Dawoon pressed his ear firmly against Yeoul’s left chest and narrowed his brow.
Yeoul’s heartbeat was excessively fast. To the degree that he wondered if his Wavelength might rise at this rate.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Startled, Dawoon examined Yeoul’s complexion and looked at him closely. Yeoul, who had been quietly held in Dawoon’s arms, wrapped his waist and slowly answered.
“I told you. I was startled thinking you were being mistreated.”
“…So that’s why your heart is beating this fast?”
Yeoul nodded. Like a pet dog whose mood had improved, his expression relaxed and he leaned his weight against Dawoon’s body.
“Don’t let Alpha bastards touch you carelessly, hyung. It’s dangerous.”
Dawoon was so surprised by his beating that penetrated through Yeoul’s thick field clothes that he couldn’t say anything.
So that’s why he suddenly rushed at the doctor. It seemed his body had sprung out from genuine surprise. Reflexively, like dodging a flying fist.
“Why… are you so worried? I’m also an Esper, there’s no way I’d be victimized by an ordinary person.”
Dawoon, who placed his hand on Yeoul’s black crown, gently stroked him as if soothing a frightened child.
“What good is being an Esper? You’re always collapsing and coughing up blood.”
“That’s occasionally, occasionally.”
“Is once every two days occasional? Hyung, you had a nosebleed again today too.”
Yeoul asked why he had a nosebleed again and carefully examined under Dawoon’s nose. Dawoon, who covered his lower face, spoke as if it was nothing.
“Just because I’m tired. Just a little blood came out.”
“Why are you tired? Didn’t you sleep the whole time, hyung?”
“I guess too much sleep isn’t good either.”
Yeoul, who looked down at Dawoon shrugging his shoulders, drooped the corners of his mouth. If he were really a dog, his tail would have drooped. Dawoon patted his back while having such idle thoughts.
“Calm down a bit. I’m perfectly fine.”
He gently rubbed his back as if soothing Yeoul’s still rapidly beating heart. However, when the beating seemed to oddly get even faster and he tried to remove his hand, Yeoul, who shook his head, clung even deeper to Dawoon.
“Keep touching me.”
Heavy strength filled the arms wrapped around Dawoon’s waist.
“I was really, really surprised. I was scared.”
“You were scared of that doctor?”
“That you’d get hurt, hyung.”
He buried his face in Dawoon’s shoulder again and mumbled like a child.
“Don’t be alone with Alpha bastards.”
When he’s an Alpha himself.
Instead of spitting out his inner thoughts, Dawoon just quietly stroked Yeoul’s broad back. He felt a bit sorry seeing him so surprised that his heart was pounding. It weighed on his mind even more that none other than Yeoul was showing such a reaction.
“There aren’t only good people in the world. There are way more bad bastards. A hundred times, a thousand times more.”
He silently listened to his words, knowing well that his wounds from people were greater than anyone’s.
“I got it. I’ll be careful.”
After waiting sufficiently for Yeoul to calm down, the sun had already set before they knew it.
Even after his heartbeat had settled down to some degree, Yeoul didn’t budge at all, as if frozen while wrapped around Dawoon’s waist. When Dawoon gently moved his body, he only clung even more strongly.
“Let’s go down now. The cat must be awake.”
Dawoon was gradually getting worried about the cat sleeping in the hospital room after receiving a sedative. Though there would be no problem since medical staff were there, he thought it would be even more frightened if there were only unfamiliar faces when it woke up.
“The cat suddenly vomited and fainted. It woke up briefly during the examination but made such a fuss that it even got a sedative.”
Dawoon informed him of the reason for coming to the hospital in a bitter tone. The test results should have come out by now.
“The kid’s arm is this big, but the syringe needle was this big.”
He sighed while explaining the surprisingly long syringe needle. If he himself was surprised, how scared must that tiny thing have been?
“I think it’s because I gave it too much food. I should have given it in moderation….”
Dawoon, who had been rambling anxiously, suddenly looked up at Yeoul.
Someone’s talking seriously here. Yeoul was just quietly feeling around his sides and back as if measuring Dawoon’s waist.
“…What are you doing?”
“Hyung, did you lose weight? Why does your waist seem thinner?”
Dawoon, who scrunched up his face, smacked! Yeoul’s back.
“Let’s go down.”
This time Yeoul also followed Dawoon without complaint. He stuck right next to Dawoon, nodding and faithfully answering every time he said something.
“You got it, right? When we go, properly apologize to the doctor first.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Apologize to the Teleportation Esper too.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Good. Never do that again.”
Yeoul, who answered yes, stared intently at Dawoon.
“But why are you alone, hyung? Where’s the Leader?”
“He went to work.”
“He left you alone, hyung?”
Dawoon nodded weakly. Thinking of the cat that had been trembling violently while dry heaving, his heart kept sinking heavily.
“I really don’t understand….”
“What?”
Dawoon, who had been feeling anxious, shifted his gaze to Yeoul. Unlike Dawoon who walked while looking at the stairs, Yeoul had been looking only at Dawoon the whole time. As always.
“Why did you like that guy? He doesn’t even stay by your side when you’re depressed.”
Yeoul fumed about how he could leave hyung alone. He was angry at the Leader who had left Dawoon, who had become weak enough to have a nosebleed, alone at the hospital.
“He went because he got called. Of course he should go when a support request comes in.”
Dawoon, who watched Yeoul’s excessive reaction, unintentionally ended up defending Ryu Taeha.
Since it didn’t matter much whether he was there or not, he had sent him off to work without much thought. He only thought it was fortunate that he could come to the hospital quickly thanks to his Teleportation ability.
“Don’t take the Leader’s side. You said you don’t like him anymore.”
Dawoon, who had become someone defending Ryu Taeha against his will, was dumbfounded and chuckled.
“Why are you laughing? Are you laughing because you’re thinking of the Leader?”
“Sure, write your novel however you want.”
Dawoon ignored Yeoul and ran down the stairs two or three steps at a time. Yeoul, who grabbed such Dawoon’s arm, forcibly made him match his pace.
“You’ll get hurt. Go slowly.”
“It’s time for everyone to get off work. We need to hurry.”
“Me, hyung.”
Yeoul deliberately slowed down even more and stared straight at Dawoon.
“I don’t leave people I like lonely.”
“……”
“I won’t make them anxious either. I won’t make them cry. Absolutely not.”
His hand that held Dawoon’s arm slyly came down below his wrist. However, Yeoul only attempted to hold Dawoon’s hand but didn’t actually hold it. As if he would hold back until Dawoon permitted it.
“So think about it seriously. Because I’ll really treat you well, hyung.”
Think about what?
He let out a sigh while looking at Dawoon, who only blinked, and answered briefly.
“Partner.”
At the same time as Yeoul’s answer, the hospital door happened to open. The Teleportation Esper who had been waiting for them opened the door and delivered good news.
“Meow-meow woke up. They said there’s no problem at all.”
Dawoon’s expression brightened in an instant and he hurriedly entered the hospital. Yeoul watched his retreating back and trudged after him.
“Meow-meow? Is that its name?”
“Yeah.”
Yeoul, who read the cat’s name written on the medicine bag, asked the reason with an uninterested expression. Why it went from cat to meow-meow.
“The hospital asked for a name and I couldn’t think of anything in particular.”
“I see. You named it well.”
At the soulless compliment, Dawoon also skipped reacting. After returning to the dorm with Yeoul and the cat, he moved diligently without resting for even a moment.
“I told you to let me do it. Hyung, sit down. I’ll do it.”
“No, I’m almost done.”
Dawoon was dividing up the cat’s two weeks’ worth of food in the kitchen. He even took out a digital scale, then portioned it out after measuring the daily amount without even a 0.1 gram margin of error.
“Why are you doing all that? The doctor said there’s no problem.”
“You never know. They say kittens eat everything they see.”
Fortunately, according to the test results, the cat was fine. All the numbers came out normal and the X-ray photos showed the inside of its body was clean too. It even received praise for having tremendous digestive power despite being a kitten.
The vomiting symptoms could be a stress reaction due to sudden environmental changes, so they decided to visit again if the symptoms repeated. Anyway, since all the test results were normal, Dawoon was greatly relieved.
At the same time, he also felt a slight sense of kinship. Both were in situations of being stressed by unfamiliar environments. That’s why he felt even more drawn to the kitten.
He was a full-grown adult and had an Esper’s sturdy body, but it was a kitten that had just stepped into the world. It was a time when it needed a safe guardian.
“Just move these to the drawer. I’ll go check if the cat is sleeping well.”
“Yes, don’t rush, and be careful going up the stairs.”
Dawoon, who had been heading quickly to the stairs, became conscious of Yeoul’s words and walked slowly. Since he had a history of missing a step on the stairs, he didn’t hurry.
Creak.
He carefully opened the room door and immediately looked at the bed. The moment he saw the blanket bulging as if a small ball had been placed in the center of the wide bed, a smile naturally came out.
The cat was sleeping soundly in the blanket while tightly hugging a doll. He had only covered it up to its belly with the blanket, but it seemed to have crawled under the blanket by itself in its sleep.
Dawoon, who lifted the blanket, stroked the soundly sleeping cat only with his eyes. Though it was cute how it preciously hugged the human-shaped doll that Ryu Taeha had left behind, it somehow felt more pitiful.
Does it need human warmth, acting like that? Another sigh surged out with deepening thoughts.
“Ah….”
Dawoon, who lowered his head, suddenly touched the back of his neck.
The area where Yeoul had strongly grabbed throbbed. As tension released, the pain he’d forgotten was gradually trying to worsen.
That brat, using his strength on his hyung.
He healed it without bothering to check the back of his neck where there were surely handprints. The horrifying thought crossed his mind that if the person Yeoul had grabbed by the back of the neck had been the doctor, his neck would definitely have been broken.
“He shouldn’t be doing this already….”
He knew well that Yeoul hadn’t used his strength with the purpose of harming him. However, he was worried that it might become a habit to subdue opponents with strength when conflicts arose.
The only opponent who could stop him was Ryu Taeha. However, in the end, even he couldn’t stop Yeoul and met his death.
Dawoon, who was habitually mulling over the novel’s content, furrowed his brow. His condition, which had been good, was already getting worse, and his head was trying to get heavy again. His stomach also felt queasy.
This wretched body showed faithful reactions even to slight stress. Dawoon, who kept swallowing dry saliva, finally headed to the bathroom holding his churning stomach.
Soon, when groaning sounds faintly leaked from the bathroom, the cat, whose ears perked up, gently opened its eyes.
