“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay.”

It seemed like she was wiping him down to lower his fever, but the parts where Jo Seo Ha’s hand touched felt even hotter. Kyung Jun snatched away the wet towel and looked up at Jo Seo Ha with hazy eyes.

She was a woman with nothing particularly pretty about her, completely different from Yoon Seo Ha who had been beautiful like a mannequin from head to toe. And now she was looking at him with a slightly annoyed expression, just like Yoon Seo Ha.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

His voice came out cracked between fever-flushed lips.

“I’m just a bit tired. I’m not some trash who gets sick and bedridden from doing a little work. I’m a very healthy and useful person.”

“Alright, just give me the towel.”

Jo Seo Ha snatched the towel from Kyung Jun’s hand. The towel wiping his body was cool, but the fingers brushing his bare skin were hot.

His whole body felt like it was burning. Even the movement of air on his skin stung. Even the slightest movement was painful, as if the fiber bundles making up his muscles were snapping.

“I told you I’m not sick.”

“I heard you.”

“A sick person is no better than a bug. Anyone who shows they’re sick is a parasite that should be thrown out immediately. A useless human trash.”

Seo Ha paused her wiping hand at Kyung Jun’s words that flowed out like delirious ramblings.

The words he was muttering were not directed at Seo Ha. Nor were they meant for anyone else.

All of Kyung Jun’s words were directed at himself.

“Health management is also a skill. Those without ability are better off dead. Don’t waste oxygen unnecessarily, such bastards should die as soon as possible…”

The vicious mutterings continued uninterrupted.

But something felt off. It felt like a third person was speaking through Kyung Jun’s mouth…

“…I see.”

These were words he had heard from someone. He was unconsciously reciting words he had heard from someone.

At the company, he was always cold and proper. Kyung Jun only showed his relaxed side when alone with Seo Ha.

Others couldn’t even imagine Ryu Kyung Jun loosening his tie and rolling up his sleeves to eat jajangmyeon, or sitting carelessly on a bench drinking canned beer.

Which is his real self? If the disheveled you in the rooftop room is the real you, how did you come to create the image you show at work?

Like Yoon Seo Ha who seemed perfect on the outside, have you also lived as the perfect Ryu Kyung Jun since childhood?

“Mr. Ryu. Kyung Jun.”

Seo Ha touched Kyung Jun’s forehead with her hand, cooled by the water. The cold sweat she had wiped away earlier had beaded up again at the edges of his forehead, rolling down like tears.

“Wait a moment. I’ll get some medicine.”

Seo Ha went to the kitchen and brought back aspirin and lukewarm water. In that short time of less than five minutes, Kyung Jun had gotten up looking fine again, even putting on the T-shirt Seo Ha had left out.

“Take this and rest some more. I’ll turn up the boiler.”

There was no response. Kyung Jun poured the medicine into his mouth and gulped down the whole cup of water, then exhaled a dry breath.

“I’m just tired.”

“No. You’re sick right now.”

Kyung Jun’s eyes wavered at the firm correction.

“I told you I’m not.”

“You have a high fever. Your head seems foggy and you seem to have muscle aches. It’s no wonder you caught a cold after lying in the cold every day trying to see the sky when you haven’t been sleeping properly.”

Seo Ha took the empty cup and set it aside, then pushed on Kyung Jun’s shoulder. Though she didn’t use much force, Kyung Jun was pushed back down onto the bed.

“But that doesn’t make you useless. Everyone gets sick. That’s why we have hospitals and doctors, and even doctors get sick. It’s okay to be sick.”

It’s true, he was sick. He barely had the strength to keep his eyes open. As Kyung Jun slowly lowered his eyelashes, Jo Seo Ha’s voice lingered in his ears like a dream.

“There’s nothing useless in this world. Even dog poop can bloom into a dandelion when it meets a seed. And what if something is a bit useless? Are people objects? To be thrown away if they can’t be used?”

Kyung Jun was born and raised for his usefulness. To his mother, he was a retirement plan to cash in on. To his father, he was seed money to profit from by marrying him off to the daughter of some chaebol family or celebrity.

With that background, did he want to hear that it was okay to be sick?

Or did he want to hear that he wasn’t useless?

Or maybe that it was okay to be useless?

It seemed to be all three.

His closed eyes wouldn’t open. The touch gently brushing his hair after carefully feeling his forehead was vivid.

As the thought that it was okay to be sick sank in,

Being sick started to feel like a fairly okay thing.

A drowsiness between dream and reality pulled Kyung Jun into the swamp of sleep. He fell into a deep slumber, even forgetting to be tense about when his phone might ring.

When he opened his eyes, it was dawn. A deep navy darkness, close to dark blue, hazily filled the small room.

Where was this again?

A cheap plastic drawer. A bed too small for Kyung Jun to lie on. And Jo Seo Ha lying on her side on the floor, using a doll as a pillow.

“…I ended up sleeping here after all.”

Whether it was thanks to sleeping deeply without worries for once, or thanks to Seo Ha’s nursing, fortunately his fever had gone down.

Kyung Jun put the pillow he had been using under Seo Ha’s head and covered her with the blanket. Now the bed was narrow and without a blanket.

But somehow it felt comfortable. Feeling a strange satisfaction, Kyung Jun lay back down and soon fell into a deep sleep.

And, a few hours later.

“Mmm…”

Seo Ha frowned at the sunlight streaming through the window and buried her face in the pillow.

Wait. Sunlight?

Seo Ha’s spine tingled as she jumped up. Incredibly, the patient Kyung Jun was on the bed without a blanket, while she had been sleeping on the floor snugly covered with the blanket he had been using.

“I’m late!”

The junior designer who should be there before anyone else to prepare for the design review was oversleeping. Panicked by this impossible and unacceptable situation, Seo Ha dashed into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and washed her face at lightning speed.

The commotion woke Kyung Jun from his deep sleep. He stared blankly for a moment before springing up.

“Damn, the design review today!”

“Mr. Ryu, you can rest!”

Seo Ha shouted while frantically patting on her skincare.

“What do you mean I can rest! Where are my clothes!”

It’s fine even if he couldn’t change clothes. Kyung Jun stripped off the boxy T-shirt in one go and quickly buttoned up his own shirt.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“What are you going to do if I’m not okay?”

“Even if you’re not okay, hurry and go out. I need to change.”

“Right. Clothes.”

Kyung Jun picked up the shopping bag rolling on the floor and tossed it to Seo Ha.

“Wear this and come out.”

“What’s this?”

“Employee welfare.”

“Did you buy it with the corporate card?”

“Of course not.”

“If you bought it with your personal card, it’s not employee welfare but a gift. Anyway, I’ll wear it well. Thank you!”

Seo Ha shook the shopping bag while pushing Kyung Jun out.

Inside was a chic suit set with matching shoes. While it would have fit the previous Yoon Seo Ha perfectly, on Jo Seo Ha’s body it looked awkward like a middle schooler wearing her mother’s clothes.

But there was no time to fix the style. Seo Ha tightly pulled her unruly curly hair into a single ponytail and put a gaudy bright red lipstick in her pocket.

“Ms. Jo Seo Ha, the caregiver auntie is here!”

“I’m coming out now!”

Fortunately the caregiver had arrived on time. Seo Ha barely greeted the caregiver without even seeing Hae Sun’s face and dashed out like a bullet. Kyung Jun’s jacket and tie fluttered in his hand as he followed behind.

“If you’re better now, please give me a ride, Mr. Ryu!”

“I was planning to, but now that you ask like that, I don’t want to.”

“Your personality is really weird!”

The two people bickering as they tumbled down the stairs stopped in their tracks as if on cue. Jae Wook, who should have gone out for his early morning business, was standing in the middle of the yard holding dumbbells.

“Why is Mr. Ryu coming down from the rooftop at this hour?”

The usual displeasure was absent from Jae Wook’s face. That expressionlessness was even more awkward.

“I’m sorry, landlord. We don’t have time to talk now. We’re heading to work!”

Seo Ha quickly grabbed Kyung Jun’s arm and pulled him out the gate. It was an unfortunate misunderstanding for Jae Wook who was said to have a crush on Jo Seo Ha, but not being late was more important right now.

“Oppa, I need to go to the shop and then the event venue. You’ll give me a ride, right?”

Ji Soo shook the sleeping Lee Seung Oh awake. Only after shaking him awake several more times did he finally open his eyes with a slight frown.

“It’s difficult today. Just drive yourself.”

“I’m not, not good at driving. Or call someone to drive me.”

“You should have told me yesterday. How can I clear my schedule right now?”

Lee Seung Oh sighed deeply and gestured from inside the bed. Ji Soo approached as he called and snuggled under the blanket.

“Our princess, I know you’ve worked hard all this time. You couldn’t go to the company and prepared at your private studio.”

“That’s right. I, I had such a hard time.”

Ji Soo rubbed her forehead against his broad chest, acting coy. The hand stroking her hair was as affectionate as ever, putting her mind at ease. If she had seen the expression Lee Seung Oh was making, she absolutely wouldn’t have been able to do so.

“I and the company have circumstances too. You understand, right? My honey isn’t a narrow-minded woman who only cares about her own work like Yoon Seo Ha. That’s why I love you.”

That whisper simultaneously touched on Ji Soo’s deep-seated inferiority complex towards Yoon Seo Ha and her anxiety about possibly being abandoned. Ji Soo, who had been still, soon slipped out of bed and left a deep kiss on Lee Seung Oh.

“I was just acting spoiled because I was anxious. I have to go to the shop so I’ll leave first, see you at the event venue.”

It’s an important event where all the executives will be present anyway. Ji Soo believed without a doubt that she would be the star of this event, as she always had been.

Once almost all the designs she submitted this time are selected, Jo Seo Ha will be fired and her suspension will be lifted. That’s necessary to work on the selected designs and launch them on schedule.

With an excited heart, Ji Soo changed clothes, finished her makeup at the shop, and went to the event venue. Even finding a good spot in the underground parking lot was perfect.

On this perfect day, a luxury sedan pulled into the empty space across from her.

While Ji Soo turned off the engine and touched up her makeup, a man got out of the driver’s seat. Ji Soo’s expression wrinkled as she recognized the man in the rearview mirror.

“What the hell. Why is Ryu Kyung Jun here already?”

Kyung Jun went to the passenger side and tapped on the window, exchanged a few words with the person inside, then opened the car door. The moment she saw the woman getting out, Ji Soo’s expression contorted even more freely than before.

“Why the hell is that crazy bitch getting out of there?”