The Professors Wouldn't Let Me Go
Even after chapter thirteen, those professors showed no intention of letting me go easily. They kept pouring on the smooth, polished offers—our hospital would cover all the testing fees in full, they'd compensate me every time I came in for regular checkups. They even launched into an impassioned speech about all the benefits they'd provide to my guardian as well.
The sheer volume of tests went way beyond anything normal. And the medical staff's attitude was strangely, almost suspiciously enthusiastic.
"No, more importantly... when will the test results be ready?"
Mom must have picked up on the weird vibe too. She ignored all the earlier talk and went straight for the conclusion.
"Ah, we'll process that as quickly as we can and contact you ourselves."
In the end, it was a day filled with nothing but a mountain of tests and no real answers. The professor said he'd be in touch later, asked for both Mom's and my contact information, and only then did he finally back off.
The moment we left the hospital, the first thing out of Mom's mouth was:
"In all my years, I've never seen anyone get that many tests at once."
"Same here."
I nodded vigorously in total agreement with her words as we headed toward the taxi stand. It seemed Mom had found the whole situation strange as well.
"...Sigh. They should give that kind of thorough testing when old folks say they're hurting."
Once we were in the taxi, Mom spoke with clear regret, the overly eager attitude of the doctors still on her mind.
It took several minutes to get home, carrying that strange, heavy feeling with us. The moment I saw the shoes at the front door, I realized Hyeonseo was already home.
Why is she home today of all days?
I tilted my head at this rare occurrence even as I slipped off my shoes. As I've said before, my little sister spends so much time outside that sometimes I wonder if she's actually someone else's kid. Sure, that includes school hours, but even then, there's no denying how much she roams around. For someone like her to be home today... maybe the sun would rise in the west tomorrow.
First things first, I decided to head straight to my room. I needed to dig the Tail Cover out of my bag where it'd been abandoned.
As I padded quietly into the room, Hyeonseo didn't even seem to notice that Mom and I had returned. She was just staring blankly at the computer screen.
What is she doing?
The sight made me curious, so I took a few steps closer. It looked like she was reading some kind of novel... But before I could get a look at the content, my mouth moved on its own.
"What are you doing?"
"...?!!"
Hyeonseo jumped like she'd been electrocuted. The page that had been open vanished in an instant.
"Oh, when did you get back?"
"...Just now."
Then Hyeonseo shot up from her chair. In a flustered voice, she awkwardly tried to change the subject by asking when I'd gotten home. Her eyes darted around anxiously. The clumsy subject-changing, the noticeably panicked expression, the rapidly closed page, and that unusual level of focus.
As someone with two extra years of life experience, I could only come to one conclusion. The only question was whether I should pretend I hadn't noticed.
"So, uh, what did they say at the hospital?"
Despite what I was thinking, Hyeonseo kept desperately steering the conversation away.
"I only got tests today."
"Ah, I see...?"
Part of me wanted to just tell her outright to hide it well from Mom and Dad, but I played along with her clumsy diversion. Acting like I knew nothing, I casually tossed out another question.
"Why are you home today? Not going out to play?"
"I made plans for Friday."
Maybe it was because she'd nearly had her secret discovered? Hyeonseo was being unusually obedient today, answering right away.
"Hmm."
Just as dry as her response, I made an appropriate sound and smoothly moved past the topic.
I soon opened my bag and pulled out the Tail Cover. Putting it on still felt awkward, but since I wasn't the one doing the floor cleaning, I obediently slipped it over my tail.
Once I was home, there wasn't much to do except use the computer or my phone. I'd already had my fill of the phone in the taxi and at the hospital, so I figured it was time for the computer. I told Hyeonseo:
"Use the computer for a bit and then get off."
"...Oh, I'm already done."
She gave up the chair without a single complaint, even to my one-sided demand. If she was this obedient every day, we wouldn't have anything to fight about. Total win. I claimed the seat with that thought in mind.
But today, I wasn't in the mood for my usual game. While I was thinking that, my eyes landed on the game Hyeonseo had been playing. It was a famous pixel farm game, so I decided to give it a try.
I'd only heard about it through rumors and had never played it myself. For some reason, today this one drew me in more than my regular games. I launched it and created a new save file.
A healing farm game with zero competition. Sometimes this kind of thing was nice too.
"Hey, you didn't mess with my file, did you!?"
"Nope, I started a new one."
She came back from the bathroom and returned to the room, then spotted the familiar game and asked in surprise. I answered indifferently and kept playing.
Not touching someone else's save file is basic gamer etiquette. It's a matter of human decency before even being siblings.
"Hyunwoo, Hyeonseo? Stop playing for a second and get ready for dinner."
"Okay—"
I was deep into the early stages of the game when Mom's voice floated in from the kitchen. At the same time, the familiar smell of doenjang soup filled the room.
Bean sprout salad. Tofu doenjang soup. Seaweed. Stir-fried anchovies.
A perfectly ordinary dinner that wasn't particularly delicious. After playing the game to a satisfying point, I handed the computer over to Hyeonseo and went out to greet Dad.
Today too, the moment he saw me at the front door, Dad flinched.
He quickly relaxed his tense shoulders and said, "Man, I really can't get used to that appearance."
"Same here."
Sharing in Dad's awkward smile, I took his briefcase and set it down in his room. Mom, who had been washing dishes in the kitchen, heard the front door and came out to greet him.
"You're home?"
"Yeah. I already ate dinner."
Dad gave a lukewarm reply and headed to his room. Before long, he came back out to the living room wearing what was basically underwear, lay down on the sofa, and turned on the TV.
The noisy sound of the crowd and the occasional crack of the bat. Looked like he'd put on the baseball channel.
I was thinking about heading to my room to lie down when Dad's voice suddenly came from the sofa.
"Right, wasn't today the day you went to the hospital, Hyunwoo?"
"Huh?"
For some reason Dad already knew my schedule. Had he talked it over with Mom beforehand? After my short exclamation, I answered his question.
"Yeah, I did go, but..."
"But?"
When I hesitated to finish, Dad repeated the end of my sentence like he found it suspicious and asked again.
Even if he grilled me, there wasn't much to tell. Still, I wanted to clear up his doubts as much as possible, so I gave him a quick summary of what happened at the hospital today.
"I just got a bunch of weird tests and came home."
"I didn't even know they could run that many tests in one visit," Mom added. She'd just finished the dishes and came over to explain the ridiculous situation to Dad.
Dad's expression gradually stiffened as he listened to the test talk.
"Really? The bill for all those tests must've been huge..."
The dwindling bank balance must have been haunting him. He stopped watching TV and started secretly fiddling with his phone screen.
The word "test fees" seemed to be floating in front of Dad's eyes. I decided to clear it away for him as fast as possible.
"No? The hospital said they'd cover everything."
"Huh? Why?"
When I attached the full coverage to his faint sigh, Dad's eyes widened in surprise.
"I don't know. A bunch of doctors kept swarming around me. If they treated patients like that all the time, nobody would ever get sick."
Mom stepped in for me, answering Dad in a lamenting tone. Her clearly sarcastic way of speaking carried a strange hostility toward the doctors.
There was a brief silence at Mom's sharp words. Then she mentioned more about what had happened at the hospital.
"They asked if they could see me regularly. Said they'd cover all future test fees and everything..."
"Wow. Hyunwoo's condition must really be something special."
Dad, who'd been listening, let out a deep sound of admiration.
"Hey, in my half a lifetime, this is the first time I've ever heard about getting hospital fees waived."
He sat up from his lying position on the sofa and gestured dramatically with his arms as he spoke. He'd heard plenty of stories about people going bankrupt from medical bills, but hospital fee exemption was a first. That's how ridiculous the whole thing sounded.
At the mention of the test fee waiver, Dad seemed relieved. His previously stiff face relaxed into a faint smile.
"Anyway, that's good to hear. When do they say the results will come out?"
When would the results come out? Wait a second.
Now that I thought about it, they had only taken our contact information without giving any specific date, just saying they'd produce the results as quickly as possible. Stumped by Dad's question, I hesitated a moment before repeating exactly what the professors had said.
"Um, they only said they'd do it as soon as possible."
"Then it'll probably come pretty fast."
Dad let out a short chuckle, completely convinced, and lay back down on the sofa.
How could Dad know that when he wasn't even a doctor? I asked about his confident attitude.
"How do you know that?"
"If they give you a specific date, it means they're putting it off and it'll get done whenever. But when they don't mention any date and just say 'as soon as possible'? That means they'll actually do it quickly."
Dad explained it with the wisdom of a working adult. If they mentioned a date, it was something that could be delayed. Giving that kind of conclusion instead of a concrete timeline meant it was certain.
And just as Dad had said, it wasn't wrong.
My mom and I received the call immediately on Friday.