“Hwah…”
Ojae breathed a sigh of relief without thinking, but soon, he saw that Eunyoung’s eyes were filled with sadness.
Watching her, Ojae’s heart became calm with sympathy.
‘I’m glad that you broke up with your girlfriend before you married her.’
Ojae recalled what she had said in the past.
“… Did you have trouble with the person you met in the past…”
Eunyoung nodded slowly after hearing his question.
Her expression seemed bold, but her eyes revealed that she was still recovering from the pain. Ojae wanted to say something comforting for her, but he didn’t know what exactly to say.
At that point, Eunyoung’s cell phone vibrated with an unknown number.
Eunyoung, with a resolute expression, turned the phone over and put it away.
It was a short moment, but Ojae knew what the call meant to her.
“Hah…” She exhaled for a long time and soon started speaking with a bitter smile. “Today, you called me, so this is on you.”
“Sure…”
“Great. I guess I saved a lot of money tonight.”
Eunyoung laughed rather loudly and drank the Soju again.
Ojae, who had a worried expression of sympathy, was still looking at her cell phone as it was ringing silently.
***
“It’s the same pattern…” Dr. Seo mumbled to himself.
“What’s the connection in all of these abnormalities?”
Dr. Seo heard the story from Gyeohui, but he also couldn’t know what the connection was.
Dr. Seo adjusted his glasses and looked alternately at the pattern on his chest and a picture of the coffee tree flowers on his cell phone.
“It’s not a dye to use in a tattoo, it’s not a scar either. It’s just a pattern… This is amazing. No, it’s actually unbelievable, isn’t it? Hmm.” Dr. Seo smiled uncontrollably.
“Have you ever drunk coffee from the fruit of the tree?”
Gyeonhui shook his head slowly.
“Hmm…” After contemplating for a while, Dr. Seo started speaking again. “For now, the most plausible cause of your symptoms is still the blood transfusion you had from her.”
Gyeonhui also could not find any other cause, either. Gyeonhui tried to raise himself with a firm expression while buttoning up his shirt again.
“Well, wait a minute.”
Gyeonhui looked up at the doctor in response to his call.
“There’s one good piece of news I have for you. I’ve called you because of it.”
Gyeonhui turned his head after hearing the good news. Dr. Seo spoke in a small voice, conscious of his surroundings.
“I think we can do the blood transfusion sooner than we’ve planned.”
“… I thought that I would still have to wait for a while.” Gyeonhui responded.
“We did. However, I’ve put my hands on your case. I’ve requested an analysis of your blood.”
Dr. Seo said, shrugging his shoulders.
“I’ll get the results in a few days to know whether or not you can have the blood transfusion.”
His expression sank contrary to Dr. Seo’s expectations.
“… So, I won’t feel her pain anymore.”
“I can’t guarantee that, but it’s more likely.” He didn’t say anything for a moment with a dark expression. “… Wasn’t this something you have been waiting for?” Dr. Seo asked him in doubt.
Gyeonhui couldn’t say anything. He just heard the news that he had waited for a long time, but his heart became more and more empty.
77. Hidden Meanings
“Mr. Woo?” Dr. Seo called him again in doubt.
“Yes.”
He was lost in thought, but he immediately answered after snapping out of it.
“Are you perhaps changing your mind? Do you now want to have a blood transfusion anymore… or…” Dr. Seo looked at his face and asked carefully.
Gyeonhui shook his head slowly as if he were completely frozen.
“… No. Please proceed.” Gyeonhui was about to leave the room, but he stopped, and asked, “… When will it be?” His voice sank heavily.
“Well, if there’s nothing wrong with the result, then it’s going to happen in a week from today or so.”
After hearing the answer, Gyeonhui slowly nodded and exited the clinic.
As he walked down the aisle, his pace slowed down, and he finally stopped. He slowly raised his hand and wrapped his stiff shoulder. It was her pain, and at the same time, it was the only connection he had with her.
“Hah…”
He leaned against the wall and exhaled a heavy sigh.
“… A week.”
His clenched fist was trembling softly.
***
In the late evening, in the alleyway near Sun’s home.
‘The number you’ve reached is not available… please leave a message after the tone…’
Sun left a voice message with a sad expression.
“I don’t know how many years it has been since I have left a voice message, but I’m leaving a voice message for you because I can’t get a hold of you. I don’t know what you have been doing all day long.” She sighed for a moment and continued, “I just called you to see if we can have a drink or something. I guess you’re not available today. I will see you tomorrow.”
After she hung up the phone, Sun sighed.
When she saw the medicine for her shoulder in her hand, Gyeonhui’s face came to her mind again.
“Oh, please stop…”
She closed her eyes and shook her head to swing her mind off of Gyeonhui. She patted both her cheeks to help pull herself together.
“… Sun?” Then, behind her back, she heard a familiar voice.
“Oh, you surprised me.” She turned around and looked behind her quickly.
“It’s you, Sun.” Eunwoo looked at her with a smile. His forehead was sweaty like he had been walking with Labong. “But why are you tapping your cheeks?”
“Oh, that’s…” She recalled what she just did, and she started stuttering in embarrassment. “Somebody said if you tap your cheeks, then you can lose fat on your face. Give it a try, haha…”
Looking awkwardly at her, Eunwoo smiled.
“Ruff, Ruff!”
Luckily, Labong broke the awkward atmosphere between her and Eunwoo.
Labong spun around her feet, excited to see her.
“We went for a walk. It’s frustrating for Labong to stay inside all day.” Eunwoo said while she was stroking Labong’s head.
“I was going to do it today… Thank you.”
She seemed very sorry for him, and her voice tapered off the end of her sentence.
Eunwoo looked at her silently and then started speaking anxiously.
“What’s going on? Your face looks dark today.”
“No, nothing happened…”
Sun said, smiling awkwardly. Eun woo was still looking at her complexion and called her name.
“… Hey, Sun.”
“Yeah?”
His voice seemed to be calmed.
“I want you to not think about elephants right now.”
“What? Elephants? I don’t get it, what are you talking about?”
She asked him again, seemingly in doubt.
“Can you just try it?”
Eunwoo smiled and repeated it. She didn’t know why, but she nodded slowly.
“Hmm… sure, it’s not hard to do.”
She tried not to think of the elephant as if it was nothing complicated.
However, it wasn’t as easy as she thought.
The elephant, once it made a deep impression on her mind, was more vivid and bright in her mind now with various images.