Since it was a VIP ward, no ordinary patient could enter, and if it had been a nurse or doctor, they would have knocked first.
I moved my feet step by step and cautiously pressed my ear against the hospital room door.
Someone is there.
The sound of one person’s footsteps gradually moving away from the room could be heard, and not long after, it vanished completely.
Hearing the fading footsteps, I opened the door to the room, and as expected, there was no one there.
“What was that?”
“Someone was here and left.”
“What?”
At my words, Jiwon also stuck his head out the door and looked down the hospital corridor with me.
“You’re not messing with me, right?”
“Would I lie about something like this?”
“Then that’s really creepy.”
As we were talking while looking at the darkened hallway, a startling voice came from behind us.
“Eek! You scared me. What are you doing there?”
Turning around, a nurse on her night rounds was clutching her surprised chest.
“Ahaha…… Hello.”
“Hello.”
In the awkward situation, we exchanged greetings stiffly and closed the door, entering the room.
“Phew~”
“That was surprising.”
..You go home.”
First, I planned to send this guy away.
“Huh?”
“The hospital bed is narrow. Hurry and go.”
“What, you’re kicking me out like this?”
“Yeah. Kicking you out. You can’t sleep in a place like this anyway.”
A guy who couldn’t show up openly and resorted to childish threats like text messages—there was someone else who could handle it without me stepping in.
No need for me to move when I have a cheat key.
“Bye.”
“Hey, for real?”
“Yeah. Why, don’t want to go? Should I see you off?”
“No thanks. Anyway, sorry for putting you through trouble because of me today.”
“Sorry…… Next time I cause an accident, you cover for me.”
Jiwon left the room, and after confirming he had completely gone, I picked up my smartphone.
“Hello. Sorry for the late hour. This is Jung Hyunjae.”
***
The next day.
[Newcomer ‘Jung Hyunjae’ shakes up live broadcast with storm-like acting, becoming a hot topic!]
[Who is he that perfectly recreated Lee Myungmin’s award-winning performance?]
[The lead of ‘Love Some’ is decided as Jung Hyunjae from ‘Blue Sky Spring’]
[Jung Hyunjae: I will act with responsibility as much as you all have chosen…….]
As soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, articles about yesterday’s live broadcast poured in.
“Huh? Hyung, what brings you all the way here?”
“Of course, to pick you up.”
I had finished the discharge procedures and was preparing to go home when Hayoon entered the room.
“I can go alone…… But what’s that?”
Hayoon was holding a shopping bag with a pretty pink ribbon.
“Ah, this…….”
“Hyung’s style isn’t pink…… Don’t tell me it’s from a girlfriend?”
“No, no! No girlfriend! This was left in front of the room?”
“Really?”
I was only hospitalized urgently yesterday and stayed one day, so no one should know, yet a gift?
“Well…….”
“Maybe someone left it in the wrong place?”
It obviously had a woman’s touch all over it, so I thought it must be a mistake.
“Wait a second…….”
Hayoon peeked inside the shopping bag and rummaged through it, finding a card inside.
“It seems it’s really for you? Your name is here.”
The card had a message saying not to get sick. At the end, there were initials ‘from MY’.
“Could it be…….”
“Could it be?”
Hayoon looked at me seriously, meeting my eyes.
“Is there a nurse who likes me?”
“Ah~!”
At my words, he exclaimed as if realizing something huge.
“Hyunjae, you’re really smart.”
“Ha, really. I greeted everyone looking messy in the morning; I’m in trouble.”
Being a celebrity means being recognizable anywhere, anytime, but I let my guard down without realizing.
“It’s okay. You still look handsome.”
“Not handsome……!”
How could I look handsome with a bird’s nest on my head?
No matter how I look, Hayoon seems to have massive rose-colored glasses on.
“I’ve packed all my stuff.”
“Then let’s go.”
I took the prettily wrapped shopping bag and left the hospital with Hayoon.
“Ah, the CEO said he’ll be busy for a while?”
“Why? Did filming get moved up?”
“No…… I don’t know the details either.”
Why is he getting busy?
I was curious, but since he’s the company CEO with a lot to do, I just let it pass.
We arrived home from the hospital, and as soon as we did, Kyungho’s loving worry was…… what.
“Hey! I told you not to eat just anything!”
A smack on the back followed.
“Ow! It hurts!”
I hurriedly hid behind Hayoon to avoid Kyungho’s hands.
“I knew you’d cause a big accident someday.”
“Shouldn’t you worry when someone’s sick?”
“The guy who passed out after eating the wrong calming pill has a lot to say! I told you before to be careful because you’re sensitive to medicine!”
“Aaaah!”
With Hayoon in the middle, Kyungho and I bickered, and Hayoon sandwiched between us didn’t know what to do.
“Um…… It’s not Hyunjae’s fault, I…….”
“Did you think it would happen just from eating one?”
“Anyway, this kid talks well. Be careful, I said! Careful!”
“S-Sorry…….”
“I won’t randomly eat things from now on. Okay?”
Only after getting a promise that I wouldn’t do it again could I come out from behind Hayoon.
“S-Sorry.”
“It’s that guy’s fault; what did the manager do wrong?”
“No. It was my mistake..”
“Did you see yesterday’s live broadcast? You voted, right?”
I deliberately cut off Hayoon’s words and changed the subject.
It was just an accident, no need for Kyungho to know.
“Don’t know!”
Tsundere Kyungho grumbled about the voting, but I knew he had already voted.
“Aw~ You watched, and I got 1st place!”
“Hmph, just lucky.”
“I did well.”
“Honestly, that dying act wasn’t acting, it was real, right?”
“Haha…… Was it obvious?”
Everyone else was fooled, but Kyungho wasn’t.
“Fool someone who can be fooled.”
“It was totally lucky~ I almost died for real?”
“Um…… I’ll get going now.”
Seeing that things between Kyungho and me had roughly settled, Hayoon greeted and left.
“Ah, were you with that Jiwon guy the whole time yesterday?”
“No. We were together, then I sent him away.”
“But his face didn’t look good.”
Pretending to be okay after suffering mentally to the point it showed…… There are so many kids who pretend like that.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be back to normal soon.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing. It’s all resolved.”
It was resolved…… But I didn’t expect the rumors to spread this fast?
That late evening, Jiwon, fuming, called me out while I was rewatching the ‘Love Some’ webtoon.
“Hey! You!”
The countryside night had no one passing by, and lights were sparse, so Jiwon’s voice sounded louder.
“Startled. Lower your voice~ You’ll wake the whole village.”
I sat on the creaky swing in the village corner that no one visited anymore and looked at Jiwon.
“You maybe…….”
“You know and came, so why ask.”
The issue was already resolved, and since only I knew about it, he must have rushed here.
“Hey! How could you…..”
“Anyway, he’s a cowardly guy hiding behind. Need to drag it out?”
“Whether cowardly or not, it was my business.”
Jiwon clearly drew the line, saying it was his affair.
Here we go again.
This was Jiwon’s habit.
Acting like he’d give everything, then suddenly drawing a line.
At first, I wondered, but after yesterday’s story, I understood.
This was his defense mechanism.
“I know, it’s your nail. But just because it’s your business doesn’t mean you have to solve it alone.”
“It was something I could handle sufficiently.”
“Handle? How could you handle it. You could handle it while taking those pills?”
I deliberately poked at the core.
“Do you get something from my hyung?”
Jiwon now suspected a backdoor deal between his brother and me.
“I’m your friend. Not your hyung.”
“But as my friend, how did you resolve it in less than a day…….”
“Because I’m your friend.”
It was an action because I cherished and valued Jiwon.
“If I had kept silent to uphold loyalty to you, and this got out later, I’d be out from your side immediately.”
A country kid who suddenly appeared, now even an actor doing performances—how much more disliked would that be.
It was obvious without seeing.
“So that’s why? Afraid of being kicked out from my side?”
“Yeah, being with you is fun.”
From the time I suddenly became human and knew nothing, we’ve been together, so I was as attached as to Kyungho.
“And…… I don’t tolerate touching the people around me.”
If drawing lines was his defense mechanism, this was mine.
Guarding fiercely to not lose a loved one like a owner again.
“You might lose something bigger that way.”
Regret once was enough.
“Ha~ Fine. I thought you were a pathetic country mutt, but you’re a mad dog.”
“Now you know, be careful. Grr! Before I bite.”
I showed my teeth with a sharp expression, and seeing it, Jiwon let out a hollow laugh. It seemed he was already over it.
“But it was really fast. How did you resolve it right away.”
“Right. It ended absurdly quickly. Finding a burner phone must be really easy.”
Jiwon didn’t expect it to resolve this fast either.
“It was absurd and left me empty.”
“So who was the culprit?”
“Bodyguard.”
As expected, someone close.
“What happened to him…… No, don’t want to hear.”
The person who casually sent Hyungcheol on a shrimp boat— I could guess without hearing.
“At least, not on the same land as me.”
“Scary. Scary. Ah! Then was yesterday’s footsteps someone spying?”
I recalled the person who seemed to be eavesdropping on us at the hospital.
“No, not him. Yesterday, I had something I ordered.”
“Really? Then who was that person?”
Just a passerby?
“Hey…… There are no ghosts here, right?”
Jiwon glanced at the deep bushes behind and looked around while talking.
“You’re worried about ghosts now?”
“Look, even if one pops out, it wouldn’t be strange.”
In the village corner, only insect chirps, softly shining moonlight, and cool night breeze filled the senses.
“Hey, scary. Let’s go.”
Jiwon ran away first, and I followed behind.
“Together!”
I had no particular thought, but hearing that made me scared too.
“Hello. Jung Hyunjae here!”
“Waaa~ Congratulations!”
“Our male lead!”
At the first meeting after being confirmed as the male lead, I received many congratulations.
“Nice to meet you.”
And the person I was waiting for was in front of me.