“Are you feeling a bit better?” Hyun Gyujin asked as he touched Yuwon’s forehead. It wasn’t as hot when he checked it earlier in the nurse’s office, but now the fever had risen considerably, and Yuwon’s forehead was quite warm. This wasn’t a situation where he should be wrapped up in multiple layers of blankets.
“Jung Yuwon, wake up. Let’s go home.”
“Umm….”
As Hyun Gyujin brushed aside the sweaty strands of hair on Yuwon’s forehead, Yuwon flinched. Seeing Yuwon’s thin eyelids struggling to open and the long eyelashes hanging at the end, Hyun Gyujin felt sorry for him and tilted his head, meeting his gaze.
“Let’s leave early. Go home and rest comfortably. It’s not a good idea to stay at school.”
“Yeah…. That sounds like a better idea. My head hurts. You seem to be doing double duty.”
“If it were up to me, I’d love it, Jung Yuwon. One to carry the bag, and the other to carry you.”
Hyun Gyujin removed the blankets wrapped around Yuwon’s body and helped him sit up, revealing a pale face struggling to rise. Even under normal circumstances, Yuwon didn’t have as good a condition as the other kids, so seeing him in pain made Hyun Gyujin feel uneasy.
“I’ve got you.”
With his feet in slippers under the bed, Yuwon, supported by Hyun Gyujin, grabbed onto him with both feet.
“Just a moment…. Let’s straighten out the blankets.”
“I’ll do it.”
Hyun Gyujin, seating Yuwon on the chair, unfolded the crumpled blankets on the bed one by one, folded them, and placed them neatly on the bedside. Only after folding all the blankets and putting the pillow back did they leave the infirmary.
“How are you feeling, Yuwon?”
“I’m feeling worse, so I wanted to leave early….”
“Yeah, that seems like the best thing to do. Let’s go home and rest well today.”
“Yeah…. Thank you…. Goodbye….”
After bowing to the nurse, Yuwon left the infirmary with Hyun Gyujin. They slowly climbed the stairs. Suddenly, they felt a chill breeze outside the infirmary, making their bodies shiver.
“Let’s leave early and stop by the hospital. If we leave early, we can make it to the doctor’s appointment before lunchtime.”
“Okay….”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Yuwon, go rest well, and if you’re still feeling unwell tomorrow, let me know, okay?”
“Yeah…. Thank you….”
“Can you go home alone? You seem to be in a lot of pain.”
“Gyujin said he’ll take me.”
“Oh, so Gyujin is going too. Now I feel relieved. Gyujin, come here. Why are you pretending not to know and standing back there?”
As Hyun Gyujin, who had been standing at a distance as if he had come to the faculty room for another errand, approached reluctantly, he gave a slight smile. Although everyone in the faculty room already knew his true nature and wouldn’t be deceived by this smile anymore, to someone who didn’t know him, it was a smile of trust, an interview, or a courtesy pass.
“I’ll write you an early dismissal slip, so Gyujin will take good care of you, and come back before lunchtime ends. You’re doing well today.”
“Oh, yes.”
With the early dismissal slip in hand, Hyun Gyujin supported Yuwon and left the faculty room. Then he quickly went to the classroom, grabbed Yuwon’s bag, and slung it over his shoulder. If they hurried a bit, they might be able to see the doctor just before the end of lunchtime.
“Let’s go.”
“What about your lunch?”
“I’ll get something from the cafeteria later.”
“Sorry….”
“You only act nice when you’re sick.”
Hyun Gyujin playfully retorted to make sure Yuwon didn’t feel guilty. While he was generally mild-mannered, he would still scold or get angry if I did something stupid or behaved rudely, but now, even that slight dignity seemed to have completely disappeared, and he was completely soft. Seeing a pale kid become even paler was still uncomfortable.
Since he was young, Hyun Gyujin always feared that Yuwon would melt away whenever he saw him sick. It was already scary and heartbreaking enough that the small child couldn’t endure the heat and couldn’t even get up. So, even when sleep came, he blinked his eyes and stayed by his side, holding his hand tightly to prevent Yuwon from melting away.
Even now, with his much larger body, he still had the same thought. Would Yuwon shrink even smaller from the fever this time? He shouldn’t melt away. He knew there was no way that could happen, but his thoughts still lingered on that possibility. What was even more amusing was that these thoughts were still quite serious. Hyun Gyujin sighed softly as he looked down at Yuwon, who was weakly shuffling along. He silently prayed that his friend wouldn’t dissolve in pain.
Just before lunchtime, they arrived at the hospital in the nick of time. Yuwon received a diagnosis of the flu and a prescription. While Hyun Gyujin went to the pharmacy on the first floor of the shopping center to buy the medicine, his hands held a bag full of something. As they walked home together, Yuwon heard the rustling sound of the bag. Since it was a shopping center near the apartment complex, it didn’t take long to get home.
Naturally, they took the elevator up to the sixth floor, and when they got off, Yuwon couldn’t help but chuckle at Hyun Gyujin, who was punching in the passcode for the door as if it were second nature. Even though he was in pain, a smile crept onto his lips. Hyun Gyujin, who glanced down at Yuwon, who was laughing softly, playfully poked his thigh with a finger, seeming a bit ticklish.
“Why, does just watching me open the door make you smile without realizing it?”
“…What are you talking about? It’s just funny to see you punch in the password like it’s your own house.”
“But you know our house code too.”
“Yeah, 837295. Aunt’s birthday, uncle’s birthday, your birthday.”
“Wow, really? I don’t know your house code though. What’s 927664?”
“I don’t know either. Mom just pressed random numbers to decide. She said it’s easy to guess if you give it meaning.”
Should we change ours too? Hyun Gyujin murmured, taking Yuwon to his room, sitting him on the bed, and placing the bag on the chair. Although neither of them was particularly heavy, walking cautiously while supporting each other made his shoulders tense more than usual.
“Change your clothes.”
“….”
“Why?”
“You have to go out for me to change….”
“You’re so shy between us.”
“Stop being noisy and get out quickly….”
“Yes, yes.”
Once Hyun Gyujin left the room and the door was completely closed, Yuwon changed his clothes. Putting on pajama pants under a thick winter sweatshirt felt relieving without the chill of the outside. It was because he realized that this was his own home, his own room, where he could feel free to be sick. Of course, that didn’t mean he should be sick to his heart’s content.
As he changed his clothes and slowly tidied up his school uniform, he heard approaching footsteps. Yuwon listened carefully to the sound. It was the sound of Hyun Gyujin approaching.
“Are you dressed?”
“Yeah.”
As he answered, the door opened. Yuwon accepted the cup of citron tea that Hyun Gyujin offered him. He wondered what he bought at the convenience store, but it seemed he bought the citron tea that he said was delicious in the morning.
“It’s delicious. And you should drink this when you’re sick. There are ten outside, so boil some more later.”
“You bought ten?”
“Drink it whenever you want. And porridge delivery is coming. I think I can accept that… but I’ll have to eat it alone.”
Hyun Gyujin laughed slyly as he checked the time on his phone, while Yuwon, holding the citron tea cup, took a sip. It was as fragrant and sweet as it was in the morning, so he enjoyed it very much.
“When did you order the porridge?”
“There’s a porridge place next to the convenience store. I asked them to deliver it. It’s faster than Baemin.”
Even without saying it, he appreciated everything Hyun Gyujin did for him, from start to finish. That feeling had grown along with his feelings for Hyun Gyujin. But in November of his eighteenth year, one more feeling entered his heart that he had never felt before. Grateful yet sorry, and… his heart fluttered. Yuwon playfully nudged Hyun Gyujin’s hand with the edge of the citron tea cup.
“…Thank you.”
“Hurry up and drink.”
With a smile, Hyun Gyujin ruffled Yuwon’s hair playfully. Yuwon simply watched Hyun Gyujin play with his hair quietly, sipping the citron tea and nibbling on the edge of the cup. His bangs went up and down, gently held and released without causing any pain.
By the time the edge of the paper cup had become crumpled from his biting, the bell rang. Yuwon immediately got up from his seat and watched as Hyun Gyujin left the room. He took a deep breath, feeling the breath that had been trapped in his heart. The light teasing and the deep affection made his head spin.
Even though his body was in pain, the excitement and fluttering in my heart made it noisy. He wanted to be alone quickly, but at this moment, being with Hyun Gyujin was a great comfort. What do I really want? Since realizing that he liked Hyun Gyujin, every moment had been a series of contradictions.
“Have this.”
Yuwon, startled by Hyun Gyujin suddenly entering, lifted his head abruptly. Looking at Yuwon like that, Hyun Gyujin placed a tray of porridge on the desk.
“I brought water and medicine too, so eat the porridge and take the medicine. And rest well. I’ll come back after school ends. I left half of the porridge in the fridge, so if you get hungry later, heat it up and eat.”
“Okay… Thanks. I’ll eat well. What about you? You didn’t eat lunch, so…”
“I don’t have time for that. Eat everything and rest. If your fever gets worse or suddenly gets very painful, message me. Got it? Don’t endure it alone. It could be serious.”
“Yeah…”
“I’ll go.”
Quietly nodding, Yuwon grabbed Hyun Gyujin’s wrist as he was about to leave again, as if something had come to mind while watching him mess up his own hair.
Ah, can’t wait for him to start pushing Gyujin away so the chasing begins 👀
Thank you for the chapter!