#82

But, as the saying goes, the heaviest thing in the world is eyelids, and I was slowly succumbing to sleep. The intervals between my blinks grew longer, and the hand gently stroking Lee Daon slowed down. It seemed like Lee Daon noticed that, as he asked in a quiet voice.

“Sir, are you sleepy?”

“No……”

“You look like you’re sleepy. If you’re tired, you can just sleep.”

“No……”

Saying that, I hastily resumed moving my hand, which had slowed down. Of course, it didn’t take long before it slowed down again.

“President.”

“……Yes?”

“Can I ask you for two things?”

I barely held onto my consciousness, which was about to slip away, as I nodded to Lee Daon’s sudden question, cutting through the still silence. Then, he whispered softly, burying his face in my chest.

“Please call my name.”

His name? Suddenly? It was quite an unexpected request, but it wasn’t hard to fulfill, so I called his name as he wished.

“Daon-ssi.”

“Not that. Just call me by my name. Call me ‘Daon’.”

At Lee Daon’s request, I lowered my head slightly and looked at the top of his head, which was resting against my chest. When I hesitated to call his name right away, I could feel the arm around my waist tighten slightly. It was a little impatient, it seemed. I carefully opened my mouth.

“……Daon.”

Feeling his arm tightly wrapped around my waist, calling his name made me feel a little shy. I’m sure when I called his name yesterday, I didn’t feel this shy…… I quickly patted his back to hide my embarrassment.

“What’s the second request?”

Since he had said there were two requests, there must be one more. Curious about what the other request was, I asked Lee Daon, but he hesitated for a moment. I wondered what it could be, but I didn’t rush him and just continued gently stroking his hair.

After a while, Lee Daon spoke in a small voice, asking for his final request.

“Please say it’s okay.”

“……”

“Please say everything’s okay. That the scary things are all over, and no one will hurt me again. Please tell me that.”

At Lee Daon’s fragile request, which slipped from his lips, I was momentarily speechless. Suddenly, I remembered his face from yesterday, when he had cried and asked me to hate him instead. It was something I never wanted him to experience again.

I wrapped my arms around Lee Daon a little tighter, holding him close, and softly whispered the words he wanted to hear.

“It’s okay, Daon. It’s okay now. The scary things are all over. No one can hurt you anymore. If anyone tries, I won’t let them.”

“……”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s okay. I’m here. So don’t worry anymore.”

I continued to whisper gently in a calm but firm voice, stroking Lee Daon’s head, rubbing his back, and kissing his hair. Like comforting a child, I kept doing this for a while until I heard a tiny, really, really tiny voice.

“……Yes.”

Without any extra words, just a short reply, but it was so lovely…… In the end, I couldn’t help but keep whispering the words he wanted to hear in his ear until he fell asleep, and I did as well.

***

I had been sleeping soundly for a while when, suddenly, I felt a gaze from somewhere. I thought about ignoring it and continuing to sleep, but for some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t. Slowly, I lifted my eyelids, which were now much lighter, and saw Secretary Sung Yoojun sitting by the bed and reading a book.

“Secretary Sung?”

“Are you awake? How do you feel?”

At the sound of my voice, Sung Yoojun set the book down on the nightstand and walked over to me.

“Ah…… yes. I think I’m fine.”

I didn’t feel any heat in my body, and there was no headache or dizziness. My neck still stung a little, but it was bearable. It seemed like I was fine now.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Sung Yoojun said with a gentle expression after hearing my answer.

“What time is it?”

“It’s about 10 PM now.”

“It’s quite late.”

As I said that, I looked around the bed. Lee Daon, who had been quietly resting in my arms before I fell asleep, was nowhere to be found.

“Where is Daon…… No, where is Daon-ssi?”

I corrected myself, having unknowingly used his name, and started to sit up. Sung Yoojun supported my back as I got up more easily.

“He was moved to his room with help from Yoo Euiseo-ssi. It seemed more comfortable for him to sleep in his own room.”

Hmm…… it’s true that it’s best to sleep in one’s own room. I nodded at Sung Yoojun’s words.

“How did he look? How is his condition?”

“He seemed fine. Luckily, it looks like it’s just a mild cold.”

“That’s a relief.”

Hearing that Lee Daon was okay, I let out a sigh of relief. I had been worried all day that his condition might worsen after he had been helping me, so I was truly relieved to hear that.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll bring your meal right away.”

Sung Yoojun got up from the chair and said. He left the room and quickly returned with the meal.

“That was really fast.”

“Madam just made the food, and I only heated it up.”

Sung Yoojun said with a soft smile in his voice as he opened the lid of the bowl. Inside, a different kind of porridge from what I had earlier was beautifully arranged, releasing a delicious aroma.

“It must have been a long day for her.”

“She was very worried too.”

“I should apologize to her tomorrow for making her worry.”

I carefully scooped a spoonful of the porridge, blowing on it gently. It seemed that my condition had improved since it wasn’t as hard to hold the spoon now. I took a bite of the porridge, now at a comfortable temperature, and the rich taste spread in my mouth.

“It’s delicious. Earlier, I couldn’t really taste anything because I wasn’t feeling well, but now it’s really good.”

“Were you in much pain?”

“Huh? No, not really. It wasn’t that bad. Oh, by the way, how was work today?”

“It was fine. Tomorrow we have to start recording the song, so it was a bit hectic.”

Song recording……! I looked at Sung Yoojun with excitement.

“Could I come and watch? Or would that be too much of a bother? Maybe it’s better not to go……”

“At the company, wherever you go is entirely up to you, President. Do you want to go?”

“Yes. I want to see the kids singing.”

As I spoke, I ate my porridge, and before I knew it, the bowl was empty. I placed my spoon next to the bowl. Sung Yoojun answered with a gentle smile.

“Then you’ll need to get better quickly. You’ll need to be well enough to go to work tomorrow, and you need to go to work to get to the recording studio.”

“Haha, you’re right. I need to get better soon.”

“Well, in order to achieve that goal, it’s time to take your medicine.”

Sung Yoojun spoke in a playful tone, handing me a packet of medicine from the nightstand. I took it, quickly swallowed the pills, and then drank some water.

After I finished my medicine, Sung Yoojun took the bed table and left the room. I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I finished brushing and came out, I saw Sung Yoojun sitting in the chair next to the bed.

“Secretary Sung? Why are you here……?”

It was already late, and he had brought me my meal and medicine, so I thought he would go back to his room to rest. Seeing him still in my room made me feel a little flustered.

“I just planned to watch you sleep.”

“But you’ve been working, you must be tired. Especially with how much work you’ve had lately.”

“I’m fine. It’s because I wanted to be here, so please, allow me.”

Well, if he wanted to, I wasn’t going to stop him……

I hesitated for a moment, but then thought to myself, it’s his decision anyway…… and walked to the bed. As I did, Sung Yoojun lifted the blanket to make it easier for me to lie down. I slid under the blanket he had arranged and settled in, and he even straightened it out for me.

To be honest, I wasn’t sleepy yet, but with him doing all this, I felt a sense of duty to fall asleep. So, I quietly closed my eyes and began counting sheep in my mind.

“……Can’t sleep?”

It was when I had counted about a thousand sheep that I noticed Sung Yoojun had noticed I was still awake. He asked in a quiet voice. I slightly opened my eyes, looked at him, and replied.

“I guess since I slept all day, I’m not tired anymore.”

I squinted one eye awkwardly as I said this, and Sung Yoojun smiled gently.

“Did you sleep a lot?”

“Yes, almost the whole day. I woke up a few times during the day, though……”

“It’s probably from the cold and the medicine. It’s good to rest and recover when you’re sick, so it’s not a bad thing.”

“Not being able to sleep at night is a bit concerning, though.”

Sung Yoojun’s voice held a light laugh, and a small chuckle escaped his lips. Come to think of it, he’s been laughing a lot lately. It’s not something he used to do. I stared at him while he was still smiling and noticed he had caught my gaze. He looked back at me as if asking why.

I briefly debated whether I should mention how he’s been smiling more lately, but I decided to change the subject instead. I didn’t want to bring it up in case it was something subconscious, and pointing it out might cause it to stop.