#78

At my permission, Secretary Sung Yoojun looked visibly relieved. He touched my forehead once before straightening his body from where he had been perched on the bed.

“I’ll go prepare an ice pack to help cool down your fever.”

An ice pack…… Maybe placing it on my forehead would help ease the headache. Watching his back as he left the room, I found my eyelids growing heavy and slowly closed my eyes.

I drifted in that delicate boundary between sleep and wakefulness, floating weightlessly, until a sharp sting in my forearm made me open my eyes.

“……That hurts.”

“Oh dear, did that hurt? My apologies. I should have been more careful.”

I hadn’t expected a response to my absentminded murmur. Who was that?

Trying to gather my hazy thoughts, I focused my blurred vision and saw a man, a very familiar-looking one, sitting beside my bed. He was pressing white tape onto my forearm.

“Uncle……”

So…… this man…… What was his name again?

I couldn’t remember. But it wasn’t surprising. After all, he had always just been ‘Uncle’ to me.

“Oh my, what’s this? Our chairman is actually calling me ‘Uncle.’ You haven’t called me that even once since you turned 20.”

“Did I…… really?”

“Yes, you did. When you were little, you used to follow me around, calling ‘Uncle~ Uncle~’ all the time. I was so heartbroken when you stopped. I even thought that if I could hear you call me that just once more, I wouldn’t have any regrets. And today, my wish has finally come true.”

Hearing him ramble on cheerfully, I smiled warmly.

Yes, he had always been like this—funny, cheerful, and someone who played with a still very young kid at their level.

Back in my original world, when my father was still running the company, he had been our family doctor. But after my father went to prison and the company collapsed, we naturally lost contact.

It seemed that in this world, since I had inherited my father’s company, he had continued working as our family doctor.

“I’m glad, then. That your wish came true.”

As I spoke and weakly curled my lips into a smile, his wrinkled hand gently stroked my hair.

“You seem much weaker than the last time I saw you. You were desperately throwing yourself into something as if your life depended on it. Did you finally achieve what you wanted, so now you don’t need to push yourself anymore?”

At Uncle’s question, I slowly blinked.

“……I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

It was just that the contents inside had changed, making the person entirely different, but I couldn’t explain that. So I simply evaded the question with a vague expression.

Seeing this, Uncle chuckled pleasantly and smoothed my sweat-dampened hair—a silent sign that he wouldn’t press further.

“As you probably expected, it’s just a cold. Your fever is high, and your tonsils are quite swollen, so you need to rest properly until you recover.”

“……”

“……Though, knowing you, you probably won’t listen anyway, right? As a doctor, it hurts my pride, but I’ll step back this time. At least rest until your fever goes down. I’m begging you.”

“Haha, okay. I will.”

That guy Goo Won from the game…… He must have ignored Uncle so much for him to say something like that. But I always followed expert prescriptions to the letter……

Thinking that, I obediently agreed, and Uncle nodded in satisfaction.

“You must really be sick, seeing that you’re not being stubborn for once. Stopping you from going to work was always such a hassle.”

“Don’t tease me, Uncle.”

“Alright, alright.”

When I narrowed my eyes at his obviously teasing attitude, he burst into hearty laughter. Seeing how amused he was, I let my eyes return to normal.

“I’ve given you three days’ worth of medicine. You know you have to take it after meals, right? Just because you don’t feel like eating doesn’t mean you can skip both food and medicine. Even if you have no appetite, make sure you eat something before taking it. Also, once the IV drip is finished, you can remove it yourself. But make sure it’s completely done before you do. Don’t pull it out early just because you find it bothersome like last time, before all the medicine has gone in.”

Uncle spoke with an air of disbelief, as if he was certain I wouldn’t follow his instructions. The more he emphasized his warnings, the more I wondered just how much Goo Won in the game had ignored him. Just how bad was it that there wasn’t even a shred of trust in his voice when addressing me?

Thinking about it, my expression must have naturally turned sour because Uncle tapped my furrowed brow lightly with his index finger.

“If you keep frowning like that, you’ll get wrinkles in no time. Not that it would matter much—our chairman would still be handsome even with them.”

“What kind of logic is that?”

At his playful remark, I relaxed my scrunched-up face and let out a soft chuckle.

“Well then, our chairman’s examination is finished. Now that I have another patient to check on, I should head upstairs.”

As Uncle packed up his belongings and stood, I idly thought about his words. Another patient upstairs…… It must be Lee Daon. I wondered how he was doing. He had been wearing even thinner clothes than I had last night……

Of course, Manager Ahn Siwon had mentioned that Lee Daon only had a slight fever and was in better condition than I was, but I couldn’t help but worry.

“Please take good care of him.”

As I grabbed the sleeve of Uncle’s coat and spoke, he looked momentarily surprised before smiling and nodding.

“Of course. How could I refuse your request? I’ll take good care of him, so don’t worry too much.”

Hearing those reassuring words, I let go of his sleeve. Whether it was because I was sick or simply drained, just keeping my arm stretched out was exhausting.

Uncle took my limp arm and tucked it back under the blanket, then gave my chest a gentle pat.

“Alright, I’m heading out now, so try to get some more rest. And get well soon—if you don’t, that young man over there might start calling me a quack, and that’d be terrifying.”

“I would never be that disrespectful.”

……Wait, that voice—it was Secretary Sung Yoojun.

I turned my head with some difficulty toward the source of the voice, and sure enough, there he was, standing right next to my bed.

Wow, I hadn’t even noticed someone that close? I must really be sick.

Letting out a dry, self-deprecating chuckle, I watched as Secretary Sung Yoojun sat down at the edge of the bed. He placed a small folded towel on my forehead and then set an ice pack on top of it.

At first, I only felt the soft fabric against my skin. But after a while, the cold seeped through, slowly spreading its coolness.

My head had been throbbing relentlessly, adding to my irritation, but now that my forehead was cooling down, I felt a little better.

“Does this help?”

“Yes…… It’s cool, so it feels nice……”

As I spoke with a lazy smile, I felt a hand gently brush against my cheek.

“Oh, wow, just look at you. You look like you’re about to melt from happiness. Why don’t you go ahead and start your own beekeeping business? With the amount of honey dripping from your eyes, you could make a fortune just bottling it up and selling it.”

“Doctor, you should head upstairs now. Your next patient is eagerly waiting for you.”

“Oh, so now that you’ve gotten what you needed, you’re trying to kick me out? And what exactly are you planning to do once I’m gone? Let me warn you—if you so much as lay a finger on our young mast— no, our chairman, you’re dead. I never gave permission for any of this nonsense.”

Beekeeping? Kicking him out? Permission for nonsense?

Hearing Uncle’s flurry of excited words, I slowly opened my eyes. I heard the words, but somehow, they didn’t fully register in my brain. It felt like I was just a step away from grasping their meaning, yet my increasingly foggy mind refused to cooperate.

Was it the fever? Or the medicine?

Either way, the fact that I couldn’t even control my own body was incredibly frustrating. Annoyed, I furrowed my brows, and that was when Sung Yoojun, watching Uncle prepare to raise hell, placed a finger against his lips.

“The president isn’t feeling well.”

The effect of those words was practically magical. Uncle, who had been all fired up just moments ago, immediately clamped his mouth shut.

He glanced down at my worsening condition and clicked his tongue before leaning toward Sung Yoojun to whisper something.

Normally, I would have heard him loud and clear. But whether it was because I was sick or just too out of it, his words barely reached me. I could only make out fragments by reading his lips.

‘Precious…… untouchable…… hurt him…… and you die……’

Was he threatening Secretary Sung Yoojun? Probably. But my brain refused to put in the effort to make sense of it all.

Alright, alright. I get it. You want me to stop thinking and just rest?

Letting out a small sigh, I obeyed my body’s demands and closed my eyes again. As soon as I did, the quiet whispering ceased entirely. Then, I heard the sound of footsteps, followed by the door opening and closing. Uncle must have left to check on Lee Daon.

“Secretary Sung……”

“Yes, Chairman?”

Still keeping my eyes shut, I moved my lips to ask.

“How is Daon-ssi doing?”

There was a brief silence before Secretary Sung replied.

“He’s fine. His fever hasn’t gone above a mild level, and though he has a bit of a cough and a runny nose, it’s not too severe. There are no signs of body aches, so you don’t need to worry.”

Oh? That’s better than I expected.

……Or is it? Am I only thinking he’s fine because I’m doing so much worse?

“Somehow…… that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”