Chapter 20

Ahyeon collapsed right before my eyes.

I ran straight toward her.

“Hey… are you okay?”

I checked on Ahyeon, sprawled out on the street.

Her eyes were barely open, her mouth struggling to let out hot, ragged breaths.

And more than anything, that heat radiating off her body.

It seemed like… she had a fever.

“Hah, hah, hah.”

Ahyeon couldn’t give me any answer to my question, only managing to force out short, gasping breaths as if she might stop breathing at any moment.

I tried to help her up.

But she didn’t even seem to have the strength to hold herself up, and she kept slumping over to the side.

At this rate… this won’t do.

Yeah, I thought this really won’t do. So I hoisted her onto my back.

Honestly… carrying a limp body wasn’t the easiest thing.

Still, I managed to get her onto my back somehow and made my way out of the course, heading toward the main road.

“The hospital… the nearest one is.”

I started to think of the nearest hospital, but then realized it was still too early in the morning for a regular clinic.

It had just barely passed 7 AM. They wouldn’t start normal hours until at least 9.

Then… it had to be the emergency room.

“Jino… hah…”

Ahyeon, on my back, called my name so pitifully like that.

And her arms, dangling limply over my shoulders… they were driving me crazy.

It felt like I was being pushed into a corner, and my mind was spinning.

It made my own heart pound and cold sweat break out involuntarily.

“I-I’m fine. Yeah, you’ll be fine soon.”

Because of that, it was hard for me to stay calm either, and all I could do was fumble my way through trying to soothe her.

Yeah, honestly, I was scared too.

It was the first time I’d ever seen someone collapse like that out of nowhere.

Anyway, I wandered the streets a bit, caught up in that confusion.

It seemed like we needed to go to the emergency room.

I didn’t know where one was, and I couldn’t trust the speed of my own steps, so I figured I’d catch a taxi.

So I just wandered along the main road with Ahyeon on my back.

I couldn’t even think to call a taxi on my phone, too frantic and desperate…

It just showed how flustered I really was.

“Young man, what’s going on?”

A student who looked young, carrying a girl on his back with a look like the world was ending, wandering around the main road—it must have caught someone’s attention.

A taxi pulled up to me first, rolling down the passenger window to ask.

“Oh…! Sh-she just collapsed…”

I blurted it out in a panic.

The moment I said she collapsed, the taxi driver quickly gestured for me to get in.

I pushed Ahyeon into the back seat first, then climbed in after her.

On the way, Ahyeon held my hand tightly.

Well, honestly, it was hard to tell who was gripping whose hand harder.

“Thank you so much. Thank you.”

We made it to the emergency room safely, and as I got out of the taxi, I kept thanking the driver.

After that, I got her checked in, and after a quick examination, they seemed to focus on bringing her fever down first.

They told me to wait outside, though, so I stepped out.

While I was out there, I called Ahyeon’s mother.

[Hello, ma’am, this is Jinho]

[Oh- Jinho. What’s wrong this early in the morning?]

[Um… Ahyeon is really sick right now, we’re at the emergency room…]

[What? Really? What happened? Where does it hurt? Is it serious? Which hospital are you at?]

I had written down Ahyeon’s mother’s number as the emergency contact, but I still felt like I should call her myself first.

Anyway, when I called, her mother sounded just as shocked.

That said, Ahyeon’s family home was in the countryside, so even if she left right away, it would take at least 3-4 hours to get here.

So… I guess I’d have to stay with her until her mother arrived.

.

.

.

I waited outside for about an hour and a half.

Ahyeon walked out of the emergency room on her own.

Fortunately, the color had returned to her lips compared to before.

“Are you okay? What did the hospital say…?”

I asked Ahyeon the moment she came out.

She opened her mouth with a hoarse voice.

“T-they said it’s tonsillitis. My tonsils are really swollen.”

“Really? Well… is it okay for you to be out here like this now?”

“Yeah… my fever went down for now. I just need to pick up my meds and head home.”

“Haah- what a relief.”

An honest sigh of relief escaped my lips along with all the tension.

Yeah, I genuinely felt relieved.

And only then did my stiff body finally loosen up.

***

We went back to Ahyeon’s place, along with the prescribed medication.

I figured it was my role to take care of her.

Ahyeon went straight to bed and lay down.

Even if her fever had gone down and she was feeling better, she was still sick, after all.

Anyway, tonsillitis, huh.

So her voice wasn’t just hoarse—she was actually in real pain.

No wonder she sounded so raspy all day yesterday.

“Haah, this is a problem… I need to get better fast.”

Ahyeon lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

I knew what she meant.

The audition was coming up soon, so she must be worried about her current condition.

“Yeah, right now, focus on resting. Don’t try to practice or anything.”

“Yeah… I guess so. I thought I’d be fine today too.”

“If you feel even a little sick, you shouldn’t be running. What were you thinking, doing something that foolish?”

“Hehe…“

My words must have sounded like a scolding, because Ahyeon let out an awkward laugh.

“Anyway… get some sleep. Oh, and your mom said she’d probably get here sometime in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, I talked to her too.”

“She was really shaken up.”

“Yeah, I know. I told her I’m fine now.”

Ahyeon said that, then shifted around a bit before turning to face the wall.

She let out a few rough breaths for a while.

“I’m hungry… Jino, I’m hungry.”

She said it in a slightly whiny, cute tone.

Honestly, when I heard that, I hesitated for a moment.

But I figured this wasn’t the time for me to be hesitating.

Right, she’s the one who just collapsed earlier.

“So what do you want?”

“I need to take my meds, but… I haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“Hmm…“

I turned on my phone to check the time.

I was already late anyway…

Might as well take it easy and head in before lunchtime.

I was drenched in sweat too, so I needed time to go home and get ready anyway.

“Alright, I’ll make you some porridge.”

I said that.

Figuring I might as well take care of my own breakfast too while I was at it.

“Oh… you know how to make porridge?”

“Porridge is easy.”

“So it’s a piece of cake, huh? Pfft-!”

“…Feeling better now, are we?”

At that ridiculous joke, I shook my head and headed to the kitchen.

I soaked the rice in water and grabbed some eggs from the fridge.

I whisked the eggs into an egg mixture.

Hmm… I was pretty sure I’d bought chicken stock for this place before.

Where did I put it?

I knew if I asked Choi Ahyeon, she’d just say she didn’t know. I was the one who bought it back then, saying I’d cook for her.

I’d probably used this kitchen way more often than Choi Ahyeon had.

Anyway, after poking around the kitchen for a bit, I found the chicken stock in the corner.

That gave it a nice savory depth. And… since Choi Ahyeon likes things on the saltier side.

I put in more salt than usual.

Yeah, if I wanted to make it salty, the key was to push it a little further than my own judgment.

To the point where I’d wonder if this was too much.

.

.

.

A little while later, the egg porridge was done.

“Hey, eat up. Eat quickly, take your meds, and get some sleep.”

I said that as I scooped the porridge onto a plate and set it on the small table.

Ahyeon groggily got up and crawled over to the table.

Honestly… both of us looked pretty rough right now.

Neither of us had gotten properly cleaned up this morning, just sitting here looking all disheveled.

“Wow- that looks delicious.”

Ahyeon sat down at the table and looked at the finished porridge.

Then she took a spoonful right away.

“Wow- this is seriously freaking good.”

“Glad you like it.”

“As always, the food you make just fits my taste perfectly.”

Well, of course. It’s not like I’ve only made food for you once or twice.

And I made it with your palate in mind. Honestly, it’s a little salty for my own taste, though.

We ate the porridge in silence for a while.

Then Ahyeon put down her spoon.

“Hey… honestly, what would I have done without you?”

She said it as if tossing the words out casually.

And that was a line I always used to say first, as a joke.

Not something that came out of Choi Ahyeon’s mouth.

Of course, today, if I hadn’t been there, things really could have gone badly.

“Well… you’d have managed somehow.”

I answered.

In a flat tone, like I didn’t really care.

Yeah, it was ironic.

Cruel, ironic, and bitterly fitting.

Hearing something like this now doesn’t change anything.

Ever since that day, I’ve spent several nights slowly sorting through the bond I built with you.

Tidying up the relationship, erasing the traces.

The feelings I secretly harbored for you had crumbled into public mockery and ridicule, still bruised and dragging along the bottom, and I kept pretending not to notice.

Continuing to feel it painfully that to you, I was the closest person—but never the person you treasured.

Sharply realizing just how meaningless my presence beside you had always been.

And now, with my heart hollowed out, I stand before you like nothing’s wrong, fully prepared to become a stranger.

Once the audition is over, it’ll all be over. I already made that decision.

Hearing something like that now is just… ironic.

It’s only now, after you’ve become the worst person to me, the one who dealt me the biggest blow, that you say this.

So even hearing those words, I wasn’t shaken or moved.

I just thought the timing was absurd.

And as I mulled over what Ahyeon had just said, it struck me that maybe I was the one planning something crueler than anyone right now.

Maybe, to Choi Ahyeon, I would remain the cruelest person of all.

This selfish way of ending things, where only I am prepared—maybe it’s the cruelest conclusion of all.