CH 10.2

“I can’t. It’s the first time I’ve ever done something like this.”

Yaba stood in front of the innermost room, stopped, and tensed his whole body. Cha Yiseok looked back.

“Your first time?”

“I never sang alone.”

It was all about harmonizing behind Cocaine. And a great part of it was smiling. Since the headline was always just for Cocaine, other singers did not have the opportunity to sing alone. When he passed through that door, he was already sweating with the thought that he had to sing by himself.

His own voice would be clearly audible. Like a piece of cloth torn, his voice was never beautiful. Yaba took a pill from his pocket which was then taken away by Cha Yiseok. He wrinkled his brow as he peered at the orange capsule.

“Where did you get this medicine?”

“Giha, at the hospital.”

“Which hospital?”

“Don’t know. From a hospital somewhere.”

“Since when?”

“I don’t know. Since sometime.”

His gaze fell on his right cheek.

“How many pills do you take a day?”

“Five. Three in the morning and two in the afternoon.”

“It’s serious…”

Cha Yiseok muttered.

Yaba didn’t know exactly when he started taking the medicine. He also seemed to have forgotten where the source of this depression was. The stagnant feeling that was neither sad nor happy persisted. He even tried to fight off the proliferating bugs with a knife or fire. Each time, more and more medicine was brought by Giha. Obviously, after taking the antidepressant, the mood swings are lessened, but he was powerless to everything, so even if someone stabbed him in the stomach with a knife, it would be the point where he’d ask, ‘Where did you get this knife?’

“Give me the medicine.”

Yaba held out his palm. Cha Yiseok put the medicine on his open palm.

“It’s none of my business but…”

Cha Yiseok added with his eyes closed.

“Don’t eat whatever they give you. It softens the brain and prevents useless things, but it is only a matter of time before making a person dull.”

Ah, Yaba looked at Cha Yiseok. His language was really strange. Cocaine, Hashish, the eunuch singers, and even Giha, who gave him medicine, nagged at him to stop. Everyone was annoying. However, it was the first time he was embarrassed of himself taking medicine like this.

Yaba turned away from him while flicking the pills in the palm of his hand. Coincidentally, there was a water purifier in the hallway. He grabbed the cup and felt uncomfortable, so he left it in place and just poured water into the palm of his hand. He put one tablet in his mouth and drank the water from the cup in his hand. Even if he ate it now, the effect will appear later, but the fact that he took the drug itself was comforting. The water that couldn’t even get into his mouth flowed from the gap between his fingers, down the neckline, and into the shirt. He suddenly felt a gaze and looked back. Cha Yiseok turned his gaze away as if nothing happened and grabbed the doorknob. Before opening the door, he frowned and pressed down on his temples.

“Your head hurts?”

Yaba asked. He stared with one eye.

“Sometimes it hurts like it’s going to break. More when things get messed up like today.”

Cha Yiseok immediately opened the door. Yaba’s heart sank as he saw the inside of the room through the open door. Yaba’s body was sucked inside by his hand.

“At first, I wanted to kill him unhesitatingly. Usually, I try to assure myself somehow, but the endless arrogance…”

Cha Myunghwan, who had extended his words, breathed hard and finished his words.

“Fine. Let’s just call it the arrogance of a genius.”

What was he saying now? Yaba furrowed his eyebrows. Cha Myunghwan had a dark complexion on the bone where his skin and bones met, as if representing the agony of the night before. He said in an annoyed tone.

“Please, take off that mask. Because my eyes are going to rot.”

“Okay. Then take off that mask too. I’ll take it off too.”

“You… !”

Cha Myunghwan twisted his black, inelastic flesh. Cha Yiseok, who was sitting a little further away, curved his eyes and smiled. But today, an unfamiliar woman was close to Cha Myunghwan.

“Honey… You promised not to.”

She wore a black layered skirt and a cream blouse, which was deliberately intended to look mature. She was young and beautiful enough to look like a college student if she wore jeans and a shirt. She approached him, took Yaba’s hand and glanced at his mask. It’s already the fourth time since he came to the room. his feathered mask would not look normal.

“Mr. Cocaine? I heard a lot about you from Cha Myunghwan. Please save him a little. Now we only have Mr. Cocaine.”

“I don’t know. I’ll see if I can.”

“I will do anything you need. So please…”

He felt a sense of alienation between her earnest eyes and her clinging hands. Has Cocaine always been treated this way? How would that face change if they knew that the man who they clung to and abandoned their lofty spirit and pride for was a fake? If the plan went wrong, how would Cha Yiseok scold them? A play without an end had really begun. Yaba pulled the hand that was trapped in the woman’s grip out. Cha Myunghwan glared at his wife.

“If you’re going to be rude, get out. If you didn’t do useless things in the first place, I wouldn’t suffer this shame!”

Yaba sighed and said to the woman.

“See? He hasn’t come to his senses yet. Before his cancer can be cured, he has to become a human.”

“He was originally a gentle and kind person. He became sensitive because he’s ill, so please understand if he is rude.”

“You keep coddling him, that’s why he’s the way he is. If you want to make your husband a person, you have to get your stuff together first.”

“How dare you speak like this? Coddling… !”

“Honey, please… !”

“He’s really provoking people! A bastard who’s wet behind the ears! Do you know where this is! How dare you! Cough! Co…Cough… !”

Cha Myunghwan coughed as if he was falling over, but glared fiercely. Yaba said.

“Are we going back to square one? I do not care.”

Cha Myunghwan bit his lips while shaking his facial muscles. Cha Yiseok let out a long sigh and said.

“Older brother. We convinced him to come here, so there’s no point in wasting each other’s time, right?”

“But that bastard… !”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll take him back. Instead, I’ll give up on other solutions now.”

It was a flexible but firm tone. Cha Myunghwan let out a squeaking sound and took a deep breath.

“Fine.”

He narrowly answered. The woman walked through the cold air and sat down next to Cha Myunghwan. Then he looked at Cha Yiseok and smiled softly. Cha Myunghwan raised his upper body with the help of his wife and looked at Yaba.

“Alright… Your songs that can even raise the dead. Let’s hear how great it is.”