HLFH | Chapter 9

His complexion gradually turned a dull, ashen gray. His hunched shoulders trembled, resembling intermittent spasms.

The first to notice Ki Jaeeon’s strange symptoms was… his brother, Ki Jaeha.

“First, let’s do what we couldn’t last time—”

“Father, just a moment.”

Without knowing the exact reason, he stopped his father purely on instinct.

But was it already too late?

“Don’t interrupt rudely.”

“We can do it after the meal, can’t we?”

Ignoring his foolish son’s words, the stubborn voice continued listing the schedule until finally, “Ugh—!” Ki Jaeeon gagged.

Clatter!

Ki Jaeeon stood up as if having a seizure.

Soon, vomit trickled down through the gaps of his long, slender fingers covering his mouth. Like a deer startled by gunfire, he stumbled away in a panic. He seemed truly terrified, bumping into things and staggering clumsily.

“…!!”

The three people left behind froze in place.

“What just happened?” Ki Taeho and Ryu Sunghee, in particular, stared blankly at the now-empty seat.

The air felt frozen. As a sigh broke the cold silence, Ki Jaeha abruptly stood up.

“I’ll go check on him.”

The eldest son’s voice was low and calm.

“Ki Jaeeon!”

Thud, thud, thud. He kept knocking on the door, but it was useless. Inside, only the sound of retching could be heard.

“Ki Jaeeon, it’s hyung!”

He desperately called for his brother.

Clank! Clank!

The doorknob was firmly locked. Damn, should I just break it? Ki Jaeha placed his hand on his waist and cursed.

“Open the door!”

-Haa, haa… Ugh!

“Are you feeling really bad? Huh? Jaeeon, Ki Jaeeon!”

-Ugh! Gag…

The sound of heavy breathing.

Ki Jaeha bit his lip tightly. Realizing that his voice couldn’t reach his brother, his face twisted in pain. He brushed his dry face with his large, pot-lid-like hand.

“Ja, haa…”

But soon, he realized how pathetic his own sorrow was.

Ki Jaeha let out a suppressed sigh.

‘Can’t reach?’

Stating the obvious, you idiot.

‘Why now…’

It’s ridiculous.

‘Do you admire your brother for choosing this path? Proud of him? A genius?’

Damn, you left him alone until he got to this point.

‘And you call yourself a hyung.’

“…Embarrassing, damn.”

What do you trust? What family? What hyung?

‘Why didn’t you know? Why didn’t you look back even once until he got to this point?’

Ki Jaeha gritted his teeth and raised his fist. The veins on his thick forearm stood out. Breaking the door might harm his brother, so breaking the doorknob was the answer.

His iron hammer-like hand drew a large arc in the air.

Whoosh—!

Soon, the sturdy doorknob shattered miserably.

“Ki Jaeeon!”

Rushing in urgently, he saw his unconscious brother. Turning to the parents and people who followed, he shouted, “An ambulance! Damn, call an ambulance!” His voice strained with urgency.

As he easily lifted his unconscious brother, Ki Jaeha thought.

How alone must he have felt to keep it all inside until he reached this state?

Jaeeon, I know I’m not qualified to be your hyung.

But from now on, I need to hear you say, ‘Hyung, help me.’

𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

“Hey—are you alive?”

With a creak, Kim Juwon entered the hospital room, and Ahn Seomyeong, whose personal color was currently patient gown, nodded roughly.

Yeah, I’m alive. Just starving like crazy. His attitude was quite different from when dealing with Ki Jaeeon. It was clear they were very comfortable with each other.

“Why are there only apples? No expensive stuff? Like melons or mangoes.”

“Are you planning to buy some…?”

“Nope.”

“Thought so.”

“Just don’t have any.”

Kim Juwon, disappointed, picked up a large apple and bit into it. You’d think he was starving.

“It’s my apple.”

“Did you write your name on it?”

Ahn Seomyeong vowed to engrave his full name on all the fruits tonight.

Anyway, it’s been two weeks since a hole was punched in his stomach.

Fortunately, the surgery was successful, as it missed the organs, and he was recovering well.

“Hey.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s ‘yeah’? When hyung is talking.”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t you get any calls from Incheon?”

“…?”

Ahn Seomyeong quietly put down the game console he was tapping with a cold expression. His face said it was out of the blue, and Kim Juwon was frustrated.

That guy would probably just say, ‘Yeah, well. That’s how it happened. What can you do?’ with his characteristic blank stare, even if he got scammed. You learn that having no ups and downs in personality can be a problem from watching him.

“That bastard Ki Jaeeon.”

Having already finished one apple, Kim Juwon rummaged through the fruit basket and picked up eight tangerines. In his hands, they looked more like kumquats. Ahn Seomyeong watched Kim Juwon’s tangerine eating spree with a tired expression.

How much is he going to eat?

“Even if he can’t visit, shouldn’t he at least call out of conscience?”

“If you have a conscience, stop eating.”

“If you lack manners, you should at least have some sense, but he has neither. It’s not easy to be consistently rough around the edges like that. Right?”

It was a heartfelt backbiting, as if Ki Jaeeon had taken money from him.

“Did he trade personality for talent?”

A sly smile appeared on his mumbling face. But Ahn Seomyeong knew. Kim Juwon was more satisfied with himself for using the difficult term ‘trade’ appropriately than for actually bad mouthing Ki Jaeeon. Of course, saying this out loud would extend his hospital stay, so he just blinked quietly.

“Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“What should I say?”

“Man, you’re so dull.”

Ahn Seomyeong’s indifferent attitude seemed to bother him.

Well, to be fair, his laid-back attitude was partly due to his natural disposition… and also because he didn’t particularly relate to what was being said.

He got hurt because of a demon. The reason was simply that he was weak, just a mishap. In fact, Ki Jaeeon was a benefactor who saved his life. Sure, his initial actions were a bit of a nuisance, but if you compare, this side was no less of a burden with a hole in his stomach. If it came to court over who was more of a hindrance, this side would likely lose.

Beep beep.

Ahn Seomyeong looked down at the [Game Over] screen on his game console and defended Ki Jaeeon, saying, “He must have his reasons.”

“Reaasons?”

Kim Juwon made a face that said ‘don’t be ridiculous,’ but Ahn Seomyeong shrugged. The last image of Ki Jaeeon kept coming to mind in his fading consciousness.

-I, I can save… I won’t let it happen again.

He definitely said that.

‘Again?’

With nothing else to do while hospitalized, he thought about it whenever he had the chance.

‘What again?’

<Again [Adverb]: Repeatedly>

‘Repeatedly.’

So… it means he’s already experienced something similar.

Hmm, come to think of it.

‘He tried to jump in front of a train, didn’t he?’

Ahn Seomyeong suddenly became curious.

At first, he just thought of him as a gloomy and peculiar person, but it seemed like there was a story behind it.

‘Weak, afraid of demons…’

Ki Jaeeon was completely different from the rumors.

‘What kind of curse did he get? A curse even the master couldn’t lift.’

It was an unusually keen reaction for someone as oblivious to others as Ahn Seomyeong.

‘Does he always stutter?’

His thoughts, trailing one after another, eventually led to the curiosity of ‘What kind of person is Ki Jaeeon?’

“Hyung.”

Ahn Seomyeong waved his hand at Kim Juwon, who had moved on from tangerines to bananas. It meant to focus on the patient, not the fruit.

“Stop raiding the pantry.”

“Fruits need to be eaten quickly. They spoil fast.”

It was a banana-eating spree that could rival a monkey’s.

Ahn Seomyeong looked at Kim Juwon with a queasy expression.

“Give it time to spoil.”

“Hey, get me a cola.”

“About Ki Jaeeon the exorcist.”

“I don’t want to hear about that bastard.”

…?

Who was the one badmouthing him earlier?

Ahn Seomyeong stretched his mouth into a straight line at Kim Juwon’s shamelessness, then returned to his usual blank expression and handed him a cola.

“Didn’t you notice something was off about him?”

Gulp, gulp.

“He didn’t seem normal.”

Gulp, gulp.

Kim Juwon, who emptied the difficult 500ml soda in one go, accurately tossed the empty bottle into the trash can beside him. Thud—! A perfect goal.

“I don’t know.”

“…”

“Just seems like a weirdo.”

Despite his harsh words, Kim Juwon’s expression seemed quite complicated. It seemed like something was bothering him. This hyung really has no talent for lying. Ahn Seomyeong smiled, finding Kim Juwon cute.

At that moment, the hospital room door opened without a knock, and a loud voice called out, “Hey!”

“Kim Juwon!”

It was Lee Gyeonghak, one of Bonryeong’s exorcists and Kim Juwon’s left-hand buddy. For reference, Ahn Seomyeong is the right-hand buddy, but he’s been rejecting that title for years.

“Gyeonghak, how about living without your uvula? It’s noisy.”

“My uvula isn’t the point. Oh, Seomyeong, hi. How’s your body?”

“Yeah, well. So-so.”

After exchanging a simple gesture of raising their palms, Lee Gyeonghak began to chatter excitedly to Kim Juwon.

“It’s big news.”

“What, have they decided on my punishment level?”

He had already braced himself for the disgrace that the great Ki family would bring by applying all sorts of pressure. The teacher had stepped up to defend him, but… he knew it wouldn’t work. Pay cut? Disciplinary action? Or disqualification? Whatever it is, bring it on. I’m not scared.

“Well…”

But what came out of Lee Gyeonghak’s mouth was an absurd statement that shattered all of Kim Juwon’s expectations.