episode_0033

I don’t know what time it is.

I barely regained consciousness, but I couldn’t get up from my seat.

My head hurts.

I can definitely say that I am not a drinker.

I couldn’t do that because I had two bottles of beer and one bottle of soju yesterday, drank some soju, came home right away, and slept with Yeonseo before 10 o’clock.

There was no feeling of nausea or a headache like a hangover.

I just had no strength in my body and my head wasn’t clear.

I had to get up, but my body wouldn’t listen to me, so I just groaned to myself.

“Jinhyeon-ah?”

Yeonseo woke up with a rustling sound as if she heard me and shook me.

Oh my, my bones are ringing.

“Jinhyun, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah….”

It’s not that I’m okay, I just couldn’t say anything other than “yeah.”

A dull headache was driving me crazy.

“Oh, my head….”

After barely being able to say those words softly, he completely lost all strength in his body.

“Jinhyeon? Jinhyeon! What should I do…!”

I can hear Yeonseo’s worries.

I got up and put my hand on my forehead and started to panic, but my child’s voice was shaking.

I was more worried and sorry for Yeonseo who was worried about me than my own body.

“Let me sleep a little….”

After saying just those few words, I lost my senses again.

I still felt like I was weighed down by heavy fatigue and just kept my eyes closed.

It’s true that I’m asleep, but it’s a strange feeling of being conscious and floating.

But suddenly, the smartphone at the bedside started vibrating.

It was an alarm I had set to prepare for work.

I rummaged around with my hands but couldn’t find it, so I had no choice but to open my eyes and search.

Ironically, the smartphone was stuck under my armpit.

Haa, I got out of bed and sighed, and just then Yeonseo opened the door and came in.

“Are you awake? How are you feeling?”

He sits on the edge of the bed and puts his hand on my cheek.

What makes you smile in the midst of pain?

“I’m just tired and weak. I don’t think I’m drunk.”

Still, it’s a lot better than before, so I’m talking about it.

“Can you stay still for a moment?”

Yeonseo cupped my face, pressed our foreheads together, and whispered.

“Goddess, please grant me your grace with love and hope.”

White light came out of Yeonseo and poured down on me.

It was the restoration of the saint’s divinity.

I can still use it even though I’ve crossed dimensions.

Actually, I too was created in Askria and the power of a warrior was obtained there, so I could use it here without any restrictions.

The light dimmed and sweat formed on Yeonseo’s forehead.

Judging by the size of the halo, it seemed like more divine power had been used to heal the injury than before.

“Are you feeling better?”

Unfortunately, I shook my head.

Then Yeonseo’s face darkened.

Divine healing can completely heal physical wounds or damage, but it is of no use if the cause is stress or your own psychology.

In the end, the reason I’m sick is because of stress.

A dull headache, a body that feels weak all the time, and a dry cough that comes and goes intermittently. It’s all familiar.

“This is tonsillitis.”

Strangely, even after I gained the strength of a warrior, it still came every season.

Personally, I suspected that the goddess had put some kind of brake on me.

I’ve heard that while there are cases where the other world treats heroes poorly, there are also many cases where heroes go wild or cause trouble out of spite.

“But it seems like he came harder this week because he was annoyed by his part-time job.”

“Ah… .”

Yeonseo flinched and looked at me with anxious eyes.

“Is it because of me?”

“None.”

Immediate answer.

“But still I keep saying something….”

“Yeonseo, it’s because of you that I’m in this much pain. If it weren’t for you, Yeonseo, I wouldn’t have been able to get up.”

“Lies… The seasons changed several times while I was in Askria, but Jinhyeon never said he was sick.”

“Ah, that’s… if I had to be specific, that was when I was lying.”

“Huh?”

“Even back then, I had tonsillitis all the time. I got sick every time the seasons changed?”

“I didn’t know that at all…?”

I answered bitterly in a shaking voice.

“I put up with it. It wasn’t too bad.”

“… This stupid bitch.”

Yeonseo bowed her head deeply.

I unconsciously grabbed Yeonseo’s shoulder tightly at her strong expression.

“Yeonseo, never put yourself down.”

“How could you not, I thought you were a cold-blooded person who didn’t care about anything, anywhere, anytime….”

“Is it still like that?”

“No….”

“Then that’s fine. I did that on purpose back then.”

“Why, are you doing that on purpose? If you’re having a hard time, ask for help. If you’re sick, ask for help.”

“Ah….”

I was speechless and hesitated for a while.

Even though I was hesitating and acting like a fool, Yeonseo waited quietly for me.

I have to be honest.

Yeonseo also tried hard to be honest with me when she came here.

I had to respond to that too.

“I was afraid of being rejected. My mask is quite thick and everyone was uncomfortable on days like this, so I was basically alone and unfamiliar with it and anxious.”

I spoke at quite a lengthy length, which is unusual for me.

I think we should have had this conversation yesterday when we were drinking.

Yeonseo pressed her chest hard.

Perhaps you don’t have much to say in rebuttal because what I said is probably not wrong.

At that time, I was shy with everyone except myself, so I would have felt a great sense of alienation when someone asked me for help, and it would have been difficult for me to just say yes. I think Yeonseo would have thought the same.

“From now on….”

Yeonseo opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Let’s not do that to each other again… Got it?“

A person who has lived each day with lies will not easily be able to answer even such a simple pledge.

I could have just said I knew, but I felt a great sense of resistance that prevented me from saying it even though I was actually going to do it.

“Yeonseo cries.”

“Don’t cry.”

“I feel like crying.”

Then Yeonseo hugged me tightly and took a deep breath.

“I told you not to cry.”

I awkwardly hug his back too.

I felt really bad for myself for not being more honest than Yeonseo.

This is why I can’t confess.

I need to fix this habit of automatically covering myself up with lies before I can start a proper relationship with someone.

Suddenly, Yeonseo stepped back from me and spoke brightly on purpose.

“That’s right. I made soup.”

“Soup?!”

“Yeah, clear clam soup.”

Clear clam soup was a common meal served to sick patients at religious sects that originated in fishing villages.

It is a dish that even commoners eat a lot, but in fact, it is very poor to be called a soup.

All you have to do is boil the commonly caught clams in water.

Later, as it became popular, various spices were added and the broth was boiled to enhance the flavor, and it was served on the tables of the nobility as an appetizer or palate cleanser, but Yeonseo could not go that far.

“Where did you get the clams?”

“I went to the mart and bought it with the card you gave me last time.”

“You went to the mart?! Alone?”

“Ugh, yeah.”

When he shouted loudly, Yeonseo was surprised and looked around to ask.

“Was I too… hasty?”

“No, no. I did it because it was strange because I went alone.”

“I’m not stupid. I’ve been seeing a lot of things for two weeks.”

“Yeah, I know. But it was your first time, right? You did well.”

“Still treating me like an idiot….”

Yeonseo supported me and brought me to the table.

He skillfully opened the lid of the pot, scooped up a bunch of clams with a ladle, and placed them in front of me.

It’s a clam.

But when it comes to clam soup, clams are rare, so you don’t put in many and just drink the broth, but Yeonseo piled a lot of clams in the bowl and gave it to me.

You don’t need a spoon.

I just picked up a clam with my hand and sucked it with my mouth, scooping out the flesh.

“Hmm.”

“How is it?”

It doesn’t taste good.

The clams were well cooked and chewy, but that was it.

The broth is slightly refreshing with the unique savory flavor of clams.

It’s not bland because there are no other ingredients, but the taste itself is bland and disappointing.

“It’s delicious.”

But I felt warm because I could feel Yeonseo’s heart as she went to the market alone and cooked hard for me.

That alone seemed to relieve my headache to some extent.

A smile naturally appeared on her face, and Yeonseo looked relieved.

“Eat a lot, should I give you more?”

I just ate one, Yeonseo.

I said I was fine and continued eating the clams.

Even though we were just eating in silence, Yeonseo was looking at me with an overwhelmed face.

I felt sorry for her, but also good, because she was like a puppy who only looked at me.

But as I was eating, this thought suddenly occurred to me.

“You went out alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Did any guys come up to you?”

The corners of Yeonseo’s mouth rise up endlessly.

She was flattered by the jealousy I showed her for the first time.

But Yeonseo nodded innocently.

“I was so focused on finding clams and paying the bill that I didn’t even notice who was talking to me. Did they even talk to me?”

Cowardly enough, hearing that made the clam chowder taste even better.

I ate everything without missing a single one, and even drank all the soup at the end.

“It was really delicious.”

“Yeah! That’s great. You’ll sleep well again, right?”

“I want to do that, but I’m always tired. But? I’m the type of person who has trouble sleeping, so I guess I should at least close my eyes.”

“Then how did you sleep before you were with me?”

“I just put on ASMR on YouTube and listened to it until I barely managed to fall asleep.”

“Ugh.”

Yeonseo thought for a moment and then took the bowl she had finished eating from.

“Just lie down for a moment.”

Follow obediently without hesitation.

I shouldn’t lie down right after eating, but my body is already tired.

Still, sleep didn’t come.

Lying down when I was sleepy and tired was no easy task.

Yeonseo came to me as I was lying still, unable to move.

“Want to go sideways?”

Since Yeonseo couldn’t move me with her own strength, she moved with difficulty, flailing around.

The blanket was pulled back and Yeonseo lay down next to me.

“Go down a little.”

The patient has many demands.

Still, I struggled and went down.

“Yeah, this should be enough.”

Yeonseo, who confirmed that I had gone down, quietly held me in her arms.

“I looked up ASMR briefly, but most of it was people making noises into an ear microphone.”

Then he hugs me tightly to his chest.

“The only ASMR I can do is the sound of a heartbeat.”

I can hear the saint’s heartbeat.

The steady, small but powerful beating of my heart gave me a great deal of comfort.

“Don’t be sick, Jinhyeon. When you’re sick, my heart hurts.”

Same goes for me.

In that sense, I also hugged Yeonseo.

Yeonseo gently patted my back until I fell asleep.

At the scent of her body and the sound of her heartbeat, my eyes slowly closed, and before I knew it, our breathing became one.