By Zephyria 
Han Seung-jae snatched the teacup from Seo Yi-kyung’s hand—which he had been holding without even taking a sip—and placed it on the tray. Seo Yi-kyung stared blankly at the spot where his cup had been.
As expected, it wasn’t working? It seemed his only option was to just go out and come back. Since Han Seung-jae was busy, he might not receive the report immediately.
Because he was so preoccupied with his small schemes, Seo Yi-kyung realized too late that Han Seung-jae was watching him from the side.
“You didn’t come here just to have tea.”
“Seung-jae.”
“Go on then. And if possible, don’t just bring him back; admit him to the hospital. He’s useless anyway.”
Seo Yi-kyung simply listened to the relentless stream of condemnation pouring from Han Seung-jae. Regardless, it would be difficult to find another excuse to go to the hospital if not for this method. Since Butler Do happened to have a wound on his face, he thought it would be a good idea to get it treated while they were there.
Seo Yi-kyung let Han Seung-jae’s trailing words drift past him without taking them to heart. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know this personality, and sometimes, such an approach was necessary.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your work. I’ll be going now.”
“Is that it?”
“Should I take it?”
Seo Yi-kyung looked at the teapot and teacup on the tray before tilting his head further up. He was thinking of something completely unrelated. It was largely because his mind was a cluttered mess. Consequently, he didn’t immediately understand Han Seung-jae’s words.
Han Seung-jae tilted his head slightly. He scrutinized Seo Yi-kyung’s pale face.
“You entered without being invited, and now you’re just going to slip away like this?”
Seo Yi-kyung lowered his eyelids. For some reason, Han Seung-jae’s eyes seemed remarkably piercing.
“The painting.”
Seo Yi-kyung’s voice was very small. However, Han Seung-jae seemed to have caught it. He didn’t interrupt him, which was a sign.
“I didn’t think you’d accept it.”
Furthermore, in a study filled with a lavish collection, a canvas held little value. Yet, it had been placed in the most visible spot.
“Is there any reason I wouldn’t accept it?”
Han Seung-jae’s breath, right beside him, brushed against Seo Yi-kyung’s ear.
“They said it was painted while thinking of me.”
Seo Yi-kyung felt a tickle on his jaw where Han Seung-jae’s breath touched. A heat seemed to spread up to his neck. He hadn’t expected such a response. Moreover, the person who had painted it while thinking of him wasn’t himself. Yet, he was too close.
Han Seung-jae’s lips grazed his ear, almost touching. His voice whispered in his ear. But didn’t you get hard while thinking of me?
Startled, Seo Yi-kyung raised his hand to cover and hide his reddened ear. He looked at Han Seung-jae and took a step back.
“I—I didn’t.”
“Is that so? I thought you might, since you came so quickly when I sucked it for you. I figured you were good at getting hard.”
Seo Yi-kyung moved his legs quickly. Step, step. Step-step. Step. However, he was practically staying in place. Because Han Seung-jae moved with him, the distance wouldn’t widen no matter what. Seo Yi-kyung grabbed the doorknob. But Han Seung-jae pressed the door shut with his palm.
Seo Yi-kyung pulled the doorknob as if he hadn’t noticed. The door seemed to open slightly, only to be shut again. Ugh… Seo Yi-kyung let out a groan.
Clinging to the doorknob with one hand and covering his ear with the other, Seo Yi-kyung stared at Han Seung-jae as if he were a beast. Watching this, Han Seung-jae tapped the door with his fingertips.
“Shall I let you out?”
“…”
“Or are you going to stay in the study?”
Seo Yi-kyung lowered the hand covering his ear. At the same time, he let go of the doorknob. He turned his body slightly and looked up at Han Seung-jae. Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes, in his small and slender face, were sunken. That alone was enough to make Han Seung-jae’s hand drop from the door.
Immediately, Seo Yi-kyung grabbed the doorknob, pulled it open, and bolted out with his small frame.
Watching him go, Han Seung-jae ran his tongue inside his cheek. I let my guard down. He had been staring entranced at Seo Yi-kyung’s face, which had looked as if he had something he wanted to say, and in doing so, he had created an opening.
Han Seung-jae picked up the teacup on the desk. He brought the cup Seo Yi-kyung hadn’t touched to his lips and swallowed the tea. Then, he turned his head to look at the closed study door. Surely, he didn’t think I’d actually take my hand off the door just because I looked at him like that.
* * *
…Tap, tap. Seo Yi-kyung headed for the bedroom without looking back. He was out of breath. However, no sound reached him other than the sound of his slippers hitting the floor. Seo Yi-kyung glanced back. Han Seung-jae wasn’t following.
Given his personality, it was unlikely he would follow anyway. Seo Yi-kyung tried to calm his racing heart as he entered the bedroom. He approached the bed with effort and flopped down. For now, the matter of going to the hospital was settled.
* * *
Early in the morning, Seo Yi-kyung swung his legs out of bed, got up, and went into the bathroom. After a quick shower and rubbing his wet hair with a towel, he went downstairs to the first floor.
After requesting Butler Do, who asked if he would have breakfast, to have the car ready, he went straight into the dressing room. He put on comfortable pants and a shirt, buttoned them up, and grabbed a nearby jacket. Once ready to leave, he headed to Seju Hospital, which Jin Seon-yu had informed him of via message, accompanied by Butler Do.
“Will it be alright if you go without eating breakfast?”
Seju Hospital was quite a distance from the house. There was a closer hospital that Seo Yi-kyung had visited when he sprained his wrist, so Butler Do seemed to assume he was going to visit Jin Seon-yu.
“It’s fine. Butler Do, please get the wound on your face treated while we’re there.”
Butler Do’s cheeks were mottled, and a jagged tear of a wound sat unsightly near his mouth. Butler Do handled all the household affairs. Therefore, he couldn’t keep using the excuse of a cold for Han Seung-jae forever. If he did, Han Seung-jae was the type of person who would kick Butler Do out, claiming he was utterly useless.
The car slowed down and stopped.
“We have arrived.”
Looking out the window, Seo Yi-kyung opened the car door himself and stepped out. He tightened his jacket and walked up the stairs. Butler Do followed, touching the wound on his face.
“Butler Do, the appointment is made, so you can just get treated.”
“And the young master?”
“Yi-kyung!”
Butler Do asked about Seo Yi-kyung’s whereabouts. However, his doubt was short-lived. At the sound of a voice calling Seo Yi-kyung from a distance, the two turned around. Jin Seon-yu, wearing patient clothes with a cardigan draped over his shoulders, was waving. A doctor in a white coat was beside him.
“Then, please get treated and return to the car.”
Rather than explaining the situation to Butler Do, Seo Yi-kyung chose to hurry his steps. As he approached Jin Seon-yu, the latter spoke as if he had been waiting.
“You were so late I thought you weren’t coming.”
“Traffic was a bit heavy. I’m sorry, even though I tried to hurry.”
Walking behind the doctor, Jin Seon-yu lowered his voice and tilted his head slightly. He whispered in a small voice that only Seo Yi-kyung could hear.
“I only booked that specific exam, just as you asked.”
“Thanks.”
Seo Yi-kyung replied briefly and entered the elevator where the doctor was pressing the button. As the doors closed, Jin Seon-yu looked in the mirror, fidgeting with his patient clothes and grumbling.
“I need to get the exam over with and take this off. It doesn’t suit me at all.”
Watching him, Seo Yi-kyung took a deep breath and exhaled invisibly. Even so, the anxiety wouldn’t fade.
Soon, the elevator stopped and Jin Seon-yu stepped out. He walked ahead and looked back. Seo Yi-kyung stepped out. In his mind, he recalled the tester with a single line. It’ll be fine.
In the hospital room he entered following Jin Seon-yu, Seo Yi-kyung took off his jacket, unbuttoned his wrists, and rolled up his sleeves. He had a blood test just like Jin Seon-yu and received a paper cup.
Then, while waiting for the test results, Seo Yi-kyung accompanied Jin Seon-yu through his health checkup. He intended to create an excuse to give Han Seung-jae in case he asked.
Perhaps thanks to Jin Seon-yu’s prior reservation, the exams proceeded smoothly. The results were also available quickly.
Upon hearing that the results were out, Seo Yi-kyung headed toward the consultation room.
“I’m hungry.”
Jin Seon-yu, walking down the hallway, rubbed his stomach over his patient clothes.
“Let’s go eat something delicious once the exam is over. I made a reservation at Ivory Pavilion. You couldn’t even eat properly the last time you went.”
Seo Yi-kyung turned his head to respond to Jin Seon-yu. At that moment, Jin Seon-yu’s round eyes widened sharply, as if on high alert.
“Kwon Gwi-jun?”
Jin Seon-yu stopped dead in his tracks. Simultaneously, Seo Yi-kyung turned his head in the same direction. Kwon Gwi-jun was standing there, dressed in a clean suit. His sturdy build, wrapped in the suit, made him look composed yet striking. He had a gaze that didn’t match his age.
In the hands of the secretary beside him were a fruit basket and a box. It looked as though he had come to visit a patient.
“Why are you here?”
However, the secretary didn’t even enter Jin Seon-yu’s field of vision. Despite the shout, Kwon Gwi-jun’s gaze shifted toward Seo Yi-kyung.
“I’m sorry about last time.”
At Kwon Gwi-jun’s words, Seo Yi-kyung recalled the past days he had been trying to bury. From the moment he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and dragged in relentlessly, to being slapped and laid on a table. Then, Han Seung-jae’s face filled his mind. In the meantime, Kwon Gwi-jun continued.
“I wanted to apologize, but I had no way to contact you. I tried to meet Hyung Seung-jae as well. But he wouldn’t meet me, and he hasn’t been showing up to the gatherings.”
Seo Yi-kyung blinked silently. He hadn’t heard such things from Han Seung-jae. However, knowing that he wasn’t the type of person to explain things in detail, he spoke.
“Seung-jae is probably just busy.”
There was no way it was because of him.
“And I’ve forgotten all about it.”
He didn’t want to remember or recall such things. The fact that the person who came to mind in that desperate moment was Han Seung-jae, and that he had felt relieved when Han Seung-jae appeared before his eyes.