Yeohwi obediently held out his blood-stained bandage. The cold scissor blade dug between the firmly secured bandage. Snip, snip. At the end of the cutting sound, he was freed from the pressure that had been stuffily pressing down on his hand.
“Bear with it even if it stings.”
“…Yes.”
The last layer of gauze was stuck to the wound. Dowon put down the scissors and gripped the end of the gauze with tweezers. Then he slowly lifted it.
With a horrible sound of dried scabs separating from raw flesh, the covered wound was nakedly exposed to the air.
“Ugh……”
Yeohwi unwittingly let out a groan and curled his knees. As his crossed legs closed, his thighs pressed together. The wound was horrific.
Where the nails had been pulled out by the roots was festering, and because he had forced himself to use strength, the flesh that had been healing had torn open again, forming bright red blood. Around the dark red scabs, the flesh was swollen red and radiating heat.
It was a miserable sight, as if it wasn’t a human hand but had been mauled by a beast.
Dowon’s gaze swept over the horrific wound as if licking it. Soon his eyes furrowed in displeasure. With these ruined hands, he had caused all that fuss earlier about laying him down on the bed?
Dowon pressed cotton soaked in disinfectant firmly onto the wound with his lips tightly compressed in a straight line.
“Hng!”
Yeohwi’s hand trembled at the pain as if his raw flesh was burning away. He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but Dowon was firmly holding Yeohwi’s wrist in place with his other hand.
“Don’t struggle. Bear it.”
Dowon’s voice was cold, but his hand movements were delicate. Unhesitating yet precise and skillful. Like a gladiator with much experience treating wounds. He silently applied ointment to the wound area and placed new gauze over it.
Yeohwi gritted his teeth and endured, then raised his eyes to look at Dowon’s face, absorbed in treatment. His long eyelashes, lowered to look at Yeohwi’s fingertips, covered his eyes. His slightly parted lips, focused in concentration, were noticeable. Even breaths leaked out between them.
How much time would there be to see Dowon absorbed in him from this close?
“…I’m a nuisance, right?”
Yeohwi suddenly asked.
Dowon’s hand hesitated, then began skillfully wrapping the bandage again.
“Yeah.”
White bandages covered the red wound, wrapping layer by layer.
“…I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”
“Yeah.”
This time it was an immediate answer. A dry affirmation without a moment’s hesitation or embellishment.
“I’m strange, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I… Should I stop doing this?”
“Yeah.”
The answers that were cut off firmly and decisively were so like Dowon that they pierced his heart.
Yeohwi conspicuously jutted out his lips. One would think he’d say no at least once, even as a lie, but this man truly didn’t know compromise. That callousness was cruel yet, on the other hand, his heart pounded because he liked the attitude that seemed to care for him nonetheless.
“Dowon-ssi, you’re really annoying.”
Yeohwi grumbled. Dowon responded in kind.
“You too.”
“Really, really, really annoying.”
“You too. Seong Yeohwi.”
“Why are you even treating me then?”
“Should I call an ambulance at this hour? Want to go to the emergency room?”
“If we go, we go, whatever.”
“Don’t be snippy and just stay still. You’re wrapping it wrong.”
Dowon slowly wound the bandage. Though his words were cold and sharp like a blade, Dowon’s skill in tending to Yeohwi’s hand was remarkable. The way he carefully wrapped each finger and adjusted the pressure appropriately so blood flow wouldn’t be blocked was extraordinary.
However, there was no longer a ribbon on those skillful fingers. Whether he had untied the knot while going to get the first aid kit, or cut it off ribbon and all. In any case, his left ring finger was empty.
Yeohwi watched that part for a while before pretending not to notice and changing the subject.
“…But, Dowon-ssi, why are you so good at this?”
“What am I good at?”
“This kind of thing, where did you learn it?”
Dowon had no answer. He was just focused on securing the end of the bandage. Blue veins stood out on the back of his hand.
“Did you have many occasions to treat someone? Ah, no. Is it because you exercise, Dowon-ssi?”
Even without an answer, Yeohwi speculated on his own.
“You did martial arts, right? Boxing or something…? When I saw you at the abandoned factory, your stance was proper. I guess you got injured often so you had many occasions to treat wounds.”
Dowon’s hand paused briefly. He turned his head and finished wrapping the bandage, tying a knot.
“Says the person who uses his body recklessly as if he’s never been injured.”
“That’s true.”
“Without any fear.”
Yeohwi held up his hands, which had become thick like bear paws from being wrapped in new bandages. At a glance, they looked like boxing gloves.
“But I like that Dowon-ssi is treating me.”
“……”
“Right. Next time when my hands are all healed, let’s go exercise together.”
Yeohwi proposed with sparkling eyes. He took a boxing stance and mimicked extending his bandaged hands into the air.
“I want to see you boxing, Dowon-ssi. I bet it would look really cool to watch you hit the sandbag.”
Dowon kept silent as he organized the bandage scissors and medicine bottles into the first aid kit. Even though he didn’t respond, Yeohwi continued throwing punches alone.
“Spar with me too. Ah, would I just get beaten up one-sidedly? Well, that’s fine too. I have a good pain tolerance. If it’s you hitting me, Dowon-ssi, I’ll endure it.”
“Nonsense.”
Dowon snapped the kit lid shut.
“Why? We might grow fond of each other while hitting.”
“Don’t take violence lightly. That will absolutely never happen.”
“Hey, it’s not violence. It’s a sport.”
“……”
Yeohwi didn’t stop. He grinned playfully and continued talking about what’s next. Even though it was midwinter, his eyes sparkled freshly like a green spring day.
“And when my hands heal, let’s go to good restaurants and watch movies too. Let’s do what everyone else does.”
“……”
“When all this is over… I mean, after we finish off Do Jingyu and settle everything.”
Yeohwi’s voice became dreamily soft. His face, lit by the crimson lamp, glowed ethereally.
“There’s so much I want to do with you, Dowon-ssi. I’d like to go for a drive somewhere quiet. I’d like to go see the ocean. Ah, and swim when it’s hot. Buy several kinds of ice cream with interesting flavors all at once and share them. And, you know that barbecue thing? At the campground, putting a grill on charcoal and grilling. A huge chunk of meat on the bone, dripping with fat and just…! I’ve really wanted to try that!”
Seong Yeohwi’s face as he spoke of a tomorrow that might never come was truly youthful. He looked like a youth of exactly twenty years old.
“Um, when things settle down a bit with your company work, Dowon-ssi, and you have some free time… I want to go back to Switzerland too.”
Yeohwi looked at Dowon deeply. That gaze contained an unhideable longing.
“We didn’t really enjoy it properly then. We were busy planning strategies in our room all the time.”
“……”
“It doesn’t have to be Switzerland, any other country is fine. A warm resort would be good too. I want to travel somewhere again. This time, a real trip, not a fake honeymoon.”
Dowon remained consistently silent. He who had gathered the first aid kit stood up from his seat. The future Yeohwi was drawing. In that peaceful and exciting world, Dowon’s place existed as if it were natural. But Dowon just continued to only listen until the end.
Whether it was because he didn’t want to trample on the dream Seong Yeohwi was having, or whether without even knowing it himself he wanted to grasp a fragment of that dream. Dowon’s heart, shrouded in thick fog, couldn’t be glimpsed at all. Perhaps, like Yeohwi, he too couldn’t define his own heart.
“…Sleep.”
Dowon turned off the bedroom light and turned around. Yeohwi stared blankly at his retreating figure heading toward the door. He followed his shadow, thinking he was going to return the first aid kit. But because his eyes had adjusted to the bright light, he couldn’t see Dowon’s form well, swallowed by the darkness.
“Promise me, Dowon-ssi. That we’ll definitely go later.”
Yeohwi, who had gone to the bed, burrowed into the blanket. Dowon didn’t respond until the end and left the room. He thought he’d come back soon, but Dowon didn’t return to the bedroom until morning broke that day. Yeohwi waited for him, then fell into a deep, dark sleep with his cheek pressed against his wristwatch.
