# Chapter 101
Tae Igyeol hadn’t woken up by 9 PM. It might be due to the effects of painkillers and sleeping pills, but just as Mo Eunje had slept like he was unconscious in Busan, Tae Igyeol might also be making up for lost sleep. It was almost a relief that he was sleeping comfortably, at least in this way.
Mo Eunje, who had been watching over Tae Igyeol in the hospital room, felt his phone vibrate and went out to the reception room to answer it. It was Gye Minho calling, saying he had come to the hospital but security guards wouldn’t let him enter the 19th floor. After telling him to wait and going out to get him, Mo Eunje found Gye Minho standing awkwardly between the security guards, looking intimidated.
“I thought you were coming tomorrow afternoon. How did you get here?”
“Igyeol is injured and hospitalized, and you came from Busan after hearing the news and haven’t even eaten yet. How could I just sit still?”
In Gye Minho’s hand was a paper bag with the name of a sushi restaurant that Mo Eunje liked. After going through the same procedure as when Mo Eunje had entered, he brought Gye Minho inside. Gye Minho set up the sushi on the table and said he would go see Tae Igyeol for a moment before entering the hospital room.
Though he felt hungry at the sight of food, Mo Eunje followed Gye Minho and leaned against the doorframe of the hospital room, watching inside. The sensitive guy seemed startled and just stood there blankly, staring at Tae Igyeol lying down, not even thinking of sitting in the visitor’s chair. Then he took out a marker from his pocket and opened the cap. He probably wanted to write something on the cast.
“…”
But knowing Tae Igyeol’s personality, he only hesitated, not even bringing the marker close to the cast. In the end, afraid of future repercussions, he couldn’t muster the courage and closed the marker cap again, putting it back in his pocket.
“I’ll let you do it tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ve always wanted to try this.”
He was being generous to Gye Minho, who was coming out of the hospital room. He had brought dinner, so letting him write a few words on the cast with a marker was nothing. He closed the sliding door quietly and sat opposite Gye Minho at the reception room table.
“Have you had dinner?”
“Of course I have. What time is it now? Don’t worry about me and eat comfortably.”
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
Among the various neatly packaged sushi, he first put the one topped with flounder and aged kimchi in his mouth. The savory taste made his appetite return. Since Tae Igyeol also liked sushi, it might be good to buy some for him when he starts getting tired of hospital food.
“It’s strange to see Tae Igyeol hospitalized. He’s not the build to be pushed aside by someone…”
“According to Hajun, the other guy was similar in height to Hajun and was a muscle-bound bastard who seemed to work out all the time.”
“Must be someone who lives at the gym. But didn’t Igyeol also practically live at the gym for a while?”
“Igyeol doesn’t like building big muscles because he thinks it makes him look stupid and dull.”
Since Ban Hajun is 187cm, if the other person was similar in height, he must be at least 185cm. On top of that, it was dirty and mean to engage Ban Hajun in physical play with a muscled-up body. Although Tae Igyeol only has lean muscles, he was born with a towering build, and Tae Igyeol himself has a significant intimidating presence, so it’s likely the other person couldn’t think of confronting him fairly and waited for the moment he was jumping.
He explained to the curious Gye Minho about the situation as he had heard it. Gye Minho was also outraged and immediately took out his phone, saying he would ask his father for help. Mo Eunje calmed down the rarely excited guy by saying that Tae Hyunseok would handle it well and would definitely ask for help if needed, but doing so left him drained. If he hadn’t been eating sushi, he might have collapsed first.
“Did you finish your writing quota for today before coming?”
“Yeah. Dating makes writing go well too. I feel like ideas keep flowing.”
“That’s good.”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t read “The Regressor’s Mnemonics” for about ten days. He hadn’t accessed the web novel platform app since the day Tae Igyeol expressed his feelings indirectly while making California rolls.
But now he was overwhelmed just with Tae Igyeol, so he wasn’t curious about the next content of “The Regressor” that had been so interesting. He would have to solve the problem at hand first and then catch up later to enjoy it with peace of mind.
“Why did you suddenly go to Busan?”
“Just because.”
“What do you mean ‘just because’? Did Tae Igyeol… confess?”
Gye Minho whispered in a voice so quiet it was barely audible. The last word was closer to being mouthed than whispered. The guy who couldn’t be found with even an ant’s worth of perceptiveness had developed remarkably.
“Are you heat-stroked? What nonsense are you talking about?”
“What heat stroke in June? It’s weird that you went to Busan alone without Tae Igyeol.”
“What’s weird about that? I can go alone to my parents’ house.”
He responded calmly while putting a shrimp sushi in his mouth. Honestly, even after meeting with Song Yeonhwa and calming down, he had no appetite and was going to skip dinner, but now that he was eating, it was delicious.
“I sent Tae Igyeol a message the day I ate lamb skewers, but he ignored it.”
“Don’t take it personally. It’s not the first time he’s ignored messages.”
“No, I sent something profound. I said that I’m really happy right now and that I hope our friendship lasts forever.”
He let out a sigh. He was reminded again that what Tae Igyeol was trying to do wasn’t just betraying both families but also shaking the precious friendship they had built solidly and meticulously over six years.
“Minho. Please… pretend you don’t know. I’m overloaded too. I feel like my head is going to explode.”
“I’m just worried. Anyway, if you’re feeling frustrated or having a hard time, don’t struggle alone and talk to me at least. I only have you guys as friends, so I don’t have anyone else to talk to.”
“I’ll protect it somehow, so for now, don’t show any signs and just act the same as usual.”
“I will. I’m a chicken-heart anyway, so I can’t show anything.”
Mo Eunje put a salmon sushi in Gye Minho’s mouth as a gesture of gratitude. While other types only had one piece each, there were two salmon sushi, so he could readily give one away.
As they finished eating and were cleaning up, a nurse knocked and came in to replace Tae Igyeol’s IV pack. Tae Igyeol was still deeply asleep. Feeling anxious for no reason, Mo Eunje casually asked.
“Is it okay that the patient is just sleeping all the time?”
“Yes. Since he’s in severe pain, it’s better for him to sleep. If he’s struggling a lot when he wakes up, please press the nurse call button. I’ll call the attending physician.”
“Thank you.”
After the nurse left, he drew the curtains carefully to prevent outside light from coming in. While he disliked complete darkness and slept with mood lighting on, Tae Igyeol slept better in complete darkness.
However, every time they fell asleep together in his bed, Tae Igyeol always turned on a dimmed mood light for him. Each small, familiar action now seemed like more than simple consideration.
“Will you stay here tonight?”
He naturally left the hospital room with Gye Minho. He wanted a sweet drink and planned to see Gye Minho off while getting one.
“I told Tae Igyeol’s parents to go home since I thought it would be better if I stayed.”
“Good call. It’s better for someone younger to be there than for the adults to stay up all night at the hospital. Oh right, I wasn’t sure what else you needed, so I just brought a charger that you might need right away.”
While waiting for the elevator, Gye Minho took out a charger from the eco bag he was carrying. Not only Gye Minho, but Mo Eunje, Tae Igyeol, and Ban Hajun all used the same brand of phones, so they used the same type of charger. Only then did Mo Eunje notice that his phone battery was critically low and about to turn off.
“Thanks. I’m supposed to switch shifts in the morning, so I’ll go home and bring mine back, and I’ll give it to you then.”
“That one’s a spare, so you can give it back later. By the way, this is my first time in a VIP hospital room. It was even better than a hotel suite room.”
“But the room fee is viciously evil. And with Tae Igyeol’s personality, do you think he could share a room with someone else?”
“Still, I didn’t know it would be that nice. Tae Igyeol is a lucky bastard after all.”
“Agreed. Even if it was just a ligament strain, it must have been incredibly painful, and in the midst of that, he had Ban Hajun save the black box footage and told the paramedics to take him to the hospital where Ila Actors’ actors go. That’s how he got into the VIP room.”
Mo Eunje was amazed by Tae Igyeol’s thoroughness. He couldn’t understand with his own mind how Tae Igyeol had calculated all of that. This hospital had many doctors who were close to Mo Yeongwoo and Han Seola, and thanks to that, Tae Hyunseok was also maintaining friendships with the doctors at this hospital.
“True. I think I read an article saying that VIP rooms are hard to get into because they’re overflowing with people on the waiting list, no matter how expensive they are. But with Tae Igyeol, I don’t even feel relative deprivation. It just seems natural for him to enjoy such things.”
“He tends to be like that. He seems like he was born to be the main character.”
“Right. When I first met Tae Igyeol, I didn’t think we could become this close… Hey, how far are you going to see me off? I’m going to take a taxi from here.”
Gye Minho, who had exited the lobby, pointed to the line of taxis. A café that was still open was visible nearby.
“Oh. I’m going to buy a strawberry juice and go back. I feel like my blood sugar is dropping. Thanks to you, I had a good dinner. Be careful on your way home.”
“Hajun and I will come tomorrow afternoon. You should really get some sleep and not stay up all night. Tae Igyeol won’t heal faster just because you stay up.”
“Why would I stay up all night? I’m dead tired. Go. See you tomorrow.”
After sending Gye Minho off, he stopped by the café to buy a strawberry juice, and at the convenience store, he bought two toothbrushes. When he had briefly looked around the luxurious bathroom earlier, there seemed to be plenty of toothpaste and towels, so he thought he just needed to buy toothbrushes. A moment later, he thought there might be toothbrushes if he looked through the drawers, but since he had already bought them and was feeling lazy, he just returned to the hospital.
He decided to wash his face at home tomorrow, figuring it wouldn’t kill him to go a day without washing his face. Without skin products, if he washed his face and his facial skin became dry and tight, it would make the dermatology treatment he endured in pain feel wasted, so he’d bear with the stuffiness.
Mo Eunje entered the hospital lobby but turned back and went to the convenience store. Unlike himself, he was concerned about not being able to properly brush the teeth of someone who was excessively concerned with cleanliness and neatness. If he brushed his teeth inadequately, Tae Igyeol would clearly be stressed out from not feeling refreshed. So he thought it might be better to at least use a liquid oral cleanser for gargling. Given Tae Igyeol’s personality, hospital life wouldn’t be comfortable, so he wanted to minimize his discomfort. The oral cleanser might also be found if he searched the bathroom, but he wasn’t sure, so he decided to just buy it. It would be troublesome to come back out again.
