Healer

― I have to see it in person to know exactly, but it could be. However, due to its small size, the explosive power will be low. Where is the chip implanted? If it is on the wrist or calf, it will only be damaged locally, and it will not be life-threatening.

His eyes twisted and everything turned gray. Cha Yiseok bit his molars and closed his eyes.

“The chip is in the head.”

— Gosh.

The other party spoke quickly.

— Ah! If you go into the MRI machine for an examination, you will be in big trouble! It explodes when an electric shock occurs between the MRI current and the metal inside the chip. In addition to the MRI, if electricity passes through, it can explode, and there is a high risk of tumours forming due to the material coming out of the chip. In short, he is a walking time bomb.

It was as if he was biting his heart out alive by the teeth of an animal. When the landscape returned to its own colour, he instinctively looked for Yaba with his eyes. As their eyes met, Yaba grabbed the bedcover so that his hand shook. Yaba’s eyes were full of fear when he saw Cha Yiseok’s expression.

“I see.”

Cha Yiseok hung up his phone. All thoughts were crushed, and only one thought swirled; the safest way to get rid of it without rats and birds knowing. The operation time required was at least two hours. However, 0.1 seconds of pressing the remote control was sufficient.

Everywhere he looked, it was a cliff. No, there must be a way out. He had to think. A proper idea.

Yaba sat, jittery. The anxious guy’s eyes were like the sunset that soaked the water surface. A certain emotion squeezed his heart and twisted it. Cha Yiseok hung up the phone and walked over. He had a cold and dry expression like a still life. The long silence was painful. Yaba wanted to break this ominous silence.

“What did he say?”

Cha Yiseok did not open his mouth. It seemed like it would never open.

“… What did he say?”

Even after asking again, it was silence that came back. Instead of answering, he reached out and touched the back of Yaba’s head. The hand that neither wrapped nor picked up was so careful and thoughtful that he felt like he was about to cry. Then he opened his mouth.

“You have a chip in your head. A place that is so deadly that even doctors are reluctant.”

His heart plummeted. It was like the ground was crumbling beneath his feet and he was falling into the abyss. He had hoped that the chip might be a delusion, but it turned out that it wasn’t. He hadn’t even tried to get rid of it in the first place, so it didn’t change anything. Even if the truth is too much to be revealed one by one, it’s okay since he has antidepressants. Maybe, probably.

“Are you going to have surgery?”

He asked.

“…Will you?”

Yaba, who looked at his toes, raised his head and overlapped his gaze. Even that simple act was difficult now.

“What if the doctor makes a mistake during surgery? And what if I can’t wake up forever?”

“I’ll attach you to the best medical staff.”

“Giha will notice before I even lie on the operating table. Then he’ll press the remote.”

“The chip might cause hematomas or tumours. On the road, there is a risk of explosion even with the electronics at your bedside.”

The unfiltered words made Yaba imagine every single word. His whole body was shaking so much that he couldn’t control it.

“I just have to be careful…”

Cha Yiseok covered Yaba’s cheek with both hands and averted his gaze. Those eyes dimmed into consciousness.

“You have to live as a slave to that bastard for the rest of your life.”

Fragments of fear were lodged in his skin at the naked words. Yaba closed his eyes and then opened them. Should he have surgery? Was it time to face reality as he said? So would he find freedom? What if something went wrong during surgery? What if he couldn’t find the stolen balls forever? It was an adventure that was too reckless for the price of freedom.

“I’ll just… let it be. There are still plenty of penalty points, so I just have to follow the rules carefully. I can just clean up everything in the room and not go out… !”

Cha Yiseok grabbed Yaba’s shoulder and tried to say something. He also tried to convince him without a confident expression on his face. What if he never sees him again, never feel this touch, never see his eyes? A clear fear scrambled down his back. Yaba shuddered frantically.

“No! I will live like this! I kept telling you. I kept telling you that… ! But you didn’t believe it! Why are you here now?! It’s been fine so far, so it will be in the future. I will not! I’m not going to have surgery!”

Cha Yiseok’s eyes contorted like a strangled man.

Yaba had a foreboding that Kang Giha would prevent him from seeing him in the future. He would send him to Cha Myunghwan’s house, so they could meet at that time. Would he try to take him to another place? No. He chose the most reasonable way. He bit his lips and endured the thing that filled up around his eyes.

Cha Yiseok could be seen through his blurred vision. He had always been calm in any situation, but he looked like a defeated soldier who had been caught aback by the enemy. He wished he hadn’t made a face like that. He wished he could take it all, leap to greater heights, and erase the look of poverty from the king’s eyes.

It was only then that Yaba remembered the object in his groin. He put his hand in his underwear and pulled out the DVD. Wrapped in a handkerchief, he held it in front of his nose.

“Take it. I deleted the original, so all you need is this. There were too many, so I took as many as I could. Tell me if there’s one missing. I’ll look for it again.”

Cha Yiseok’s eyes glanced through at the DVD and then returned it to Yaba. Yaba said.

“This is a video of you on the basement floor. I said Giha was going to threaten you with this.”

Eyes that did not contain any emotion looked at Yaba.

“Why?”

He asked in a muffled voice. Yaba didn’t know why he was asking the obvious.

“If this is passed on to Chairman Cha or disclosed to the media, you will be at a disadvantage. You can’t be kicked out of the country now.”

“Whether I’m at a disadvantage or not, what does that have to do with you?”

“It doesn’t matter… Still, you have to have the company.”

His gaze pierced straight ahead.

“So you said that you risked your head being blown away and took it away. Just because you are afraid that I will be at a disadvantage?”

Yaba licked his lips and nodded his head slightly. Whether he became the heir to the Taeryung Group or took it entirely, he wanted no obstacles to the purpose he was trying to achieve. He wanted to do this even if he couldn’t get rid of the headache. He may despair himself, but Yiseok must not despair. He was the only conduit to reality, so that alone was good enough for a reason.

“I’m already like this, but you… even you… don’t get caught with your weaknesses anymore.”

Yaba put the DVD in his hand. His face slowly contorted like paint dripping into water. The waves swept away like a tidal wave. Cha Yiseok squeezed Yaba’s chin and pushed it against the wall. The uncontrolled gaze pierced like shards.

“You, what would have happened if Kang Giha pressed the remote control!”

Yaba was so surprised that his eyes flickered.

“Giha doesn’t know yet… he won’t notice it for now.”

“For now?”

His fierce eyes twitched.

“Do you think that bastard wouldn’t have left a copy? The store was attacked and the footage would have been stolen first!”

“No. He wouldn’t have been in the mood to do that because he was so obsessed with his work.”

“Do you think Kang Giha is weak enough to pass such an important bait into someone else’s hands? Why do you think that bastard left the place empty-handed?”

“…”

Was it true? Giha already made a copy… ?

“Then about Chairman Cha making you go abroad…”

“It’s okay if I don’t go! Chairman Cha doesn’t even blink an eye no matter what I do. Do you understand? These people in this field don’t care what kind of human being they are as long as they fill their pockets!”

Cha Yiseok shouted enough to make his eardrums throb. He was a different person today. Even though Yaba took away the weaknesses held by the enemy, he was not happy. He didn’t even hint at a slight sugar-watering kindness. The saddest thing was the fact that what he risked his life for was not worth it. He wanted to bite his tongue at his own stupid ignorance.

“If you don’t need it, throw it away or destroy it! Do it yourself!”

Yaba pushed him away and grabbed the doorknob. He was slammed into the wall again by his ferocious grasp.

“What are you. Why don’t you know anything with that face? Why are you so…”

‘I’m going crazy…’ He muttered and smacked his forehead against the wall. His eyes and hands were all pits of fire. A crushed voice broke over his shoulder.

“I had calculated every case and event. Whether the shareholders turn around, Chairman Cha throws curveballs, Sungjae betrays, or Cha Myunghwan jumps out of the grave.”

The hand that wrapped around the back of Yaba’s hair was soft, unlike the violent language.

“You weren’t on my account.”

It felt like it would melt in the heat radiating from his arms and chest. Yaba shrank his body and breathed through his tight throat. He was good at cursing people, but he didn’t know how to comfort them. Yaba’s hand was hovering around his back, when someone knocked on the cabin door from outside.

“Are you done yet? The boss is looking for him.”

Yaba clenched his hands. Cha Yiseok picked up the DVD that was lying around in the room and handed it to Yaba.

“Put it back. No, leave it. Don’t do anything now.”

Cha Yiseok lost his composure and spoked all over the place. Yaba got out of his arms and grabbed the doorknob. One step ahead, he turned Yaba around and hurriedly found his lips first. He put his tongue in and stirred the warm flesh, then pressed down and bit his chin and the nape of his neck.

Yaba shrugged his shoulders. His eyes burned like he’d been poked with a needle. The doctor friends, who were holding their breath on one side, looked at them in amazement. Cha Yiseok removed Yaba and put on his mask. His fire-engulfed eyes pierced the retina.

“Forget everything that happened in this room. Go eat, sleep, and rest as if nothing happened.”

t/n:

another one of misa’s dump of thoughts~

i know Yiseok might have come across as some druggie playboy jerk to some readers, not that he isn’t, but his care and love and Yaba is actually quite apparent in some scenes like this (and more in the future!) ><
speaking of, a while ago, i read a special side story that came out recently (after 10 years!). it was too short T.T but it had such a sweet ending, i wish i could share it right now but y’all will have to stay tuned~