YHP 57

Why is this suddenly happening?
The cycle clearly passed recently, so why is it starting again?
“Ah, ugh.”
The pain that struck from the moment he opened his eyes had continued past noon. The heat cycle overlapping with a hangover brought truly unimaginable pain.

Perhaps the overdose of suppressants from the previous heat cycle had become a problem, now the suppressants weren’t working at all. While vomiting several times, his fever rose as high as it could go, but strangely, his mind remained clear through it all, so he couldn’t even lose consciousness.

“…Haa.”
Every time he opened his mouth, suppressed breathing sounds leaked out. Half-exhausted, Jeong-in weakly pressed his forehead to the floor. He had cried so much that his face was already a mess, and the worn-out floor covering was full of nail marks.

Jeong-in slowly moved his gaze along the nail marks he had left. Breathing rapidly as he surveyed the empty room, his eyes suddenly caught the potted plant by the sunny window. The leaves and stems of the plant that had been gracefully upright were all drooping lifelessly.

“Ah…”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t watered it for several days.

Jeong-in struggled desperately to get up from his spot. However, he had no strength in his hands or arms, so his body kept slipping. All he could do was blink stupidly.

The only life he was responsible for was just one gentle potted plant, yet he couldn’t even do that and had caused this mess. Seeing everything dying while being unable to pour even a cup of water felt so pathetic that tears came.

“Ah, ugh, ha…”
He didn’t even have the energy to wipe the tears that rolled down his eyes. Curling up in a ball, Jeong-in gritted his teeth.

It really hurt too much. It seemed to hurt more than last time. Sick of the pain, Jeong-in recalled his recent heat cycle. It had hurt enough to make his eyes roll back, then miraculously subsided in just one day.

‘You already know that Alpha pheromones can provide pain relief effects, don’t you?’
He remembered that Ho-jin had been a great help at the time. Desperate to escape the immediate pain, Jeong-in squeezed out his last bit of strength to pick up his phone. Then, trembling, he found Ho-jin’s number and called.

After several rings,

-Hyung, are you awake?

A warm voice poured from beyond the cold machine.

“…”

Help me.

Unable to voice the words that had risen to his throat, Jeong-in remained silent.

-How’s your headache, are you okay?

“…Yeah.”

It was such a warm and gentle voice. Too kind to make him worry like this.

“But… Gaeddong-i seems sick. It’s wilting.”

-Gaeddong-i? Ah, the syngonium?

To avoid his trembling breathing being detected, he had to hold the phone away whenever he was short of breath.

-It’s supposedly a very resilient plant, so even if it’s a bit dried out, it’ll revive right away with water, so don’t worry too much.

“…Yeah.”

Though he couldn’t actually ask for help, he was glad he had called. When he was alone it was so hard to endure, but just hearing Ho-jin’s voice gave him some comfort.

What an amazing person.

Feeling his sharply tensed nerves gradually ease, Jeong-in closed his eyes.

---

Jeongwoo was gesturing from afar. Ho-jin waved at him while concentrating all his attention on the phone call. Understanding that this meant to go ahead, Jeongwoo took Ho-jin’s towel as well and went into the swimming pool. Finally, only Ho-jin remained in the locker room.

“Hyung, what are you going to do today?”

-…I wonder.

This was the first time Jeong-in had called him first. Strictly speaking it was the second time, but the first was to someone other than Ho-jin, so he decided not to count it. Anyway, this was a monumental event worth keeping for life.

“Could you possibly work out this evening?”

-Are you coming up again?

Seeing him worry about the plant first thing upon waking up, fortunately it didn’t seem like he was suffering from a hangover badly enough to be difficult. Still, the makgeolli he had enthusiastically drunk didn’t become non-alcohol, so Jeong-in’s voice was lower and more subdued than usual. That had its own charm too, making Ho-jin quietly chuckle.

“I’ll only come up until today and start working out diligently again from tomorrow.”

-…Yeah.

He had expected to get scolded not to do foolish things, but unusually Jeong-in didn’t snap back. At the feeling like a small star was exploding in his chest, Ho-jin smiled foolishly.

“Will you really make time?”

-Yeah.

“Then shall we have dinner together too?”

-Yeah.

“…How about coffee?”

-….

Then the short answers that had been continuing suddenly stopped. Thinking he might have gone too far with coffee, Ho-jin quickly said goodbye to Jeong-in.

“It’s nothing. I’m going to training now, I’ll see you later.”

It was almost at the same time. Jeongwoo, who had gone to the swimming pool, came running and poked just his face through the door gap to say:

“Ho-jin, they’re telling you to come out quickly.”

“Ah… okay.”

Ho-jin put away his phone and immediately turned to look at mini Jeong-in.

“I’ll work hard and come back.”

Only after briefly kissing the forehead of the soft and pretty dolphin doll did he open the door and go outside.

It was a new habit that hadn’t existed for long, but one he had never skipped.

---

It was much later when the afternoon training was completely finished. As soon as training ended, Ho-jin drove straight to Seoul without even knowing he was tired.

“Hyung.”

Though he had driven hard, even speeding for the first time in his life, he couldn’t avoid rush hour, so when he actually arrived, it was much later than expected. Standing under the dim sensor light, Ho-jin carefully knocked on Jeong-in’s door. However, no matter how many times he knocked, there was no answer from inside. Even calling got no response.

“…Is he not home?”

Since it was almost exam period, maybe he had gone to the library. Thinking this, Ho-jin sent Jeong-in a text.

「I’ll wait hehe. Please let me know when you get home」

Humming as he went into his room, he spread out his tablet PC and a new paper side by side and began reading carefully from the title. This time it was a paper containing cases of LGS complete recovery. As expected, it was full of unknown words from the first line.

“Hmm…”

With a throbbing headache, Ho-jin temporarily set aside what he was doing and began thinking about other things.

What would be good to feed him after exercising? Should we go to the home-style restaurant again? What if we really do get to drink coffee together, where should we go? I haven’t looked into cafes yet, what kind of atmosphere would hyung like, should I ask Yuyeong now…

No, but this is the first time going for coffee with hyung, so I can’t rely on other friends.

“……”

Sitting up properly, Ho-jin temporarily put the paper aside and began a quick search.

He clicked through places that looked quiet, thinking Jeong-in wouldn’t like crowded places. Even after narrowing down the range considerably, there were still quite a few options, keeping his fingers busy. Places with delicious desserts, places that roast fresh beans, places good for taking photos, places with interesting themes. There were all kinds of cafes. And surprisingly, every space would suit Jeong-in well. Really, he would look pretty sitting anywhere.

“Well, he’d probably look good even standing alone in an empty field.”

It was while he was chuckling and scrolling that small footsteps echoed in the hallway. Ho-jin quickly turned his head toward where the sound came from.

“It’s hyung.”

He hurriedly slipped on his sneakers and went outside.

“Hyung!”

Someone was really entering the building. Ho-jin ran toward them in one breath. The sensor lights turned on one by one following the busy footsteps.

“…Huh?”

“Huh?”

However, the person Ho-jin finally faced was not Jeong-in.

“…Aren’t you athlete Yoo Ho-jin?”

The other person recognized Ho-jin’s face and opened their eyes wide. Frozen like ice at the unexpected face, Ho-jin immediately came to his senses and bowed deeply.

“Ah, ah, hello, I’m Yoo Ho-jin.”

What was in front of him was undoubtedly Jeong-in’s family.

From the neat lines dropping from the coat-draped shoulders to the pure white face, the gently curved eye corners and dark brown eyes.

He seemed a bit older than Jeong-in. But everything was so similar that he could have mistaken him for Jeong-in from a distance. He could believe it if someone said future Jeong-in had come in a time machine.

“Excuse me, but are you by any chance Jeong-in hyung’s older brother?”

“…Ah.”

He was elegant as if he had stepped out of a painting. The atmosphere emanating from his calm gaze immediately overwhelmed Ho-jin. To Ho-jin’s question asked while swallowing dry saliva, the man smiled brightly. Even that looked so much like the Jeong-in he knew that it was amazing.

“I’m Jeong-in’s father.”

“Gasp.”

Ho-jin unknowingly trembled and bowed again.

“Ah, hello…”

“Hahaha.”

He couldn’t even speak properly.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yoo Won-kyung.”

“Wow, I… I’m also a Yoo. My name is Yoo Ho-jin. Oh right, I mentioned that earlier…”

Ah, really, it would be nice if he could just turn to dust right about now.

It was such a foolish thing to say. However, Won-kyung just smiled looking at such Ho-jin.

“It’s an honor. I didn’t know I’d get to see such a great athlete in person… How do you know our Jeong-in?”

“Well, I… I’m more honored. We met at school. I’m the younger one.”

“…Really? You’re younger than Jeong-in but this tall?”

Won-kyung glanced up to look at the top of Ho-jin’s head. Ho-jin, who had been standing dazed, hurriedly stepped aside from in front of him.

“No. You, you shouldn’t stay here like this… Please stay in my room for a moment.”

“Huh?”

“Jeong-in hyung seems to have gone to the library. I sent a text but haven’t gotten a reply yet. There’s nowhere suitable to wait around here… It’s a bit embarrassing to have such a distinguished person in such a humble place, but please feel free to stay as long as you want.”

Too nervous to know what he was saying, Ho-jin babbled while opening his door. Fortunately, he wasn’t lazy about cleaning, so the room wasn’t too unsightly.

“Thank you so much. But…”

Won-kyung smiled awkwardly.

At the words that followed, Ho-jin’s heart sank to his toes.

“Jeong-in is at the hospital right now. His health suddenly got bad.”