Salt Society Chapter 20

It was from that point on that he felt his body getting a bit chilly. He had felt hot in the morning, but now the fact that he was cold felt exactly like the symptoms of a cold or body ache; he had made an appointment for family medicine after lunch, but as soon as the lunch break ended, he became so crazily busy again that he couldn’t even manage to go down.

Ultimately, by the time Kihyun finished his work, even though it wasn’t yet the season to be hot, he was in a state of being drenched in a cold sweat.

“Wow, Doctor So, you worked so hard today.”

“I am truly sorry, Doctor So… I didn’t want to go either…”

He shook his head at Changwon’s words as he apologized restlessly. It wasn’t just a day or two that Team Leader Lim acted that way, so since it seemed Changwon was worrying more about it, he told him not to. The fortunate thing was that since it was a hospital, it closed its doors at 6:00 PM.

That was the summary of today. Although his quitting time had passed due to a meeting, Kihyun thought it would be better to take a shower before leaving, even if he was a bit late. To perform muscle strength tests, it wasn’t just the athlete who had to exert force; the therapist also had to shout encouragement from the side and set up heavy equipment. Doing that all day, it was impossible not to sweat.

Furthermore, since his fever had spiked today and then subsided, he was in a state of having broken out in quite a bit of cold sweat. Kihyun, who was about to head to the shower room, felt his phone ring and answered the call without even checking who it was.

[Teacher!]

He thought it was Cho Yeonoh, but a different voice was heard, so Kihyun pulled the phone slightly away from his cheek, confirmed the name, and then answered the call again.

“Oh, Cheoljin.”

It was the swimmer Park Cheoljin. It wasn’t the season, but spring was a busy time, so thinking it was unusual for him to contact so often, he worried if his shoulder was hurting again. However, Cheoljin said in a bright voice.

[I’m near the hospital, let’s go eat dinner together!]

“Ah, today?”

Kihyun glanced at the clock on the wall. A time a little before 7:00 PM. It seemed there was no particular contact from Cho Yeonoh. Since Yeonoh often attended meetings with dinner after 7:00 PM, he thought he just needed to contact Manager Yoo once first.

Kihyun, standing in front of the cabinet, spoke while stripping off his treatment uniform.

“Then come to the hospital. Let’s go out together.”

[I’ll come running!]

Then the call cut off abruptly. It’s good that he’s full of energy… Kihyun let out a “pff” sound like air escaping, threw off even his underwear, went into the shower room, and turned on the cold water right away. He had been chilly earlier, but because he had become hot again, he needed cold water.

Due to his strange physical condition today, he thought he should definitely get an examination tomorrow. The family medicine department on the 3rd floor was somewhat uncrowded and the number of people waiting was not many. After contacting the family medicine nurse first, he would just need to go down when a call came.

It was just when Kihyun, who had finished washing under the cold water and come out, had just put on his pants.

“Doctor Kihyun!”

…It feels like someone enters every time I’m changing clothes lately. Kihyun let out a sigh at the sense of deja vu and waved his hand.

“Teacher is in the middle of getting dressed. Wait outside.”

“Gasp… Yes, ah, yes…”

Cheoljin hurried out of the locker room. Even though he was the size of a door because his height was similar to Yeonoh’s, the way he left in a panic was funny. The reaction of Cheoljin, who had just turned twenty-one, was fresh. Although Cheoljin is an Alpha, since Kihyun is a Beta male, there was nothing to be so surprised or apologetic about, yet seeing the back of his neck turn red as he turned around and left, he thought a kid is a kid.

Kihyun, who changed his clothes quickly for Cheoljin who would be waiting, opened the locker room door and went out.

“You waited, didn’t you, let’s go.”

“Ah, no, no… I, I didn’t know you were undressing earlier…”

“Quite so. Take responsibility. My chances for marriage are all gone.”

As Kihyun offered a joke in a light tone and walked ahead first, Cheoljin scurried after him and bowed his head. Kihyun is also a not-so-small 179 centimeters, but since Cheoljin and Cho Yeonoh were both quite tall, it was also irritating that they bowed their heads slightly every time they dealt with him. Even if Alphas all have grand frames so it’s a difference in species characteristics, since he had never heard that he was short, every time this happened, he did wonder if he should have taken herbal medicine to grow taller.

There was still no contact from Cho Yeonoh. He thought about calling Manager Yoo but just sent a message to Yeonoh saying he was going to eat and then head home. Kihyun stood in front of the elevator and stretched.

“What do you want to eat.”

“…Whatever you want to eat, Teacher.”

Cheoljin was still the same with the backs of his ears red, perhaps because he was still embarrassed. He thought he was being quite shy, considering he didn’t stand naked in front of him but only saw the bare upper body of someone of the same gender.

“Are you still embarrassed? Or, do you want to throw up because my body is so bad but you’re holding it in?”

“No, it’s not that your body is bad, rather…”

Having said that much, Cheoljin rolled his lips in and furrowed his brow. It was an expression of enduring something, so he wondered if his shoulder suddenly ached, but at that moment the elevator arrived so he forgot it instantly.

“Then let’s go to the place that just opened in front. It’s a steamed sea bream place and it’s delicious.”

“Yes, yes…”

Listening to Cheoljin’s flustered answer, Kihyun let out a small laugh. It was a smile where only the corners of the mouth were slightly raised, but it was a rare occurrence for him.

At any rate, it was quite a proud thing from a therapist’s perspective that a patient who had finished treatment came all the way to the hospital saying thank you because they got a good record. Since he would be controlling his diet, Cheoljin wouldn’t be able to drink alcohol, but with the thought that he himself should at least drink a beer, they left the hospital and walked together.

It took no time to get to the front of the restaurant. He was worried because it was quitting time, but fortunately, there was a suitable seat. It was when Kihyun, who ordered the steamed sea bream as soon as he sat down, was wiping his hands with a wet towel. Cheoljin, who had been watching his reactions the whole time, asked him.

“…Today, do you not have a date?”

“A date?”

Kihyun answered indifferently without realizing it. A date. Come to think of it, had he ever done such a thing with that fellow?

After he started dating Cho Yeonoh, the other had vanished from Kihyun’s presence for a while.

On the contrary, Kihyun had been calm even after knowing of his disappearance. This was because it was something he had expected from the time the other vomited upon hearing Kihyun’s confession.

He had thought that the very reason the other accepted the confession while dry-heaving in front of him was Cho Yeonoh’s stubbornness. In Kihyun’s opinion, Cho Yeonoh had a tendency to be quite obsessed with the relationship with Kihyun, the bond between friends.

It was like that when he turned eyes of a traitor toward him when he said he was moving away as a child, and it was also like that when, after they met again, he didn’t act like he knew him so he thought they would live this way forever, but then he suddenly visited and asked if he was close with Lee Bumhee.

It seemed Cho Yeonoh knew Kihyun would run away. He must have noticed that heart that would give up everything with just a single moment’s confession and would not stay by Cho Yeonoh’s side even as a friend or an acquaintance.

So he must have vanished because he couldn’t accept himself having to start a relationship with a Beta male even after accepting the confession in that way. After vanishing, he had returned and even got angry at Kihyun openly.

—Are you a pervert? Is it your hobby to look at someone who considers you a friend with those kinds of eyes. Is there a problem with your taste, or did you really think I would just readily accept it. You think I’m a total joke, don’t you.

How could Cho Yeonoh be a joke. If Cho Yeonoh were a joke to So Kihyun, he wouldn’t have even thought of confessing in that way. He would have just stepped on and killed the sprout grown in his heart, laughed once, and then never looked back.

That way, forever… he would have remained a friend by the side of that ill-tempered guy who thinks everything but friendship is shitty. Kihyun also knows. That that is the benefit. That if one’s head is screwed on right, that is what one should do.

Therefore, he had never spoken of things like dates. Even after transforming into a relationship where they didn’t know if it had progressed or regressed from being friends, the two used to act like they did before dating when they met.

Analyzing the opponent team’s performance while watching early morning soccer, and Cho Yeonoh visiting Kihyun who was lounging at home on the weekend and feeding him after a round of nagging was all. They were things they had done even before dating. Could that be seen as a date?

Once, a few years ago, they had gone on a trip, but after he injured his ankle and was discharged, he had never gone on a trip or anything of the sort. Since then, Cho Yeonoh also became busy with the foundation work he suddenly took on, so he had never suggested a trip other than business trips.

The relationship between the two was exactly up to that point. …Come to think of it, if Cho Yeonoh didn’t visit his house, there was nothing that could be called a relationship of dating each other. Since it’s so vague, is it really okay to be staying by his side like this. Should he not step back even now. For instance, to that Omega he met in that hotel lobby.

“Doctor Kihyun, what are you thinking about.”

“…The thought that one bottle of beer is too little and two bottles is too filling. You’re dieting, right? Teacher will just drink one bottle.”

“Yes, please do so.”

Cheoljin called back the thoughts that had gone far away. Kihyun showed something like a laugh by only raising the corners of his mouth. Then he recited a beer brand name to a passing employee and asked for only one glass.

Fortunately, the steamed sea bream came out soon after. Kihyun apologized for acting dazed with a person in front of him and made a small excuse that it was because work was busy today. Cheoljin nodded his head abruptly with slightly reddened cheeks. Since a huge fellow did that, it made him think of a large dog.

“Eat. You have to eat protein.”

“I am eating food seasoned strongly for the first time in a really long time.”

“Why are you doing such a strict diet this time?”