Chapter 68

As they entered the university hospital, the smell of alcohol deeply penetrated their noses.

Haji, who had unconsciously tightened her grip on Seojin’s hand, took a deep breath while waiting for the elevator.

“Why are you nervous?”

“I don’t know. Because it’s a hospital…….”

Haji mumbled softly in response to Seojin’s question, which was laced with a smile. She found it strange that she was this nervous. She wasn’t there because she was sick, just following him.

“Is this your first time at a university hospital?”

“…… Yes.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go home quickly.”

Haji nodded. She thought it was the unfamiliarity of being at a university hospital that made her feel this subtle tension.

“There aren’t many people here, are there?”

“It’s evening.”

In dramas, university hospitals were always crowded. Right now, there were only a few patients in hospital gowns and Seojin around her.

“Oh…….”

“It’s time for everyone to leave work.”

“I see.”

After undergoing a few simple tests, they entered the consultation room where a dignified professor was present.

“Hmm?”

The professor, who adjusted his glasses, was Sanho, Seojin’s uncle. He scrutinized Haji’s face closely.

“Stop staring.”

“So it’s true.”

Convinced that the person he expected was correct, Sanho turned his gaze to the monitor displaying the test results.

“Hello, I’m Ahn Haji.”

“Yes. I am this guy’s uncle and attending physician.”

Sanho introduced himself calmly after accepting Haji’s cautious greeting.

“There are no issues, any pain?”

“None.”

“You seem fine.”

Looking at the indifferent expression of Sanho, Haji thought he resembled Seojin.

The seemingly uninterested tone from an expressionless face was reminiscent of Seojin in the past. Recently, he had become a man who didn’t hide his smiles in front of her.

After flipping through a few pages of the medical chart, Sanho began asking questions.

“Any pressure from the pain area?”

“None.”

“Difficulty breathing?”

“None.”

“Disinfecting the wound area?”

“I’m doing it.”

“Any discharge from the wound?”

“None.”

The questions continued in a line that would be expected from a medical professional. With Seojin’s responses indicating no issues, Haji’s tension gradually eased.

“Are you going to visit home?”

“…….”

Seojin fell silent at the sudden personal question that veered from the medical consultation.

“I knew you wouldn’t cross over, but it’s no fun.”

Sanho clicked his tongue, and Haji blinked.

“This guy was desperate to see you even when he was in the hospital.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have followed.

“What?”

“Uncle.”

Haji’s question and Seojin’s attempt to stop him came out almost simultaneously.

Sanho’s lips twisted slightly. His eyes, as if finding something interesting, turned to Seojin.

“I’d like to tease you a bit.”

“Please refrain.”

“Considering how much trouble you’ve caused me, I really want to tease you.”

Haji’s eyes widened. Even with a blank expression, he said such things, so similar to Seojin.

Though he was his uncle, he resembled Seojin’s father more in many ways.

If Sunbae had become a doctor, would he have been like that?

Watching Haji briefly lost in thought, Seojin let out a small sigh.

“You know he got injured by a rebar and had surgery, right?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“What you don’t know is that he glared at us and threatened not to tell the family about it.”

“Whaaat……?”

Did I hear that right?

Haji turned sharply to look at Seojin with wide eyes. The man who was smiling softly at her shrugged his shoulders.

“Why?”

“He said you shouldn’t know.”

Sanho answered the question directed at Seojin, looking at the two with eyes that seemed amused.

“Why…….”

“At that time, I thought you’d be upset. I don’t think so now.”

Holding Haji’s surprised hand, Seojin offered an answer close to the truth.

Though, he still thought she might be.

“You have no idea how much trouble this guy has caused me.”

Haji’s shoulders shrank at Sanho’s words. It felt like it was all because of her.

“Thank you.”

“That’s not what I wanted to hear, but I was curious, and now I see.”

Sanho looked at Haji’s face for a moment, then at Seojin, and chuckled.

“Why he went to such lengths.”

Even risking his life.

***

Swoosh, Haji washed her hands under the cool stream of water and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The expression of tension she had just worn was faintly visible.

Hearing about Seojin coming in with a rebar stuck in his chest and threatening not to inform his family made her heart feel like it had dropped.

Fortunately, he was now much improved and wouldn’t need to come back, but she couldn’t help her shocked heart.

“Making people worry…….”

Blaming Seojin of that time, Haji gently closed her eyes.

He probably did it out of concern for her.

As Haji turned her body after leaving the bathroom, she bumped into someone entering.

Clatter, an empty water bottle rolled on the floor.

“I’m sorry, are you okay……?”

Picking up the bottle, Haji stopped speaking when she saw the other person’s face.

“Why are you here?”

The woman, who was as surprised as she was, spoke in a trembling voice, making Haji’s heart race fiercely.

“……Auntie?”

It was her aunt she hadn’t seen in almost seven years.

“I’m here because your uncle is…….”

“…….”

“Are you sick or something……?”

Haji pushed the water bottle into her aunt’s arms.

“I’ll be going.”

Haji quickly moved away from the spot. No, she moved her legs as if running.

“Haa, haa…….”

Her mind went blank. So much so that she forgot where she was going.

As she was about to leave the hospital lobby, if she hadn’t been stopped, she might have run out indefinitely.

“Haji.”

“…… Oppa.”

Tears, which she didn’t know when they started, had drenched her face.

Seojin turned Haji’s body to wipe the tears from her face and pulled her into his arms.

“I met my aunt.”

At those words, Seojin’s arms tightened around her. As if to press down on his irregularly beating heart.

***

Back home, sitting on the sofa, Haji held a hot teacup tightly.

Despite the hot weather, her body had turned white and cold like that day, so Seojin took care of her.

“My aunt raised me after my parents passed away.”

She began talking about her aunt, with whom she had lived for over ten years. Things that even Seojin didn’t know had happened between them.

The house her aunt took her to was small and shabby. There were only two rooms; one where her uncle mostly stayed, and she and her aunt stayed in the other.

Her uncle drank and gambled every day. When he came home drunk late at night, he would start hitting her aunt.

“There were many reasons. Because she didn’t give him money, because he lost money gambling, because the weather was bad, because he was in a bad mood, because he felt ignored…….”

For various reasons, her uncle would hit and curse at her aunt. During those times, her aunt would put her in the room and never let her come out.

That didn’t mean her aunt welcomed her warmly as family. They hardly spoke.

“My aunt went out to work every day. During those times, I would study or clean the house…….”

She never asked about the work she did, nor praised her for studying well.

“When I was young, I thought if I studied harder, if I cleaned better, she would pay attention to me. So I worked harder and even received awards, but it wasn’t like that.”

It was just her own wishful thinking.

Her aunt would leave for work as if she had forgotten Haji existed and would only come home to wash and sleep.

“Then there was the one time we held hands.”

That day, snow was falling heavily, and friends were making fun plans.

She was also invited to Seonghee’s house, not as family but for a Christmas Eve party.

***

Her aunt came home hurriedly, taking off her shoes. It was an afternoon, a time when she never came home.

“How come you’re here at this time……?”

“Pack your things quickly.”

“What?”

Even when Haji blinked at the sudden order to pack, her aunt didn’t wait. She opened Haji’s school bag and started putting clothes inside.

“Auntie, what are you doing?”