By Zephyria 
“I thought it would take a while, so I was planning to just sit here… You washed up incredibly fast.”
Did he even wash? He had practically come out the moment he stepped into the bathroom.
“I washed quickly on purpose. I don’t usually wash this fast.”
As if reading Mo Yeon-hu’s thoughts, Kwon Mi-eon countered immediately as he approached.
“Why? You could have taken your time…”
“Because I was anxious.”
After saying something cryptic, Kwon Mi-eon paused, his gaze landing on the bag of medicine Mo Yeon-hu was holding.
‘Ah. I wonder if he feels bad about it.’
Realizing his mistake a moment too late, Mo Yeon-hu quickly set it down as if he had never looked at the medicine bag in the first place.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to look! It was just there! I thought it was trash and was going to clean it up…”
“…It’s okay.”
Kwon Mi-eon looked a bit flustered, but seeing Mo Yeon-hu not knowing what to do with himself in apology, he shook his head and reached out.
“Give it to me, I’ll clear it away.”
“Ah, okay!”
Handing over the medicine bag, Mo Yeon-hu’s lips twitched.
‘I wonder where he’s hurting.’
Seeing that he had been exercising until just a moment ago, it didn’t seem like a serious illness, but it was only natural to feel worried.
Mo Yeon-hu cautiously approached from behind Kwon Mi-eon as he put the medicine in the drawer. Unaware, Kwon Mi-eon started to turn around and froze.
“Kwon Mi-eon. You…”
While Kwon Mi-eon stiffened at the unexpectedly close distance, Mo Yeon-hu seemed indifferent to that fact. In the first place, his gaze was directed elsewhere.
“Are you sick somewhere?”
Following Mo Yeon-hu’s gaze, Kwon Mi-eon looked toward the drawer and paused.
“Were you worried about me? It’s nothing. Just a cold.”
Kwon Mi-eon smiled slightly, but Mo Yeon-hu couldn’t just let that comment slide.
“So you don’t need to worry about it. Do you want to sit over there? I’ll quickly bring you something to drink.”
Looking at that flustered expression and tone, and the attitude of trying to get Mo Yeon-hu away quickly, it was obvious. Kwon Mi-eon was quite embarrassed right now. Like someone who had been caught doing something they shouldn’t have.
“You… is it a serious illness?”
In the end, he had to ask.
“Are you very sick?”
Kwon Mi-eon stiffened visibly. Seeing that extremely panicked expression, Mo Yeon-hu also became serious.
‘He really is very sick.’
It seemed like he was in bad condition even now.
“Your face is suddenly red. Do you have a fever?”
Looking closely, Kwon Mi-eon’s face was indeed flushed. Mo Yeon-hu stepped closer to the awkwardly standing man and reached out. His hand landed softly on Kwon Mi-eon’s forehead. Soon, Mo Yeon-hu’s brow furrowed.
“You’re hot.”
“Hyung. This isn’t a fever, it’s just because I just washed—”
“Put some clothes on.”
Mo Yeon-hu’s face was unprecedentedly serious and incredibly forceful. Unlike his usual easygoing manner, the cool tone made Kwon Mi-eon blink. But Mo Yeon-hu was in a hurry.
He withdrew his hand and zipped past the dazed Kwon Mi-eon into the bedroom’s dressing room.
“Hyung.”
Kwon Mi-eon called out to him in a panicked voice and followed, but Mo Yeon-hu was faster. He quickly scanned the clothes and muttered.
“Your clothes are all, what…”
Every single piece was well-organized, but there were few comfortable clothes. Kwon Mi-eon watched blankly as Mo Yeon-hu pulled out the most casual clothes he could find and set them down firmly. It was a swift movement, unlike the usually slow and sluggish Mo Yeon-hu. Before knowing it, he was fiddling with the car keys in his pocket and turned on his phone.
“Let’s go to the hospital right now.”
Then, he dialed a number.
“Someone I know sees patients even on weekends. I’ll let them know we’re coming, so let’s go together.”
“Hyung, I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
Kwon Mi-eon grabbed him to stop him. However, since his face had become even redder than before rather than improving, Mo Yeon-hu’s expression grew grave.
“I saw you have a lot of medicine, and if you’re still sick despite taking all that, it’s right to go to a big hospital, not a local clinic! You need to get a proper check-up…”
“I don’t need one. I’ve already had them all, and I know why I’m like this…”
Mo Yeon-hu fixed his gaze on Kwon Mi-eon. But contrary to his words that he was fine without a hospital, the end of Kwon Mi-eon’s sentence trailed off weakly, and the gaze that would usually stare intensely into his eyes…
“…What is it? What did you catch?”
For some reason, he couldn’t even look at him properly now. When Mo Yeon-hu looked at him as if that attitude was suspicious, Kwon Mi-eon turned his head away entirely.
The face turned aside, the shower gown slipping down and opening. Because of that, Kwon Mi-eon’s chest was clearly exposed.
“…….”
Drip, drip. Water droplets falling from the tips of his hair flowed down his nape. Unfortunately, that was where the gaze landed. Passing the collarbone line, darkened by moisture, down to the firm chest precariously revealed through the gap in the gown.
‘He’s sick, but…’
His gaze rolled down along the smooth, thick lines forged by exercise. His head knew. He knew he shouldn’t scan the body of a sick person like this.
‘He’s a patient…….’
But the skin that held the heat from the recent shower, and the patches of reddened skin, kept embedding themselves in his vision. Just as Mo Yeon-hu was unconsciously admiring him as if possessed.
“………Disease.”
At that moment, Kwon Mi-eon whispered softly.
“What?”
He definitely said something, but because he spoke with his head turned away, Mo Yeon-hu couldn’t hear it properly. Frowning slightly, Mo Yeon-hu leaned closer to Kwon Mi-eon.
However, he couldn’t meet Kwon Mi-eon’s eyes. Kwon Mi-eon had turned his head even further away than before to avoid eye contact, and was even covering his mouth with his hand.
“What did you say?”
When Mo Yeon-hu asked again to hear properly, Kwon Mi-eon’s lips twitched again as he spoke cautiously.
“Hwa……”
“……Hwa?”
“Disease….”
“Disease?”
Mo Yeon-hu tilted his head and muttered.
“Hwa-byeong?”
Did he hear that right? Mo Yeon-hu asked back, puzzled by the unexpected answer, but Kwon Mi-eon nodded.
“What do you mean suddenly ‘hwa-byeong’? That’s just a vase for flowers……”
As he muttered this, Mo Yeon-hu blinked. In that moment, a word flashed through his mind.
‘Hwa-byeong (Fire Disease/Stress-induced illness)?’
Mo Yeon-hu immediately searched the term on his phone. In the meantime, Kwon Mi-eon stood there, unable to meet his eyes.
‘Known to primarily cause a feeling of tightness in the chest and shortness of breath, a desire to break away, symptoms of a hot lump surging up from the stomach, accompanied by anxiety, despair, depression, and anger….’
Mo Yeon-hu, who had been reading for a while, paused.
“…A physical and mental illness caused by the inability to suppress anger accumulated from suffering unfair treatment or experiencing resentful events?”
After reading the last phrase, he finally understood.
“No way…….”
Glancing at Kwon Mi-eon, he saw him looking toward Mo Yeon-hu while partially hiding his face, and their eyes met. His face turned even redder.
“You got hwa-byeong from fighting with the mechanic?!”
“………What?”
At Mo Yeon-hu’s following words, Kwon Mi-eon wore a completely bewildered expression. As soon as he saw that face, Mo Yeon-hu clenched his fist as if he understood everything.
“I can see why you’re angry. Those guys really! Planting a spy so despicably! How much stress must you have been under to get hwa-byeong?”
“Hyung, no.”
“It’s enough to cause hwa-byeong. Even if it were me, having spies and whatnot constantly pushed into the Alliance I raised with such care! Not only making a fool out of me but keeping me from sleeping! Making me do nothing but play the game! It’s enough to make anyone truly pissed!”
“It’s not because of the game……”
“I’m glad you won, but it was enough to cause hwa-byeong. Should I go and demand an explanation? Who was it, HHH?”
“Listen to me……”
“This won’t do. I’ll go in and……”
“Dammit, it’s not that! It’s because I thought Hyung would go to Kang Mi-yeong! That’s why I got hwa-byeong!!”
Kwon Mi-eon grabbed the wrist of Mo Yeon-hu, who looked as if he would go and confront HHH this instant, and shouted.
“……Huh?”
Surprised by the sudden shout for a moment, Mo Yeon-hu froze with wide eyes, wondering what on earth he meant. And toward him, Kwon Mi-eon poured out his inner thoughts.
“Your face turned red at the mention of Kang Mi-yeong being interested in you! Because you’ve always liked Kang Mi-yeong!! I thought you’d go straight to Kang Mi-yeong and you two would start dating…… Fuck! That’s why I got hwa-byeong and took medicine!!”
Kwon Mi-eon, his entire body dyed bright red, glared at Mo Yeon-hu and huffed with a face that looked like he was about to explode with frustration.