Chapter 12: Evolution 2
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He had plaster casts around both of his legs and was lying on a bed, concentrating on a cup next to him. There was no change to the cup.
"Maybe I can only use it on people?"
He was surely able to save Eunseo with his force field. What was going on? He thought perhaps he would be able to create a field around himself, and it worked, but he was unable to transfer the field to other objects, and he couldn't try using it on other people.
He sighed and leaned on his bed. The bed was tilted up, and it made him feel cozy. This was a VIP room, and it was large and comfortable. After being rescued, he got to the hospital by helicopter. The doctors could have thought his condition was strange, so he relaxed his muscles and made himself bleed profusely. The doctors had been worried about the heavy bleeding. Nevertheless, the surgery was successful.
"The real problem is with the Department Chief."
Eunseo's femur was broken, and there had been internal bleeding, but the surgery also went well. The problem came from her hitting her hip on the branch when she fell. At that moment, her lower body was paralyzed.
"Phew."
If he had transferred the force field sooner, she might not have hurt her hip. It was his fault.
Junhyuk sighed and tried again to make a force field, but it did not work.
"I should experiment with this later."
Junhyuk closed his eyes and concentrated on tuning his muscles. As he controlled his muscles, he could feel his legs' muscles and found that he could tell how seriously he had been hurt.
He had put pressure on his muscles when he broke his legs, and the break had been clean. He still had to wear the casts for three weeks before his legs would be healed.
He realized that he had to spend more time at that place.
"I have to leave in two weeks. This makes it difficult."
As he leaned on the bed, he heard someone knock on the door.
"It's open."
He looked at the people coming in, and his eyes widened
.
"Father! Mom!"
Junhyuk's father, Sukhoon Lee, and mother, Haejung Kim, came in. Haejung checked his wounds as soon as she went in the room.
"My Junhyuk, are you OK?"
"I am fine."
"What in the world?! How did you get hurt?"
He scratched his head.
"I rolled down a mountain."
Haejung was being fussy.
"I heard it's a singular fracture. After 3 weeks, you will be able to get rid of the casts, so don't worry too much," Sukhoon said.
"I'm not worried."
Sukhoon and Haejung were worried. Sukhoon looked around and commented:
"This room must be very expensive."
"It happened during the company training. They will cover all hospital costs."
"I see."
Haejung asked him carefully:
"It happened so soon after you got hired. Won't you get fired?"
"That won't happen."
He had been hurt because he was trying save Eunseo. Of course, from Eunseo's position, he didn't do anything to help her, but even so, he was there with her 'til they both got rescued. Because of that, he wouldn't get fired.
"That's good to hear."
Smiling, Haejung Kim made more of a fuss and chit-chatted with her son. He got busy answering her questions. She talked about telling everyone in her neighborhood that her son had been hired by ST Capsule.
"By the way, do you want to go on a blind date?"
"Mom!"
Junhyuk became upset and protested. She smiled and said:
"You remember her. She was in our neighborhood, Mr. Park's daughter. She just became an elementary school teacher."
"I don't care. I just got a job. What do mean go on a blind date?!"
"You don't even have a girlfriend. You've been alone for so long."
"Mom!" He said in a panic. Meanwhile, Sukhoon walked over to Haejung and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Dear, stop it."
Haejung smacked her lips and took a step back. Sukhoon spoke to Junhyuk:
"Do you have a nurse?"
"Yes, she went out for a minute."
He broke both of his legs and was unable to move on his own. So, ST Capsule hired him a nurse. Sukhoon nodded and looked at Haejung.
"Since you have a caregiver, we will just visit you from time to time."
"How can you trust your son to a caregiver like that? I will come here on weekends."
"Then, am I going to be alone on weekends?"
"Go fishing with your friends! I will be here."
Junhyuk sighed deeply and looked at his mother.
"Then, come over just on Saturdays and Sundays."
If she came over on Fridays, it could be a problem. Spending time in a hospital was already a problem. If his mother spent time with him, she would find out about his experience with abnormal narcolepsy. He wanted to avoid that situation.
Sukhoon had nothing more to say and looked at his son.
"I will be going. Take care of yourself."
"Yes, don't worry."
"Thanks to you, I will be fishing most of the time."
Junhyuk knew how much his father liked fishing and just smiled.
Haejung got up and rubbed her son's face with hands.
"Think about the blind date."
"Mom!"
She looked at her panicking son. She acted offended by the reaction and left. Junhyuk looked at door close and sighed again.
"What blind date…?"
Junhyuk closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling his muscles. Even if he was hurt, if he didn't exercise, his muscles would become flaccid. To prevent such a catastrophe, he exercised relentlessly.
He couldn't transfer his force field at will, so he had to concentrate on being healthy again.
---
He had problems with his legs, but his other body parts were fine. The next day, he got a wheelchair and went outside. He wanted to go check on Eunseo and find out what had happened to her. He went down a couple of rooms.
In front of her room, there were two men standing guard, wearing suits. They stopped him.
"There's no visitation at this time."
Junhyuk wanted to return to his own room. If no visitation was allowed, he shouldn't try to see her now. That's when a man came out of her room and called for Junhyuk:
"Mr. Junhyuk Lee?"
"Yes."
Junhyuk stopped and looked at him. He came over and spoke with a smile.
"Are you here to visit the Department Chief?"
"I wanted to, but there's no visitation right now."
He naturally talked down to Junhyuk, but he was also too casual. He came over and took a hold of the wheelchair and said:
"Let's go in. Eunseo wanted to see you desperately."
Junhyuk did not have a chance to reply. The man pushed the wheelchair toward the room. Inside, he noticed her room was much bigger than his own and saw Eunseo lying on a bed. She had a cast on her thigh. She panicked when she saw them and put on her glasses. She had a look of superiority and talked to Junhyuk:
"How are you?"
Junhyuk replied calmly:
"They called it a miracle. I only broke both of my legs."
"That's good."
"By the way, how are you?"
She frowned and didn't answer. The man spoke instead:
"She is paralyzed below her waist, but, with some luck, she will get better," Junhyuk was really surprised, and the man continued talking. "We have invested in a project. It will make a giant stride in modern medicine, and the project has its first patient, now."
"That's nice," Junhyuk replied innocently, and the man began to laugh.
"Ha-ha-ha! Young man, I really like you."
The man grabbed the wheelchair and asked:
"Do you have anything more to say?"
"No, I see that she is doing well. That's all."
"Then, I will take you back."
He couldn't use his legs, but that was it. Junhyuk was close to reaching the limit of the human body. Could he not move his own wheelchair? But the man pushed the wheelchair anyway.
"Department Chief, take care of yourself."
They went out. She was by herself again, and she sighed and took off her glasses. With her eyes closed, she thought about the moment she fell from the cliff. She thought about Junhyuk, who had jumped after her.
His beaming, frantic eyes showed how much he had wanted to save her.
He had saved the people on the bus, so he might just be trying to save people from danger by risking his own life, but his beaming eyes made her think twice.
"Phew."
Whenever she thought about his eyes, her heart pounded.
---
The man who was pushing Junhyuk did not take him to his room, but headed toward the terrace instead. They arrived on the terrace, and he placed a cigarette between his lips.
Junhyuk stared blankly at him.
"Isn't this a "no smoking" area?"
"I know. It's just a habit. I'm trying to quit."
The man held the cigarette with his lips and looked at Junhyuk.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"I don't even know your name."
He tapped on his business card with his index finger and gave it to Junhyuk. Junhyuk looked at it, and the man introduced himself:
"I am the director of ST Capsule. My name is Sukhoon Kim."
"You have the same name as my father."
"Is that so? Your father must be quite a handsome man."
Junhyuk laughed.
"He is. If he wasn't, he would not have been able to marry my mother."
"Ha-ha-ha! Your mother must also be quite beautiful."
"She is."
Sukhoon looked interested in the conversation. He held the cigarette between his index and middle finger, pretended he was smoking, and looked at Junhyuk.
"Can I ask you a question now?"
"Sure."
Sukhoon looked at him calmly and asked:
"Why did you do it?"
"What?"
Sukhoon placed the cigarette on his lips.
"Why did you jump? That's what I'm asking."
Junhyuk thought it over for a minute. In truth, he thought he could have saved her. Of course, he jumped without thinking. He saw her fall and jumped on impulse.
"I wanted to save her."
Sukhoon calmly looked at Junhyuk and smiled.
"Thank you."
Sukhoon put the cigarette back into the cigarette pack and said:
"Take care of yourself. When you are well, I will see you at the company."
Sukhoon waived and went back in the hospital. Junhyuk watched him leave and sighed. In any event, the company wouldn't be firing him this time.
"If she recovers, that will be great."
If his power was a little more evolved, he could have saved her. He regretted not saving her on time, but she had a good chance at a full recovery. He felt better because of that.
Junhyuk stayed on the terrace and looked up.
"She looks better without glasses."
He thought about her putting on her glasses while flustered. In any case, she looked cute.