Da-woon pressed his ear gently against the left side of Yeo-ul's chest and frowned.
Yeo-ul's heartbeat was racing far too fast. So fast that Da-woon half worried his wavelength might start spiking.
“What's wrong? Are you feeling sick somewhere?”
Alarmed, Da-woon studied Yeo-ul's complexion, peering closely at him. Yeo-ul, who had been resting quietly in his arms, wrapped his arms around Da-woon's waist and answered slowly.
“I told you. I freaked out thinking someone was doing something nasty to you.”
“...And that's why your heart's pounding this hard?”
Yeo-ul nodded. His expression had gone slack, like a contented pet dog, and he leaned his weight into Da-woon's body.
“Don't go letting some Alpha bastard touch you so carelessly. It's dangerous.”
Da-woon was so startled by the pulse beating through Yeo-ul's thick field uniform that he couldn't say a word.
So that was why he'd suddenly lunged at the doctor. It seemed his body had bolted out of genuine shock. Reflexively, the way you'd dodge an incoming fist.
“What's... there to worry about that much? I'm an Esper too. There's no way I'd be overpowered by an ordinary person.”
Da-woon laid a hand on the black crown of Yeo-ul's head and stroked him softly, soothing him like a frightened child.
“What good is being an Esper? You collapse and cough up blood every other day.”
“It's only sometimes. Sometimes.”
“Once every two days is sometimes? You had another nosebleed today too.”
Yeo-ul scanned the underside of Da-woon's nose closely, asking why he'd had a nosebleed in the first place. Da-woon, hiding his lower face, brushed it off as nothing.
“I'm just tired. It was only a little blood.”
“Why are you tired? Didn't you sleep this whole time?”
“Guess sleeping too much isn't good either.”
Yeo-ul looked down at Da-woon shrugging and let the corners of his mouth droop. If he'd really been a dog, his tail would have wilted. Da-woon thought the idle thought and patted his back.
“Calm down a little. I'm perfectly fine.”
He rubbed Yeo-ul's back gently, as if soothing the heart that was still beating so fast. But the pulse seemed to grow strangely faster, and when he went to pull his hand away, Yeo-ul shook his head and clung to Da-woon even more deeply.
“Keep touching me.”
A heavy force settled into the arms wrapped around Da-woon's waist.
“I was really, really scared. It was terrifying.”
“You were scared of that doctor?”
“That you'd get hurt.”
Burying his face in Da-woon's shoulder again, he mumbled like a child.
“Don't be alone with an Alpha bastard.”
You're an Alpha yourself.
Instead of letting the thought out of his mouth, Da-woon just quietly stroked Yeo-ul's broad back. It was a little pitiful, the way he'd been startled hard enough to make his heart hammer. The fact that it was Yeo-ul, of all people, showing this kind of reaction weighed on him all the more.
“There aren't only good people in the world. There are way more rotten bastards. A hundred, a thousand times more.”
Knowing better than anyone how deep the wounds people leave can be, Da-woon listened to him in silence.
“All right. I'll be careful.”
By the time he'd waited long enough for Yeo-ul to settle down, the sun had set before he knew it.
Even after Yeo-ul's heartbeat had calmed to some degree, he stayed wrapped around Da-woon's waist, motionless, as if he'd frozen solid. When Da-woon shifted his body the slightest bit, Yeo-ul only clung harder.
“Let's head down now. The cat's probably awake.”
Da-woon was starting to worry about the cat, asleep in the hospital room after being given a sedative. With the medical staff there it would be fine, but if it woke to nothing but unfamiliar faces, it would only be more frightened.
“The cat suddenly threw up and passed out. It woke up briefly during the exam and made such a fuss that they had to sedate it.”
Da-woon explained, in a bitter tone, why they'd ended up at the hospital. By now the test results would already be in.
“The kid's arm is this tiny, and the needle was this big.”
He sighed, describing the startlingly long needle. Even he had been shocked, so how terrified must that little thing have been?
“I think it's because I gave it too much food. I should have given it a proper amount...”
Muttering in his distress, Da-woon suddenly looked up at Yeo-ul.
Here he was talking in earnest, and Yeo-ul was quietly feeling along his sides and back, as if taking the measurement of his waist.
“...What are you doing?”
“Hyung, did you lose weight? Your waist seems even thinner.”
Da-woon scrunched up his face and smacked Yeo-ul's back. Thwack!
“Let's go down.”
This time Yeo-ul followed Da-woon without a word of complaint. Pressed close at Da-woon's side, he nodded and answered dutifully every time Da-woon said something.
“You got it? When we get there, the first thing you do is properly apologize to the doctor.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And apologize to the teleportation Esper too.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Good. Don't ever do that again.”
After answering yes, Yeo-ul gazed at Da-woon intently.
“But why are you here on your own? Where's the leader?”
“He went off to work.”
“He left you here by yourself?”
Da-woon nodded weakly. Thinking of the cat dry-heaving and trembling all over, his heart kept sinking heavily.
“I really don't get it...”
“Get what?”
Da-woon, still troubled, shifted his gaze to Yeo-ul. Unlike Da-woon, who'd been watching the stairs as he walked, Yeo-ul had been looking only at Da-woon the whole time. The way he always did.
“Why did you ever like a guy like that? He won't even stay by your side when you're down.”
Yeo-ul fumed, demanding how anyone could leave Da-woon alone. He was angry at the leader for leaving Da-woon, weakened to the point of nosebleeds, alone at a hospital.
“He got a call, so he went. If a request for support comes in, of course it's right to go.”
Watching Yeo-ul's excessive reaction, Da-woon unintentionally ended up defending Ryu Tae-ha.
Since it made little difference whether he was there or not, Da-woon had sent him off to work without much thought. He'd only counted himself lucky that, thanks to the teleportation ability, they'd reached the hospital so quickly.
“Don't take the leader's side. You said you don't like him anymore.”
Having abruptly found himself in the position of defending Ryu Tae-ha, Da-woon let out an exasperated little laugh.
“Why are you laughing? Does thinking about the leader just make you laugh?”
“Sure, write whatever novel you want in your head.”
Da-woon ignored Yeo-ul and bounded down the stairs two or three steps at a time. Yeo-ul caught his arm and forced him to match a slower pace.
“You'll get hurt. Go slow.”
“It's everyone's quitting time. We need to hurry.”
“Me, hyung.”
Yeo-ul deliberately slowed his pace even further and looked Da-woon straight in the eye.
“I don't leave the person I like lonely.”
“...”
“I don't make them anxious either. And I'll never make them cry. Never.”
The hand gripping Da-woon's arm slid subtly down below his wrist. But Yeo-ul only made the attempt to take Da-woon's hand without actually taking it. As if he'd hold himself back until Da-woon gave permission.
“So think about it seriously. Because I really would treat you well.”
Think about what?
Watching Da-woon just blink at him, Yeo-ul sighed and answered shortly.
“Being partners.”
Right as Yeo-ul answered, the hospital door happened to open. The teleportation Esper who'd been waiting for them opened the door and delivered the good news.
“The little one's awake. They say there's nothing wrong at all.”
Da-woon's face brightened in an instant, and he hurried into the hospital. Yeo-ul watched his receding back and trudged along after him.
“The little one? Is that its name?”
“Yeah.”
Reading the cat's name written on the medicine bag, Yeo-ul asked the reason with a look of utter indifference. Why had “cat” become “Yaong-i”?
“The hospital asked for a name and nothing came to mind.”
“I see. Good name.”
At the soulless compliment, Da-woon skipped any response too. From the moment he brought the cat back to the lodgings with Yeo-ul, he didn't rest for a single second, bustling about busily.
“I keep telling you to let me do it. Sit down, hyung. I'll handle it.”
“No, I'm almost done.”
Da-woon was in the kitchen, portioning out two weeks' worth of cat food. He'd even pulled out a digital scale, measuring the daily amount down to within 0.1 grams before dividing it up.
“Why go that far? The doctor said there's nothing wrong.”
“You never know. They say at this age it'll eat anything it sees.”
Fortunately, the test results showed the cat was perfectly fine. All its levels came back normal, and the X-rays showed its insides were clean too. They even got a compliment that, despite being so young, it had an incredible digestive system.
The vomiting could be a stress response to the sudden change in environment, so if the symptoms recurred they would come back in. In any case, since all the test results were normal, Da-woon was hugely relieved.
At the same time, he felt a slight sense of kinship. They were alike in being stressed by an unfamiliar environment. That was why his heart went out to the kitten all the more.
He himself was a grown adult with the sturdy body of an Esper, but the cat had only just set foot in the world. It was at an age that needed a safe guardian.
“Just move these into the drawer for me. I'll go check that the cat's sleeping all right.”
“Sure. Don't rush, and watch your step going up the stairs.”
Da-woon, who'd been heading quickly for the stairs, registered Yeo-ul's words and slowed his walk. Having a track record of missing a step on the stairs, he didn't hurry.
Creeeak.
He carefully opened the door and looked straight at the bed. The moment he saw the blanket mounded up in the center of the wide bed, like a little ball had been set on top of it, a laugh escaped him.
The cat was sleeping soundly inside the blanket, hugging a doll tight. He'd only covered it up to its belly, but it seemed it had crawled into the blanket on its own in its sleep.
Lifting the blanket, Da-woon stroked the soundly sleeping cat with his eyes alone. The sight of it clutching so preciously the human-shaped doll that Ryu Tae-ha had thrown away and left behind was cute, but it made him feel needlessly more sorry for it.
Was it doing that because it needed the warmth of a person? At the deepened thought, another sigh pushed its way out.
“Ah...”
Da-woon lowered his head and suddenly touched the back of his neck.
The spot Yeo-ul had gripped so fiercely throbbed. Now that the tension had drained away, the pain he'd forgotten was starting to worsen.
The little brat, using his strength on me.
He healed the back of his neck, where a handprint had surely been left, without bothering to check it. The horrible thought crossed his mind that if the person Yeo-ul had seized by the neck had been the doctor, his neck would definitely have snapped.
“It can't be like this already...”
He knew well that Yeo-ul hadn't used his strength with the intent to harm. But he worried it might become a habit, overpowering an opponent by force whenever a conflict arose.
The only one who could stop him was Ryu Tae-ha. But in the end, even he fails to stop Yeo-ul and meets his death.
Chewing over the novel's contents out of habit, Da-woon furrowed his brow. The good condition he'd been in had soured before he knew it, and his head was growing heavy again. His stomach burned faintly too.
This wretched body responded faithfully to even the slightest stress. Swallowing dry gulp after dry gulp, Da-woon finally clutched his churning stomach and headed for the bathroom.
Before long, when a faint groan leaked out of the bathroom, the cat flicked its ears and quietly opened its eyes.
