Winter Season Chapter 36

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! My friend is a little drunk.”

“I told you to let go!”

The man gave an awkward laugh and pulled Yihyeon’s body forcefully to support him, but someone who had been standing at a table frowned and blocked their path. It was difficult to raise his head, so Yihyeon couldn’t confirm the face, but the person seemed angry because of the commotion just now.

As loud voices were exchanged between the two men and Yihyeon began to struggle to shake off the grip on his body, the atmosphere rapidly turned menacing. However, the situation that looked like a fight might break out at any moment quickly subsided when men dressed in black suits appeared.

“Ah, no, I told you it was a mistake. My friend is just really drunk.”

“Mistake or whatever, don’t interfere with someone’s business; go to the police station and settle it between the two of you.”

Speaking in cold voices, they dragged Yihyeon and the man out and shoved them out the side door. Standing in front of them was a police car that seemed to have been contacted in advance and was waiting. Seeing the police officer approach with an expressionless face, pull the man’s hand away, and lead him off, Yihyeon actually felt a sense of relief. Yihyeon quietly got into the police car as the officer guided him.

“Hey, try to wake up a bit.”

“…Yes.”

“He’s completely out of it.”

The voice of the police officer sitting next to him and saying something hummed and echoed as if heard from far away. In the meantime, Subin’s friend seemed to be screaming about how it was unfair and asking why they were taking him. Yihyeon, glancing up at the man who was creating a scene to avoid getting into the car, barely held onto his fading consciousness and grabbed the wrist of the officer next to him. Then, he barely parted his lips and said in a whisper.

“Search that man’s belongings… That bastard put a drug in the water…”

“What did you say?”

“He… to me… gave me a drug…”

It was a statement squeezed out with the last of his strength, but there was no reply. Feeling puzzled, he raised his eyes to look up at the police officer, only to see a face full of disbelief. Making no effort to hide his look of mockery as he locked eyes with Yihyeon, the officer let out a snorting laugh and spoke.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it for now, so just sleep until we arrive and sober up.”

He felt a sense of betrayal that even the police he trusted completely ignored his words, followed by a hollow laugh that leaked out like air escaping. Then again, a man trying to pull something off by drugging another man. It was the kind of thing that might sound laughable. Yihyeon wiped even the small sneer from his face and closed his eyes. Simply wishing for everything to disappear just like this.

When he snapped his eyes open, his entire body throbbed and ached as if he had been beaten. As he slowly sat up and looked around, he saw people wearing duty uniforms with “Police” written on the back moving around busily. Yihyeon slowly rose from the long bench on one side of the precinct.

He had absolutely no memory of anything after leaving the club, as if he had blacked out. How he even ended up here was blurry. In the midst of that, as he sat blankly trying to settle his nauseous stomach, a passing police officer struck up a conversation.

“Are you sober? Since you’re up, go over there, sign, get your phone, and head home.”

Only after hearing those words did the last scene remaining in his mind flash before his eyes. The man who had pawed at his drugged body and tried to drag him somewhere. And the police officer who had snorted, not believing a word of it.

His vision blurred with the belated surge of humiliation and shame. His heart beat so fast that the pulse throbbed at the back of his neck. Perhaps the effects of the drug still remained, as Yihyeon endured the feeling of his whole body thumping and trembling before finally forcing himself up.

“Take your phone here. The battery was dead so we couldn’t contact anyone… Anyway, drink in moderation from now on. Okay?”

Yihyeon gave a bow to the police officer who looked at him with pathetic eyes while handing over the phone, then quickly walked out of the precinct building. It was not yet sunrise, so there were almost no people on the dark street. After moving away from the sight of the precinct and quickly turning a corner, Yihyeon stepped into a gap between dark commercial buildings and took out a cigarette.

The red ember of the cigarette burned down quickly in the cold wind. However, smoking on an empty stomach—and especially while still under the influence of the drug—must have been a bad choice, as a wave of nausea surged up. Yihyeon hurriedly threw the cigarette away, lowered his head, and dry-heaved.

But all that came up from inside was saliva and clear gastric juice. It was natural since he hadn’t eaten anything. Even so, the bridge of his nose felt acrid and his throat was so sore that his eyes stung. Yihyeon leaned against the wall and closed his eyes with his head down.

He couldn’t understand why these things only happened to him. By this point, he even thought that maybe he was the problem. As he thought that the unending misfortune was all his fault, a hollow laugh escaped from between his wet lips.

It was around the time his fingertips began to grow freezing in the cold wind that Yihyeon, who had been standing against the wall for a long while, straightened up. The surroundings were gradually becoming brighter as morning dawned. Yihyeon wiped his lips with the back of his hand and leaned his back against the cold wall.

Of all days, he had to go see his father in this state. His chest felt even more stifled with a sense of frustration. He wanted to at least look dignified in front of his parents, but he couldn’t do that like this.

I don’t want to go.

While repeating that useless thought, a cold chill crept up his back. Yihyeon wiped his face with hands that had turned icy and tightly closed his eyes as they began to burn.

The sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed along a long corridor. As the numbers posted in front of the hospital rooms grew larger, the interval between the footsteps slowly lengthened.

From the moment he opened his eyes in the morning and caught a taxi to arrive here, he must have debated it dozens of times. Isn’t it enough to just send the money, do I really have to go see him?

But eventually, his feet reached the name that read ‘Kwon Seokmyeong.’ Yihyeon came to a halt one step in front of the sliding door, which had opaque glass at eye level.

After a moment of hesitation, he gripped the handle tightly. A cool sensation traveled through his palm, but he couldn’t bring himself to push with force. Yihyeon just bit his lip hard and looked down at his toes.

Liver cancer patients he had searched for on the internet looked like they could only be described as disastrous, but Yihyeon simply couldn’t project his father into that image. It was because he was a man so strong that Yihyeon had never once imagined their reunion after eight years would take place in a hospital.

His father is beyond this thin door. Just that thought made him feel as if his breath was being choked off. He couldn’t gauge whether what would greet him when he opened the door would be a cold face or something thrown at him in a fiery rage.

Should I just go back now? It feels like I’m doing enough as a son just by sending money.

“By any chance… is that you, Yihyeon…?”

Just then, a cautious voice came from behind him. At the familiar voice, his inner abdomen began to feel a tight, squeezing sensation. He swallowed once and slowly turned around.

“My goodness, it really is our Yihyeon. Heavens, what should I do, look at you.”

The person standing there with wide eyes, covering her mouth with one hand, was Yihyeon’s mother. Except for a few more wrinkles on her face, she didn’t look much different from the last time he saw her. Yet, Yihyeon felt she was more of a stranger than someone he was meeting for the first time.

“How can you not show your face even once, heavens… Were you waiting for the news that your mother and father died before you’d come to see us? Huh? How can you only come now.”

After confirming Yihyeon’s face, Yihyeon’s mother walked over quickly and opened her arms. The touch of her hands resentfully hitting his back while embracing him was so awkward that Yihyeon stopped moving like a frozen person, keeping his back slightly bent.

“No. Still, you did well to come, Yihyeon. Thank you for the trouble of coming. I know you’re busy, but thank you…”

With her weak-hearted and gentle nature, she lightly wiped her eyelids, which looked like they were about to overflow with tears, with the back of her hand. The eyes that looked over Yihyeon after pulling him from her embrace were reddish. Yihyeon found it difficult to look into those eyes, so he awkwardly nodded his head while looking down at the floor.