DI Ch 78

“…”

Objectively speaking, it looked cool, but the tattoo was fuller and larger than I expected. It felt too much like a gangster. Well, he was a gangster, but… I covered the dragon’s eyes with one hand and gently stroked Tae Seong-je’s shoulder with the other. Lost in thought, I gently rubbed from his shoulders to his delicately toned back muscles.

I lowered my gaze to meet the dragon’s eyes again. It was hard to pretend that nothing was wrong, perhaps because it was our first meeting, but my gaze kept shifting away. Then I frowned at the scar that had caught my attention. It wasn’t very visible due to the dimly lit mood lighting, but upon closer examination, I saw that his back had quite a few scars.

It looked like a tattoo had been placed on top of the scar. What kind of life have you lived to have so many scars? My heart sank to the point of despair as soon as I noticed the large burn mark starting on his right shoulder. At the same time, a pain arose as if a small, sharp knife was moving around my head and scratching my skull.

But his past bothered me more than my own pain. I knew he hadn’t lived a pleasant life, but I didn’t know it was this severe. Still, it was fortunate that he had grown up healthy and without any apparent pain or problems.

I patted him on the back in appreciation. To others, it might seem like I was just touching his waist. It was at that moment. Tae Seong-je suddenly woke up from his sleep. The problem was how abruptly he woke up. He sprung up in bed as if he had been shocked. Startled by his sudden awakening, I tumbled off the bed onto the floor.

And it wasn’t just a fall; it was a headfirst fall.

“… Ugh!”

The heavy and intense pain brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn’t even speak. I had hit the back of my head hard. If there hadn’t been a carpet on the floor, I might have shattered into two pieces. I was sure my head had split right in half.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. When I raised my head, I could see Tae Seong-je, who seemed surprisingly flustered, staring down at me. He appeared to be quite surprised. What’s with this guy, staring at me like I did something so wrong… I tried to say something but ended up groaning in pain as if my throat was going to break.

The mix of pity and admiration I had felt disappeared as my head throbbed with pain. His expression remained one of surprise, but Tae Seong-je seemed to regain his composure and approached me as I lay sprawled on the floor.

“Let me see. Where does it hurt?”

“I think it’s cracked…”

“Stay still. You shouldn’t move when you have a head injury.”

I agree with that. But then, why was this guy searching for his phone in such a careless manner while hugging me tightly? I’m sure it’s nothing more than a concussion, but he’s shaking me around so carelessly. Was he trying to kill me?

“Excuse me. Hyung.”

“Fuck, where the hell did it go?”

The way he was rummaging around on the bed with his ears closed was that of someone who was still very panicked, so I frowned while clutching his throbbing head. I called him one more time but he told me to calm down and stay still. At first, I thought this was the cruel side of Tae Seong-je that I had only seen with my own eyes, but his temperament… I patted him on the back telling him to calm down. Hmm. I think there was a dragon’s head around here.

“Haa…”

Tae Seong-je eventually found his cell phone and sat down on the bed, looking somewhat composed. His brief exhalation didn’t suggest any relaxation; he seemed quite tense. He grabbed the back of my neck tightly and gently massaged it, apologizing. He seemed to know he had done something wrong.

“Get some ice right away.”

Even after hanging up the phone, there was an unusual sense of urgency in his actions. I patted his back again. The oil on my hands made it look like I was wiping them on his robe, but…

I’d never seen this guy so flustered before. I was a little taken aback. But soon, something even more bewildering happened. After ending the call, the screen didn’t turn off and changed to the wallpaper.

“Huh?”

I didn’t recognize it right away at first. However, I immediately blushed when I saw the yellow cat’s bright eyes. It was a picture of me holding the cat, the one I had sent him on that day when cherry blossoms and forsythia were blooming.

For some reason, I felt extremely embarrassed. It was only the lips, chin, and hands that had been revealed so it felt like my real face, my photo, not Seo Seung-won’s. Of course, the real protagonist in the photo was not me, but the cat, but still…

“This won’t do. Let’s go to the emergency room first.”

“No, no. I’m fine. It’s not that bad…”

Tae Seong-je was flustered when he saw me turning into a red beet. I waved my hands as he muttered with a helpless expression in his eyes.

“What do you mean it’s not that bad? Your face has changed like you’ve been beaten…”

“…”

My heart, which had been pounding with excitement, felt like it had stopped abruptly. I looked up and stopped waving my hands in the air. Anyway, Tae Seong-je looked at my complexion again.

“Is there something wrong again?”

“What do you mean, again… I’m fine except for the vomiting of blood.”

“Don’t leave that out. That’s the most serious thing.”

“It happens all the time. It’s not like it can be fixed anyway.”

Tae Seong-je suddenly looked at me with a solemn gaze.

“It should be fixed. You can’t be in pain forever.”

I was speechless for a moment. My condition was not a disease; it was a lingering symptom. Moreover, it was not the kind that could be fixed. Seo Seung-won’s parents had initially dragged me to the hospital for a year, trying to find the cause. I gave up partly because I was stressed there, but also because we hadn’t discovered anything during that time.

“There’s no doctor who can cure me.”

“Maybe, not in Korea.”

I was about to ask what he meant by that, but at the same time, there was a knock at the door. After carefully laying me down on the bed, I just curled up and sighed as I watched him leave.

There was the sound of the door opening, but then the sound of the door closing immediately followed. I frowned slightly. At first, the pain felt like my skull was splitting in half, but now it was just a manageable dull ache. It was nothing, yet I had made too much of a fuss.

The back of my head suddenly felt cold. As I turned my head, Tae Seong-je spoke in a soothing tone.

“Just endure it for a bit.”

He said so and continued to massage me gently. Was this just a habit? Thanks to the cool sensation that suppressed the throbbing pain, the pain lessened even more. But the shame that hadn’t subsided yet somehow made me hold onto his mistake.

“I was giving you a massage to wake you up in a good mood.”

“Massage? Yeah. Do it. You can do it.”

“Well, how can I do it? My head hurts.”

I looked at him in disbelief, and he seemed slightly embarrassed.

“Then why are you touching a sleeping person’s body?”

“Hyung said it was okay for me to do it. I got your permission.”

“I got it. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Feeling unjustly scolded, I squinted my eyes and rebuked him languidly. He apologized sincerely with an embarrassed expression, which made me feel better, but I didn’t want to reveal that my mood had improved so easily.

“You slept so well that you were not aware of your surroundings, but you suddenly woke up and startled me like that.”

“I slept well?”

“Then you slept less? I’ve never seen anyone sleep so well in my life.”

I made a lighthearted joke at his embarrassment, and Tae Seong-je nodded absentmindedly as he looked deep in thought.

“Right… But I gave you a bump.”

“Oh. Did you?”

I rubbed the back of my head anxiously, but he quickly shook his head.

“No, it didn’t happen.”

“But it did. I was in so much pain; there’s no way it didn’t happen.”

“Okay, fine.”

If he was going to deny it, he should have done so from the beginning… I suddenly felt disheartened and stayed silent. He gently stroked the back of my head with a careful touch. After a while of this soothing massage, drowsiness started to creep over me. The area that had been throbbing with pain now still felt a bit uncomfortable, but his gentle touch made me feel relaxed and even happy.

“Seung-won.”

At that moment, he called my name in a more serious tone than usual. When I looked up, he was looking down at me with a face devoid of a smile. I was surprised, but when our eyes met, he broke into a small smile, and the tension in the room eased. So I was even more shocked when he said something unexpected.

“You saw it.”

“What?”

“My back.”

“…”

Hold still… Would it be unnatural for me to suddenly pretend to be in pain here? Of course it would. Tae Seong-je’s eyebrows rose slightly as I pursed my lips in embarrassment. I lowered my gaze, afraid to meet that cold expression I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Did Seung-won know about Tae Seong-je’s tattoo? Was there any mention of it in the first place? I can’t remember… I clenched my forearm tightly, almost digging my nails into it out of anxiety. I made a mistake. But the milk had already been spilled.

Let’s just look at the big picture for now; this situation isn’t the worst-case scenario. No, even if it is, I have to turn it into a slightly less dire situation. It’s okay. I can somehow handle it. Why? Because this is just Part 1. It was a truly magical phrase: Part 1. To Seo Seung-won, who was a supporting character, Part 1 was the epitome of peace!

“That…”

I couldn’t keep silent forever, so I forced myself to speak. My mind was racing, and my stomach felt uncomfortable, so I pressed down on it while furrowing my brow. Then, a rough and large hand reached out towards me. Startled, I stepped back without realizing it, and Tae Seong-je’s hand came to an abrupt stop.

He approached me again and gently brushed the hair off my forehead. It was definitely an affectionate gesture, but somehow it felt like it was putting pressure on me differently than before. Moreover, the persistent dizziness began to set in. I couldn’t figure out where to focus my gaze, so I tightly closed both eyes.