Correction Chapter 66

Jungmin kept running on the treadmill, set at a slightly faster pace than usual, for over an hour. It wasn’t that he wanted to exercise, he just didn’t want to think about anything. When he wanted to give his complicated mind a rest, there was nothing better than running, so Jungmin just ran and ran. And when his legs slowly started to tremble, he gradually came to a stop and gasped for breath.

“Gasp… gasp….”

Staring blankly at the sweat dripping onto the floor, Jungmin soon became irritated by the thoughts that came rushing in like a tide.

Yoo Shinwoo…. Hyung was back in Korea. At first, he thought it was a dream. No, he wished it was. But after replaying his conversation with his hyung several times, he realized it wasn’t a dream, but reality. Ever since then, his heart had been foolishly restless and his mind in a jumble.

“I got over it….”

This feeling… he had thought that even if he stayed by his hyung’s side, it would never be reciprocated… and more than anything, since it would be a nuisance to his hyung, he had decided to get over it.

After he went to America, Jungmin began to seriously sort out his feelings, and with the passing of time, he thought he wouldn’t feel anything even if he saw him now, but he was mistaken.

To think a person’s heart was such a trivial thing. No. I’m probably just surprised because I saw him so suddenly. I’m probably exaggerating my thoughts because I’m happy to see him. These feelings will soon fade, and my heart will become stronger.

“Hoo….”

Jungmin wiped his sweat and got off the treadmill. He wanted to do some more weights, but he had spent too much time on the treadmill. It was time to return to the hospital, so he headed for the locker room.

“Dr. Shin.”

A fellow doctor from his class slapped Jungmin’s shoulder. He had thought he might run into someone he knew since the gym was close to the hospital, but he didn’t expect to meet someone so suddenly.

“Ah, Dr. Han.”

“Here to work out?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“Haha, so prickly. By the way, the new doctor came in today. Did you say hello?”

Ah, right. Today was the day that person was assigned here and starting work. He had completely forgotten.

“No. Not yet.”

“I heard she’s a stunning beauty? Very omega-like. I mean, really slender and graceful-looking.”

Seriously, the way he talks.

“What do alpha and omega have to do with outward appearance? You could get reported for making comments like that.”

“Ah, you have to be a bit more careful these days. I get it, I get it.”

Leaving his colleague who was still grumbling that he was too prickly, Jungmin showered in the shower room, changed his clothes in the locker room, and headed to the hospital.

It was now the beginning of summer. Though it was still cool, thick clothes had mostly disappeared. Soon, people in short sleeves would start appearing.

For some reason, there was no fine dust today, so the sky was clear. Savoring the air, Jungmin breathed in and out. Right. Whether Shinwoo hyung had reappeared or not, what he had to do now was greet the fiancée who arrived today. He couldn’t make a bad first impression.

✽✽✽

“Hello. My name is Park Sungjin.”

Jungmin could see why his colleague had called her a stunning beauty. With light brown hair, a beauty mark under her eye, fair skin, and even a pleasant scent… an omega who looked like she had walked right out of a painting was standing before him. She looked so popular it was a wonder she hadn’t found a mate yet. The omega smiled brightly at Jungmin and extended her hand, and Jungmin took it as he introduced himself.

“I’m Shin Jungmin.”

“I look forward to working with you, Shin Jungmin sunbae.”

The omega beamed. Her smile was so bright that he felt a sense of guilt for a crime he hadn’t even committed.

“Brother-in-law. What do you think?”

After introducing Park Sungjin, Jungmin’s sister-in-law sidled up to him and asked him about her.

“I don’t know yet… we’ve only just exchanged greetings. But my first impression isn’t bad.”

“She’s skilled and has a great personality, so she has a good reputation among her peers. Most of all, isn’t she just gorgeous? I wonder where such a godsend came from. Brother-in-law, you have to hold onto her. Got it?”

“Haha. Yes.”

Jungmin laughed awkwardly as his sister-in-law cheered, ‘Fighting!’. It seemed she wanted to get Jungmin married off even more than his own mother, which made him feel both grateful and sorry.

Jungmin escorted Park Sungjin as she finished her introductions and headed back to the ward. At first, there was silence, but after Jungmin broke the awkward atmosphere with a remark, they were able to get to know each other little by little.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, sunbae. I even have a friend in my class who’s a fan of yours. They said the paper you published this time was really great, too. It was a paper written so thoroughly for omegas that at first, I thought you were in the Omega Department. You have no idea how surprised I was when I heard you were in Internal Medicine.”

“Alphas basically can’t go into the Omega Department.”

“That’s true. That’s why it was so refreshing. For an alpha to research an omega’s body in such detail… there aren’t many people who openly write about how much effort alphas need to put in for omegas.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course. I decided to get engaged to you after reading it, sunbae. I thought, ah, this person would truly cherish me. Even if it’s an arranged marriage… if you’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone, it’s better if they’re someone who can respect you, even if there’s no love.”

No love, huh…. He knew this was the time to say that wasn’t true, that he would love her from now on. But for some reason, the words were stuck in his throat. Why was it so hard to say even empty words?

“It seems we’ll be running into each other a lot, both personally and professionally… I look forward to it.”

Park Sungjin extended her hand to Jungmin again. If their first handshake was a professional greeting between doctors, this one was perhaps a greeting as future partners who might be connected. Jungmin was about to readily take her hand. He thought he could show with his actions what he couldn’t with his words. But….

The phone in his pocket rang.

“Ah….”

“Oh, please get that. It could be an urgent call.”

Thanks to Sungjin’s consideration, Jungmin was able to check his phone. It wasn’t a call. It was a message. And it was from an unsaved number.

Jungmin, it’s Shinwoo hyung.

After seeing Shinwoo hyung again.

I got a phone in Korea and you’re the first person I’m contacting.

His heart, which had stopped, began to pound again.

I was going to call, but I thought you’d be at the hospital. When’s your day off? Should we grab a meal together sometime? There’s so much I want to talk to you about. Let me know when you have time and I’ll call you.

He didn’t hesitate. He apologized to Park Sungjin, and as he turned away, he quickly pressed the call button. As the phone rang, his heart pounded with the same rhythm and speed. To the point of dizziness….

─Hello?

“Shinwoo hyung.”

Only then was he able to stop his feet, which had been moving hurriedly somewhere.

─Ah, Jungmin. Aren’t you at work?

“No, I’m on a short break. Hyung, you…?”

─I see. I’m unpacking my things right now. My stuff arrived in Korea yesterday.

“Your things?”

─Yeah, I’ve moved back to Korea for good.

“Really?”

─Yeah. But this is just a temporary place for now. I have more things coming from the States once I find a place to live.

“I see.”

─Anyway, I can’t believe I’m talking to you like this.

Me neither…. He never thought he’d be able to talk to his hyung like this again. Jungmin briefly washed his face with his dry hands and happened to see his reflection in the glass of a door. He thought he was all grown up with nothing left but to get older… but the him on the phone with Yoo Shinwoo seemed to have returned to the 20-year-old Shin Jungmin.

─Let’s grab a meal together once I’m a bit more settled. My treat.

“Let me treat you.”

─Hey, a younger brother is supposed to eat what his hyung buys him. Where do you think you’re trying to upend the hierarchy?

“What are you talking about?”

─I’m kidding, man. Right, it’s about time I got a meal from you too. I’m looking forward to it.

“Anytime. I’ll be waiting.”

─Make sure you save my number.

“Of course.”

After finishing the call with Yoo Shinwoo, Jungmin went straight to the smoking room for a cigarette. He needed to calm his abnormally racing heart.

“Hoo….”

He had no desire to start over with his hyung now. It was impossible, and he wouldn’t destroy himself by holding onto false hope for something that could never happen. So, he would keep the door to his memories, which was trying to reopen, shut.

Instead, let’s make a new box. If possible, let’s go back to being just hyung and dongsaeng, make lots of happy memories, and forget the past. Jungmin thought it was definitely possible. So he waited obediently for Yoo Shinwoo’s call. But the next time he heard from him was two months later, when summer had fully arrived.