Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

I thought that once I was discharged from the hospital, I would at least be able to go out for some fresh air for about a week. But that was a huge mistake. The surgical area was far more sensitive than I expected, and even one sneeze made the wound throb so much that I had to stop moving for a moment. In the end, instead of going anywhere for fun, the rest of my vacation was spent entirely at my parents’ house, recovering.

The problem was that I was not the only one who came home.

“Are you really going…?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Jae heon did not go back to the dorm and came to my house with me. Honestly, since we already caught the gray hooded guy, the dorm did not seem dangerous anymore, so I told Baek Jae heon to go rest well at the dorm for the remaining week. But from that moment on, he looked gloomy, and on the morning of my discharge, he followed behind me with an unmistakably lonely air. Seeing that, my parents said, “Jae heon, if you are alright with it, would you like to come stay at our house too?” And Baek Jae heon immediately brightened and came along.

“You should rest. You could not rest at the hospital either because you were looking after me.”

“It is fine. This is resting.”

And since he kept insisting he was fine whenever we told him to rest, we could not say anything more.

Once the remaining vacation ended, we were supposed to begin preparing for the next single album, so if not now, there would not be any time. But Baek Jae heon was so firm about staying that there was nothing we could do.

So after coming home with me, Baek Jae heon took care of me almost like a caregiver. Whenever it seemed like I woke up, he slipped his hand behind my back and slowly helped me sit up, like a hospital bed, except he did it manually.

And when we sat at the dinner table, at first he cautiously placed side dishes onto my rice while watching my parents’ reactions. Now he even pretended not to notice and took the side dishes Young hyo was saving for herself and put them on my rice too.

“My hand is not injured.”

“Yeah.”

“You know that, right.”

“Yeah.”

He nodded and gave me a look telling me to hurry and eat. I laughed at how ridiculous it was and put my spoon in my mouth. From across the table, Young hyo grumbled, “Jae heon oppa, tell him to stop coming.” On the first day she was excited he visited again, but now her eyes were full of resentment. I snickered. Baek Jae heon and I exchanged looks and laughed.

And whenever I was sitting in the living room watching a movie or a drama, Baek Jae heon asked me every day, “What do you want to eat?” He meant he would go buy it if I wanted something. I said we should just order delivery, but maybe he realized my parents did not like ordering food, because he always went to the store himself.

“Just anything.”

“Not anything.”

“Hmm… ice cream?”

Once I said that, Baek Jae heon actually left. And about thirty minutes later, he returned with an armful of ice cream.

“They do not sell this ice cream near our house.”

“Yeah. I went to the next neighborhood to get it.”

“For this?”

“Yeah. It is the brand you like.”

That simple answer strangely moved me. Saying “Ah, thanks” felt awkward, so I only nodded with the spoon in my mouth. But my mom saw that and laughed for a long time.

“My goodness, he looks just like a son in law fussing over his pregnant daughter in law.”

“I am a man. I cannot get pregnant.”

How could a man get pregnant. I frowned slightly and retorted, but my mom just looked delighted and told me I did not understand metaphors, then walked into the kitchen.

“Why is your face red?”

“It is not.”

But suddenly Baek Jae heon, who was standing beside me, turned red. When I pointed it out, he cleared his throat with trembling eyes and fixed his gaze on the TV.

“Are you hot?”

“…Yeah.”

“Do we already need to turn on the air conditioner? It is late May though.”

“…No. It is fine. I am not hot.”

So is he hot or not? I looked at him puzzled, but Baek Jae-heon kept his eyes glued to the TV. Wondering what was so interesting, I turned my head too, and the screen showed two cows walking across a wide field. What was even happening.