Heewoon belatedly realized his own actions. He must have lost his mind. It was a good thing that they were outdoors. If there weren’t eyes around them, he might have tumbled along with the chair.
With his gaze mostly fixed on the empty plate, Heewoon bit his lip. From above his field of vision, he saw elongated fingers tapping the table rhythmically. Seo Kangwoo had this habit when he was deep in thought. Feeling uneasy, Heewoon absentmindedly fiddled with his sleeve.
“Sunbae.”
At the quiet call, Heewoon hesitated and then lifted his head. Kangwoo examined Heewoon’s startled face carefully before speaking.
“I like it when I adore you.”
“…”
“But, if you don’t cooperate, I can’t do that, Sunbae.”
Heewoon knew very well what would happen if Kangwoo didn’t ‘adore’ him. With his face becoming pale, Heewoon stumbled with excuses.
“…I just… My mom’s sick, and I was upset that I was the only one who didn’t know. If my aunt hadn’t called today, I would have never known…”
As his pitiful rambling dragged on, Kangwoo interrupted.
“Before you make excuses, don’t you think you’re forgetting something?”
“Huh?”
After a brief pause for thought, Heewoon spoke urgently.
“I-I’m sorry.”
At that, Kangwoo nodded and then smiled kindly, saying.
“It’s okay. Just don’t let it happen again.”
It was a gentle tone.
To strangers, Seo Kangwoo would seem incredibly generous and affectionate based on this scene alone. They would likely overlook him.
“Okay. I won’t.”
They would find it very strange that Heewoon was frightened.
Heewoon fiddled with his sleeve. He felt a fever rising in his face. It was due to humiliation.
However, that feeling disappeared in an instant when Kangwoo suddenly raised his hand into the air, calling over a waiter. Heewoon was greatly surprised. Kangwoo smiled affectionately as he watched Heewoon, who had tightly shut his eyes.
“Can you bring a blanket, please?”
He said to the waiter who approached.
The blanket was now covering Heewoon’s thighs. It wasn’t really cold, but having something to cover his thighs made him feel a bit safer. Heewoon fiddled with the blanket.
“Are you upset because I didn’t tell you?”
Kangwoo gazed at Heewoon’s face and asked gently. Heewoon shook his head. There was no way he would feel upset at Seo Kangwoo. He just felt wronged. It wasn’t that he was frightened by Seo Kangwoo knowing things about him that he didn’t even realize himself. It was just that he felt wronged.
This is a bit strange, Heewoon thought.
Kangwoo shifted his attention to Heewoon’s increasingly furrowed face. A soft murmur slipped through Kangwoo’s slightly twisted lips.
“It’s quite strange. If someone in front of me is looking disheartened, I should be wanting to get rid of it…”
Heewoon snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Kangwoo. As their eyes met, Kangwoo finished his sentence.
“But I want to sit you on my lap.”
He said it with a plainly indifferent tone.
Heewoon’s pupils shook slightly. Some time passed with their gazes entwined. Until Kangwoo suddenly chuckled lightly and said.
“I guess that’s why they say home is best.”
Shall we just stay at home from now on, without going out at all? Kangwoo asked in a friendly manner.
“I like being outside…”
“Because you won’t get beaten when we’re outside?”
“…Yeah.”
Once Heewoon admitted that, Kangwoo burst into laughter. He held Heewoon’s gaze like he was going to eat him and murmured. Ah, I really want to go home.
“….”
Heewoon thought. He wondered if Kangwoo wanted to go home because he wanted to beat Heewoon or because he wanted to sit Heewoon on his lap? Both were unappealing, but the latter sounded much more preferable.
“I’ll arrange for your mom to immediately get tested tomorrow. So, take your mother with you.”
With a lingering hint of laughter in Kangwoo’s voice, Heewoon thought how strange things were right now. The man who had threatened to kill him a month ago was now concerned about his mother’s surgery.
Heewoon turned to Kangwoo and asked.
“What should I tell my mom about this?”
“Hmm… Just tell her factually.”
With a compliant face, Kangwoo stretched out his hand. Pressing his palm against Heewoon’s narrow cheek, he said. Tell her your junior recommended you to the hospital. You just need to give your name to the hospital and they’ll do everything for you, and pay for hospital bills with my card.
With each of Kangwoo’s words, Heewoon simply replied, Yes. And every time he responded, Kangwoo gave him a sweet gaze.
“You answer so well.”
Kangwoo’s hand, which had remained on Heewoon’s cheek, gently caressed it, before dropping away.
***
Inside the house, the TV and lights were all off. The air felt a little chilly, so Heewoon adjusted the heater and quietly opened the sliding door.
His mother, lying under the blanket, didn’t move. Heewoon glanced at her briefly, then grabbed his pajamas and left the room. After washing up in the bathroom and returning, his mom was still in the same position.
They felt awkward around each other today, so he had planned to talk to her in the morning. But an inexplicable fear rushed him.
“Mom…”
There was no response from his mother. Heewoon felt a sinking sensation in his chest, hesitated for a moment, then cautiously approached her. With trembling hands hovering in the midair, he reached out and gently shook her shoulder.
“Mom.”
“…Hmmm… Heewoon, you’re home?”
Heewoon was relieved to hear her softened voice full of sleepiness. Yes, his mother was someone precious to him. He would do the same for her. That’s why he hid his pain and emotions.
So, he wanted to say sorry for earlier, apologizing for…
Just what should he apologize for?
Apologizing for speaking the truth, or was he apologizing for learning the truth about his mother?
“…You see, I got a recommendation to a hospital from a junior I know.”
Heewoon decided not to bring up what happened earlier.
“Really?”
“He said they’ll take good care of us. So let’s go together tomorrow morning for another check-up and consultation.”
His mother stared at Heewoon. Since it was quite dark, Heewoon didn’t bother fixing his expression. He simply maintained his tone and said as usual.
“…Really? In that case, I’ll have to cancel the surgery scheduled for the day after tomorrow.”
“Sure, Mom. It’s a big hospital, but they’ll charge us really cheap.”
“That’s good.”
“And… You should return the money to Auntie. I’ve got some money.”
“Where did you get money from?”
“I’ve been saving a little bit of it, just in case, for times like this.”
Lying to his mother was becoming more and more natural.
His mother glanced at Heewoon for a moment, then nodded. Her voice brightened a little.
“I didn’t know my son was this accomplished. Mom was wrong.”
“Not at all, let’s go get something nice for lunch after the hospital.”
This conversation, where they concealed their emotions and expressions in the darkness, was surprisingly easy.
***
The next day, Heewoon and his mother went to the hospital early in the morning. This was possible as he had only afternoon classes today.
While his mother underwent several tests, the two of them chatted and laughed as usual.
“Our Heewoon was nervous, huh? But it’s really nothing to worry about.”
Yesterday, his mother had confided her thoughts with a trembling voice, but today, she reassured Heewoon with a gentle and kind tone.
“Mrs. Kim Seonghee, please come into the examination room.”
“Yes-.”
Heewoon replied and got up from his seat. He took deep breaths secretly while following his mother, who was smiling affectionately. He couldn’t help feeling nervous.
In front of the kind-looking doctor, he listened to the explanations carefully. His mother nodded as if she was already familiar with the information. Heewoon wondered if she was outside when he called her a few days ago, possibly researching different hospitals. Maybe his mother had done a lot of searching to find a hospital with lower surgery costs.
“The surgery will be done laparoscopically. In your case, it will take approximately two hours….”
Heewoon stared intently at the doctor’s lips and fidgeted with his pocket. His phone, which he had placed in his pocket, was recording everything. He planned to listen to it again later.
“Depending on the results of the tissue examination…”
In the early morning, Heewoon searched for information on his phone from under the covers.
He found that it was extremely rare for a biopsy to reveal cancer. Less than 1%, it said.
However, Heewoon felt numb as he contemplated. What were the chances of getting liver cancer? What about the likelihood of Dad committing suicide? Even after selling the house, what were the chances of still having 1 billion won in debt? How likely was it to witness someone’s murder?
At this point, it almost felt weird that he hadn’t won the lottery yet. Oh, right. He had never bought a lottery ticket to begin with.
Heewoon closed his eyes tightly and opened them while looking at the doctor. His mind kept wandering in strange directions due to sleeplessness.
The surgery was scheduled for two days later on Thursday. It was almost impossible to get such a quick surgery date at such a large hospital, but Seo Kangwoo seemed to have used his influence.
“Are you very close with your junior?”
“Uh… Well…”
He didn’t know what else to say except to gloss over it.
Heewoon had his mother sit in the chairs, and he paid the examination fees they received today. Just the examination fees amounted to several hundred thousand won. As he was about to put his card back in his wallet, his gaze lingered on the card.
What if…
What would be happening now if Kangwoo wasn’t there?
Would he have been angrier at his mother? Or maybe he wouldn’t even have been able to get angry.
One thing was certain, he wouldn’t have been able to tell his mother to return the money from his aunt.
And… He wouldn’t have been able to focus solely on worrying about his mother.
For a few hundred thousand, maybe a few million. He was sure of this.
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