Episode 6

 

“Director Han. Are you awake?”

 

When Seung-hyun opened his eyes, he saw Seok-hyung looking at him with a worried expression. Why was this person here? With a dazed mind, Seung-hyun raised his body.

 

“Why am I here?”

 

“You don’t remember?”

 

“I remember taking medicine and lying down on the bed…”

 

What happened after that? As Seung-hyun grabbed his throbbing head and vacantly sat there, Seok-hyung explained.

 

“I stopped by your house for a moment because there were documents to deliver urgently, but you were collapsed and suffering quite a lot… So I brought you straight to the hospital. Since I brought you in my car, the news shouldn’t leak out. Don’t worry.”

 

“…Me?”

 

Come to think of it, his stomach still felt a bit sore. His mouth felt dry, so he drank the water Seok-hyung handed him. Just then, the  doctor he had seen last time knocked on the hospital room door.  

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

“My stomach feels a bit sore. Not to an unbearable degree though.”

 

“Do you remember what happened?”

 

“I took the medicine you prescribed because my stomach hurt… and when I woke up, I was at the hospital.”

 

The  doctor stared at Seung-hyun for a moment and observed his state. After hesitating briefly, the doctor asked Seung-hyun.

 

“I’m asking just in case, but… you didn’t drink alcohol, right?”

 

“Actually I did, but…”

 

“No, how could you drink when you’re not well? On top of that, you drank and then took medicine?”

 

“Well, I drank at night, and I took the medicine around lunchtime…”

 

The  doctor let out a long sigh at Seung-hyun’s excuse. He had been gauging his reaction, but now he looked extremely exasperated.  

 

“Alcohol and cigarettes. Both are absolutely prohibited. Your condition could worsen because of that. And right now, your body’s detoxification function is not working properly, so the thought that it’s okay to take medicine a while after drinking is especially more dangerous.”

 

“Ah.”

 

Seung-hyun nodded his head with a stupid look on his face. Perhaps because the situation was too unrealistic, he had forgotten something so obvious.

 

“I understand that you must be feeling devastated… but you didn’t used to drink much in the first place, right?”

 

The expression on the  doctor’s face changed from exasperation to pity. As far as he knew, the director did not have a great personality, but at least in terms of self-management and his future path, he was an extremely meticulous person.

 

‘Tsk tsk. He was someone who wouldn’t even consider drinking, smoking or entertainment. But I guess his mind is not in a good place right now…’

 

Seung-hyun, who had unknowingly received the  doctor’s pitying gaze, smiled awkwardly. A terminally ill patient who came in after drinking – he thought about how absurd it must seem from the doctor’s perspective.

 

“It doesn’t seem like the medicine didn’t agree with you, but  if you take painkillers next time and don’t feel well, please contact me right away. You can go back today once the IV fluid is finished. It will probably take about… 30 more minutes.”

 

“Yes. I understand.”

 

After sending off the doctor, Seung-hyun quietly watched the IV fluid drip down. Of course, it wasn’t because watching the IV fluid was interesting.

 

‘…It’s burdensome.’

 

It was because Seok-hyung, who didn’t leave the hospital room even after the doctor left and kept staring at him, was burdensome. He tried to somehow avert his gaze and pretend not to notice, but it seemed insufficient to avoid his gaze for 30 minutes by just looking at the IV fluid.

 

“If you have something to say, say it. No, say it informally.”

 

Seung-hyun awkwardly spoke informally, knowing it would seem strange if he used formal speech. Although his tone was stiff, fortunately Seok-hyung, who was focused on other thoughts, did not notice anything odd.

 

“Director Han. I know your heart can’t… calm down right away. But at times like these, you need to become even stronger.”

 

“Do I have to be strong?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Everything is annoying.”

 

Seung-hyun said while looking up at Seok-hyung quietly. The surprised Seok-hyung couldn’t continue his words and only moved his lips.

 

The Seung-hyun he knew was not like this. Honestly, when he found out that Seung-hyun would soon die, Seok-hyung had thought Seung-hyun would definitely burn even more fiercely, saying he would die letting others benefit.

 

He thought him quitting the company would also just be a momentary whim. He believed the answer was to wait without provoking him unnecessarily and didn’t object.  

 

But Seung-hyun was just quietly accepting the situation as if all the flames had been extinguished. Giving up the director position he had worked hard for all his life, and even telling them to let people think whatever they want.

 

He would have felt more at ease if Seung-hyun had thrashed around saying he would kill Han Tae-sung right now before he dies anyway.

 

“Director Han.”

 

Seok-hyung looked at Seung-hyun with a heavy expression. But Seung-hyun was actually thinking something completely different from Seok-hyung.

 

‘I guess I can’t drink alcohol anymore. I never smoked in the first place. But I wonder if sex would be okay? Ah, it was good to be linked with Ju Jae-young of all people, but the sex itself… seemed good. But I probably won’t have to do it with him again.’

 

Rather than dwelling on what had already passed, it was more important to think about how to spend the remaining time. Seung-hyun became a bit cautious at the thought that if he went out and found a partner anywhere, he might get entangled with an annoying person like Ju Jae-young again.

 

‘I don’t care about being strong or whatever, I just want to live without getting involved with the characters in the novel. Will other people react annoyingly like Lee Seok-hyung? Ah, I don’t want to waste time.’

 

“Please give me any orders. I’ll do anything. So…”

 

“Ah.”

 

Seung-hyun, who had been lost in thought for a moment, came to his senses again at Seok-hyung’s slightly raised voice. Come to think of it, this kind of reaction from Lee Seok-hyung didn’t seem too bad.

 

‘Seok-hyung… loved Han Seung-hyun. I don’t know if it was sexual or respect though.’

 

So there would only be Lee Seok-hyung who would show this level of bothersome reaction. Other characters would be surprised too, but they would be lucky if they don’t outright say it’s a good thing.

 

But having one person like Lee Seok-hyung didn’t seem bad either. Come to think of it, there was no one else who fit the conditions he put forth as much as him.

 

‘He’s as handsome as me, has a nice body. Devoted to Han Seung-hyun, and loves Han Seung-hyun…. He doesn’t seem like someone who would go around spreading what happened with Han Seung-hyun.’

 

“You.”

 

“Yes, Director Han. Please order me to do anything.”

 

When Seung-hyun called Seok-hyung quietly, he knelt on one knee under Seung-hyun’s bed with a determined face. After thinking for a moment, Seung-hyun spoke.

 

“…Do you want to sleep with me?”

 

“Pardon…?”

 

He thought it would be fine since it was the person he liked, but the moment Seok-hyung heard those words, he made a terrible face as if he had been given a death sentence. 

 

“You like me, don’t you? I’ve decided to just do whatever I want now. It’s not like you’ll die from sleeping together, and it’s okay to do this much, right? I thought you would be better than others…”

 

Seung-hyun tried to appease Seok-hyung by adding a few more words, but far from consoling him, it only had the opposite effect. Seung-hyun, who had been watching Seok-hyung’s face turn pale without a hint of color, closed his mouth while gauging his reaction.

 

‘I-It wasn’t that kind of like…?’

 

“…Forget it. Ah, I think the IV fluid is all done now.”

 

“…I’ll give you a ride.”

 

“No. I’ll take a taxi, so you can go home now. Ah, what were the documents you were trying to deliver?”

 

It would be too awkward to ride in the same car back with the person he had just propositioned and got rejected by. With that thought, Seung-hyun declined Seok-hyung’s suggestion. Even so, in the awkward atmosphere, he somehow brought up a topic of conversation, and Seok-hyung, who seemed to have come to his senses, found a document.

 

“This is the list of companies Director Han Tae-sung’s side is currently contacting. If we make contact first…”

 

“What does it matter? I said I’m quitting the company.”

 

“But wasn’t this something you had put your heart and soul into?”

 

He seemed to have thought that if he presented this, Seung-hyun would once again burn with enthusiasm. It was such a typical thought of him.

 

But Seung-hyun had no intention of getting involved in such a bothersome matter. He didn’t know much about practical work anyway, and crucially, he knew this document was Tae-sung’s trap. 

 

If he made contact according to this document, he would miss the contact with the most important key company and be humiliated again by Chairman Han who returned from a business trip.

 

‘No wonder he lived a life of giving back what he received.’

 

“I’m not interested. You live your own life now too. Just because I quit the company doesn’t mean you have to quit. Don’t think about trying to do something with this document.”

 

After saying that, Seung-hyun tore up the document. Lee Seok-hyung was a character blindly devoted to Seung-hyun. To the point where it was worrisome if he would go and cause trouble on his own somewhere.

 

‘He wouldn’t go and cause an accident while thinking about avenging the director or something useless like that, right? Should I keep an eye on him?’

 

“If you do something stupid and get caught, I won’t take responsibility.”

 

Somehow, he got an eerie feeling. He hoped there wouldn’t be anything like that. With that thought, Seung-hyun called the nurse and removed the needle stuck in his hand.