When Your Pain Becomes Mine

"Hmm…what should I do with you, Labong?"

Gyeonhui had a headache as he furrowed his brow. Suddenly, the smell of dog poop spread all over the car.

"... Huh? What the hell is this smell?"

As he sniffed around in the car, he noticed that a large pile of poop was on one side of the passenger seat.

"You, you little..."

He was so embarrassed and didn't know what to say, but Labong just looked at him with his big eyes, as if he knew nothing about it.

***

"Is she still sleeping…?"

When Eunwoo arrived at his animal hospital, he looked at his cell phone that had no response from her and shook his head. He contacted her to give Labong's leash back, which he forgot to give the day before. However, he could not reach her until after lunch.

'Diring.' Then he heard the sound of a doorbell.

"Luckily, it's open."

Eunwoo looked up, naturally hearing a familiar voice. He saw Gyeonhui approaching while holding something in his arms.

"What's going on?"

"I'm going to leave him here." Gyeonhui showed Labong in his arms and said.

"Labong?"

Eunwoo asked with a strange expression, looking alternately at Gyeonhui and Labong.

"Hmm... Don't look at me like that. I didn't steal him this time."

"What happened?"

"Take him first."

"... Do me one more favor if you don't mind."

Eunwoo looked at him again, astonished after hearing the word 'favor.' When Gyeonhui hesitated for a moment like he was reluctant, he started speaking slowly.

***

Late afternoon, in the hospital room.

"Umm…"

Sun struggled to open her eyes.

A strange feeling and the ceiling came to her.

"Where am I…"

"You're finally awake."

She turned her head to a familiar voice and saw Eunwoo's face.

"What happened to me? I was definitely near a fire..."

"When your neighbor heard Labong barking, they called 911. Luckily, they found you quickly."

"Where is Labong then?"

"He's in my hospital, and he's safe."

"Huh…"

Sun sighed with relief and tried to raise her body to sit.

"You still need to take it easy."

"Can't I leave the hospital now?"

"Are you already thinking about leaving the hospital?"

"Because I feel fine."

"The doctor advised that you should take a little more rest."

"But…"

"Luckily, it's Sunday. Get some more rest. I'll take you home later." Sun nodded slowly after hearing Eunwoo's loving words.

"But how did you know how to come here?"

When she asked her, Eunwoo looked at her silently.

"... Take a break. Now is the time to relax."

Eunwoo stood up and left the room, speaking in a calm tone. Sun, looking back at him with a curious expression, shook her head.

'... Ok. Let's take a break.'

She felt that she owed him so much because Eunwoo was taking care of her in the hospital, and she didn't want to put more pressure on Eunwoo anymore.

"Ugh. It's disgusting."

Ojae came out of the car with a bag of Labong's poop and threw it away in the trash.

Ojae wasn't pleased and sprayed a big bottle of air freshener within the car.

"You're so small, but you shit like… wow."

Ojae shook his head as he wiped his hands several times with a wet tissue.

"Did you get it all?"

Gyeonhui asked, standing beside the car with his arms crossed.

"Yes, it's done. The dog shits in the car, and I get to clean it off."

Ojae said disgustedly.

"Did I poop in the car?"

"Why did you leave the dog in the car then? You were not going to clean the mess anyway."

"So? Should I leave the dog outside then? What if someone took it?"

"Forget it. It's done."

Ojae said, waving his hand as if it was worthless to argue anymore before getting into the car. Gyeonhui, looking at him disgustedly, checked the smell of the vehicle. He also got in the back seat once he confirmed that most of the smell had gone away.

'Brrrr.'

As soon as Gyeonhui got into the car, Ojae departed.

"By the way, where did the dog go?" Ojae asked, seemingly curious.

"It has been sent away."

"To whom?"

"To Dr. Park."

"What? So, did you ask Dr. Park to take care of the dog and Sun too?" Ojae, driving unwittingly, looked back and asked.

"What the hell are you doing? Don't look at me! Watch the road! Just drive!" A stunned Gyeonhui yelled at Ojae.

"Does it matter now?" Ojae unwittingly raised his voice and asked again.

"What did you want me to do? I was all messed up because of the damn dog."

"I understand, but why did you go to Dr. Park?"

"... I think he'll keep it a secret."

Gyeonhui didn't like Eunwoo much, but at least Eunwoo looked like someone who would keep his promise.

"Wow, you're stupid. You've just blown a huge opportunity right then."

"Opportunity?"

"Yes. An opportunity that God has given to you!"

Ojae sighed, looked frustrated, and continued.

"What better story is there than being a "lifesaver"? You've just blown a chance to solve the problem with her at once."

"Didn't you say to approach slowly with all my heart?"

"That was when you didn't have an opportunity like this."

Gyeonhui was silent for a moment, and he was seemingly reminded of something. He started speaking slowly, so it seemed that his thoughts had cleared up.

"... In the morning, on the way to her, I thought that she may have left this world. That she could be..." Gyeonhui looked down at his two trembling hands. "Maybe it was an opportunity for me like you just said. The Sun I knew wouldn't have let this just pass. However…. I didn't want to do that."

"... Why?"

As Gyeonhui moved his gaze out of the window, he slowly started speaking again.

"It's kind of like a reward, like how she had moved the Kidz Fan office in our building for her friends. If I tell her that I'm the one who saved her life, then I might have her beside me for a while, but I just realized that I cannot solve the issue between us that way."

Hearing Gyeonhui, Ojae opened his eyes wide, astonished.

"Hah..."

Gyeonhui, slowly nodding, closed his fists like he had decided something in his mind.

"Ouch..."

His right hand with a plaster cast throbbed.

The throbbing pain swelled up from his arms all the way up to his c.h.e.s.t.

The subtle pain that he could hardly feel and the palpitations along with it spread to his c.h.e.s.t.