Chapter : 5 Don’t Die
Taejun glanced once at the bandage wrapped around his abdomen, then lowered his head and let out a long breath.
“If you want to live here without trouble…”
He stopped speaking.
At that moment, Haeyoung sensed that he was about to say something important.
But in the end, Haeyoung began to sob.
Tears born from fear streamed down her cheeks.
Taejun looked straight at her. Complex emotions flickered in his eyes—feelings that Haeyoung could not understand.
“Listen to me.”
Even after hearing him, Haeyoung still could not understand. What secret was Ki Taejun hiding?
Taejun swallowed the words he couldn’t bring himself to say. His breathing faltered as he struggled in pain.
Even so, he forced himself up and grabbed Haeyoung by the arm, pushing her out of the basement.
“You didn’t see anything today.”
Those were the last words Taejun left behind as he closed the door. They engraved themselves clearly in Haeyoung’s mind. There was an inexplicable darkness in his eyes.
Haeyoung pushed against the door with both hands, but it didn’t open even a crack.
Overcome with fear and frustration, she slowly sank down onto the cold floor.
Even in her fear, she realized something: Taejun wasn’t hiding a simple secret. Whatever he was concealing was something that could cost him his life.
That night, Taejun never returned to his room.
Haeyoung stayed awake all night, consumed with fear and worry. She went to the basement door several times, but she couldn’t bring herself to open it, afraid Taejun would scold her harshly.
Morning came.
As soon as the housemaid arrived for work, Haeyoung asked for the basement key.
“Why do you need the basement key? That place is just where we keep junk.”
Under the maid’s suspicious gaze, Haeyoung clutched the strap of her bag and hurriedly answered.
“My class asked us to bring a tool for a practical lesson. I’ll just grab one.”
The maid tilted her head at Haeyoung’s trembling voice but didn’t ask further questions.
Avoiding people’s eyes, Haeyoung hurried down to the basement and opened the door.
“Oppa…”
Her trembling voice slipped out—and the moment she saw the scene before her, she froze.
Taejun lay collapsed on the floor, his face even paler than yesterday.
“…I knew this would happen.”
Tears quickly filled Haeyoung’s eyes.
“I shouldn’t have just left you here.”
You never listen…
She took out the medicine and wet towel she had packed in her bag just in case and carefully began cleaning his wound.
“If this keeps up, you’ll really die.”
She examined the injury. The wound looked even more torn open than before, and dried blood had hardened around it.
“What should I do…”
He’s not really going to die, right?
No matter how harsh Taejun could be, she should have come back earlier at dawn to check on him.
If she had known he would get this bad, she definitely would have.
“Open your eyes, Oppa.”
But Taejun didn’t move.
Trying desperately to warm his cooling body, Haeyoung did everything she could—rubbing his arms and body, massaging him, anything she could think of.
Time passed.
The sun set, and night deepened.
Her family returned home late because of work, so no one noticed that she had been gone for so long.
Haeyoung couldn’t leave Taejun’s side. She couldn’t shake the fear that if she left him alone, something terrible might happen to him.
What on earth had happened?
Haeyoung desperately rubbed Taejun’s hands, but his cold body seemed to be growing colder and colder.
“Ah… what should I do?”
Taejun had threatened her not to tell anyone, so she couldn’t easily ask someone for help. But leaving him like this didn’t seem right either.
Fear gripped her—if things continued like this, Taejun might really die.
Shaking her head, she wiped away her freely falling tears.
His breathing was becoming faint, and his body felt like ice.
“There’s nothing I can do…”
“If this happens, it’ll look like I’m the one who killed you…”
Haeyoung tightly held his hand.
There was no warmth in it at all, so she clasped it between both of hers and rubbed it, trying to restore some heat.
“This can’t happen. Please… don’t die.”
Taejun was still breathing, but it was weak and irregular. As she looked at his face, despair and hope clashed within her.
“Should I go get a doctor right now? Maybe I should ask the adults for help…”
She murmured as she placed a hand on his forehead. The coldness she felt only made her more afraid.
“You didn’t see anything today.”
Haeyoung remembered the weight of the words he had told her.
But the more she thought about them, the more confused she became.
Throughout the night, she lost count of how many pieces of clothing and blankets she brought down.
Although spring had begun, the weather was still chilly, and the basement was especially cold.
So the choice Haeyoung made to raise Taejun’s dropping body temperature was simple: keep him as warm as possible.
Because of the heavy pile of clothes covering him, his icy body seemed to regain a faint hint of warmth.
Haeyoung slipped her hands under the pile and hugged Taejun tightly.
*
Taejun woke up writhing in pain, as if his flesh were being carved apart.
The moment he woke, he frowned at the weight pressing down on his body.
Turning his head, he saw Ahn Haeyoung sleeping beside him, tightly holding his hand and clinging to him.
“…Ha.”
How did she even get in here?
He lifted the clothes piled over him and pushed them toward her, but she curled up and pressed herself even closer.
Her full chest brushed against his arm.
Taejun closed his eyes briefly, then tried to pull his arm away.
Suddenly, Haeyoung’s pleading voice from earlier echoed in his mind.
“This can’t happen. Please don’t die.”
“If you die like this, it’ll feel like I killed you…”
Taejun let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
“This is ridiculous.”
But there was something subtle mixed in that laughter.
Her worry and fear brushed faintly against something deep within his chest.
He tried once again to pull his arm away, but her grip was surprisingly firm.
Taejun looked down at her for a moment.
Curled up and trembling, she looked like the most fragile creature in the world.
Dried tear marks were scattered around her eyes.
Cold air drifted into the basement, making the atmosphere damp.
The smell of dust and old moisture filled the room, unpleasant and cold.
Yet even in that environment, Haeyoung stayed by Taejun’s side.
“…Ha.”
He let out a long sigh.
Her warm hands, the pile of blankets, and the body heat touching him were slowly thawing his frozen body.
Old mold stains were faintly visible on the basement wall under the dim light.
In one corner were piles of old tools and junk.
The only lighting was a single flickering incandescent bulb, casting unstable shadows across Haeyoung and Taejun’s faces.
“Did you really have to go this far?”
Taejun muttered as he studied her face.
He moved his arm slightly and brushed her hair away from her forehead.
“Ahn Haeyoung.”
His low voice broke the silence of the room.
Haeyoung flinched slightly and woke up.
Her eyes widened as she looked at him.
They were far too close.
The distance between them had narrowed so much that her breath tickled Taejun’s ear.
The shadows cast by the light bulb blurred the space between them even more.
When their gazes met, the silence of the basement grew heavier.
“Y-you’re awake?”
Haeyoung asked in a trembling voice.
In her ocean-like clear eyes, guilt and relief mixed together.
“What are you doing here?”
Taejun replied shortly.
His voice was still dry, but as he read her expression, it wavered slightly.
