Chapter 42:

Chapter 42:

Chapter 42

All kinds of thoughts swirl in my head.

I quickly sit the kid down on the buildings garden and check his condition. I pull down his socks and touch his ankle area.

Where exactly does it hurt?

I dont know, hyung. I think I twisted it.

He looked pale, so it must have been a bad twist.

Hyung, what do I do? If the manager finds out, hell scold me a lot. And the trainers too

Is that what youre worried about right now?

I sighed at the youngest, who was saying stupid things in this situation.

What should I do?

I called Seok-hwan hyung, but there was no answer. Min-ki hyung was the same.

After leaving a bunch of missed calls, I rubbed my frustrated chest.

I have to act on my own for now.

Lets go to the hospital first. We can get an X-ray there and get a prescription if theres a problem.

Hyung. I cant walk because it hurts.

Ill support you, so dont worry.

The youngest nodded his head. I bent my body awkwardly to wrap his arm around me.

Ow.

Walk carefully.

Did he break a bone or something?

His wet eyelashes and innocent face came into view.

He looked scared.

My ankle was sprained and it hurt, and I wondered if this would affect my debut schedule. Or if I would cause trouble for my hyungs while practicing. He looked worried.

Thats when I remembered something I had overlooked until now.

That Ji-ho was only seventeen.

That he was not an adult yet. And that he was my younger brother who I had to take care of the most, being five years younger than me.

Just hang in there.

I said as I approached the roadside to hail a taxi.

Ill take you to the hospital right away.

***

We visited the emergency room of the university hospital.

It was a holiday, so all the other hospitals were closed.

The doctor who took care of Ji-ho diagnosed him with a mild sprain.

He said he would be fine if he rested for a couple of days and not to worry.

We paid the hospital fee and came out of the hospital with Ji-ho.

Are you okay?

I feel a bit better after taking the anti-inflammatory medicine.

He looked much brighter than before, and I felt relieved.

Dont scare me like that. You gave me a huge fright.

Im sorry.

He would have made a joke like Do you like me that much? at any other time, but he was obedient now. It was strange.

Hyung, but

Ji-ho asked cautiously, looking around.

Are you going to tell the others? The hyungs or the trainer teachers.

I have to. Min-ki hyung will pick us up tomorrow morning. What am I supposed to say? Can you go down the stairs?

Hold on.

He got up and walked a few steps, then quickly sat down.

I dont think I can.

Dont worry about it. No one will say anything for taking a day or two off because youre injured.

Im not afraid of getting scolded, but the nagging is scary. As soon as Bi-ju hyung sees me, hell nag me for a week. No, hell follow me like a babysitter every time I go down the stairs for a month.

Think positively. Thats how much we care about you.

Im not a baby.

I stared at the chocolate milk in his hand.

Ji-ho coughed and changed the subject.

Then lets at least compromise, hyung. I didnt fall because I was looking at my phone, but because I had an unavoidable situation and sprained my ankle. For example, I got injured while practicing dance.

Why are you so afraid of hearing bad things?

Just

Ji-ho mumbled. for new novels

I dont like it when someone looks at me with disappointment.

No one will be disappointed by this, so dont worry.

I was ready to take responsibility if anything went wrong.

But that seemed unlikely.

If anyone says anything or does anything, Ill stand up for you.

I blinked and saw the youngest one looking at me with a strange expression.

It was a hard-to-interpret look, as if he wanted to copy me.

He was about to open his lips when it happened.

Wang Ji-ho!

A hoarse scream erupted from his lungs.

Someone was standing there, drawing everyones attention.

Why is he here?

A sharp-faced young man in a striped shirt and black jeans approached with a frantic face.

Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Who is this? Who did this to you?

Ri-hyuk, what are you doing here?

He turned his head at my question.

What happened?

He was so overreacting.

His shirt was stained with sweat from running, and his face was as pale as a corpse, except for his flushed cheeks.

I knew he was secretly taking care of Ji-ho, but this was too much for a sprained ankle.

He said he cant walk anymore?

What?

But they both had a common reaction to one thing.

Seok-hwan hyung is on a date with his girlfriend right now.

Girlfriend? Is she a real person?

Yeah. I asked him that too.

What did he say?

What did he say? He said he would contact the PT teacher and make us work out harder.

The two siblings had a deep look of resentment on their faces.

I ignored them and pointed to the cafe on the first floor of the hospital.

Lets go there and have something to drink.

Yeah. Im so angry because of him. I need to drink something.

Ill buy you one.

As I approached Ji-ho, who was sitting on the bench, to comfort him, he shook his head.

I want to be comforted by Ri-hyuk hyung.

Why?

Wooju hyung is too big. Its more comfortable to be comforted by a smaller person.

Ri-hyuks face turned red.

****

After I brought him the most expensive slice of cake in the cafe, Ri-hyuks mood improved a bit.

So, did anything happen while you were dating that old man? Did anyone recognize him?

No. Nothing at all. I even prepared a paper for him to sign.

I chimed in from beside the youngest, who was pouting.

He cosplayed as a celebrity and even brought sunglasses.

Sunglasses? Hes not an attention seeker.

Hyung, you brought them too in the morning.

I brought them to protect my eyes.

We chatted for a while.

Ri-hyuk seemed to relax gradually, and when Ji-ho gave him a gift of clothes he bought himself, he completely cheered up.

He smiled as he took the bag.

Huh? Isnt that Jung-hyun hyung and Bi-ju hyung?

I blinked at the youngests words.

What is he talking about?

Are they re-airing Music Cafe? I dont see a TV.

No. Look, there are Jung-hyun hyung and Bi-ju hyung.

What are you talking about?

I turned my head and gasped.

It was really Bi-ju and Jung-hyun.

They were talking about something and then Bi-ju disappeared somewhere.

And Jung-hyun walked away.

Did you invite them too?

No. Are you crazy? I would never invite Bi-ju hyung. He would only nag me.

Come to think of it, Jung-hyun didnt seem to notice us. I was about to tell them to pretend we didnt know them and let it go.

Ji-ho got up and waved his hand with a bright smile.

Jung-hyun hyung!

Jung-hyun, who was walking like a relaxed lion, stopped abruptly. Then he turned his head toward us.

For three seconds.

Then he looked shocked.

****

The American football coach said that. Whether its a sports team or office workers, its hard if they dont trust each other. And Ralph Waldo Emerson said that distrust is very costly.

You said you were going to play basketball with Bi-ju hyung. Are you playing basketball at the hospital these days?

Jung-hyun was speechless at Ri-hyuks logical words. Then he looked at me. He had an expression that asked for help.

Why do they always make this expression when they look at me?

Jung-hyun might have a good reason for that.

Then, what is it?

Ri-hyuk looked at me and Ji-ho with a cold gaze.

Jung-hyuns throat tightened.

I suddenly remembered the first time I met the members.

Jung-hyuns impression was that of a charismatic eldest brother.

He looked like a handsome athlete.

But when I got to know him, I realized he was the kindest person ever.

Usually, these types of people brag about their muscles or strength, but Ive never seen Jung-hyun use his strength on the kids, even as a joke.

Of course, if he did, we would all be dead by now.

Jung-hyun hyung, weve known each other for over three years since we were trainees. I think thats enough time to form a trust relationship with each other.

Ri-hyuk, theres a situation here.

Then, what is it?

Ri-hyuk said, looking around us.

Lately, there have been more than one or two weird things, but we just let them go. Bi-ju hyung doesnt know where his mind is and hes spacing out every day. The other day, he even burned his breakfast. Dont we need to know whats going on when the situation is so strange?

Jung-hyun pondered for a moment and then looked at me.

What do you think, hyung?

Well, its tricky. I sympathize more with your position that its hard to talk about someone elses personal life, but the problem is that weve already seen you guys. Its a bit awkward to pretend it never happened and move on.

It would be funny to say, Thats Bi-jus personal life, lets move on. here.

It was funny how we acted like nothing had happened at the lodge. Jung-hyun sighed and looked down at the table without saying a word.

"Ah, Kim Bi-ju would hate this"

Ri-hyuk and I leaned in to listen.

Ji-ho smiled brightly among the brothers and sipped his frappuccino.

"I came to see Kim Bi-ju's younger sibling. They're in the hospital."

"Sibling?"

I saw an inner conflict on Jung-hyun's face.

After a while, he opened his heavy mouth.

"They have cancer."

Ji-ho spat out the frappuccino he was drinking.