NOVEL NEXT Episode 37
Episode 37
“You must make sure to take the medicine well. The goal right now is to maintain the status quo, suppress pain, and prevent seizures. Maintenance is difficult and deterioration is easy, so you absolutely shouldn’t become complacent just because you don’t feel pain right away.”
Seung-hyun slowly nodded his head as he watched the doctor rattle off a long nagging as soon as he arrived. At first, he was a bit unimpressed, but the more he saw, the more he realized the doctor had an excellent work ethic.
“I understand.”
“And… We need to check the numbers regularly, so I think we’ll need to do another test soon. This requires a one-day hospital stay. Next week at this time. Would that work for you?”
“Yes. Well. I don’t have any schedule anyway.”
“Then let’s have you come at this time next week to go through the one-day hospitalization procedures and conduct the tests. We’ll need to check every month or two, so please keep that in mind when making your schedule.”
The doctor said as he flipped through the calendar. It shouldn’t be a problem since he had nothing to do anyway. Seung-hyun answered that he understood and checked the time.
He thought he could just get the prescription again and return right away, but more time had passed than expected while listening to the nagging.
“If there are any problems, please contact me anytime. Even if you think it’s nothing, you must contact me.”
The doctor continued his nagging, unaware of Seung-hyun’s impatient heart. Seung-hyun, who had been constantly checking the time while tapping on his cell phone, finally interrupted him.
“I understand. But I have an appointment.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was holding you up for too long.”
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll get going now.”
Seung-hyun got up from his seat in a bit of a hurry. He wouldn’t be late since they agreed to contact him when he left anyway, but if he left any later, there would be traffic, and Seung-hyun, who had become impatient for no reason, opened the clinic door and went out.
“Ah, come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask… Oh, you’re quick.”
Professor Kim, who only remembered what he wanted to ask when Seung-hyun was about to get up, belatedly tried to call him, but Seung-hyun had already left with quick steps.
Professor Kim, who was looking at his back with an awkward expression, soon shook his head. It wasn’t an important matter that had to be asked right now.
“It’s Secretary Lee, not anyone else, so it should be fine.”
It was just to ask to make sure. Professor Kim shrugged his shoulders and prepared to greet the next patient.
***
“Why did you buy so much? I told you there’s food at home.”
“There might be things you need that you don’t have.”
“Anyone who sees this would think we live together. Even if it’s needed, it should be me who needs it. What’s the point of you doing it, Ju Jae-young?”
Fortunately, Seung-hyun was able to arrive home at a time similar to what he had expected. Rather, he was leisurely arriving and resting, but he was a bit surprised to see Jae-young carrying plastic bags that looked heavy at a glance.
What great thing was he trying to do by going that far? As he said that, Jae-young shook his head from side to side.
“I like making this and that.”
“Are you going to cook or something?”
Seung-hyun looked at Jae-young with a dubious face. Cooking? It seems like he lived without getting a drop of water on his hands, so can he be trusted?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, well, just because.”
“I can see what you’re thinking. You’re worried I can’t do it, right?”
Jae-young put down the bags with an obvious face.
“You probably can’t cook anything either.”
“I know how to make simple things.”
In order to survive on little money while living alone, of course he had to know how to do this and that. How many types of dishes did he learn for survival? Seung-hyun answered confidently.
“What do you know how to make?”
“……”
However, the moment he saw Jae-young’s face that seemed to say “try answering,” Seung-hyun realized the contradiction of this situation. There were many dishes he knew how to make, but was that something that suited ‘Han Seung-hyun’?
No, even though he thought he could cook since they were the same person, it felt a bit awkward. Moreover, the dishes he knew how to make were almost all survival-type, focused on cost-effectiveness.
‘If it was something that looked a bit impressive, that would be one thing, but what I know are simple things… that don’t even require any plating concern.’
Wouldn’t that look too strange? It’s strange even to me.
Seung-hyun glanced at the plastic bags Jae-young had put down. Judging from what was slightly visible, it didn’t seem to be Korean dishes anyway. He didn’t know how to make them if they weren’t Korean dishes anyway.
“…Ramyeon?”
In the end, Seung-hyun gave a safe answer that wouldn’t get him in trouble, even if it was a bit unfair. Jae-young spoke as if he had expected it.
“That’s not even cooking. Now, sit still. You might hurt your hand trying to do something you don’t usually do.”
Seung-hyun closed his mouth tightly with a face full of dissatisfaction, but unable to refute. Judging from the ingredients coming out of the bag, today’s dinner would probably be Western food.
“Do you think I’m a child?”
Seung-hyun grumbled and snooped around Jae-young. Can he really cook well? Isn’t he just bluffing? If it’s not tasty, he was going to criticize him to the point he couldn’t even mention the letter “c” in cooking ever again.
Thinking that way, he hovered around, but contrary to expectations, Jae-young’s movements handling the ingredients looked familiar and skillful.
‘I thought it would be at most a hobby level, but if it’s to this extent…’
“Did you learn it somewhere?”
“I wanted to do well if I was going to do it.”
A positive answer came to the question he threw out of curiosity. Seeing him shrug his shoulders, it seemed he was quite confident in his skills.
I wanted to tease him a bit, but isn’t it cheating if he’s good at this too? Seung-hyun made a slightly sulky face.
“You said you don’t like nuts. Between tomatoes and cream, which do you like?”
“Anything is fine. I’ll just eat whatever you give me.”
But on the other hand, he was also looking forward to it. If he’s acting so triumphant, it must be delicious. But these days, he had many expensive meals, so wouldn’t it be incomparable to restaurants?
Seung-hyun thought that way and watched Jae-young busily moving his hands. The sight of him moving his hands familiarly was like a scene from a movie or drama.
‘He’s really handsome. Whatever he does looks like a pictorial.’
“Is there something on my face?”
“What?”
Seung-hyun, who had been staring at that face for a long time, was startled by the sudden question and took a step back. Did I stare too intently? Seung-hyun averted his gaze far away as if he had never done that and feigned ignorance.
“I was just looking at how confident you are, acting like you’re doing something so great.”
“Hmm.”
Jae-young smiled after trying to tease such Seung-hyun. Thinking about the Seung-hyun he had seen so far, if he teased him more here, he might get kicked out.
“Anything that goes in the mouth is all the same.”
Does he know that he’s talking a bit more than usual even though he says he’s not interested? No, he must be doing that because he doesn’t know. Jae-young pretended not to notice Seung-hyun’s change and focused on the ingredients in front of him.
‘No matter how I think about it, it’s not that he’s not interested in me.’
“Are you bored?”
“No. I was just watching for a bit.”
Seung-hyun completely moved away from Jae-young. He was curious, but just watching from the side, he could vividly picture in his head how much Jae-young would tease him.
Jae-young wandered around the kitchen that Seung-hyun was still not used to as if it were his own home. Even if you could buy the ingredients, what would he have done if there were no tools or tableware? Seung-hyun inwardly thought fortunately and glanced sideways at Jae-young.
Before long, a delicious smell began to fill the house. It was such a good smell that it made him hungry just from the scent.
‘It seems to be cream. I saw him marinating meat earlier too. Cooking being his hobby is unexpected no matter how I think about it. It wasn’t mentioned in the novel either… I thought rich people lived without lifting a finger.’
He was looking forward, but his attention was slowly shifting to the side. It was because of the smell, but he was also curious about the sight of Jae-young cooking.
But if he gave him his gaze, it was obvious he would tease him, smiling and asking why he was looking. If it was someone else, he would have just ignored it, but somehow it wasn’t easy to do that to Jae-young.
Even when he didn’t want to see his face, if he really didn’t see him, it seemed like he would feel regretful.
‘I should make some other friends too. I should have asked for that person’s phone number last time to repay him. Having only one person I know, I end up relying on him for no reason.’
Seung-hyun grumbled inwardly and just tapped his idle fingers. It wasn’t that he disliked Jae-young. If anything, it was the opposite.
The problem was that the feeling didn’t end with thinking his appearance was annoying, and other feelings were slowly rising.
“Medium for the meat? Or well-done?”
“Well-done, please.”
It was he who said not to say what he was thinking, but the fact that the person in question was treating him no differently from usual was also a bit irksome.
‘Was it my misunderstanding? No. If it was, that day was a bit different.’
The one who acted strange was Jae-young and the one who refused was himself, so why did it seem like he was the one being swayed too? Seung-hyun stared blankly at the TV screen with nothing on it, feeling a bit heavy.