Divorce Contract C66

Chapter 66

The only emotions in those trembling eyes were fear and guilt. Go Igyeol met Seo Dohyeon’s gaze, then quickly turned away. Unable to endure the sensation of something crawling beneath his shoulders, he moved his hand. His fingers slipped beneath the hospital gown and began scratching harshly at the thin skin.

“I-It itches, I can’t stand it.”

“Even so, not now.”

Perhaps his weakened health had affected his skin, for even a single pass of his nails left angry red marks, and scratching like this quickly split the skin and drew blood. Seo Dohyeon, careful not to touch his skin directly, grabbed at the sleeve of Go Igyeol’s gown. Even that slight contact made him react as before, but it couldn’t be helped.

“You’re bleeding again.”

“Ah, ah… this, you think it’s dirty, don’t you? Because it’s dirty… I’ll just wash up quickly, okay? I’ll wash and come back, I’ll wash myself clean.”

“Igyeol.”

“If I wash, if I wash properly… then it’ll be fine, won’t it? Ah, but what if—what if even after I wash, it’s still dirty… hhh, then what do I do.”

Tears welled up again in his wide eyes. Seo Dohyeon shook his head, saying that wasn’t it, and supported him toward the bathroom. Without hesitation, Go Igyeol stripped off his clothes. The loose hospital gown fell to the floor with barely a sound. Were it not for the scar below his navel, no one would believe he had given birth only recently; his thin body was marred everywhere with ugly scratches.

Rubbing away endless tears with the back of his hand, Go Igyeol stepped into the shower booth. When he turned on the water, only cold water poured down. Not knowing how to make it warm, he fumbled, squeezing out body wash in a stream. While Seo Dohyeon, watching from outside, wondered at the mistless glass wall, Go Igyeol’s bony fingers slid between his buttocks.

“Go Igyeol!”

“Hhk, no… here, hhh, here it keeps…”

Only when he rushed inside did Seo Dohyeon realize the water was cold. He turned the lever toward hot and grabbed his wrist.

“It keeps feeling like something’s coming out. My stomach, it hurts. Hhk, it keeps… slippery stuff keeps coming out. So… I just… I just want to die. Hhk, why… why am I alive. Why… why still…”

His body, chilled by cold water, trembled. Seo Dohyeon held his fragile wrist, afraid it might snap, and pulled him into an embrace. As he soothed the sobbing body in his arms, he had to think first of how much more Igyeol would suffer if he let him go.

Sitting the dazed Go Igyeol on the bed, Seo Dohyeon dried his wet hair. Where scabs had fallen off, he applied regenerative ointment, and on places where blood seeped, wound ointment. Pretending not to notice the goosebumps that rose on the skin stretched thin over blue veins, he dressed him again. Go Igyeol, as was his habit, murmured thanks.

“Wait a moment.”

“…Yes.”

Seo Dohyeon went to the desk, collected fresh gauze, ointment, and disinfectant cotton, and returned. Approaching the still unmoving Igyeol, he peeled off the old gauze from his ear.

The narrow ear was swollen and clogged with dried blood. It was painful even to look at, but Igyeol showed no sign of discomfort as Seo Dohyeon disinfected the wound with cotton. He simply offered his ear in silence. When the ointment was applied and fresh gauze affixed, he closed his eyes.

“Your meal.”

“…I’m… not hungry. I just want to sleep. I’ll eat when I wake.”

His weak voice kept Seo Dohyeon from pressing further. He straightened the blanket. The pheromones that had leaked out little by little were once again gone without a trace. It didn’t seem as if Igyeol was consciously controlling them. Perhaps it would be better to move him to another hospital. Maybe the Foundation hospital? No—that would only mean more eyes, more mouths to spread rumors.

Discharge, then. He couldn’t bring the baby home yet, but he could tell Igyeol the child would follow soon. It might be possible. His thoughts spiraled endlessly. Then the phone vibrating in the drawer cut them off.

Igyeol’s breathing was calm, asleep. Seo Dohyeon, without hesitation, took the phone from the drawer. Checking his face once more, he slipped out quietly, answering the call.

– Go Igyeol? Why the hell won’t you answer your phone! Damn it! I’m desperate here. Tell Executive Director Seo to give me more money. Huh? Ask him to send one billion, no, two billion won right now!

“This is Executive Director Seo.”

– Ah, th-that… ahem, how have you been.

“I told you before—if you need money, you contact me directly.”

– Ah, ah, yes, I forgot, right?

The voice on the other end was hurried, the words slurred as though drunk.

– I need money urgently, and Igyeol’s the only one I can ask, right?

“At this late hour, what’s so urgent?”

– Th-there was, you know, a fight. Got into a scuffle…!

“In that case, I’ll send my lawyer. Give me the location.”

– No, damn it! That’s not it!

Babbling incoherently, he coughed and then shamelessly raised his voice.

– I was just playing cards with a friend, for fun. And I—

“What about the money I gave you before?”

– Th-that, well… look, once you give it, it’s done. Do I have to report how I use it?

“When the source is clear but the use is not, I’ll ask. Are you gambling?”

At that, Go Daesik fell silent. From the faint noisy background, it was clear he was outside somewhere. Why were all of Igyeol’s relatives like this? It weighed on him. If only his mother were alive—Seo Dohyeon might have shamelessly asked her to help Igyeol recover.

“Ah.”

– H-hello?

Shin Eunsuk. The place where Igyeol had hidden before. The name suddenly came to him, and his eyes widened.

“From now on, I won’t give money for any purpose that isn’t clear.”

– No, no! This time, really, just this once—!

“Igyeol hasn’t entrusted you with any money. Why do you keep demanding it?”

– Back then, you gave it without complaint!

The audacity of it made Seo Dohyeon grind his teeth, pressing his temples.

“Yes, I gave it then. Because you were hounding someone already ill. Not this time.”

– If you just help me this once, I swear, I’ll never ask again! Please, Executive Director Seo…!

“You always talk about ‘black-haired beasts’—but even one’s own child wouldn’t help to this extent. Igyeol is only your younger brother’s son.”

– Executive Director Seo…!

“From now on, earn your own money and spend it as you see fit. You’ve been wasting other people’s money for years. I’m hanging up.”

Seo Dohyeon regretted not replacing Igyeol’s phone with a new one, leaving only Shin Eunsuk’s number in it. One mountain after another. Every solution required careful planning, which was hard enough.

Leaning against the wall, he sighed deeply, considering how to bring Shin Eunsuk here. Anyone could see Igyeol’s condition made their marriage look anything but normal.

His sighs multiplied—once, like Igyeol’s.

Large hands covered his face. As he hunched forward with a groan, the phone buzzed again. He didn’t need to check to know who it was. Relentless, shameless persistence. For him, it was nothing but a nuisance he could brush aside, but for Igyeol… that man was still a father, still family. Why did his life contain so many things to torment him?

“Maybe I should just have him locked up.”

From what he said about cards, it seemed he’d been a fool at gambling dens lately. Shutting down one illegal den and throwing him in prison would be nothing. If Go Daesik disappeared, maybe Igyeol could breathe at last.

If he cleared away those around him one by one, wouldn’t sunlight finally reach Igyeol?

Forcing himself to ignore the truth that he himself was the greatest obstruction in Igyeol’s life, Seo Dohyeon resolved to remove Go Daesik from his path. And when Igyeol was discharged, he swore he would bring Shin Eunsuk to him, no matter what it took.