TGMND 65

When Yeo-woon woke up, it was still dim outside. But what was strange was that he wasn’t lying in his own bed at home.

“…Ah, my head, I can’t make it to work tomorrow.”

Yeo-woon rubbed his temples and sat up. His memory was fuzzy, like a fog had settled over his head. The only thing he vaguely recalled was someone briefly waking him to put medicine in his mouth and placing a cup in his hand. It seemed like they were saying something to him too, but the words just buzzed incoherently in his ear, so he wasn’t sure.

“Are you awake?”

“…?”

A familiar voice. Yeo-woon turned his head curiously. Yoon Ji-gu sat cross-legged in front of him with a sullen face and brusquely said:

“It’s my house.”

“Ah….”

“I did bring you here, but don’t get the wrong idea. Do you understand?”

“…?”

“I’m not usually someone who butts into other people’s business, you know? But that doesn’t mean I’m…uh, giving you special treatment either. It’s just… you had such a high fever.”

I didn’t even ask…

“I got scared you might actually die if I left you there, you know? My fingerprints are probably all over the neighbors’ doorbell now. Then I’d be charged with…negligent manslaughter, right? But it didn’t seem bad enough to take you to the ER. I was just going to watch over you until you woke up. …Seriously.”

I didn’t even doubt you…

“So why were you running a fever like that with the AC blasting? That’s how you catch colds, even in the summer!”

Was he always this talkative?

Yeo-woon blinked dully as he listened to Yoon Ji-gu fired off his rapid-fire excuses like a machine gun. It was only after Ji-gu finished his rambling tirade that Yeo-woon quietly spoke up.

“Ji-gu-ssi…”

“It’s so ridiculous… Running such a crazy fever but still blasting the AC…”

“Thank you.”

“…”

Ji-gu’s eyes widened at Yeo-woon’s words. He quickly averted his gaze, pressing his lips into a thin line. The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he were holding back a smile or trying to look even more angry. Like he couldn’t stand being thanked.

Tap. Without warning, the back of his hand gently touched Yeo-woon’s cheek. The pleasantly cool skin felt nice. As Yeo-woon smiled faintly, Yoon Ji-gu tilted his head, as if wondering why he was smiling. However, Yeo-woon didn’t offer any explanation, just blinking away the lingering drowsiness. The subtle fragrance from Ji-gu’s hand felt refreshing.

“I guess the medicine helped bring your fever down a lot.”

“Was it you who gave me the medicine earlier, Ji-gu-ssi?”

“…Well who else would have given it to you besides me?”

“So it wasn’t just a dream after all.”

“…A dream?”

If he had remained in that earlier feverish state until morning, his condition could have really deteriorated. It wasn’t his first experience, so he didn’t feel a huge sense of crisis, but it was truly fortunate that Yoon Ji-gu happened to come to his house. Yeo-woon muttered absentmindedly, then remembered the reason Ji-gu had visited when he saw him staring intently.

“Oh, right. The… transcript…”

“…What?”

“The Daehan University transcript.”

“Huh?”

“Ji-gu-ssi, you came to my house because of that, right?”

“…”

When Yeo-woon blinked innocently and asked, Yoon Ji-gu moved his lips as if to say something but stopped himself. Confusion flashed in his eyes. His reaction is really strange… Yeo-woon looked at him curiously.

“No? Then why is Ji-gu-ssi suddenly came to my house….”

“…You looked sick…”

“How did you know I was sick? You didn’t notice anything when we briefly saw each other earlier.”

“…”

“Ah, was it because I didn’t go to the pool?”

“Uh well…”

“Huh? But it’s not just today that I missed…”

“…”

“That’s strange…?”

Then why did he come to his house? His head wasn’t working properly. As Yeo-woon narrowed his eyes in bewilderment, Yoon Ji-gu suddenly jumped up from his seat, clenching his fists.

“I remember now! Y-Yes, that’s right!”

“Is that right?”

“Of course! Why would I go to your house if it wasn’t for the transcript? I don’t even care about you! I just happened to come because of that and saw you were sick. That’s why.”

“I see?”

Yoon Ji-gu nodded vigorously, and Yeo-woon smiled faintly at his desperation.

“I didn’t bring it on purpose, ssome crazy guy was trying to break into our place so I tried to stop him and ended up with it.”

“…Huh?”

“This…maniac was rummaging through our mail. I saw on TV that’s how burglars check if no one is home before breaking in. Be careful too, Ji-gu-ssi.”

“…?”

“He can fool everybody else, but can’t fool my eyes. I knew right away he was a burglar as soon as I saw him.”

“…Oh, I see…”

Only then did Yoon Ji-gu’s expression relax slightly, as if he finally understood. He plopped back down on the sofa and let out a deep sigh.

“I brought up everything that was in that guy’s hands, but in the midst of it all I kind of distracted and…accidentally opened your envelope a bit, Ji-gu-ssi. I’m sorry.”

Yeo-woon looked around, realizing the envelope he was supposed to give to Yoon Ji-gu was nowhere to be found, and turned back to him.

“I had left it by the bed in my room…”

“…You saw it?”

“Huh?”

“…I’m asking if you saw the contents.”

“…”

Huh? Your grades? Of course I didn’t see, I only opened the envelope. I swear! …is what Yeo-woon wanted to say, but looking into Ji-gu’s eyes, the lie wouldn’t come out. Watching his reaction, Yoon Ji-gu’s face flushed bright red. Come to think of it, if I were in his position and a total stranger saw grades like that, I might want to bite my tongue off and die too. I can totally understand Ji-gu’s perspective. Sensing his extreme embarrassment, Yeo-woon decided to change the subject out of consideration.

“Well then, Ji-gu, I should head home now…”

“Th-Those weren’t my real grades!”

“…Huh?”

“…I took all the exams. But I got those grades because of attendance points… I’m serious. I even got A’s in my first year.”

“….”

“It’s true. There’s a mandatory course called Physical Fitness and Health… Why? Want me to show you?”

“No…?”

Yeo-woon tried to act oblivious, but Yoon Ji-gu brought it up himself. So… those terrible grades must have been his after all. But seriously, how could…

“You’re… not doing well in college?”

Yeo-woon couldn’t outright say his grades were terrible, so he chose the most neutral thing he could say.

“…Yeah, who cares about grades, just have fun in college. My friend got a failing grade for going out drinking and hanging out on a active day. He struggled with retakes in his last semester, though.”

“…”

“But you do go to class, right?”

“…When I’m taking a test.”

He said he crammed all his classes into just one day a week, but even then he often skipped. Watching Yeo-woon’s speechless reaction, Yoon Ji-gu fidgeted and muttered as if making excuses, “Anyway, whether I go or not, no one really knows me.”

“But…do you remember the face of the person rummaging through your mailbox?”

“I remember, but….”

It was already hazy, perhaps because he couldn’t clearly picture the person’s face. He might recognize them if they met again…but Yeo-woon didn’t understand why he needed to remember an unremarkable face.

“How old did he look to you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe late twenties?”

“…”

Yoon Ji-gu blinked slowly with a serious expression. He tapped his knee with his finger. Watching his downcast eyelashes, Yeo-woon was secretly touched. He must be trying to catch that burglar for me… How kind of him.

“But wasn’t it you earlier.”

“…What?”

“When you came to my house earlier, you called me hyung.”

At those words, Yoon Ji-gu couldn’t hide his flustered reaction and audibly swallowed.

“…Me?”

“Yes, you did. So why are you pretending not to know?”

“…”

“You can call me ‘Yeo-woon-ssi’ if you don’t like calling me hyung.”

Yoon Ji-gu pondered for a moment, then answered in a low voice.

“…Then I’ll stick with hyung.”

Yoon Ji-gu averted his gaze diagonally while fiddling with his flushed ear. Perhaps because they were sitting so close, but his heartbeat sounded surprisingly clear. What’s so difficult about this? He’s really awkward with people. In the still silence with only the AC humming, watching him fidget wordlessly made Yeo-woon want to laugh.

“Then you can drop formalities with me too, hyung…”

“…?”

“You’re four years older than me, so…I feel a bit uncomfortable too.”

“Really? I’m fine with it.”

When Yeo-woon smiled as if he had been waiting for him to say that, and Yoon Ji-gu, who had suggested dropping honorifics, raised an eyebrow as if he saw something odd.

“…No, why…I did say to drop them but not this quickly…”

“Why? Should I not speak casually?”

“…”

“Should I?”

“…Do whatever you want. You’re really annoying.”

Yeo-woon couldn’t tell if Ji-gu had a bad temper or not. But his tightly sealed lips were lightly quivering as he muttered about being annoyed.

“Ah, stop staring at me! You’re really this obnoxious. So embarrassing…”

“…”

It was puzzling how tense and on edge Yoon Ji-gu seemed, even shaking his legs.

Why was he acting like this?

Yeo-woon couldn’t understand why Yoon Ji-gu was getting so annoyed. Feeling awkward just being near him, he felt a bit embarrassed too.

“Then I’ll head home…”

“Just stay here tonight.”

“…”

Yoon Ji-gu pressed down firmly on Yeo-woon’s shoulders back down onto the sofa as he tried to get up. He picked up the blanket that had fallen to his knees and placed it in Yeo-woon’s hands.

“Your fever hasn’t fully gone down yet, so sleep here and leave in the morning. Unless you want me to deal with your dead body if your condition suddenly worsens overnight?”

“Hey, I’m fine…”

“You’re not fine.”

“…”

“Go to sleep first. I’ll… come in after I see you sleeping, hyung.”

Yoon Ji-gu sat down in a spot where he could clearly see Yeo-woon lying down, holding a white laptop.

“What are you going to do over there?”

“…Play games?”

“…In front of me?”

“I still have some unfinished stuff, so.”

“Mmm…”

Yeo-woon didn’t understand why Yoon Ji-gu wanted him to stay and sleep in until the morning when they were next-door neighbors so close that if one fell over, their noses would touch. It wasn’t a serious illness, just a cold he caught like a habit once or twice a year.

“Don’t worry, just close your eyes.”

But Yeo-woon couldn’t ignore the sincerity of someone firmly telling him to go to sleep like this, even though he knew it was an inconvenience.

“I’m telling you, it’s fine. I usually stay up late.”

…It was a bit strange. It had been so long since someone stayed by his side on a day like this…

“No, I told you not to keep looking at me…”

“…”

Yeo-woon chuckled softly as he pulled the blanket up to his nose.

Yoon Ji-gu the one who kept looking at him.

It was funny, but Yeo-woon was grateful for the man who kept glancing over as if checking on his condition, even though he said he was going to play games. Maybe that’s why Yeo-woon had an unusually hard time falling asleep that night.