BXBX NOVEL Vol. 2 Chapter 48: Chapter 48
Vol. 2 Chapter 48: Chapter 48
Translated by Chef
Edited by Chef
“… !”
Inseop jumped up from the bed. His whole body was wet with cold sweat and his pulse raced.
“Ha…”
He exhaled and slowly looked around. The quiet hospital room was filled with only the sound of the humidifier vibrating. Inseop sat there blankly for a long time before realizing that it was all a dream. He realized it was a dream, but his body trembled.
“It’s okay. It’s a dream…”
Inseop lay down on the bed again. Even as a child, he often had nightmares.
On the eve of going to the hospital or the end of his vacation, anxiety created specific nightmares.
Inseop pulled the sheet over his shoulder and muttered that it was okay. But the more he did, the more clearly he remembered Lee Wooyeon’s expression, eyes, and voice he had seen in his dream.
Inseop took out his cell phone from his cabinet. It was two in the morning. He couldn’t stop even though he knew it was too late for a phone call. He wanted to confirm with Lee Wooyeon’s voice that dreams are just dreams.
It didn’t even ring a while, but it clicked and went to call mode.
“Hello?”
<… >
No answer came back. Inseop checked his cell phone screen to see if the call had continued.
“Hello?”
<…I’m listening.>
Lee Wooyeon’s low voice returned.
“Sorry. It’s late…”
<It’s late.>
Lee Wooyeon seemed to meditate on Inseop’s words. Inseop was a little taken aback and answered right away.
“If you’re going to sleep, I’ll call again later.”
<I didn’t sleep.>
It wasn’t just words. It was not a voice that seemed sleepy, but a voice with a clear, clean form.
He said that an actor bestowed by God often needs three conditions. The mask, acting skills, and especially Lee Woohyun’s voice were enough to be said to have been blessed by God. There was power in his voice. He was able to bend the other person’s emotions as much as necessary.
<I’m listening. Tell me >
Lee Wooyeon said once more that he was on the other side of the phone. Inseop held his cell phone and swallowed slowly. He made up his mind not to be weak, but Lee Wooyeon’s voice broke him down without a doubt.
“I called because I wanted to hear Wooyeon’s voice.”
Inseop slowly but honestly confessed his feelings. This time, he heard the sound of slow breathing from the other side. He was going crazy. Lee Wooyeon’s voice, which didn’t seem like him, followed. Inseop was taken aback by the faint anger in his voice.
<Sometimes, I feel as if the revenge isn’t over yet.>
Realizing belatedly that he was talking about Jennie, Inseop replied, “It’s not like that.” He couldn’t understand why he was saying this all of a sudden.
<If you’re taking revenge, you can stop. Because I got what I deserved.>
“It’s not really. Why would I do that to Mr. Lee Wooyeon?”
<If Inseop says it, then that must be.>
At the tone that seemed to be reproaching him somehow, Inseop put strength on his hand holding his cell phone.
“…I just called because I wanted to hear your voice. Really.”
It was late. It was the first time Inseop had ever called at this hour.
<If you want to hear my voice, why don’t you listen to the CD I gave you at home.>
It was a cold voice. He couldn’t figure out why he was suddenly doing this. He tried not to do that, but he kept thinking of Lee Wooyeon in his dreams.
Inseop bit his lower lip and suppressed the rising sob.
Too many things happened today. Kang Youngmo’s work was not yet resolved. It was clear that if he had that kind of personality, he would show up and do evil in the future. He was also concerned about what Yoon Ahreum told him. He was a third-rate himself, dating a celebrity. He was the worst of the three. Even if Lee Wooyeon’s marriage rumor was announced, he wouldn’t even think that the main character would be him.
The most frightening of all was his own condition.
The test didn’t come back, but maybe he’ll have to do another operation.
Should he go back to America? Then, when he can come back to Korea again, can the surgery be successful? Even if he succeeds and returns, he may not be able to live like a normal person, so will Lee Wooyeon be happy with him?
Wouldn’t he find it cumbersome and troublesome?
Anxiety spread like fire on dry leaves. That’s why he wanted to hear Lee Wooyeon’s voice. He didn’t know the current situation, so he didn’t expect friendly and kind consolation, but he wanted at least a joke that was unique to him.
<Do you have anything more to say?>
Lee Wooyeon asked.
“Sorry for making you uncomfortable at such a late hour. Good night.”
Inseop didn’t want to be caught crying so he quickly ended the call. The tears he had been holding back came out.
It was only a few hours ago that Lee Wooyeon warmly hugged and soothed the startled Inseop in the basement of an office building. Inseop’s sadness was multiplied by the sudden, incomprehensible change in his attitude.
“You shouldn’t cry. It’s not a big deal…”
There were many worse things than this before.
There was a time when he followed him for days and days to find out about Lee Wooyeon, and was misunderstood as a stalker and reported. There was a time when he was pushed by fans and fell and cracked his finger. There were times when he collapsed.
Looking at it objectively, now is so much better than back then. He knew that fact in his head, but he couldn’t help the sadness that surged through him. Soon the sleeves of the patient’s gown were drenched with tears.
Just as he was about to get out of bed thinking he should wash his face, the phone rang. It was Lee Wooyeon. Inseop quickly wiped away his tears and answered the phone.
“..Hello.”
<Did you cry?>
“No. I didn’t cry.”
Even though he knew he couldn’t see it, Inseop wiped his eyes again.
<Don’t cry in my absence. If you don’t want to see me turn around.>
“All right.”
It was something he had promised Lee Wooyeon.
<Where are you?>
Inseop was taken aback. It was late. He hadn’t expected to ask where he was, not what he was doing. Inseop froze for a moment before finally opening his mouth.
“… I was about to go to sleep.”
He didn’t want to lie, but he couldn’t even be honest.
He saw Lee Wooyeon’s eyes suddenly change after being drenched in coffee during the day. If Lee Wooyeon found out about this, it was clear that he would hit Youngmo with a hammer, not a brick.
Lee Wooyeon, who heard Inseop’s answer, was silent for a long time.
Could he possibly know something?
It felt like his heart was tightening. Like a death row inmate awaiting sentencing, Inseop sympathized with the heavy silence.
<I will read you a book.>
The unexpected word came back.
“Now? Oh, no. It’s okay.”
<You said you called because you wanted to hear my voice. Lie down and listen.Put your cell phone back on speaker.>
Lee Wooyeon did not listen to Inseop’s refusal and gave instructions. It was an atmosphere where he couldn’t possibly refuse, so Inseop did as Lee Wooyeon told him and put his cell phone on speaker and put it down next to the bed.
<Turn up the volume.>
Inseop quickly turned up his volume to the maximum. He thought he was lucky to be hospitalized in a single room, not a six-bed room.
A movement was heard on the other side of the phone. He was choosing a book. The image of Lee Wooyeon standing in front of the bookshelf naturally came to mind. He heard the sound of papers flipping as if he had picked out a book.
<When the bus goes around the corner of the mountain, I ….>
Before he had even read a single sentence, Inseop could tell which book he had chosen. Record of a journey to Mujin. It was a novel that he had read countless times and memorized the entire intro.
<I listened in my semi-sleep as they spoke in a low voice not typical of country people.>
Lee Wooyeon’s elegant and flexible voice flowed leisurely between the sentences of the novel. It was a strange feeling. The novel that he liked enough to write a whole sentence came to him strangely.
Lee Wooyeon did not offer friendly comfort or sweet words. He just read the book in a calm voice. He chose the book he said he liked the most,
Intermittently, the sound of turning the pages and the sound of breathing stopped. Through the man’s voice, the repeated words of disassembly and combination reached his ears intact. Then, feeling a sudden rush of emotions, Inseop didn’t know what to do and grabbed the sheet.
<Are you listening?>
In the middle of the question, he answered yes. Lee Wooyeon started reading the book again.
He thought it was enough for him not to like him anymore.
Inseop slowly closed his eyes.
Inseop took the cup and drank the water in one gulp. He emptied the entire cup, but his thirst was not quenched. He got up and got water from the water jug placed on the table. After emptying half the glass again, he gasped.
“Ha…”
Inseop glanced at the cafe’s door several times to check. Perhaps because of his nervousness, his fingertips were numb.
“I can’t be stressed out.”
Inseop tried hard to think of something good and repeatedly clasped and opened his hand. He heard the test results today.
‘Is it stress?’
Inseop let out a sigh of relief at the words of the doctor who had been looking at the chart seriously for a long time.
‘I’m so glad.’
He was restless all day, worried about what would happen if he had a heart problem and needed surgery. However, upon hearing Inseop’s answer, the doctor’s expression hardened coldly.
‘Are you having a very wrong idea right now?’
From then on, the bombardment from doctors began. The doctor gave a lengthy speech about the problems that stress brings to heart disease, the peculiarities of Inseop, the current state of the body, and the direction to move forward. Inseop put his hands together and listened to the doctor in silence like a student being scolded.
‘Never stress. all right? I know this is the most difficult task for modern people, but you, the patient, have to be especially careful. You know best how special your situation is. Why don’t you just do nothing for a couple of months?’
‘Still.’
‘Unless you starve to death, take a break from work for a while. If you are a student, do you take time off from school and avoid all possible stressors?’
Seeing how harsh the doctor’s voice was when he said that, Inseop nodded his head countless times. After that, the doctor’s fierce speech continued for about ten minutes.
Inseop drank the water again, feeling his lips dry. Then he reached into his pocket to check what he had brought. He kept putting his hands in and taking them out of his pockets repeatedly, enough to make anyone think he was crazy.
“It will be fine.”
Inseop murmured softly and inhaled and exhaled deeply. Looking at his actions now, it was clear that the doctor would be furious about why he was doing the exact opposite of what he was saying. But no matter how he thought about it, this was the only way. If it doesn’t end here, it will surely continue in the future…
He heard the doorbell clank and ring. A man wearing a hat and sunglasses looked around with irritated eyes, saw Inseop and moved forward.
“Are you crazy? You’re really crazy. Do you dare to tell me to come and go?”
Kang Youngmo sat down and lowered his voice to threaten Inseop. The gaze of the surroundings naturally turned their way. Kang Youngmo was also a celebrity. Even though he was covering his face with a hat and sunglasses, he was definitely a look that drew people’s attention.
“It’ll take less than five minutes.”
Inseop answered calmly. But his fingertips, which were under his table, trembled.
“3 minutes.”
Kang Youngmo answered while looking at the golden Rolex. Inseop nodded his head.
“Order a cup of coffee for me too. Hot Americano”
“Ordering coffee will take time.”
He took off his sunglasses, annoyed.
.
When Inseop got Kang Youngmo’s phone number and called him, Youngmo’s first reaction was surprise. Was he alive? Inseop showed no reaction to the teasing. When Inseop asked him to come out at a designated place and time, Youngmo yelled at him asking why he should. Then Inseop said, “Do whatever you want, you will regret it,” and hung up the phone.
And now here they were.
“You’re tougher than you look. Hahaha. Well, if you’re not strong enough, would you work as a manager for Lee Wooyeon?”
Inseop didn’t care what Kang Youngmo said or not, and he took it out of his pocket.
He took out the object of the purpose on why he came out here today and put it on the table.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a USB.”
A blush spread across Kang Youngmo’s face.
“Hahaha, bastard, you’re smarter than you look. If you were like this before, we wouldn’t bother each other and how nice it would be.”
Kang Youngmo laughed and reached for the USB on the table and snatched it. Then, he looked around and whispered to Inseop in a low voice.
“Did you finish cleaning up? Did you check Lee Wooyeon’s computer and everything? Are you sure? No, I’ll check the contents of this first and contact you later.”
Inseop held out his cell phone without saying a word. Kang Youngmo’s expression hardened as he watched him playing the video on the screen.
“What is this?”
“This is a video on USB.”
“Then why this.! Shit, why did you bring this?”
Kang Youngmo, feeling the attention around him, lowered his voice. The distance between the tables was so wide that one couldn’t hear the conversation, but it was a cafe on the main street in Gangnam. No matter how much Kang Youngmo did, one couldn’t help but pay attention.
On Inseop’s cell phone, there was a video of Kang Youngmo beating Inseop until he collapsed, then rummaging through his pocket and throwing Inseop’s cell phone away. Inseop stopped the video and looked straight at Kang Youngmo.
“If you do not do what I tell you, I will post this video on the Internet.
After being discharged from the hospital, Inseop was about to go home, but he remembered that he had dropped the medicine bottle in the parking lot and went down to the parking lot again. He found the medicine bottle in the corner and picked up the medicine that had fallen on the floor. It was because he thought it would be a big deal if a stray cat ate it.
As Inseop rose after filling all the medicine, Inseop’s eyes caught a flashing red light on the dusty blue windshield of a car. If Inseop’s memory was correct, the car was parked there before. Inseop checked who the owner was and bought a set of Ginseng drinks and went back. After that, it was a breeze.
“You, what are you talking about?”
“For your information, I would have been in danger if I hadn’t been lucky enough to be rushed to the hospital yesterday. When I upload the video, I plan to write all the situations in as much detail as possible.”
Youngmo laughed.
“Who is this bastard, threatening people? If you threaten people, that’s a crime, you know?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Inseop spoke calmly.
“I will be punished for my sins. But actor Kang Youngmo will also have to pay the price.”
Since people were injured by the use of violence, criminal punishment was natural. However, the price Choi Inseop was talking about was not that. And Kang Youngmo knew that fact better than anyone else.
Even if the fight scene is skipped over, people will never skip the scene where he took out the cell phone of a fallen person, threw it and ran away.
“I will get to the point. I told my friend to upload the video after the promised time.”
“You…..”
Kang Youngmo’s chin trembled.
What he wanted was simple. Don’t show up again. Don’t even attach a reporter. Then he won’t have to worry about the data on other USBs. He definitely promised him.
It wasn’t a lie. In the first place, there was nothing in the USB that Kang Youngmo was worried about. This job definitely had to end here.
Inseop checked the time on his cell phone.
“One minute left.”