Chapter 30: How could I ever...
Huh?
Where am I?
Yeon Doha found himself in a strange place. A rose field. Stretching endlessly in all directions.
Have I been here before?
He started walking. There was no path, no clouds, no buildings, no animals, just him and the emdless roses under an empty blue sky.
As he walked, he began remembering things.
How long have I been walking?
Yeon Doha remembered walking with his father and mother in the snow on the Christmas eve before his 3rd birthday.
Yeon Mirae was carrying Soohi at the time. His father too appeared warmer and reliable. They pretty well off at this time so they were eating out that night at a big restaurant.
Doha remembered finding the snow flakes finding on his hand beautifully. And then he passed by a chocolate shop.
Have I seen it before?
He passed along with his parents but the image remain stuck in his mind.
’Jang Song-rik cannot have a happy ending.’
A chilling voice echoed inside Yeon Doha’s head. He looked around and found himself again in the rose field.
Alone.
There was no one around him.
Then whose voice was that?
Doha pondered for a bit as a he kept walking further and further away. There were no trees and each rose bush was identical.
It didn’t even feel like that he was walking at all. It was as if he was stuck in a single place and it was only an illusion that he was walking.
And suddenly, he was jolted awake on a hospital bed.
"Oppa?" Yeon Soohi’s groggy voice came from his left side.
He looked around. It was night. And he was in a hospital ward.
There were no other patients other than him. Mirae and Yohan were using the two empty beds to sleep and Soohi was sitting on a chair right beside Doha’s bed.
"Huh? Why am I here?" Doha asked as he noticed an blood drip connected at his hand.
"Oppa, are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?" Soohi asked as she rushed to help him up. Doha felt a little tired but it wasn’t anything other than that.
"What happened?" He looked at Soohi.
Her eyes were swollen and red as if she had been crying.
"You don’t remember?"
"No, I remember studying maths and then... no... I don’t remember anything after that."
"You... You collapsed. There was blood flowing out of your nose and mouth," Soohi sat down as she made Doha sit a bit comfortably.
"Huh?! Like for real?! Me?" Doha looked confused and surprised.
Soohi kept staring at her brother. His eyes had large dark circles. He looked paler and thinner.
Since when was he withering away like this...? How come I didn’t notice before?
Soohi pressed her lips together.
"The doctor said its from overwork and stress. Have you been eating properly lately?"
"Ah... I’ve been eating just fine and I don’t think I’ve worked any harder than I always did," Doha pondered, confused. "Maybe I just ate something wrong."
"Do you think I’m stupid?"
"Huh? What are...?"
"I have seen you skip meals all the time these past few days. Have you even been sleeping at all? The doctor said your condition looked like as if you haven’t slept properly in months!?"
Soohi said as calmly as she could. But her voice was trembling. Not because she was angry but because she was guilty.
"The kid is right," Yohan said as he sat up on the bed where he was sleeping.
"What do you even mean? It’s not like I’m dying or something? It’s just some stupid nosebleed, so stop making a big deal of it," Doha chuckled as he saw Yohan’s beadhead.
"You know what, oppa? We know you won’t just listen to us," Soohi said as she smiled bitterly. "So we decided to take some steps withou considering you anyway."
"Huh? What do you...?"
"I’m working part time starting next week," Soohi said as she stood up. "I’m paying for my own college from now. I don’t need any allowance anymore."
"What in world are you even saying? Did I say it’s hard to give you your allowance?" Doha almost stood up after her when he was interrupted by Yohan.
"AND, either you quit your cafe job or I’m telling the boss at the bar that you booked it with your rich boyfriend," Yohan said as he laid on his stomach and smiled brightly.
"What are you both even....?"
"Mom told me you’re going to give the college entrance exam as well as your high school diploma. You can exactly do that when you’re working each waking hour." Soohi said as she walked over to Yohan!s bed with a spare pillow.
"And for the remaining debt, mom got a job at the daycare next building and said she would take care of it. So you can just keep your salary for yourself," Soohi added before shamelessly snuggling with Yohan as he tried to push her away.
"Why are you all acting like you’re trying to disown me?" Doha asked as little sweat drops flowed down his face. "I’m handling everything fine, so why do you two have to...?"
"You’ve done enough, oppa. You did a great job, so now... rest. Take a breath and move forward with your own life."
"Wow, I didn’t know you could say things like that, Soohi," Yohan teased her as Soohi buried her face in the blanket beside him. "And get up from here!"
Soohi didn’t budge. And Yohan could be heard bickering with her.
Doha looked at them as he felt those words repeating in his head. His eyes were watching them but his head had already dissociated from the reality.
You’ve done enough.
You did a great job.
So rest now.
Take a breath.
And move forward with your own life.
Doha smiled gently as he etched those words into his heart. He didn’t remember what happened to him that evening that made all of them act this way. But he could feel the affection from their actions nonetheless.
When they’re like this, how could I ever... leave this world?
Doha had forgotten another detail about the his real life. He didn’t even know anymore what it was but he lost it and the emptiness was gaping a huge hole inside him.
And Yeon Doha’s memories, from before he transmigrated into his body, had started coming back to him.
I could never let them know. They must never know.
Doha clutched his hospital gown on his chest and faked out a smile.
"Hey, I agree to this and all but don’t let Song-rik hyung know about this, okay?"
"Do you think you’re in any condition to be worrying about Gong-lik?" Soohi poked out head from under the blanket. "Go to sleep now. I don’t want to see you awake before 8 am in morning."
"Yes, mam." Yohan teased Soohi as he laid with his back towards her.
"As the mistress says," Doha chimed in with the tease and they all fell asleep to a fussy Soohi.
Jihwan trembled as he watched the vampire walk over to him. He had for sure checked that he was asleep.
"So it was you," Ryujin said as he grinned. "You read my secret novel."
Jihwan stood up immediately as he turned away in embarrassment.
"I didn’t read anything... I was just looking for some videos to watch. I’m bored." Jihwan made up any excuse he could think of.
Ryujin was now standing right in front of him. He had an annoyingly smug face on as if he could see right through Jihwan.
Ryujin leaned a little closer to Jihwan, right beside his left ear and whispered.
"The laptop has no connectivity, Secretary Cha," Ryujin almost chuckled in between. "Or were you watching videos on sheer will power."
Jihwan blushed so hard his green eyes contrasted even more with his face. He was caught and he knew.
Ryujin grabbed his waist and held him closer and Jihwan stiffened.
"Seeing how you came back second time, you must’ve liked what you read," Ryujin teased Jihwan as he slowly pecked on the secretary’s neck.
Rainy pheromones began oozing out from the neck and Ryujin took in a huge whiff of them.
"God, I love the smell of your pheromones," Ryujin almost moaned as he sunk his teeth into Jihwan’s shoulder that he had bared after breaking off his shirt’s buttons.
"St...op!" Jihwan couldn’t push him away.
Surely he hated being touched by another alpha in this way. And he wasn’t exactly fond of Ryujin, so why couldn’t he push him away?
Why was he wishing for him to release his bloody pheromones?
Why was he dying to bite into Oh Ryujin’s neck and suck him dry of any blood he had?
"You fucking dirty book is messing with my head," Jihwan said he yanked up Ryujin’s head with his hair. "You don’t look like you can write such a slutty novel."
Ryujin’s ears turned red as he smirked mischievously.
"Wanna play out that slutty novel?"
Ryujin slipped his tongue into Jihwan’s mouth as the he slowly started undressing him. Amd Jihwan, he couldn’t resist a single touch.
"Hngh...ugh!" He yelped as Ryujin picked him up.
"Let’s take it the bed, shall we?"
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