A bright laugh passed by.
"Really? So what happened?"
"What do you think happened?" the man sitting in front said in a soft voice. "He bowed deeply and apologized. Said he didn't know."
"No way."
I covered my mouth and looked at the man with a smile. The sunlight coming through the window brightly lit the man's side profile. His fine-grained black hair shone and his slight smile caught my attention.
"How amazing. He didn't recognize the Master…"
"Well, unlike Korea, America is large, so it's possible they wouldn't know."
I tilted my head. Is that so? Even if you didn't know his identity, looking at his face, you can tell that he wasn't a normal opponent.
"He's a fool."
As I murmured, the man raised the corners of his mouth. In a three-piece suit, with his jacket off and only his vest on, the man leaned back on the sofa with a languid expression on his face. He seemed to be very pleased with the leisure time he's had for the first time in a while.
I lifted my teacup to moisten my dry lips, feeling my heart beating rapidly. There was a fragrant scent of tea.
"Did anything happen while I was in America?"
At the man's question, I pursed my lips and lowered my gaze. What should I say?
"Just—no, everything was fine…"
By his side, no matter how much time passed, I was not used to life in the guild. Without him, I always missed my dead sister at any time, and it was hard to hold back my tears.
A few days ago, while crying in the bathroom on the first floor, I ran into an attendant, and as soon as he saw me, he left with a very unpleasant look on his face. Unlike the other attendants who always wore black suits and kept a neat style, he had red hair and piercings, so he was particularly memorable.
"Han Yi-gyeol."
No one liked me.
When I remembered my younger sister's face, who always smiled at me, my eyesight became blurred. The man came closer to my eyes, which were dripping with thick tears, and gently wiped them.
"Sorry, I'm sorry. I—"
"It's okay."
As if he'd been waiting for them, the man patiently wiped away the tears dripping down.
"You can be sad if you want. She was your only family."
"Hhgh, hic… yeah. Really, hgh… I miss her so much…"
"Of course."
I was so sad that I couldn't meet my sister anymore, but at the same time, I was happy. The moment I entrusted my body to the man's touch was very comfortable. I looked up at him cautiously.
"Rely on me. You are not alone."
"..."
"So, don't even think about dying."
I opened my eyes wide. The gaze of a man who comforted me more tenderly than anyone else.
"Don't die, Han Yi-gyeol."
It was terribly cold.
* * *
"Hhgh…!"
I opened my eyes with a heavy breath. I felt a little dizzy as I raised my upper body, covered by a white blanket.
A cold sweat ran down my cheeks, but my body was surprisingly cold. I put my hand on my pounding heart and thought about the dream.
'…what the hell?'
Are you saying that Han Yi-gyeol and Cheon Sa-yeon enjoyed tea time together? Whether it was possible or not, I had never seen anything like that in the novel.
'Was it just a dream?'
I couldn't be sure because I didn't know about Han Yi-gyeol or Cheon Sa-yeon. As I sighed in frustration, the previously closed door swung open as someone entered.
"You're awake."
"Ha Tae-heon-ssi."
Instead of a suit, Ha Tae-heon was wearing a white shirt with a Chinese collar. He looked closely at me and said, "You don't look good."
"I'm alright. More important than that, this is…"
"This is the hospital room of the Roheon Guild."
"Roheon Guild? Ah."
Only then did I remember that I had fainted as soon as I got out of the gate. I panicked and got out of bed.
"What—what time is it now?"
Ha Tae-heon checked his watch.
"11:32 a.m."
"Jeez…"
I grabbed my head and lamented. I'm doomed.
I was going to go back before Kim Woo-jin woke up.
By now, he would have known that I was gone, but I was already at a loss as to what kind of excuse I should make.
"What?"
"…uh, it's nothing. I have to go now."
"You're going?"
As I looked around the room to find the backpack I was carrying, Ha Tae-heon quickly approached and grabbed my shoulders.
"You just woke up from fainting. Where are you going?"
"That…"
"The healer will come soon. The healer who looked over you when you passed out. I can't let you go until we get one more check on your condition."
"I'm fine. Really. I am in my best condition right now," I insisted with a big smile, but Ha Tae-heon did not even pretend to listen.
Trying to push Ha Tae-heon's hands from my shoulders, which were heavy as stones, I said, "It's because I'm not in a situation where I can just stay. Can't you just let me go?"
Ha Tae-heon looked down at me and smiled, almost grimacing, at my complaints of being held down by an SS-rank.
"If I let you go, where would you go with that body? Are you going to meet the Requiem Guild Master?"
"It's not that…"
"Ha Tae-heon-ssi, can I come in?"
An unfamiliar voice came from behind Ha Tae-heon's back. Ha Tae-heon let go of my shoulder and looked back.
"Come in."
As soon as Ha Tae-heon granted him permission, a sad-looking man in a pure white robe entered.
"Hello, Han Yi-gyeol-ssi." A man with curly brown hair and silver-rimmed glasses looked at me and smiled. "Nice to meet you. My name is Do Ha-seok (도하석), an S-class healer from the Roheon Guild."
"He's the healer who looked after you when you fainted."
Do Ha-seok held out his white hand. I smiled awkwardly and held his hand.
"Thank you for your help."
"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"No. I've troubled you (thank you for your time)."
"Don't worry about it. It's not the first time Ha Tae-heon-ssi has brought injured people."
"Speaking nonsense."
Oh. Then I remembered Do Ha-seok, who appeared in the novel. The healer who treated Ha Tae-heon every time he brought in women, saying he was a sinful man. He did not appear very often, but I remembered he was close with Min Ah-rin, who moved to Roheon.
"I see."
"Ah! However, he's never brought a man before. Every time, he's only brought women…"
"Do Ha-seok."
Ha Tae-heon interrupted Do Ha-seok in an uncomfortable voice. Others would have been frightened by that cold gaze, but Do Ha-seok kept his smile and shrugged his shoulders playfully.
"You're so mean. Anyway, I'm glad. When you arrived, you were in such a bad condition that I thought he came to hide a corpse."
"Haah…" Ha Tae-heon sighed.
"…was it that bad?"
"Mh. The 'hiding a body' part was a joke, but it is true that you were in bad shape." Do Ha-seok looked at me with his arms folded. "Energy is a very important part for those with abilities. When you run out of energy, the impact on your body is huge. For an ordinary person, it's similar to drawing blood until it's dangerous."
Come to think of it, Cheon Sa-yeon also said that it was the most dangerous when you ran out of energy.
"This time you had a healer and it'll get better after a few days off, but it's never good in the long run because the shocks are cumulative. Be careful from now on."
"Mh, yes. I will."
I wouldn't have used my energy like that if I had the choice. I quietly nodded my head.
"Hmm… okay." Do Ha-seok, who looked at me with strange eyes, immediately turned around. "He's in good shape, so I'll be on my way. I'm busy with work. Ha Tae-heon-ssi, I'm leaving."
Do Ha-seok, who sent Ha Tae-heon a gentle greeting, left the room. After he talked about this and that, he went away, and an uneasy silence settled in the room.
"..."
"..."
"Ahem. Ha Tae-heon-ssi. Can I have my backpack…"
"Sit down."
Ha Tae-heon interrupted me as I carefully asked about my backpack, and pointed to the bed. I shook my head and expressed my displeasure.
"Didn't you say that I could go if you got confirmation from the healer? I really have to go…"
"Who told you not to go?" Ha Tae-heon frowned. "I called Cha Soo-yeon-ssi. She said she'll arrive in an hour, so meet her before you leave."
"Cha Soo-yeon-ssi?" I asked in amazement. "Did you really call her?"
"Didn't you ask me to call her?"
"Yeah, I did." I smiled shyly and sat down with my buttocks on the bed.
It couldn't be helped. I had to meet Cha Soo-yeon and finish what I had planned. I just hoped that Cheon Sa-yeon didn't know that I was away.
"Ha Tae-heon-ssi."
"Say it."
"Where is my backpack?"
Ha Tae-heon looked at me. I gave him a big smile.
"Hey, you know how important the thing inside is. It was hard to get in the Red Market…"
"Haah." Ha Tae-heon sighed loudly and opened the built-in closet on the left wall. The backpack I was looking for was neatly placed there.
Knock, knock.
Ha Tae-heon, who threw the backpack at me, approached the door at the sound of a knock. Meanwhile, I opened the backpack and looked inside. Fortunately, nothing was missing and everything was in good condition.
Ha Tae-heon, who was talking to someone through the door, immediately returned to the room. With the crumpled envelopes on the table, he threw the clothes that were draped over his arms at me.
After suddenly being hit in the face with clothes, I grumbled, "Hey, can't you give it to me nicely? Why are you throwing it like this?"
"There's a lot you want."
Somehow I thought it was familiar—it was the clothes I wore before. My clothes, which had become dirty from rolling around in the gate, had been washed cleanly.
'Oh? Wait a sec.'
I fumbled to look at the clothes I was currently wearing. It was an ordinary hospital uniform. So then…
"Someone changed my clothes while I was out?"
Ha Tae-heon nodded his head.
"…who?"
"Me."
I asked angrily, "What about my doctor?"
"Should he even pay attention to some fainted bastard? You complain about everything."
Ha Tae-heon took a bowl out of the plastic bag and put it on the table.
"Stop talking nonsense and eat this."
When I approached to see what it was, it was abalone porridge with a fragrant scent (abalone porridge or jeonbokjuk (전복죽), is perceived as the very item to offer someone who's sick).
"I'm not a patient…"
"Eat what you're given."
"Okaaay."
I quietly picked up the spoon.
The abalone porridge was very delicious, but it felt very strange to eat porridge in a hospital uniform with a healthy body.
"…Ha Tae-heon-ssi."
"What?"
With a sour look on my face, I said, "I'm going to get a stomachache. If you're not going to eat with me, please go out."
Ha Tae-heon, who was sitting in front of me and staring at me with a fierce look, answered, "How can I trust to leave you alone?"
"If not, then you could at least turn your eyes away."
Hearing those words, Ha Tae-heon raised his eyebrows, crossed his legs and leaned against the back of his chair. I was dumbfounded by the more arrogant posture.
'Did Ha Tae-Heon always have such a personality?'
I thought it was a little different from the novel. I endured Ha Tae-heon's gaze and swallowed the porridge. I just hope Cha Soo-yeon will come soon.