I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan - Episode 129

Episode 129

Perhaps there was a hint in every single word.

‘I don’t expect you to understand, but if you could just stay by my side… then I’d feel a little less lonely.’

At first, he must have thought of him as just someone to soothe his loneliness. But just as Seung-hyun was to Jae-young, Jae-young also became an increasingly precious person to Seung-hyun.

To the point where the unwanted eternal farewell was bound to leave a scar deep in his heart. Jae-young washed his face and bowed his head, saying that the moment he realized that, it began to torment him.

“…Because of that…”

He should have never met him in the first place, those words were not to rebuke Jae-young but himself. However, in the end, Seung-hyun said he was sorry for not regretting it.

It must mean that the time they spent together was that happy. It was the same for Jae-young. His head hurt as if it would crack, and he felt so miserable that he wanted to deny everything in the world, but even if he went back, he would still meet Seung-hyun.

No, he wanted to go back. Then he wouldn’t have troubled him by talking about having a lot of time or things in the distant future. He would have taken better care of him, treated him better. At least more than now…

‘…What was the last thing I said?’

At the sudden thought, Jae-young traced back his memory. He remembered only rebuking Seung-hyun before moving him to the hospital, unable to have a proper conversation in his urgent state of mind.

It would be fortunate if that was all. Jae-young bit his lip hard at the memories that came back vividly.

‘To you, you’re the most pitiful one. You pretend to think about how I feel, but you just wanted to feel better, didn’t you?’

‘Seeing that, did you think I would be happy? No, of course not. An event so shoddy it’s embarrassing to even call it fireworks, a path that’s nothing special, just a place to occasionally take a walk. What’s so great about an outing like that?’

‘You just thought about yourself. Don’t say you did it because of me.’

Could he say it wasn’t sincere? He vividly remembered his tone and expression at the moment he said those words. He let out his irritation as it was due to frustration and exhaustion.

He was also angry at himself for not stopping him properly, and he felt frustrated that Seung-hyun’s illness seemed to be because of him. However, there was no need to take that out on Seung-hyun.

At least, he should have comforted him properly first. He should have stayed by his side and said something so he wouldn’t suffer alone.

‘…I’m sorry.’

He should have come to his senses at least when Seung-hyun bowed his head and apologized without any excuses. Jae-young hit the car seat hard.

To think that was the last conversation they had. If he had known it would be like this, no. Even if he hadn’t known, he shouldn’t have said those things.

There was no way Seung-hyun didn’t know his own condition. Given that there seemed to be a change in his state of mind after returning home, the words he said he would say after coming back were probably about his health.

‘…He must have known that if he told me, he wouldn’t be able to go out anymore.’

That’s why he begged to go out one last time. That’s why he begged to see the fireworks that were nothing special, and why he said he liked him, words he thought he would never say.

There were definitely signs, but not wanting to know, he didn’t think deeply about them. But did he really not know?

‘…It’s not like I fully believed it when he said he would be fine after the surgery.’

Would it have been better if he were really stupid and didn’t notice those signs at all? Then at least he wouldn’t be someone who said those things knowing.

It hurt piercingly to think that his last image of Jae-young, their last conversation, might remain as a scar.

***

“You said you would tell me after it was all over…”

Jaeseong, who had forcibly made an appointment and dragged Jae-young out, hesitated to nag him as soon as he saw his face. His face hadn’t looked good before, but this time it was really such a mess that it was hard to even talk to him.

“…”

He had received some help, and he had come out for a bit since there was time before visiting hours. Jae-young glanced at his watch and said,

“…I need to finish talking by 2 o’clock.”

“What on earth happened?”

Jae-young hesitated for a moment. He didn’t know where to start and end the story, and how much he could say.

But it was something he couldn’t hide forever, and it was something that would be known soon anyway. Jae-young opened his mouth with difficulty.

“…They say to prepare yourself.”

“For what?”

Jaeseong frowned at the words without a subject. Telling him to prepare himself out of the blue. He only thought it didn’t seem to be good news, but he couldn’t gauge what he was talking about.

“Seung-hyun.”

“Why him?”

“Soon…”

He might die. How could he say those words out loud? Jae-young couldn’t continue his words and smacked his lips, then sighed.

“He’s in the hospital. At the hospital… they said it’s best to prepare ourselves. That it’ll be hard for him to hold on any longer.”

Jaeseong’s expression hardened as he finally realized what he was talking about. The rumor that his health wasn’t good had already spread here and there, but if he was told to prepare himself, his condition seemed to be more serious than he thought.

Could it be that his antics were because of that? Jaeseong thought so and observed Jae-young’s reaction. It seemed he hadn’t known for long, and it looked like he was quite shocked.

‘Out of so many people, he had to pick someone like that.’

He already didn’t like him, but he disliked him even more now. If the reason for his antics was because he knew about his health condition, Seung-hyun must have realized his condition not very recently.

‘What’s the point of dating when you’re going to die soon? No, does Jae-young like him? Anyway, why did he start a relationship that won’t last long?’

“…So what are you going to do?”

He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t do anything about what had already happened, and he thought it was rather fortunate. If he was someone who would leave soon, there would be no more entanglements.

Even if it was hard for a while, he would be able to forget someday, and then everything would return to its place.

“If it was going to turn out like this anyway, it would have been better not to meet in the first place. What a hardship for you too…”

“Don’t say that.”

The eyes that had been blank sharpened for a moment. Jaeseong flinched a little, surprised.

“Even so…”

“…Yeah. I understand that you’re having a hard time… but think of it as something inevitable. Just… It’ll be hard now, but you’ll forget someday, and the living have to live. It’s not like anything will change because you’re being like this.”

“…Forget?”

Jae-young laughed. Could he forget these feelings, these memories? Was it that easy?

The happy memories, the current regrets. It seemed he could never forget everything. Especially the last few days he spent at home.

‘…I shouldn’t have said those things.’

The scenery they saw together, the fireworks. Everything was fun, but there was no way he could recall those memories fondly. Because of the words he spat out, even the pretty memories that would remain as the last were ruined.

“…I don’t think there’s much point in talking about it now. After it’s all over… contact me then. You’ll need time to pull yourself together too.”

Jaeseong looked at Jae-young and sighed, getting up from his seat. It didn’t seem like they could communicate at the moment, and it was unfortunate, but if he had to prepare himself, there probably wasn’t much time left until Seung-hyun left forever, so it was really the end now.

“I’ll make up an excuse to Mother… After it’s all over, go stay at the villa for a while. It’s better to keep it from the other family members.”

So there was no need to say anything. Jaeseong tapped Jae-young’s shoulder and left. Jae-young couldn’t get up from his spot for a long time, lost in thought.

“…What time is it?”

Then, suddenly thinking he had to make it in time for visiting hours, Jae-young raised his head and hurriedly checked the time. It was already well past two o’clock.

It took roughly more than 30 minutes to get from here to the hospital. He had intended to arrive with plenty of time, but while he was unable to come to his senses, time had become tight.

Thinking this wasn’t the time to be doing this, Jae-young hurriedly left. Contrary to his urgency, the traffic was a bit congested, and by the time Jae-young arrived at the hospital, it was about 10 minutes past the 3:30 that Professor Kim had mentioned.

“Is visitation possible now?”

“Yes. But right now…”

As soon as Jae-young heard from the nurse with a familiar face that visitation was possible, he half-ran towards the hospital room. It seemed like there was something she was trying to say, but it didn’t seem urgent enough to stop him and talk, so he didn’t care.

Taking the VIP ward elevator, Jae-young arrived at the floor where Seung-hyun’s room was and took a small deep breath before heading to his room. In front of the door, he saw someone’s shadow through the glass window.

“…”

Thinking it would be Professor Kim, Jae-young opened the door and froze upon facing the owner of the shadow. Inside the room, an unexpected person was gazing at Seung-hyun.