Chapter 27

Chapter 27 . XIII (3)

“You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”

I did not.

This question had neither context nor consideration.

So after thinking for quite a while, I asked back.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Ah, was that too out of nowhere? Haha, it’s not that you did anything wrong…….”

Just as Kwon Mu-seop waved his hands.

BANG—!

The door suddenly opened, and Kim U-in stormed in.

“Why are you holding onto a patient for this long?”

“We are almost finished.”

“Not almost. Just finish, why don’t you? Whether he has a girlfriend or not is not an important conversation right now.”

At Cha Si-eon’s reply, Kim U-in immediately shot back.

It seemed he had been listening from outside.

Sensing a patient’s crisis and deploying at once. He truly was a real doctor.

“Get up already. Stop tormenting the patient and get out.”

Kim U-in strode over and slapped Kwon Mu-seop’s shoulder with the back of his hand.

As expected, Manager Kwon Mu-seop really did seem to be the neighborhood punching bag too.

“No, I’m not tormenting him. I just think Do-un may need it.”

Kwon Mu-seop endured Kim U-in’s cold treatment and spoke.

So the same question came to my mind again.

What did I do wrong?

To me, lost in thought, Kwon Mu-seop asked,

“Do-un, you said your goal is to survive, right?”

“Yes.”

“And your reason?”

“Because I want to live……?”

“That’s a feeling. I’m asking for the reason.”

“I don’t understand the point of the question.”

“I’m asking whether you have a reason you absolutely must keep yourself alive.”

No, does a person need a reason to care about their own life?

When I looked unconvinced, Kwon Mu-seop lightly added,

“If nothing comes to mind right away, then you don’t have one. And if you don’t have one, it’s better to make one.”

“With a girlfriend?”

“A lover can be a powerful motivation.”

Nod, nod.

Kwon Mu-seop even nodded as he said it.

But I did not think it was a very good approach.

Kim U-in seemed to think similarly, because he muttered coldly,

“A person should protect their own body themselves. Why are you looking to someone else for a reason to do that?”

Right, this was correct.

Whether it was a reason or motivation, it was something to handle oneself.

It was not proper to use some innocent person for my circumstances.

When Kim U-in and I formed a side and looked uncomfortable, Kwon Mu-seop quickly explained.

“Of course, it’s best if he does well on his own. But Do-un already has quite the colorful record.”

A record?

At Kwon Mu-seop’s unclear words, Kim U-in turned to look at me.

Then he suddenly stood on Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s side and began nodding along.

“There are people who need assistance.”

“Right?”

“I was going to give him permission to go out anyway. Once your back gets better, go outside once.”

“That works out. Do-un, go get some fresh air.”

“And meet some people too.”

Seriously, why are these people doing this to me?

Is whether or not I have a lover really something even my doctor should interfere in?

Unable to understand at all, I looked at Kwon Mu-seop’s hand.

Then Kwon Mu-seop spread his hand and said,

“I don’t have one.”

Just as he said, there was no ring on those scarred fingers.

Unexpected.

He looked like he had gotten married early and lived under his wife’s thumb.

I unconsciously turned my gaze toward Cha Si-eon too.

Then Kwon Mu-seop answered on his own this time as well.

“Si-eon doesn’t have one either.”

That was how things should be.

For the sake of one woman’s life and the next generation.

In any case, everyone here was in a no-girlfriend state.

“Then why only me…….”

“Because we’re people for whom this is everything anyway, but you aren’t.”

“Pardon?”

“Besides, Do-un, you’re unexpectedly without hesitation.”

I did not know what he meant.

When I stared blankly at Kwon Mu-seop, he gave a faint laugh and added,

“When you handed the Ticket to Sol in the railway station.”

Ah.

“When you took off your mask in the hospital, and this time in the Warehouse Club too. Honestly, you didn’t hesitate. Right?”

Kwon Mu-seop listed my history, and I had no choice but to nod.

So this was what he meant by my colorful record.

“On top of that, none of those actions were impulsive. You thought, judged, and came to those conclusions. Of course, I’m not saying that was wrong. Rather, your decisions themselves are admirable. But if you ask whether they align with your goal, well, in my opinion, not at all.”

I had no choice but to accept this too.

Because not a single word was wrong.

“Of course your goal of surviving must be sincere. And in an ordinary situation, there would be no need to attach a reason to it. Survival is an obvious instinct.”

When I agreed through silence, Kwon Mu-seop continued.

“But your current situation is special, and you have already made choices that go against instinct several times. So I think it would be good for you to have a brake. A reason that makes you hesitate before you give up a ticket or take off your mask.”

Right, I had thought something similar too.

Right after handing the Ticket over to Lee Sol.

If I had family, I probably would not have handed over the Ticket to a child I barely knew.

But even so.

“So you’re telling me to get a girlfriend?”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a girlfriend.”

“I’d hate a boyfriend even more…….”

“No, I meant it doesn’t necessarily have to be a lover…… Mm, as expected of someone who made books, such open-minded thinking…….”

Kwon Mu-seop muttered as if flustered.

Then he came to his senses again and said,

“In any case, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a person, an object, or anything else, so try making one. A reason you absolutely have to keep yourself alive.”

---

One week later.

Around the time my body had almost recovered, I really did go out.

Since it was my first outing, Manager Kwon Mu-seop came to see me off and nodded meaningfully at me.

But even if he put that kind of burden on me.

The place I would go outside was the publishing company.

The former workplace where, after telling them over the phone that I intended to resign, I still had not even cleaned up my things.

“Assistant Manager Seo! I heard the news. How are you feeling?”

“Assistant Manager Seo, how have you been? Is your body all right?”

The people at the company rushed over when they saw me appear after a full three weeks.

But…….

“Oh, the young cousin came with you too?”

“Hello, cousin!”

But why were my former coworkers welcoming even Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had come with me, this warmly?

“Hello! Everyone’s been well, right?”

On top of that, Kwak Jae-gyeom was lively as if he had come to a relative’s house……?

Even the editor-in-chief patted Kwak Jae-gyeom’s shoulder and said,

“I didn’t know Assistant Manager Seo had such a handsome cousin. If you had a younger brother like this, you should’ve bragged about him earlier.”

“Come on, how could you say you didn’t know? If you look at my hyung, it’s obvious I’d be handsome.”

“Haha, this friend is good with words too.”

What is this?

What exactly is this unnecessary warmth?

And Kwak Jae-gyeom, wet your lips before you lie.

Forget a fourth cousin. Even if you go beyond sixteenth cousins, there is no Kwak in my family tree.

When I grew confused at the sight before me, the senior associate beside me tipped me off.

“Uh, did you perhaps not hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Last month, the company computers got ransomware, and everything went crazy. But your cousin came by with your documents, Assistant Manager, and decrypted all the ransomware.”

“……?”

No, I knew Kwak Jae-gyeom had come to the company in my place.

Because I had needed to submit various documents to the company for my resignation processing.

But the company PCs got ransomware?

And Kwak Jae-gyeom even solved it?

……That ransomware wasn’t spread by the Bureau bastards, was it?

The situation was extremely coincidental, but in any case, because of that incident, Kwak Jae-gyeom had become my publishing company’s hero, savior, and god of IT without my knowledge.

This much was fine.

“But Assistant Manager Seo, we heard. You’re a total young master?”

“Seriously. Wow, all this time you were doing commoner cosplay…….”

“Come on, it wasn’t cosplay. How easy could it have been to turn your back on your family and live alone?”

“That’s true. Your cousin was really worried about you, Assistant Manager Seo. It’d be good if you went back this time and lived well. Don’t forget us…….”

“Right, Assistant Manager Seo’s illness needs to be looked after by his family doctor, they said. Go home and get treated properly. Don’t you dare forget us…….”

“…….”

What the hell did you do…….

I stared at Kwak Jae-gyeom without saying a word.

But Kwak Jae-gyeom absolutely refused to look at me.

Just like his team leader bastard had once done, he desperately avoided my gaze.

---

In any case, we left the company with smiling faces.

And when we got in the car and shut the door, Kwak Jae-gyeom spoke first with a serious expression.

“Please give me a chance to explain, hyung.”

“Go ahead.”

“It was a battle between spear and shield.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom grabbed the steering wheel and began running his mouth.

“When I came here before, your company president suddenly said he would process a leave of absence for you.”

“So?”

“I couldn’t just refuse outright, so I said you had an incurable disease that required long-term treatment.”

“……And?”

“The president said it might be a misdiagnosis and that he would introduce a doctor he knew. So I said you had already been to several large hospitals.”

“And then?”

“He fact-checked me, saying it isn’t easy to get appointments at large hospitals, so how had you already been seen? Then the words slipped out that our grandfather was a near-chaebol-level businessman…… and somehow, a situation was created where your family had been disowned by your grandfather…… and because you were critically ill, your family dramatically reconciled…….”

“Haa…….”

“I’m sorry, hyung. I did think I had to stop in the middle, but if I stopped awkwardly, it felt like things would get even bigger…….”

Right, I understood that his effort had been admirable.

I also understood that he had thoroughly smashed apart the place I might return to.

You bastard, did you really have to go this far……?

As I sighed deeply again and again, Kwak Jae-gyeom watched my mood and said,

“Um, do you perhaps have any intention of rejoining here later?”

“Our industry is small…….”

“Ah. Mm, then just say your younger cousin is sick! That he has slight delusions. The people at the company all looked nice, so maybe they’ll understand this much……?”

At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s pathetic suggestion, I let out another sigh.

Then I spoke to the guy who had not even pulled the car out yet because he was watching my mood.

“Forget it and just drive.”

“Where should we go?”

“My place.”

“And after that?”

“I’ll clean up my things and go back to the Bureau.”

“Really? There’s no one else you want to meet?”

“No.”

“Really no one? The Manager told me to let you enjoy yourself enough.”

“……Are you walking a dog?”

When I said I would just return, Kwak Jae-gyeom kept glancing at me and whimpering.

We can’t just go back like this.

The Manager gave me orders.

I don’t want to go back yet either.

……His eyes seemed to be saying all that.

At that nonverbal expression, I belatedly realized.

This bastard was not walking me. He was walking himself.

But I really had nowhere to stop by.

On top of that, wandering around for a few more hours would never solve the assignment Manager Kwon Mu-seop had given me.

He had told me to make “a reason I absolutely have to keep myself alive.”

I also agreed with the necessity of that order.

I had actually thought about it over the past week too.

So what was the conclusion?

I had not made one yet.

To be honest, I also wondered if I really had to go that far…….

BUZZZZ—

“Hyung, it looks like something came in.”

What is it?

I absentmindedly checked my phone.

“Is it an ad, or a personal message?”

Kwak Jae-gyeom asked in a voice full of expectation.

……I really did not want to satisfy this guy’s expectations.

Unfortunately, what had just arrived was not an advertisement text.

-Author Na Bit

It was a personal message that I could not bring myself to ignore anymore.