When Your Pain Becomes Mine

Gyeonhui seemed a little surprised upon hearing Ojae's words. It was hard to think that she got married because of her appearance and fashion style.

"But what does that have to do with you?"

"That's what I mean. I don't need to care about it, but I want to."

"What? Gyeonhui nodded once he understood the situation of Ojae. "You're so pathetic, bro."

"... You too."

They looked at each other and nodded slowly.

"... But why does my stomach feel so terrible?"

Gyeonhui frowned while he was grabbing his stomach.

"Why?"

"My throat is dry like I ate something very salty. I'm sure it's not her pain..."

"Really? So am I."

Ojae chimed in with Gyeonhui like he was surprised.

"Do you really feel the same symptoms?"

"Yes. Am I feeling your pain now?"

"It sounds ridiculous."

"No, stay still."

Ojae quickly approached Gyeonhui and pinched his t.h.i.g.hs.

"Ouch! What the hell are you doing!"

"Oh... I'm so glad. No, I don't feel your pain."

Ojae breathed a sigh of relief when he felt no pain on his body.

"You little jerk!"

Suddenly, dizziness came when Gyeonhui became angry. His body staggered with dizziness that was hard to endure.

"Cough, Cough"

At the same time, a sudden urge to cough came expectantly.

"Why, what's wrong? Does your stomach feel that bad?"

Ojae was embarrassed to see Gyeonhui stumbling. Gyeonhui shook his head hard. His throat was swollen like there was a lump in it.

The sudden symptoms came at once. Gyeonhui was able to see where these came from all at once.

"It's her… Cough, cough."

He sounded like he had a frog in his throat.

"She's in danger."

Gyeonhui staggered to the end and hurried running outside. There were sounds of him hitting here and there on the way out like he was bumping into everything all over the place.

"What do you mean that she's in danger all so suddenly? Hey, Gyeonhui! Gyeonhui!"

Ojae hurried out of the house to follow Gyeonhui.

50. A Kind of Reward

"Ruff! Ruff!"

The room was filled with heavy smoke too thick to see through. Labong's whining could be heard all over the place. Sun fell asleep on the bed and was unable to wake even with Labong's desperate cries.

Labong pulled at her with all his power, but she did not move her body.

"Ruff! Ruff!"

Once again, Labong began to bark.

"Argh…"

Sun barely opened her eyes.

'Cough, cough.'

As soon as she opened her eyes, she started coughing.

"What's… going on…"

She tried to mumble to herself about what was going on, but her voice didn't come out. She inhaled a lot of smoke, so she couldn't breathe properly.

'I have to get up.'

After seeing the smoke in the room, she tried to raise herself, but because of the dizziness and the continuing cough, she could not hold her body up.

"Ruff! Ruff!"

Meanwhile, Labong frantically barked at her.

'... Rise and shine, Sun.'

Sun remembered a promise in her mind and raised herself with all her might once again. Smoke from the kitchen was filling the whole house.

"Labong. Cough. Cough. Come on."

Sun struggled to get out of the room while hugging Labong, but as she came out to the living room, thicker smoke came into her lungs through her nose.

At one point, she fainted and collapsed.

"Oh..."

She finally lost her balance and fell to the floor.

"W.h.i.n.e, w.h.i.n.e."

Labong cried out, l.i.c.k.i.n.g Sun's cheek. From the pot on the stove, black smoke continued to spew out.

Sun tried to get up again, but all she could do was scratch the floor with her fingers.

'Bang, Bang, Bang!'

Then she heard someone knocking on the door. No, she wasn't even sure of it. It was a distant feeling, like a ringing in a cave due to her struggle.

A short time later, she heard the sound of the door opening with rough sounds.

"Sun!"

In a desperate call, she raised her eyes and looked up at the man.

"... Dad?"

She could see her dad's face that had passed away, in her blurry view.

'Finally, I'm dying.'

That was the last scene that she remembered.

***

The emergency room in the hospital.

Sitting while holding his head, Gyeonhui looked at his hands. His shaking arm tremors did not subside even after clenching his fists.

Then the doctor and nurse approached and checked on the unconscious patient. Gyeonhui got up from his seat and approached the doctor.

"Is she okay?" He asked with a firm expression.

"Luckily, she didn't inhale too much smoke. Don't worry."

He exhaled a sigh of relief at this news. The tremor of his closed fist steadily subsided.

"I think you should get some treatment too."

The doctor was looking at his right hand.

His swollen right hand seemed to be severely injured. He was wounded when he smashed through the door with a fire extinguisher on the stairs.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I'll be here for her." Ojae said, but Gyeonhui still seemed uneasy to leave her.

"Oh, come on."

At the end, when Ojae f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y pushed him forward, Gyeonhui reluctantly started speaking.

"Don't fidget and watch her. Okay?"

"Okay. I got it."

"If there are any problems, contact me immediately."

"Okay, I said I got it."

After several requests, Gyeonhui finally followed the nurse, but as he walked, he looked back many times, seemingly worried about her.

***

A while later, Gyeonhui returned to Ojae with a cast on his hand.

"How is she?"

He was the first to confirm what happened to Sun.

"Still sleeping."

Ojae responded, looking at her sleeping. After seeing her peaceful face, one might think that what happened today was a lie.

"... She's so careless." Gyeonhui bit his lower lip.

"I'm sure she was so confused."

Hearing Ojae's response, Gyeonhui turned his head to her.

"She was trying to heat the heating packs for her pain. I'm sure she felt worse yesterday, but she never expressed anything."

Ojae looked at her, ticking his tongue. Gyeonhui remembered the back pain that had been persisting since the morning.

"Moreover, there was what you said to her yesterday."

"Hmm." Gyeonhui sighed with pain. "If something I said to her bothered her so much, then it means that she still has feelings for me? Why doesn't she just admit it…?"

"Do you think it's easy to change someone's mind? Once you decide to go, you would go no matter what people say. Once she decides to turn her back from you, she would hesitate to go to you, even if everyone said it was the right thing to do. That's women."

Ojae shook his head, cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue.

"You know all about women, yet you screwed up with your woman?"

Gyeonhui asked Ojae in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey! Ease up on salting on my wounds now."

"Shut up."

Ojae glared at him with his mouth closed, sulking.

When Gyeonhui moved his gaze, he was deeply lost in thought. Looking at her silently for a long time, he finally said,

"... Let's go."

"Huh?"

"Let's go."

"What about her?"

"She would be more shocked if she finds out that I helped her again."

Gyeonhui recalled the last time he took her to the hospital when she rolled down the stairs. Ojae asked no more once he understood Gyeonhui's thoughts.

"Keep the hospital people's mouths shut, and fix the door to her place.

"... Okay."

Gyeonhui heard Ojae's answer, but he could not immediately leave her. After looking at her silently for a long time, he struggled to turn around and left the hospital room.

He headed straight to the parking lot and entered the car weakly.

"Ah…" He sighed.

"W.h.i.n.e, w.h.i.n.e."

Surprised by the strange sound, he looked beside him. There was Labong, sitting in the passenger seat, looking nervous.

"Oh, there you are."

He couldn't think properly again. He brought him to the hospital because he couldn't leave him in the smoky house, but he couldn't put him in the hospital either. Moreover, it made no sense to have Labong hanging around him.