Vol 5 Chapter 63

As Kapros slowly closed his eyes and started to catch his breath, Min-hoo shouted resolutely.

"You can't even answer? Alright. I'm coming over! Wait!"

"Ah... no, that's not it."

[ The other party has ended the call. Total call duration 2:51. Beep-beep-beep- ]

"..."

In the brief moment Kapros couldn't speak, Min-hoo had hastily hung up, having jumped to some conclusion. Kapros was momentarily bewildered, but soon felt a warmth in a corner of his heart and managed an awkward smile. Yes. Kran, Jung Min-hoo was indeed someone he had made friends with.

It was about two hours later when he heard the intercom. It was already deep into the night, and Kapros had doubted whether Jung Min-hoo would really come, but Min-hoo entered the house in a state that made Kapros feel sorry for having such thoughts, clearly having rushed over in a hurry.

"Huff, huff. Sorry I'm late. It was hard to find the building at night. But why are all the lights in the house off?"

Kapros couldn't help but chuckle at Min-hoo's humorous expression as he scratched his light golden-brown dyed hair while asking.

"I'll turn them on. Come in."

When Kapros finally turned on all the lights in the house, he felt a strange sensation that he had indeed returned home after three days.

"Would you like some water?"

"Huh?"

Kapros offered water to Min-hoo, who was still unable to calm his breathing, showing how hurriedly he had come. However, when Min-hoo stopped looking around the house and made eye contact with Kapros, he pointed and screamed before answering.

"What's with all those bandages!"

Only then did Kapros remember that he hadn't even informed others that he had been hospitalized. As he awkwardly rubbed the bandage wrapped around his forehead, Min-hoo, looking at him with trembling eyes, grabbed his right hand.

"And what's this... Did you break your finger? And what's this on your neck...!"

Min-hoo, who had been touching the cast on Kapros's finger while stuttering continuously, discovered the gauze on his neck and widened his eyes as if sparks might fly from them. At the same time, the grip on Kapros's hand tightened, causing him to involuntarily let out a groan.

"Mmm..."

"Sorry. Does it still hurt? What on earth happened?"

Min-hoo flinched and let go of Kapros's hand upon seeing his pained expression and hearing the escaped groan. However, his tightly set eyes strongly expressed the will to hear about this matter first.

"It's nothing. Something came up, and I went out, had a bit of an accident, and just went to the hospital for a check-up, that's all."

"Accident?"

Min-hoo scanned the traces that were clearly from a fight with disbelieving eyes. Thinking there was nothing he could do if Min-hoo looked at him like that, Kapros stared back without changing his expression, which elicited a long sigh from Min-hoo as if he was dying to know.

"Don't lie. ...Who was it? Who did you fight with to the extent of having to go to the hospital?"

The foolish kindness gradually disappeared from Min-hoo's expression as he nervously ran his hand through his hair, replaced by sharpness. Kapros had seen this expression before when they were together in MIST. Min-hoo had worn this expression when he deliberately acted cold to avoid a crisis as people were about to discover Kapros's identity, and when he charged at Caesar with determination despite the difference in skill.

From his downcast, authoritative eyes to his tightly closed mouth that made his thoughts unreadable... The cold face, devoid of his usual gentleness as if it had never existed, seemed unfamiliar and made Kapros feel awkward.

"It was just an accident."

Kapros turned his head away, not wanting to repeat himself, but Min-hoo's gaze persistently followed.

"It wasn't an accident. Who gets injuries like that from an accident?"

"I didn't call you to talk about this."

"Mu-heon."

First it was Jin Je-hwan, and now this guy was asking the same thing. When Min-hoo first arrived, Kapros had felt like everything would be resolved quickly, but suddenly all the anger from before combined and welled up in his throat.

"If I tell you it's none of your business and to stop caring, will you leave saying you're hurt too? Is that it?"

"..."

After raising his voice momentarily, Kapros immediately felt extreme regret and clenched his teeth tightly.

'...I made a mistake.'

He had failed to control himself due to the overlap with the situation with Jin Je-hwan. It seemed he would have to designate today as the worst day. Shouting at the guy who had come all this way to see him. It really was the worst. As it had been since earlier, it continued to be difficult to control his emotions as usual.

'I can't control myself...'

"Um..."

With regret, Kapros rubbed his face with his hands and turned towards Min-hoo to apologize.

He was about to say that he had many unpleasant things happen today and was on edge, that he was sorry, but the moment he saw Jung Min-hoo's expression standing where he had turned, those words got caught in his throat and disappeared before they could come out.

"...Who did this to you?"

Kapros felt for the first time that this was Jung Min-hoo's truly angry face. Although he didn't express his anger explosively like some people, the sharp energy emanating from his utterly expressionless face and calm tone made even Kapros unable to open his mouth for a moment.

"Who said such things to you and left? What happened today?"

Min-hoo, who had approached with steady steps while speaking, grabbed Kapros's shoulder without hesitation and led him to sit on the sofa. Kapros was taken aback but soon calmed himself and turned his head away.

"...No. I'm sorry. I misspoke."

"Okay, fine. Then I won't ask 'who' said those things and left. But that talk is related to why you called me today, right?"

Kapros once again forgot what to say in response.

"I don't know who it is, but anyway, according to what you claim, you got hurt because of an 'accident.' Then a second guy came and asked questions similar to mine? You didn't want to answer, so you told him it was none of his business and to stop caring? Hmm, and then that guy said he was hurt? Is this correct?"

"..."

Kapros almost felt a chill run down his spine. Min-hoo's voice, which described the situation as if he had been right there watching it while lightly holding Kapros's broken arm, was calm enough to seem peaceful at first glance.

Although Kapros didn't answer for a while, that silence became as good as an unavoidable answer.

Min-hoo scrutinized Kapros's expression carefully. It was like the gaze of a police officer checking if he had missed any evidence. When Kapros finally couldn't bear the churning feeling and squeezed his eyes shut, a long sigh broke the silence after a while.

"Mu-heon, look at me."

Unable to suppress the strange sense of defeat and embarrassment at having everything discovered before he could even speak, Kapros kept his head down and only answered.

"What."

"You know, I didn't come here to see you shrunk like this. I didn't come to add to your difficulties either. But thinking about what you said, I'm getting a bit angry. I wonder why."

The last question wasn't directed at Kapros but seemed like a mutter simply stating a fact. Only upon hearing those words did Kapros raise his head and meet Min-hoo's eyes, seeing his thoughtful face. The deep shadows on his smoothly handsome face, which Kapros had once found irritating as a fellow man, gave a strange impression instead of the usual kind one. After being lost in his own thoughts without saying anything for a while, Min-hoo finally looked at Kapros and opened his mouth.

"I think I understand why you've become so sharp. But I also think I understand the feelings of the person who said those things to you."

"...You understand?"

"You know, when I look at you, I sometimes think that you're wrapping yourself in layers of secrets you won't tell me. I held back because I thought it was polite to pretend not to know until you spoke first... Probably everyone who likes you would have acted the same way. Like me, they wouldn't want to burden you."

It was such an unexpected statement that it was bewildering. Had he been thinking like that?

"Your injury is related to those things you don't want to talk about, right? Ah. Don't make such an obvious expression, it's just my guess. Anyway, Kap, no. Mu-heon. Was your anger towards me earlier because of the guy who left after saying those things to you?"

Min-hoo seemed determined to wait for Kapros's answer to this question. Kapros pondered for a long time on how to respond, but in the end, there was no choice but to nod in affirmation. Min-hoo continued naturally, as if he had been waiting for this, knowing it would be so.

"Yes. Then now I'll tell you my guess about why that guy said those things to you and left. It probably won't be far off. Mu-heon, have you ever liked someone?"

"...What?"

The question escaped Kapros's lips before he knew it. Min-hoo looked at Kapros's expression, unable to hide his bewilderment, and smiled with a strangely dark face.

[To be continued in the next volume.]