Even after picking what looked like the least shitty bike, it turned out to be the same garbage as always. Every time I hit the brakes, they screeched, and the wheels kept rolling past the stop line. If anything, I’d managed to pick an even more fucked-up one than last time.
At this rate, I was going to end up in a serious accident, so I decided to stop by a repair shop. Figured I should at least give the boss a heads-up first so he wouldn’t nag me to death, so I called him. [N O V E L I G H T] But maybe he was taking a nap or something, because all I got was that useless ringing tone.
I had no choice but to hang up and open my messages.
Boss, the brakes are acting up so I’m heading to a repair shop firs │
Send
That’s as far as I got when—honk—an obnoxiously loud horn blasted from behind. I looked up and saw the light had already changed.
I twisted the handle, thinking I’d just pull over to the side for now. The bike curved gently to the left. Right then, another sharp horn pierced my ears—this time from the front.
A car from the opposite lane came barreling through the red light. Through the windshield rushing closer in an instant, I saw the driver with their mouth and eyes stretched wide open. That look of shock—felt like I could almost hear a scream tearing their throat apart.
I grabbed the brake, but the wheels didn’t stop.
With a screech, the bike kept rolling forward until the car slammed into its side. Only then did it finally stop. With a dull thud, the bike toppled over.
Haejun, still on the seat, went crashing onto the road. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and blood pooled in his scraped palms. More than anything, his ankle throbbed where it had slammed straight into the bumper.
“Ugh......”
That shaman’s curse about my life going to shit—who knew it’d last this long. My life was already a mess to begin with, but lately it felt like I’d been marked by bad luck. Accidents just kept lining up one after another.
Do I seriously need to get a ritual done or something?
I forced myself to get a grip before my thoughts spiraled off somewhere useless. At least I hadn’t passed out. First thing I did was take off my helmet. My ankle and palms hurt, but everything else seemed fine. I clenched and unclenched my fists—joints, bones, all good. Shouldn’t be a problem riding.
If the brakes had just worked properly, I could’ve avoided it. But either way, the accident was entirely on that car. I saw the light change with my own eyes, and I didn’t even accelerate.
“Are you okay?!”
The driver rushed out in a panic. I was already fuming, ready to chew them out for driving like absolute shit and get a look at their face, but the moment the door opened, a baby’s piercing wail stabbed straight through my eardrums.
The woman froze for a second before scrambling to pull the baby out of the back seat. She bounced it in her arms, trying to calm it down, but the kid had been too badly startled—the crying just wouldn’t stop.
“I’m so sorry! The baby—we were on the way to the hospital, I was in a hurry...!”
There was a big piece of gauze clumsily stuck to the baby’s head. As the baby cried harder, face scrunched up, the barely attached gauze slipped off, revealing a long, torn wound underneath.
Maybe because it was crying so hard, blood rushed to its face, and fresh blood started seeping out of the cut. It didn’t look like the injury was old. The woman looked like she was about to break down crying any second too.
The tension between my brows slowly eased.
I’d been about to let loose a string of curses, but seeing the crying baby and its mother, my anger just drained out of me.
“I’m really sorry. I’ll call the insurance right away.”
People started gathering, murmuring among themselves, while the cars on the road detoured around us like ants avoiding an obstacle. In the distance, tow trucks that had caught the scent of money started rushing over one by one like hyenas. If this dragged on any longer, it was going to blow up into something bigger. I wanted it wrapped up clean before that happened.
More than anything, the baby was what bothered me. Its face was so red it looked like it might start coughing up blood any second. It was honestly scary, like it might go into convulsions.
“Just give me your contact info and go to the hospital first.”
“No, but still......”
“The baby’s injury looks more urgent.”
Haejun pushed himself up with a limp and checked his bike. The windshield was cracked, but aside from that, nothing seemed broken. The brake pads were worn out, sure, but the body itself was solid.
He took photos from different angles first. As for his own body, considering he’d been thrown onto the road, he wasn’t that badly hurt. He rolled his stiff neck from side to side.
“I’m so sorry, really! Please make sure to contact me!”
The woman kept bowing repeatedly before getting back into the car. Haejun watched the car disappear, then climbed back onto his bike.
His ankle twinged when he put his foot down, but it was bearable. Ignoring the dull ache, he started off again.
* * *
Since it wasn’t a serious injury, he decided to keep doing deliveries until the end of his shift. It ended up being a pretty busy day. He went back to the shop first, told the boss what happened, dropped the bike off at the repair shop, then took another one and got back on the road.
When he finally came back, dragging his exhausted body, he sent Yohan a message to let him know. A call came almost immediately. Yohan started yelling through the phone, asking why the hell he hadn’t just sprawled out on the road and screamed like he was dying the moment the accident happened.
—Why didn’t you?!
“It wasn’t that kind of situation.”
It wasn’t like Haejun hadn’t thought about it. Even in a minor fender bender, grabbing the back of your neck and making a scene was basic common sense in this line of work. And he’d literally been thrown onto the road. If he wanted to push it, he could’ve.
But there’d been a baby crying. A small forehead split open and bleeding. The mother on the verge of breaking down.
No matter how low I’ve sunk, there’s no way I could pull that kind of shit on someone like that.
“I still got their contact info.”
—Go to the hospital, now. Don’t ignore that kind of accident. If you leave it, you’ll end up dealing with aftereffects.
“Yeah.”
—Don’t just say yeah. Actually go. Don’t put it off just because you think you’re fine.
After hammering that into him, Yohan hung up. Haejun answered, but that didn’t mean he had to go today.
There was a reason he couldn’t.
Lee Kangjoo was coming over soon. The timing made it awkward to go to the hospital now. If I went tomorrow morning, it wouldn’t exactly be a lie to Yohan. With that thought, Haejun tossed his phone onto the bed and slowly got up to wash.
That’s when—
“Ha—”
A sharp breath hitched in his throat. The moment his foot touched the ground, a stabbing pain shot through his ankle.
It had been fine up until he finished deliveries. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Haejun stretched his leg out. He lifted the hem of his pants and looked down at his ankle—
“Shit.”
A startled sound slipped out.
The ankle that had seemed relatively fine earlier was now swollen like crazy. It was mottled with red and blue bruises, and there were cuts here and there where the skin had torn.
“What the hell is this.”
Even the slightest touch made it sting. Haejun grabbed the first aid kit, disinfected the wounds, and stuck on waterproof bandages. Judging by how it throbbed every time he moved his foot, he really should go to the hospital.
After meeting Lee Kangjoo.
From the moment he got the message that he’d be coming tonight, Haejun had been waiting for this all day while doing deliveries. Now that it was finally here, he didn’t want to push it back with some excuse about something coming up.
The pain wasn’t unbearable. He could get through the night.
After barely managing to wash up with his uncomfortable body, he waited for Lee Kangjoo. Time dragged painfully slow. He’d heard roughly what time he’d come, but no matter how many times he glanced at the clock, the hands moved at the same indifferent pace.
He sprawled on the sofa, turned this way and that, half-watched a boring movie. Right when the ending credits started rolling, he finally heard the keypad being pressed.
Haejun shot up from the sofa. He limped at first, then ended up hopping on one foot.
“Welcome!”
The pain in his ankle vanished the moment he saw him. Haejun grinned stupidly, like an idiot, as he greeted Lee Kangjoo. If it were up to him, he’d throw his arms wide open and hug him tight enough to suffocate him—but he didn’t have the guts for that. He just clasped his hands behind his back.
Lee Kangjoo tilted Haejun’s chin slightly and kissed him. It brushed against him like a feather before pushing in rough and deep. It felt like his tongue wasn’t even his own anymore, playing along with someone else’s.
It was like swallowing sweet cream—his mouth filled with saliva, and something deep in his gut was already tingling. His fingers twitched restlessly, wanting to grab onto Kangjoo. His head went hazy, and his feet felt like they were stepping on clouds instead of the floor.
Haejun staggered back under Kangjoo’s pressure. To steady himself, he lowered the foot he’d been holding up.
The moment his sole touched the ground, a sharp pain shot up from his ankle.
“Ugh...!”
He tried to hold it in, but there was no way Kangjoo—standing so close there was barely a sheet of paper’s distance between them—would miss it.
Their lips parted. Not even for a second did Haejun want to let go, so he rubbed his nose lightly against Kangjoo’s, tilting his head as if coaxing him back in.
Just as their parted lips were about to meet again, Kangjoo pushed against his shoulder.
The heat drained from his lips.
Confused, Haejun looked up at him.
Kangjoo’s gaze was directed downward.
Haejun followed it.
Below the short hem of his pajama pants, his reddened ankle was exposed.
Kangjoo looked back at him, as if demanding an explanation.
His eyes were cold.
For some reason, it felt like getting scolded. Haejun quietly averted his gaze.
