Chapter 6: A Reluctant Guest

“Does your head hurt a lot? I have headache medicine, I’ll bring it to you. I thought you’d be uncomfortable sleeping in your clothes, so I only undressed you minimally. I didn’t touch anywhere.”

“Yes… and it’s fine about the medicine. By any chance, where is my phone…”

“Ah. Here it is.”

He opened the bedside drawer and handed it over. Pressing his temples, Jeong Eun-gyu scrolled through the backlog of notifications. Apart from two missed calls from ‘NS senior Kim Hyunsoo,’ everything else was quiet. He immediately made a call.

“Senior, it’s me.”

– Why weren’t you answering your phone?

“Ah, I just woke up… Sorry.”

– Since you weren’t answering, I got a notification from Mr. Kim and went ahead and gave orders on my own.

He pretended to be stubborn, but he was just teasing. He was someone who would have handled it well on his own.

“Are you busy?”

– Busy? Thanks to a certain someone, I’m freaking busy! You better brace yourself next month.

“Thank you. Really.”

– I know you’re thankful, Mr. Jeong the lackey.

“I have an outpatient clinic in three days, so I’ll buy you lunch then. And if anything comes up, call me anytime.”

– Hey, cut the bullshit and just rest. Don’t make something like this happen again.

He was right. Jeong Eun-gyu nodded and listlessly tossed the disconnected phone. Ah… his head throbbed.

Then he looked up at Kim Seok-ho, who was politely extending his hand beside him. Even though he was bulky, he had been so quiet that Jeong Eun-gyu had momentarily forgotten him. Why are you holding out your hand? Ah, he was asking for the mug.

“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.”

“It’s nothing you couldn’t hear anyway. But where is this place…”

“You could think of it as a kind of duty room attached to the office. Rest here. I’ll be going out. Call me if you need anything.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Only then did he look around. It was an ordinary room. A bedroom with an attached bathroom. So there were rooms in this building too…

Feeling grimy from not having washed for a day, Jeong Eun-gyu got up but nearly collapsed back onto the bed. That was because Ahn Dae-young was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

“You look like a real person today, unlike yesterday.”

Despite having passed out, he should at least offer a minimal thanks for not being thrown out… Those easy words that flowed endlessly to Kim Hyunsoo were incredibly difficult to say to Ahn Dae-young. Hadn’t he just said them to Kim Seok-ho? It was because of him that he had gotten real sleep for the first time in almost two weeks. He should step up and offer to repay the favor or something—that was the real Jeong Eun-gyu.

“Not hungry?”

“…Ah.”

Right on cue, an undignified gurgle escaped from his stomach. It wasn’t as if he was Pavlov’s dog. As Jeong Eun-gyu looked away in embarrassment, Ahn Dae-young let out a soft laugh and gestured with his chin toward the bathroom.

“Go wash up. There should be a robe in there. If the robe is uncomfortable, I’ll lend you my clothes.”

“I’ll wear the robe.”

“Suit yourself.”

“…Um.”

Ahn Dae-young just blinked, as if to say, ‘Spit it out if you have something to say.’

“Thank… you.”

This time, his brow furrowed slightly before smoothing out.

“For what?”

“For letting me sleep. It’s been a long time since I slept without even dreaming.”

Once the difficult words were out, the next ones came naturally.

“Professor.”

“Yes?”

“You haven’t had many relationships, have you.”

Startled by the sudden question, Jeong Eun-gyu tilted his head. Why was he talking about dating? He had only said thank you. Flustered, he slowly began unbuttoning the shirt he had been wearing for a day.

“Stop trying to seduce me. How much more are you going to take off in front of me?”

“…Huh?”

His hands froze. The reason for his slow reaction was that his nerves weren’t fully awake yet. There was absolutely no intention of seducing that man.

“You were whining even when I helped you take off your coat. There are plenty of crazy bastards who get off on that kind of thing, Professor.”

“…”

“Go wash up.”

He pressed the button on the inside of the doorknob to close the door. He had locked it from the inside and left. Jeong Eun-gyu stared down at his shirt, which was half-unbuttoned, exposing his chest.

Why is this… It’s just a man’s body.

Deciding not to care, he undressed and headed to the bathroom, but then his face fell.

‘Whining even when he helped me take off my coat?’ No way, not me. That couldn’t be.

His savior? No, his distrust of Ahn Dae-young surged.

As soon as he stepped out wearing the provided robe, Jeong Eun-gyu regretted it. Standing in that luxurious office he had seen yesterday, wearing only a robe, was immensely embarrassing. Ah, he should have just borrowed Dae-young’s clothes. Kim Seok-ho, who had been frantically typing on a keyboard at his desk, whistled at the sight of Jeong Eun-gyu.

Ahn Dae-young, who had been sitting on the sofa staring at the television, glanced at Jeong Eun-gyu, who stood frozen like a lonely island, wearing a robe that fell to his knees, water dripping from his hair, looking utterly lost.

“Sit down. I sent someone out to get food, so it should be here soon.”

Hesitantly, he approached but didn’t sit; instead, he stood by his side. Ahn Dae-young tilted his head up at him.

“What?”

“Sorry, but… if you could lend me some clothes…”

“You look fine like that. Why? You said you’d wear the robe.”

“…I mistakenly thought it was my house.”

“Didn’t you refuse my pure kindness?”

“Then I’ll wear my old clothes.”

“Ah, what a shame. The washing machine is probably running by now. You could stop it and take out the soaking wet clothes to wear.”

If it had been a sneering tone, he would have cursed him out, but Ahn Dae-young only waved his hand in a flat tone, telling him to move aside and not block the TV. He was a man without a single shred of decency from start to finish.

“You locked the door from the inside before you left. How did you take out the laundry?”

Jeong Eun-gyu ground his teeth as he muttered, and Ahn Dae-young replied nonchalantly.

“Even if you lock it from inside… I have a key. I didn’t lock it to keep myself out. I locked it because of him.”

His long index finger pointed sharply at Kim Seok-ho. A convenient excuse. Jeong Eun-gyu wasn’t particularly good at reading people, but at least he could distinguish the wicked. More precisely, he could tell by the energy and aura emanating from a person.

Kim Seok-ho was clear. It meant he wasn’t the type to do shameless things. His head spun, and he let out a deep sigh. His hollowed collarbone and Adam’s apple bobbed for a moment.

“I’ll lend you clothes, so do as I say.”

“What is it?”

Come here. His eyes were still fixed on the TV, but he only wiggled his finger. Jeong Eun-gyu bent forward slightly, not hiding his suspicion.

“We’re going to my place after we eat. You’ll stay there until things are resolved.”

“…”

“Of course, since it’s my place, I’ll be living there too. Well, it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable.”

“…”

“Does our professor not know how to answer? Or are you staying silent as a sign of agreement?”

The corner of his mouth curled up, and his hand immediately plunged into the robe. As soon as the cold hand touched his chest, before a startled Jeong Eun-gyu could push it away, he grabbed a handful of flesh and even pinched his soft nipple, moving so quickly.

“I already saw that your nipples are pink, Professor, so stop trying to seduce me. My patience is short.”

“…”

It wasn’t out of embarrassment or shame. He couldn’t counter because he didn’t understand his intentions. He had received quite a bit of flirting before, but no one had ever thrown such half-hearted lines at him.

“If you show me again, I’ll use my mouth instead of my hand next time.”

He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, which had pinched the nipple, as a warning. Yes, it was a warning, not flirting. His whispering voice was sinister. Jeong Eun-gyu instinctively glanced at Kim Seok-ho’s seat, but the chair was empty.

“Your clothes are in the wardrobe in the room you came out of. Just pick out anything that fits. You don’t need to give them back. And while you’re at it, dry your hair. You’ll catch a cold.”

He lit a cigarette as if nothing had happened. For a moment, he wondered if the carelessly tossed lighter would explode and unleash yesterday’s flames again… but the spark caught once and then settled quietly. Jeong Eun-gyu bit his lip and pulled the robe closed.

Dating. He hadn’t been able to do that simple thing. The young Jeong Eun-gyu, rescued from the mountains, had faced standing alone without preparation. The task of surviving in a harsh world was far greater than the desire for love. Knowing that Father Peter’s care wouldn’t last forever, he had to throw himself into learning whatever came his way.

He wanted to survive. He wanted to leave the past behind and run solely in the present. Regardless of age, it was a desperate struggle.

After taking the high school equivalency exam and passing the college entrance exam to enter medical school, he suffered all sorts of persecution. It was because he wasn’t from a wealthy family, as they say, and had no so-called connections. Groundless disregard and misunderstanding became routine.

The relationships between people… were more painful than studying while lying on his stomach because he couldn’t sit properly due to bedsores. Being bad at interpersonal relationships wasn’t a crime. The prestigious medical school was just a facade; he was a lone wolf.

Maybe that’s why he naturally became comfortable being alone. During his residency, his meager human relations expanded slightly, but he only maintained a minimal network.

Jeong Eun-gyu’s mind map was small, very small, but he tried to take good care of the people within it. Since he was as clumsy as a chick just out of its egg, he felt he had to repay those who had reached out to him.

He studied together, drank together, and sometimes got drunk and tangled up in a junior’s studio apartment to sleep. All of those were fresh experiences and not bad. Relationships that smelled of ‘life.’ Even Jeong Eun-gyu, who had closed the door to his heart, opened it a little. So he didn’t dare to covet dating. It was perfect as it was.

The more he looked back, the more fiercely he had lived. The day would come when a sharp stone, battered by the winds of time, turns into a round pebble. Jeong Eun-gyu before December was like that.

If asked whether he missed those days, he would answer ‘yes’ without hesitation. But time that has passed never returns. All living people are marathon runners running in the present.

Regressing to the good old days and lamenting the present changes nothing. He only refines the present for a future as happy as the past. So I guess that’s why I ended up here.