The weight continued to decrease, and even colleagues in the company began to notice. Now many people asked if everything was all right, and Mr. Nam, who dined with him most often, regularly advised him to go to the doctor.

"Do I really look that bad?"

"Yes, it's bad.

— ...

If he says so, then it's a serious matter. From these thoughts, Jihong bitterly realized that it would simply not be possible to reproach Jaekyung for being too careful.

Meanwhile, the man, having fished the largest piece of fish from the boiling soup, put it on Jihon's plate and added: "From the outside, it may seem that you are just a model - tall, thin. But I remember what you were like a month ago. So I'm worried. Judge for yourself: you quit smoking, eat somehow, and every day you get thinner and thinner.

Now Jihong understood why the people around him were so worried: it really looked depressing from the outside.

"No, I'm not sick. It's just that now I have both gastritis and enteritis at the same time," he found an excuse.

"Is that so?" My colleague frowned, as if that explained a lot.

"Yes, and I don't have an appetite. And even if I do, it still makes me sick.

"Oh, what a misfortune..." sighed Nam, shaking his head. "How are you going to work?"

It was about studio shooting for the show. At the first meeting, the screenwriter said that it was planned either at the end of the year or at the beginning of the next. Then Jihong thought that it would not happen soon, but moment X crept up unnoticed - and everything will happen in a week.

"Why," Jihon waved him off. "Just sit and pronounce the memorized text. We are not going to eat there.

"That's true, but it's better to go on the air with a fresher look," my colleague remarked.

"There's nothing you can do about it," Jihon shrugged.

To which Mr. Nam urged him not to despair: "In the television studio, light and makeup will do their job. Everything will be fine.

But Jihong couldn't be so optimistic. Okay, the face was crumpled, I was more tormented by weakness, which rolled in more and more often due to a sharp weight loss. Hearing about this, the manager Nam suggested: "Put a drip.

"A drip?" Jihon asked.

— Yes. When I almost died of gastroenteritis once, only a drip saved me. Then I lost seven kilograms in a week. A complete nightmare - dehydration and so on.

Listening to the advice, Jihong left work an hour early on the same day and went to the drip. At first, he was skeptical: "Isn't this just glucose? What is the use of it?", but, to his surprise, after the procedure, the strength really returned. Even Jaekyung, noticing the improvement, was delighted, "You look much better today."

However, the effect lasted only two days. Encouraged by the result, Jihong put on two more IVs during lunch, but on the third day he vomited again. Moreover, he couldn't wait for Jaekyung to go home, and right in front of him, he ran into the bathroom, finally shattering the illusion of his positive dynamics.

"Hyung, are you okay?" Scared in earnest, Jaekyung, ignoring the protests of his beloved, burst into the bathroom and began to knock on his back, and then was about to call an ambulance.

"Are you crazy?" Do not! Without finishing rinsing his mouth, Jihong snatched the phone from him with screams.

"Why?" If you saw that I felt bad last night, wouldn't you take me to the hospital?

"Hey, you and I are not the same!"

– That is, if I am not an athlete, can I get sick? If I wasn't an athlete, would you score?

Jaekyung, getting even angrier, took his cell phone back and started dialing the ambulance again.

"Stop it, Jaekyung, don't!" I just have gastritis, and even enteritis. That's why I vomited," Jihon repeated the same lie in despair.

To which the alarmed guy raised the phone so high that it could not snatch it, and began to interrogate: "Gastritis and enteritis? Since when? Because of what? Did the doctor tell you that? Did he prescribe medications? Do you accept them?

— …

"Answer quickly!"

Obviously, he would press the call button if Jihong didn't give a clear explanation after three seconds.

"It's been two weeks already. I don't know what exactly, then there were continuous corporate parties. Probably, some of the food turned out to be inappropriate. Wait a second, I'll rinse my mouth," Jihong said pitifully, trying to buy time, and went to the bathroom.

"You're lying," Jaekyung said through clenched teeth, leaning against the doorframe.

Why did Jihong freeze for a moment, trying to maintain a semblance of calm: "Why would I lie about such a thing?

"If it was gastritis, you'd tell me right away. It is strange that he has been silent until now.

"Well, why share something like that?" Jihon retorted, wiping his face with a towel. — If the disease is not contagious, why bother people?

"Are you kidding?" Jaekyung snarled. "Do you think it's easy to watch your suffering without knowing the cause?" This only scares me more!

And although Jihon didn't like his tone, he knew that the guy was right. Ignorance really makes you worry more.

"I'm sorry," Jihon blurted out quickly. "I really thought it would go away on its own. I didn't want to strain you once again. Now I understand that it was stupid. You're right, ignorance makes you even more worried. I'm sorry, that's my mistake.

— ...

Jaekyung silently stared at Jihon. His expression softened noticeably, but there was still no answer. It was in his spirit. He could get angry if something went wrong, but as soon as Jihon explained and apologized, the anger quickly passed. Sometimes Jaekyung himself admitted that he had overreacted, and, although dryly, he still said: "Understood. Sorry for yelling."

But this time it's different. The anger almost subsided, but neither the usual "understood" nor apologies were made. It seemed that he wanted to show how much he was hurt by this situation.

But this time, too, the reason for the offense was really serious. Jihong, coming closer, whispered softly, "Jaekyung-ah, hyun apologized.

And then he took him in his arms, pressing against his chest and rubbing his forehead against it.

"Ah, really," Jaekyung muttered, and in those two short words, a whole range of conflicting emotions could be heard. I didn't want to be angry, but it was too easy to forgive right away. But ignoring such a frank request was beyond his strength. It was the first time he had encountered such a thing, and he was afraid that if he didn't answer now, he would never see Jihon like this again. In the end, it was not possible to resist.

"But don't do that again, seriously," Jaekyung muttered, holding him tightly to him and heading with him into the living room.

— ... Even with gastritis and enteritis... Is it possible to lose weight like that? He asked, sitting down on the couch and holding Jihon in his arms.

"Well, I've lost weight," Jihon replied.

Jaekyung grimaced, showing that he was not satisfied with such an answer. The atmosphere began to heat up again. To distract him, Jihong decided to change the subject a bit.

"At our work, one employee lost seven kilos from enteritis in a week. Remember I told you about Manager Nam? He even went to the hospital with dehydration. And I'm not so scary.

After hearing the concrete example, Jaekyung calmed down a little and even nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe... But it's all taken too long for you. That's weird. Have you had a gastroscopy?

It was useless to lie: after all, a bulldozer can go to the hospital, find out where the examination was carried out, and personally check the diagnosis.

"Not yet," Jihon replied honestly.

Because of this, Jaekyung immediately turned gloomy.

"Then tomorrow we will go to do a gastroscopy together," he said, leaving no room for objections.

It was not easy to dissuade Jaekyung: he insisted on a joint visit, and Jihong, by hook or by crook, tried to dodge, saying that he could not get there on the weekend, and for a gastroscopy you need to starve, and he had just eaten - through the fault of Jaekyung himself. After much debate, he finally agreed to postpone the examination.

"Okay, then let's go on Tuesday morning," Jaekyung demanded sternly.

"But in the morning I have to take Oliver to the airport.

"Let Minu do it!" Jaekyung burst out.

And Jihon, realizing that there was no point in arguing, simply agreed: "Okay, I'm going to the hospital in the morning.

"You'll find a reason not to go again," he muttered incredulously.

"I'm definitely going to see a doctor this time," Jihong assured him, giving him a gentle nudge with his elbow, which finally made his stubborn lover smile.

The latter hugged him and, with visible relief, gently clarified: "So you don't look like this because of insomnia?"

— No, not because of that.

"Well, I shouldn't have spent the night at your place then," Jaekyung grumbled, as if he had done something unnecessary.

"Then I'll stay here tonight," he said at once.

"No, go home."

"I don't want to," Jaekyung continued, burying his nose in his shoulder. After a moment, he raised his head again and asked, "Are you better off when I'm gone?" Do you sleep better without me?

"Then I'll just go home," he added, but his resentment looked said otherwise.

Jihon, without noticing it, hastened to justify himself: "No, that's not why.

"Then why are you kicking me out?" Jaekyung muttered, pouting.

If Jihon says that he is worried about how he is worried, or that the touch is annoying, even as a joke, it will be too much. And trying to get out of it, he said, "I might feel bad again at night. And I don't want to wake you up.

"Here's another thing," Jaekyung said, resting his chin on his shoulder again. "If that's the case, I'll definitely stay." Especially since tomorrow is Saturday.

It was useless to argue any further, and Jihong only sighed, "All right, do what you want."

For the first time in ten days, they were in the same bed again. Despite all the quarrels and misunderstandings, Jihong was happy to feel the tenderness and care of Jaekyung's hug again. When they slept together for the first time, the very fact of intimacy with him seemed unreal, and it was not easy to trust these hands. Now everything happened easily and naturally.

After a long separation, Jihong felt how he lacked the warmth next to him. It was comfortable to sleep alone, but at some point he realized that it was too lonely. Jaekyung seemed to think the same way. At first, he just put his hand on Jihon, but then he pressed him closer and hugged him as tightly as if he would never let go.

"Did you decide to strangle me?" Jihong laughed.

"I won't," he replied calmly, hugging him even tighter. "And if I squeeze harder, I think your ribs will break."

To which Jihon laughed again: "Come on, I'm not that fragile.

"I won't check," Jaekyung muttered, burying his face in his neck.

And then he said quietly, caressing his skin in a whisper: "I want you to recover faster." I hate to see you sick.

— ...

"Be sure to go to the hospital on Tuesday." Ok? Jaekyung insisted, demanding a clear promise.

"Okay, I'll definitely go."

Constant nausea guaranteed that the examination would reveal gastritis or reflux esophagitis. That would have been enough to appease Jaekyung, if deception was necessary.

But it's not about deception. Jaekyung continues to worry about his condition, and if it doesn't improve, his anxiety will only increase.

What to do... Everything was more complicated than Jihon had imagined. The side effects were more pronounced than he expected, and Jaekyung's reaction was more painful. His anxiety and depression became so obvious that Jihong began to worry about him as well.

The irony was that the decision to stay close led to the idea that perhaps they should have separated. Then Jaekyung wouldn't worry so much about his health.

"And if we refer to a business trip? By reducing the dosage, I will quickly get better. Perhaps seeing each other rarely, spending time apart is not the worst option." Thinking about this, Jihon felt his eyelids fill with lead. In recent days, he had been falling asleep with difficulty, but today the warmth of his beloved next to him brought relaxation, and Jihong quickly fell asleep, postponing the decision for later.