“That’s right. You have to be faithful to the nearest thing!”
Suddenly, Choo-ja squinted her eyes and clapped her hands. Lee-yeon lowered her chin cautiously.
“What are you planning to do with him anyways? Don’t you know once you sleep with someone—”
“Choo-ja!”
Lee-yeon’s cheeks flushed and her breathing became heavy. Then she heard a faint giggling sound. Lee-yeon futilely turned her gaze towards the desk, but Choo-ja could still sense the change in her.
“Chae-woo, can’t you just give your poor little wife a good score?”
“But you know I can’t show favoritism towards my family.” He glanced at her meaningfully.
“No, no, what are you all talking about!” As she said this, Lee-yeon jumped to her feet and glared at the two of them warningly.
“You have to grade fairly based on each candidate’s skills. I don’t want any special favor! Reputation and image are important to me, too. I don’t want rumors going around that I’ve been cheating my way up, especially when it comes to trees.”
“Oh my, you’re one to talk about reputation being important.” Choo-ja picked her ear and snorted. Nevertheless, Lee-yeon sighed, imagining the worst.
“If you’re accused of cheating, it’s game over,” Chae-woo said, watching her face darken foolishly.
“I heard they upgraded the air conditioner in the center with the latest model.”
“……!”
He opened his mouth and laughed as if he was enjoying watching Lee-yeon whose expression had hardened.
“I know for sure that it wasn’t sent by Spruce Tree Hospital.”
“Yeah…”
“The board itself is already tainted, so who could you turn to for a favor?”
Lee-yeon could do nothing but frown awkwardly.
“If you’re really uncomfortable, just forget about the corruption and act.”
“……!”
He touched the desk and lowered himself to eye level with Lee-yeon. His eyes gazing deeply into hers suddenly glowed in the sun. They looked faintly red, reminding Lee-yeon of a wooden gift she once received.
“I already have enough going on in my head, don’t you agree, Lee-yeon?”
***
“Pretend not to know?” Chae-woo laughed snidely as he lifted the blanket.
“I didn’t know I would have to deny all the cheating.”
Before he knew it, it was time for bed. Lee-yeon was lying flat on her back, hounding on to the edge of the blanket. She had just told him about the request she’d been thinking about ever since receiving the official letter and his expression had fallen as soon as he heard it.
“So, you want to pretend we don’t know each other during the day and have me sneak in at night?”
Chae-woo climbed into bed, shaking his head lightly as if he’d just heard a joke that wasn’t very funny. He pushed to make room for himself on the mattress. Lee-yeon’s fingers tightened around the edge of the blanket which she was gripping like it was a bulletproof vest.
“Lee-yeon, is that the kind of man you want me to be?”
“No, I think you’re misunder–”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it, but are you sure?”
“What?”
“Last time, you cried because you could only blow me once.”
“…!”
“Think carefully.”
Chae-woo touched her soft lips and waited, though she couldn’t tell if he was trying to appease her or threaten her. However, the more careful they were, the less chance of making a scene in the field.
“Still, wouldn’t it be better to be safe?”
“Are you planning to really compete honestly even though the other hospitals have already dominated the situation?” He looked down at her, a hand cupping her face. “It’s obvious that these political loopholes were made intentionally, which means that eyesore of a hospital is going to lose. Unfortunately, this is the end for you.”
“….”
“You should consider the possibility that the candidates who will pass this round of screening have already been decided. You’ll be the only one sincerely trying her best.”
He spat out his words, his eyes dry. Lee-yeon felt herself flinch but refused to believe his words.
“But still, I’ll never know if I don’t try.”
“I’m just saying, I’ve never seen officials that weren’t corrupt.”
At this, Lee-yeon’s breath hitched.
“…when would you have seen that?” She asked carefully, pulling the blanket up under her eyes. Chae-woo noticed her shaking pupils and slowly altered his expression. As his cold, heartless facade unraveled like a lie, he rubbed his nose against her hair. These kinds of small tender touches were something he used to do often, so Lee-yeon easily let it go.
“When I was working.”
“….”
“What? Because I was comatose, now you can’t believe me?”
“Ye-es, a little.” Lee-yeon nodded shamelessly as if playing around. Chae-woo covered her twinkling eyes with his hand and decided to call it an early night.
“You should get some sleep.”
“You, too. See you tomorrow morning, for sure.” Lee-yeon closed her eyelids and hugged his forearm as hard as she could.
Chae-woo patted her back and waited for the woman in his arms to fall asleep. This familiar touch, this steady beat, the sounds of the crickets chirping as she slept silently. He stared out of the dark window until her breathing became even like a baby’s.
There was no sign of sleep in his eyes.
Since the age of 13, when he had to go back to his real home, Chae-woo had never slept with anyone with their skin touching like this. Looking at Lee-yeon sleeping soundly, his body went wild, his heart racing as he felt himself harden. Fighting the urge to shove her from his arms, he clenched and unclenched his fist.
Whenever his body reacted against his will like this, he felt defeated. It was a part of him that still surrendered to the fake Chae-woo who was sinking to the bottom of the abyss.
“Did this sucker do anything other than just eat and fuck?”
Pretending to be loving as if he’d oiled his tongue sometimes made him sick. It’s not like he was some quivering puppy just following her panting, “Lee-yeon, Lee-yeon.”
And yet, patting her head in praise, hugging each other tightly, and making long and dark eye contact were all so familiar as if they were habits.
It was a poor imitation of walking along an already well-polished road. But it was also unwelcomed, so it always turned his mood sour.
“Hmm, Chae-woo….”
He scratched his ear and frowned at the sound of his name.
Don’t tell me she’s really muttering my name in her sleep.
“Fuck.”
Chae-woo clenched his jaw and temperamentally pulled his arm away from her.
It’s just a week at the most. He would escape Hwaido before the week was up.