“The call suddenly rang, so I didn’t have the presence of mind to grab shoes.”
Rather than being late from grabbing shoes, it was much better for his feet to get injured. Though it was only a difference of a few seconds, even an instant was precious on a site dealing with life and death.
Although the soles of his feet were torn and his toenails came off, Dawoon didn’t regret his choice. What’s the point of regretting it? If the same situation came up, he’d do the same thing.
“You should have grabbed them anyway.”
Ryu Taeha murmured quietly while tightening Dawoon’s shoelaces.
“What idiot goes to a site wearing slippers? Even wearing combat boots, feet burst and get torn frequently. Hmm?”
“Getting my feet a bit injured won’t kill me.”
“You being a bit late won’t kill other people.”
“They might die. Don’t you know what an emergency situation means?”
At Dawoon’s response hitting back squarely, Ryu Taeha raised his eyebrows.
“……”
However, noticing the fatigue floating up on Dawoon’s pale face, he soon took a step back.
“Next time, make sure to grab your shoes.”
Ryu Taeha looked at Dawoon with a smile on his gentle lips.
“If they’re lives that would die because one low-ranking healer is late, they would have already died.”
“Even if I’m low-ranking—”
“Dawoon-ah.”
His voice, usually irritatingly gentle, rang out particularly softly.
“Your body comes first. Take care of yourself first, then look after the injured.”
It wasn’t just about shoes. Ryu Taeha was pointing out Dawoon’s reckless behavior in front of the alpha.
“Don’t make me say it twice. It’s not an order, it’s a request.”
Dawoon clasped his hands behind his back, avoiding Ryu Taeha who was sneakily trying to hold his hand. Instead of Dawoon’s hand he’d missed, Ryu Taeha clenched and unclenched his hand for no reason, as if grasping the sultry air.
The two standing in a place without even shade stared at each other as if in a staring contest while facing the hot summer sunlight.
Of course, only Dawoon was fighting, and Ryu Taeha alone was making romantic eyes.
“Why is there no answer? How anxious.”
Dawoon, who had been maintaining silence, opened his mouth with a sigh.
“I… will do the same thing.”
That’s why he didn’t answer. Because he’d do it anyway.
Dawoon knew his behavior patterns very well and had already realized they were impossible to fix.
He’d heard similar things many times from his firefighter colleagues and seniors. To Dawoon, who always rushed in first like a moth to a flame, everyone seriously advised him that he’d die young at that rate.
Each time, Dawoon laughed it off moderately. At some point, he stopped even giving answers saying he understood.
“You’ll do the same thing?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not just talking about shoes.”
“I know.”
Dawoon treated him not as the human Ryu Taeha but as the leader of the guild he belonged to.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll do things my way. I’ll be as careful as possible to the extent it doesn’t harm the guild.”
“What’s Dawoon’s way?”
Ryu Taeha laughed with his head tilted as if he’d heard something absurd.
“Is getting almost raped while trying to save an alpha your way?”
There was a subtle edge to his gentle voice. Dawoon, who closed his mouth, turned his gaze away as if forfeiting the staring contest.
Actually, he avoided answering because he thought he’d hit the nail on the head like that. Dawoon was also still adapting to an esper’s or omega’s body, and was in a state where he couldn’t grasp how to handle this damn body.
But if he prioritized his own body, what about the injured person desperately waiting for help?
Watching a sick patient and doing nothing was more painful than getting injured himself.
“It’s hot. Let’s go to the dormitory for now.”
At that moment, Ryu Taeha suddenly reached out his hand and stroked Dawoon’s forehead. Having arbitrarily concluded the conversation, he turned his back and drew a circle in the air while asking Dawoon.
“Are you hungry?”
Dawoon rubbed his forehead where Ryu Taeha’s hand had touched and nodded.
“Tell me what you want to eat. I’ll make it for you.”
“I’ll eat on my own.”
“Don’t eat unhealthy things, and at least eat meals properly.”
Ryu Taeha spoke while shaking the convenience store bag. Along with cat food and snacks, it contained the cup ramen and triangle kimbap that Dawoon had chosen.
“I’ll cook for you after a long time, so make all the demands you want. What should I make?”
Ryu Taeha, who smiled saying to just say anything, reached his hand toward the completed transport gate. At his gesture to go in first, Dawoon took a step without refusing for the sake of the cat that would be waiting for him at the dormitory.
I wonder if Ryu Taeha cooks well. I already know about the youngest’s terrible cooking skills.
Just as he was about to step into the transport gate while inwardly curious, a phone vibration sounded. It was Ryu Taeha’s.
“Just a moment.”
Ryu Taeha, checking the caller, looked at Dawoon for a moment. He soon solidified the transport gate firmly and sent Dawoon alone.
“I’ll make you a meal next time. Go in first.”
Dawoon thought some other business must have come up and took back the bag without much thought, heading toward the gate entrance.
“Eat properly. Stop looking for things you didn’t eat before.”
Dawoon, holding the bag preciously in his arms, entered the transport gate without answering. Watching such Dawoon, Ryu Taeha let out a shallow breath that was either a laugh or a sigh.
And at that breath, Dawoon turned around without knowing why.
There was no clear reason. His body just reacted.
However, when Dawoon turned around, the location had already changed.
The moment the familiar dormitory entrance corridor came into view, Yeoul’s loud voice, which had been waiting for him, struck his eardrums.
“Dawoon hyung!”
Yeoul, who had been standing in front of the entrance, ran to Dawoon. He had also been about to go out to find Dawoon, who wasn’t at the dormitory.
“Where did you go? Why did you leave without saying anything? Did you get angry because I was being noisy? Is that why you left?”
He grabbed both of Dawoon’s arms and poured out questions. As if he’d run from the annex to the dormitory, sweat was beading on his forehead and chin.
“You… you didn’t run here, did you?”
“Why did you leave without me? We should go together.”
In Yeoul’s blue eyes were mixed worry and anxiety, and undisguised irritation and anger. Those complex emotions were conveyed strangely clearly.
“Hyung, you left because you were angry, right? Right?”
It seems like you’re the one who’s angry now.
Dawoon placed his hand on Yeoul’s heaving shoulders.
“Calm down for now. I’m not angry. I just came out because the examination was over.”
Actually, he was also worried about the cat, and came out because his head hurt. He didn’t have the energy to listen to the conversation Ryu Taeha and Yeoul were having.
Dawoon had already left with a teleport esper before the two fought. Because of that, he didn’t know that Yeoul had thrown a punch at Ryu Taeha.
“Okay.”
Yeoul listened to Dawoon’s words and calmed his ragged breathing while watching his face. Still thinking Dawoon was angry, he continued to gauge his mood, then subtly changed the subject to the bag he was holding.
“What’s that?”
“Ah, cat food. I have to give it quickly.”
Dawoon hurriedly went to the living room as if he’d forgotten for a moment. Yeoul, who followed such Dawoon, cautiously brought it up.
“…We don’t keep a cat.”
“I picked one up. It’ll be hiding somewhere.”
Dawoon began looking around every corner of the empty living room. Yeoul’s expression gradually became serious at the sight of him even pressing his body close to the floor to check under the sofa.
“Hyung… do you see hallucinations or something when you’re sick?”
Unable to watch Dawoon shaking the plastic bag and rummaging through every corner of the house, Yeoul grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
Just then, a small presence was heard from upstairs.
Creak, at the sound of a door opening, Dawoon, who reacted immediately, headed for the stairs.
“Ah, it must have been in the room.”
At Dawoon’s voice, small footsteps sounding tap tap became even faster. Soon after, an honest meow was heard from atop the high stairs.
Meow. Meow. Meow.
The cat that walked out with tiny steps meowed with each step. Seeing the fur on one cheek pressed down, it seemed to have come out after sleeping well.
“Were you sleeping in my room?”
Dawoon ran up the stairs and lifted up the cat that was greeting him. The cat, which stopped crying as soon as it was held by Dawoon, rubbed its just-awakened face against Dawoon’s chest.
Mew.
“I bought food. Let’s eat quickly.”
Dawoon came back downstairs while petting the cat that had waited for him a long time. After neatly arranging its disheveled white fur, he also introduced it to the youngest.
“This. The cat I told you about.”
Dawoon went to the kitchen, lifting and shaking the cat’s front paws. However, the cat’s gaze was only directed at Dawoon. As if uninterested in anything else, it sang purr purr toward Dawoon and wrapped its tail around his arm.
“Hyung….”
Yeoul, watching that scene, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“That’s a cat?”
