By Zephyria “Hey, what germaphobe? Se-han is a bit eccentric, but not to that extent.”
Gun-woo Hyung smiled slyly again.
“Ask anyone who knows Sung Se-han. See if he can put an apple that someone else has eaten into his mouth.”
“Ah… that’s a bit…”
I shook my head without realizing it. An apple that someone else had eaten. Sung Se-han would definitely say it was dirty….
Suddenly, something flashed through my mind, and my face hardened. Gun-woo Hyung put the earphones in my ears.
The song playing was track 4, ‘Your Summer’.
「When I bit into the apple with your teeth marks.」
「A sweet fragrance flowed into me.」
「That was my winter.」
I pressed the earphones firmly into my ears. So I could hear Sung Se-han’s words a little better.
「The sweat dripping down your neck is a summer signal to me.」
「I liked that. When I hugged your shoulders, you got hot and pushed me away, annoyed.」
「My summer is like that.」
Ah…! I bit my lip tightly, as if something was about to burst out of my mouth.
「In my emptiness that seemed like nothing could fill.」
「Your summer is overflowing.」
「Why am I wandering alone on a parched road? Why do I have to be like this?」
「I want to go where you are.」
「I can’t believe that you and I are separating is actually happening.」
Perhaps because he mainly used major chords, the entire album had a bright feeling that sang about first love, apart from the lyrics. But listening to it now, it was so lonely….
I couldn’t keep listening, so I quickly took out the earphones. Then I jumped up and walked to the window. I didn’t want to show Gun-woo Hyung my confusion.
Gun-woo Hyung, who followed me, insisted on looking at my face.
“You remember when Se-han picked up an apple that you had taken a few bites out of and ate it, right? I still remember it because Se-han’s behavior was so unexpected back then?”
“No, Gun-woo Hyung. That’s…”
“Besides that, everything except the last track is about you. You really didn’t know?”
I didn’t know. I never thought that the lyrics of his solo album were related to me.
“But isn’t that too far-fetched? If you try to fit these lyrics, they could be connected to anyone…”
“Who else would Sung Se-han be thinking about while writing the lyrics if not you, huh?”
“But, Gun-woo Hyung. Why are you so excited?”
Gun-woo Hyung, who was laughing with his mouth wide open, looked genuinely happy. At my questioning gaze, Gun-woo Hyung answered clearly.
“Yeah, I’m so excited. The fact that Sung Se-han has a weakness.”
Sung Se-han’s weakness. My heart sank even at those insignificant words.
“Gun-woo Hyung, don’t say things like that…”
“Ah, wait a minute!”
Gun-woo Hyung looked at his vibrating phone and burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha! Look at this! I knew it! Tae-kyung, look at this!”
The words ‘Sung Se-han, just you wait’ were on the screen of the phone that Gun-woo Hyung held out to me. I looked back and forth between Gun-woo Hyung and the screen, flustered.
“Why is Se-han calling again… Give it to me. I’ll answer it…”
“Yeah, Se-han. What’s wrong?”
Gun-woo Hyung moved away from me and answered the phone.
“What? Really? You’ll be here soon?”
He answered in an exaggerated tone and headed straight for the door.
“Yeah, that’s right. Should I wait for you at the entrance when you arrive? I’ll give you a visitor’s pass… Yeah, okay. I’ll go out there.”
I watched Gun-woo Hyung with a dumbfounded expression.
In the end… Sung Se-han came all the way to the hospital.
Gun-woo Hyung winked at me before closing the door after leaving the hospital room.
“Tae-kyung, Se-han has arrived.”
As soon as the door closed, I hurriedly changed into a T-shirt and pants. I didn’t want to show Sung Se-han that I was wearing a hospital gown like a patient, even though I just had a small wound on my cheek.
As I looked in the mirror and fixed my disheveled hair, I thought my lip color looked too pale. I looked unhealthy like this….
I remembered that Gun-woo Hyung carried lip balm, so I rummaged through the pockets of his jacket.
“Ah… it’s not here.”
I couldn’t find the lip balm, so I clicked my tongue, and the hospital room door slid open. Thump, thump. Then came the sound of regular footsteps.
I hung Gun-woo Hyung’s jacket on the hanger and turned around. Of course, I didn’t forget to manage my expression naturally.
“Se-han, what are you doing here at this hour…”
The moment I saw Sung Se-han wearing a black T-shirt and cream-colored joggers, I was at a loss for words.
The drab hospital room seemed to brighten up as if by magic as he stood tall in the center, exuding an overwhelmingly dazzling aura.
That’s right. This was Sung Se-han.
I often forget because we’re such close friends. Even though we’re both idols, Sung Se-han and I are on different levels.
“Ah, seriously. Lee Tae-kyung.”
Suddenly, Sung Se-han burst into laughter.
“Even if I’m a pain in the ass.”
His tone, laced with laughter, was so rough that I was inwardly startled. But I didn’t show it and furrowed my brow.
“Sung Se-han, what are you…”
“You’re trying to screw with me like this?”
Sung Se-han, who spat out the words as if chewing them, slowly swept back his hair. Seeing his brown eyes, unable to contain his anger, I was sure that he was misunderstanding something.
“Hey, Sung Se-han. I don’t know what you’re thinking…”
Sung Se-han suddenly strode towards me, causing me to take a shameful step back. There was nothing I could do because he was approaching with such an unusual momentum.
Sung Se-han stopped at a distance where our slippers and sneakers were touching.
“You were going to keep this from me while you were in this state?”
Sung Se-han tilted his head, and the low light swirled over his brown eyes. It was a fierce look that I had never seen before.
“It’s nothing much. Do I have to report everything to you?”
Whether it was a rejection of Sung Se-han’s unfamiliar expression and tone, a childish answer came out like a twisted person.
“Did you do that to me?”
I didn’t even know that Jae-yi Sunbae was Sung Se-han’s longtime friend. I didn’t know even the people around him, let alone the people who were precious to Sung Se-han.
How many days were hard because of his longing for his Grandmother, and whether he was lonely because he had to endure it alone.
And how much more I don’t know. I don’t know anything.
I don’t know Sung Se-han.
“Did you tell me every little thing, you bad bastard.”
Even though I told myself not to put my emotions first, I couldn’t hold back the rising anger.
“Tae-kyung, I asked you first.”
Sung Se-han had a brazen face without any remorse, even as he watched me grit my teeth.
“You weren’t going to tell me that your face was like this?”
“Yeah!”
I was so angry that my reason flew away completely. I clenched my fists and glared at Sung Se-han as if I were going to kill him.
“I was never going to tell you! Why should I tell you? What are you! Why is it always just me… Ugh!”
Suddenly, I gasped and covered my face as if I was terrified by the pain that felt like my cheek was tearing. What if the wound opened…?
Sung Se-han stepped back.
Even in my urgency, I was worried that he might be surprised, and that worried me.
“This, it’s not because it hurts…”
“Ha, fuck.”
Sung Se-han’s face was getting more and more ferocious as he stepped back from me.
The sight of him clenching his fists so hard that I could hear it sent a chill down my spine.
“Se-han.”
The moment I called his name, Sung Se-han kicked the chair next to the bed.
Crash! Bang, bang!
The eerie sound that shattered the quiet dawn filled the hospital room. I froze in place, unable to even breathe properly.
“I.”
Sung Se-han looked back at me, panting with ragged breaths. With a glint in his brown eyes and a savage smile.
“I’m going to kill that bastard.”
Se-han! Without thinking any further, I ran out. I ran as if I were flying, not even knowing that my slippers were coming off. So I was able to grab Sung Se-han before he left the door.
“Sung Se-han! No!”
Even I didn’t know what wasn’t allowed. But I was overcome with the conviction that something bad would happen if I let Sung Se-han go like this.
“Se-han! I…”
“You just stay put.”
Sung Se-han easily released my arm that was clinging to his waist. But I desperately clung to him again.
“Hey! Calm down! Just listen to me first. Talk to me first… Ugh!”
Sung Se-han grabbed my arm and turned around. I couldn’t handle Sung Se-han’s strength and was helplessly dragged to the bed.
“Here.”
“Ugh!”
Sung Se-han lightly picked me up and roughly put me down on the bed.
“The patient should sleep now.”
Then he pressed down on my chest so I couldn’t get up and covered me up to my neck with the blanket.
“Se-han! Wait a minute…!”
As I struggled to get off the bed, Sung Se-han’s hand, pressing down on my upper body, tightened its grip. Gasping for breath under the pressure, my eyes met Sung Se-han’s as he looked down at me.
“I’ll make sure that bastard can never show his face in front of you again.”
The murderous intent in his brown eyes sent a chill down my spine.