwak Junhee, who had been firmly blocking me, closed his mouth at my words. Then, with a resigned face, he joined me in the elevator. The other guys were also making displeased expressions, but they didn’t try to stop me anymore.
When we arrived at the first floor, the usually quiet hospital seemed quite chaotic.
“Why is it so noisy?”
There were many people, including nurses and doctors, gathered busily at the hospital entrance. Glancing over as they seemed to be looking outside, I could see rainwater with debris filling up to the stairs. It seemed that the sewage water had backed up and stagnated.
“Wow, it wasn’t this bad before we arrived.”
Maeng Moa, who examined the outside with me, murmured in a low voice. So the water had risen tremendously in the meantime? Now I understood why Yoo Wono said he couldn’t go to the parking lot.
Despite the seemingly serious disaster, I was looking around to see where Moon Seoheon had gone when the words of the buzzing nurses caught my ear. Feeling a terrible premonition at their mixture of concern and shock, I approached the entrance.
Even though the rain made it difficult to see clearly, I could distinctly make out a tall figure running somewhere.
“That idiot, seriously!”
Realizing that Moon Seoheon had rushed outside, I tried to push through the crowd and open the door. People around me grabbed me in alarm, which was frustrating. Of course, I understood why they would stop a person in patient clothes from running into this downpour without an umbrella, but it was enough to make me crazy and jump up and down, with resentment rising deep within me.
Soon, with The Four pulling me back too, I had no choice but to retreat powerlessly. Instead, I stuck close to the door to see what Moon Seoheon was doing.
“I think we need to bring him back.”
Byeon Seungha said with a hardened expression, seeing the water current getting stronger. Yes, I was about to say something like, at least you should go out and bring him back, when I saw someone with a black umbrella approaching us past the fountain. Moon Seoheon spotted him, and the other person seemed to notice too, as he stopped abruptly.
As he tilted his umbrella up, the face that had been hidden was revealed. Yoo Wono, who had maintained a surprisingly neat appearance despite this weather, looked alternately at me inside the building and Moon Seoheon who had come outside, wearing an ambiguous expression.
While The Four were distracted, I grabbed the door handle and pushed it open forcefully. Quickly going out through the opening and descending one step, my body staggered in the strong wind.
“Yoon Taeho!”
Kwak Junhee, with a hardened expression, called my name loudly. It felt strongly like he was scolding a child making trouble, but I had no energy to care. Instead, thanks to that shout, Yoo Wono and Moon Seoheon could focus on me.
Seeing me come outside, Moon Seoheon ran toward me without hesitation, splashing water. He seemed surprised that I had come out, even though he had rushed out and gotten soaked in the rain himself, as if daring me to look at him.
“Go back in. It’s dangerous.”
“And it’s not dangerous for you?”
I couldn’t fully open my eyes due to the rain hitting my face. After wiping my face several times with my hands, I confirmed that Yoo Wono was approaching very close. I quickly spoke what I needed to say.
“I have to go back once. No matter how dangerous it is, I need to go and confirm for myself.”
As rainwater invaded my eyes, nose, and lips, I struggled to look straight into Moon Seoheon’s eyes and spoke with a clear tone.
Unlike The Four who didn’t understand what I meant, Moon Seoheon’s eyebrows contorted severely. Whether his lips were trembling from the cold or because he was in a panic state, it was pitiful either way, so I stepped forward and pulled at his clothes.
“So I’ll go and come back.”
At my words, Moon Seoheon’s drooping shoulders straightened rigidly.
Having said this much, I suddenly worried that it might be misunderstood, that he might misinterpret it in some other way, so I bit my lip hard. The Four were right beside me, and Yoo Wono had approached closely too. They were all within hearing distance, but if I hesitated again and couldn’t speak, I would regret it.
“I’m sure now too. …I mean, I like you.”
Moon Seoheon’s hand, which had been pushing up his wet bangs as if they were in the way, stopped. I took in the sight of his unusually dilating pupils, and my rain-soaked body began to tremble uncontrollably.
The guys, who had been making a fuss in the downpour, became rigid and then flinched as they realized something was wrong with my condition.
I fiddled with the buttons fastened up to my neck, then pulled at my wrinkled clothes. Strangely, although my whole body was wet from the rain, I felt a burning thirst and heat. However, rather than feeling hot, I felt a tingling sensation running along my spine as my body shivered from the cold.
Moon Seoheon, also sensing something was wrong, loosened his stiff expression and stepped closer to me.
I thought perhaps I had been in the rain too much, and wanted to suggest going inside since it was awkward to keep standing at the entrance. Now that Yoo Wono had arrived, I planned to ask him about the person who was supposedly High Class and how he intended to help me. If he offered me drugs, I would take them willingly and sort things out in the world I returned to. If things ended well with Yoon Taeho too, I could live peacefully in the world that lay ahead.
But as I poured out all the tasks and emotions I had deliberately postponed before this final problem, I instinctively realized that this was exactly the moment of the final battle.
Whether it was my doing or Yoon Taeho’s, our bodies would soon switch again.
Standing firmly with my heavy body, I shook my head vigorously, feeling as if my consciousness was melting away. Recognizing my condition, I put strength into my feet and straightened my hunched body. That’s when my foot slipped, and my body fell backward. In that moment of dizziness, as I tightly closed my eyes, I vaguely heard Moon Seoheon and The Four saying something.
Ah, what if Yoon Taeho doesn’t find the letter at all? I should have at least mentioned it to Moon Seoheon.
Even as I lost consciousness, I worried that Yoon Taeho might make a wrong judgment. I felt reassured that Moon Seoheon would take my collapsed body to the hospital room. With The Four there too, I felt at ease.
I felt my body floating in the air with successive splashing sounds. And after that, there was only darkness.
* * *
“Huh! …Hah… Hu……”
When I opened my eyes, my upper body heaved dramatically with heavy breaths. As if I had been pulled out after sinking into the sea, my previously blocked breath burst out, and I unconsciously flailed my arms.
Then, seeing the familiar ceiling, I carefully lowered my perfectly fine arms. My heart was beating fast, and my mind was still hazy, making it difficult to move for a while.
After staring blankly at the ceiling, I soon propped myself up on the floor and raised my upper body. My still throbbing head felt like I was experiencing a hangover.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, the smell of alcohol rising from deep within my body made me feel nauseous. Did I really drink? Yoon Taeho, this guy really… Even if the body is an adult, the mind is still a minor. Surely he didn’t want to ruin his body by becoming addicted to alcohol?
I had thought I would be in the hospital when I opened my eyes, but surprisingly, I was in a room, which I concluded was somewhat better. Except for my stomach acting up from the hangover, everything else seemed fine.
Rather, it seemed I had gained more weight than before I left, and my skin had improved. Was I mistaken because it had been a while since I’d seen myself?
Examining myself while touching my face, I shook off the distracting thoughts and stood up abruptly. Although Yoon Taeho’s body could now walk properly, moving with a perfectly healthy body without any hospital bed gave me a sense of living.
Checking the time, I found it was early morning here too. As I was about to enter the contacts on my phone, I got a call from “Manager.” With an inexplicable tension, I swallowed and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Huh? Bowon. You’re up already? You asked me to call and wake you up, but there’s no need.”
“…I asked you to call me?”
“Yes. What’s this? Did you forget? You said you had a drinking appointment yesterday, so you must have drunk a lot.”
I expected a scolding filled with concern or cold words suggesting disgust, but the attitude was no different from usual. I couldn’t find words for my rising questions, but then I snapped back to attention at the following words.
“Anyway, as requested, I’ve changed the restaurant reservation time, so go and inform the VIP.”
“By VIP, do you mean Jeon Seohan?”
“Yes, man. You’re dedicated to him. Sober up quickly. Don’t be late this afternoon.”
After I gave an ambiguous answer, the call abruptly ended.
“…What’s going on?”
Things were unfolding so differently from what I expected. Even with the fact that I needed to go to work without any issues, I felt dazed as if possessed by a ghost.
To clear my head, I took a slightly cold shower, changed clothes, and headed to the hotel. In any case, I needed to meet Jeon Seohan, which might be a good thing.
Coworkers who saw me arrive earlier than the regular work time asked what was going on. I vaguely mumbled some answers, changed into my uniform, and secretly checked the reservation list.
A room that guests occasionally use for business purposes was reserved under Jeon Seohan’s name for the afternoon. And seeing that the restaurant was fully booked in the evening, it seemed he was meeting people for business today.
After confirming that Jeon Seohan was still using the same room, I headed to his space. On the way, I noticed his name was saved in my contacts and thought about calling him, but decided it would be better to speak to him directly, so I held back.
When I knocked on the door of the room, I felt movement after some time had passed. After a short wait, the door opened, and Jeon Seohan appeared wearing a robe that exposed his chest.
“10:16… Later than I expected.”
His tone suggested he was certain I would come early. And that was as if it were a given.
I didn’t avoid Jeon Seohan’s gaze as he stared at me, and while rubbing the back of my neck, I asked what I was curious about.
“Were you by any chance a graduate of Imperial High School?”
“…Yes.”
“And you were in High Class?”
“That’s right. I was a King Star.”
I felt like my throat was being choked as Jeon Seohan answered nonchalantly. Suddenly, I realized that my body was quite intact for having been occupied by Yoon Taeho.
Swallowing hard, I tried to ignore the sweet smell of alcohol emanating from him and the exposed chest that was drawing my attention.
“By any chance… what kind of relationship, no, what did you do with Yoon Taeho?”
Jeon Seohan rubbed his face with both hands and laughed lowly at my question. When he removed his hands, a playful smile appeared on his face.
“Friends had a bit too much to drink yesterday.”
“…Fri…ends?”
“Yeah. We became close. Very, very close.”
