AAGULT Ch 36

Chapter 36

He wanted to say something—anything—but the moment he took a breath, he retched again and buried his face in the toilet.

“Open the door.”

The pain kept fluctuating, easing for a moment only to return worse. With every heartbeat, the pain thudded against his brain. Tears dripped down. He had to pull himself together. He couldn’t get caught. He absolutely couldn’t let the existence of the ampoule be discovered.

“I’ll break down the door. Stay still.”

The moment he heard that, he raised his arm—heavy as if submerged in water—and flushed the toilet first. Forcing his body up, which felt weighed down like it was strapped with sandbags, he hurriedly turned on the faucet and dunked his face in the sink. It was to wash off the blood messily smeared around his mouth.

Thud!

It was only one impact, but the seemingly solid door cracked immediately. Panic surged, and he scrubbed his face frantically. He filled his mouth with water, rinsed, and spat it out. His insides burned and begged to purge more, but he desperately ignored it.

He looked into the mirror. His face, along with his hair, was half-soaked and deathly pale—almost corpse-like. But at least no blood remained.

Thud!!

The door shattered like paper. Jaeha flinched and turned around in shock. Behind the broken fragments of the door stood a tall man in a hospital gown. The flawless white skin showing through the loose clothes made him appear even more fragile. Though the corners of his smiling mouth hung with a chilling fury…

“……”

“……”

The man took a slow step inside over the broken door, glancing once at Jaeha, who was barely standing, slumped over the sink. That sight alone was terrifying, like a criminal caught in the act, and Jaeha gasped for breath. But when he noticed the man’s bare feet, he weakly waved his hand to signal him not to come closer.

“Sh-shards… you might get hurt…”

Maybe it was funny, seeing someone so pale and obviously sick worrying about someone else, but the man ignored him and came in anyway. The sound and warmth of his presence swept in close. He reached out his hand.

Flinch.

Unconsciously, and not intentionally, Jaeha’s body tensed up. Even to an outsider, it was a reaction like that of an abused dog, and it made Jaeha feel deeply ashamed. It’s not like he’d actually been abused…

He had assumed the man was kind and gentle enough to withdraw if he noticed Jaeha’s fear. But maybe he didn’t notice. His hand extended further and gently brushed Jaeha’s wet hair back. When you’re sick and someone comforts you, the sorrow buried inside tends to surface even more. Jaeha had to struggle not to choke up. He was, indeed, too kind.

“Why didn’t you open the door?”

“Well…”

“I heard the water flush. Did you throw up?”

“Ah…”

Thank god. He didn’t see. Afraid of him suspecting something, Jaeha nodded eagerly. The man’s face twisted in concern, and he gently embraced Jaeha, supporting his back. Jaeha worried whether it would strain his injured arm.

“These days, well… my stomach hasn’t been great. Maybe it’s gastritis or something.”

He felt lucky again. If the man hadn’t given him an excuse, coming up with a lie on the spot would have been torture. Smiling awkwardly, Jaeha replied, and Aiden gently rubbed his back. Somehow it didn’t feel real. The once neat and spacious bathroom now looked like it had been hit by a storm, debris scattered from the broken door, while the man beside him remained so clean and soft that he didn’t fit in this chaotic scene at all.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you… when your body’s in bad shape…”

“No! I… I actually like doing that. I wanted to.”

“Really…?”

The man murmured in a voice full of guilt, and Jaeha hastily denied it. With Aiden gently stroking his back, all the side effects had already subsided. Whether it was because of the guiding or some dumb power of love, Jaeha didn’t know. He suddenly stood up and carefully held Aiden.

“Is your IV drip okay? What if you got hurt… your hands…”

“I was worried about you…”

Aiden let out a soft sigh and leaned his head against Jaeha’s shoulder. It was practically an open display of affection. His smooth, glossy hair brushed against Jaeha’s skin, making his heart thud wildly again.

The door handle lay on the floor, crushed in the shape of a handprint. Blinded by the glow of love, Jaeha thought:

‘This hospital seems expensive, but they must use really weak materials… is it even safe?’

Without even thinking about his dizzy head or the sourness in his stomach, he used his foot to push away sharp-looking debris. He didn’t want shards hurting Aiden’s soft feet.

“Let’s… let’s sit on the bed first.”

He slowly helped Aiden walk across the large hospital room and sat him down on the bed. Only then did he realize his own condition had slightly improved. That was a relief. Aiden looked up at him. Their eyes met. Though he couldn’t read Aiden’s thoughts, it didn’t bother him. Aiden was taller, so Jaeha hadn’t noticed before, but from this angle, he could see how the long lashes half-covered his eyes, adding to the allure of his obsidian-like pupils. It was so beautiful that he kind of wanted them to stay covered.

“I’ll go get a nurse.”

“There’s a call button. Just press it. But really, you should get checked first—”

“No!”

He replied in a panic. Though he felt a small guilt for cutting Aiden off, alarms were blaring in his head. If he got examined and his condition was discovered, it’d be straight to jail. He had accepted that possibility long ago, but now wasn’t the time.

“I’ve got some antacids at home. It’s fine. Besides, I need to open up my shop soon. I’ll be heading off.”

“…You’re leaving?”

“Yes… I’m really okay. Don’t worry about me. You just rest, Aiden. I’ll see you next time.”

Like a caretaker, Jaeha adjusted the head of the bed so Aiden could lie back more comfortably and draped a light brown cardigan over him that had been hanging on the coat rack. It was fluffy and pretty, and it suited Aiden perfectly.

Then, smiling awkwardly, Jaeha quickly left the room, afraid Aiden might try to stop him or call out. Fortunately, even as he closed the door behind him, Aiden didn’t say a word. Maybe it was because he’d worked so hard to look okay. Once outside, the tension instantly drained from him.

“Phew…”

He rubbed his still-sore chest. With slightly slower steps, he moved forward.

Had he known that Aiden, left alone in the room, was blankly tapping the bedsheet with his fingers, expressionless and silently processing the situation—Jaeha might have acted a bit differently.

He had no intention of wandering around in a hospital gown, so he used the last of his money to buy a pair of cheap pants to change into. Shuffling out of the building, he caught a bus and returned to the alley near his shop. As he walked, he began thinking about what he hadn’t had time to consider earlier.

‘Why did I throw up?’

He’d already taken plenty of suppressants. It wasn’t like when the boss came and he had to induce vomiting by downing over a dozen pills. By now, he’d even developed a kind of resistance, so such severe side effects were rare. He knew his body was steadily deteriorating, but this was way too sudden.

The only difference from usual was Aiden’s guiding… though it wasn’t even a full guiding. Just a bit of his energy—barely a taste.

Hands shoved in his pockets, he trudged down the alley. It was dark and a bit eerie, but as an orphan who lived nearby, this place was as familiar as his own front yard. So with his head bowed low, Jaeha continued to stare intently at his old, worn-out sneakers.

Naturally, he came to no conclusion. At best, he could only wonder: ‘Was it divine punishment?’ or ‘Was I being greedy?’

“Haa…”

He didn’t know. Scratching through his hair with hands reddened by the cold, he gave up. No matter how much he fretted, there was nothing he could do. Unless the boss returned, he’d have to keep taking those suppressants. All he could do was wait for the day he could finally close the shop.

Snapping back to reality, he patted his cheeks and looked up. Though he’d walked with his head down, he could tell he had arrived in front of the shop—it was a place he’d lived in for years.

“I swear, you try everything.”

“…Huh?”

But someone completely unexpected was waiting for him at the shop.

A guy wearing only a hoodie in this weather—apparently unbothered by the cold—tilted his head and sneered at Jaeha, who had been trudging along with his head down. His mocking tone always stirred up frustration, but one glance at his delinquent face, and that frustration disappeared instantly.

His hair was vividly dyed red, sticking out messily. A scar ran across his eyebrow, and his lips and ears were loaded with piercings. Despite all that, his face still held a hint of youth. That didn’t soften his fierce appearance though, and even though Jaeha was much older, he instinctively tensed up.

“…Eunyul.”

It was Han Eunyul, his younger foster brother from the orphanage.