#53

“That’s Yoon Ki-beom in a grim reaper’s mask.”

“Really? That’s strange. If that person is the grim reaper, why hasn’t he taken you away? If it were me, I would have taken you already. Don’t you think?”

He sneered. The old man’s face showed clear signs of being caught off guard. He couldn’t continue his sentence, saying, “Well…”

“What do I look like? If we’re judging by appearance, I might be closer to a grim reaper than he is.”

The old man flinched and loosened his grip on the hand he was holding.

“Anyway, that’s definitely not our Ki-beom. That bastard wouldn’t bring me cigarettes!”

“Yes, yes. Let’s say you’re right. Then you shouldn’t accept those cigarettes and drinks. They were given by the grim reaper. Who knows, they might be the price of your life.”

As he said this, he reached for the cigarettes the old man was holding, and the old man quickly stepped back.

“Are you in on this too?”

The questioning voice trembled. The old man’s already dark face was now filled with rage.

“Yes. I’m also a grim reaper. We usually work in pairs, but I was a bit busy, so Ki-beom came alone until now.”

As he grinned, the old man became furious. He pointed a finger and shouted.

“How dare a kid with no brains mock an elder!! Do you think I’m crazy? That bastard is the real crazy one! Do you think I can’t recognize his speech, voice, and gaze? I don’t know how he managed to wear that skin, but that’s definitely not Yoon Ki-beom. He’s not from our bloodline!!”

Saliva flew in all directions.

“Shut up, you bastard.”

Tae-heun warned in a low voice. He wiped the smile off his face and stared blankly.

The old man shrank back in fear. Still, he couldn’t contain his anger and breathed heavily. He even clenched his fists, though he wouldn’t dare to hit anyone. If he were in his prime, he would have easily beaten the man.

If the man had lost his parents at a young age and had grown up under that old man, he would have surely faced abuse. Thinking this made anger swell within him. Without certainty, he spat curses at the old man.

“Fucking bastard.”

When Tae-heun cursed at him, the old man shrank even more. The waiting room was filled with silence.

Eventually, the man appeared holding a bottle of water. Relieved that he hadn’t heard the old man’s words, Tae-heun raised a finger toward the old man. Shh, he warned.

The old man accepted the water from the man while keeping his head bowed, maintaining that posture throughout the visit. The man didn’t talk much, so the silence stretched on. Nevertheless, he began to share stories from his childhood in a lively tone.

He had no good memories to share, only saying, “I caused a lot of trouble,” and “Still, I was grateful for being taken in.” There were stories of the old man and his wife scolding him, and of being kicked out of the house and spending nights in front of the entrance. The man kept laughing, as if he found something amusing.

Tae-heun felt a mix of emotions as the man’s unfortunate past was confirmed. He was angry that there was nothing he could do other than glare at the old man.

The visit barely exceeded 30 minutes before it ended.

“Uncle, I’ll come again next month. Until then, take care of your health.”

As he announced the end of the visit, the male nurse waiting outside appeared. The old man hurriedly left the visiting room with the nurse, almost as if fleeing.

The man’s face showed more relief than regret. There was a sense of satisfaction from having completed a task. To the man, visiting his uncle seemed like an unintended responsibility and obligation. Tae-heun naturally thought of his own family and could somewhat understand why the man was acting that way. It wasn’t just the man who was tied down by family; Tae-heun was even more so.

The man left the hospital without delay. He looked at his wristwatch, making a troubled expression before turning to Tae-heun.

“Tae-heun, I’m sorry, but could you wait for about an hour? You can go to a nearby café or have a meal first.”

“Why? Do you have someone to meet?”

Of course, it made sense that someone he liked would be here. He gritted his teeth, letting his imagination run wild.

“That’s not it.”

The man hesitated to speak.

“I need to stop by the orthopedic clinic. It’s for my leg.”

He patted his left thigh apologetically.

Tae-heun followed the man’s hand to his thigh and then remembered that the man was limping. A smile spread across his previously stiff face. He felt a great sense of relief.

“Is it really bad?”

He asked worriedly, managing his expression late.

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just a regular check-up. I guess I’ve been overdoing it.”

The man said defensively, looking dejected as if his body being in pain was some kind of sin.

“Let’s go together.”

“What?”

“I said let’s go together. I just met Ki-beom’s uncle, so how could I not follow you there? Ki-beom needs a guardian too. I’ll be your guardian.”

The man, who had been momentarily dazed, smiled. He muttered “guardian” softly and then nodded.

“Guardian.”

Tae-heun emphasized it again as if to make sure he heard.

“Let’s go.”

He tried to lead the way without knowing where to go, then turned back to push the man’s back.

The orthopedic clinic the man attended was quite large. Compared to the nursing home from earlier, it felt like a general hospital. There were at least four specialists and a rehabilitation center. Even though it was a weekday, there was no room for patients to step in. He felt relieved that the man knew how to spend money on his own health.

Tae-heun followed him from the consultation room to the injection room and the physical therapy room. The attending doctor and nurse found it strange that a young man was shadowing the patient, but they didn’t ask about their relationship. It seemed to be due to the scars on both the man and Tae-heun’s faces.

Now that he thought about it, the man’s uncle didn’t acknowledge the scars on either of them. The nurse there was the same. It was a place where alcoholics gathered, so it was easy to guess.

Even though they occupied an entire floor of the hospital, there was no place to sit in the physical therapy room. The main clientele was elderly people, though occasionally young people with leg or arm injuries could be seen. The man was the most robust patient among them.

Tae-heun squeezed into the treatment room, which had no waiting area, and settled at the edge of a bed. When the physical therapist pulled the curtain, the man took off his pants and hung them on a hook. The man, in just his underwear, lay on the bed, covering only his midsection with a summer blanket.

The physical therapist skillfully placed heat pads that looked like mats on the man’s right thigh and calf, saying, “Let me know if it gets too hot,” before disappearing behind the curtain.

“Don’t sit uncomfortably over there; come sit here. There’s plenty of room.”

The man offered his already narrow bed to Tae-heun. The space he had made was barely enough for one buttock, but Tae-heun willingly sat there, looking at the man’s legs.

“Ki-beom’s legs are muscular.”

At Tae-heun’s words, the man’s face turned bright red in an instant. It was the first time he had reacted so quickly. He wondered if it was even necessary to blush that much over something that wasn’t even a direct comment about his private parts, making Tae-heun feel awkward instead.

“Well, I think mine might be thicker, but I mean, compared to an average person, that’s what I meant.”

He added unnecessary words.

There was no need to recover the awkward atmosphere. The man had melted into the warmth of the heat pad and had fallen asleep almost instantly. After all, he had woken up earlier than Tae-heun despite the chaos of the previous night.

Various sounds mixed with the steady beeping of machines came from beyond the curtain. Tae-heun felt a sense of calm. He passed the time watching the sleeping man.

The man was lying in a position with his legs slightly apart, being serviced by Kwon Yong-jun. He was wearing shorts, but they had ridden up to his groin, making it seem as if he were wearing only his underwear. Even while being serviced, the man was sound asleep.

The wet sounds that came when Kwon Yong-jun was servicing him echoed vividly in his ears. At the time of discovery, he had been furious, but now it was remembered in an oddly erotic way.

You seem to enjoy the erotic.

He frowned.

Before long, he began to worry that the heat pad might be too hot. The physical therapist had said to let him know if it got hot, but the man, being sound asleep, wouldn’t know, so it was up to him to check. He shrugged as if there was no other choice.

Tae-heun slipped his hand between the man’s calf and the heat pad. He tried to do it precisely. Due to his large and rough hands, he could barely fit his fingers into the almost seamless gap between the pad and the man’s leg. How could he check properly like this? Carefully, he peeled off the Velcro attached to the heat pad to loosen it, then slipped his palm between the pad and the man’s calf.

Even though it was a hot day, and he was literally getting a heat treatment, it didn’t seem hot enough to call the physical therapist. After adjusting the pad back in place, he moved on to the thigh. After some trial and error, he was able to slide his hand between the pad and the thigh much more easily.

Unlike the calf, the thigh was firm but much softer to the touch. Was it really okay for a thirty-three-year-old man’s skin to be this soft? Tae-heun marveled and unconsciously brushed the inside of the man’s thigh. The sensation of kneading someone else’s thigh, especially of the same gender, was truly refreshing.

Would my skin be as soft as the man’s?

He was so curious that he almost unzipped his pants, but just then, the machine beeped.

Beep—

As soon as the sound came from the machine, the curtain was pulled back. The physical therapist moved the heat pad to the man’s left thigh and calf and then disappeared again.

As soon as the physical therapist left, Tae-heun boldly pushed his palm into the heat pad on the thigh. As a result, instead of the man’s thigh receiving the treatment it needed, Tae-heun’s hand was getting the heat treatment, but he thought it would be okay just this once and savored the soft skin.