Chapter 13: Goodnight, Hyung

Throughout the elevator ride down, I examined the wheelchair from behind Hyung.

I looked wistfully at the handles I couldn’t push and even touched them stealthily.

No matter how fast his recovery was, I was so worried about Hyung already starting rehabilitation that I found myself inside his hospital room before I knew it.

Hyung didn’t say anything to me as I naturally followed him into the room.

I inwardly clenched my fist in relief and also kept my words to a minimum.

“What’s that?”

Our silence was broken thanks to the large fruit basket that drew our attention.

Hyung tilted his head at the sight of the flamboyant basket, which looked anything but ordinary.

Like me, it seemed Hyung had never seen such fruits before.

“The ru—that Esper from earlier left it.”

I answered, hanging the coat I had draped over Hyung’s lap in the closet.

Hyung didn’t even ask who that Esper was and went past the basket to the bed.

It was an indifferent attitude, unlike the Hyung I knew.

“Let me know if you want some fruit.”

“Just leave it.”

I was about to move the fruit basket, which was sitting squarely in the middle of the room, but stopped at Hyung’s words and left it there.

For a fruit basket, it was quite heavy and not easy to lift.

I’ll have to ask Tae Seung-jun to move it when he comes later.

Hyung stopped the wheelchair right in front of the bed and applied the brakes.

I watched nervously as Hyung managed to lie down on the bed, keeping his balance on his own.

I wanted to help him, but I held back, thinking he would dislike it if my hand touched him.

“The blanket… isn’t it a bit thin? I think it’s a little thin.”

I fiddled with the perfectly fine blanket for no reason and covered Hyung with it.

I acted very cautiously, as if asking if it was okay to do this much.

If Hyung didn’t tell me to get away, I would take one step closer, and then, watching his expression, I would muster the courage to take another.

Then, at Hyung’s steady gaze, my Adam’s apple bobbed.

Just Hyung’s plain stare made me nervous all over again.

But why was he looking at my… chest, not my face?

I was a little flustered that he was looking at my flat chest, which had nothing to see, but I deliberately straightened the blanket slowly.

I even bent my upper body so Hyung could look to his heart’s content.

“Do you get nosebleeds often?”

I continued to pretend to straighten the blanket, bending my upper body, and then wiped my philtrum at Hyung’s question.

I thought my nose was bleeding again.

“It’s on your clothes.”

Hyung gestured to my chest with his eyes as I checked under my perfectly fine nose.

Only then did the bloodstain on my clothes come into view.

Ah, he was looking at that.

“Sometimes. The bones in my nose are naturally weak.”

The nosebleed from the bathroom had left a dark red stain on my thin t-shirt.

I tried to cover the unsightly mark with my hand, but the bandage wrapped around my right middle finger was also stained.

“What happened to that hand?”

“…I got cut a little while cleaning up a broken cup.”

Hyung’s gaze, which had been fixated on my chest, moved to my hand.

Seeing the fat bandage compared to the wound, Hyung continued his questions.

“Is it torn?”

When I nodded,

“Shouldn’t you not be using that hand?”

Hyung muttered, turning his gaze away as he rested his head deep into the pillow.

It didn’t seem like he was expecting an answer, so I stayed still, but my heart almost exploded at Hyung’s next action.

“Uh…”

I closed my mouth, from which a dazed sound had escaped, and tried to rationally figure out the meaning of Chul-soo Hyung’s action.

What does it mean for Hyung to lift one side of the blanket?

What on earth is the meaning of him pointing with those handsome eyes to the empty space, more than enough for someone like me to lie down?

No matter how I looked at it, it only read as a signal to lie down next to him.

Even though I knew it couldn’t be true.

“If you’re not going home, sleep on the bed.”

“H-Here, next to you…?”

“You can sleep on the sofa too.”

The sofa, when Hyung’s bed was right there?

Afraid Hyung might change his mind, I scrambled onto the bed.

I didn’t know the reason, but securing my spot was the priority.

Following Hyung, who was lying on his back looking at the ceiling, I also covered myself with the blanket and lay down straight.

It was a little embarrassing to have climbed onto the bed as if I had been waiting, so I cleared my throat a few times.

It was much harder than I thought not to show that I liked it.

Lying in the same bed with Hyung like this, the corners of my mouth ascended uncontrollably.

It was definitely the same ceiling as the hospital room where I had been alone, but it felt like I was looking at a completely different wallpaper.

The white ceiling, which had felt only cold, seemed to be dyed in a warm yellow light.

The quiet stillness was completely filled with the sound of my pounding heart.

Thump, thump, thump.

My heart was pounding loudly, just like the day I first lay in the same bed with Hyung.

I recalled Hyung, who had melted my stiffly frozen body with his warmth on our first night, as I blinked my eyes incessantly.

Chul-soo Hyung, who would take off my clothes and whisper naughty things if I just stayed still.

“Ahem.”

I deliberately cleared my throat loudly and pulled the blanket up.

I was about to rub my face on the blanket to cool my heated cheeks but stopped.

It’s Hyung’s scent.

The rustling blanket was filled with Hyung’s body heat and scent.

I buried my body in that warmth, inhaled the scent deeply, and closed my eyes.

I covered my face completely with the blanket to hide the expression that would leave me with no excuse if I were mistaken for a pervert.

“Where are you going?”

Then, startled by the sound of Hyung sitting up, I shot up.

Hyung, who had leaned his upper body out of the bed, was reaching out his arm as if to grab the wheelchair.

“D-Don’t go. I’ll, I’ll get up.”

Flustered, I grabbed Hyung’s clothes and tried to make him lie down again.

It upset me that Hyung kept trying to move on his own when his legs weren’t even healed.

“I said I’ll get up.”

No matter how hard I pulled on Hyung’s clothes, he only moved further away.

Did he feel uncomfortable now that I was actually lying next to him?

Was the sound of my heart annoying?

Or did he see my expression?

In that short moment, I had a million thoughts and tried to get up before Hyung.

Before that, with a ‘click’, the lights went out.

Hyung, who had pressed the light switch on the wall, lay back down on the bed.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Hyung’s voice came from beyond my darkened vision.

I also heard the sound of him pulling the blanket back up.

I also leaned my head against the pillow as if collapsing, following Hyung.

Even though I had turned pale and even stuttered just a moment ago, I found myself smiling at being in the same bed with Hyung again.

I hid my mouth in the blanket and grinned, so that Hyung, whose eyes were sharp even in the dark, wouldn’t see.

My mood swings weren’t usually this severe.

Maybe because of Hyung’s confused feelings, my personality seems to be getting weirder.

“Are you guiding?”

I was trying hard to just look at the ceiling, but thanks to Hyung speaking to me, I turned to the side.

“If it’s uncomfortable, I won’t.”

Hyung’s wavelength was relatively close to stable, but I was emitting radial guiding out of habit.

His body was weakened by his injuries, and he probably couldn’t control his power right now, so it was safest to lower his wavelength as much as possible.

“…It’s not uncomfortable.”

At Hyung’s slowly spoken reply, I emitted guiding more forcefully and subtly turned onto my side.

It seemed he didn’t feel repulsed as long as there wasn’t excessive contact, so I felt a little relieved.

“Sleep well.”

I whispered, hoping that although it was just radial guiding and less effective, it would help Hyung sleep deeply.

“I slept a lot.”

Hyung sighed, as if it were strange to feel sleepy when it wasn’t even bedtime yet.

I gently patted the pillow as if patting Hyung’s chest and told him it was a good sign, so it was okay.

“Your body is trying to recover. Injured Espers sleep for over 10 hours at a time.”

Even now, his body must be ceaselessly healing wounds and growing new flesh.

So it was only natural to be tired even after sleeping.

“If you’re sleepy, don’t fight it and sleep well. That’s how you’ll get better faster.”

Because not a single ray of light entered the curtained room, I couldn’t see Hyung’s face at all.

Imagining Hyung with his eyes closed somewhere over there, I stared into the darkness for a long time.

Since he couldn’t see anyway, I imagined Hyung looking back at me.

The Hyung who used to call my name until I was sick of it in his pleasant voice flickered before my eyes.

“Seo Yeong-u.”

Yes, just like that. …Huh?

“Hy—”

“Guide-nim.”

My heart, which had dropped to my feet, hurriedly flew back up at Hyung’s drowsy voice, which drew out each syllable slowly.

I almost screamed, thinking that Hyung with his memory back had called my name.

“Don’t pick fights with Espers.”

“……”

“What are you going to do if you die?”

The voice, thick with sleepiness, soon faded into an even breathing sound.

Was he worried about me fighting with the rude guy?

I had often heard similar words from Hyung in the past.

You have to be careful with Espers. Don’t think about fighting Espers, just tell me. You’ll get hurt. Seo Yeong-u. Yeong-u-ya. Tell your Hyung everything.

“Okay.”

Listening carefully to the sound of the sleeping Hyung’s breath, I gently tilted my head in the direction he was lying.

For some reason, I was sure that Hyung’s memory would return soon.

Thanks to the familiar things I saw in the seventeen-year-old Hyung.

It felt like if I just slept and woke up, a brightly smiling Hyung would tell me to go home.

“Hyung, sleep well.”

With that peaceful belief, I listened to the sound of his soft breathing and fell asleep with Hyung.

Without being able to fathom Hyung’s feelings.