I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan - Episode 128
Episode 128
“…I’m sorry. I acted out of greed.”
Seung-hyun apologized without any excuses. Seeing him look so pitiful, Jae-young stopped being angry and let out a long sigh.
“…”
He knew he should apologize for worrying about him and for speaking harshly. But right now, those words didn’t seem to come out easily.
“…Sigh.”
Jae-young sighed again. He saw Seung-hyun’s shoulders tremble, but Jae-young only washed his face without saying anything.
“For now, rest. Let’s talk again tomorrow.”
Thinking they wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation even if he stayed longer, Jae-young left the room without looking back at Seung-hyun. He had barely woken up after being unconscious all day.
Even now, his condition didn’t look normal, so rather than keeping him to have an unpleasant conversation, it seemed better to let him rest more.
It was clearly a rational judgment and he thought it was the best decision. Thinking it was the best choice for both of them, Jae-young returned to his room and tossed and turned until sunrise, unable to sleep.
Around the time dim sunlight entered through the window, Jae-young, who had quietly left his room on the pretext of checking Seung-hyun’s condition, carefully opened the door to Seung-hyun’s room.
“What is this…”
The moment he opened the door, he felt a pheromone that was hard to ignore. It was a strange kind, completely different from Seung-hyun’s very faint pheromone that he had smelled once before.
It seemed like an alpha’s, but also like an omega’s. With the conviction that something strange was happening, Jae-young ran to Seung-hyun.
“Seung-hyun. Are you…”
Jae-young, surprised by how hot the body he held in his arms was, almost dropped him for a moment. Seung-hyun’s condition was too abnormal to be a simple cold or flu.
“Ugh…”
Seung-hyun, who was nestled in his arms, groaned softly and narrowly opened his eyes. His gaze wandered, unable to properly find its destination, as if he couldn’t see properly.
“Are you conscious? No… this isn’t the time. The doctor… my phone…”
Jae-young, not knowing what to do, laid Seung-hyun down properly and got up to find his phone. At that moment, a hot hand grabbed Jae-young’s wrist.
“…Jae, young?”
Seung-hyun called Jae-young’s name in a strained voice. Although he was dizzy and couldn’t see well, he was sure of who he was holding onto.
“Are you okay? No, there’s no way. Since when were you like this? You should have…”
Jae-young, who was about to say why he suffered alone without saying anything, closed his mouth. Why? He knew the reason best.
“I have to… tell you…”
“Tell me later. For now, the doctor… no, the hospital…”
“I’m sorry.”
He had heard those words countless times since yesterday. What was so important about that in this situation, that he barely managed to say it? Jae-young clenched his fist in frustration.
“Let’s talk about that after we go to the hospital first…”
“I… have something I didn’t tell you. The most important thing… I was scared to say it because I’m so happy now…”
“I told you not to talk.”
Just moving his lips seemed so difficult for him. Jae-young unknowingly shouted.
“Actually… I don’t regret it.”
Seung-hyun said, letting out a hot breath. He said he regretted meeting him. He said he regretted not pushing Jae-young away when he approached, leaving their feelings to cross an irreversible line with a naive thought, but he realized after letting everything go.
He said that despite everything, the time they spent together was truly happy, and that while he was sorry for being selfish, he was both sad and glad to have come to know these feelings.
“I was glad to find out, to spend time with you. Although it might not be the same for you…”
He had to answer no, but he couldn’t think properly due to anxiety. His calm attitude, as if this moment was the last, was strange.
‘Could it be that what he wanted to say…’
Anxious that what Seung-hyun was trying to say today was what he had pretended not to know, Jae-young held Seung-hyun’s hand tightly. Seung-hyun, who mustered all his strength to hold that hand, said,
“I’m sorry. And…”
His eyelids were so heavy even though he hadn’t been awake for long. It was cold, but his body was also hot. He felt like if he fell asleep like this, he wouldn’t be able to wake up again.
With the thought that he wouldn’t be able to say everything he needed to, Seung-hyun squeezed out his last remaining strength. Even if he couldn’t say anything else, he at least wanted to say this.
“Thank you.”
For letting him experience so many firsts, for staying by his side so he didn’t have to go through the pain alone, even if he couldn’t say they only had good times.
He now regretted that he hadn’t expressed himself properly, saying he was pushing him away and rarely saying anything nice. If he had known it would turn out like this, he would have expressed it better.
‘There are still things I need to say…’
But now he was truly at his limit. Seung-hyun tried to open his closing eyes, but it had little effect. Deep sleep quickly overtook him.
“…Seung-hyun?”
The faint strength that had been holding his hand disappeared. Jae-young urgently called out to Seung-hyun, but there was no answer.
Jae-young got up and ran to his room to find his phone. The body that had been in his arms was so hot that the heat felt vivid even as he grabbed his phone and found the doctor’s contact to make the call.
‘This can’t be happening. Please…’
Jae-young tightly gripped the phone, not even realizing that he was crying. The ominous premonition overwhelmed Jae-young to the point where it could no longer be avoided.
***
The doctor who checked Seung-hyun’s condition immediately transferred him to the hospital. Even though he thought he could hold on for a while, his rapidly deteriorating body had worsened to the point of no return.
“You should prepare yourself. If he receives life-sustaining treatment, he’ll be able to hold on a little longer, but…”
However, it was only delaying time. Since he was already unconscious, he wouldn’t be in pain, but life-sustaining treatment required the family’s intention.
‘But CEO Han’s family…’
Money wouldn’t be an issue, but if his death was already determined, no. His parents clearly wouldn’t care even if there was a way.
“It’s difficult to register someone with an uncertain relationship with the patient as the guardian.”
Professor Kim said with a troubled expression. Although he had heard from the doctor he introduced that Jae-young had been taking care of Seung-hyun, that wasn’t enough.
If the family found out that an unrelated person was registered as the guardian, they would surely ask what was going on, but there was no good way to deal with it.
‘…This person does seem to be the child’s father though.’
Professor Kim thought, looking at Jae-young’s disastrous state. Someone Seokhyung was sure wouldn’t harm Seung-hyun to the extent of entrusting him. Someone who could fall apart to this extent upon hearing about Seung-hyun’s condition must not have an ordinary relationship.
However, what was needed now was a legally bound relationship. But among his family, there seemed to be no one who would help Seung-hyun live even a month, no, a week longer.
“Then what happens if he can’t receive life-sustaining treatment?”
“With basic treatment… it’ll be difficult to last more than a week.”
Everything was a mess to the point where it was hard to gauge where things had gone wrong. Not only the part that had been a problem in the beginning, but every part of his body was so unstable that it could be said that everything was wrong.
Due to the completely broken pheromone gland emitting pheromones that weren’t its original ones and then suddenly stopping, aside from the times sedatives were administered, even the non-beta medical staff had a hard time checking his condition.
It was the same for Jae-young. All he could do was hear vague news without even being able to enter the hospital room.
The time he could enter Seung-hyun’s room was less than two hours a day. There was a limit to using pheromone suppressants, so it was better to restrict access unless it was absolutely necessary.
“…Since when?”
Jae-young asked after staring at the closed hospital room door for a long time. There was no way he didn’t know about such a serious illness. It made sense why he had avoided him and tried so hard to push him away.
“…It was around last fall.”
“…”
“He changed a lot since then. To the point where I can’t even remember how he was before… Maybe it’s because he no longer needed to pretend to be strong.”
Professor Kim interjected a few words even though he knew it was uncalled for. Maybe it was because Jae-young’s expression was such a mess.
‘…It would have been better if this person had been CEO Han’s guardian.’
“The sedative is scheduled to be administered at 3 p.m. tomorrow, so you’ll be able to see him for a short time around 3:30.”
It wasn’t much time, but if he knew when he could see him, he wouldn’t have to make unnecessary trips. Thinking that, Professor Kim spoke and stepped aside.
“…”
Even after Professor Kim left, Jae-young couldn’t leave that spot for a long time. Last fall. That was around the time Jae-young had met Seung-hyun at the bar.
‘I want to laze around at home all day without doing anything, without any worries. I want to go on a trip without any plans. Oh right. The ocean, it’s been a long time since I went to the ocean, so somewhere pretty by the sea…’
‘And… I wish I had a friend similar to me. Someone I can confide everything to. I want to try dating too. I don’t really like being alone.’
‘Also… I want to live happily like that for a long, long time.’
The moment he recalled the words he had heard on the day they first met, Jae-young ran out of the hospital as if escaping, feeling like he couldn’t bear it any longer.