Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 73

Chapter 73

As soon as I entered the front door, an alarm kept ringing to the point it sounded like tinnitus.

[ A. ]

This time, there was nothing written in my handwriting in the answer space.

Instead, Cha Yeowoon and my grandmother appeared side by side on two square screens.

First, a video of Cha Yeowoon emerged. As if playing a recording, Cha Yeowoon, who had stopped, began to move. He was walking down the street holding an umbrella.

In the pouring rain, a car slid on the road and was speeding toward Cha Yeowoon.

The car collided with Cha Yeowoon. Although there was no sound reflecting what had happened on the screen, a bang shook my skull.

Cha Yeowoon, who was hit by the car, grabbed at his legs. The bottom of his knees were strangely bent.

In the video that played again soon after, raindrops hit the window. The rain-soaked window illuminated the inside of a hospital room.

My grandmother with her eyes tightly closed was lying on a hospital bed.

A connected machine drew an electrocardiogram. At the moment when the weak heartbeat went flat, I heard an ear-splittingly sharp sound.

Recalling my grandmother’s passing in my original world, a chill ran down my spine.

These were scenes I would rather look away from, but I couldn’t.

[ Choose an event to undo. ]

[ Depending on your choice, the changes that has been made will be deleted to stabilize the server. ]

[ If you don’t choose by the deadline, it will be randomly selected. ]

[ Countdown: 23:59:59 ]

It was inevitable, so I couldn’t even think of avoiding it.

The time marked in red continued to decrease, ticking down ominously.

I immediately understood what I had seen. Cha Yeowoon getting hurt and my grandmother’s passing were originally meant to happen.

The message window was stating that both couldn’t be changed in a positive direction.

Cha Yeowoon’s legs, or my grandmother’s life.

I had to choose between one of the two.

* * *

I hated the smell of hospitals.

The white walls and the smell of disinfectant were unpleasant. I also hated the hospital bed where my grandmother was lying.

Despite the curtains, other patients in the multi-person room could be heard. My head felt heavy as if weight had been added on top.

“Get some rest.”

Cha Yeowoon approached me from behind and gently grabbed my shoulders.

Although he clearly hated hospitals to death, he was now moving much more normally than me.

Calling an ambulance from home when I saw my grandmother collapsed, completing the admission procedure at the hospital, and now taking care of me–it was all Cha Yeowoon.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine at all.”

Cha Yeowoon dismissed my words sharply.

“Senior seems like he’s about to collapse. Let’s go outside for a moment and get some fresh air.”

Although it didn’t seem like it would improve anything, I followed Cha Yeowoon. Ever since I saw my grandmother or heard the alarm, my whole body had been lethargic.

Cha Yeowoon led me out of the hospital room and sat me down on a bench in the lobby where the outside was visible.

It was still drizzling outside. The scenery beyond the glass window seemed distant.

“Drink this. Something warm.”

It was honey tea in a glass bottle. Despite the mismatch with the season, the warmth touching my hand was comforting in the chilly surroundings.

“Your hands are cold.”

Just as I held the glass bottle, Cha Yeowoon covered the back of my hand with his.

It wasn’t that the hospital was cold, rather my body had turned cold. Cha Yeowoon’s hand was warmer than the bottle of honey tea.

The kneading motion felt warm, as if trying to melt my hand. His hands and feet were already large, but it seemed he was still growing.

“Senior, they said Grannie is okay. They’re only keeping her here one more day to observe.”

“I know.”

The doctor’s opinion was that although there were no major abnormalities in the examination, my grandmother was elderly and the situation was sudden, so she could be hospitalized overnight and observed if she wanted. I had insisted that she stay for another day despite the doctor telling us that the test results were fine and that we could do a follow up at home.

My grandmother, who would normally insist on going home, was unusually compliant today. As soon as she received a hospital bed, she said she was tired and fell asleep like a dead person.

[ Countdown: 18:58:12 ]

Was it because of this?

The numbers written in red in one corner of my field of view continued to tick down. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t avoid it.

“Is it still difficult?”

Cha Yeowoon, while gently stroking my hands, which had regained some warmth, slowly leaned his forehead against mine.

My eyes strained. It felt like my eyes would fill with tears any moment, but I stubbornly held back.

Nothing good would come from crying. Crying meant losing. I used to tell myself that every time I wanted to cry. Because I had nothing. If I fell, I wouldn’t be able to stand up again.

Like my held hand, my forehead warmed. The tip of our noses rubbed against each other. Cha Yeowoon lowered his head slightly.

“Let’s go home together with Grannie in the morning. Can I sleep one more night at your place?”

“You have morning training.”

“Do you really think I’m going to leave senior and Grannie alone? Even if the Olympics were to happen tomorrow, I wouldn’t go.”

“Still, if it’s the Olympics, you should go…”

When I weakly countered, Cha Yeowoon smiled in vain.

“I won’t leave senior alone.”

Was I immature for finding comfort in his stubborn response?

I was afraid that if I said anything now, my feelings would be revealed, so I opened the bottle and drank some tea.

The warm and sweet honey tea warmed my stomach as it went down my throat. The sugar seemed to have lightened my head.

Now was the time I needed to pull myself together, but my mind didn’t seem to be functioning properly. It was the same when my grandmother passed away. The funeral was a mess because I was a helpless fool, unable to do anything.

Despite trying not to think about it, I couldn’t help it. Things like the smell of incense and the weight of the urn I received after the cremation.

I couldn’t let it happen again.

The sweet tea in my stomach churned.

“You should go home in the morning. You’re busy too. You have to report that person following you.”

My cheeks felt inexplicably hot. Looking to my side, Cha Yeowoon was staring at me with a deeply furrowed brow.

“What?”

“I can take care of myself, so don’t worry about me at times like this.”

“How can I not worry? You’re alone at home too.”

“That’s why until that person is punished, I can sleep over at your place.”

Maybe that was for the best. When I was in anguish again, Cha Yeowoon sighed with resignation.

“Senior, please send me the files you have. I’ve decided to file a complaint with a lawyer. Team Leader Choi Jinseo said she would help.”

I didn’t expect to hear that name now. Choi Jinseo smiling confidently suddenly came to mind.

Although I felt relieved that there was an adult to help, at the same time, I felt anxious.

“What about the fees? They really said they’ll just help? Did they say anything else? Maybe they want you to sign a contract in return.”

When I busily asked, Cha Yeowoon’s eyes narrowed.

“That person was trying to harm senior, so I won’t just stand by and watch no matter what.”

“What are you talking about? You’re not signing some strange contract, are you?”

Recalling Cha Yeowoon chasing after the stalker, I suddenly became worried. Eighteen was an age where anything could turn for the better or worse.

“…If you take your eyes off me, you think I’m going to cause an accident.”

Cha Yeowoon let out a deep breath.

“I know senior see me as a child, but for now, stop worrying.”

“If you make a mistake with something like a contract, you could suffer for a really long time…”

“Senior.”

“You’re a minor, do you have your guardian’s permission?”

“If senior keep doing this, I’ll just roll you up in a blanket and force you to sleep.”

What was that? I almost forgot the situation and laughed.

“There’s no spare bed in the hospital room, where would I sleep? On the floor?”

“I don’t know. I can carry you and take a taxi to my place.”

“How would you carry me?”

“Do you want to see if I can?”

Cha Yeowoon wrapped his arm around my back. His fingers curled around my side, and our shoulders pressed against each other. I felt a different heat than when we touched our foreheads earlier.

The hospital with a 24-hour emergency room had a fair number of people even during the night.

Before I could say anything, Cha Yeowoon released his arm and backed away.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Cha Yeowoon said adamantly.

“Even if senior don’t like it, I won’t go anywhere without you, so please rest.”

It felt like there was a long needle stuck in my stomach, shaking with each breath.

My tongue moved without stopping.

“If I…If I do something wrong to you…”

When I took a breath without being able to say everything, Cha Yeowoon interjected.

“What wrong could senior possibly do to me?”

“I don’t know. Just, a really big mistake. So big that it would be hard to forgive.”

The car sliding toward Cha Yeowoon flickered like an afterimage. He was frozen like a helpless animal in front of the car that had suddenly skidded. Twisted knees and splintered bones. Blood spread on the asphalt, staining it.

“Then, how much do you think I’ll hate you?”

If I chose my grandmother, Cha Yeowoon would never be able to run again.

I didn’t need to ask. There would be no fluke.

The person lying on the hospital bed in my mind changed to Cha Yeowoon.

[ Calculating Cha Yeowoon’s favorability. ]

Cha Yeowoon’s eyes, looking at me, folded in a gentle curve.

Rather than asking what wrong I would do to him, it seemed like he was expressing a heartfelt confession.

“I don’t think I’ll hate you.”

Cha Yeowoon said, smiling without any blemishes. While the smile made the artificial light in the hospital lobby look a dull shade, ironically it made the pain inside me more intense. My chest tightened.

​[ Favorability: 70 ]

“It’s not something I should say at a time like this, but senior look really cute right now.”

If Cha Yeowoon knew what I was thinking, he wouldn’t say such things.

I recalled what he had thought about me in the past. The only difference now was that the secret wasn’t the innocent urge to kiss or touch.

“Go and rest, senior. I’ll set up a portable bed.”

Cha Yeowoon stood up and took the cooled bottle from me. He held my warm palm and pulled.

Although there was the smell of disinfectant, patient gowns, and people inside the hospital, it wasn’t unpleasant now. There were many thoughts running through my mind, but the sight of Cha Yeowoon with his back to the white light compressed it all.

My recent thoughts were easily overturned.

I wanted to kiss him.