I dropped Seo Hanryul off at his house and came back home.
‘My whole body aches.’
After driving for 8 hours round trip, my entire body was sore. Fortunately, tomorrow’s schedule was clear, so unless something unexpected came up, I could rest at home for a day.
Of course, if that bastard Seo Hanryul summoned me to go somewhere like the gym like last time, I’d be dragged along without any resistance. And if I went, I’d have to play along with his childish wordplay again. Just imagining it made me sick.
‘Please… don’t call me tomorrow. Let me rest a bit.’
‘Aren’t you the one twisting my words? Still wearing only short-sleeved shirts. You must think the manager’s job is a joke, huh?’
I was thinking I really needed to rest when suddenly I recalled what Seo Hanryul had said in the car on the way back. Seeing him worry about me meant there was an opening….
If he calls me to the gym tomorrow, should I lie and say I’m sick? I really wanted to do nothing tomorrow and just rest at home.
‘Let’s think about it while showering first.’
There were no proper shower facilities at the filming location, so after my hair got wet in the rain, I had to finish up by just rinsing it roughly at the sink. Because of this, the next day my hair looked like a cow had licked it, which felt very unpleasant.
“So refreshing~.”
After finishing my shower, I felt very refreshed, but fatigue also started creeping up on me. And something scary happened. As soon as I came out after washing, I started to feel my body heating up.
I drove from dawn, drove on the way back, took naps in the van…. But still, I’m a man of steel, so I thought there’s no way I’d get a fever from just this kind of schedule, and I lay down on the bed and went straight to sleep.
* * *
“Ugh….”
I woke up with a headache to find it was 7 AM.
In the end, trouble had come. I showered cleanly, covered myself with the blanket up to my neck and slept warmly, yet I’d caught a cold and was feverish. When I touched my forehead, I was already burning up with fever. I was confident I wouldn’t get sick, but my body couldn’t hold out.
‘Damn it. At least I don’t have a schedule today….’
When I turned on my phone, there were missed calls.
2 missed calls from Seo Hanryul.
1 missed call from Han Woojin.
Seo Hanryul was one thing, but why did Han Woojin call? Ah, did he call to ask about his vacation?
But since Seo Hanryul’s call was the most important matter, I lightly passed over Han Woojin and called Seo Hanryul.
“Why did you call?”
“Come to the gym by 10 today. But what’s wrong with your voice?”
That damn gym again. But if I went to the gym today, I felt like I’d collapse there.
“Today’s my day off…. Can’t I rest just for one day? Actually, I caught a cold….”
I asked in a gentle voice to let me rest for just one day so as not to go against Seo Hanryul’s mood.
“What?”
“I was fine until yesterday, but today I’m not in good condition. Can’t I rest just for one day?”
“Pathetic…. I clearly told you yesterday you’d catch a cold, didn’t I? Fine. Rest today and don’t be late for tomorrow’s schedule.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Thank goodness. For once, he readily agreed to my request. Unpredictable bastard. As soon as I finished the call with Seo Hanryul, I fell asleep again.
“Haah….”
When I woke up again after tossing and turning with a headache, it was around 10 AM. As a stopgap measure, I found cold medicine at home and tossed it into my mouth.
‘Should I go to the hospital instead of just sleeping like this?’
Just as I was contemplating whether to go to the hospital or not, the doorbell rang from the front door. Looking at the intercom screen, I saw Han Woojin’s face.
‘Ah…. Why is he here again from this morning?’
I didn’t know why he came, but I opened the door for now.
“Secretary Han, what brings you here from this morning? Didn’t I tell you last time to go on vacation without any burden?”
“Young Master, have you been well? I don’t think I need to take the vacation you mentioned.”
Han Woojin smiled brightly and returned the black card to me. So he’s not going on vacation after all. As expected, it’s not easy. He must have had a meeting with Cha Taehan. Then did he really come all the way to my house just to return that single card?
“If that’s Secretary Han’s opinion, then it can’t be helped. Then please go back now.”
“Young Master, did you catch a cold by any chance? Have you taken medicine?”
“I’m fine, so please go back now.”
“But… your complexion looks very bad.”
If only my body was fine, I would have chased Han Woojin away. But right now, even standing was difficult. Like a hyena, Han Woojin wouldn’t leave the door using my complexion as an excuse. I suddenly had a feeling that to send Han Woojin back, I’d have to argue for quite a while.
‘Persistent bastard. This is why he got a perfect score on the CSAT….’
“Secretary Han, next time, don’t come to my house unless I call you first. Didn’t I tell you that last time too? …Just come in for today.”
“Yes, Young Master. Thank you.”
I had no choice but to let Han Woojin into the house.
“As you can see, my body’s a bit off today. I’ll rest in my room on my own, so Secretary Han, do your work wherever you’re comfortable.”
The headache was too severe, so after letting Han Woojin in, I immediately went back to my room. As soon as I lay down on the bed, my eyes closed again like magic.
* * *
Woojin couldn’t help but be shocked when he saw Jaehyun’s face as he opened the door. Not only was he breaking out in cold sweat, but his pale, ashen face looked half its normal size.
“As you can see, my body’s a bit off today. I’ll rest in my room on my own, so Secretary Han, do your work wherever you’re comfortable.”
As if what Woojin saw was correct, he left those words about being sick and went into his room.
Had about 20 minutes passed? There was no sign of life from Jaehyun’s room. Woojin quietly entered his room.
Jaehyun was sleeping while breaking out in cold sweat. Woojin gently sat down beside him. When he touched his forehead, he seemed to be burning up with fever.
Then his left hand caught Woojin’s eye. A hand with the pinky finger roughly wrapped in gauze. When he took his hand and unwrapped the gauze, he saw a broken pinky nail and dried blood. He didn’t know how he’d hurt his hand, but at a glance, it was a wound that must have hurt quite a bit.
‘Damn bastard.’
As soon as he saw that wound, Woojin thought of Hanryul and started to get angry. Although he’s treated worse than a cockroach at Daejin, he’s someone who’s never done housework in his life. It was only natural that the job of road manager wouldn’t be easy for someone like that.
“Ugh….”
As if something hurt badly, Jaehyun started making groaning sounds.
A pale white face, cold sweat, moans, a straight nose, lips that were pale pink though lacking color. All of these mixed together creating a strange atmosphere.
Watching him, Woojin felt an impulse to touch not just his forehead but other places too. Soon he placed both his hands on Jaehyun’s cheeks. When the cool hands touched his face, he seemed to toss and turn for a moment before the moaning stopped.
He removed his hands from the soft skin and began carefully wiping away the cold sweat beaded on his face with a handkerchief. After wiping away all the cold sweat, he stroked his hair once. The sweat-dampened hair softly swept along following Woojin’s hand.
The sight of Jaehyun sleeping peacefully. Seeing that scene, he couldn’t easily leave the room. In the end, Woojin watched over him for about 30 minutes.
Continuing to watch his sleeping face, he recalled the image of him from before, carrying books around saying he’d study in America, and smiled.
‘Cha Jaehyun, just endure for 6 months. After 6 months, I’ll definitely make sure you go back to America.’
He lightly tapped his sleeping nose a couple of times, and Woojin came back out to the spacious living room. He planned not to leave the house until he saw Jaehyun wake up. When Jaehyun opened his eyes, he had to take him to the hospital, feed him, and give him medicine.
In the past, all these things would have been nothing more than tiresome cleanup work. But now Woojin only looked forward to the time when he would open his eyes. What time would Cha Jaehyun wake up?
[Ding-dong]
The bell sound echoed through the silent living room.
‘Who is it?’
Woojin looked into the intercom.
On the screen was Seo Hanryul, that bastard’s face. Why did that bastard come at this hour? Displeasure arose in an instant.
At Hanryul’s appearance, Woojin’s face began to become terribly distorted.
But he couldn’t not open the door. If he didn’t open it, it was obvious that bastard would torment Jaehyun.
Woojin opened the door with a fake smile.
“Hello. Seo Hanryul-ssi, what brings you here?”
“Hello, Han. Woo. Jin-ssi? It’s been a while.”
When Woojin suddenly emerged from Jaehyun’s house, Hanryul also seemed flustered. But soon he smiled and greeted Woojin in the same way.
‘When did he learn my name?’
Hanryul was looking at Woojin and calling out his name, breaking it down letter by letter, syllable by syllable. As if trying to provoke his opponent.
“Yes, Seo Hanryul-ssi. It’s been a while.”
Woojin read that intention and answered Hanryul with a smile. Though this statement contained the meaning ‘You absolutely can’t come in here.’
