Diabetes
Diabetes
Three days had passed since Hojun's shop opened.
Contrary to my expectation that the first day would be the biggest hurdle, the crowd actually grew larger the following day.
And the records for sales and visitors were broken yet again the day after that.
Part of it was the advertising, but the video of Hojun and me assembling a computer at the very end was also getting quite positive reviews.
It was a real-time streaming video that hit over 5 million views... that says it all.
"Hoo... it's about time to close up."
Hojun and the three employees, who had been moving busily, glanced at the clock.
I had just been quietly tucked away in a corner, greeting anyone who recognized me, so I wasn't tired or anything.
For reference, he said he picked all new employees he had never met before.
He planned to use this approach while getting the business off the ground, and then bring in his younger siblings as he gradually expanded locations.
"Hyung, we're going to have a company dinner — you want to come?"
"Nah, your sister-in-law said she's hungry."
I smiled bitterly at A-ra's message that had flown in moments ago and got up from my seat.
I wasn't an employee or anything in the first place, so I had no real right to join the dinner.
"Alright, I'm heading out. Drink in moderation."
I gathered up the coat I had draped over the chair and put it on, then stretched broadly.
I was starting to want to get out of the heavy, stale air and breathe some cool, fresh air.
"So are you coming out tomorrow too?"
"Tomorrow the others are coming, right? You said there's some kind of event?"
"The Goods Card thing? Where they randomly give out an extra card."
"If that's it, tomorrow's gonna be hell... Employees, work hard."
People might think it was stingy to give away just one random Goods Card, but it was a random pull from the limited edition cards being released as part of this collaboration.
An event that collectors of limited editions simply couldn't resist coming to.
But I'd heard A-ra was going somewhere for work tomorrow...
What a shame.
***
"Oppa!"
"That startled me... Minji, what are you doing here?"
When I parked and got out in the apartment's underground parking lot, Minji suddenly came running and hugged me.
It looked like we had run into each other right as she was coming home from studying.
By now, I was completely used to Minji surprising me and hugging me.
Never mind the hugging, since she'd been doing that for a long time...
"What about you, Oppa — where are you coming back from?"
"Me? I was at Hojun's shop."
"Shop? Now that you mention it, Hojun gave me a laptop. Did you tell him to give it to me?"
Hojun must have remembered and given Minji the laptop.
It's good for college students to carry a laptop around.
"I didn't."
"Hmm... really? Well, it's nice having a laptop now — it's convenient."
Minji had been using the apartment computer lab to do her assignments.
She'd even said she wouldn't accept it if I tried to buy her a laptop.
"Oppa, you've given me as much as you can give, and I've received as much as I can receive. If it's not absolutely necessary, accepting more would be rude."
"Hey, if a laptop isn't a necessity for a college student, then what is?"
"There are computers at school and computers at the apartment. So what."
She really seemed to have no intention of buying something unless there was an unavoidable reason.
I'd felt this for a while — our little sister had such strong tendencies in that direction that I suspected she might be a minimalist.
Hojun, on the other hand, was a maximalist.
I guess environment didn't influence individual personality all that much after all?
"Oppa? What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing. Oppa's going grocery shopping, so you go up first."
"How can a man have no sense of caution? I'll go with you."
Minji had been worrying about her oppa because another incident had happened in the area recently.
I smiled bitterly and stroked her hair.
"Is that you worrying about Oppa?"
"I'm just worried you'll collapse again carrying something heavy."
"...I see."
So she was worried about my weak body.
Minji, as a woman, seemed to be subtly lacking in consideration for men.
"By the way, what are you planning to make for dinner tonight?"
"Hmm... maybe I'll buy a bunch of shrimp."
"Then maybe I'll just boil some shrimp and eat them."
Or I could buy the already-prepared Novashi shrimp and make butter-grilled shrimp.
It was an ingredient that boasted extreme cost-effectiveness — only 5,000 won for 30 of them.
"Mm... then I can't put them in Doenjang jjigae."
"Why can't you put shrimp in Doenjang jjigae?"
"Huh? No, I was planning to buy the pre-prepared kind."
"Isn't that for deep frying?"
"Looks like our Minji doesn't know the true taste of butter grill."
For things like abalone and shrimp, if you grill them with butter, even people who can't eat seafood can enjoy them.
The intense scent of butter masks the smell of the seafood.
Kheu... even people who love seafood can't resist that taste.
It simply becomes a food everyone loves.
"Should Oppa make you some butter-grilled Novashi shrimp?"
"Can I do that myself?"
"Well... you just gently melt some butter and stir-fry the shrimp. That's it."
"Then I'll try making it myself. I feel like I'm just constantly imposing on Oppa."
With that, Minji headed to the frozen food section and pulled out 5 packs of Novashi shrimp.
5 packs meant 150 shrimp.
"Are you planning to eat all of that?"
"If I eat them slowly, won't they all get eaten eventually?"
"Then buy a bigger block of butter too."
Back when I lived alone and didn't feel like cooking, I used to fry an egg and quickly mix it with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little butter.
I didn't eat that way now because everyone around me would throw a fit, but still.
"And... what else should I buy..."
As she said that, Minji started looking intensely somewhere.
I turned my head to see what she was looking at — it was the shelves packed with ramen and instant foods.
"...Kim Min-ji."
"Ah... alright... from the day Oppa packed meals for me, I haven't even touched ramen."
"That's good to hear."
Once you make a promise, you have to keep it to the end.
Right now she's young so it might be okay, but later, around her mid-twenties, who knows what illnesses might develop.
Health management has to start from a young age.
"Let's see... Hojun liked Hongcho, right?"
"Huh? Hojun likes Hongcho?"
"Yeah, I don't think it's been that long but he's been drinking it sweet."
"Hmm..."
People easily misunderstand Hongcho because it has a perception of being healthy, but it's exactly what you'd call a sugar bomb.
So for people managing their blood sugar or dieting, it was practically poison.
"Don't buy Hongcho."
"Huh? Okay."
Minji nodded without asking much about the reason.
Now that I thought about it, Hojun often carried around sweet things in daily life.
He used to hand candies to Ji-ye too.
...I'd have to take him to the hospital once.
*
"I'm not sick, you know..."
"It's just a test in case. You heard Minji got dragged here before too, right?"
"Yeah..."
I convinced him he could leave things to the employees for the hour or so we'd be at the hospital, and dragged him there.
Right now he was getting his blood drawn and having the bleeding stopped.
With good timing, he said he hadn't eaten breakfast either, so I brought him straight in.
"You've been eating way too many sweets lately, you know that?"
"Mm... I guess I have."
"I brought you here wondering if you might have hypoglycemia or something."
Hyperglycemia doesn't cause you to collapse right away.
It becomes a problem if it persists, causing insulin resistance and developing into diabetes.
Hypoglycemia, on the other hand, is different.
If your blood sugar keeps dropping and you collapse from shock, you can really die.
If you know that diabetic patients who take insulin fear hypoglycemia more than they fear hyperglycemia,
you could understand just how terrifying hypoglycemia is.
"Now that you mention it, I've had some headaches recently too..."
"You said you like Hongcho?"
"Yeah. When I mix Hongcho in water and drink it, my body feels a bit more at ease."
With this, I was certain.
Hojun had a pretty high chance of having hypoglycemia.
Probably his amount of exercise exceeded his food intake, so he was deficient in sugar.
I had hypoglycemia too, so I knew it well.
"I think I can move around now?"
"Hyung, I want a drink."
"Then I'll have one too..."
We left the blood collection room behind and headed toward the convenience store.
They had said to come back tomorrow if we wanted to hear the results quickly.
***
The very next day.
I brought Hojun to the hospital, and the attending doctor gave an answer I hadn't expected.
"What!?"
"Hmm... it seems the guardian didn't hear me, so I'll repeat myself."
The detailed blood test results were displayed again on the large monitor.
Everything else was displayed in white text, but one single spot was in red.
"The patient appears to have congenital diabetes... that is, Type 1 Diabetes."
"Doesn't Type 1 Diabetes mean there's no insulin secretion at all? He's lived perfectly fine until now..."
Type 1 Diabetes was congenital diabetes.
Meaning the pancreas doesn't secrete insulin, so the organs can't take up the sugar in the bloodstream — that was the disease.
Type 2 Diabetes was acquired diabetes.
It usually develops from factors like obesity — the pancreas secretes insulin, but the cells have developed high insulin resistance, resulting in hyperglycemia.
There was also Type 1.5 Diabetes, which is acquired insulin-dependent diabetes.
But that wasn't relevant right now.
But what I had thought was hypoglycemia turned out to be Type 1 Diabetes.
What on earth...
"Type 1 Diabetes usually develops in an acquired manner as well. It's only classified as congenital when it develops while the patient is a minor."
"Then since Hojun is still a minor..."
"In this case, it's correct to view it as congenital Type 1 Diabetes. The blood test done yesterday showed a blood sugar level of 320."
The normal range for blood sugar on an empty stomach was around 140.
And 180 two hours after a meal, as far as I knew.
So Hojun's was over twice the normal range even on an empty stomach.
This meant severe diabetes.