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" ···hello. "
I opened the door and entered Min-gyu's hospital room. He was sitting there with a bright expression. The reason he was still bright despite being about 15 minutes late for his appointment was...
I couldn't help but worry that it might be because of her.
"Oh, hello - you're Seungcheol, right?"
"That's right. Nice to meet you. I'm Choi Seung-cheol, the eldest son of C Management."
"I'm Kim Min-gyu, the second son of M Group. Please take good care of me. Would you like to go out somewhere?"
"Ah... I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well so I can't go out. That's why I came empty-handed... It's our first time meeting you."
"No, it's fine. Thank you for coming. Would you like to sit over here?"
A kind appearance. Behind his businesslike demeanor, a faint smile seemed genuine. Perhaps it was because he was deliberately trying to be optimistic, or perhaps Seungcheol's ability to discern people was still intact, but I had a feeling that Soo-ah... would be okay.
/
"I'll just go now."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"I hope you get well soon, take care-"
He was about to open the door and go out when he stopped and grabbed the door.
"···Please take good care of me."
There was a lot I wanted to say.
Su-ah doesn't eat bitter food and likes sweet things. She eats jjambbong more often than jajangmyeon, and gets really upset if you pour sauce on her tangsuyuk.
While he takes such great care of everyone around him, he sacrifices himself for them, so the person next to him needs to be more kind and honest with him than anyone else.
And Sua... has always loved looking at cherry blossoms.
And Su-ah is more lonely than she looks······
He tries to suppress the countless words that are rising to his throat and scolds himself for interfering when the two of them are building their relationship on their own.
" ···yes? "
"..No, I'm sorry."
When Min-gyu called Seung-cheol, he was already out of the hospital room.
/
Sua picks up her phone at the ringing sound.
" ···hello, "
Despite the part-timer's unkind gaze, she remained steadfast. More than steadfast, she didn't even notice it. She sat there, oblivious to the passage of time. She sat there, dazed, lost in the stillness of time, or rather, the rapid flow of time, until she slowly answered the phone.
"Suah, I'm done with work. Where are you now?"
" ...Brother..."
He must have been quite taken aback by my sudden outburst upon answering the phone. Hearing my sobbing voice, there was a three-second silence before he finally spoke briefly.
- "Where are you?"
He said it was a hospital cafe, so he told me to wait there in a hurry, and then the call was abruptly hung up.
He soon appeared at the cafe, wearing only a coat and a hospital gown, and seemed to have run in out of breath.
He has a neat personality and always wears his clothes buttoned up to his neck, but he walks around with his clothes hanging loosely.
"···Brother,"
When I called out to him while sobbing, he suddenly hugged me.
Even though I'd been in the hospital for quite some time, I could still smell his faint scent. I remember being held in his arms, feeling helpless as he patted my back haphazardly, and I burst into tears for quite a while.
Before I knew it, his clothes were wrapped around my shoulders, and with a look of confusion on his face, he held my shoulders and lifted me up slightly.
"First of all..., shall we go?"
" (Nod)···."
I hated myself for not being able to control myself. Despite all that hate, I couldn't control myself, so I just nodded slowly, tears hanging from the corners of my eyes.
" let's go. "
He carries me silently and heads to the hospital room.
/
By the time he sat me down on the bed, I had pretty much stopped crying.
It's not that my emotions have calmed down, it's that I feel like I have no more tears to shed.
" ···are you okay? "
Those were the first words he said to me, as he continued to fidget, and I slowly shook my head.
It was selfish and pathetic, but somehow I wanted to throw a tantrum... It was so bad that I couldn't nod. Because it really wasn't okay at all.
"···Do you want to hug me?"
" ···. "
Even when he clumsily asked if I wanted to hug him, I simply shook my head. That was a timid rebellion against my increasingly selfish self. Ignoring his clumsy offer might have been more selfish, but hearing that he'd likely never see another man again and then embracing him felt... unforgivable. That's why I couldn't hug him.
"···Brother."
Still crying, I called him in a wet voice.
" huh? "
"My brother... even if I have loved someone else, "
"···Will you love me..?"
It was a very roundabout question. It was so indirect that it could almost be considered a different question. Even if I answered that I loved her, it was still funny and reassuring.
" hmm···. "
"You may have loved someone else. If you just love me now, I'll be fine. I can endure anything with that, and that's enough for me."
"And it's not like I love you because I want to love you... I just came to my senses and realized I liked you, and whether you loved someone else or not, it's not something I can control if I don't like you... "
Phew, I scratched my head and smiled faintly at the answer he gave.
"You've become a lot kinder."
" suddenly···? "
I apologize for suddenly saying something so out of the blue, but his answer felt so sincere that it made me choke, yet at the same time, I smiled faintly at his innocence. Perhaps his memories haven't fully returned, or his original personality hasn't fully recovered.
Can I really be this happy? Is this really right?
Let's put aside for a moment the question that has always been hovering around me.
It may be irresponsible, but I don't think I can get through this without doing so, and the weight of that question is so burdensome...
Time will tell, I say, giving a complacent answer.
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And the writer is more irresponsible than Su-ah... If you round it up, it's 12 o'clock, so please take a look just once..🤧 Ah but really, what's the length...ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I promise the next episode will be the best length. I have to write a lot in my spare time..