By now, Yoon Kihyun didn’t take Jung Sijun’s antics too sensitively. Whatever his true intentions might be, he was grateful for the desire to help, and the fact that Sijun had learned enough not to bring up money first was quite admirable.
While guiding Jung Sijun’s wavelength, which wasn’t serious, Yoon Kihyun let the excessively relaxed and peaceful atmosphere flow by.
He didn’t know how things would turn out in the future, but for now, he just wanted to dawdle a bit more. Even if his calm attitude might look to others like he was giving Jung Sijun an opening or testing the waters.
Just when they’d been holding hands long enough for it to feel like meaningless guiding, a ringtone that shattered the peace echoed through the guiding room. The source of the ringtone was Jung Sijun’s phone.
When Yoon Kihyun tactfully ended the guiding and let go of his hand, Jung Sijun checked his phone. His brow furrowed deeply, and as soon as he answered the call, the color began to drain from his face.
“…Huh?”
There was no “hello” or “what’s wrong” greeting. Having heard what the person on the other end unilaterally conveyed, Jung Sijun stood frozen as if in a panic.
—…Get to the hospital quickly, you bastard!
The call cut off abruptly with what could have been a shout or a cry. At the ominous conversation, Yoon Kihyun cautiously spoke up.
“What’s wrong?”
Only then seeming to come to his senses, Jung Sijun, who had lost focus, stammered in reply.
“I think I need to go to the hospital.”
“Who does? You, Team Leader Jung?”
Having no clue at all, Kihyun asked dumbly, and Jung Sijun shoved his phone into his pocket while grabbing the jacket he’d carelessly left aside.
“Mother. They said Mother is sick. That she’s critical.”
His trembling voice, like a lost child, was precarious.
Come to think of it, he’d mentioned before that he knew someone around him who was battling illness and that hospital bills were expensive. He’d vaguely assumed it was a friend or family member, but it was his mother.
“I have to go. To the hospital. Right now to the hospital.”
Repeating his destination and what he needed to do like a broken machine, he looked unstable.
I can’t let him go like this.
Seeing him flustered made worry come first. He wanted to drive for him if he could, but he didn’t have a driver’s license. On the other hand, taking a taxi together to the hospital would not only be intrusive but seemed a bit excessive.
“Where’s my phone, shit.”
Jung Sijun was busy looking for his phone while holding his jacket. He was so frantic that he’d even forgotten he’d just shoved it in his pocket.
At this rate, Jung Sijun would rush out first, so Yoon Kihyun grabbed his hand.
“Sijun-ssi.”
When he called his name, Jung Sijun’s trembling gradually stopped. When Kihyun squeezed his hand harder as if telling him to calm down, only then did Sijun make a sound that could have been a response or a sob.
“…Yes.”
His usually chattering voice was completely suppressed.
“Just in case, take a taxi to the hospital. And if I remember correctly, Special Team 2’s Vice Team Leader is Esper Kim Chamin, right?”
Jung Sijun’s eyebrows twitched for a moment. Why was he suddenly asking about the Vice Team Leader?
He briefly wondered, but his thoughts didn’t continue long. His mind was already filled only with thoughts of needing to get to the hospital.
When Jung Sijun nodded, Yoon Kihyun’s questions continued.
“The Vice Team Leader knows Team Leader’s Center ID and password, right?”
“…Yes. He did tell me, but why?”
His tone automatically sharpened because he was anxious and only incomprehensible questions were being thrown at him. What was he doing, holding back someone who was busy right now?
“I’ll tell the Vice Team Leader to submit a half-day leave approval under Team Leader’s ID. Now go. I’ll leave work on my own when it’s time. Your wavelength is fine too. I was worried, but fortunately it’s okay.”
Jung Sijun stared down at the pale hand slowly pulling away from his wrist.
He was amazed that Kihyun had even checked his wavelength in the meantime. When his own mind had gone blank and he couldn’t do anything.
Is this what older people are all like?
Jung Sijun looked into the eyes of Yoon Kihyun, who was staring up at him as if the business was concluded, and stammered.
“Um, if…”
There was so much he wanted to say, but with the urgency to get to the hospital immediately, he couldn’t properly continue his words. Yoon Kihyun seemed to sense Jung Sijun’s feelings and shook his head.
“If it’s not important, call me when you have time at the hospital. For now, just go to the hospital quickly.”
The firm words snapped him to attention. Yoon Kihyun even opened the door and pushed Jung Sijun’s back.
If he forgot to control his strength even a little, he would hurt from just holding hands—how such strength came from that person was a mystery.
Only after being pushed out of the guiding room did Jung Sijun take a small deep breath. He was finally able to finish his words properly.
“I’ll be back.”
Instead of answering, Yoon Kihyun nodded. Then he added a nag as if not to forget.
“Take a taxi. Don’t drive. Got it?”
He didn’t know how grateful he was for the nagging that looked after even trivial things.
Since I’m not in my right mind, he’s probably worried I’ll get in an accident if I get behind the wheel. To think that Yoon Kihyun, who used to have no interest in what I did, would worry about me.
Jung Sijun nodded that he understood and then ran down the hallway.
He’d run down the Center hallway like this many times after receiving calls from the hospital, but Yoon Kihyun was the first to tell him to take a taxi.
Jung Sijun hastily got into a taxi and shouted the hospital’s name, then closed his eyes tightly as he watched the slowly moving scenery outside the taxi.
If it hadn’t been for Yoon Kihyun’s advice, he felt like he would have crashed into several cars by now.
***
It had already been two years since he’d heard that clichéd phrase to prepare himself mentally.
The first time he heard it, he felt like the world was ending, but hearing it every three or four months seemed to build up a tolerance.
That didn’t mean he didn’t panic when he heard those words though.
“Fuck, how many years are we supposed to keep doing that goddamn preparation? My mom isn’t someone who’d easily give in to something like that.”
Jung Sijun, who arrived at the family room where guardians gathered, kicked the sofa and huffed. In the family room of the hospital he’d arrived at by taxi following Yoon Kihyun’s advice, there were only two of them as family.
“Hey.”
Jung Sitaek, the second son, who had first conveyed the medical staff’s news to Jung Sijun, and Jung Sijun.
Their father was in front of their mother’s hospital room. The eldest, Jung Siho, was still on an overseas business trip. They’d left him a message, but it would take some time for him to return to the country.
“Those bastards take so much money and just keep muttering the same things. Fuck.”
“Jung Sijun.”
“What! Aren’t you fucking furious, hyung?”
“I am furious. But what changes just because you’re throwing a tantrum like this? Does Mother suddenly get better and wake up? Or does her illness suddenly disappear completely?”
Jung Sitaek stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He was wearing a three-piece suit again, as if he’d come straight from work. What kind of thug works in a suit?
“If you ask me, that’s your problem, hyung. You have zero fucking empathy. Always analytical, cold-blooded, ruthless.”
“…”
“Whenever something happens, you pretend to be strict and serious while analyzing. Fuck, that’s why your girlfriends run away saying they’re sick of you. I wouldn’t date you either if I were them—it’d be fucking awful.”
“Why are we talking about that now?”
Jung Sitaek muttered quietly. Though he didn’t furrow his brow, his flickering eyes were enough to show his displeasure.
Though not an Esper, befitting the second son who inherited a thug family that used physical force, it was a tremendous killing intent. In fact, it was Jung Sitaek who had properly taught Jung Sijun, who awakened as an Esper, how to use his body.
Since memories of him contributing greatly to his personality since childhood and strictly disciplining him were deeply ingrained in his mind, Jung Sijun let out a small sigh.
“Didn’t you tell me to keep my temper down at the hospital? You taught me that, hyung?”
“When did I tell you to beat up bastards who piss you off?”
This bastard only remembers one thing when you teach him one thing—it’s a headache. However, Jung Sitaek decided to endure his younger brother’s tantrum, which refuted his words point by point, a bit longer. Because he knew that this obstinate tantrum was that bastard’s way of expressing anxiety.
“I learned only weird things from hyung since I was young, so I’m already frustrated to death that I’m starting with minus points.”
Jung Sijun, sitting on the armrest of the sofa, mussed his hair and tilted his head back.
His thick chest swelled greatly, then let out a long sigh. It was a sign that he was entering the stage of moderately composing his emotions.
Jung Sitaek looked at his rude younger brother and asked.
“Starting with minus points with who? That personal guide you hired recently?”
“Are you going around investigating me?”
Seeing a sharper reaction than usual, there must not be progress with the guide.
Jung Sitaek looked at his younger brother with pitying eyes. This pathetic bastard…
