Chapter 41
Chapter 41
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 41. To J
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The reason I was hospitalized wasn't as serious as one might think.
A stab wound on my side.
It didn't affect any organs, but they said it still needed treatment.
Not having to work was pretty nice, though.
"...Are you serious?"
At my words, Jang Chaeyeon nodded while clutching the blanket to her chest like a child.
"I'm serious."
"Then please leave."
When I pointed toward the door with my finger, she shook her head even more expressionlessly.
"No."
"Wait, how did you even get in here to begin with?"
Only guardians were supposed to be allowed in, right?
Jang Chaeyeon pointed proudly at the name tag hanging on her chest in response to my question.
My gaze briefly drifted past the name tag to the enormous something behind it, but I desperately forced my eyes back to the tag.
[Guardian - Jang Chaeyeon]
"I'm... a guardian."
"..."
I stared piercingly at Jang Chaeyeon, but she stared right back at me without any intention of looking away.
"...For now, shall we talk outside?"
At my words, she nodded and picked up my IV line for me.
"Isn't walking hard?"
"What's so hard about it? My side just stings a bit."
She looked up at me with a worried expression, scanning my face.
"If it hurts, tell me."
"It's not hard to say. But you can't do anything about it anyway."
"...Don't make my heart ache."
She glared at me slightly with her eyes raised.
Sunlight made her eyelashes shimmer, and every time she looked up at me, the soft rustle of her white hair tickled my breath.
"...Sorry."
"I'll forgive you."
As much as I hated to admit it, I'd succumbed to her beauty.
What could I do when she looked at me with an expression like she carried the world's sorrows? I just had to apologize.
"Is there anything you want to eat?"
"Why? Are you going to make it for me?"
"........If you want."
After a long silence, Jang Chaeyeon squeezed out her words.
"It might take some time..."
"I'll just appreciate the thought."
No one can be good at everything. She might not be great at cooking.
I stepped out of the hospital room and slowly started walking.
Without saying a word, Jang Chaeyeon simply matched my pace.
It had been the same last time—she never tried to force a conversation when walking with me.
At first, it felt awkward, but after experiencing it a few times, I started to get it.
This might be her way of showing closeness.
Didn't someone once say that the people you're closest to are the ones you're comfortable being silent with, more than those you chat easily with?
"..."
"..."
Until we got in the elevator and went down, she said nothing, just sticking by my side and blankly staring ahead.
I could feel people occasionally glancing at her.
It couldn't be helped. Honestly, everyone in the HR Team boasted their own distinctive beauty.
Ignoring the stares from others completely, when the elevator reached the first floor, she gently grabbed my arm and asked,
"...Aren't your parents coming?"
"Oh, you mean my parents."
"They don't know you work at the Management Bureau, so it makes sense."
"Yeah, well. Pretty much."
My parents just knew that their son had landed a good public corporation job where he worked himself to the bone but brought home a lot of money.
It was for humanity, and he did earn a lot, so it wasn't entirely wrong.
"Don't you feel stifled?"
"By what?"
As we walked down the first-floor hallway filled with patients milling about, Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
"Just... You can't tell your family."
"There are plenty of things in the world where ignorance is bliss."
A prime example was everything I'd gone through in the past month.
"Is that why you're here? For your family?"
"What do you mean?"
"Because you have to feed your family, so you're stuck at the Management Bureau?"
"Oh."
Why was I at the Management Bureau?
"Yeah, pretty much."
Sure, more money was always nice, but even now, living comfortably, I wasn't exactly strapped for cash.
"...Would you quit if you got the chance?"
Jang Chaeyeon stared straight at me.
"Uh..."
Quitting, huh.
I pulled out the manual from my pocket and opened it, and Jang Chaeyeon leaned her head over to look at it with me.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[P - Resignation]
1. Resignations are divided into forced resignation and voluntary resignation.
2. Forced resignation is a procedure enacted in cases of catastrophic damage to the Management Bureau or misuse of containment objects.
3. In cases of forced resignation, do not forget that the death benefit insurance does not go to your bereaved family.
4. For voluntary resignation, paperwork and reasons are reviewed by HR and related departments, and it proceeds under the premise that it is deemed appropriate.
5. If you voluntarily resign, your severance and bonus pay will be deposited into your account.
6. However, to prevent information leaks, your memories will be erased and replaced with new ones. If there are side effects, the Management Bureau will take responsibility and fix your memories.
7. Please note that personnel you knew at the Management Bureau will also be replaced with different memories.
"..."
It was fascinating—after all those experiences, the thought of choosing resignation hadn't even crossed my mind.
'If you gain power, help others.'
Was it because the girl's words kept echoing in my head, or had I simply lost my sense of crisis? I couldn't tell.
Jang Chaeyeon stared at me. She leaned in so close I could see my reflection in her blue eyes, then whispered in my ear.
"If you resign... even if I seem like a different person to you, I'll come find you. So don't worry."
"That's very kind of you."
"It's okay if you forget me. ...I'll stay by your side until you remember."
How could this woman say things like that so calmly?
"If it comes to that, I will."
I snapped the manual shut with a thud and replied to Jang Chaeyeon.
"But anyway, don't worry. I have no plans to resign yet."
"Yet?"
"Someday... well. If I get badly hurt, or reach retirement age, or the work just gets too unbearable, then yeah, I'd quit."
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon wore a lonely expression.
Seeing her like that suddenly sparked my curiosity, and before I knew it, I asked her,
"Why are you at the Management Bureau, Chaeyeon?"
"...Me?"
She hesitated before opening her mouth.
"...I left something here that I can't forget."
"Something you can't forget?"
"Um..."
Was she choosing her words? She scrunched and relaxed her eyes repeatedly, pursing her lips.
"...Sorry. Hard to explain."
"It's fine."
I hadn't told her everything either—if I demanded to know all her secrets, that'd be unfair.
"...If I can sort out how to say it, I'll tell you. Definitely. It's not that I don't want to."
"Yes, I believe you."
Was she bothered? Her gaze darted around anxiously,
"Isn't it tiring? Should we go back and sleep?"
"...Are you really going to sleep?"
"Yeah."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because I want to."
She leaned her face toward me, looking up.
A floral scent wafted over momentarily.
"You're too close."
"I know."
"And more importantly, that's not the point..."
"You said your parents aren't coming."
"..."
Her gaze dropped to the floor, then back to my face.
"You're lonely."
"I'm way too old to feel lonely just from sleeping alone in a hospital, Chaeyeon."
"We're only two years apart."
"You know I'm older, right?"
At my words, the corners of Jang Chaeyeon's eyes curved into a smile.
"Call me oppa?"
"Don't change the subject. Go home already."
Jang Chaeyeon shook her head and stood rooted to the spot.
"I won't move unless you carry me."
This woman was this stubborn...
I let out a sigh involuntarily.
The most frustrating part was that whenever I sighed, she'd watch my expression but never budge, which only weakened my resolve.
"I'll just sleep and go."
"...Okay."
Her voice perked up slightly at my consent, then settled.
The time after that passed uneventfully.
I ate the tasteless hospital food, chatted meaninglessly with Jang Chaeyeon at times, and spent most of it in comfortable silence—sometimes watching TV, sometimes looking out the window, sometimes doing our own things—without any awkwardness.
The amazing thing was
Only when bedtime came did she unfold the blanket and prepare to lie on the sofa bed.
"Want me to turn off the light?"
"You're going to sleep right away?"
"I can sleep the moment my head hits the pillow."
"I'll watch once."
"...Truth is, it's not quite that instant. It takes a little time."
She lay down as if making excuses.
With a soft rustle, the blanket slid, and she turned her body toward me.
A few strands of her hair fell across her face.
"I'll turn off the light."
"Allow me—"
Before I could finish, she snapped her fingers, and the light went out.
"...Telekinesis."
I couldn't see her face clearly in the dark, but she was surely wearing a smug expression.
"Go to sleep."
"You said you sleep the moment your head hits the pillow."
"I won't sleep until you do."
"Confident?"
"I've been on the Containment Team, you know."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Asleep?"
"Oh, come on."
Her anxious voice was so funny that I chuckled without meaning to.
"You said you'd wait for me to sleep, so why sound so worried?"
"I was worried because you went quiet."
"Go to sleep."
"...Sorry."
In the end, I caved again to her slightly deflated voice.
"It's fine. Go to sleep."
"Okay."
"...Come to think of it, what about the other two?"
"Yoo Daon and... her?"
I wondered what had happened between Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin that they wouldn't even refer to each other by name.
"Yeah, Daon and Arin."
"We decided to visit in order."
"How'd you decide the order?"
"Rock-paper-scissors."
Jang Chaeyeon expressionlessly made a V-sign with her fingers to show me.
So primitive.
"Go to sleep."
"I'll try."
"...You've been through a lot."
Did she notice my wandering thoughts? Jang Chaeyeon spoke in a soft voice.
"You've been through a lot. ...Now sleep."
"...Okay."
In the end, I surrendered to her gentle voice, closed my eyes, and fell asleep surprisingly quickly.
For a hospital bed that wasn't the most comfortable, it felt like I'd slept really well.
*
Was he asleep?
Looking at him breathing deeply, Jang Chaeyeon carefully sat up.
"..."
There was a memory between her and him that she didn't want to share with others.
It might have been just a second for others, but for them, it was months.
She approached cautiously so as not to wake him and brushed back his sleeping hair.
She'd spent a long time with him in the Cube, but ironically, sleep wasn't possible there, so this was her first time seeing him asleep.
That's why, honestly, she'd thrown a bit of a tantrum to come here and watch him sleep.
"...Such a peaceful face."
Different from the confident face or the thinking face he always showed. This was the face she wanted to see.
Tidying his hair endlessly, she murmured in a tender voice.
"Rest well."
For a long time, she gazed at his sleeping face, sometimes beaming broadly, sometimes with a soft smile.
*
It felt like the first good sleep I'd had in a while.
On the other hand, Jang Chaeyeon seemed like she hadn't slept properly, yawning nonstop, but she wore a more satisfied expression than ever.
"Didn't sleep?"
"No, I slept great."
She smiled softly at my words, answered, kept yawning, and left the room.
Looked like she hadn't slept.
A few days after Jang Chaeyeon left,
"Hello!"
"I was wondering why Daon hadn't come."
"Eh! Were you waiting for me?"
I couldn't help but sigh as I looked at Yoo Daon, who appeared brightly smiling with a <Guardian> tag around her neck just like the other.
And so, the hospital visiting commotion came to an end.