GB 42

Haero and Yoon Moo-hwa went to the hospital together. It was to get a health checkup form to submit when enrolling.

Haero was familiar with hospitals, having frequented them as a child for all sorts of tests and treatments, as he had received vaccinations later than others and had more infectious agents. 

After having a blood test and waiting for the results, Yoon Moo-hwa, who had disappeared briefly, appeared and called him, “Haero, let’s get just one shot.”

Haero, who had never doubted anything Yoon Moo-hwa had told him to do until now, naturally followed him this time without a word.

Even though Yoon Moo-hwa didn’t tell him what kind of shot it was, Haero extended his arm without hesitation. 

The doctor, sitting alone in the examination room without a nurse, glanced at Yoon Moo-hwa and asked casually, “Hey, Colonel Yoon. I’m doing as you say. I don’t know anything.”

They seemed to know each other. Haero, following the doctor’s gaze, made eye contact with Yoon Moo-hwa. 

With his arms crossed, Yoon Moo-hwa nodded. “Nothing will happen.”

It was ambiguous whether he was saying this to Haero or the doctor.

Still, Yoon Moo-hwa surely wouldn’t inject him with poison. 

However, Haero, who had one concern, asked with his arm extended, “It’s not some kind of pathogen, is it? Something that would prevent me from enrolling?”

He asked lightly in a joking tone, but he was genuinely worried. He had never tested Yoon Moo-hwa like this before, but he didn’t know how many times he had done so today. The crack in their relationship had begun to form slowly even before Haero was aware of it. In other words, change.

“Haero, when have I ever done anything bad to you?”

This meant it wouldn’t be harmful this time either.

The doctor sighed deeply as he saw Haero shaking his head without doubt. The eyes visible beyond his glasses looked clearly tired. Haero still stared at Yoon Moo-hwa. Without moving an inch.

“I’m injecting it now. It’ll hurt a bit.”

At this curt explanation, Haero finally turned his head and nodded.

Now that he had the subject’s permission, the doctor had nothing to hold him back.

Haero watched as the contents of the syringe, which was darker and nearly opaque unlike ordinary syringes, entered his arm. As warned, it hurt a bit. It felt stiff and tingly.

“Avoid exercise for a week and get plenty of rest.”

It was ordinary advice, no different from usual. Haero pressed the alcohol swab firmly against his forearm.

“Is it done now?” For some reason, he wanted to ask Yoon Moo-hwa this.

Yoon Moo-hwa had a slightly satisfied expression, noticeable only to Haero. “Yes. It’s done.”

There was nothing particularly painful, and it wouldn’t harm him, and moreover, Yoon Moo-hwa seemed to be in a good mood, so all’s well that ends well. Haero shrugged his shoulders without thinking too deeply.

* * *

Coincidentally, a week after what the doctor had said was the date Haero was to enter the military academy dormitory. He didn’t know what kind of shot it was, but like after the vaccinations he had as a child, he developed a fever, and unlike then, the fever didn’t subside for a long time, so Haero started to worry.

“What if I can’t enter?”

Although Yoon Moo-hwa said it was fine several times, Haero stubbornly wore a mask even inside the house. He didn’t want to infect Yoon Moo-hwa, who had to set sail, with whatever unknown risk there might be.

Yoon Moo-hwa said it wasn’t an infectious disease, but since he wasn’t a doctor, Haero couldn’t believe him. It seemed he had caught influenza or something while carelessly moving around in the familiar hospital.

Yoon Moo-hwa, who was reading a book about 2 meters away due to Haero’s insistence, looked up. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“What if I can’t enter? Won’t I get cut….” After saying it out loud, he started to feel anxious. “You didn’t put something in the shot to prevent me from entering and get me cut, did you?”

Haero asked jokingly. His laughter, “hehe,” contained no passive aggressiveness at all.

While pretending to be fine, Haero was in so much pain that he groaned when sleeping. It hadn’t been long since he had chatted like that. 

Yoon Moo-hwa got up and approached Haero. He gently held Haero’s face, which was turning away in an attempt to avoid him, and wiped it with a damp cloth, then said calmly, “If I really wanted to get you cut, I would have used a different method, not such a petty one.”

At his muttering, Haero let out a laugh mixed with a cough. “Nah. I can’t imagine you doing such a thing.”

“Why not?”

“Just… hyung that I know is rational. You wouldn’t do such things…”

“You mean I have the power to do it but don’t use it, is that what you’re saying?” Yoon Moo-hwa asked casually.

Haero nodded, enduring the dizziness that made his brain feel like it was shaking.

“I’m human too … Haero, you see me too favorably.”

“Who says I only see you favorably? There are times when I like you and times when you’re a bit annoying. You’re inflexible … Ah, but I don’t mean I dislike it … It’s cool.” Haero started to ramble. 

Yoon Moo-hwa replaced the fever patch on Haero’s forearm with one that had an immediate sleep-inducing effect.

He was already feeling sleepy, and with the patch constantly applied, it seemed hard to endure.

Yoon Moo-hwa waited for Haero to fall asleep and sat briefly beside the bed. “When I hear you talk about me, it sounds so unfamiliar that I wonder if it’s really about me, but I never get tired of it. I want to hear more about how Haero sees his hyung.”

Haero eyelids didn’t even move. 

Yoon Moo-hwa became concerned that he might start to find amusement in saying or doing anything to Haero while he was completely asleep.

“… Anyway, it means I’ve been doing well so far. Your evaluation shouldn’t change, right?” Yoon Moo-hwa laughed briefly. It was a rather cold smile.

The adhesive part of the patch was in gel form. If not checked carefully, it could fall off like a regular plaster as it melted into the skin. Yoon Moo-hwa confirmed that the patch was safely attached to Haero’s forearm and pulled down the rolled-up sleeve.

Then suddenly, his hand stopped at the injection site.

“……”

The needle had been quite thick, so it had bled for quite a while. There was also a purple bruise around it.

Yoon Moo-hwa stared at that area with narrowed eyes. Then he slowly brought his thumb to it.

Hadn’t he just worried about finding amusement in saying or doing anything while Haero was asleep?

Contrary to that thought just moments ago, Yoon Moo-hwa was immediately doing “something.”

As he rubbed around the bruise on the forearm and then pressed firmly, avoiding where the needle had gone in, Haero frowned. As soon as the hand moved away, his brow smoothed out again.

It must have been quite sore, but he didn’t make a single sound. While he’s good at enduring pain, this time it seems he can’t overcome the drowsiness more than anything. It made sense given the strong fever reducer used due to his high fever. Still…

“You should cry out a little, complain about the pain. It would be nice if you did that to your hyung.” Unlike someone expressing such disappointment, Yoon Moo-hwa’s face was quite cold.

His hand, which had been caressing Haero’s skin, stopped, though still relaxed. As he traced the soft inner flesh, he muttered, “When did you grow up like this? I thought you’d always stay small.”

‘Even when he was young, he didn’t listen to adults and came to save me, and now that he’s grown up, I don’t know where he’ll bounce off to. While feeling proud, his face frowned. Anyway, the fact that I can’t take my eyes off him hasn’t changed since he was Number 8, who would go into the sea and not come out for a long time.’

Yoon Moo-hwa slowly stood up, not taking his eyes off Haero. To prevent another fever spike, he took out a small communication video device and set it up in a corner of the room.

Returning to his desk, he turned on the screen to keep Haero’s room in view and started working. Still favoring old methods, Yoon Moo-hwa used a pencil and even sharpened it himself. This time too, he grasped the pencil, twirled it once in his hand, crossed his legs, and held a knife in his other hand.

Soon, the scratching sound from his hand filled the room. 

Scratch, scratch…

* * *

On the day before entering the dormitory, Haero finally recovered.

He had been so severely ill that it seemed like all his baby fat had disappeared. Haero checked his face in the bathroom mirror, turning his head this way and that.

“Hmm. Handsome.”

Though he had lost some weight, it would come back soon enough. Seemingly satisfied, Haero nodded and left the bathroom.

At some point, his fever had spiked severely, leaving his memory of the past few days incomplete. He vaguely remembered Yoon Moo-hwa taking him out of the hotel and moving somewhere. When he opened his eyes, he was here. It felt different from the official residence. It was a space that seemed unrealistically pretty and clean, as if a VR model house had been brought to life.

Still, having grown accustomed to moving, Haero adapted quickly. If Yoon Moo-hwa had brought him here, it must be home. Having woken up earlier than him for once, Haero decided to make breakfast and took out the cooking utensils. The refrigerator was stocked with enough ingredients to make most dishes.

As he was rubbing his calf with his ankle under his pants, wondering what to make, a siren blared so loudly it made him jump.

“W-what’s that?!” Haero cried out, covering his ears. His heart was pounding. 

Just as he was startled and confused, Yoon Moo-hwa burst through the door. “Haero, I’m sorry. We need to make an emergency departure.”

Yoon Moo-hwa’s expression was grave as he stood there with his shirt tucked into unzipped pants, a tie around his neck, and a jacket tucked under his arm.

Haero, taken aback, slowly lowered his hands from his ears and asked, “Is it dangerous…?”

Yoon Moo-hwa paused as he was about to put on his shoes.

The military communication device in his hand was still ringing persistently.

Yoon Moo-hwa turned off the alert and pressed the button to connect directly to his adjutant.

Almost simultaneously, he strode over to Haero and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“No, it’s not.” Yoon Moo-hwa’s breathing was a bit rough.

With his face pressed against Yoon Moo-hwa’s shoulder, Haero felt his eyes start to sting. It felt like they were meeting after a long time due to his fever-induced haze, but now he was being stolen away by the sea again.

“I’ll be back.”

Before Haero could return the embrace, Yoon Moo-hwa had already pulled away.

As Haero reached out to grasp empty air, Yoon Moo-hwa left without looking back, not even explaining to Haero where they were. With the sound of the door slamming shut and the persistent echo of the siren in his ears, Haero stood there in the same position for a long time.