Episode 16

At Jae-young’s question, Seung-hyun took his eyes off the sparkler’s flames. Friends, huh. He had thought it wouldn’t be bad to have someone to hang out with for a while.

“I guess we could be called friends, right?”

Although the fact that they had spent the night together weighed a bit on his mind, considering they were spending time together now, it seemed okay to call it that.  

To the ambiguous answer, Jae-young stared at Seung-hyun for a moment, then lit the sparkler Seung-hyun had handed him. Whether they were friends or not didn’t matter, so why had he asked this question?

“I was just curious, so I asked.”

“Who said what?”

Seung-hyun brushed off the words he had added because of the needlessly awkward feeling and turned his eyes back to the sparkler. The sparkler’s light was quite pretty, but it didn’t last long. The two went to the street vendor one more time and bought enough sparklers to get sick of them, enjoying their time at the beach.

***

“Yawn…”

The next day, Seung-hyun woke up a bit earlier than yesterday. He had been exhausted after wandering around a lot and fell asleep as soon as he returned to the room, showered, and changed clothes, so he woke up at an ambiguous time between morning and afternoon.

“What should I do today…?”

We saw the night ocean yesterday, so should we go see the ocean during the day today? Or should we eat some food that you can only have here since we came all the way down? Thinking that, Seung-hyun picked up his cell phone and let out a small sigh at the notifications filling the status bar.

Most of them were useless contacts. Contacts from people who had supported Seung-hyun and his father. Seung-hyun seriously considered writing something like “I really resigned, so please don’t contact me” in his status message.  

After deleting all the useless app notifications and meaningless contacts, Seung-hyun checked the remaining messages.  

[Secretary Lee Seok-hyung: Director. I visited your residence but you weren’t there, so I’m contacting you.] 9:47 AM

This guy visits someone else’s house in the morning and looks for the homeowner. I knew from the novel that Lee Seok-hyung was quite fussy towards Han Seung-hyun, but I didn’t know it was to this extent.

Usually, when Han Seung-hyun ordered something, he would just carry out that order no matter what it was, and there were no scenes of him proactively doing something.  

[On vacation. Don’t look for me unless it’s urgent.] 10:28 AM

But Seok-hyung was also a bit pitiful to ignore. Because I had stolen his one beloved Director Han. Although perfunctory, Seung-hyun sent a clear reply and checked the next contact.

[Professor Kim: When would be a good date for your next regular checkup? I think it would be good for you to get a checkup at least once a month.] 10:08 AM

This was a necessary contact. Seung-hyun, who had been estimating dates by opening the calendar, set the next visit date and sent a reply.  

‘Although it hasn’t been severe yet, if the pain gets worse, it won’t be good for me either.’

I didn’t know because the Han Seung-hyun in the novel was so lively, but this body wasn’t very healthy. It wasn’t to the point of being unbearable, but it seemed that if the condition worsened later, it might become difficult to wander around.

‘I don’t want that.’

I should get checkups regularly. An overseas trip may be difficult after all. Thinking that, Seung-hyun checked the next contact.  

[Father: Sunday 7 PM Yeomheejung Orchid Room.] 7:11 AM

“……”

Seung-hyun paused for a moment seeing the message with the exact matter only. Father. I knew we weren’t on affectionate terms, but the content was so dry that I wondered if we were really father and son.

He moved his finger up to check the previous conversation contents. The contents weren’t much different from the message that just arrived.  

[Father: Monday 1 PM Suhwajung Hong Room.] 6:12 PM

[Father: Assisting the Chairman’s round. Sunday Jeju Airon CC] 10:42 AM

[Father: I relayed the construction-related news through Secretary Lee, so check it and prepare countermeasures.] 3:08 PM

Messages sent to the secretary wouldn’t be this business-like either. It was amazing that it was saved as ‘Father’ because there was nothing but business-like talk.

“Today is Friday, so….”

To make it in time, he had to go up to Seoul by lunch the day after tomorrow at the latest. But the hotel reservation was made until next Wednesday.  

It wasn’t that the money was a waste or that there was any lingering attachment to the destination. There was more than enough money anyway, and Busan wasn’t a place he couldn’t come back to. He had also resolved to meet Seung-hyun’s parents at least once.

But looking at this message window, he somehow wanted to delay that meeting as much as possible. After contemplating for a bit, Seung-hyun wrote a sentence other than “Yes, I understand” or “I checked” in the dry message window.

[I don’t plan to return to Seoul until next Wednesday, so it would be good if you could set a time after that.] 10:58 AM

In the first place, an appointment should be made by looking at each other’s schedules, so the person who suddenly talks in an informative way is the one at fault. Thinking that, Seung-hyun sent a reply and checked the last contact. It was from the person he least wanted to get involved with.

[Managing Director Han Tae-sung: Director Han. What is the reason you handed over the project you were in charge of to our side?] 9:31 AM

Why? Because your grandfather told you to hand it over to me and leave. If I ignore it, he’ll probably throw a fit saying there must be some ulterior motive. Seung-hyun sighed and started writing a reply.

[It was the Chairman’s order.] 11:01 AM

[Managing Director Han Tae-sung: You’re going to hand over the project you worked so hard on to me of all people?] 11:02 AM

The reply came quickly as if he had been waiting. Have you been living being deceived all your life? Seung-hyun made a slightly annoyed face and sent another reply.

[The handover will be done through Secretary Lee. Don’t ask me. I’m not even a company person anymore.] 11:03 AM 

[Do you like your vacation being interrupted?] 11:03 AM

Should I just block this guy too? Seung-hyun, who had been contemplating for a moment, put down his cell phone. Somehow, all the contacts he saw as soon as he woke up in the morning were unpleasant ones.  

“…I’m hungry.”

After sending the replies one by one, he felt hungry. Should I eat lunch at the restaurant here? I wanted to try the hotel buffet. Thinking that, Seung-hyun got up from the bed. Seung-hyun took out clothes from the styler, checked the seats using the room service pad, and reserved a seat an hour later.

“I should wash up.”

Since I have an hour, I’ll wash up and laze around for a bit. Seung-hyun flipped his cell phone over and went into the bathroom.

Putting his body in the warm water made him feel peaceful even in his heart. How much time had passed? Seung-hyun, who had enjoyed a leisurely bath, finished showering, came out, and rubbed his hair with a towel.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t get a contact from the person closest to me.”  

Suddenly recalling Jae-young’s existence, Seung-hyun muttered while shaking off the water. He would think I’d be up by now since it’s past 11.  

Did he contact me while I was washing up? Thinking that, Seung-hyun picked up his cell phone.

“What the.”

But what appeared on the cell phone screen wasn’t a contact from Jae-young.

Missed calls: Mother (2)

What’s this now? Seung-hyun stared at the word ‘Mother’ for a long time and then erased that notification from the status bar. I don’t know the details, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be a good contact.

A feeling that it might be related to the reply I sent to Father. Seung-hyun put the cell phone back as his instincts told him to and took a step to dry his hair.  

“Uh…?”

But the moment he casually took a step, Seung-hyun’s knees buckled greatly with a sudden dizziness and he toppled to the floor.

“Ugh… Heuk.”

They said I could have a seizure once in a while, is it now? Where did I put my medicine? Seung-hyun crawled on his knees without even noticing the pain from the impact.

Fortunately, the medicine was near the table where he had put down his cell phone, and Seung-hyun poured the medicine into his mouth with trembling hands and collapsed on the floor.

“Haa, haa…”

He had no strength in his body, but his consciousness remained. I didn’t know because I had never been in pain while staying conscious, but it hurt much more than I expected.  

“Ugh, heuk…”

Taking medicine didn’t make it okay right away. Seung-hyun couldn’t bear the pain and clawed at the floor with his short nails for a moment.

“Uwuk…”

Fortunately, the pain reliever was fast-acting. It wasn’t long before he felt the pain getting a bit better, but as the searing pain near his stomach ceased, this time his knees that had hit the floor and the slightly torn fingertips hurt.

“I… I really am terminally ill. It’s hitting me now.”

Seung-hyun barely sat up on the bed, pressing on his aching knees. Thankfully, the medicine bottle was close by. What if the seizure had come while he was taking a bath…?

When he faced the reality he had been trying to think of as nothing, he felt gloomy. Reality always seemed to hit him in the back of the head at an unexpected moment.

“Forget it. Let’s not think about it.”

Seung-hyun muttered while rubbing his hurting knees. The words that were like a spell, as if comforting himself, continued for quite a long time.