Most of all, there was only Taeon. At the thought that he was using a single-occupancy room alone, Taeon’s mind went blank. I should have gotten actual expense insurance no matter how young I am, just like the work foreman said. He was so busy thinking this that he even forgot about his headache.
Perhaps…
No matter how much he thought about it, the company people who knew Taeon’s situation well wouldn’t have admitted Taeon to a single-occupancy room.
Especially since if the company side had to compensate, they would have to consider that cost too.
There was only one person around Taeon who would admit him to a single-occupancy room.
The nurse who came shortly after he pressed the call button wasn’t very surprised to see Taeon regain consciousness.
“You must be very surprised. You remember the whole situation?”
“Yes, I remember everything about getting hit by the hammer at the construction site. Even when I collapsed.”
The nurse briefly explained Taeon’s situation at the time. The hammer falling from above hit his head, and while it could have been a very serious situation, he got off with this much because it hit at an angle. Even so, his condition could have been much worse, but fortunately he received treatment quickly.
“Was I transported here from the beginning?”
“Yes. The company contacted your family, and your family member requested the admission.”
“What? Ah, yes…”
When she said it would be better to administer painkillers after dinner, Taeon felt depressed. But since it was pain he could somehow endure, he forced himself to nod and express his gratitude.
As the nurse left the hospital room, the words he had just heard echoed even more clearly in Taeon’s ears.
‘Yes. The company contacted your family, and your family member requested the admission.’
The word “family” rang a bell.
Sunjeong sometimes chased after him even to the construction site, and each time he couldn’t quite hide his dismayed look. While that feeling quickly passed as he handed out drinks to employees like the work foreman and acted friendly, to Taeon who knew Sunjeong well, Sunjeong’s heart was plainly visible.
‘I wish you would do safe work.’
Even on the night he suddenly said this, Sunjeong had wandered around near the construction site saying he would have dinner with Taeon.
That day, what’s called an “adari” happened to Taeon’s eyes. Taeon, who only did odd jobs, shouldn’t have been affected, but he happened to get caught while sticking next to the welding technician, watching by eye and helping with odd jobs.
On the way home from work, the work foreman looked at Taeon’s eye condition and taught him the potato compress method, so regardless of whether Sunjeong chattered beside him, Taeon silently bought potatoes at the mart. Since he had nothing to grate potatoes with, he also bought a grater.
When Sunjeong stepped forward saying he would do it, wondering what those fingers could do, Taeon silently did it all himself.
Then, placing the potato on his closed eyes, he thought this.
I wish he’d hurry up and leave. I wish he wouldn’t be so bothersome.
To Taeon’s ears, which found Sunjeong merely irritating, the words about wishing he’d do safe work lost their true meaning and stuck like sharp nails.
There were many people who made a living doing “unsafe work,” not just Taeon who preferred doing that work.
In contrast, Sunjeong, born as the youngest son of a conglomerate family beyond just being well-off. Taeon hated it terribly when that Sunjeong dared to meddle carelessly in his life.
‘Just go.’
‘Why? Your body is in such bad condition, how can I…’
‘Fuck off.’
‘…What?’
Sunjeong flinched in surprise and asked.
Until then, Taeon had shown plenty of signs of finding Sunjeong annoying, but he had never told him to fuck off.
‘Stop talking nonsense and annoying me, and just fuck off.’
‘…’
After being quiet for a while, Sunjeong soon spoke in a slightly different, lower voice than usual.
‘Hey, Yoon Taeon.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Just in case, I registered my phone number in your emergency contacts.’
‘…When?’
‘Before, when I took your phone saying I’d look at photos.’
‘Hah…’
‘When you really have an emergency, you can call here.’
Then Sunjeong left the house without even hiding his hurt expression, and Taeon deliberately didn’t hold him back.
He let out a hollow laugh when he saw [Family.] written in the emergency contact description field.
Taeon ended up frowning at the fact that most of his memories with Sunjeong after turning twenty were mostly of him scratching at Sunjeong’s heart like this. Why did I do that? Even when he asked himself, he couldn’t deny that at the time, it had felt like the best way to him.
Just as Taeon’s heart was growing more and more disturbed, the hospital room door opened carefully.
At that moment, Taeon sensed who the visitor was.
“Go Sunjeong.”
He must have worried a lot. He must have hurt a lot. With a tender heart, Taeon called Sunjeong’s name.
“Yeah, I heard you woke up. The nurse told me.”
Sunjeong, who seemed like he would cry and throw himself into Taeon’s arms right away, was unexpectedly calm. His gaze looking down was even serene.
It was just pitiful when Sunjeong came closer and he could see his eyes and the tip of his nose were slightly reddened.
“…Sorry.”
“Why are you sorry to me? You’re the one who got hurt, Yoon Taeon.”
“Sorry for making you worry.”
“…”
Sunjeong suddenly closed his lips tightly as if holding something back. Because of that, his chin became walnut-shaped.
“Your head hurts, right?”
“Yeah. A bit.”
“They’ll prescribe it in the evening.”
“Yeah.”
The conversation somehow kept breaking off. Rather, Taeon found himself constantly watching Sunjeong’s mood. Even in the uncomfortable air, he felt relieved because Sunjeong was by his side.
“Want some water? I’m going to drink some.”
“I’m fine.”
Sunjeong nodded at Taeon’s words, took out a small water bottle from the refrigerator, and gulped down the water. Taeon stared blankly at his small Adam’s apple moving.
“Your company president is really terrible.”
“Huh?”
“He made a fuss about you not wearing a hard hat. Even though it was lunchtime and the person who collapsed went up to work first, he kept stubbornly insisting, it was really annoying. The lawyer will take care of it though.”
“…”
Taeon didn’t even know what the company president’s face looked like. He just followed the work foreman’s words.
“You, Go Sunjeong, talked to that person?”
“Yeah. He cursed at me saying what does a kid know. I yelled back at him too. Can you tell my voice is hoarse?”
Saying this, Sunjeong let out a small laugh. Now that he listened, Sunjeong’s voice was a bit husky rather than calmer than usual.
“He cursed at you?”
Taeon’s face crumpled in that moment. Sunjeong smiled slightly looking at Taeon like that.
“No, he just cursed.”
“…”
Thinking of Sunjeong who must have experienced rough treatment he didn’t need to see because of him, a sigh came out. He habitually wanted to say something. But he now knew a bit more clearly the obvious fact that doing so would hurt Sunjeong’s heart.
So instead of asking why Sunjeong had talked with the president, Taeon answered like this.
“You saw an unpleasant sight because of me for no reason. I’m sorry.”
“…”
Sunjeong didn’t answer Taeon’s words and closed his mouth.
“Hey, Yoon Taeon.”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve been saying sorry to me a lot these days. Why?”
Well, because he’s sorry…
Perhaps this answer wouldn’t satisfy Sunjeong.
“Friends naturally do this much for each other.”
“…”
“You would have naturally done the same if I were in this situation. No, like you did to Jinhyeok, you’d act a little more ferociously than me.”
If Sunjeong were to be in this situation…
He didn’t even want to imagine it. It was terrible.
Thinking this way, Taeon unconsciously made a pained expression and suddenly realized one fact.
Sunjeong was already in that situation. At least in the past, he had a one-sided love, and now as a close friend, he had received contact and handled things like this when Taeon was in danger.
On the other hand, what about himself? Taeon’s mouth tasted bitter. At the same time, he felt deflated.
Always saying he was doing it for Sunjeong while only hurting him, he hadn’t done anything properly.
Or precisely, he had thought there was nothing he could do, but was there really nothing he could have done?
At least it would have been good if he had been honest.
Unseasonable worries seemed to overwhelm even the headache he was feeling right now. To shake off the idle thoughts creeping into his head, Taeon shook his head slightly. Sunjeong’s gaze lingered on Taeon like that for a long time.
Soon Sunjeong withdrew his gaze from Taeon and asked in a playful voice,
“How does it feel being bald?”
At first they roughly shaved only the injured area, and later shaved everything properly. Even that was done roughly, so when he was discharged, he would need to get proper treatment at a salon.
“It’s like a chestnut burr. It makes me keep touching it.”
In fact, Taeon was constantly stroking his head for no reason.
“Did you look in the mirror?”
“No.”
As if Sunjeong knew that would be the case, he held out a small mirror to Taeon. Even though it was placed on the bedside table, Taeon wouldn’t have touched it himself if Sunjeong hadn’t been there.
“Wow, look at that fierce impression. Now you’ll get hit on less, so you’ll be less annoyed.”
Looking at his own face with an even stronger impression due to the shaved head, Taeon made a joke for no reason.
When the topic of phone numbers came up, he suddenly remembered the café part-time job.
Looking at Taeon who was momentarily startled, Sunjeong said calmly,
“I contacted the owner of Sentence. The owner was shocked. Thought you were dead. Because I started with the hammer story.”
“…”
How does he take care of everything like this? Taeon just found Sunjeong’s capability amazing. He had thought he was just a young kid whose only concern was crying out for Taeon to like him. In a way, he had been like a younger sibling.
When Taeon was blankly caught in a strangely deflated feeling, Sunjeong also closed his mouth.
For a while, only dense silence circulated in the hospital room.
It was Sunjeong who broke the silence first.
