Correction Chapter 97

Rustle—

At the tickling sensation on his forehead, he opened his eyes to see someone sitting beside his bed. He couldn’t make out the silhouette immediately, but from the faint scent of musk, Jungmin instantly knew who the uninvited guest sitting on his bed without permission was.

“What are you doing here….”

Perhaps because he had only slept without drinking any water, his throat was completely hoarse, and his voice didn’t come out properly.

“You’re awake?”

Cool fingers touched Jungmin’s forehead.

“You don’t have a fever.”

“…I asked what you are doing here.”

“Because you weren’t answering your phone.”

Come to think of it, he remembered the phone ringing so much while he was sleeping that he had turned it off. He had at least contacted Shinwoo beforehand, so he was relieved, but he had forgotten about Kim Joohwan.

“How did you know I was home?”

“It’s obvious where sunbae would go. Still, I asked Youngmin sunbae just in case.”

Truly, a blood relative who was no help in life. Jungmin sighed and rolled himself up tightly in the blanket.

“Sunbae, what’s wrong? Do you not need to go to the hospital?”

“I’m fine…. I’m just a little sluggish. Now just go away.”

“Do you have any trouble moving?”

“I said I’m fine…. I went to the bathroom just fine a little while ago.”

“That’s a shame. I was planning to carry you if you couldn’t go to the bathroom.”

“Hey.”

Jungmin turned around to say something to Kim Joohwan but stopped. It was because the moment their eyes met, Kim Joohwan gave a nasty smile.

“You’re finally looking at me.”

“Just….”

Just as he was about to tell him to please leave, something popped into Jungmin’s mouth. It had a bitter taste. Before he could even ask what it was, it dissolved and disappeared, leaving a cool sensation all the way down his esophagus.

“I had some medicine made in a hurry. It won’t have any side effects, so don’t worry.”

Then, Kim Joohwan licked his own finger that had been inside Jungmin’s mouth with a flick of his tongue, as if to show him. Then he took out a medicine container from his pocket and set it down.

“You only need to take one pill a day.”

Was the medicine working? The feeling of sluggishness seemed to be gradually disappearing. Jungmin blinked his eyes and slowly sat up. Thanks to that, he could face Kim Joohwan.

“How is it? Do you feel dizzy?”

“Uh, I’m fine.”

“Hmm….”

“What?”

“Did you talk with Shinwoo sunbae?”

“I did.”

“To what extent?”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“That way I won’t make a mistake, right?”

“What kind of mistake?”

“A mistake like saying that sunbae is sleeping with me to become an omega….? I might say it by accident, you know.”

“Haah… I told him. But I didn’t tell him about sleeping with you.”

“Is that all?”

“There’s nothing. Nothing more than that.”

“Yoo Shinwoo sunbae just accepted it?”

“Yes. Nothing’s changed. Nothing at all.”

“Hmm.”

Kim Joohwan frowned slightly, and just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, his phone rang. He looked at the screen and clicked his tongue, tsk.

“It seems I have to go to work.”

I didn’t even ask….

“Yeah, go get some work done. You look like you need to work.”

“That’s harsh. I’m the one who brought you medicine, you could at least pretend to ask me to stay.”

“Right, thanks for the medicine, but hurry up and go.”

“You’re really… an expert at giving thanks in a way that shows no gratitude at all.”

Jungmin didn’t want to argue anymore and lay back down on the bed.

“Jungmin sunbae.”

“What….”

“Are you going to continue?”

He wished he would stick to one, either informal or formal speech. But now, even this was becoming familiar.

“What?”

“The correction.”

“…I will. I told Shinwoo sunbae I’m going to continue.”

“Then you’ll continue sleeping with me, right?”

“…I’m not going back on my word. We have a contract, too.”

“Right. Then we’ll proceed as before. Answer my calls properly, and if anything happens, contact me first.”

A slight excitement could be felt in Kim Joohwan’s voice, but Jungmin tried his best to ignore it.

“Just go already….”

“Yes, yes, I’m just a lowly medicine shuttle.”

Speaking with a great deal of sarcasm, Kim Joohwan left the room. Once the room became quiet, Jungmin sat up on the edge of the bed again.

His mind was clear, as if nothing had happened. Not completely, but it felt like strength was slowly returning to his body. How nice would it be if the side effects ended just like this.

Jungmin clenched his fists tightly, then soon relaxed his grip. That was wishful thinking. Life absolutely never flows the way you want it to. Didn’t he, of all people, know that best?

✽✽✽

“Jungmin.”

At the sound of fingers tapping on the table, Jungmin snapped to his senses and looked at the person in front of him. This is crazy. To think I was thinking about something else with Shinwoo right in front of me.

“You… are you still not feeling well?”

His body’s condition had returned for the first time in a while, so he was on a much-needed outing with Shinwoo. So it was perhaps a natural course of events for him to be worried.

“Absolutely not. I was just thinking about something….”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Um….”

Jungmin wondered whether he should tell Shinwoo what he was currently worried about. The reason being, he thought that the moment he brought it up, Shinwoo might feel burdened.

“Junior Shin Jungmin, you promised you’d tell me everything without leaving anything out, didn’t you?”

Shinwoo spoke with a rather serious face. It seemed he had to tell him. In truth, Shinwoo… was the only person he could talk to about this worry.

“I’m thinking of moving out.”

“Moving out? What made you think of that?”

Actually, he hadn’t planned on moving out. Although there was an apartment in Jungmin’s name, he was renting it out, and Jungmin himself was comfortable living at his family home, so he had stayed… but after seeing his mother worry when he was sick this time, he came to think that he shouldn’t stay there any longer.

One way or another, parents can’t help but be sensitive about their children’s affairs, so they would try to drag Jungmin to the hospital over the smallest things…. More than anything, he hated making them worry. Furthermore, it wasn’t as if he was sick due to unavoidable circumstances; he was deliberately twisting the body his parents had gone to the trouble of giving him, so he felt there was no greater disobedience than this.

“I thought maybe I should try living on my own once. It feels like now is the perfect opportunity?”

But, as expected, he could only tell Shinwoo half the story. It was for the same reason as with his parents. He didn’t want to make him worry.

“Hmm, it’s true you’ve always lived at your family home. It wouldn’t be bad to try living alone once. But don’t you have that property you inherited?”

“I do, but… someone is renting and living there right now, and if possible, I think it’d be good to be somewhere my family doesn’t know the address…. So I think I’ll have to find a separate place.”

“Hmm….”

Shinwoo seemed to be contemplating something seriously, then he soon nodded and said to Jungmin.

“Do you want to live with me at my place?”

“Huh?”

Jungmin looked at Shinwoo in complete surprise. What did I just hear?

“You’ve been there before, right? My place is spacious. There are a lot of spare rooms, too…. If it’s okay with you, Jungmin, I’m fine with living together. What do you think?”

Shinwoo’s eyes were sincere. He wasn’t just saying it. He was genuinely suggesting to Jungmin that they live together.

“Wouldn’t it be very inconvenient for you, hyung?”

“What are you talking about? Absolutely not. Besides, a housekeeper comes to clean the house anyway… and she prepares meals, so neither you nor I have to do anything separately. If you want, there’s even a room you can turn into another study. Oh, I can give you another dressing room, too.”

Shinwoo was proactive. He even went so far as to draw on his phone, explaining the layout of the rooms Jungmin hadn’t seen. It was truly more than enough for two people to live in. Of course, for Jungmin, it was an incredible stroke of luck. To be able to live with Shinwoo. There was no reason to refuse, so Jungmin quickly agreed.

And he hurriedly began preparing to move. His parents were naturally very worried that their child was leaving the nest, but considering Jungmin’s age, it was a late move for independence, so they soon gave their permission.

Of course, Jungmin didn’t tell them he was moving in with Shinwoo. His parents offered to find him a place, but he refused. He said that since it was his first time moving out, he wanted to do everything himself from start to finish, naturally blocking any interference from home. Of course, Youngmin was very interested in what kind of place he would get, but that interest would probably cool down soon enough.

Then, one week before the move, Jungmin ran into an unexpected problem. The one who pointed out that problem was none other than Kim Joohwan.

“I heard something interesting.”

“What is it?”

Kim Joohwan said, placing the aluminum case containing the pills on the table.

“That you and Yoo Shinwoo sunbae have decided to live together.”

“How did you know?”

This was something only Shinwoo and he knew.

“Yoo Shinwoo sunbae was talking about it at the lab. That’s why he’s been so busy lately.”

“Ah… that’s right. I’m moving next week.”

“Aha, so that’s why sunbae hasn’t been in touch recently. You must have been happy at the thought of finally getting together with the main wife and abandoning the concubine?”

“You and the way you talk.”

“If not that, then what is it?”

“Kim Joohwan.”

“This is no laughing matter. sunbae. Living together? Don’t you know how dangerous it is if you two live together?”