Chapter 94 – The Price of Misjudgment
The fever returned in the morning.
His mind was already exhausted, still unable to figure out what to do about Jeong Si-jun, and now his body was acting up as well, leaving his nerves frayed.
With nothing resolving satisfactorily, it felt as if a heavy stone were resting on his chest. Even opening his eyes felt like a chore; it took a long while of idling around before he finally regained consciousness.
“……Ah, I’m gonna die. Seriously.”
Unable to bear it any longer, he decided to take an antipyretic. With no strength in his body, he practically crawled halfway across the floor before he could pop the medicine into his mouth. He collapsed back onto the bed and drifted off into a shallow sleep.
He woke up from the light slumber, but the symptoms showed no sign of improving. If anything, they seemed to be worsening; he was now shivering with chills.
While he lay there for a long time, head buried in the pillow and blanket pulled up to his chin, the phone rang.
The sound was like a piercing needle to his eardrums, and he answered without even checking the caller [[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]ID. After all, there was only one person who would call at this hour.
-……Hyung?
“Why are you calling so early…….”
He replied without even trying to clear his heavily cracked voice, and he could hear the sound of the person on the other end sitting up.
-Are you sick? Why does your voice sound like that?
“I have a fever.”
Yoon Ki-hyun summarized his condition simply, his breath wheezing as he frowned. Even with his eyes closed, the world felt as if it were spinning, and trying to maintain a phone call on top of that made him feel like he was truly at death’s door.
He didn’t even need to listen to know why Jeong Si-jun was calling.
He was probably planning to use some excuse or another to ask to meet. If he were in better shape, he would have met him, but right now, he couldn’t even fathom the idea of stepping outside his room.
“I don’t think I can meet you today because I’m like this.”
He preempted the conversation before Jeong Si-jun could say anything unnecessary, and Jeong Si-jun grumbled over the phone, sounding bewildered.
-Is meeting right now what’s important? The important thing is that you’re sick. Is it just a fever? Any coughing? Is anything else hurting?
The relentless barrage of questions made his head spin.
“Talk… quieter……. My head is throbbing.”
-This won’t do. Hyung, I’m coming to your place.
“Forget it. I took medicine, so I’ll get better soon. Why come over? There’s nowhere even to sit.”
-…….
Jeong Si-jun was silent for a moment. Ki-hyun didn’t have the energy to imagine what the quiet boy was thinking. Just as Ki-hyun, feeling his strength fade, was about to hang up:
-Still…….
A voice, significantly softened by the mention of the headache, drifted through. He spoke so quietly that Ki-hyun had to turn up the volume to hear him properly.
-When you’re sick and alone, it just feels more miserable and hurts more.
The moment Jeong Si-jun finished speaking, Yoon Ki-hyun gripped the phone tightly.
-……I won’t do anything weird. I just want to see if you’re okay.
Suddenly, Yoon Ki-hyun felt relieved that this wasn’t a video call. He didn’t want to show Jeong Si-jun his distorted and shaken expression.
Even though he knew the reason for the heat flushing his face and the chills racking his body was simply poor condition or a cold, a corner of his heart felt strangely empty.
He had been trying his best to ignore the fact that it was due to loneliness. To think that of all people, Jeong Si-jun would be the one to point it out.
“…….”
Yoon Ki-hyun closed his slowly blinking eyes. His aching, throbbing eyes felt as if they were pulsating, ready to burst. It felt as though moisture might overflow at any moment.
“Do you know where my place is?”
He knew that Jeong Si-jun knew his address. After all, when he had collapsed during a phone call once before, Si-jun had come in with paramedics and forced the door open.
The reason he asked this meaningless question was to buy himself time to ask his own heart if it was okay to invite Jeong Si-jun into this cramped and shabby place.
On the other end, Jeong Si-jun hesitated for a moment.
The boy, who had recently become very preoccupied with reading Yoon Ki-hyun’s mood, seemed worried that his previous act of barging in might be seen as a negative.
-……Assuming you haven’t moved in the meantime.
However, Jeong Si-jun chose honesty over the obvious lie of not knowing. Ki-hyun couldn’t understand why that honesty felt so endearing today.
His parched lips twitched slightly. In those few short seconds, countless thoughts flashed through his mind like shards of glass.
But at the end of all those ruminations, the answer that escaped [unauthorized copy]Yoon stolen contentKi-hyun’s lips was an invitation that felt like a surrender.
“……Fine. Come if you want to.”
The moment he gave his consent, he heard the sound of Jeong Si-jun springing up on the other end.
-I’ll shower and head over right now. Is there anything you need? Do you have antipyretics? Do you drink ionic drinks?
The sound of rustling was loud over the excited voice. Yoon Ki-hyun closed his eyes, imagined Jeong Si-jun flustered and rushing around, and let out a small chuckle.
“I have medicine. I don’t really need anything.”
-Got it. I’ll be there soon. If anything happens, call me, okay?
Fearing that Yoon Ki-hyun might change his mind, Jeong Si-jun ended the call first without waiting for an answer.
After the initial bewilderment passed, Yoon Ki-hyun, still holding the silent phone to his ear, let out a small sigh.
‘Did I tell him to come for nothing?’
Come to think of it, Jeong Si-jun had also just been discharged from the hospital. No matter if he was an S-class Esper, it felt like a blow to his conscience to ask someone who had just undergone major surgery to nurse him just because of a cold.
‘Being sick isn’t some kind of merit.’
Just as he was debating whether he should tell him not to come, the phone rang again.
“……Yeah.”
-Gasp, Hyung. I’m in front of your house.
Along with the sound of panting, there was a presence outside the door. Yoon Ki-hyun forced his unresponsive body up and flung the door open.
The outside air rushed in, and the scent of Jeong Si-jun brushed against the tip of his nose. Both of his hands were full of various items.
“……Did you actually take your medicine?”
Jeong Si-jun hesitated, momentarily [stolen contentclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen [unauthorized copy]content]lost for words at the sight of the flushed face appearing through the open door.
He had thought the voice sounded unusual during the call, but seeing him in person, his condition looked much worse.
From the burning cheeks and cracked lips to the bangs clinging to his forehead with cold sweat. Even his breath was hot, as if he had been suffering for quite some time.
“I did. You got here sooner than I thought…….”
And then there was that lifeless, drooping voice.
“Can I come in?”
“……Yeah.”
Yoon Ki-hyun stepped aside to let him in. Carrying the bags full of things he had bought, Jeong Si-jun officially entered Yoon Ki-hyun’s goshiwon room.
The narrow room, with a breeze blowing through a window left slightly open for ventilation, still lacked any sense of “living.”
Aside from the optional furniture, it was hard to find any personal belongings, as if the occupant style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]were someone who could leave this place at any moment.
Jeong Si-jun stole a glance at Yoon Ki-hyun’s back as he staggered toward the bed, and began taking the items out of the bags.
Various ionic drinks, fruits for hydration, and even some snacks that would be good for light eating.
He had shoved everything he saw into the cart and driven to Yoon Ki-hyun’s house, yet it had still taken some time. Seeing as Ki-hyun asked if he had already arrived, he must have dozed off again in the meantime.
‘Should he go to the hospital?’
Thinking that he would monitor the situation a bit more and carry him to the hospital on his back if necessary, Jeong Si-jun picked up an ionic drink.
“Do you want to drink something first?”
“……Yeah.”
The lifeless, sagging voice made his heart ache for no reason.
“Can I use this cup?”
“Yeah.”
Jeong Si-jun poured the ionic drink into the glass sitting lonely on the desk and handed it over. Seeing that even the fingertips reaching for the glass were reddish, it seemed it would take more time for the fever to drop.
Yoon Ki-hyun bowed his head slightly in gratitude and slowly swallowed the drink. Jeong Si-jun sat carefully on the floor, looked up at his face, and asked.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay without going to the hospital? Anywhere else hurting?”
Remembering that Ki-hyun had asked him to speak quietly because his head was throbbing, he whispered, causing Yoon Ki-hyun to let out a small laugh, as if something were funny.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just… because you’re suddenly whispering.”
“You said your head was throbbing earlier.”
“The fact that you care about that…… is just new to me.”
Yoon Ki-hyun placed the empty glass on the nightstand and turned his head. Jeong Si-jun was still staring intently at his face, looking worried.
“How much did you sleep?”
“……I don’t know.”
“Are you sleepy?”
“……I think so.”
“Then lie down and sleep.”
Jeong Si-jun closed the window, remarking that it seemed enough air had circulated. He did it so naturally, as if it were his own home.
Yoon Ki-hyun sluggishly burrowed himself into the blanket, lay on the bed, and blinked.
He had invited Jeong Si-jun here, but the feeling of receiving such full-fledged nursing care made his emotions flutter. Aside from when he was hospitalized, this was almost the first [visit our site]style="position:relative;display:inline;">visit our site:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]time someone had stayed by his side like this while he was sick.
Rustling through the bags, Jeong Si-jun pulled out a box.
“I bought cooling patches just in case.”
“Aren’t those for babies?”
“Since when is there such a thing as a ‘baby adult’ for things like this?”
Despite his words, Jeong Si-jun’s face was serious as he examined the cooling patch box.
After reading the small print thoroughly, he boasted that anyone could use them, tore the plastic, and slapped one onto Yoon Ki-hyun’s forehead.
“It’s lukewarm…….”
“It’s only been five seconds since I put it on.”
“Is it always like this?”
“It’s my first time using one, so I don’t know…….”
Jeong Si-jun’s gaze returned to the box. Seeing him glare at the box as if he wanted to tear it apart made Ki-hyun feel that it was actually quite nice.
“I guess it’ll get cooler as I keep it on.”
“Yeah. Just get some deep sleep for now. Tell me if it hurts.”
“What am I, a kid?”
Though he grumbled, Yoon Ki-hyun smiled faintly.
The rustling sound of the items being organized should have been annoying, but strangely, his mind was at peace.
When he was very young, whenever he suffered alone in sickness, there was something he used to imagine. The sound of someone staying by his side, placing a damp towel on his forehead and taking care of his medicine.
He had never actually experienced it, but the atmosphere he had vaguely imagined had now become a reality. Although, in place of the mother or father unauthorized copydata-wm="visit our site" style="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit [Read on Read BL Novels]our sitefrom his imagination, there was now a man as large as a mountain sitting there.
‘I guess when you’re sick, even the smallest things feel grateful…….’
No, he really should be grateful. Yoon Ki-hyun continued to gaze blankly at Jeong Si-jun’s face until his eyes, blurring with sleep, finally closed.
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