DrinkyL C5

Chapter 5

Even after regaining his senses, the first to notice Baek Seolgu flinching with his eyes tightly shut was Ban Dayeong. With a languid expression, he rose from his seat and approached Baek Seolgu.

“Did you sleep well?”

Despite the kindness laced through Ban Dayeong’s question, Seolgu couldn’t easily open his eyes. He was afraid that if he opened them now, the vampires would pounce with a triumphant “got you” and suck him dry.

But with no way to know what Seolgu was feeling, Ban Dayeong lowered the bed guard and spoke.

“It’s obvious you’re back with us—how about opening those eyes? Or do I need to pry them open myself?”

“N-no, sir!”

At the sudden drop in temperature of his voice to below freezing, Seolgu immediately lifted his eyelids. Then, startled by the dark red eyes he met head-on, he instinctively averted his gaze toward the wall.

“Then what’s this supposed to be. Ah, I see—you don’t even want to make eye contact with a bloodsucking scumbag?”

Of course, Ban Dayeong wasn’t the type to miss Baek Seolgu’s foolish reaction.

Feeling wrongly accused by Ban Dayeong’s plausible slander, Seolgu shook his head vigorously, then, as if to prove a point, met his eyes. Even so, his large brown irises trembled like an aspen leaf.

“That’s not it. I—when I opened my eyes and saw your, uh, face right away, I was just so startled that—”

“Not it? You were just so startled because my face was the first thing you saw when you opened your eyes?”

Ban Dayeong parroted Seolgu’s words exactly, smiling as he circled. Wasn’t it rather brave for a nobody with nothing to his name to talk back about being wronged?

This was Baek Seolgu—the one who not only turned the terrace upside down while traipsing around stark naked, but also, when told to call him that, brazenly called him “scumbag.” Even now, when told to make eye contact, he looked straight at him; it was so ridiculous it almost drew a hollow laugh.

“Y-yes. And as for scumb— that, I said it because I didn’t know your name. I really didn’t mean it on purpose.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And, also… I didn’t touch even a single leaf of the plants on the terrace. I only planted in the soil at the edges, and what I planted weren’t weeds—they were kidney beans, peanuts, and corn.”

Watching Baek Seolgu chatter away like a fish back in water at Ban Dayeong’s response, everyone had the same thought.

“Is he possessed by a ghost that died because it couldn’t speak?”

But utterly oblivious to what others were thinking, Baek Seolgu only wanted to clear up the misunderstanding as fast as possible. Being misunderstood by the man called “Boss” and then getting kicked out or being drained of blood until death—those were things he had to avoid at all costs. So he poured every ounce of strength into mumbling out his excuses.

“And the reason I wasn’t wearing clothes wasn’t exhibitionism or anything like that… Ah! I showered every day, but I didn’t have clothes, so for a few day—”

Just as Seolgu was about to explain why he’d been undressed—

“Ha! This kid’s a real riot, huh?”

Observing how much Baek Seolgu had to say, Ban Jinyeong bent over cackling. Startled by the interruption, Seolgu’s big eyes quivered. Thinking it over, he realized he’d been a little—no, a lot—too forward.

Baek Seolgu’s mouth snapped shut at once, and Ban Jinyeong goaded him.

“Why stop? Hm? Let’s see how far you climb. No one has ever talked back to our boss this much.”

Before he knew it, Ban Jinyeong was by the bed where Seolgu lay, tapping him lightly on the forehead.

Each time the man’s cold fingers touched his forehead, Seolgu’s head sank deep into the pillow, and dizziness washed over him again.

“U-uh!”

Sensing that at this rate that idiot’s hiccups would start up again, Ban Dayeong flicked at Ban Jinyeong’s wrist.

“That’s enough.”

“Oh? I should stop?”

“Yeah. Get lost for a bit.”

Having shoved Ban Jinyeong all the way to the far end of the hospital room, Ban Dayeong perched one thigh on the edge of the bed.

“So, the reason you’re babbling on and on about things no one asked about is because you want to stay here, yes?”

With a soft-spoken tone, Ban Dayeong beat Seolgu’s full-strength explanation to a pulp by calling it “grimy and petty.” He wasn’t physically hit, but the damage felt comparable, and Seolgu was at a loss for words.

“Answer.”

Naturally, the person Seolgu was speaking with wasn’t going to understand his shock and wait it out.

At the once-more lowered tone of Ban Dayeong’s voice, Seolgu snapped to attention and nodded. Then, thinking the motion might not carry properly, buried as his head was in a soft pillow, he quickly added in an audible reply.

“Y-yes. That’s right. I want to stay here.”

“Good. If you want to stay here, then you should. I’m Ban Dayeong. Pleased to meet you.”

With an eye smile, Ban Dayeong extended his hand to Seolgu. Entranced by the smile, Seolgu reached out and took it. “Ban Dayeong.” The man’s name was as pretty as his face. Seolgu tried saying Ban Dayeong’s name silently to himself. The final syllable with its two “ng” sounds seemed to roll around in his chest and tickle.

While Seolgu was dazedly lost in the pretty name and pretty smile, Ban Jinyeong, who had been shoved to the far side, strode back to the bedside.

“Boss! Are you really fine with him? The secretary said Baekgu—this kid—has malnutrition and anemia; did that village head scam me? What if he keels over after a few sucks? Should I go fetch a truly sturdy one even now?”

Not only did he keep mangling Seolgu’s name, he spewed unfiltered crudity. Hearing it, Seolgu’s complexion went white, then blue, changing by the second. In truth, Ban Jinyeong found Seolgu’s reactions so amusing that he spoke half in jest, half in earnest—but without knowing that, Seolgu could only take every word at 100 percent face value.

Hic!

At last, thoroughly frightened, Seolgu’s hiccups began. Ban Dayeong let out a small sigh and patted Seolgu’s head.

“It’s fine. You just need to get strong enough that you won’t faint anymore. Right?”

Despite being the one who had made him collapse, Ban Dayeong never said he wouldn’t feed again. Even so, Seolgu clutched at his words as if they were the only lifeline.

“Right, I can get strong…!”

His expression was resolute, as if he absolutely could not be thrown out. Pleased with Seolgu’s attitude, Ban Dayeong’s eyes curved again. How doglike must life in that forest have been for him to cling to this place even while being treated like this? The desperation Seolgu radiated pricked at Ban Dayeong’s base curiosity. Keeping Baek Seolgu close certainly didn’t seem like it would be boring.

Baek Seolgu, whose body had nothing seriously wrong, was discharged right away after being prescribed a high dose of iron and receiving a vitamin D injection. He felt a bit embarrassed to be a burden, having to leave in a hospital outfit for lack of clothes to wear, but truthfully, he was relieved he didn’t have to go out half-naked.

“Then shall we get some food first.”

Saying this, Ban Dayeong headed toward the parking lot. Trailing after him and replying with an obedient “okay,” Baek Seolgu nonetheless had his attention scattered everywhere around him.

People watching videos on their phones, a robot cleaning by itself, patients checking in by tapping on a screen—this was another world altogether. For Baek Seolgu, the very ground he stood on now was another world. Having gone back and forth only between mountains, valleys, fields, and paddies every day, without even watching TV, Seolgu was broadcasting his country bumpkin stripes in full.

Tip-tip-tip, stop. Tip-tip-tip, stop.

Chasing after him fussily, Baek Seolgu kept coming to a standstill and refusing to budge; each time, a crack formed between Ban Dayeong’s smooth brows.

Snap!

In the end, unable to hold back, Ban Dayeong snapped his fingers as he turned.

“Eek!”

Startled by the crisp sound that smacked his eardrums out of nowhere, Baek Seolgu let out a scream. Seeing Baek Seolgu shiver all the way up to his shoulders, Ban Dayeong tugged up one corner of his lips. A bit of mischief rose with it.

“Baek Seolgu-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you keep getting distracted? Do you see someone here you like?”

At his words, Seolgu quickly shook his head.

“It’s not that, it’s just… everything is fascinating. There are so many things I’ve never seen before.”

“What?”

“Over there, and there, and there, too—these are all things I’m seeing for the first time….”

Pointing here and there with his finger, Seolgu’s ears flushed red, as if embarrassed to reveal how much he didn’t know.

“That, that, and that as well. They’re all simple things you’ll be able to do soon enough, so for now, just follow me properly.”

With a nonchalant expression, Ban Dayeong retraced, one by one, the places Seolgu had pointed, then turned back to continue on his way. This time, watching his broad back, Baek Seolgu also walked briskly without letting his attention wander.

The words “simple things you’ll be able to do soon enough” kept circling in Seolgu’s mind. With time, would he really be able to try this and that and everything else? He told himself not to get his hopes up, but he couldn’t help the small sprout of anticipation that took root in a corner of his heart. Somehow, if he followed Ban Dayeong, it felt like he could do anything, just as the man had said. A small, bashful smile crept onto Seolgu’s lips as he imagined himself living like ordinary people.