The road to work was terribly congested. It was the price for leaving just a few minutes late. Jun-wan’s face gripping the steering wheel was sharp with irritation. Even the gentle classical music playing through the speakers didn’t help purify his mood. It only made him ruminate on his thoughts.
As the traffic jam lengthened, a call came in. It was his mother.
“Yes, Mother.”
—Jun-wan, are you on your way to work? Is it okay to talk?
His mother’s gentle voice filled the car.
The courtesy call was like a monthly event. The indifferent son never contacted her first. Would getting married change that? She thought no news was good news, but still, the mother curious about her child’s wellbeing would ask after him about once a month.
“It’s fine, what is it?”
Jun-wan’s voice softened somewhat. The stagnant traffic was also starting to clear up.
—Just wondering if everything’s okay. Are you getting along well with Yu-shin too?
Yu-shin, she says. It was ridiculous to affectionately call someone family whom she hadn’t even met since the wedding.
—Don’t fight, and even though you’re busy, come home early. It’s still your newlywed period after all. You need to spend time together to build affection as a family.
He couldn’t blurt out that they’d fought this morning too. Jun-wan just let out a long sigh.
“What’s there to fight about? With that child. If only we could communicate.”
—A child! Hey, Yu-shin is also a full-grown adult. You should always treat your spouse with respect.
“Mother, if you have nothing more to say, I’m hanging up now.”
—Won’t you bring him home sometime? Your father has been bringing up Yu-shin frequently lately. He’s not someone who shows it, but he seems curious about you two living together.
“……”
—I’m not forcing you… What I mean is, since you’re family now, I’d like to meet Yu-shin too.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. I need to get to work. I’ll call you next time.”
Jun-wan refused flatly and pressed the end button. The car became quiet again, but his head was still noisy.
The Korea University building came into view. Only the last intersection remained. Jun-wan leaned his head crookedly while waiting for the light.
Spouse—he acknowledged the weight that word carried. But he had no intention of getting any closer to Kim Yu-shin.
Rather than stressing over forcing compatibility with an incompatible person, it was more beneficial to just ignore them entirely.
He wouldn’t get involved with Kim Yu-shin from now on. Whatever bizarre behavior he engaged in, he planned to consistently ignore it thoroughly.
Jun-wan straightened his posture and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. After making the decision, his head felt much lighter.
***
No one likes going to the hospital. Especially someone who’d repeatedly been admitted and discharged since childhood.
At least it was fortunate it was just a regular checkup. Yu-shin lay on the medical bed in an arrogant posture with his legs crossed. Compared to his languid attitude, the eyes looking up at the ceiling were somehow damp.
He was in low spirits because of the morning argument. His condition happened to be not so great either, so his body drooped limply.
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it was. Starting a quarrel in the morning, and the reason being that he spent money lavishly. Whether his pride was hurt from receiving clothes as a gift, or whether it was that fastidious scholar mentality again. From Yu-shin’s perspective, it was completely incomprehensible behavior.
Apparently Park Jun-wan thought the money he spent came from his parents’ pockets. He clearly saw him as an immature son who wanted independence but couldn’t achieve economic independence.
It was absurd to talk about economic sense over buying just a few clothes. Did that man even know how much one of his paintings sold for? In a capitalist economic market, money had to circulate. Tsk, he’s always the only one who’s smart and superior!
“Yu-shin, are you taking your medicine properly?”
Yu-shin turned his gaze to the side. The doctor who’d become Yu-shin’s attending physician a few years ago happened to be the same age as Jun-wan.
Even wearing a similar white coat, he gave off a completely different impression from Jun-wan. He was only warm and gentle, with no trace of sexiness to be found.
Yu-shin had thought from his previous experience that he’d developed a white coat fetish. It seemed to have been a misunderstanding after all.
“Yes. Every single day without skipping.”
“Your blood pressure is too low today. You must have felt dizzy.”
“It might be worse because I’m on an empty stomach.”
“If possible, rest well today. Don’t think about going anywhere.”
“But I rest every day.”
Yu-shin answered half-heartedly. Low condition wasn’t just a matter of a day or two, and he always lived with chronic low blood pressure. As long as I don’t collapse on the street, I’m lucky. Yu-shin smiled, saying not to worry.
“Ah, doctor. Could blood pressure go up if I get angry or something? How about using that to treat low blood pressure?”
“Not a chance.”
“That’s too bad. The conditions are perfect.”
They continued the regular checkup while making bland jokes. Only after finishing the echocardiogram did Yu-shin button up his wide-open shirt. Looking at the clock, over two hours had passed.
“Hyung, I’m going to start working soon.”
The man sitting in a round chair, intently examining the test results, widened his eyes as soon as he heard Yu-shin’s words.
“Oh, really? That’s good news.”
“How are the results?”
“Your heart is fine. Heart rate variability is normal too. As long as you don’t overdo it too much… You won’t pull all-nighters, right?”
“I’ll be careful.”
Yu-shin tidied his clothes and leaned against the bed as if sprawling. It was always amazing that his acquaintance hyung had become his attending physician, making him smile naturally.
“Hyung. I’m hungry. Do you have afternoon appointments? Do you have time to eat together?”
“I deliberately cleared my afternoon appointments because of your checkup. Let’s go, I’ll buy you something delicious. Ah, should I call Sara too?”
“Why noona? Let’s just eat, the two of us.”
Yu-shin hopped down from the bed. He wasn’t the type to dwell on bad things for long anyway. As if his low spirits had never happened, his face was blooming with smiles. Seeing the lively Yu-shin, his attending physician Song Hyun-woo also smiled along.
The French restaurant at Royal Peak Hotel was Yu-shin’s favorite restaurant. At each seat covered with white linen tablecloths, luxurious tableware, glassware, and seasonal centerpieces were neatly arranged.
The old-fashioned atmosphere was suitable as a place for dates. Or for receiving important guests.
Indeed, most of the customers filling the two-person tables were couples. Song Hyun-woo couldn’t stay still and kept looking around.
“Wow… Maybe because it’s been renovated, this place has gotten even nicer. Kim Sara would flip if she knew you came without her?”
Yu-shin smiled softly while reading the menu.
“Hyung, you’re too controlled by noona. How did you even end up marrying her?”
“What could I do when she cried and begged saying she’d die? I had to save a life first.”
“Do you love her?”
“Isn’t friendship also a type of love?”
The two childhood friends also had a loveless marriage. He’d worried whether they could live well, but contrary to his worries, they were having a reasonably lovey-dovey newlywed life. Even when they were friends, they stuck together all the time, so there really wasn’t much difference from before marriage.
“How about you? Is it bearable living together?”
“Just… so-so. Ah, hyung, look at this. There are so many course options here.”
Yu-shin quickly changed the subject. Song Hyun-woo naturally leaned forward and bumped heads with Yu-shin.
Meanwhile, new customers entered. Among the party of six guests was Park Jun-wan. The man who’d brought the professors stopped abruptly upon discovering Yu-shin while walking with a bleak face.
“……”
Kim Yu-shin was hard to miss. His small, white face had a presence that, once you started noticing it, you couldn’t help but keep staring.
The professors who came with him were busy chasing the server’s heels and had no capacity to pay attention elsewhere. Jun-wan stood still for a moment watching Yu-shin before belatedly joining his party.
There was quite a distance between the group table where he sat and where Yu-shin was sitting. With several tables mixed in between, their conversation couldn’t possibly be heard and even facing each other directly wasn’t easy.
“I wouldn’t know what’s good having never been to a place like this.”
“Jun-wan here knows this kind of thing well, Professor.”
“Ah, really? Then go ahead and order. Pair it with some wine too.”
The decision naturally fell to him. This meal was to treat the distinguished professor. Jun-wan scanned the menu with an expressionless face.
His gaze kept leaving the menu and heading toward the distant table. Kim Yu-shin’s face looked about the size of a fist, but every one of his expressions and gestures was completely visible.
