The thorny path of life was breathing noisily, knowing nothing. Noisy, perhaps excessively rough breathing.
He realized Kwon Yunsu’s body was a fireball when they arrived home.
“Kwon Yunsu, throw up.”
The hand gently patting his back, the uncomfortable position, and the arrogant commanding tone whispered in his ear snapped him awake. Why should I throw up? You do it, you bad bastard. Frowning at the absurd words, something surging up opened his mouth.
“Urk… Blergh!”
…Terrible smell. He thought he’d suffocate to death. In an instant, fire came out of his ears and conversely, water dripped from his eyes. Why am I like this…… Along with sour gastric fluid, the alcohol he’d happily drunk all evening, snacks, squid legs and such poured out sloppily. At the same time, fragmentary memories cut up here and there. Lee Euishin’s betrayal, getting hit with water balloons all day, the drinking bout held in a rage, the fountain at night. His insides kept turning over and somewhere unknown hurt, and he’d tossed and turned.
“That’s what you get for not drinking in moderation.”
I drank because of you, you know? The hand that was circularly rubbing his back then lightly patting was unreasonably hateful. Having no energy to push away, he stayed still, then a cup touched his mouth. Even though it was lukewarm water, his teeth chattered. After barely rinsing his mouth and spacing out, the guy wiped his face with a warm cloth. Crazy bastard, uselessly kind and all…… The sensation of his body being lifted was the last memory before it cut off.
“……Hey. …Yun……, Kwon Yunsu. This.”
He swiftly pushed away the hand trying to forcibly raise his body wrapped in the blanket. No, he thought he’d pushed it away, but the next moment his upper body was wrapped in strong arms. High body temperature touched beyond his back. His head rang zing and he frowned.
“…I’m cold……”
“So drink this and sleep.”
Cool fingers gripped his chin and opened his mouth. A plastic spoon hit his teeth, and then something sweet, bitter, and thick touched his tongue.
“Swallow.”
Tastes fucking awful…. But he swallowed. He wanted to quickly get rid of it and sleep. He pushed away the guy who kept nagging. High body temperature wrapped around his body along with the fluffy blanket. Curling up his limbs and burying into the cotton mass, he desperately sought sleep. Something soft and firm kept wrapping around the skin that intermittently continued trembling. If you catch my sickness, I’ll kill you…. Even if I die when I die, let’s sleep for now. It was briefly peaceful until he woke up at dawn from nausea.
“……Urk… Kerk…… Heo, ng……, …Blergh……!”
“You fucking bastards, what did you feed the kid…! Kwon Yunsu, are you okay? Does it hurt?”
No, I think I’ll live now. But I’m cold. I want to sleep…. I wish I wouldn’t feel nauseous so I can sleep. And I’m the one who drank the alcohol. It’s because of you…. Why are you making that voice……? I’m dying of sleepiness…….
“…Got it, sleep now. Just eat this. Say ah.”
He didn’t know if he said ah, but anyway something hard entered his mouth. He struggled terribly to swallow it. His body was wrapped warmly again and he closed his eyes. Then something unjust suddenly came to mind and he opened his mouth.
“…Hey, it’s because of you.”
“…What?”
After replacing the soaked pillowcase, placing a water cup and basin within reach, Lee Euishin, who was burrowing into the bed, was dumbfounded. Just when he thought the commotion was finally over and he was falling asleep, Kwon Yunsu suddenly protested in a clear voice.
“Why, …why did you do that…… I was trying to serve your expensive face, and I worked so hard on that Iron Man…. No matter how much you hate it, still, you…… if you do that kind of thing, you’ll get caught. The path to crime is right before you…… How much will you give… huh? …That’s school property, what if there are disadvantages…… what are you believing in to be so reckless……”
What are you living for…… The murmuring buried deep was fairly accurate and also seemed like drunk rambling. Lee Euishin laughed in disbelief and tightly embraced Kwon Yunsu. The hot and soft drunk’s body was wrapped in one arm.
Why didn’t I realize?
Getting hit with water balloons all day, then guzzling alcohol with an insufficiently dried body, and at the end wearing just a scrap of a T-shirt for a night walk… thinking about it, there was no way his body could be fine. As soon as they entered the club room, he should have grabbed him by the collar and brought him home, whether he was making a fuss. Instead of showing all that fighting to those bastards, they should have come home and fought it out between the two of them. If only his guts hadn’t been twisted at the sight of him mingling with outsiders, no, if from the beginning he’d acted considering your position a bit more… you wouldn’t be suffering in pain like this.
“…I’m sorry.”
In the brief time, Kwon Yunsu was already asleep, breathing roughly. Hoping the heavily furrowed face would become comfortable, Lee Euishin whispered softly.
“I’m sorry, you country bumpkin bastard. …Don’t be sick.”
He wasn’t trying to get away with just this. Tomorrow when Kwon Yunsu wakes up, he was practicing to tell him properly, clearly.
“It makes me feel like shit when you’re sick, so don’t be sick….”
Give me all your pain.
Carefully embracing the drooping body, he muttered over and over.
They’d spent the whole day apart, and when they barely faced each other, all he saw was him raging like crazy. Drunk on the satisfaction of returning to their home for just the two of them, even knowing the body had become a fireball, he hadn’t gone straight to the emergency room.
I have to take care of you. I’ll nurse you myself. Without any gap to become awkward, I’ll make the country bumpkin become clingy again.
The more he creates debts and digs into the painful parts, the more Kwon Yunsu becomes dependent on him. Foolishly and sweetly seeping in. Shin Jaewoo said that very familiarity would be poison, but now there was no other way.
“I can’t go back.”
You’re the one who chose this when you rushed at me at fifteen saying let’s play soccer.
“…So you can’t go back either.”
Kissing the forehead of the sleeping Kwon Yunsu, Lee Euishin closed his eyes.
Even if tomorrow when he wakes up, his own body has become a fireball this time, there would be no regrets. No, it seemed it would be even better if that happened.
“……”
“Eat.”
Kwon Yunsu blankly looked down at the bowl placed before him. Is he not fully awake yet? Is that abalone? He reached out and picked up a large piece among the thinly spread rice grains. Isn’t this shellfish?
“Why would you use your hands to eat food?”
As he stared with hazy eyes for a while, a hand suddenly reached out and took what was in his hand. When he raised his head, Lee Euishin was putting it in his mouth.
“Is it a bit salty?”
…Why is he acting like that?
“Want water?”
Without even waiting for a response, he turned around and brought water. Kwon Yunsu, reaching out his hand, was surprised that the glass surface was lukewarm. It was exactly what he needed right now. Overnight his throat had swollen terribly, making even swallowing saliva an ordeal.
“……”
His thoughts naturally flowed to last night. Fragmentary memories breaking between frenzy and heavy drinking, and being sick enough to feel like dying. It was probably a fantastic combination of a hangover and cold symptoms. I think I threw up a lot… and said some nonsense too. Did I make any mistakes with that bastard? Startled, as he looked, Lee Euishin, who was sitting across from him holding a coffee cup, raised his eyebrows.
“What, no appetite?”
He definitely had no appetite. But more than that…,
“You need to eat something to take medicine, don’t you?”
Well-shaped hands gently stirred the bowl and muttered.
“Should I have made it thinner…. Should I make it again?”
“…You didn’t buy it?”
He thought he’d just grill some meat or something, but he knew how to make this kind of thing?
“I prepared the abalone myself too.”
Huh…. He had nothing to say. Blankly looking down at the bowl, he suddenly felt a chill and trembled his shoulders. It was past lunchtime in the afternoon, and it had been all he could do to splash some water on his face and walk to the kitchen at the guy’s call. Seeing his state, Lee Euishin got up. Putting a spoon in his hand, he went to the living room and brought back a blanket to wrap around him.
“No, it’s fi—”
“I don’t want to hold a funeral.”
The guy who’d made a barbed remark suddenly frowned. And sighed.
“Hurry up and eat, and when it’s digested, sleep again.”
“……”
“Should I feed you?”
Oh, how scary. He quickly picked up his spoon. He couldn’t really taste it, but the porridge went down smoothly. Even so, mealtime took longer than usual. Lee Euishin was looking at him as if he were some great spectacle. While drinking coffee, clicking his tongue, and occasionally sighing. It seemed like he found him pathetic for suffering all night and becoming a wreck, and also looked dejected somewhere.
When he’d eaten enough and felt he couldn’t eat anymore, he put down his spoon, and Lee Euishin brought over a medicine packet. It was leftover from when he’d caught a cold in early March. After swallowing it without complaint and standing up, Lee Euishin picked up the blanket that had slipped down and said.
“Go to my room.”
“Why?”
“You sweated so I sent your blanket out for cleaning. Go sleep in my room.”
I’m a total burden… Without even the energy to be embarrassed, he did as told. When he tried to lie down right away, Lee Euishin stopped him and waited a moment for the food to digest. In the meantime, Lee Euishin put a cushion against his back, placed a glass of water and medicine at the bedside, and turned on the air purifier. It was unfair. He’d accumulated reasons to be angry up to his forehead, but that cunning bastard was shaving them all away.
