Chapter 49

Haji, having come home from work, sat on the sofa and glared at the front door. She held her phone in one hand.

It had already been two weeks since she last heard from Seojin. She couldn’t understand why they hadn’t been in contact, despite being under the same Seoul sky.

“What on earth could be going on?”

No matter how busy he was, Seojin always kept his promise to come home and sleep. Of course, he also contacted her regularly.

“Woobae doesn’t seem to know either.”

She thought about asking Woobae if he knew anything about Seojin, but seeing him give her a housewarming gift made her hold back.

“It’s tomorrow…”

Haji looked at the pile of her belongings in front of the entrance.

“Surely, he’ll come tomorrow, right…?”

She called the number she had dialed countless times, but once again, it went straight to voicemail.

Tap, tap, Haji typed a message. She hoped he would come since tomorrow was her moving day.

“Nothing’s wrong, right?”

The anxiety that had been gnawing at her began to overwhelm her heart.

Let’s wait, let’s wait.

Trying to calm her troubled mind, Haji fell asleep on the sofa that day as well.

In the bright morning, during the afternoon when the moving preparations were complete, and even in the evening when the move was finished.

No contact came from Seojin.

As if his presence had vanished forever.

No one informed her of his whereabouts.

***

Tap, tap. Rain started to fall from the sky. As the monsoon began, Haji also started to suffer.

As always, she was alone.

“Haa. Ha…”

Wriggling under the blanket, Haji breathed heavily and groped for the bedside.

“It’s already time…”

She had come home from work, collapsed into bed, and slept like she was unconscious, but it was already time to go to work.

She had taken medicine and slept, but her condition hadn’t improved. It was always like this at this time of year.

No medicine worked on her body, and she had been suffering alone like this.

Or perhaps this year’s illness had come a little late. Previously, her body would heat up even before the monsoon arrived.

Just as Haji managed to lift herself and move toward the bathroom, the phone screen lit up in the dark room.

She turned around instinctively, as if waiting for someone.

Seeing the screen, the excitement on her face quickly faded.

“Yeah, Seonghee.”

– Are you okay?

“I’m fine. It’s not as bad as last year.”

Seonghee’s voice on the other end was serious, recalling the time she had found Haji collapsed at home last year.

“I’m really fine. How are things there?”

– It’s hectic. I thought I’d take a trip if I had a moment, but it seems impossible.

Seonghee’s voice, preparing for a fashion show overseas, was full of determination. Since it was her first overseas fashion show, she must have been preparing with extra care.

– To think I’m overseas at a time like this.

“I’m really fine. I’m the one who’s more disappointed that I can’t see you.”

– Next time, I’ll send you a plane ticket. You must come.

“Okay. Do well and come back. I’ll be cheering you on.”

After hanging up the call, Haji took a deep breath and collapsed onto the bed. The strength that had barely been holding her up drained away.

“I’m going to be late.”

Even as she leaned against the bed to barely support herself, she worried about being late.

She forced her heavy body up again and swallowed the medicine Hyeseong had brought her a few days ago. She rinsed her bitter mouth with water and looked in the mirror.

“I look terrible.”

Her dull skin and dry eyes made her look even more haggard. She had lost weight, and her face had become more defined, making her look sharp.

Just hold on for a month. Just one month.

You’ve always done well.

You’ve endured well.

It’s okay to be alone.

“He’s someone who disappeared.”

Haji murmured as if giving up. Telling herself not to wait for him.

A while ago, she subtly asked Seonghee about Seojin, but it seemed she didn’t know his whereabouts.

If his family didn’t know, she thought it might not be something serious. He just wasn’t appearing in front of her.

“I’ve done all I can.”

She told her emaciated reflection in the mirror.

They say nothing’s wrong at the company either.

A few days after moving in, she went to Seojin’s office and met Matthew. He only said Seojin was on a business trip.

Tap, tap. The woman’s face in the mirror was wet. Her vision gradually blurred.

“Sniff. Sniff.”

She hadn’t meant to be like this today.

Her body hurt too much.

No one listened, no one asked, yet she was alone, making excuses, saying it wasn’t because of that man.

Saying she was crying because she was in pain.

Haji slid down onto the bathroom floor, hugging her legs. She couldn’t stop the tears that flowed endlessly.

She couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking helplessly with sobs.

Her whole body trembled, not obeying her heart. She only hoped that her sobs wouldn’t be heard by anyone, drowned out by the rain.

***

A small commotion arose in the VIP room of the intensive care unit at the university hospital.

“Hey, you crazy bastard, where do you think you’re going like that?”

“Let go.”

“Let go? You should be the one lying back down.”

Matthew, looking at Seojin, who was standing in a hospital gown with blood dripping from his arm, raised his voice as if looking at a madman.

“It’s only been two days since your reoperation.”

“It’s been two days already.”

Seojin, who looked as if he could collapse at any moment, insisted stubbornly, driving Matthew crazy.

“Just wait. I’ll talk to the doctor when he comes.”

“No need.”

The door opened, and a middle-aged man with white hair wearing a doctor’s coat entered.

“I don’t need to see him.”

The door creaked open, and a middle-aged man with white hair in a doctor’s coat entered.

“You don’t need to see him, huh?”

“I want to be discharged.”

“You crazy bastard. You made a fuss not to tell your parents, and now you want to discharge yourself?”

Clicking his tongue, the doctor picked up his phone.

“Go ahead and discharge yourself. Then I’ll call your mom.”

“Uncle.”

“What, you’re his nephew?”

Seojin’s uncle, Sanho, was the director of a university hospital rivaling his father’s hospital. In fact, they were blood relatives.

“You promised not to tell them.”

“That was when you were making a fuss about not getting the surgery. Now that you’ve had it?”

“…”

He was saying that his threats might have worked then, but they wouldn’t work now.

Knowing that his uncle Sanho wasn’t someone who would yield to him, Seojin sat on the bed.

“Call the nurse. We need to stick a needle back in that guy’s arm.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.”

Matthew, taken aback by the sudden order, opened the door and left the room.

“It’s only been fifteen days since we removed the rebar that narrowly missed your heart.”

“That’s enough.”

“Huh? A guy who wanted to become a doctor is saying something so pathetic?”

It’s the end of the world, it really is.

“That’s why I didn’t become a doctor.”

“Thank goodness. A rascal like you didn’t become a doctor.”

Sanho slowly looked his nephew up and down. When the rebar that had fallen at the construction site got lodged near his heart and he was brought to the ER three weeks ago, they thought he might die.

He had seen countless patients, but the way this guy, bleeding profusely from his chest, threatened not to tell his family sent shivers down his spine.

It was shocking how he only closed his eyes on the bed after hearing the promise not to tell.

“I heard you insisted on coming to this hospital in the ambulance?”

“I did.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

A madman.

Choosing a hospital in a life-or-death situation.

“Being a rascal, I could do that much.”

“It was a time when your life was at stake.”

Sanho’s voice lowered, indicating it was really serious.

“I knew it hadn’t pierced my heart, and as long as the rebar didn’t come out, I didn’t think there would be immediate shock.”

Sanho crossed his arms, looking at his nephew, whom he called a madman.

Making such a judgment at that dangerous moment and enduring what must have been pain worse than death with sheer willpower was generally difficult. It must have been more torturous than any other ordeal.

“I need to know now. Why didn’t you tell your family?”

Seojin’s expression, which hadn’t changed through any pain, finally shifted. It was as if a line had been drawn across his smooth face.

“Don’t you think I deserve to know at least that?”

Sanho’s curiosity grew as Seojin’s face changed. He had expected him not to say anything, but seeing his nephew make such an expression was intriguing.

“There’s someone who shouldn’t know.”

“Doesn’t seem like it’s anyone in the family I know.”

“Someone who will become family in the future.”

Sanho’s eyes widened, and then he burst into laughter.

“I never thought you’d do something like this over a woman.”

It was an unexpected answer, both absurd and truly surprising. The cold-hearted nephew, who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed a drop, was playing the lover.

“The reason you wanted to discharge yourself with a hole in your chest is to meet that woman?”

“…”

His silence was the answer.

“Still, you can’t be discharged. You know how dangerous the reoperation two days ago was.”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t be stubborn. If you get an infection, it could be life-threatening. Just wait a week.”

Even though his nephew had dipped his toes into playing the lover, he shouldn’t risk his life.

Sanho spoke firmly, and Seojin rubbed his face with his hands. He looked more distressed than before entering the operating room, which was ridiculous.

He seemed more tormented by not being able to see his lover than by the rebar piercing his body.

Should this be called youth, or bravado?

“Crazy guy.”

This guy is just a crazy guy.

“Now that visits are allowed, can’t you just ask her to come?”

“That’s not possible.”

Seojin’s voice was firm.

“Why not?”

“If she finds out about this…”

She’ll cry.