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?