Chapter 18: Golden Spoon

“She’s fainted.”

“Are there any other problems?”

“No, I examined her cerebrovascular and cardiovascular systems, and thankfully, nothing was found.”

Somehow, I ended up following her to the emergency room. Since she lives alone and collapsed at work, there was no family member to accompany her as a guardian.

Moreover, there was no one available to go as her guardian in my stead early in the morning. So, it might have been natural that I, who witnessed the Team Leader collapsing and had been taking care of her, followed along.

“Does the patient often work overtime?”

“Probably… yes, she hasn’t been able to go home on time for the past few days.”

“We get a lot of people like that around this time of year. Their bodies are worn out from overwork and lack of sleep.”

The doctor said, looking back and forth between the Team Leader lying on the hospital bed with an IV drip in her hand and me. As if telling me to listen carefully too.

“The best thing to do is to get plenty of rest. At least a full day, and for this patient… my opinion is that she needs a generous three to four days of rest.”

“Three to four days…”

From the doctor’s subtle gaze, I understood the hidden meaning. Rest for a day or two if you don’t want to end up like this.

“She can be discharged as soon as she wakes up. However, this… could become dangerous if it overlaps with an underlying condition, so please tell her to be as careful as possible in the future.”

“I understand. I’ll tell her when she wakes up.”

The doctor, who looked like he needed more rest than any of us, left. Probably to see other patients.

“…Haa, I’m tired…”

Only then did drowsiness wash over me. I wasn’t as bad as the Team Leader, but I had also been suffering from overtime.

Even an Inja-gang is still human. No human can completely overcome drowsiness and fatigue.

“….”

Wait… should I close my eyes for a bit?

---

The power went out. That seemed like the most fitting way to describe it.

As an expression for the series of… fainting incidents I just experienced.

“….”

When unfamiliar ceilings and blinding lights tormented my newly opened eyes, I wasn’t particularly surprised. I had expected something like this to happen someday.

Besides, this wasn’t the first time. I’d had similar experiences a few times before.

Although, collapsing at work and gushing out a nosebleed… was a first.

“….?”

When I struggled to lift my heavy body, I saw familiar brown hair.

“Umm… ummnya…”

It was Seo Hanbyeol’s hair, sleeping face down right next to me in a position that looked uncomfortable.

“….”

My hand, which reached out unconsciously, touched his hair.

I wouldn’t have even attempted it if he had been awake, and I wouldn’t have dared to if I had been in my right mind.

But my brain wasn’t working properly, and seeing him sound asleep, I couldn’t resist my instincts.

“…Soft.”

Would Maru have felt like this if he were a long-haired breed instead of a short-haired one?

The texture that was hard to feel from a plump but short-haired British Shorthair could be felt from his hair…

“….Haa…”

…What am I doing?

I’m such a mess, collapsing on my own and now stroking the hair of my subordinate, who clearly brought me to the emergency room.

—Hello.

“Yes, Head of Department.”

—Ah, Hyewon.

I grabbed the phone next to me and called the person I needed to inform first.

“I’m sorry. Right now…”

—I’ve heard everything. Someone saw Hyewon being taken away in an ambulance. With Seo Hanbyeol.

But the Head of Department, who had already heard the news, wasn’t that surprised.

—Is Hanbyeol next to you?

“He is… asleep, though. Should I wake him up?”

—No, leave him be. He must have been working so hard all this time. Especially since he always comes in early.

The two employees who come in the earliest were both absent. The Head of Department’s voice sounded bewildered, as if she found the situation strange.

“I’ll go back right away.”

—Don’t say unnecessary things. If you rode in an ambulance, just rest quietly. I’ll give you sick leave. And tell Hanbyeol to take a good rest for a day since he went with you.

“….”

Unlike a boss who usually pushes people so hard, the Head of Department gave me a dismissal disguised as consideration in a kind tone. She doesn’t want to see a corpse coming out of her office.

“…Then I’ll rest.”

—Yes, don’t bother the person next to you too much just because you have nothing to do.

“…”

What on earth is my image in that woman’s head? I doubt it’s much different in other people’s minds.

“Ummnya… ummnya… um…?”

As if he had timed it in advance, Seo Hanbyeol, who had been sleeping using my leg as a pillow, woke up rubbing his eyes as soon as the call ended.

“Are you awake, Hanbyeol?”

“Umm… umm… huh..?”

…It might be rude to say this to a person, but what should I say… he’s like a puppy.

Even yelping when surprised.

---

“…. ”

I wanted to close my eyes for a bit, but I didn’t intend to use my boss’s leg as a pillow.

What should I do? This awkwardness.

“Hanbyeol brought me here. To the hospital.”

“Uh… strictly speaking, I should say that the 119 firefighters brought you here rather than me? Ahaha…”

Fortunately, the Team Leader didn’t seem to think of such trivial things as a problem. It would be ungrateful to do that to the person who brought her to the hospital.

“Thank you. You saved me.”

“… ”

…Would it have been better if she had cursed instead? This is so awkward…

The fact that these words of gratitude are coming out of this person’s mouth is very out of place.

“…Ah, well, the doctor said to get plenty of rest for three to four days.”

“Yes. I was planning to rest anyway.”

…Doesn’t seem like it.

“And he said Hanbyeol should rest for at least a day too. The Head of Department said so.”

“The Head of Department… huh?”

Only then did she notice the phone in her hand.

“Then maybe… sick leave…?”

“Probably.”

It’s sick leave, right? The Head of Department even asked directly, so it’ll be processed as sick leave, right?

Even if it’s not processed as sick leave, I’ll use my vacation. I’ll take three or four days…

…Well, that’s a bit much, should I take two days? Or one?

“Then I’ll um… stay here until the Team Leader’s parents come. When your parents come…”

Anyway, now that I’ve even gotten permission from the Head of Department, wasting the given time is what only amateurs do. I should go home and watch a movie…

“They won’t know, I didn’t contact them.”

“Huh? But you contacted the Head of Department…”

“I only contacted the Head of Department. I didn’t contact my parents separately.”

The Team Leader’s expression as she said that revealed an emotion I had never seen before.

An emotion that was hard to describe, a mixture of anger and regret.

“Even if they knew I collapsed…”

She tilted her head back, stared at the empty air with half-open eyes, and bit her lip.

It was a side of the Team Leader that she had never shown before. Perhaps even rarer than a smile, a complex expression with all sorts of emotions intertwined.

“They’re not the kind of people who would come.”

It was distrust. A distrust that shouldn’t exist between parents and children.

“Since I’m on sick leave, I’ll go rest now. Hanbyeol, you should go home too.”

The Team Leader straightened up, got up from her seat, and walked away with a lonely stagger.

“…Team Leader.”

…Aish, damn it.

“…Hanbyeol?”

“Let’s go together. I’ll walk you home.”

How can I let her go alone? After seeing her like that.

---

“Excuse me…”

I ended up coming back again. To someone else’s house that I didn’t really want to come to.

The difference from last time is that this time I entered not completely drunk, but sober. With no room for excuses.

Well, of course, if I wanted to make excuses, I could. I’m not here because of personal feelings, but to take care of the Team Leader who collapsed.

Purely, with a pure heart. I’m purely worried about my ex-girlfriend and boss, whom I still have feelings for…

“Sigh…”

Yeah, whether I make this excuse or that excuse, the fact that I came here on my own two feet doesn’t change.

Frankly, I’m not even sure if it’s really because of worry or some other emotion. I thought I knew myself best, but I don’t think so these days.

Maoong—

“Hello, this is our second time meeting.”

I greeted the cat, who was unusually friendly to strangers, and looked at the Team Leader, who was leaning back on the sofa as if collapsing.

“Rest in bed instead of here. Cover yourself with a blanket and use a pillow.”

“….”

“…Come on.”

Why did the person who was usually so meticulous and thorough suddenly become a disobedient troublemaker?

“And call your parents. I’ll only be here until your parents come.”

“They won’t come.”

“What the…”

Just how bad is her relationship with her parents that she’s acting like this?

“Even if you’ve fallen out, that’s no reason to act like this. It’s not like your child is just sick, but collapsed and was taken to the emergency room, surely they’ll come, right?”

There are many parents who aren’t like parents and children who aren’t like children in this world, but even so, unless the family is terribly broken, how can they not trust each other to this extent?

“….”

But instead of answering me, the Team Leader silently turned on the TV and switched the channel to a terrestrial broadcast that happened to be showing the news.

“They won’t come. Their personalities aside, they’re people with a lot of work.”

“What kind of work do they do…”

At those words, the Team Leader silently pointed at the TV screen. As if asking if I couldn’t see what was on there.

The news was broadcasting a live parliamentary inspection. Come to think of it, I heard there was some problem with soccer recently…

….Wait, a parliamentary inspection?

Tell me. Can you really say that this is a fair screening and selection process? You made the other coach candidates wait without even giving them a proper interview, and then you went to their house late at night to talk?

A member of the National Assembly was verbally trampling on a person who appeared to be an association official. Without raising his voice, calmly, but with a clear pronunciation that would be clearly etched in the ear.

What is it, why do I see a familiar person reflected in an unfamiliar politician?

“….Um, Team Leader. By any chance…”

I would soon know the answer. Because the name written on the nameplate on the desk where the member of the National Assembly was sitting came into view.

[Cha Seung-gyu]

“….Is that him?”

“…..”

There was no answer.