How can someone cry so pitifully? Each time he rubbed Baek Seungyeon’s pale skin with his thumb, redness was added. Recognizing that attention from the surroundings was increasingly drawn, Yoon Taerim wrapped his arm around Seungyeon’s shoulders. Supporting Seungyeon who was absorbed in crying, he moved toward the hospital room.
“Don’t worry. I checked right away and your mother is fine.”
“Is my m-mom okay? She’s not d-dead?”
“Of course. She says she’ll live happily with Seungyeon for a long, long time.”
Patting his shoulder, he boarded the elevator connected to the hospital rooms. Even while exchanging greetings with hospital staff, Yoon Taerim was absorbed in soothing Seungyeon.
In a way, Baek Seungyeon’s reaction wasn’t strange either. Seungyeon’s age was only twenty-three, just three years older than Jung Sanho. So he is still a baby, then. And even if he wasn’t a baby, anyone would be shocked to suddenly hear news that their mother had a traffic accident.
Yoon Taerim had heard the news yesterday. Should he say it was thanks to registering his mother as a hospital VIP while making a contract with Seungyeon? Yoon Taerim, who heard the story that she had an accident and was hospitalized, immediately contacted the hospital. After arranging as much convenience as possible and making various requests, he also called Seungyeon, but a completely different person answered the phone.
Yoon Taerim put a bit more strength into the arm embracing Seungyeon. And he reassured Seungyeon without revealing his emotions.
“How worried would she be if you shed tears in front of her? Stop, that’s right.”
Before long, they arrived at the 12th floor where the VIP rooms were gathered. After receiving entry permission from the station and arriving at the room, Seungyeon took the lead and ran. He opened the hospital room door without looking back or forth.
“Mom!”
The way he ran hurriedly was just like a puppy. Yoon Taerim closed the door instead of Seungyeon and slowly followed.
The spacious hospital room was reminiscent of a luxurious bedroom. Seungyeon, who had already stuck close to the bed, sniffled and poured out questions.
“Mom, are you okay? Huh? Where are you hurt? You’re really okay, right? Nothing’s broken? Let me see!”
“Goodness, what’s really wrong with this kid.”
Despite his mother’s resistance, Seungyeon paid no attention. His hands were busy groping her body and checking if there were any injuries. Fortunately, there were no visible external injuries and her consciousness was clear. Only then did Seungyeon, relieved, sit down limply by the bedside. His mother reached out her hand and stroked Seungyeon’s head.
“Mom is fine. But what were you doing that you’re only coming now? Not answering the phone all day.”
“I, I really thought Mom was s-seriously hurt……”
Seungyeon stopped speaking mid-sentence and burst into tears. At the sight of her son sniffling with a runny nose, she clicked her tongue.
“Why is a grown kid crying?”
Though she said that, she didn’t seem to dislike it. A small smile hung on the scolding mother’s lips.
“Do you know how worried I was? I can’t live without Mom.”
Seungyeon hugged his mother tightly. The way he’s throwing a tantrum is just like a little kid. Looking at the hand patting his back, Yoon Taerim approached the two. Only then discovering Yoon Taerim, she opened her eyes wide. To her awkwardly greeting with eye signals, Yoon Taerim politely bowed his head.
“Hello, ma’am. My name is Yoon Taerim.”
Rather than looking exactly alike, Yoon Taerim smiled broadly while observing the mother and son with similar overall atmospheres. Baek Seungyeon also seemed to have calmed down somewhat as he sniffled and straightened his posture. The atmosphere inside the hospital room became awkward in an instant. Yoon Taerim moved a bit closer to the two.
“You don’t know how much Seungyeon talked about you, ma’am. I’ve been wanting to greet you, and we’re meeting like this. Are you feeling a bit better? There’s no discomfort anywhere, right?”
At his affectionate yet calm attitude, she also obediently nodded. Though she answered meekly, her face was full of question marks. His questioning manner seemed like a doctor’s, but his attire was too ordinary for that. With this unidentified man visiting together with her son, her curiosity only grew. At her whisper asking if he was someone they knew, Yoon Taerim quickly answered instead of Baek Seungyeon.
“I’m a hyung that Seungyeon knows. I personally owe Seungyeon a debt. Someone I know well happens to work at this hospital, so I requested they take good care of you. So please be sure to tell me if there’s anything uncomfortable.”
The synergy of his friendly attitude and trustworthy appearance was tremendous. She didn’t doubt Yoon Taerim’s words at all. Seungyeon couldn’t help but admire Yoon Taerim’s social skills in winning favor with just a few words.
“Oh my, I see! No, they suddenly said they’d change the room, so I wondered what was going on!”
“Ah, this is nothing much. As long as you recover quickly, ma’am. Ah, your friends will also be moved to this ward in the afternoon. Though it’s just minor sprains and bruises, rest well until today and be discharged tomorrow. There are lots of good things in the VIP lounge here.”
At the word VIP, a gleam appeared in the mother’s eyes. She grabbed Yoon Taerim’s hand.
“Oh my, what fortune did our Seungyeon have to get to know a hyung like this? Thank you, thank you.”
“What have I even done? You just focus on staying healthy and recovering. Understood?”
While they were laughing together, the hospital room door opened and a nurse appeared. Seungyeon scurried up to the nurse and asked this and that. Only after confirming several times that it was just minor bruises and there was no need to worry did he let out a sigh of relief. Yoon Taerim’s gaze touched Seungyeon’s face smiling brightly even before the traces of tears had completely disappeared.
The crying is worth watching in its own way, and the smiling is also worth watching in its own way. Baek Seungyeon definitely had a decent face. While chewing over this fresh realization, Seungyeon suddenly snatched his arm.
“Mom, I’ll go see Auntie Misuk for a moment and come back, so rest.”
Yoon Taerim, who was dragged out of the hospital room without time to say goodbye, looked back with eyes full of regret. At the question that he should at least greet her before leaving, Seungyeon firmly grabbed his arm instead of answering.
“Never mind that. Explain what happened. How did you know I’d come to that beauty salon and leave your contact information there?”
“Ah, that.”
Yoon Taerim leisurely shrugged his shoulders. After glancing toward the hospital room for a moment, he gestured in the opposite direction.
“Shall we talk slowly over a cup of coffee?”
***
Even when he received the contact information from the Rosa Beauty Salon auntie, he thought the person who left the contact would be the police, paramedics, or hospital personnel.
Seungyeon clutched his pounding chest and borrowed the beauty salon auntie’s phone. Not even knowing what he was praying for, when he pressed the button with a desperate heart, Yoon Taerim answered the phone from the other end.
From that point on, he couldn’t understand the unfolding situation. He understood that there was a traffic accident, but why did Yoon Taerim suddenly appear there? Anyway, since Yoon Taerim knew his mother’s whereabouts, he followed along, but a huge question still floated in one corner of his mind.
“Don’t tell me you caused the accident or something like that?”
Seungyeon opened his eyes drowsily while sipping coffee. Even at the glaring gaze, Yoon Taerim wore his usual slippery smile. He leaned his body toward the table and drank his share of the beverage. The lips touching the end of the straw looked particularly red.
“Seungyeon must watch a lot of dramas. Where in the world is such a coincidence common? And I’m a 10-year accident-free driver. You know I drive well and you’re saying that.”
Yoon Taerim laughed leisurely and rested his chin on his hand. With the small, round table between them, the distance between the two grew closer. Seungyeon pulled his body back, avoiding the piercing gaze.
“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense. Unless you’re the perpetrator, why would you leave your contact information there? No wait, how did you know I’d come there?”
“Seungyeon lost your phone. I thought you wouldn’t be able to answer even if I contacted you, so I left it as a temporary measure. I thought you’d come there someday looking for your mother.”
“How did you know I lost my phone?”
At the circumstances adding suspicion upon suspicion, Seungyeon’s gaze sharpened. Since he’d already been thoroughly hit in the back of the head once by someone he knew, he couldn’t let his guard down just because Yoon Taerim was smiling.
‘This person is also friends with that bastard Go Yeongbin.’
Birds of a feather flock together, so this side was equally untrustworthy. Isn’t there also the saying that similar people gather? Wouldn’t that bastard and this bastard be at similar levels?
When Seungyeon was on guard showing it with his whole body, Yoon Taerim protested that he was wronged.
“I really did it to help Seungyeon. So I came here with great resolve.”
Yoon Taerim rummaged through his pocket and placed something on the table. At the familiar silhouette, Seungyeon reached out with a brightened face.
“My phone!”
