KEG 56

Lee Jigu was a critically ill Esper.

He couldn’t go to crowded places like concerts.

“…But I don’t care.”

Lee Jigu rolled the chamomile flower he was holding in his palm.

“I don’t care. Whether I collapse while watching or die right there.”

“It’s not enough for just you to say you don’t care.”

“My opinion is what matters most! It’s my life!”

Lee Jigu’s agitated shout drew the attention of the other participants in the program.

Even Lee Jigu himself seemed surprised by his own words. He quickly bowed his head, but his face was flushed.

“Can’t you just listen to me? Don’t I look pitiful?”

“You don’t look pitiful.”

“As one human being to another…”

“I’m a bastard.”

The hand that had been twirling the chamomile flower came to a halt. Lee Jigu immediately crumpled it up and threw it on the floor.

“I guess I’m destined to be around bastards.”

With that, he suddenly stood up. He paid no heed to the stares of others and walked off somewhere.

I sat there until the little teacher jabbed me in the side with his elbow, and only then did I get up and chase after Lee Jigu.

“It’s cold… I didn’t even realize it had gotten this cold.”

Lee Jigu was standing on the rooftop, facing the biting wind. He waved his arms as if he were experiencing winter for the first time and let the cold air fill his lungs.

“Look at this. I can see my breath. I guess my body’s still warm.”

Lee Jigu laughed as he exhaled a puff of white breath.

“Let’s talk.”

“Wasn’t what I was doing just now talking?”

There were a few smokers on the rooftop, but they didn’t ​Read on​seem particularly interested in our conversation.

That is, until Lee Jigu made a sudden move.

“Ah!”

“What the hell? Why is he doing that! Get down!!”

Lee Jigu moved as if gravity didn’t exist and climbed over the rooftop fence.

Then he turned to look at me as he stood at the edge of the railing.

His eyes crinkled as if asking, “Are you still not going to listen to me?”

The smokers gestured hurriedly for Lee Jigu to come down.

“I know you won’t die from this. Come down.”

“I’m going to die. Just look at my wrist. It’s basically just skin and bones.”

Lee Jigu shook his frail wrist, which looked as if it might break.

Threatening to take his own life just because things aren’t going his way. I’m sick and tired of people like this.

“Send me to the concert.”

“That’s not for me to decide.”

Lee Jigu took another step forward. The reaction of the smokers nearby grew louder.

“You can just do it secretly.”

“Will you take responsibility if I get fired?”

“Will you take responsibility if I die?”

He lifted one foot into the air.

Now he was standing on just one foot.

“Please come down.”

“Rather than being left here to wait for the day I die, I’d rather die by my own choice.”

“Coming here was also your own decision.”

Lee Jigu laughed.

Then he glared at me.

“What if it wasn’t?”

A gust of wind scattered his breath in all directions.

“I was just planning to suffer and die, but what if my family put me here so I could live just a little longer?”

The tip of Lee Jigu’s nose turned red. I couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or from his emotions.

“What if they did that and then abandoned me?”

I had now reached the fence. But unlike Lee Jigu, I couldn’t jump over it with movements that transcended human capability.

“Is there any point in living?”

“I understand.”

I reached my hand through the gap in the bars. But his body, as thin as a dry twig, wouldn’t let go.

“Just come out first.”

“As expected, you have to threaten bastards to get them to listen.”

Lee Jigu turned toward me. The spinning motion felt slow.

“But come to think of it.”

Lee Jigu reached out his arm toward me.

The hospital gown draped over his thin arm fluttered in the wind. The sight was like the fluttering of a young leaf that had withered, unable to withstand the biting wind.

“What if I’m too happy after the concert?”

Whoosh.

Lee Jigu vanished below.

Thud.

I heard the sound of something landing on the outdoor unit.

Then Lee Jigu straightened his crouched body and looked this way.

“Scared?”

He laughed playfully as he climbed back up the railing.

It was a prank that had gone too far, but I wasn’t angry.

The afterimages of death that had flashed through my mind simply dissipated. The tension eased, and my heart rate slowed.

“Oh my God! He’s bleeding!”

“Someone pull his arm out!”

The smokers on the rooftop were making a commotion. Lee Jigu, who had been laughing, suddenly froze.

Only then did I feel the pain seeping into my shoulder and arm. A stream of blood was flowing from my arm.

“Don’t pull on it! It’s tearing!”

“It’s stuck! Someone go call for help!!”

The place where I had recklessly stuck my arm was a gap in the misaligned, unrepaired grid-patterned ​stolen content​iron bars. The sharp wire and bars dug into my flesh, and like an animal trap, the more I tried to pull it out, the deeper they lodged.

“I-I just…”

Lee Jigu’s already pale face turned as white as a sheet of paper. He grabbed the gap where I’d stuck my arm and pried it open. The iron bars bent easily with a loud screech.

Even in critical condition, he’s still an Esper.

“Ugh…”

As the embedded iron was pulled out, blood gushed out.

You must never rashly pull out a blade that has pierced your body. Doing so risks rupturing blocked blood vessels and causing severe hemorrhage.

“Ah, ah, why… why is this happening…? Huh?”

“Calm down.”

Tiny blood vessels burst in Lee Jigu’s panicked eyes. It was a precursor to going berserk.

Both Lee Jigu and I needed immediate first aid.

“Do you have a Pair, Lee Jigu-ssi?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, the one assigned by the government…”

The Guide Assignment Order.

Usually, pairs are chosen by mutual consent. However, B-class Espers or higher who remain unpaired for a certain period are forced to pair under government supervision.

That was the Guide Assignment Order, issued by the Minister of Health and Welfare.

“Call your Pair. You look like you’re in danger right now.”

“…I don’t think he’ll come…”

I took off my coat, pressed it against the wound, and held it down.

I couldn’t help but groan at the excruciating pain that felt like it was tearing into my flesh.

“Let’s go.”

I turned my back to reassure the rowdy smokers and headed to the first-floor emergency room. Lee Jigu followed me obediently.

In the emergency room, he received radiation guiding but just kept fiddling with his phone, he didn’t contact anyone. He simply watched as my wound was treated.

***

“Why did you get hurt again~?”

6:00 p.m.

Baek Yejun finished work and came to the hospital. He must have finished early and even taken a shower, as his hair was tousled and he was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans instead of a suit.

A man with a clear on-and-off style, who takes his image seriously.

“Hyung, should I buy you those bags for the babies? The ones with cushions so they don’t hit the back of their heads when they fall.”

“If I need one, I’ll buy it myself.”

“So you do need one?”

We weren’t on the same page. I kept my mouth shut and grabbed my bag. I just wanted to go home and take a shower.

I’m so tired today.

“You’re taking the car, right?”

Baek Yejun’s eyes shone with anticipation as he followed me. He had probably figured out that I bought a car with his money.

“Looks like you’ve been having some fun swiping my card lately~”

“Do you get a text every time I swipe it?”

“Yeah, it’s my little pleasure these days. Want to see?”

Baek Yejun’s phone displayed today’s credit card transactions.

Gas station, convenience store cigarettes, cafeteria lunch.

It was so detailed you could even trace my route.

“By the way, did you go to a bar two days ago? I see a bar on there too.”

He suddenly swiped up quickly with his finger and showed me a payment receipt from a pub.

“Seeing your wife?”

“Husband, are you cheating on me?”

“Who’s your husband?”

Baek Yejun retorted without missing a beat, “My hyung is my husband.”

What business is it of anyone else where I go? I don’t interfere with what he does or where he goes, so why is he meddling?

“You don’t drink. Why did you go there?”

I was getting a little fed up with his prying questions. As I entered the parking lot, I used the remote to unlock the car.

Beep-beep-

“I went to eat canned peaches.”

Baek Yejun looked confused for a moment before asking,

“You can eat that at home?”

“That place puts fruit cocktail in it too.”

I opened the car door, and Baek Yejun stood blankly in front of the car again. He just stared at the car without even opening the door.

I considered leaving him there, but the thought that I’d see him at home anyway made my head ache, so I went stolen contentto the passenger side and opened the door for him.

“I really can’t predict what you’re going to do.”

The car I bought with the card he gave me.

It was an old AvanXX model I’d bought for 5 million won at a used car lot. A white, round, clunky-looking old car, like a pebble.

“I was wondering how you managed to get a car with that kind of money…”

“I haggled a bit.”

“I heard people get ripped off a lot when buying used cars.”

“I talked some sense into them, and they were pretty reasonable.”

I thought about the used car salesmen proudly showing off their tattoos unauthorized copywhile wearing skin tight short sleeved shirts in the middle of winter.

It took a little time, but in the end, I bought the car for a bargain price.

They’re such kind people.

“Oh, let’s grab dinner before heading home. I don’t think there’s any food home.”

Baek Yejun said as he got into the car. When I replied that I wasn’t hungry today and wouldn’t eat, he insisted we at least get some takeout.