My Bloody Valentine - 74

Under the completely darkened, ash-gray sky, the skyline of high-rise buildings appeared vaguely through the window.

By the time Pyoo Jin-hee arrived at Taeshin’s office, it was nearly 9 PM.

Even without the palpable scent of passion, Jin-hee could guess why she was here. There was only one reason why Jang Taeshin had been seeking her recently: everything was related to his lover.

As expected, Han-i was lying on a sofa as large as a single bed. His body was clean, and his clothes were neatly put on. Someone had taken care of him.

It was clear without asking who had done it. Jang Taeshin would never allow anyone else to touch his lover.

He was obsessively attached to his lover and was not pleased even with her touch.

Jin-hee’s gaze shifted from the pile of wet towels on the table beside the sofa to the patient lying there. Han was covered with a jacket made of the same fabric as Taeshin’s suit pants, and he was asleep with a pale face.

“Wake up.”

“What?”

Turning around at the sudden words, she saw Taeshin standing right behind her. Perhaps due to his robust physique, the spacious office seemed full just by his presence alone.

“Even shaking him or tapping his cheeks doesn’t wake him up.”

“Really?”

“I’ve only done it once.”

It was strange. Usually, Han would briefly open his eyes when being bathed or changed, but today he did not move at all. Except for his breathing, it was hard to tell if he was alive.

“…I’ll check his condition first.”

Jin-hee took out a blood pressure monitor from the small trunk packed with medical supplies and wrapped it around Han’s arm.

Han’s baseline blood pressure was usually a bit low, but today’s reading was even lower than usual.

“He’s not just asleep; he’s fainted.”

“Again? Damn fainting.”

Taeshin muttered in dissatisfaction.

“How can we treat this? Does he need medication?”

“There’s no harmful prognosis as long as he doesn’t suffer from falls during fainting. So, there’s no specific treatment. However, statistically, it often occurs in underweight individuals.”

“…Underweight.”

Muttering softly, Taeshin looked down at Han. Han was indeed severely underweight. The sensation of his thin waist, which he had held in his own hands, still vividly lingered on his palms.

“Yes, and he’s already had several relapses. We can’t rule out the possibility of it being psychogenic.”

“Psychogenic?”

“Psychological issues.”

“……”

Taeshin quietly watched from the opposite sofa as Jin-hee rolled up Han’s sleeve and inserted an intravenous drip. Despite being skilled at dealing with others’ bodies, Taeshin’s face involuntarily frowned at the sight of a small needle piercing Han’s skin.

“Well then, I’ll leave.”

After Jin-hee left the office, Taeshin continued to sit in the same spot, keeping his gaze fixed on Han.

Sometimes he was overcome with the impulse to preserve Han as he was at this moment. He wanted to hold onto this Han, as if he might suddenly disappear somewhere.

Even though that shouldn’t be the case. Even though he wouldn’t let him go.

Something continuously gnawed at his nerves. It was an incomprehensible sense of discomfort. Unlike the previous time when he had endured it, today’s Han seemed as if he were comforting him.

How dare he.

But what was even more incomprehensible was how excited and trembling he felt at the touch that caressed his shoulders and back, and traced the scars.

Perhaps it was because of that woman. The woman named Yujung.

Both were similar in that their names were foreign, and their situations were also similar. It was a condition that naturally facilitated empathy.

Except when he had forcibly separated them, they had always been together. And Han was always smiling when he was with Yujung.

“There will never be a time when I smile in front of you.”

That smile, which he could never give to himself, was given generously to that woman. He had chattered away under the parasol at the convenience store. With a loving smile as bright as the morning sun.

At this point, Taeshin couldn’t deny it. He was jealous of that woman. Even though he had Han’s outer shell, he couldn’t fully possess his heart, which left him feeling this miserable longing.

After a moment of contemplation, Taeshin grabbed his phone and made a call. Myungseop, who was in charge of Han’s care, answered before the second ring.

“Yes, Director.”

“Did you visit Yujung today?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Has Yujung died by any chance?”

“No.”

“…Then has she woken up?”

“No. She remains the same.”

“……”

“Shall I call the hospital and check her condition?”

“…No.”

If so, what could it be that has disturbed you?

Han woke up when Taeshin picked him up and left the office.

One of Taeshin’s subordinates, who had been sitting on the empty secretary’s office sofa, approached to take Han, but Taeshin silently refused and walked out first.

While waiting for the elevator, Han opened his eyes as if he had just awoken from a long sleep. His eyes were red and swollen from crying, irritated by the salt.

“Sleep more.”

At Taeshin’s words, Han blinked his dazed eyes a couple of times. Looking at Taeshin with unfocused eyes, Han said,

“I forgot to say… thank you for getting a caregiver for Jeong…”

“…”

“And for giving him expensive medication that isn’t covered by insurance… I heard you took good care of him.”

The reason was simple. The more debt you have, the longer you’ll stay by my side.

Han, who would normally have struggled to walk on his own, now quietly rested his face on Taeshin’s shoulder. And as he was once again pulled into a stupor, he muttered as if in his sleep,

“Thank you…”

“…”

Taeshin looked down at Han, who had lost consciousness again. A surge of sudden anger towards others engulfed Taeshin.

Should he kill that woman? What if that woman died? If he no longer had to hear her name from Han’s lips.

But Taeshin soon shook his head. Memories of someone who had died tended to be idealized. It would only deepen the longing for what was lost. Therefore, Yujung had to stay alive.

Taeshin gave instructions to the subordinate standing behind him.

“Tell Yujung to stay alive no matter what.”

❖ ❖ ❖

At 7 AM, Han stood at the counter with his usual chocolate mousse ice cream.

The morning news on the radio, played by a part-timer, reported that the weather had cleared up recently and that the first cherry blossoms had bloomed in Jeju. However, Seoul had not yet fully shaken off winter, and the wind still blew dry and cold.

After paying for the ice cream, Han sat at a table under the parasol. The table, which had previously been occupied by Jeong, Jaegu, and Wooshin, now had only Han remaining.

Alone, Han looked around the empty space where his friends had left. He saw spring slowly beginning to emerge on the bare branches.

When he was at the orphanage, he often encountered animals waking from their winter slumber around this time.

If he encountered frogs looking for warm places in the building’s corridors, he would be startled and almost faint. Taeshin would carefully scoop them up with a dustpan and release them outside without harming them.

Han couldn’t even imagine what kind of experiences Taeshin had gone through to accumulate such a fearsome reputation. And he felt that Taeshin’s transformation was entirely his fault.

A massive man stood a little distance away from Han. Han knew his name: Kim Myungseop. Despite being only twenty-four, he had an unusually mature face.

Myungseop was one of the few members of the organization that Jeong did not dislike. He had gone to juvenile detention for killing the school bully who had driven his younger brother to suicide, and then immediately came under Jang Taeshin’s command.

Jeong had said that he felt comfortable with Myungseop because he seemed like a massive wall. Having experienced him firsthand, Han could understand the meaning of Jeong’s words.

If something happened, he would immediately spring into action, but otherwise, he just stood quietly at a distance without any personal feelings.

Han had never received the condescending gaze he reserved for others. Thanks to that, he could enjoy his solitude to the fullest.

A flock of birds flew in search of spring, circling above Han’s head before landing on a nearby branch and chirping. After six months, it was spring, a season where everything was reborn.

“Ah…”

Only then did Han realize that the ice cream in his hand had completely melted and turned mushy. As he looked down in dismay, a familiar face passed by. It was Min Gyu, the senior waiter.

“Excuse me…”

Han cautiously called Min Gyu. Min Gyu noticed Han and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

“Oh, Han. It’s been a while.”

“Yes. By the way… has Wooshin not come?”

“Wooshin? After the accident, he suddenly stopped coming. I called him, and he said he wouldn’t be able to come for a while.”

“Ah…”

“He must have been scared after getting stabbed.”

“Yes…”

“It’s understandable. It’s not like we’re immune to such things…”

Min Gyu said with a troubled expression and then went back into the convenience store. Left alone again, Han stared blankly into the void.

It seemed Wooshin had returned to his original position. Han suddenly wondered,

Then where is my place?