Surprise
“Good morning. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you again today.”
“Good morning, Mother. And a good morning to you as well, Mr. Shinwoo.”
“......Hanseong Medical Center, Gyeo-wool.”
“Yes. Shall I cancel today’s meeting, then?”
“No. Drop Shinwoo off and go straight there. Someone’s been nagging me since dawn not to be late.”
At that grumble he felt Han Gyeo-wool’s eyes on him, and the faint smile that followed.
“Of course. It’s only polite.”
“Honey. At my level, if I keep to the clock that tightly, the people under me will suffocate, you know?”
“No.”
“......Honestly. Just accepting the support corporation was already remarkable. How can anyone be this stubborn?”
“Because it’s business. Like you said, I didn’t want to make things hard for Hyunji. And I agreed so she could learn the work, didn’t I?”
“......Th-that was part of it, yes. You knew......?”
“Of course. And it’s what Hyunji wants—enough that she hid it from me. So I ought to respect that.”
“......I’m starting to understand your style.”
With that, Lee Hyesun quietly took his hand and went on, watching him with a warm gaze.
“So that’s how it was.”
“Something like that.”
“......Then there are always ways.”
What was she planning? His guess was that she’d go and do it in secret, or put the other girls to use, all while borrowing his name as an excuse. He didn’t really mind. He had no intention of forcing his own principles on anyone else, and whatever gifts they received, he suspected he’d be the one pleased. Right now he was sorry enough just for having hurt Hyesun with his stubbornness.
“Well. I’m looking forward to it.”
“......I’ll give it a try. No—but isn’t this strange? Do I really have to rack my brain this hard just to give a gift, Gyeo-wool?”
“It seems Mr. Shinwoo declined the gift.”
“He did. Can you believe it, Gyeo-wool......”
The moment Gyeo-wool played along, Hyesun’s grumbling followed, and a laugh slipped out of him. She’d found an ally, by the look of it. Not that it mattered. He wasn’t even sure “pregnancy offensive” was the right name for it, but Hyesun had already been talked around by one, and that meant she’d lost.
“We’ve arrived.”
“......Drive a little slower......”
“I can’t. You’re truly late. Please change at once and attend. We promised Director Hwang, so this has to move forward within the weekend.”
“See? Ah, Miss Gyeo-wool seems to understand what I want better than anyone.”
“Thank you.”
“......You two are both awful.”
“Come here.”
Still grumbling, lips pushed into a pout, she let him cup her face and draw her in until his mouth covered hers. He couldn’t kiss her too deeply—he was worried her makeup would smudge—but she seemed to feel that too, and a smile rose on the face that had gone soft and hazy.
“Haah...... I like it......”
“......Do your best today, too. It bothers me that you’re busy even on the weekend.”
“......D-don’t worry...... It’s always been this way.”
“That only worries me more. Make sure you eat. And call me.”
“Mm...... You have a good day too, honey......”
“You too, Hyesun.”
From the front seat, where she had been watching them with quiet pleasure, Han Gyeo-wool’s eyes met his by chance in the rearview mirror. She offered a faint smile—her kind of smile—and slowly looked away.
“Have a good day too, Miss Gyeo-wool. I’m very grateful to you.”
“Yes. Please have a good day as well, Mr. Shinwoo.”
“Wait—honey.”
He had the door open and was about to step out when Hyesun called after him in a rush, and he turned. Face flushed red, she looked at him and mumbled.
“......Just one more time......”
“......All right.”
He was a little conscious of Gyeo-wool, but they’d already shown her far too much. Well. He had no idea what she thought of him now. He pressed his lips to Hyesun’s once more, held her gaze, and whispered.
“See you again.”
“......Mm...... I’ll have Gyeo-wool bring you your ID...... I don’t know how Monday will go......”
“Right. You’re really going to be late. Go on.”
“Mm......”
He stepped out of the car and watched it pull away from the hospital before turning back. Before heading to the room, he went to the lobby. Fewer people were waiting than he’d expected; he’d wanted to see, ahead of time, how much the hospital bill had come to.
......So this is what being admitted as a VIP feels like.
When his turn came and he stepped up to the counter, he could see the flush rising in the nurse’s face. Goodwill seemed to radiate off her whole body—until he asked what the VIP room would cost. Her expression went cold at once, and what followed was something he could understand well enough.
Fair enough. Now that I think about it, suddenly asking about VIP room charges would look suspicious.
The regret that hit him after the fact might have been because the morning had left him rattled. As if he’d known. He wasn’t even thinking about the bill. He barely managed to persuade the wary nurse that he was the boyfriend, going so far as to show her a photo, before she apologized. If anything, he was sorry he’d been so thoughtless. Her response had been exactly by the book.
Getting them to let me pay it myself is going to be tough, though.
Still, she was his woman, and if it fell within what he could take responsibility for, he’d wanted to be the one to do it. In the end all he heard was that they couldn’t tell him the bill. He stopped by the restroom, glanced once in the mirror, and went up to Hyunji’s room—only to find more of a presence inside than he’d expected.
He knocked.
“Hyunji. It’s me.”
“Ah! Oppa. J-just a second!”
One, two, three. At least three shrieks and bursts of giggles spilled through the door, and he had a rough idea. Yesterday’s friends must have stayed the night. Or maybe they’d come by this morning. He worried a little that Hyunji hadn’t been able to rest, but she’d at least been well comforted, and that alone left him grateful.
“C-come in!”
“Okay.”
The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, four pairs of bright eyes fixed on him. He smiled gently and offered a greeting.
“Hello. Did you all stay together overnight?”
“Good morning, Oppa.”
“Ah, hello.”
“Hello.”
“Sorry to bother you so early.”
In order: Hyunji, then Hwang Jiyoung, then Im Seolah with that subtle smile, and Lee Miji leading with an apology. A fond smile tugged at him as he went to Hyunji.
“They came yesterday and insisted on sleeping over......”
“You weren’t bored, then. Did you get the morning rounds?”
“Yes. They said I can be discharged.”
“Please sit, Oppa.”
“It’s all right. Stay where you are.”
As he approached, Jiyoung and Miji hurried to give up their seats. He told them it was fine and sat them back down, then leaned casually against the bed and nodded at Hyunji, who was smiling brightly. Something was off, though. In the looks turned on him he felt worry tangled with anticipation. Let’s see. Maybe he’d play along with the mood for a moment.
“You’re really all right?”
“Yes...... The girls comforted me a lot.”
“I see. Thank you, all of you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“......We were really shocked too, but......”
“You heard the whole story, right?”
“Yes......”
“And they still won’t listen to a word I say. Oppa, scold them.”
He broke into a warm smile at the cute pout on Hyunji’s lips and asked her.
“So what should we do today? Get you discharged and spend it with your friends?”
“Ah, no. I’m going on a date with Oppa. I was telling them to go, since you were coming......”
“We were holding out because we wanted to see Oppa before we left.”
“......M-me too......”
Miji shot a glance at Im Seolah, who had said it with shameless ease, and stammered out her own reply. The mood had been matched well enough. For Hyunji’s sake, it was time to put a stop to it.
“So whose handiwork is Hyunji’s face?”
At that, laughter burst out bright and helpless. The sound filling the room lifted his own mood, but Hyunji seemed to catch on only then. She gasped, hunted for a mirror, saw her own face, and went scarlet.
“You guys!”
Hwang Jiyoung waved her hands in a fluster as she answered, while Lee Miji and Im Seolah only grinned, mischief written all over them.
“I-it wasn’t me. I only watched.”
“Cute. She takes after her mom.”
“Seolah, it was you?”
“Yep.”
“I told you to make me pretty!”
“You are pretty. This style suits you too, Hyunji.”
Hyunji’s makeup was usually close to a bare, no-makeup look; this was a little heavier. The strong impression of her usual face made it seem unfamiliar at a glance, but looked at closely, it suited her quite well.
“If it were nothing but a prank I’d have said so right away, but this makeup suits you really well. Miss Seolah must be good at it.”
“O-Oppa......”
“Heh. It suits her, right? Oppa says so too.”
“......Y-yeah......”
“You’re just not used to it. You should try things like this.”
“But it’s too heavy......”
Hyunji’s face was red, and yet there was a stronger, sexier air about her than usual, a strange charm spilling off her. They’d probably done it to lift her spirits. He understood.
“Let’s get you changed. I tried to handle the discharge, but they wouldn’t tell me the hospital bill.”
“I figured they wouldn’t, so I already took care of all of it. Though Jiyoung did the hard part.”
“It wasn’t hard......”
“Oh, really? Do you have clothes, though? You came in what you were wearing yesterday.”
“Yes. Jiyoung went and brought them last night. S-still, I’d like to stop by the house later......”
“Let’s do that. We’ve got plenty of time now.”
“......Yes.”
At Hyunji’s answer he looked toward Hwang Jiyoung, and found her already on her feet beside the hospital bed, fidgeting with her hands. Their eyes met.
“Thank you.”
“......Y-yes...... I—I’m really sorry about yesterday......”
“It’s all right now. Yesterday I got angry because I thought something awful was happening to Hyunji. I’m sorry too, for the way I treated you.”
“Ah, no...... It was only right......”
Jiyoung waved her hands in a rush at his apology, and at his words Im Seolah and Lee Miji let out small shrieks. Then Seolah’s eyes lit with meaning, and she whispered.
“......Looks like Oppa has taken a liking to Jiyoung.”
At that, Hwang Jiyoung swallowed hard, and Lee Miji began watching Hyunji’s reaction. He could feel more than one intention in the remark. Read unkindly, it seemed meant to stir trouble among Hyunji, Jiyoung, and himself. Read kindly, it was simply teasing Hyunji—or Seolah was too scared to make a move herself, and was putting Jiyoung forward to see how he and Hyunji would respond.
Cute, though.
Either way, he felt he had a rough sense of Im Seolah’s character now. He wasn’t sure she was a fox, but she was certainly sly. Well—sly only to a cute degree. And she still didn’t seem to know the important part, so whatever her intention, it hardly mattered.
“Yes. I do like Miss Jiyoung.”
“......What......?”
Rather than rising to it, he had said it outright, and Seolah looked a little thrown, glancing between him and Hyunji. Given the way her mind worked, he’d thought she would have caught on immediately back then. He’d given her a hint that clear in the restroom, and still it hadn’t occurred to her. Smiling, he looked to Hyunji. She smiled softly and nodded, and he went on, unhurried.
“She knows how to look out for the people around her, and she has sense. Her face and her figure go without saying. There’s no reason not to like her.”
As he murmured it, letting his eyes travel over Hwang Jiyoung, her face flared red in an instant. Miji and Seolah stared at Hyunji with their dismay plain, but Hyunji only watched him, as if she were waiting to hear what he would say next.
“I’m a Multimale, you see.”
“......What?”
“Ah......”
Seolah echoed him in a daze, while Miji was simply, purely startled, covering her mouth with both hands. Miji barely spoke, and that very quiet made her seem modest, almost innocent. He looked at her for a moment, and her face went scarlet at once. Pretty cute.