Chief Kim and Assistant manager Choi

Chapter 95.

Woojin’s clear eyes filled with tears, making Shin feel devastated. Unfortunately, all he could do was listen to Woojin and squeeze his hands. Woojin continued, “He said they were perfectly fine.”

“…”

“What… What am I supposed to do?”

Perhaps Woojin came here because he wanted to see Shin. Maybe… Woojin had been waiting for Shin much longer than Shin guessed. And now that they were together, Shin wanted to feel everything Woojin felt. He wanted to share their lives together.

Shin replied, “All you have to do is to say you feel sad if you feel sad.”

“… Ok.”

“And say you are in pain if you are.”

“…”

“I will always be by your side.”

Woojin looked up at him quietly. Standing in the snow, Shin looked so beautiful.

What was love? Woojin thought of this question often nowadays. Lately, the world looked so much brighter to him. Was this happiness? Sometimes, he felt so overwhelmed with it that he worried he might burst.

Holding Shin’s face, Woojin closed his eyes and whispered, “Thank you…”

“…”

“For seeing me, Shin.”

Shin embraced Woojin. The world felt much warmer when they were together.

***

The cellphone wouldn’t stop vibrating on the table. With an annoyed frown, Jihoon sat up. It was 6 in the morning. It had been a long time since he slept in his own home. Last night, he fell asleep talking to Siwoo on the phone. Siwoo’s voice sounded so sad that it kept him up late into the night. Jihoon reached out to take one of his pills but remembered what Woojin told him.

“We both know to expect that we are being spied on… that people are listening to our conversations… but…”

“Yes?”

“The pills… They are unsafe too, Jihoon Kang.”

“…”

Jihoon hung up and immediately called his mother. He knew his mother was going to the clinic regularly. She became easily anxious when she didn’t take her medication. Thankfully, when Jihoon stopped taking his pills, all he felt was an odd thirst sometimes. Woojin told him about the consequences of taking these pills for a long time. He could lose his memories and hallucinate.

Jihoon remembered what happened a few months ago. When he drank and took the pills at the same time, he woke up in the morning and learned that he made calls during the night, but he couldn’t remember any of them. Those pills… Jihoon finally understood what was happening.

Jihoon picked up the phone and saw that Woojin was calling him. He answered it, “Oh, Woojin. What’s going on?”

“Where are you now?”

“Home. I am going to work soon…”

“Siwoo got hurt.”

Jihoon suddenly froze. Afraid he might drop his phone, he squeezed it hard.

“Hello? Jihoon? Are you still there?”

“Yeah… I’m listening. Tell me what happened.”

“He broke his leg and he is in surgery right now. I am calling you from the hospital.”

“…”

“Are you in shock?”

“… So you are saying he didn’t get hurt too badly, right?”

“Thankfully.”

Jihoon finally exhaled. He got off the bed and removed the curtains.

Those bastards… It was bad enough that they killed two people. Now they were going to three. Four of them were in it, and they were making five people miserable.

Jihoon asked, “How did you find out? So early in the morning.”

“Joowan Kim contacted me.”

“That bastard…”

“If he didn’t let me know, it could have been much worse.”

“… After what he did, how can you forgive him?”

“Siwoo told me to call you. He said you will get anxious if you can’t get ahold of him.”

“…”

“I just thought Siwoo was our priority in this situation.”

Yes. Woojin was right. Jihoon had forgotten what was truly important. Siwoo Jung was with him now. This could be the beginning of their future. And Woojin, who had been with Shin for a while now, was the teacher in this new world of happy and healthy relationships.

Jihoon replied, “I will leave right now.”

“Alright.”

Jihoon heard Woojin laughing quietly as he hung up. Taking a quick shower, Jihoon thought of Siwoo Jung. He needed to see Siwoo’s face right now.

***

Siwoo thought the surgery wouldn’t take a long time because it only involved local anesthetic, but it did take much longer than he expected. As he was wheeled into his room on a wheelchair, Siwoo thought his situation couldn’t get any worse. He couldn’t understand how he fell from the stairs. The worst thing was that he lost consciousness when he hit his head on the ground. When he finally woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed. He was already in the hospital and Woojin Choi was waiting for him.

Siwoo was still in confusion when he was wheeled into the surgery room. The doctor told him he broke a few bones in his leg and that Siwoo was very lucky he was found so quickly. During this entire time, Siwoo couldn’t recover from his confusion.

He muttered, “Gosh… This is the worst! How unlucky could I be…”

“Siwoo Jung.”

Jihoon Kang walked in, and as soon as Siwoo saw him, his head turned blank. Jihoon was wearing a deep navy turtleneck and his hair was still wet. If they broke up in the future, Siwoo knew he would never be able to get over him. He rubbed his face and looked away in annoyance. Siwoo knew he was already too deep in this.

This was very bad. He was ruined.

Jihoon asked, “Does it hurt a lot?” He walked up to Siwoo and took over pushing the wheelchair from a nurse. Jihoon was standing right behind and Siwoo could smell the fresh watergrass from him. Jihoon’s caring look, gentle voice, and worried sigh all made Siwoo’s heartbeat race.

The nurse, who was standing nearby, explained to Jihoon, “If the patient rests and takes his pain medication, he should feel better.”

Jihoon turned to her and replied, “Oh, thank you.”

“We need to move the patient to his bed…”

“Oh, I can do that. I am his family.”

Family… It was just a word, but Siwoo’s heart dropped. When the nurse left the room and closed the door behind her, Siwoo felt Jihoon grab the wheelchair handles from behind. He rolled the wheelchair slowly towards the bed.

Jihoon lowered his face to Siwoo’s level suddenly.

“What the! You scared me, Jihoon.”

“I just want to look at your face. Turn towards me.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you in pain? Is it bad?”

“It’s fine.”

Jihoon kneeled in front of Siwoo and gave him his hands. Siwoo muttered, “What do you want?”

“Jump into my arms, so I can carry you to the bed.”

“I can do it by myself.”

“Are you crazy? Why are you being so stubborn?”

When Jihoon gently held his waist, Siwoo couldn’t help feeling a strong urge to hang onto him. Siwoo also feared he might burst into tears, so he quickly wrapped his arms around Jihoon’s neck and buried his face into Jihoon’s shoulder.

Jihoon became rigid and murmured in shock, “… Wow… It looks like you are totally in love with me.”

Siwoo smiled. Even in the worst moment, Jihoon could make him feel happy. Siwoo joked, “Are you asking me for a love confession?” When Siwoo caressed the back of Jihoon’s head, Jihoon smiled. Siwoo could tell that Jihoon was clearly smitten with him.

And Siwoo felt the same way about him.

Jihoon whispered, “I guess even you act like a baby sometimes.”

“From now on, I will act like a baby all the time.”

“So… you are saying yes, right? We are officially exclusive?”

“… Jihoon, you are an idiot.”

Siwoo knew that once the anesthetic wore off, his leg would feel painful, but he wasn’t worried. Jihoon was going to be by his side. It was obvious that Jihoon came here hurriedly, and Siwoo felt safe.