After spending the entire night wide awake without getting a wink of sleep, Yeon-woo blinked her hollow-looking eyes and stared blankly into space. She was frustrated because there was no way to clean up the texts Han-gyeol had sent on his own the night before. She figured it would be a relief if Seo Won didn’t think she was mentally unstable. But since Seo Won hadn’t sent her a single reply, the thought that he really did see her as a weirdo became more and more certain, and she sank into despair.
“AAAAARGH!”
No matter how many times she thought it over, all she could think was that she was screwed. She even began to wonder if this was all some scheme by the reaper to back her into a corner—if he had no intention of saving her and was only messing with her feelings because he was bored.
“Please stop suddenly screaming.”
Yeon-woo thought Han-gyeol was unbelievably shameless. After pulling such an absurd stunt, the fact that he alone remained so calm irritated her to no end.
“Ugh! This is all your fault!!”
Feeling that Han-gyeol was being unbelievably obnoxious, Yeon-woo hurled irritated remarks at him and kicked wildly in his direction.
“Anyway, what a nasty temper. Tsk.”
Wondering if yesterday had all been a dream—or rather, desperately praying that it had been—Yeon-woo checked the texts again. Contrary to her fervent wish, the message was sitting there in plain sight, making her feel like biting her tongue off. The unnatural wording, the crazy demand to come because he missed her, the “good night” greeting to someone he wasn’t even close to, not to mention the tildes and hearts—it was truly a disaster.
“Okay, maybe I entered the wrong number. Right?”
That turned out to be nothing more than Yeon-woo’s wishful thinking. She looked back and forth between the business card and her phone a dozen or so times, praying she had entered even one digit incorrectly. But every number matched, and Yeon-woo’s face crumpled.
“I’m seriously going to kill Jung Han-gyeol!!”
“Who’s that?”
“Oh, uh… Yubin, you’re here?”
Yubin had come to deliver some things to Yeon-woo before heading to work. Seeing Yeon-woo shouting at empty air, Yubin tilted their head in confusion. Flustered, Yeon-woo forced an awkward smile and made up some excuse, while Han-gyeol stuck his tongue out at her spitefully.
“Bleeeh.”
‘That damn reaper.’
Yubin set the bag down on the bedside table, then took the bottles of banana milk out of the plastic bag in their other hand and placed them in the refrigerator one by one.
“There’s a laptop, underwear, and everything else in the bag. If you need anything more, just let me know anytime.”
“Okay, thanks, Yubin.”
“And don’t eat nothing but banana milk. I know the hospital food probably isn’t very good, but make sure you eat properly.”
“Got it. You’re going to be late for work. Hurry up and go.”
After saying goodbye, Yubin left the hospital room. Once the refrigerator was fully stocked with banana milk, Han-gyeol looked delighted. Yeon-woo wanted nothing more than to keep him from touching the banana milk, but she couldn’t because she had made a promise. The moment Yubin left, Han-gyeol grabbed a bottle, stuck a straw in it, and put it in his mouth.
“Is it good?”
“You said you like this too. Why are you asking when you already know?”
“Oh, sure. Knock yourself out. Have as mu—”
“‘Knock yourself out’? Seriously, your mouth is filthy.”
It’s not my mouth that’s filthy. It’s the text you sent, remember? After Yubin’s brief visit, Yeon-woo grew troubled again. Her phone was still silent, and she couldn’t figure out what to do about the situation. Convinced that it was truly over now, she couldn’t keep still. She paced frantically around the hospital room until it made her look completely unhinged. Time slipped away, and eventually Yeon-woo crouched down with a blank expression, biting at her innocent fingernails.
Knock, knock—
How much time had passed? Someone knocked on the hospital-room door. Thinking it was probably a doctor or nurse, Yeon-woo remained lost in thought, staring out the window.
‘Hey, human.’
‘Hey, Seo Yeon-woo!’
She heard someone calling her name. It was Han-gyeol. Snapping back to reality at his sharp shout, Yeon-woo turned her eyes toward him. With the straw still in his mouth, Han-gyeol gave a small nod. Following the direction of his gesture, she shifted her gaze—and saw Seo Won standing there. Startled, Yeon-woo hurriedly got to her feet. She nearly fell, but managed to regain her balance and, thankfully, preserve what little dignity she had left.
“Is it okay if I come in?”
“Oh, yes! Of course.”
She had naturally assumed Seo Won wouldn’t come, but he had. Faced with the unexpected, the first emotion Yeon-woo felt was relief. She was grateful that he had actually come to see her despite the text being so absurd it was practically unbelievable even to her.
“Oh, this. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I picked something pretty safe.”
Seo Won handed Yeon-woo the fruit basket he was carrying. She reached for the handle, and their hands brushed lightly. Seo Won didn’t seem to think anything of it, but Yeon-woo was having a full-blown crisis all by herself. Her face flushed for no reason, and her hand trembled as her heart began to pound.
“You really didn’t have to bring this… You could have just come…”
“Still, this is a hospital visit, and it felt a little awkward to show up empty-handed.”
“Oh, thank you.”
The two of them sat facing each other at the table in the hospital room. Exchanging greetings had gone well enough, but the silence that followed made the atmosphere painfully awkward. Yeon-woo, especially, had no idea what to do and couldn’t even look Seo Won in the eye. Her behavior left Seo Won bewildered. It was the complete opposite of how she had been in the texts, and he couldn’t tell which version of Yeon-woo was the real one.
“You said you missed me, so I came—but you’re not looking at me.”
“Cough!”
A cough burst from Yeon-woo’s mouth in her panic. The embarrassment rising from somewhere deep inside turned not only her face but even her ears bright red. She repeatedly fanned herself with her hands to cool the heat filling her face, but it refused to fade. Seo Won smiled as he watched her.
“Yeon-woo, you weren’t drunk yesterday, were you?”
“Wha—no!!”
Seo Won flinched when Yeon-woo suddenly shrieked. Realizing she had overreacted, Yeon-woo grew mortified and wanted to run away from the room.
“As you can see, I’m a patient, so I can’t drink. Ha-ha.”
“You really are an interesting person, Yeon-woo.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why… why?”
“Yesterday and today, you’ve been really awkward in person, but your texts were so cheerful. At first, I was a little scared because I couldn’t tell which side of you was real. But now that I’m here with you and I keep finding myself smiling, I think you’re pretty fun.”
Yeon-woo stared at Seo Won with wide eyes. She wasn’t sure whether he was simply kind or just unusual. The moment she had seen the text Han-gyeol sent in her place, she had thought he was insane. The fact that Seo Won considered it cheerful suggested that he wasn’t exactly ordinary either.
“You’re not, like, suffering from multiple personalities or anything, right?”
“Huh…?”
“Oh, I’m kidding. Sorry—that joke was pretty lame, wasn’t it? I’m kind of like this. Ha-ha.”
The silly joke and the way he immediately apologized at her bewildered reaction made Yeon-woo snort with laughter.
“Oh—you laughed!”
“What?”
“You just laughed. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile.”
Had it been? Come to think of it, after barely surviving death, she hadn’t exactly been in many situations worth smiling about. She had probably spent most of her time looking troubled. As Seo Won smiled even more brightly at having made her laugh, Yeon-woo’s heart responded. His smile seemed to warmly brighten the space around him. It tickled. What was this feeling?
“You have a beautiful smile.”
“I-I do?”
“Yes. It’s beautiful. You should smile more often.”
This was insane. The only word Yeon-woo’s mind could come up with was insane. She was going crazy. Her tingling heart began to pound as if it had malfunctioned. How could he say things like that with a face like his and act as if it were nothing? Seo Won was definitely guilty of something.
“Oh, right. I was going to greet you this way when I saw you today, but I forgot.”
“What?”
“Hello, I’m Seo Won.”
‘Pfft—hahahahahaha!’
Han-gyeol, who had been watching the two of them from the side, burst out laughing so hard that he sprayed banana milk everywhere. The moment Yeon-woo heard Seo Won, she covered her face with both hands. She was so embarrassed she thought she might lose her mind. If there had been a mouse hole, she would have hidden inside it immediately.
“What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed?”
Yeon-woo parted her fingers slightly and peeked at Seo Won through the gap. But when she saw the mischief filling his face, she had no choice but to cover her eyes again.
‘God, I really want to die.’
“Yeon-woo.”
At Seo Won’s call, Yeon-woo slowly lowered the hands covering her face. She shot a sidelong glare at Han-gyeol, who was still clutching his stomach and cackling, then cautiously looked at Seo Won.
“I think I should get going. I have to go to work.”
“Oh… okay.”
She hadn’t thought much time had passed while they were together, but when she checked the time, quite a while had gone by. Yeon-woo felt a little disappointed, but there was nothing she could do.
“Yeon-woo, what are you doing tomorrow? If you’re free, would you like to have lunch with me?”
The unexpected question left Yeon-woo dazed. It meant he was coming back tomorrow. She had been worried about what excuse she could use to see Seo Won again after they parted today, so hearing him say he would come first made her happier than she could have imagined.
“Uh—I actually have to come here tomorrow. Unless that would make you uncomfortable…”
“No, no! Not at all! Let’s have lunch together!”
Seo Won did not actually have any reason to come to the hospital tomorrow, but he had business nearby and thought it would be nice to have a meal with Yeon-woo while he was there. He couldn’t say exactly why. He just found Yeon-woo interesting. And he had to eat anyway, so having someone to eat with sounded nice.
“What do you like?”
“I’m not picky!”
“Okay. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sure. Get home safe.”
Seo Won turned and left the hospital room with one last warm smile. Yeon-woo waited until the door had completely closed. The instant Seo Won disappeared from view, she began hopping in place and making a complete fool of herself.
“Reaper! You heard that too, right? He’s coming tomorrow! He said he’s coming back tomorrow!”
“Tsk.”
“Oh, this isn’t the time for this. I feel like I should put something on my face. Reaper, do you have any makeup?”
“Would I?”
“Then why is your face so white when you don’t put anything on it?”
“Are you making fun of me? This isn’t white. It’s pale.”
“It’s okay. It suits you. It really suits you.”
“You’re definitely not normal.”
Yeon-woo seemed to be blurting out whatever came to mind without even knowing what she was saying. Han-gyeol shook his head and walked toward the refrigerator. When he took out a bottle of banana milk, Yeon-woo, who had somehow come up beside him, suddenly wrapped her arms around him as if she were restraining him. Completely flustered, Han-gyeol dropped the banana milk in his hand. Since becoming a reaper, he had never had a living human touch him before. Han-gyeol froze, blinking silently.
“Thanks, Reaper! This is all thanks to you. Do you need more banana milk?! Should I buy you some more?!”
“C-can’t you get off me?!”
Even after he shouted, Yeon-woo showed no sign of letting go. Han-gyeol deliberately poked her injured arm, but she didn’t seem to feel any pain. Instead, she grinned widely and stretched both his cheeks. Han-gyeol finally flew into a rage and charged at her as if he meant to kill her, but Yeon-woo ran away from him, smiling from ear to ear the entire time.