Chapter 245: Taking a Break (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 245: Taking a Break (1)
After reviewing the memory data and confirming the synchronization, I finally accepted it.
I accepted that something like that could happen to me at any time.
That I hadn't been given a second life, but was merely reliving the one I had already lived once before.
If that was the case, I couldn't help but think about a future where things went wrong.
Watching someone die was traumatic even for me, the person involved.
Wouldn't it be even worse for these kids, who were much younger than me?
I had watched that scene with my negative emotion perception rate adjusted. For these guys, who couldn't expect that kind of help, shouldn't I at least let them prepare themselves?
"Choi Je-ho."
"What?"
He answered my call curtly.
"You... if something happens to me, do you think you can keep promoting with the kids?"
Luckily, I asked the oldest member nearby. His hand, gripping the safety bar, tightened. The blue veins on the back of Choi Je-ho's hand stood out.
"Why would something happen to you?" Je-ho asked.
"You never know what might happen to a person."
Though in this case, it was certain that something would happen.
I stared quietly at Choi Je-ho. He spoke as if he found me absurd.
"Are you even hearing yourself? Did someone say you have a terminal illness? They said you just need to be careful. Do you not understand plain speech?"
His words were rough as usual, but the reprimand went on a bit longer than normal.
Choi Je-ho’s face crumpled into a mess.
"You fucker, it didn't even take five minutes to get here from the company. The ambulance came damn fast. There's a hospital near the dorm, too. Why the hell would you die?"
Je-ho shouted, his brow furrowed.
His anger lasted only a moment.
Breaking the silence of the hospital room, Choi Je-ho spoke with reddened eyes.
"I know how to do CPR."
Ah.
"So stop talking bullshit and go the fuck to sleep."
You stupid bastard.
Why are you the one getting scared?
I asked you because I thought you’d be the most stoic about it.
I wanted to die every day because of you, so why are you thinking about saving me?
You should have just clicked your tongue with a look that said, 'Kim I-wol is really doing the most'…
They monitored his progress during a one-day hospitalization, but Kim I-wol's EKG remained at normal levels. The abnormal symptoms he showed when he was first brought in did not recur.
Thanks to that, Kim I-wol was discharged on the condition that he receive periodic checkups for the time being.
Im Chan-yeong offered to pick them up from the hospital, but Choi Je-ho refused.
Instead, he handled the discharge procedures alone. He even answered the dozens of calls from Jeong Seong-bin, who was worried that his hyung might forget to keep the receipts.
Kim I-wol, who seemed to be walking fine, fell asleep the moment he got into the taxi. It was as if he was catching up on all the sleep he’d missed since joining UA.
As the car entered their familiar neighborhood, Choi Je-ho sent a message to the group chat using the phone he’d taken from the manager during the admission process.
Me
5 [One person come down to the apartment with a blanket]
As if they had been waiting, the number decreased instantly.
The taxi stopped in the parking lot. Lee Cheong-hyeon was already there, holding a large blanket.
While waiting for the card payment to process, Choi Je-ho opened the car door, pulled Kim I-wol out, and hoisted him onto his back. Lee Cheong-hyeon took the card instead.
"Is hyung sleeping? Is it really okay for him to be discharged?"
"The test results said he's fine. Put the blanket over him."
At Je-ho's words, Lee Cheong-hyeon unfolded the blanket and draped it over Kim I-wol's back.
"Did you ask me to bring a blanket to use as a podaegi? You should've told me to bring the straps, too."
"Is he a baby? Why would I use a podaegi?"
"Then why did you ask for a blanket?"
"They said not to expose him to sudden temperature changes. It's bad for the heart."
"Ah."
Lee Cheong-hyeon understood. He then scurried to the elevator and pressed the up button.
While waiting for the elevator, the two shared a brief conversation.
Choi Je-ho asked Lee Cheong-hyeon, "Did anyone come to the dorm?"
"Chan-yeong hyung and Ju-gyeong. We didn't open the door yesterday, but we were discussing what to do because the Representative is supposed to come by later."
Just as Choi Je-ho had rejected Im Chan-yeong, the members had completely closed off their communication channels with the company for the past day. Choi Je-ho had gathered as much through his calls with Jeong Seong-bin.
"Why not just tell him not to come?"
"He's the Representative, not just anyone! How can we do that?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon barked back, then quickly checked on Kim I-wol. His long eyelashes didn't even flicker.
"What? He's not waking up?"
"He's been sleeping all day since yesterday."
"I thought you said he woke up in the middle? Has he been sleeping since then?"
"He was awake during the discharge process, but he fell asleep again as soon as he got in the taxi."
"Well, it's probably better for hyung to just sleep," Lee Cheong-hyeon muttered. Dark circles, which had only recently disappeared, were back and deeper than ever.
Kim I-wol didn't wake up even when Choi Je-ho and Lee Cheong-hyeon laid him down on his bed. It was unlike him, as he usually woke up at the slightest vibration, let alone an alarm, and couldn't fall back asleep once awake.
Not wanting to miss this chance, the two simply covered him with a duvet and left the room.
While Choi Je-ho, who had spent a full day at the hospital, went to wash up, Lee Cheong-hyeon sat at the dining table. Jeong Seong-bin, who was typing away on a laptop, rubbed his eyes with both hands as if exhausted.
"Should I help you with something?"
Jeong Seong-bin shook his head at Lee Cheong-hyeon's question.
"It's okay. How's I-wol hyung? Is he still sleeping?"
"Yeah. He didn't wake up."
"Really? Just in case, should we prepare dinner in advance? So he can eat as soon as he wakes up."
At the leader's suggestion, Park Ju-woo and Kang Gi-yeon came out of their rooms. They began busily moving around the kitchen, taking care to make as little noise as possible.
"Should we make porridge? Or rice...?"
"Let's do both. The others can eat whatever's left," Kang Gi-yeon answered, and Park Ju-woo headed to the balcony with an aluminum pot.
As Kang Gi-yeon was taking out a stainless steel bowl to soak the rice while waiting for his hyung to return...
The bowl caught on the lower cabinet door and fell to the floor with a loud crash.
The clang that echoed through the entire dorm froze everyone in their tracks. They slowly turned their heads toward the door of the room where Kim I-wol was sleeping.
"...Did he wake up?" Lee Cheong-hyeon whispered in a voice no louder than an ant's. Kang Gi-yeon couldn't even open his mouth.
Park Ju-woo, who had brought in a scoop of rice, carefully placed the pot on the table. Then, with such caution that not even the sound of his feet leaving the linoleum could be heard, he walked to Kim I-wol's door.
Park Ju-woo slowly turned the doorknob. Fearing light might leak in, Lee Cheong-hyeon hurriedly turned off all the lights in the living room.
After confirming that Kim I-wol's duvet was rising and falling rhythmically in the darkness, Park Ju-woo held his breath and closed the door.
"He didn't wake up...!"
It was miraculous news. Kang Gi-yeon let out a trembling sigh of relief.
Only then could Spark turn the living room lights back on.
I don't know how long I slept, but I found myself opening my eyes.
The now-familiar ceiling greeted me. I remembered going through the discharge process with Choi Je-ho, but nothing after that. I must have passed out in the taxi, unable to hold it in.
Seeing as the main light was off and the room was quite dark, it seemed to be night.
The only thing different from usual was a faint yellow glow in the room. It seemed Choi Je-ho had placed a mood lamp in the room as well.
Still, if he leaves the light right by the head of the bed like this... won't it interfere with Lee Cheong-hyeon's growth?
Just as I was about to move the light for the sake of Lee Cheong-hyeon's healthy development, an unexpected voice spoke from beside me.
"Hyung? Are you awake?"
Jeong Seong-bin was sitting on Choi Je-ho's bed, reading a book. It was a sight I hadn't seen since coming to this room.
"What are you doing here? Isn't it night?"
"Technically, it's early morning. 4 AM."
"I slept that much? And where did Choi Je-ho go at this hour?"
Jeong Seong-bin gave an awkward smile.
"Je-ho hyung agreed to swap rooms with me for today. We thought someone should keep an eye on you... and I thought Je-ho hyung might have been uncomfortable sleeping on that cot yesterday."
The cot was too small. Still, I didn't think he was the type of person who couldn't sleep just because the bed was uncomfortable.
But there was something else bothering me.
"You don't have to watch me sleep."
It seemed my caffeine sensitivity issue had caused them quite a bit of anxiety. How should I deal with that bastard Hong Un-seop?
"I just... couldn't sleep anyway. Hyung, do you want something to eat? You barely ate anything today."
While I was stammering, Jeong Seong-bin headed to the kitchen. After the sound of clattering dishes and the gas stove clicking, he returned with a tray filled with various items.
"Why did you bring it here? I could have just gone out."
"It's fine. It's not heavy."
Jeong Seong-bin insisted on placing the tray on my duvet. The warmth of the porridge bowl traveled through the blanket to my knees.
"Try some. Ju-woo made it really well."
"Ju-woo made this?"
The treatment was so excessively hospitable that I was starting to feel overwhelmed. To make matters worse, Park Ju-woo's homemade porridge was actually delicious, just as Seong-bin said.
"What... is I-wol hyung eating?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon asked from the top bunk, having heard Jeong Seong-bin offering me water. His voice was thick with sleep.
"Oh, sorry. I'll finish quickly and clear it out."
"No, turn on the light and eat. I can sleep even with the light on..."
I heard the rustle of a duvet above my head.
Sleep, my foot. I could hear him pulling the blanket over his head from here.
Only after dissuading Jeong Seong-bin from turning on the main light was I able to finish the porridge. A mood lamp was more than enough for eating, after all.
As I was finishing the bowl, Jeong Seong-bin handed me a glass of water. Just as I was about to moisten my throat with the warm water...
"Hyung."
"Yeah."
"We told them we're going to sue the company."
"Pfft!"
...The water failed to make it down my throat and instead drenched my palm.
While Jeong Seong-bin wiped my left hand with a tissue, I replayed his words in my head dozens of times, wondering if I had heard him correctly.