# Chapter 198
“Are you all ready?”
“Yeah, well. I came with just my body, so I only need to pack up my body and leave.”
The end of hospital life confined to a queen-sized bed—sleeping there, eating there, and even rolling around with Taesung there whenever he felt down.
Lee Hwan put on the colorless clothes that Jade had bought him and tucked his now quite long hair behind his ear.
“Nowhere hurts?”
“The wounds healed a long time ago, you know. Ugh… now I just feel stiff.”
From the day of the incident, journalists had been camping outside the hospital where they were transported. They’d thought things might be okay after not just a day or two, not even a week, but a whole month had passed…
“Last time I pulled the curtain back once, I was truly shocked.”
It seemed outsiders believed this was Taesung’s hospital room. Lee Hwan’s story had never been released to any media, yet they were still monitoring the place so persistently.
From what he’d heard, there were still many reporters near the hospital. Since they planned to leave the area quickly before rumors of discharge could leak, Jade had told them to change clothes and come down soon.
Taesung had never worn hospital clothes to begin with, coming to visit Lee Hwan as he pleased. Today too, he had entered with Jade in casual clothes, and remained in Lee Hwan’s VIP hospital room after Jade left.
With Taesung behind him, Lee Hwan, having changed even his pants, shook the clothes with loose threads to tidy them up. Then he turned around and made direct eye contact with Taesung.
“My goodness.”
What a funny guy. Lee Hwan had thought he would know to leave when he was changing clothes, but Taesung had pretended not to notice and stubbornly stayed seated in the chair.
He didn’t even try to look away and pretend not to see. The slight curl at the corner of his lips even made him look playful. What a funny bastard. Since Lee Hwan had changed in front of the mirror, Taesung had probably gotten an efficient view from both front and back.
The intensely penetrating gaze somehow felt prickly and ticklish.
“Why do you keep staring?”
As Lee Hwan grumbled, Taesung put down the tablet PC he’d been holding on the table and approached him. Then, resting his chin on Lee Hwan’s shoulder, he embraced him from behind and gently lifted the hem of his shirt.
The clear scar visible in the mirror…
“You really got slashed badly. He must have killed many people before. He stabbed straight and then pulled out while dragging diagonally.”
Fortunately, because Lee Hwan had desperately resisted, the wound wasn’t deep, but it still left a long scar from the stab wound.
Fortunately, an Awakened person’s healing ability also erases scars. Eventually, this too would fade away. However, his side, which had just healed, still showed distinct traces of the cut and was somewhat sensitive.
Taesung placed his hand right on that area. His serious eyes gazed at Lee Hwan’s eyes in the mirror. Those mesmerizing black eyes held a strange emotion, and his soft breathing could be heard by Lee Hwan’s neck.
“It upsets me.”
The low voice resonated in his ear. Lee Hwan nodded as if understanding and rubbed Taesung’s head that was leaning on him. His black hair felt quite nice when rubbed deeply like this. It was appropriately rough and appropriately soft.
Meanwhile, Taesung traced Lee Hwan’s scar with his fingertips.
“Hmm…”
Feeling a strange sensation, Lee Hwan flinched. From his side to his lower abdomen horizontally, Taesung’s thumb slowly moved along the scar.
“Don’t let anyone leave marks like this on you anymore.”
If someone heard, they might think Lee Hwan had asked for a line to be drawn on his stomach.
“It tickles, you idiot.”
“If you keep getting hurt, I’ll follow you even to the bathroom.”
Ignoring the complaint, Taesung rubbed his cheek against Lee Hwan’s jaw. As if somehow wanting skin-to-skin contact.
“Hey, hey, there’s no scar there. Why do you keep touching me?”
As he turned his head a bit more, his lips touched Lee Hwan’s neck with a kissing sound. Soon, a full, sticky sensation licked his neck, then moved slowly to his jaw and lips with more kissing sounds.
“Uh, mmm…”
This bastard. Was he worried or excited? Somehow, the way his hand was playing with his lower abdomen seemed quite suggestive.
But to question that would mean admitting how incredibly good his lips felt as they touched him, now as if it were routine. Lee Hwan placed his trembling hand over Taesung’s hand, which was scratching the tight end of his pants.
A month’s time, short in some ways, long in others. With nothing to do but eat, sleep, and lie down, when even TV became boring, Lee Hwan would pout and wait for Taesung.
He always appeared in Lee Hwan’s hospital room with perfect timing. Whenever they were bored, they would climb onto the bed and cling to each other like hibernating field mice, feeling each other’s survival through body heat and pulse.
Each time, Taesung would repeatedly touch his waist. Pulling him close to get nearer, and stroking to check if he was alright.
Since he’d allowed that, now it had come to this. The way he invaded under his shirt seemed quite natural.
“Haa…”
He gulped in surprise as Taesung stroked over his scar again while keeping their lips pressed together. The body pressed against his back was getting hot again.
Every time he felt Taesung’s calm pulse gradually quickening, Lee Hwan felt like he was melting into him, becoming mushy and mixing with him in the heat.
“…Jade will be waiting.”
“Just a little longer.”
“He said to come down within 20 minutes.”
“8 minutes left.”
Taesung’s eyes, reflected in the mirror, half-closed and narrowed. When Lee Hwan reached back to rub his head again, he bit his neck like some dog and sucked hard with a slurping sound.
“Ah, uh… hey…”
His body shivered at the strange sensation he’d never felt before. Lee Hwan shuddered and finally slapped Taesung’s thigh with his goosebump-covered arm.
“Stop messing around and go downstairs. Only 6 minutes left now.”
“Hmm…”
The lips that detached with a disappointed sound were quite irritating. Taesung always changed his behavior like this moment by moment in front of Lee Hwan.
Normally appearing dependable like before the regression, he would act pitiful whenever he didn’t want to be kicked out of the hospital room or when he wanted something. And while usually not initiating contact until Lee Hwan brought their faces together, when it seemed Lee Hwan wouldn’t approach first, he would sneakily come closer and engage in affectionate actions.
This was unimaginable in the past. This guy used to be truly proper back then. At that time, physical contact was limited to Lee Hwan lying with his head on Taesung’s leg, or occasional comforting hugs.
Had his thoughts or personality changed a bit through the regressions, or was he like that back then too but trying hard to pretend otherwise?
Either way, it was problematic that Lee Hwan found it pitiful and cute. He sighed, turned around to give Taesung a tight hug, then backed away again and pushed him toward the door as if telling him to go now.
Ding-!
It seemed the elevator sound had created some bad memories. Lee Hwan flinched for a moment but regained some stability from Taesung’s hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
Taesung, wearing a baseball cap pulled low, held Lee Hwan’s waist. The elevator connected directly to the underground parking garage was for VIPs, eliminating the risk of encountering others on the way.
However, from the moment they got off, they needed to quickly get into the car amid people coming and going. As they were about to move to the area Jade had mentioned, sure enough, footsteps could be heard from far away.
‘Run.’
Taesung’s face seemed to be saying this as they looked at each other. Lee Hwan hurried his steps and quickly headed for their destination together with him.
Honk!
A black car with its engine running called to them. Just before they urgently approached and opened the door, there was the sound of a flash going off behind them.
Damn it. How did they know and wait for them? Lee Hwan got into the car without looking back. Then Taesung entered and closed the door with a thud.
Jade, sitting in the passenger seat, checked the situation outside and fastened his seatbelt with a clatter.
Vrooom-
The car headed for the exit, ignoring the reporters rushing toward it. When the car that they thought would stop if blocked continued without even slowing down, people could be seen screaming, jumping, falling, and fleeing everywhere.
“They’re not even a swarm of bugs…”
The irritated muttering voice was chilling yet very familiar.
Of course, he wasn’t really trying to hit people, but such reckless driving wasn’t normal either. Even at a glance, his personality seemed seriously problematic.
Inwardly clicking his tongue, Lee Hwan suddenly realized that the driver’s behavior pattern and way of speaking were too familiar.
‘?’
As Lee Hwan looked up with surprised eyes, slightly drooping eyes in the rearview mirror narrowed slightly as they met his gaze.
A sensitive-looking impression that didn’t seem angry. An extreme taste in clothing, wearing bright yellow for such an occasion.
“They said you were dying, but you look too fine. Those Awakened guys, seriously…”
His grumbling, which didn’t sound entirely displeased, filled the quiet car. Lee Hwan found himself unconsciously raising the corners of his mouth.
In front of the heavily tinted car windows, which seemed almost illegal, Kang Dongha was perfectly holding the steering wheel, wearing a neck brace.
“Ha, hahaha…”
Lee Hwan let out a forced laugh and turned to look at Taesung, who nodded once with an unenthusiastic expression. Indicating that Kang Dongha was safe. And that his temperament was still the same.
Only then did Lee Hwan feel relief.
He had survived. With no contact, Lee Hwan had really thought he was dead, but he looked quite healthy. Moreover, his temperament was still the same, and his slick impression that would make him fail a job interview hadn’t changed at all.
“And you look quite fine yourself?”
Lee Hwan said, raising the corner of his mouth further. Usually, he couldn’t stand the sight of him. But now, somehow, he felt his debt of gratitude decreasing with every word from Dongha’s mouth.
“Fine? You can say that after seeing my neck?”
“Everyone was half-dead, so that level seems pretty good. What happened anyway?”
“I really risked my life.”
“Everyone risked their lives.”
The bickering after a long while didn’t seem bad, as Kang Dongha was earnestly responding and countering Lee Hwan’s words.
Still, he must have felt the nitpicking was unfair, as at the end of the conversation, he proudly boasted about his accomplishment.
“I even jumped out of a window there, without being an Awakened. I must have been crazy, when I was busy just trying to save myself.”
If he had jumped from the upper floors of Building D without any protection, there’s no way he could be driving like that with just a neck brace. Most likely, he should have died instantly and become fine bone powder.
Just as Kang Dongha was about to speak with a smug expression in response to their faces asking how he survived:
Screech- Bang!
The car barely avoided an accident as it raced through an intersection.
