ATGRA 81

The reply didn’t come back until late at night.

For a guy whose shoulder hurt to be training until this hour. No matter how close the Olympics were, it felt bad to see him overworking his body.

[Something to say?]

[(Emoticon of a thinking puppy)]

…Why is this kid using cute emoticons that look just like him, causing a stir? I forced the corners of my slowly rising lips back down. This wasn’t the time to be smiling.

[You said your shoulder hurts]

[Your right shoulder]

As soon as I sent it, the read receipt popped up. The word ‘Typing…’ flickered rapidly above the chat window.

Seeing that he’d read the message but wasn’t replying right away like usual, it seemed what Lee Seolwoo said was true. It was bitter to have heard about Jung Pureum’s injury from someone else and not him.

[Why didn’t you tell me?]

[I can take a look at your shoulder too]

Physical therapy is something that can be done at an oriental medicine clinic. Of course, our clinic doesn’t have a specialist in manual therapy, but… if Jung Pureum wanted it, adding a new treatment area wouldn’t be a difficult task.

If you have private health insurance, you can even get reimbursed for treatment costs, so adding manual therapy to our list of services would just be a part of business expansion. Though the moment we establish it, I’ll probably have to work late every day.

And even if it wasn’t manual therapy, acupuncture was more effective than most physical therapies.

The human body is quite illogical, so applying a strong external shock sometimes causes the damaged internal parts to recover. It’s a method similar to hitting a broken machine to fix it. Applying physical stimulation from the outside with a needle can quickly loosen up tense muscles.

Since Jung Pureum had also experienced my back-alley acupuncture along with Jung Saebom, he should have known that fact well enough. And yet, he hadn’t said a word to me. I felt a little hurt. Does he not trust my oriental medicine skills?

[hyungㅇ;]

[Hyung]

[I was worried]

[you’d worry]

After typing for a long time, this was all the reply I got.

The fact that he didn’t say anything because he was worried I would worry bothered me even more. Just how little certainty did I give him for him to not even be able to carelessly say he was in pain?

I decided it would be impossible to have a serious conversation over messenger, so I decided to talk to him face-to-face. Just then, Jung Pureum said he was on his way home, so I got dressed and went outside the apartment.

The air was quite cold now. They say if the winter is particularly cold, the following summer will be particularly hot, and I was worried about how hot it would be during next year’s Olympics.

Jung Pureum will be competing in an indoor swimming pool, so he should be fine, right? Even though there was still a lot of time left, all sorts of thoughts came to mind. It was because I knew well that it would be difficult to see him once he entered the training camp.

The fortunate thing is that next year’s Olympic host country is Japan, which is relatively close.

Airplane ticket prices skyrocket during the Olympic season, but it wasn’t a place you absolutely couldn’t go if you set your mind to it. We could take a group summer vacation from the clinic and go watch.

“Hyung!”

From a distance, I saw Jung Pureum spot me and run over. Even though the weather was quite chilly, Jung Pureum was wearing just a black short-sleeved shirt with a zip-up hoodie over it.

I watched carefully as Jung Pureum, who had been running towards me, came to a sudden stop right in front of me instead of hugging me as he normally would. Just like last time, he hesitates to hug me today. He was a guy who used to hug me tight even if I said it was gross…

Could it be that he’s sick of me now?

I tried not to think such pathetic thoughts, but as the physical affection decreased compared to before, all sorts of suspicions arose. Can something like a ‘rut’ happen before you even start dating? The dating advice articles I read online didn’t mention anything like that.

However, a ‘rut’? To say that, Jung Pureum’s eyes, as he looked at me with a face flushed from running, sparkled as if stars were embedded in them. Looking at the expression on Jung Pureum’s face as he looked at me, it seemed that the ‘rut’ was just my needless worry.

“Why are you running like that? Anyone would think I was running away or something.”

“I was worried you’d be cold, hyung. Why are you out here, what if you catch a cold.”

“You think I’m that weak? I don’t catch colds in this kind of weather.”

“You did last time…”

“That was because of overwork, not because it was cold.”

Jung Pureum fumbled to reach out and carefully took my hand. Due to being a So-eum type and having poor circulation, my hands were as cold as ice.

“Your hands are cold, too.”

“It’s because your hyung is a So-eum type.”

“…”

“You, on the other hand, are really hot, probably because you ran.”

“It’s because I’m a Tae-yang type.”

I had been planning to question him, asking ‘Why didn’t you tell me about your injury?’, but once I faced Jung Pureum, I found myself smiling at just the trivial conversation.

When I smiled, Jung Pureum subtly glanced at me. I now know what question will follow that expression. The pattern was always the same. I’m a human capable of big data learning, too.

“…Hyung, you know.”

“If you’re going to ask if I would have liked you even if you weren’t a Tae-yang type, then the question is forbidden.”

“…How did you know?”

“Pureum, you’re not the only one who can be a psychic. Everyone lives with a little psychic in a corner of their heart.”

“…”

“Was the reason you’ve been asking strange questions lately because of your sore shoulder? Did you think that I might, I don’t know, stop liking you if you couldn’t win a gold medal?”

“So you do have some sense, hyung…”

Jung Pureum just lowered his head slightly and kneaded my hand. The way he was touching it, like some ASMR YouTuber squishing liquid slime, made him look clearly anxious.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen him this down. He wasn’t this wary of me even when I decided to return to my family home.

“Pureum, look at hyung.”

True to his constitution that ran hot, Jung Pureum’s face was also warm. I took Jung Pureum’s chin, his head bowed, and forced it up.

Lifting his bowed head at my touch, Jung Pureum blinked slowly. What I felt was definitely right. Jung Pureum had been a bit strange lately. He seemed anxious, which was unlike him.

“What happened to your shoulder? I was really surprised when I heard your shoulder was hurting.”

“…It’s not a big problem. I got a detailed examination, and they just said it was stress-related.”

“Let’s go inside first. We can continue talking at my place. It’s cold out here.”

“Hyung.”

Jung Pureum leaned his body closer to me.

I didn’t avoid Jung Pureum as he came in close, and instead reached out my arms and hugged him. I felt Jung Pureum’s forehead touch my shoulder with a thud.

It had been a while since he acted like a child.

I gently stroked Jung Pureum’s back. With the Olympics right around the corner, it was understandable that he would be stressed. It wasn’t just any competition, but a world competition, so there was no way he wouldn’t feel burdened.

Come to think of it, I think I also kept pressuring Jung Pureum about winning a gold medal. It was half my genuine wish, but still, telling him to win all three gold medals might have been a bit much. The pressure to do well can be so hard on a person.

As I was pondering what words of comfort to offer, Jung Pureum kept burrowing into my embrace. We already have a considerable size difference, so even when I tried to brace myself with strength, my body kept swaying and being pushed back.

“Ah, Pureum, wait… hyung is going to fall.”

“Hyung…”

“Ye-es. What’s the problem, my dear Pureum.”

“I’m so happy that you said you like me, hyung, but…”

The deeper Jung Pureum hugged me, the more the refreshing scent of soap tickled the tip of my nose.

His pheromones seem to have gotten stronger than when I last saw him… I was getting anxious that he might get banned from competing again due to pheromone instability.

I couldn’t tell if my heart was pounding because of Jung Pureum, or because of the anxiety he was causing. I barely managed to balance myself and held Jung Pureum, who was leaning on me, like a piece of luggage. Why is he so heavy…

He was as cute as he was heavy, but making such a scene near the apartment made me think a notice saying ‘Please refrain from public displays of affection in public spaces’ would be posted in front of the elevator soon. I guided Jung Pureum and moved to a spot where we wouldn’t be easily seen by others.

Once we were in a corner hidden from the CCTVs, Jung Pureum snuggled even more deeply against me. Oh dear, oh dear… the swimmer is killing the oriental doctor.

“What if you suddenly change your attitude, hyung…”

Jung Pureum continued speaking in a mumble, his head buried in my shoulder. Since he was speaking into my shoulder instead of to my face, his pronunciation was all garbled.

“I’m scared of that.”

However, I could clearly hear the words ‘I’m scared’. Scared that I would suddenly change my attitude. Hearing that, I retraced my past actions. No, what did I do to make him scared?

…but saying that, I felt like I had done too many things. Huh? Does this feel like I did something wrong?

The fact that Jung Pureum, of all people, was this anxious was certainly something to think about. Jung Pureum was a guy without ambition, so he was unconcerned even when his coach slapped him with a competition ban to try and break his spirit.

There were only two beings in the world who could succeed in breaking Jung Pureum’s spirit, something even that coach couldn’t do. One was his older sister, Jung Saebom, and the other was me.

Like a dog owner calming down a frightened large dog, I patted Jung Pureum’s back. Yes, yes. Hyung understands everything, it’s okay… All sorts of words swirled in my head, but I couldn’t easily open my mouth.

“Pureum.”

“…”

“That, what is it, um…”

But what should I do to offer some plausible comfort?

No matter how much I racked my brain, no suitable words for the current situation came to mind. I fumbled to raise my hand and stroked the fluffy hair on the back of Jung Pureum’s head.