| Episode 48. A Teammate’s Sick Leave (2)
The dorm at four in the morning was silent.
It was an hour when everyone should have been asleep, except for me, who lived like a bat.
‘Times like this are perfect for monitoring.’
I turned on the spare phone I’d brought from the living room earlier and lowered the brightness as far as it would go.
It wasn’t as if Choi Jeho or Lee Cheonghyeon were the type to wake up from a bit of light, but I still felt uncomfortable using my phone so openly while people were sleeping.
If it hadn’t been for Jeong Seongbin, I would have just turned on the side lamp in the living room and watched comfortably.
If I got caught loitering around the living room at dawn by Jeong Seongbin, I’d spend the entirety of the next day under surveillance disguised as concern.
Better to depend miserably on the bare minimum of light than end up like that.
Being able to read every soju label in the dining room fridge without glasses had been my only point of pride. Now I felt like my eyesight was wearing away by the second.
What I had to do on this dark bed was browse the comments on Jang Junhu’s music video.
The purpose was to see the reaction to Choi Jeho. Unlike what I’d originally planned, I’d been so busy that even after the music video dropped, I hadn’t been able to check it for quite a while.
As befitted a singer with only a moderate level of recognition domestically, all the comments were in Korean. I hope he hurries up and flops so he gets zero comments.
I quickly skimmed only the comments that mentioned Choi Jeho.
≫ The song was so good I turned up the screen brightness to watch
≫ Who’s the guy in the music video?
≫ Came to diligently admire the face the algorithm recommended me
That was almost all the comments referring to Choi Jeho. Even then, since no one knew who he was, there weren’t any replies.
There were so few comments in the first place that it was hard to find any meaningful response.
At times like this, you had to go to communities.
Thanks to Director Nam’s daughter, I knew quite a few well-known communities and boards where celebrity information got posted.
As expected, there were far more raw posts on that side.
≫ Who’s the sad-looking guy in JJH’s MV?
He’s fucking handsome lol Is he an actor
≫ Who’s JJH
└ Jang Junhu
└ Why are you search-proofing some guy who isn’t even an idol
≫ Isn’t he a rookie male actor? Never seen his face before
└ Wow fuck are we finally getting a young handsome male actor
└ Pls pls;;;;; handsome male actors are a drought, face passes, just don’t be a wooden actor
≫ They say he’s a UA trainee
└ Singer?
└ Nope idol
└ Huh doesn’t UA not have idols
‘Everyone’s fast with information.’
UA had never released any profiles for the trainees, yet there was already talk that “UA has trainees.”
Considering the time left until debut, it was a timely comment.
When I changed the keyword and searched “UA” and “유에이” alternately, I could find posts with more specific information too.
≫ looks like ua is really putting out idols
6-member boy group and lineup confirmed
debut scheduled for first half of next year, they’re a self-producing idol group
the kid from Jang Junhu’s MV is in the same group too yeah
└ These days every entertainment company and their dog is putting out idols;;
└ Easy money lolololol
└ A company that can’t even hold one proper concert for its own artists is doing an idol business lololol has the CEO gone senile
└ Is this confirmed?
└ [OP] An acquaintance who knows someone in the industry told me
└ Why are there so many acquaintances of industry people only on community sites? There seriously isn’t a single one around me, but there are like five hundred of them here. The best part is none of them can actually verify anything
There were unfamiliar abbreviations scattered here and there, so I needed quite a bit of time to search them up.
Even so, I was able to read through most of the posts that had gone up. That was possible because the buzz generated by Jang Junhu’s music video itself wasn’t that big.
There was already someone who had compiled the dance competition videos Choi Jeho had entered and his award history. I followed the link on that post and checked the videos thoroughly too.
Only after confirming whether there was any potential for problems and even deleting the search history did I turn off the phone.
Then I came out to the living room to put the spare phone back in its place.
But something felt strange.
The bathroom light was off, and there was no sound of running water, yet I could hear a faint human voice coming from somewhere.
‘Is someone awake?’
The sound grew clearer the closer I got to the door of Jeong Seongbin’s room.
At the sound of someone groaning as if in pain, I knocked softly on the door a few times and opened it.
When I shone the phone I was holding into the dark room, one blanket in particular was curled into a round lump.
I didn’t know very well whose spot was where, but I could guess who it was from the voice alone.
“Park Juu?”
I called Park Juu’s name in a low voice. But no answer came back.
I placed my hand on the blanket, shook it slightly, and called his name, but Park Juu remained silent.
‘What is this. Is he sick?’
Just in case, I pulled the blanket down a little and placed my hand on Park Juu’s forehead.
Park Juu’s forehead was far too hot. It was even damp, as if he had broken out in a cold sweat.
I shook Park Juu’s burning shoulder and called his name.
“Juu, wake up for a second.”
“Who…… Iwol hyung?”
Thankfully, Park Juu woke up before I had to call him a fourth time.
Park Juu’s voice was as hoarse as mine had been a few days ago.
“Yeah, it’s me. I woke you up because you have a really high fever. Are you feeling really bad? Do you want to go to the emergency room?”
“……No, it’s not that bad…….”
Contrary to his words, Park Juu couldn’t even open his eyes properly. I wondered if it was because he was dizzy.
It was a relief that he was conscious, but it wasn’t good to leave a high fever going.
If he wasn’t going to the hospital right away, it seemed better to at least give him a fever reducer.
‘I don’t think there were any emergency meds in this dorm.’
The pharmacy would have closed long ago.
I recalled the location of the convenience store near the dorm and hurriedly woke Jeong Seongbin.
“Hyung? What brings you to our room……?”
“Sorry for waking you. But Juu is sick right now.”
“Juu is?”
Jeong Seongbin, who had been mumbling in sleep, sprang upright.
“I’m going to the convenience store now. Watch Juu for me until I get back.”
“Now? It’s really late…….”
“We can’t tell him to endure it until morning. High fevers are dangerous if you leave them alone. I’ll be right back.”
I grabbed only my wallet and ran out of the dorm.
Then I ran like mad. It wasn’t as if the convenience store would be closed, but I felt anxious.
‘Those bastards make such a fuss and take care of me just because my voice won’t come out a little.’
Considering how Park Juu, whose basic stamina was lower than the other members’, had been sprawled on the floor during every break, this was a situation I should have expected to some extent.
Even if I hadn’t expected it, I should have at least prepared basic medicine. That was common sense among common sense.
On top of that, it had even been one of the things I used to do at Hanpyeong Industries.
‘Just because I got comfortable, I stopped thinking about others? At your age, you fucking pathetic bastard.’
Profanities kept echoing endlessly in my head.
By the time curses and my breath had risen all the way to my throat, the convenience store came into view. My mouth was completely dry.
“Where are the fever reducers here? The ones kids take when they have a fever.”
“Ah, those are over there……”
I swept every kind of fever reducer in the section I was shown into the basket.
I also threw in painkillers and digestive medicine I didn’t need right away, grabbing whatever my hands touched. I was busy enough to die, but my hands kept shaking.
While the clerk was scanning the barcodes, I looked around and asked.
“Is there a large hospital around here too? I haven’t been in this neighborhood long.”
“Yes, it’s five minutes by taxi.”
“……Thank you.”
The moment I heard there was a hospital nearby, the tension drained out of me.
I barely managed to stop my legs from giving out along with it. I felt like my soul had left my body.
The way back to the dorm felt farther than when I’d gone to the convenience store.
When I returned to the dorm in a rush, holding a bag filled with all kinds of medicine, all the lights in the living room were on. Jeong Seongbin must have turned them on.
“Hyung!”
“There are fever reducers inside. Let’s give him one of those first.”
Jeong Seongbin, who had rushed all the way to the entrance, took the bag from me.
When I looked down to take off my shoes, I realized I was wearing sneakers that I didn’t even know belonged to whom.
Jeong Seongbin and I helped Park Juu, who couldn’t easily get up from the bed, sit up, gave him medicine, and laid him back down.
Not long after, Park Juu fell asleep with his face bright red.
You scare people like this and then go off traveling to dreamland yourself? Outrageous, but I’ll let it slide since you’re a patient.
Still, once I had a moment to catch my breath, my mind slowly started working again.
At the same time, I remembered the sky I’d seen on the way back from the convenience store, faintly brightening.
“Wait.”
“Yes? What is it, hyung?”
“What time is it now?”
“Five.”
“Five?”
I’d had a suspicion, and morning really was coming.
I’d be fine even if I slept a little less for a day, but once morning came, Jeong Seongbin had to go to school.
I gestured for Jeong Seongbin to hurry up and lie down as I said,
“You go back to sleep. I’ll watch Juu.”
“What about you, hyung? You need to sleep too.”
“I’ll sleep after you guys go to school.”
I didn’t know the details, but I remembered hearing that it was dangerous if a fever got too high.
I wasn’t sure whether Park Juu’s fever would go down, so I couldn’t just flop down and sleep by myself.
I told Jeong Seongbin to sleep well, then turned off all the lights in the living room.
Then, relying on my phone’s light, I returned to the side of Park Juu’s bed.
For some reason, I felt like I’d be staying up all night today.
* * *
Thankfully, Park Juu’s condition improved as time passed.
Only after I confirmed that his fever was going down every thirty minutes could I finally relax.
The manager, who came at the crack of dawn as soon as he saw my message, took Park Juu to the hospital early in the morning as well.
After even Park Juu was sent off to the hospital.
Since sleeping was a lost cause anyway, I picked up the bag Jeong Seongbin had left spread open in the living room, thinking I might as well organize the medicine I’d bought.
There were all kinds of medicines in the bag.
Including things that couldn’t exactly be called medicine.
“……Why the hell did I buy a hangover remedy?”
It seemed I’d grabbed it because it looked vaguely similar to digestive medicine.
It was a relief that it hadn’t broken even though I’d run while carrying the bag it was in.
The next thing that came out was just as absurd.
“Children’s fever reducer? Did I buy it without reading the label……?”
I let out a hollow laugh at my own stupidity. It had been a hectic morning.
“So that’s why the manager came by this morning?”
Choi Jeho, who ended up eating breakfast with only me thanks to Park Juu’s absence, asked.
Looking like skin and bones after not sleeping a wink, I nodded.
“But it’s impressive you noticed. You said it was dawn.”
“I was up late watching something.”
My eyes, which hadn’t closed for even thirty minutes last night, ached.
As I rubbed my eyelids with my fingers, Choi Jeho said,
“Hey, at this rate, you’re the one who’s actually gonna die.”
“Didn’t I tell you to watch your language?”
Whether I asked kindly or not, Choi Jeho was busy looking at the neatly arranged medicines in the empty side-dish container.
Because I’d organized them in such a hurry, the container Jeong Seongbin’s mother had used to pack young radish kimchi had ended up reduced to a medicine box.
“You even organize medicine like yourself.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
At my words, Choi Jeho closed the lid of the side-dish-turned-medicine container as if to say, suit yourself.
Should I hold roll call morning and night to check on the patients or something? I feel like I’m aging day by day.
As if he understood this exhaustion of mine, Jeong Seongbin made the commendable suggestion at the next group meeting that, “If we’re sick, let’s make sure to tell each other.”
I nearly teared up from how admirable it was. It was a day that made my eyes burn.
Though rather than burning with emotion, it seemed closer to my nerves being on edge and my eye pressure going up. Whatever. Please, I just hope nobody gets sick anymore.