By Zephyria 
Lee Beom’s face, usually as expressionless as a statue, looked troubled. He didn’t seem like the type to make that kind of face. His expression, revealing unrestrained emotions, felt like acting.
Everything felt strange, like a lie. This entire situation surrounding me felt less like reality and more like a scene from a movie.
It was as if this whole situation was dog food, and I was a acorn that had fallen into it.
“…I.”
“Huh?”
“Ha…”
Lee Beom let out a deep sigh and repeatedly wiped his lips, looking anxious.
“Never mind. Sorry. Seong Hae-min will be alright.”
“Ah…”
I looked at Lee Beom, letting out an ambiguous sigh that couldn’t form into words. Lee Beom buried his face in his hands and quietly took deep breaths for a long time. Thinking of Seong Hae-min, who had been fine just this morning, felt like walking through a dream.
I didn’t know where he came from, but Jeon Jae-hyung suddenly appeared beside me and handed me a doll.
I accepted it absently, and it turned out to be a Bboongyi doll, the leader of Bunker. The doll’s eyes, adorned with acrylic buttons, were shiny and pitch black.
What is this now?
Looking up at Jeon Jae-hyung standing beside me, he raised a large hand and covered my eyes.
“Everything will be alright……”
The world went dark. As I sat blankly in the darkness, I slowly began to sense the bustling activity around me.
Suddenly, I snapped back to reality. I gently moved Jeon Jae-hyung’s hand away from my eyes. The harsh white fluorescent light stung my eyes.
Come to think of it, shouldn’t someone explain what’s going on?
‘I mean, even so….’
Even so, I’m Seong Hae-min’s family, and there’s no explanation at all!
“Is Seong Hae-min badly hurt? How badly? How did it happen?”
My mind, now cool as if splashed with cold water, finally started to work.
At my questions, Jeon Jae-hyung avoided my gaze, and Lee Beom didn’t lift his face from his hands. A sense of foreboding enveloped me.
Sometimes, silence feels more dreadful than any answer. It felt like the answer would be too tragic to put into words. Every possible negative scenario I could imagine swirled in my head.
I pressed my lips together, which were trembling.
What in the world is happening? You were with Seong Hae-min, so you must know. Explain it properly. Just as I was about to coldly demand an explanation, unable to hold back any longer.
A calm voice, like warm air, blew from behind me.
“Hae-min is okay.”
I slowly turned around. Yeon Su-hwan was approaching. His hair was disheveled, as if he had run in haste.
“I just spoke with the doctor, and Hae-min isn’t badly hurt. Don’t worry. They’re just overreacting.”
Yeon Su-hwan, who had approached slowly, knelt in front of my knees. The hand that reached out to pat my cheek was warm, but not entirely so.
“Were you very surprised?”
“Ah… I was very surprised, but……”
I trailed off. Even after hearing that Seong Hae-min wasn’t seriously injured, my irregularly beating heart hadn’t settled.
I wanted to yell at Jeon Jeon-hyung and Lee Beom, who had acted as if something terrible had happened, but I could only let out a sigh of exhaustion. My entire body went limp, like a machine that had been switched off. That’s when I realized how intensely I had been tensed.
Yeon Su-hwan brushed back my messy bangs. I looked up at Yeon Su-hwan, who had delivered the news, with a lukewarm expression.
Even after hearing he was okay, my worries weren’t completely resolved. I wouldn’t be able to relax until I saw him with my own eyes, truly alright. Thinking of Seong Hae-min lying there injured made my stomach churn.
As I tidied my hair again, my eyes met Yeon Su-hwan’s.
I instinctively went on guard. What if he laughed ‘kuk’ again?
“Kuk.”
I didn’t want to make eye contact!
Yeon Su-hwan, as if he had discovered something, covered his mouth with his fist and kept chuckling.
“Is the Bboongyi doll in your arms something Jae-hyung gave you?”
“Ah? Ah, yes.”
“It suits you well.”
“Huh?”
Isn’t that not a compliment?
Yeon Su-hwan kept chuckling while looking at the Bboongyi doll in my hand. In a fit of pique, I almost threw it away, but remembering it wasn’t mine, I tightened my grip on the doll. Jeon Jae-hyung, the doll’s owner, nodded in agreement with Yeon Su-hwan’s words. Why are you nodding like you did something right!
Soon, Min Si-hu arrived after parking, and as I watched the Four Heavenly Kings bicker amongst themselves, waiting, a doctor approached Yeon Su-hwan and explained something.
I stood there blankly, holding the Bboongyi doll, watching the scene. Even though I was Seong Hae-min’s family, for some reason, I couldn’t step forward.
Secretly, I clasped my hands and prayed to a god I had never believed in my entire life.
‘Please, let Seong Hae-min be safe….’
Fortunately, what Yeon Su-hwan conveyed to us was the news that Seong Hae-min had been moved to a recovery room.
And not long after, Seong Hae-min was moved to a private room. We followed. Seong Hae-min, who had regained consciousness in the recovery room, appeared to be fast asleep.
Perhaps it was the release of tension, but I too started to feel sleepy. Watching Seong Hae-min lying there with his leg heavily bandaged and his face pale, I eventually dozed off without even realizing it. The rustling sounds of the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Su-hwan, all gathered around, faded into the distance.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Seong Hae-jun. Wake up.”
I woke up to the sound of my name being called. I could smell the distinct scent of disinfectant from the cleanly mopped hospital tiles. When I opened my eyes, I was on a makeshift bed next to Seong Hae-min.
‘What time is it?’
Rubbing my face, I tried to wake myself up. Lee Beom, who was crouched beside me, ruffled my messy hair.
A soft, airy chuckle was heard.
“You look like a goldfish.”
“……?”
“Let’s go eat.”
“Uh, huh?”
“Come on. Get up.”
Without even time to gather my thoughts, Lee Beom grabbed my wrist. I hastily slipped my feet into the slippers someone had conveniently placed nearby.
I was still half asleep, and my eyes were puffy, making the world spin and crumble even though I was looking straight ahead. I couldn’t tell if I was looking forward or backward. My blood pressure dropped, causing the world to repeatedly darken and brighten.
Eventually, with my wrist still in Lee Beom’s grasp, I stumbled and fell in the hospital corridor.
“Seong Hae-jun!”
“Ugh…”
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? Uh…”
“…Does it hurt?”
Lee Beom quickly crouched down, lifting my face and turning it around to check. My neck was bent at an odd angle, making my head throb. Lee Beom looked unusually flustered.
Seriously, why would someone drag a person who just woke up like that? Fatigue and annoyance surged through me.
“What the hell are you doing, you bastard!”
Just as I tried to pull my hand away, Min Si-hu appeared and delivered a spectacular spinning kick to Lee Beom. Hit in the shoulder, Lee Beom tumbled backward.
“You son of a bitch, Min Si-hu…!”
“Meee~long~!”
“Ha…”
Jeon Jae-hyung, who had approached quietly, helped me up. I thought it was better to have someone as quiet as him, even if he liked dolls like the Bunker leader Bboongyi, which didn’t suit his age and build.
“I need to use the restroom…”
At my mumble, Jeon Jae-hyung slowly nodded. Leaving Min Si-hu, who was stubbornly resisting, and Lee Beom, who was glaring with his eyebrows furrowed to control his blood pressure, I steadied my swaying body and headed towards the restroom at the end of the corridor.
‘This is chaotic.’
I wanted to wash my parched face first.
Arriving at the restroom and checking the mirror, my appearance was a mess. Being dragged here in a stretched-out pajama top was already a problem, but my face was swollen from fatigue, and my dry, unwashed face looked haggard. Lee Beom’s stomach must have been strong to try and drag someone with such a face to eat.
I splashed cold water on my face to cool it down and slapped my cheeks to wake myself up. I looked at the person reflected in the mirror. The familiar face somehow seemed to resemble Seong Hae-min.
‘How did Seong Hae-min get hurt?’
I thought he might have been injured in the novel too, but I couldn’t clearly recall those plot points anymore. Clenching my hand on the sink, water dripped from my face, un-wiped.
It was just…
I think everything felt hopeless because I thought Seong Hae-min would die.
‘Yes, hopelessness.’
That was the most accurate description.
My past self, who thought I’d just let Seong Hae-min die if he was going to die and live my own life, now felt like a hollow boast, like an animal puffing up its fur. I only now realized how empty those words were.
As time passed, was Seong Hae-jun and I becoming more and more identical? Back then, since it was a novel, I could be cold to the characters, but now I couldn’t. Doesn’t that mean that this place is closer to reality than a novel…
My head throbbed. Lost in thought, my mind drifted to my Seoul National University acceptance letter, which I could never get back. I should have reached a state of enlightenment by now, but I couldn’t stop a sigh filled with worry from escaping. I even wondered what it all meant, but at the same time, I felt I couldn’t lose it.
‘I need to get a grip.’
I really don’t want to consider these possibilities, but if this is my real life, I have to live it properly. Wouldn’t it be better now to ignore everyone and focus solely on studying, regardless of whether Ban Pyo-ran and Lee Beom are dating or whether the villainess Ban Seo-yi is bothering Ban Pyo-ran?
‘Instead….’
I would prevent Seong Hae-min’s death as much as I could.
With nothing to dry my face with, I roughly wiped off the water and left the restroom with a dewy face. I figured it would dry on the way.
At the end of the corridor, Min Si-hu and Lee Beom were still bickering.
‘Hmm. I don’t want to go.’
My steps slowed.
“Excuse me.”
As I tried to move my reluctant feet, someone tapped my arm.
A pretty female student with kind eyes and a gentle smile looked up at me.