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“Are you awake?”
Inseop blinked at the voice of Manager Cha. His eyes twitched as the anesthesia had not gone away.
“It’s okay. Your family is coming.”
“… … . … … .”
Family? What was he talking about?
“Wooyeon contacted them, so your family is coming now. Don’t worry, Mr. Inseop.”
Inseop looked around. Looking at the walls of the white hospital room, he now thought that he was alive.
“You must be sleepy because the anesthesia hasn’t worn off yet, so get some more sleep.”
“… Wooyeon… .”
“Wooyeon went to the police station with the CEO.”
“… … .”
“Because the person who stabbed you got caught, don’t worry. It won’t be a big deal since Wooyeon saw that you were okay and left. ……maybe.””
“… … when… … .”
“He will come soon. You should sleep.”
Manager Cha said warmly and put the sheet over Inseop’s shoulder. Inseop closed his eyes. How long has it been? He heard a familiar voice.
When he opened his eyes, there were faces he wanted to see so much.
<Peter! What the hell is this?Who did this to our son… it’s mom. Do you know who I am?>
<Mom… >
<Dad is here too. Can you see Daddy?>
<Yes. …I’m sorry.>
<I didn’t come here by plane to hear those words. Don’t say things like that, just think about getting better for now.>
Tears welled up in Inseop’s eyes as his mother’s hand caressed his forehead. Truly his mother, his beloved family is by his side.
His mother and father in turn kissed him on the forehead. His father talked with the doctor, and people went out of the room again.
His mother stayed by his side and held his hand. It’s been a long time since he felt warm and comfortable just by holding hands.
Inseop closed his eyes and immediately let out a quiet breath. When he realized that a careful hand was brushing his hair, the room was already filled with darkness.
Who was it? Bigger and warmer than his mother’s hand… … Who was touching him so tenderly?
He tried to open his eyes, but even that was not easy because of his weakness and sleepiness. The hand that had been brushing Inseop’s hair gently caressed his cheek and forehead.
The warmth of that hand made Inseop’s heart pound and hurt. It was him. That person was touching him right now.
He should have opened his eyes and said he was fine.
‘I’m sorry. Mr. Inseop.’
His gentle voice rang out in the dark.
‘It came to this, because I couldn’t give up Mr. Inseop… … .’
He wanted to ask, what he meant, what does that mean?
‘If I hold on to Inseop now, I will only satisfy my greed, knowing that it will be bad for Inseop. Brutal, unwritten intent.’
Unwritten intention. The moment he heard that word, he thought that the act he had been hanging around with Lee Wooyeon for the past time was also unwritten intentions. Predicting what he’ll like and doing things intentionally, even at the consequences.
‘… … Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.’
He was so anxious that the voice that said that would be extinguished at any moment, and even while he was closing his eyes, he was terrified.
‘So, … … get well.’
Soft lips touched his forehead. As if he was not satisfied with just one touch, the warmth reached his lips and then disappeared. The touch was tender and heartbreaking. Inseop wanted to hug him, but he couldn’t even lift his fingertips.
He couldn’t. He wanted to say he was fine, and not to worry. He should tell him before he goes, before he leaves the room. He had to open his eyes… … .
In the distant consciousness, Inseop was sad to hear the sound of the hospital door closing. He came back to his senses two days later.
Until he was discharged from the hospital ten days later, Lee Wooyeon did not come to visit him. Inseop looked at the flower pots placed by the window of the hospital room, and realized that the words he had left that night were goodbyes.
“Okay. Your body is healthy. It feels really bad to have to go back to something like this.”
Manager Cha who came out to meet him patted Inseop on the shoulder.
“I’m dine. I’m sorry that I only bothered you. … … How many times did I go to the hospital… … .”
<Peter! Come quickly It’s time to go.>
<I’ll be there soon. Please wait a little.>
When English came out of Inseop’s mouth casually, the manager closed his mouth tight. Even though he had seen this scene several times in the hospital room, he couldn’t help but feel awkward and strange.
“Then after going back to America, what are you going to do next?”
“First of all, I’ll try to relax and think.”
“Aren’t you coming back to Korea?”
Inseop opened his eyes slightly at that question and said, “Well,” blurring the end of his words. Later, while listening to the nurses talking to each other, Inseop realized that Lee Wooyeon had started another riot.
Hot news swept the entertainment industry. As Lee Wooyeon’s manager was attacked by a stalker, social voices demanded that the law against stalkers be re-enacted. There was a warm article about Lee Wooyeon crying and clinging to a doctor for his manager whose life was in danger because of him, but this time the backstory was ugly because there were so many people who saw him. Lee Wooyeon was so insane that day as he made a riot and the nurses whispered to each other that just looking at Lee Wooyeon gave them goosebumps.
Lee Wooyeon did not appear until Choi Inseop was discharged from the hospital. As Inseop, who knew what that meant, he could not say that he would come back to Korea willingly.
“Even if you don’t come to work, just come and play. If you come to play and call me, I will give you a place to stay and feed you. For now… … Because I’m Lee Wooyeon’s manager, I’m going to get a lot of bonuses.”
The expression on the manager’s face when he said that was very complicated. It was sad to send Inseop like this, but he was also happy to receive the bonus, and even despairing as he took on the role of Lee Wooyeon, so his feelings had no choice but to be complicated.
“Inseop!”
CEO Kim, who ran to the airport late, waved his hand and approached.
“You’re busy, how did you get here?”
He heard that CEO Kim may not be able to come because there was an important production meeting today.
“Even though I said you were going, he should’ve come. But Lee Wooyeon, didn’t this bastard come today?”
At CEO Kim’s words, Inseop’s expression darkened. He thought that today would be the last day, so he would come and see him off, but he couldn’t find him in the end.
“… … He is busy.”
Manager Cha poked the side of CEO Kim and gave him a look.
“Oh right. Right. Some Japanese kids said they were busy doing something today.”
Knowing that these were all excuses for him, Inseop smiled hard and nodded his head.
“Okay. Take care of yourself. Please contact me when you come to Korea later.”
“Thank you for that.”
Inseop bowed his head politely and greeted the two of them. With tears in his eyes, CEO Kim wiped away the tears with his hands and quickly turned his head. Manager Cha also turned red and the tip of his nose turned red and he silently tapped Inseop’s shoulder.
“Oh, by the way. Can I ask you a favor?”
Choi Inseop picked up a flowerpot at his feet and handed it to Manager Cha.
“I want you to pass this on to Lee Wooyeon.”
“This? You want me to give him this?”
“… … Yes.”
It was obviously Lee Wooyeon who brought Kate to the hospital room. Inseop wanted to leave even this alone by Lee Wooyeon’s side. He was going to give it to Lee Wooyeon when he came today, but he had no choice but to hand it to Manager Cha. Inseop gave Kate to Manager Cha and left a message to Lee Wooyeon.
“Water once every three days, and put it in a well-ventilated place… … Also, if he touches it too much, it will die, so please touch it in moderation… … but I don’t think he will touch it.”
“Okay. Once every three days. Ventilation. Don’t bother it. Okay.”
Manager Cha took the flowerpot and nodded. Inseop bowed his head to the two and walked to the gate where his family stood. Knowing that once he entered the security checkpoint, Inseop knew that he could no longer come out, as if sadly, he turned around and looked around again and again.
Lee Wooyeon’s appearance was also nowhere to be found. He left regretfully and followed his parents into the counter. The company gave Inseop and his parents plane tickets for first class, so they were able to get a seat earlier than the others.
As Inseop sat by the window, his mother took out a blanket and put it on his lap. The announcement for takeoff was heard and the plane slowly started moving over the runway. When he heard the sound of the engine, he remembered the person holding his hand under the blanket, and Inseop’s eyes reddened again.
“Are you sad to leave Korea?”
“… … I don’t know.”
He didn’t know if he was sad that he left Korea, or because he couldn’t see Lee Wooyeon. Inseop could not understand why Lee Wooyeon had sent him to the United States without seeing him even once.
Was he tired of him? Did he say something to him that he shouldn’t have? … … Saying ‘I love you’ might have been a burden.
He knew he was going to die, and he had the courage to say these words, but if he had known this would happen, he would have just said nothing.
“Oh right. Your friend asked me to give this to you.”
“My friend?”
His mother took out a small notebook from her bag and handed it to Inseop. Seeing the familiar notebook, Inseop’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Who was my friend? Who gave you this?”
“They said Philip. He said he was a friend you worked with. He came and gave it to you while you were talking earlier.”
Inseop stood up from his seat.
“Where are you going! The plane is now in the air.”
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“I have to go. I couldn’t even say goodbye to this person.”
“Even if you go now, you can’t see him anyway. Peter. It is a place where you can come whenever you want.”
At his mother’s words, Inseop sat down helplessly. When did he come? Where had he been… … . Why didn’t he even say goodbye.. … this cruel person.
Watching the plane get farther away from Incheon International Airport, Inseop poured all kinds of curse at Lee Wooyeon.
Rude guy. He said he couldn’t live without him, he said he would go to a mental hospital, the bad guy, the bad guy who didn’t buy a fruit basket at the hospital, the bad guy. … … bad bastard.
As soon as he confirmed that his mother was asleep, Inseop held back his tears and opened the notebook that Lee Wooyeon had handed her. It was filled with small notes he had written about Lee Wooyeon. The moment he saw it, the tears that he had been barely holding back, captured by all kinds of thoughts, came pouring down. As he wiped his tears with the back of his hand, a strange thing caught his eye.
A question mark was drawn in red under Lee Wooyeon’s list of CDs he liked and notes about writers he was interested in. Inseop began to carefully read the notes in the notebook again.
Someone circled one of the authors in the notebook with a red pen and drew a question mark. Choi Inseop could knew that the someone was Lee Wooyeon.
He turned to the next page of the notebook. There, Lee Wooyeon’s favorite foods and restaurants were arranged. There were traces of how hard they thought about which bread to choose for each day of the week. Invariably, a red pen put an X at several restaurants. On the bread, an X and a circle were drawn alternately.
What the hell was this?
Inseop moved on to the next page. It was the same. The information and materials he had collected for Lee Wooyeon were filled with corrections with a red pen.
It wasn’t a long sentence or word, it was a sign of good, bad, or degree, but all were checked without missing, one by one. Inseop wondered if this was Lee Wooyeon’s joke, but knowing that he was not the kind of person to waste time like this, he flipped over the notebook one by one.
At that moment, the paper that had been inserted in the middle of it popped and fell. Inseop opened the paper that had fallen on his lap and read it. It was a contract. In the last contract written, Lee Wooyeon underlined the contract period with a red pen.
… … Did this mean that he wanted compensation for breach of contract?
As Inseop was trying to put the contract in, he found something nested under it and sighed.
It was a photo. It was a picture of Lee Wooyeon in an alleyway that he kept in a secret pocket inside the notebook.
Lee Wooyeon, … … Did he know that he had this picture? Since when. … … Why didn’t he say anything? Since when… … . Why did he give this back to him? What if he does weird things with this? Did this mean he believed in him? What was he thinking… … .
… … He did not know. He couldn’t quite figure out what this person was thinking.
Inseop stopped trying to understand Lee Wooyeon.
“Why are you giving back this picture? … , after… … .”
Inseop checked once more that there were no eyes around, and carefully picked up the picture with his fingertips. In the photo, Lee Wooyeon was standing with an expressionless face. At first, he thought Lee Wooyeon in this picture was very scary, but now that he saw it, it felt familiar.
Being human is… … They are very adaptable animals.
Inseop looked at the photos while admiring his own adaptability. It was at the same time that he saw the sign written in the corner.
“… … … … .”
Did he sign his own autograph and send it to him? … … Really, it was just like Lee Wooyeon.
Inseop sighed and folded the picture to fit it in the notebook. It was then that he saw that Lee Wooyeon left a brief note behind the photo. He turned the picture back and unfolded it. The elegant handwriting left with a red pen was engraved in Inseop’s vision.
「Enjoy your vacation.」
With that single word, Inseop could understand the meaning of Lee Wooyeon’s handing over the notebook to him.
‘I’ll give you a vacation, so take a break and come back.
You have another 30 years left on your contract.
Please take good care of my demanding tastes in the future.’
“Haha…ha … .”
Laughter erupted. Every time he laughed, the wound on his back hurt, but he couldn’t stop laughing. Hot tears quickly flowed down his face.
Knowing that Lee Wooyeon’s message to him was pointing to a new beginning rather than the end, Inseop could comfortably lean on the seat.
It was the beginning of a long journey.