Chapter 130 - The Skeletons in the Closet

Jun Hyeon entered the hospital room where Dae Won was admitted and found out the orthopedist was saying talking to his patient. He had already requested his discharge, but was still waiting for the bureaucratic part of the process. So he patiently waited the specialist to explain the following procedures and put Dae Won at ease.

He had suffered light scratches on his face and hands, had a sore chest, and nothing more, as all the tests stated. Dae Won, on the other hand, had dislocated his shoulder and would need surgery on two fingers of his left hand, in addition to some other injuries.

Jun Hyeon was grateful that it wasn't worse, but overwhelmed by a feeling of contriteness. His unthinking act hurt, almost killed, Dae Won. He did it again.

When the door closed, he looked at his hyung for a minute, in silence. Dae Won sighed when she saw him, putting the cell phone aside,

"Don't say anything. I don't know why you did that, but don't worry, I'm not going to accuse you or tell the police. Don't worry."

Kim Jun Hyeon was so astonished that the words disappeared. He didn't really expect that. 'Yes, the police. They would certainly want to know. Shouldn't I tell? Is he worried about the repercussions on my professional and social life ' Only a concussion explained his hyung's state of mental confusion.

"Hyung… I don't think this makes any sense at all. I…"

"I must apologize, Jun Hyeon. I was upset, and saying things I shouldn't have. I think I got you mad. You were always a temperamental guy, and I kept talking and talking because I was angry. Let's say I caused a situation that got out of hand," said Dae Won.

The doctor shook his head. He had to admit that things happened as Dae Won was reporting, but he didn't want Dae Won's forgiveness to be that way.

"I'm sorry, hyung. I don't know what…"

"Jun Hyeon," said the musician softly,  "I know you didn't do it thinking about the consequences. You would never do something like this in a planned way, I don't think so. You are not a person who plans to hurt the people you love. Or anyone else. It just happens. You don't want to hurt the people you love, but you end up doing something that hurts them. Sometimes there's no going back, unlike now. That's it. Awareness comes only when you measure your actions."

Jun Hyeon took a deep breath, shaken by the words spoken with the shadow of a smile by the bedridden man. His eyes burned, and he felt a lump in his throat. Those were words as deep and precise as a scalpel.

°°°

Ye Rim still had her hand up to knock on the hospital room door when she heard Jun Hyeon's apology. Holding the breath, the singer was silent, as she didn't want to interrupt an intimate moment. But Dae Won's smooth words also left her with a lump in her throat. But not from sadness.

Announcing her arrival with a brief knock, she came in smiling, carrying the two vases of flowers.

"But is this what happens when I leave my two Oppas a second alone?!" Ye Rim strove to be breathtaking and completely ruin the awkward and sour mood between Kim Ju Hyeon and Lee Dae Won. Looking at one and the other, she knew that they both were weighing what she may have heard.

"Is anyone going to tell me what happened?"

Dae Won was reticent. Ye Rim held her breath for a moment, and before the doctor spoke, she purposely interrupted him,

"Why, forget it. The culprit of all this is me, who am a coward and did not know how to apologize to Dae Won oppa! I am devastated! If I hadn't taken Jun Hyeon oppa's car, none of this would have happened! I will blame myself forever if you guys get upset with each other because of me! I do the worst things, because you just want to help me, but I do everything wrong!" she deeply bowed to both of them, exaggerating a little, it was a fact, but exasperated by noticing Dae Won trampling Jun Hyeon over, even if being polite while doing it. Did he not know how much he hurt Jun Hyeon because of Ji unnie?

"It was not so. I was surprised and confused on the Ball's night, but it's okay. Really. And it's a pleasure to help you, Ye Rim," replied Dae Won.

"Don't beat yourself up, none of this was your fault," added Jun Hyeon.

"Really? Is it all right? Are you guys upset?" 'If I need to treat them like two children whom I will force to make amends, I will do that,' she thought.

They vehemently agreed that everything was fine, and the accident was nobody's fault, just a casualty. Soon after, the singer wanted to know the state of health of both, and pitied that Dae Won had to have surgery the next day.

"Do you need someone to check at your house,  bring you things, or check a pet? Water a plant? If you need anything, count on me, I can do it for you!" Ye Rim volunteered willingly.

Dae Won stared at her for a moment, Ye Rim was a little uneasy under the intense gaze. But then the musician gave his beautiful smile,

"I'm fine, thanks. The cleaner and the gardener go only once a week. I don't have pets. Unless something goes very wrong during general anesthesia. So I will need someone to delete my files before my mom comes back from China. And get the skeletons out of the closets. Yes. Definitely get the skeletons out of the closets."

"Aargh!" Ye Rim shook himself at the macabre idea, but insisted, "Are you sure? Don't you need clothes, toiletries ...?" she looked at the hospital's electronic visit permit card. A red light was flashing on it.

"Don't worry, everything is fine. My house's security system is complicated even for myself. I'd live in an apartment if it weren't a waste to leave that huge house without residents!"

"Well, you can always ask friends to live there," she suggested, thinking she was being funny when she suggested that she would like to live in that mansion. He winked at her and promised,

"One day."

"Ye Rim," Jun Hyeon, who had become quieter, interrupted at this very moment, "that red light means that more visits have arrived for this patient. However, only a limited number can be here with the patient at a time."

"Ahhh ..." the singer lamented, reaching for her bag. "Then I must go." She said goodbye to Dae Won at length, wishing her well. At the door, Ye Rim turned to them both, with a huge smile,

"Ah, I was just forgetting! Jun Hyeon oppa has promised that he will teach me to tap dance in 10 lessons!"

Dae Won smiled, while Jun Hyeon was astonished, and laughed at the singer's outright lie.

"Ten lessons? When did I say that?"

"At the river's side. Don't claim dementia, please," saying this Ye Rim left. She hadn't even reached the elevator when Dr. Kim ran after her, alarmed,

"Ye Rim, wait. I'm going to go down too. My discharge paperwork must be ready. And we can take the stairs, the elevator will take a bit."

As she imagined, her nonsense behavior would break the possibility of the two friends continuing that ridiculous conversation from before. 

"What really did happen, Oppa?" she asked as they went down the stairs. Ye Rim expected to hear his version without being in Dae Won's presence. But Dr. Kim put his hand over the bandage on his forehead, thoughtfully,

"I swear I can't explain it. I was suddenly furious, very upset and ... I have to think calmly what was that, Ye Rim. And maybe look for a professional to help me solve it. I wasn't feeling as myself, I swear. Don't ask me anything now."

She nodded, worried, as they arrived in the hospital lobby. Ye Rim had followed Jun Hyeon's anguish during the trip to Zurich, and had also been intrigued by the accident reasons. Dae Won was so gentle, and Jun Hyeon wasn't even driving!

Both saw, going up the escalator, Na Ra carrying a bouquet.

"Hmm," Ye Rim murmured, "I think someone should be told that her friend has already been discharged."

"Don't be like that, or I'll think you're jealous ... And not exactly a jealous friend," he didn't miss the opportunity to tease her. "Also, the beep was for Dae Won's room."

"No, I get this card for your room, but you weren't there. And I guessed you'd be with Dae Won," she explained.

"Hmm," he sounded thoughtful, and grinned, "So I was priority."

"Ha ha, imagine how many 'no-friends' friends would come if you stayed one more day," 'Oh my God, I shouldn't have said that, me and my goddamn big mouth! Now he'll think I'm jealous. This is ridiculous! I always fall for his teasing ', the singer thought, wanting to hide her red face in shame.

But then they clearly heard a woman calling,

"Jun Hyeon!"

Before Ye Ri turned around, the doctor took her by the arm and walked up a flight of stairs as if his life depended on it. Ye Rim, stunned by Jun Hyeon's momentum, went on with little thought about the reasons for running up the stairs. They stared at each other. The singer opened her mouth to say something, actually to ask, when they heard the sounds of high heels on the floor of the stairs, rising slowly.

Jun Hyeon pulled her behind a corner. Again! Their bodies touched, this time, and his face stayed close to hers as their agitated breaths calmed down.

Calmed down? Not likely.

'Why are we doing this, and why…?' Ye Rim couldn't even think with Dr. Kim's parted lips so close to her, while she was smashed into the wall by his body.