Vicious Sniper (3)
As I stared holes through Woojin’s texts that had arrived well after midnight, I felt my head start throbbing again. Looking at the unfamiliar address attached to the messages, the thought occurred to me unbidden that something like TS was no big deal compared to this guy’s almost fantastical wealth and sheer force of action.
What had happened to the one-room I’d been renting? I wondered how he’d managed to wrap that up so cleanly too. I’d been worried about how to explain my current appearance to the landlord, but maybe it was for the best. With all those thoughts swirling, I settled into a quiet corner of the hospital’s walking path, fished my smartphone out of my pocket, and made the call.
“Hello?!”
He must have told me to call because he knew I was in a state where I could actually answer. With that casual thought in mind, I dialed, and the line connected almost before the ringtone could finish even once, as if he’d been waiting. The strangely ragged breathing made me frown without meaning to, but figuring he must have been in the middle of something, I did my best to ignore it and spoke calmly.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
…Or I tried to.
Whatever he’d been doing, the continuous heavy breathing suddenly cut off with a sharp “hup.” A short silence followed. I glanced sideways at the phone screen, but the call hadn’t disconnected. The faint sound of breathing suggested he hadn’t dropped the phone either.
“…Hello?”
“No, uh… This is Seol, right?”
“Did the kid start drinking in the middle of the day or something?”
Only after saying it did I realize this was the first time he was hearing my voice after the change. I hadn’t gone so far as to record it and listen back, but I didn’t think it was an unpleasant voice. If anything, it was actually a pretty nice, clear tone, wasn’t it?
“You told me to call once the discharge paperwork was finished. Are you busy?”
“It’s not that. Today’s an off day with no schedule, so I was working out after lunch.”
It seemed he’d been thinking of my old voice without realizing it and had been thrown off by the sudden mismatch.
“So what’s this about the new place?”
Hearing a voice like this suddenly from a number that had only ever carried the same male tone for over ten years would throw anyone. With that in mind, I skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point. Once the words left my mouth, the thought This is another debt, isn’t it? made my tone sharpen without me meaning it to.
“…You must have heard from the doctor. About your con— or whatever we should call it. Anyway, he said it wouldn’t be good for that to become widely known. I figured it might be better to move somewhere no familiar faces would see you first.”
“That’s true, but isn’t this a bit sudden? It’s burdensome. I could’ve just bounced between saunas for a while.”
“I can’t let you do that, even if it worries you. This time, I’m not backing down.”
His once-cautious voice grew firm at the end, as if declaring he absolutely would not yield. He wasn’t the type who didn’t know how much I already owed him and his family, but given the circumstances, it seemed he wanted me to accept the kindness without protest this time.
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand. I’d known for a while that he felt a quiet sense of responsibility for what happened that day. To him, I was an orphan with no blood relatives left, someone who needed looking after. So his stronger-than-usual reaction wasn’t exactly incomprehensible.
“You idiot, no matter what, suddenly offering a whole new place…”
“Would it kill you to just say thank you nicely for once?”
Still, that was one thing; my discomfort was another. For a moment we traded prickly curses like two animals growling. You crazy bastard, bragging about money? You think you’ll stay on top forever just because you’re successful now? Don’t you save anything? Get a girlfriend and treat her right.
…It was mostly me doing the one-sided ranting, but if I didn’t vent somehow, it didn’t feel like my mood would improve.
“Since you’ve ended up so pretty, how about cleaning up your language a little too, huh?”
“Shut your mouth before I rip it off.”
The place he’d suggested we meet was a café in the busy district near the university hospital. He’d probably chosen it so I wouldn’t have to move much, and I was genuinely grateful for that small consideration. At least, I had been.
“…Sigh.”
The sigh that slipped out made several men waiting at the crosswalk flinch and turn their heads. I hadn’t noticed until now because I hadn’t had many chances to draw attention, but I was realizing all over again just how blatantly people’s stares could feel.
I’d stayed shut up in a private room at the hospital, only going back and forth between the examination room and the doctor’s office, so I hadn’t realized it. But apparently my appearance stood out far more than I’d thought. The late-spring weather had grown noticeably hotter, so I’d taken off the hooded jacket earlier, but now I pulled the hood deep over my head, even if it was a little late.
“This is fucking annoying.”
The curse that escaped me overlapped with Woojin’s earlier comment about refining my speech. I had no intention of living up to the face I now wore, but spitting vulgarities with it did bring a twinge of guilt.
The moment the light changed, I crossed the street like I was fleeing and headed for the destination. Running through the warm sunlight of the season with a hood pulled low wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.
By the time I reached the café, I had newly realized that this body’s physical condition was quite… no, extremely poor. Even before the change I hadn’t been particularly fit, but even taking that into account, this body was on another level of frailty.
“…Are you all right, miss?”
As I stood at the counter panting hard to catch my breath, the part-timer’s trembling, troubled voice reached me. It’s not like I overdid some workout. I just jogged a little crossing one crosswalk. I didn’t know this damn body was so weak it seemed like it had never exercised once in its life.
“Americano… Hoo. Extra ice, venti size.”
“…I’ll call your order number.”
Leaving the male part-timer’s strange gaze behind, I slowly made my way to a shaded corner seat away from the windows. Taking off the hood and brushing away the hair that clung to my cheeks and the back of my neck made my already rock-bottom mood sink even lower.
Asthma or not, it didn’t seem like I had the stamina to attempt intense cardio in the first place. Or was that because of the asthma? What exactly were the symptoms of asthma, anyway? Ah, instead of just lying around sleeping all the time, I should have asked the doctor about all this when I had the chance.
“Haaaa…”
While those thoughts ran through my mind, I collapsed onto the table. Rubbing my cheek against the cool surface at least applied some brakes to my endlessly plummeting emotions.
Still, thanks to the hood, I wouldn’t have to endure any more unpleasant stares, which was a relief. If I’d had to walk the whole way here under those sticky gazes, I might have actually died from the stress. It was the moment I felt a surge of gratitude toward the doctor who had said, “It looked like you didn’t have any clothes to wear, so I had them buy something appropriate,” and handed me the clothing bag.
“Order number 32, your iced Americano is ready.”
Maybe because lunchtime had passed or because the café wasn’t crowded, the order came out quickly. After retrieving the coffee with sluggish steps and slowly feeding caffeine into my system, I stared blankly at the entrance. Before long, a familiar face burst into the shop.
He seemed to have run here in a hurry too; his breathing looked somewhat labored. His gaze swept across the interior before quickly landing on me. When I casually raised my middle finger, he let out a small chuckle and headed for the counter. I watched silently for a moment.
…Now that I thought about it, why had this guy been huffing and puffing all day?
“Look at you, arriving like a celebrity.”
“Even if I look like this, I’m pretty well-known. It’s not good for me to be seen wandering around during the season.”
Between the thin mask and the deeply pressed hat, the corners of his eyes curved upward. I almost poured out a whole tirade about how no one would recognize him even if he didn’t act so ridiculous, but it felt like I’d just be revealing my own inferiority complex, so I swallowed the words.
“So, what did you want to tell me? It’s hard to imagine anything more shocking than suddenly getting a new house.”
“I told your parents about your condition. They said it might be good for you to live with us until you get used to things.”
Holding back from spitting the coffee I’d been sipping all over his face was roughly the fourth hardest thing I’d ever done in my life.