Correction Chapter 91

Plop-

With the sound of a water drop falling, I opened my eyes, feeling like I was being sucked in somewhere.

“Are you awake?”

A low voice rumbled from somewhere. Slowly coming to my senses, I looked around. The tiles of a bathroom, unfamiliar yet familiar… and my body, submerged in pleasantly warm water. Come to think of it, I got into the bathtub earlier… Did I doze off? Jungmin tried to push his hair back and sit up, but his body wouldn’t move as he wanted.

“Don’t move so suddenly. You’ll get dizzy.”

A voice from behind me… Soon, I realized that the legs visible in the water and the two hands wrapped between my waist and chest belonged to someone else. But the voice was too familiar to be startled and push him away, and just as he said, my body wasn’t in good condition, so I lost the will to get up. Instead, Jungmin felt a sense of security and leaned back completely.

“What happened… I’m sure I came in alone.”

“Right after you went in, sunbae, I heard a noise, so I came to check and found you collapsed. It was dangerous.”

“…Ah…”

No wonder a part of my memory felt like it had been carved out and deleted.

“But usually in a situation like that, wouldn’t you call an ambulance or lay the person down outside?”

“Well, I confirmed you were alive, and I needed to wash up anyway, and you needed to wash up too, sunbae, so I killed two birds with one stone.”

Kim Joohwan’s words always had a strange logic to them that was impossible to refute.

“But this bathroom is still a bit small for two alphas to be in.”

Though he called it a bathroom, the bathtub alone, inlaid with cypress wood, was probably two or three times the size of a bathroom in an average house. Well, a house this size would have facilities like this, and he was in a position where it was natural to enjoy such things… The problem was, just as Kim Joohwan said, because both of them were tall and lanky, even that large bathtub looked small.

“Next time, I’m thinking of building a house myself, and I think I’ll have to give some thought to the size of the bathtub. I thought a married couple and a child could fit in this one.”

Jungmin was inwardly flustered by Kim Joohwan’s words. First, because he didn’t know why he was being told this, and second, because of the fact that this guy was seriously thinking about getting married and starting a family. He had shown no signs of it at all. Should I at least give him a token response?

“Omegas have smaller builds, so this size might be possible… But isn’t it better to have a separate bathtub for children?”

After I managed to squeeze out some words to continue the conversation, only an awkward silence could be felt from behind me. Was it a mistake to say that? I began to regret it in less than a few seconds. See, people really shouldn’t do things they’re not used to doing.

“Hey, I’m okay now, so I’d like to wash up a bit.”

Jungmin was about to say he wished he would let go of his hands now and turned back slightly, only to be surprised when his eyes met Kim Joohwan’s. Because he was looking at him with such earnest, deep eyes.

“Uh… why?”

“I was just thinking about how you naturally assume it would be an omega.”

“What?”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, but sometimes both you and I forget, sunbae. Maybe it’s because we’re like this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You get up first. I’ll get out after a little while.”

“…Okay.”

Jungmin carefully got up, holding onto the edge of the tub.

“Ah, I took it out while you were sleeping.”

“Took what out?”

“My semen. The stuff that couldn’t be absorbed is useless anyway, so I just took it all out.”

Was that his roundabout way of saying my body had nowhere to hold it in the first place? “Ah, thanks,” Jungmin said perfunctorily.

Thankfully, the dizziness had subsided, so he was able to get out of the tub and take a shower without any trouble. On his way out of the bathroom, he glanced at Kim Joohwan. He was still deep in thought inside the bathtub.

“Haaa…”

His body felt refreshed, perhaps thanks to the wash. He wasn’t sure if the medicine was spreading well through his body, but seeing as his hands weren’t trembling right now, it seemed to be doing its job.

“If it’s going to work so well, it might as well hurry up and turn me into an omega.”

Today was the third time he had received the drug. Since there had never been successful results anywhere, he couldn’t tell if this amount was appropriate, insufficient, or excessive. If he had one wish, it was that it would be just the right amount. That way, hope wouldn’t disappear.

“Sunbae, what’s your schedule like tomorrow?”

As he was getting dressed to go home, Kim Joohwan, who had finished washing up, asked while drying his hair with a towel.

“Why should I have to tell you that?”

Kim Joohwan laughed as he dropped ice into a whiskey glass.

“Look at the unemployed guy playing hard to get.”

That bastard, I oughta-.

“Keep your schedule free tomorrow.”

“Unless it’s about the medicine, I have no time to spare for you. If it is about the medicine, send me a detailed report along with the reason we need to meet. Even an unemployed person has that much of a choice, right? Well then, I’m leaving.”

Not knowing what else he might say, Jungmin quickly went outside. The darkness had deepened in the meantime. He looked at his watch; it was already 2 in the morning.

“Huh?”

He hadn’t realized, but a few messages had arrived from Shinwoo.

You’re not answering. I’m worried you’re too drunk.

Jungmin… you got home safely, right?

Text me when you wake up.

Good night.

I’m worried.

Jungmin. You’re sleeping, right?

Jungmin felt like crying as he looked at the messages. He was so happy. It felt like the heavens were telling him that what he was doing right now was the right thing… to the point where he thought he could die right then and be happy.

As he was gripping his phone tightly in joy, it vibrated. It was Yoo Shinwoo.

“Oh, hyung.”

—Jungmin…

“Hyung, what are you doing up?”

—I was worried about you. Whether you got home safely…

“Oh… yeah, I got home fine. I was sleeping. I just woke up and saw your texts now…”

Ah, is this too long-winded? Worried that he might reveal he was outside, Jungmin carefully cupped his hand over the phone to block out the sound.

“But why are you still awake, hyung?”

—I was going to sleep after one last check to see if you’d read them, but the read receipt popped up. So I called.

“Ah… Hyung, I’m a full-grown adult, and I’m in my 30s. Of course I’ll get home fine.”

—Right. That’s true, but maybe it’s because I’ve known you since you were so young. For some reason, you still seem like a kid to me.

“Mm, I think I get it. I still feel like you’re in high school, hyung.”

—It’ll probably be like this forever, right?

He’ll probably be my first love… forever. Jungmin smiled softly.

“Yeah. I think so.”

—Are you free tomorrow, by any chance? Or wait. It’s past 12, so is it today?

“Huh? Why?”

—Want to hang out tomorrow, fellow unemployed people?

Ugh… It’s true that I’m unemployed, but hearing the word “unemployed” twice in a row today stings a little.

But if I’m an unemployed person with such a great opportunity, maybe it’s not so bad.

“Where are we going?”

—There must be things you haven’t been able to do, and there are things I want to do in Korea too… Oh, I heard the movie that just came out is fun. To be honest, because of my condition, I was too scared to even go to a movie theater. But this new medicine is definitely good. I was fine today, wasn’t I?

“Wow, a movie… Yeah, it’s been so long since I’ve seen one too.”

Having only looked forward and run nonstop, I must have missed out on so much. Let’s not think of this hand tremor as misfortune and sadness, but as an opportunity. Thinking that way, the gloom that had been deep in his heart lifted considerably.

“Okay.”

—Then get some sleep first for now. Sleep well. I’ll contact you around 11.

“Haha, so leisurely. Okay. I guess I’ll try sleeping in for the first time in a while. See you tomorrow, hyung.”

—Okay. Sleep well.

“Yeah, you too.”

The call ended, but he was so overwhelmed with happiness that he just kept staring at his phone screen.

“You look happy.”

Ah, of course, I knew this would be the next part of the routine. I even thought Kim Joohwan might show up again. For some reason, I always had the feeling that Kim Joohwan was watching my every move.

“Are you a stalker?”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s because you left your wallet, sunbae.”

Indeed, a wallet was in Kim Joohwan’s hand. How badly did I want to get out of that house to have left without even realizing something so important was missing?

“Thanks.”

When Jungmin held out his hand, Kim Joohwan smiled. It wasn’t a smile of happiness. It was somehow a hollow smile.

“Why?”

“It’s just so hard to hear a ‘thank you’ from you, sunbae. I saved your life, washed you, did everything for you, but I only get to hear it for a mere wallet. What’s the standard? I’ve thought about it a bit. Well… the conclusion is this.”

“Conclusion?”

“That you really hate me, sunbae.”

Kim Joohwan said as he tossed the wallet to Jungmin.

“Well, it has nothing to do with me, though.”

Jungmin was about to ask what he was talking about all of a sudden but missed the timing and just stared at the wallet that had landed in his hand.

“Have a good date. You unemployed people.”

After Kim Joohwan went inside, not even a minute passed before a car pulled up in front of Jungmin. It was a car Kim Joohwan had called, and though he didn’t feel like it, the driver had a troubled look on his face, so he had no choice but to get in. Even so, he kept looking back in the direction Kim Joohwan had gone. For some reason, the sight of his retreating back weighed on his mind.