Chapter 16: The Humiliation of Being Helped.

“Are you alright?”

The caregiver asked Sayoung, who was staring blankly out the window, his breakfast untouched before him.
Only then, as if waking from an old dream, did life return to Sayoung’s eyes, and he looked back at the caregiver without a word.
The caregiver said.

“You don’t look well…”

“Ah… I’m alright. I think it’s because I didn’t sleep well.”

The caregiver looked pitiful at Sayoung’s answer.
For a moment, Sayoung wondered if the caregiver in front of him knew about the dirty rumors Han Jaewoo had spread about him, but he quickly erased it from his mind.

Even if she secretly considered him a hypocritical and sordid person, it wasn’t a very important issue.
It wasn’t anything special for Sayoung, anyway.

Still with a worried expression, the caregiver continued.

“I know you don’t have an appetite, but please try to eat a little. You need to, so you can receive your treatment later.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

Sayoung answered indifferently and made a show of picking up his spoon.
To be honest, his concern was more uncomfortable than appreciated.

Sayoung had always endured pain, even when he was sick, for fear that Jaewoo would think he was pulling some cunning trick.
He wasn’t used to others worrying about him.

Having confirmed that the caregiver had turned her gaze away to clear the table, Sayoung sighed silently and stirred the soup bowl with his spoon.
His mouth was bitter and rough, and he had no desire to put anything in it.

After tossing and turning until late at dawn and finally falling asleep, Sayoung had a dream.
It was a nightmare containing memories of long ago and of days yet to come.

In the dream, Sayoung powerlessly watched himself being consumed by guilt while hearing harsh, abusive words.

Even though he had become an outsider who could do nothing, he could remember so vividly what thoughts he had had at that time that he was suffocating until the moment he opened his eyes.
Having spent the two or three hours he had managed to sleep going back and forth through past memories, it was no wonder he had no appetite.

But as the caregiver had said, if he didn’t eat something, he would obviously just lie in bed listlessly all day.

It was too precious a time to let it flow by like that, so just as Sayoung took a spoonful of soup to eat at least a few spoonfuls.

“Hello!”

Unlike when she was addressing him, the caregiver spoke in a very welcoming voice.

“Yes, hello.”

The one who had accepted the caregiver’s greeting with quite a polite demeanor was Kim Yoojun, who had opened the hospital room door and stepped inside at some point.

Having gone home late last night, Sayoung, who hadn’t expected him to visit again so early in the morning, gave a silent nod with a somewhat surprised face.
Yoojun, far from returning the greeting or even nodding back, looked at the caregiver with a friendly smile and said.

“I have something to talk about with Ms. Yoon Sayoung for a moment…”

“Ah, yes! Then I’ll step out for a bit, so please let me know if you need anything.”

The caregiver spoke not to Sayoung, but to Kim Yoojun.
When you thought about it, the person who had hired her was Yoojun, not Sayoung, so it wasn’t strange for her to follow Yoojun’s words.

The caregiver went out quickly, without making a fuss, and soon Yoojun and Sayoung were left alone in the hospital room.

Only then did Yoojun turn his gaze to Sayoung and open his mouth.

“I seem to have interrupted your meal.”

It was a surprisingly friendly attitude.
There was no trace of the tense atmosphere that had briefly surrounded them last night.
Trying to grasp the hidden intention, Sayoung shook his head.

“No, not at all. I was just about to finish and clear it away…”

The one who took the tray from Sayoung’s hand, as he was naturally putting down his spoon and trying to place the tray on the bedside table, was Yoojun, who had approached in the meantime.

With his mouth agape, saying ‘Ah…’, Sayoung, who had been blankly watching Yoojun move the tray to a distant table, soon opened his mouth.

“Thank you.”

Yoojun didn’t give any particular reply to Sayoung’s bow of thanks.

He could tell that Sayoung had barely touched his food without even having to look closely at the bowls.
He was already annoyed to death about being here so early in the morning, and seeing him looking so weak and not even eating properly, his insides twisted again.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

When Sayoung pointedly asked, his annoyance deepened even further.
He was a person he didn’t like in any way.

Instead of asking if it was alright for a patient to skip a meal like this, Yoojun silently turned his head and looked at Sayoung.
At that, Sayoung, who was quietly meeting his gaze, slowly lifted the blanket and stepped down from the bed.

It seemed he was trying to walk toward the sofa where Yoojun was standing.

“…Why are you getting down?”

Yoojun, momentarily flustered, asked in a high, informal tone without realizing it.
Sayoung, who had stopped moving, looked at Yoojun with a blank expression and then opened his mouth.

“Well… I thought you might want to talk on the sofa like yesterday…”

“Hmm…”

A short hum escaped Yoojun’s lips.
Only then could he understand Sayoung’s intention.

Last night, Yoojun had deliberately called the injured Sayoung over to the sofa and made him sit in front of him.
It was an intention to clearly show who was in charge between them, and who had to be mindful of whom.

Seeing Sayoung’s attitude now, it seemed that thought had been conveyed very well.

Yoojun had a bitter taste in his mouth and smacked his lips for no reason.

He should have been satisfied that his intention had worked.
That was why he had shown such a petty attitude in the first place.
And yet, he didn’t like the sight of Sayoung, who had accepted his rude demand.

Seeing as he found him displeasing no matter what he did, it seemed Yoojun just disliked the person named Yoon Sayoung himself.

If that was the case, a contradiction arose as to why he had accepted Sayoung’s request in the first place, but Yoojun decided not to think that far.

“That’s enough. Just stay there.”

Yoojun said in a stiff voice, frowning and letting out a short sigh.
Sayoung, without hesitating or asking back, sat back on the bed as soon as Yoojun’s words ended.
It was only natural that Yoojun’s expression became dumbfounded again.

He couldn’t tell if he was timid or bold, gentle or rebellious.
Yoojun, feeling an unsettling emotion, walked toward the bed and pulled a guardian’s chair to sit on.

Sayoung sat with his legs dangling below the bed, his hands folded on his lap, and looked at Yoojun.
If one didn’t know, he would have looked like a student politely waiting for Yoojun’s words.

It had been a long time since his debut, and a considerable amount of time had passed since he had gotten married, so he was no longer young, but perhaps because of his pale skin and delicate impression, even after going through all that, he looked untainted.

Just like the Yoon Sayoung of long ago that Yoojun had seen last night.

But his appearance, which seemed not much different from back then, paradoxically made Sayoung look even more different from that time.
Trying not to be conscious of that gap, Yoojun opened his mouth.

“You may be holed up in this hospital room not caring, Ms. Yoon Sayoung, but outside, there are already people who have noticed that the person who was hospitalized for being injured in my place is not an ordinary person and are trying to dig into it.”

“Ah…”

“I’ve been covering for you on my end so far, but now that I’ve decided to help you, Ms. Yoon Sayoung, we’ll need to discuss how to proceed.”

“Yes, we should.”

Sayoung replied, nodding.

Indeed, considering how much interest and love Kim Yoojun was receiving in South Korea right now, and how many people were desperate to know his every move, it was surprising that his existence hadn’t been revealed yet.

It seemed it hadn’t been revealed thanks to his efforts behind the scenes, but if Yoojun started coming and going from the hospital room like this, it was only a matter of time before word got out somewhere.

“Have you… changed your mind?”

This time, Sayoung spoke first and asked Yoojun.
Sayoung thought he might have regretted the decision he made last night.

All Sayoung had left was a ruined reputation and a wrecked career.

Han Jaewoo, an actor who had risen to a position that could no longer be easily ignored, stood on the opposite side, and Sayoung was spouting a string of crazy talk whose truth could not be confirmed, hoping for a sympathy that would bring Yoojun no benefit.

Not just Kim Yoojun, but anyone would probably not want to get seriously involved with someone like him.
So Sayoung could understand even if Yoojun went back on his word and said he would never see his face again.

Yoojun paused for a moment at Sayoung’s question before opening his mouth.

“What if I have?”

“……”

“If I say let’s call it off, will you do that?”

Yoojun’s eyes stared at Sayoung sharply again.
His gaze seemed to be seeking the truth, and also seemed to be testing Sayoung.
Suddenly, the words Yoojun had said last night came to mind.

‘If you’re going to ask for a favor… no. If you’re going to beg, then beg properly.’

He had warned him that if he really needed his help, he should stop with the attitude of not caring whether he helped him or not.
Sayoung clenched his hands on his lap and answered.

“No.”

At the unexpectedly firm answer, Yoojun tilted his head with a curious expression.
Sayoung continued.

“I will cling to you even more pitifully. I will kneel, cry, and plead for you to take pity on me.”

Yoojun, who had been listening to that answer quietly, soon let out a disbelieving laugh and said.

“I really don’t like you.”