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Episode 2
[Hospital ICU]
The ICU was bustling with nurses and doctors moving hurriedly.
On a bed in the back, a small child lay with multiple machines attached all over his body.
The name on the patient’s bed was ‘Lee Sejin (3 years old).’
The three-year-old child had been lying unconscious for six months now.
While traveling in a car with his parents, they collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction. His parents died instantly at the scene.
Thanks to the love of his mother, who used her entire body to shield the child in the back seat until the very end, the child barely clung to life when the ambulance arrived.
However, the accident was too severe for his small body to endure. He was gravely injured, with fractures all over his body and in critical condition.
After an emergency surgery, he was moved to the ICU. Although he hovered between life and death multiple times, he was barely holding on to life.
The attending physician couldn’t guarantee his survival. Everyone hoped for a miracle as each day passed.
One day, the child’s fingers moved ever so slightly.
However, the busy medical staff missed the sight as they rushed past.
‘Ugh... It hurts.’
Doyoung couldn’t tell whether he was dreaming or in reality. He couldn’t move his body, and the pain was excruciating.
‘Why can’t I move my body? Where am I? Am I dreaming while sleeping? But if this is a dream, why does my body hurt so much? Oh! I remember feeling dizzy and collapsing after leaving Hajin hyung’s columbarium. Could it be that I got hurt back then?’
Doyoung tried desperately to move his body, but he could barely twitch a finger before losing consciousness again.
Several hours later, Doyoung regained consciousness and opened his heavy eyelids with difficulty.
Just then, a nurse checking the child’s condition saw him awake and screamed in shock.
"Here... here!! Lee Sejin has regained consciousness! Quickly call the attending physician!!"
As soon as Doyoung opened his eyes, he saw the nurse shouting loudly.
And he could hear her referring to him as Lee Sejin.
‘Lee Sejin? What is she talking about? I’m Kim Doyoung... Could it be that my information was mixed up when I was brought to the hospital?’
Doyoung tried to open his mouth to tell the nurse his real name, but he couldn’t speak.
Only the sound of air escaped from his throat instead of words.
To make matters worse, he had a ventilator attached to his mouth, making it even harder to speak.
Thump thump thump!
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed as a doctor in a white coat arrived.
“Huff... huff... Nurse Kim! Are you saying Lee Sejin regained consciousness?!”
“Yes, doctor. I came to check his condition earlier, and I found his eyes open.”
The doctor approached Doyoung and carefully held his eyes open, shining a light to examine them.
After checking his condition thoroughly and reviewing the vital signs on the machines, the doctor let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew. It’s truly a miracle. I thought he wouldn’t wake up, but this is really a miracle. His vitals are stable, and his neurological reflexes look good. Please notify the guardian immediately. They will surely be overjoyed.”
“Yes, doctor. Seo Hajin was extremely anxious, but he will be so happy to hear that Sejin has woken up. I’ll contact him right away!”
The nurse beamed with joy as she headed to the desk.
The attending physician also smiled and nodded toward Doyoung.
“Sejin-ah, you’ve been through so much. I’m so glad you woke up. Now, let’s recover quickly and get discharged, alright?”
Doyoung couldn’t process the conversation between the doctor and the nurse.
‘What are they talking about? Seo Hajin? Could it be Hajin hyung? No, Hajin hyung is dead. Then, is it someone else? Come to think of it, Hajin hyung’s nephew’s name was Lee Sejin... What exactly is going on here?’
Doyoung couldn’t make sense of the sudden situation.
After some time had passed, someone arrived outside the ICU.
A nurse opened the door after identifying the person who rang the ICU bell in haste.
“N... Nurse! Is it true? Sejin woke up? You’re not joking, right? It’s true?”
“Yes, guardian. Lee Sejin has regained consciousness. The doctor has confirmed it. Please go and see him quickly.”
At the nurse’s words, Hajin and the person accompanying him hurried toward Doyoung.
‘!!!’
Seeing the people approaching him, Doyoung was utterly shocked.
The man he had seen during the funeral, the one whose remains he had seen placed in the columbarium—Seo Hajin—was alive, looking at him and crying.
Beside him stood Cheolhwan, the director.
“Sejin-ah! My Sejin, you really woke up? Why did you wake up so late? I was so worried when you didn’t wake up. No... Thank you so much for waking up, even if it’s now. Sejin, really, truly, thank you so much.”
Hajin held Doyoung’s hand tightly and wept uncontrollably.
“Hajin, why are you crying on such a good day? Sejin might get scared. He just woke up after so long, and you’re crying like this. What will you do?”
“But... Do you know how anxious I was, afraid that something might happen to our Sejin? Sniff.”
Listening to the conversation between Hajin and Cheolhwan, Doyoung became certain that something was seriously wrong.
The Hajin he clearly remembered as dead was now standing here alive, looking completely fine. And the two people, who couldn’t have mistaken him for someone else, were calling him Hajin’s nephew, Sejin.
‘What... What is this? Does that mean I’ve come back to the past? And on top of that, into Hajin hyung’s nephew’s body? But I’m sure Hajin hyung’s nephew died at the scene back then. What is going on?’
Although he wasn’t sure if this could be called the past, Doyoung distinctly remembered that, in his memories, Hajin’s sister’s family had all died at the scene.
It was the devastating loss of his family without being able to do anything that had left Hajin in such a terrible state of shock.
‘For some reason, I’ve entered Hajin hyung’s nephew’s body, and that must have altered the past. If that’s the case, does it mean Hajin hyung won’t make that terrible choice in this reality? I hope so. But wait... If I’ve entered this body, then what happened to the real me? Did I die when I collapsed back then? Or is there another version of me somewhere?’
As Doyoung was lost in these thoughts, he eventually fell asleep due to the weak state of the body that had just woken up.
Seeing this, Hajin spoke anxiously.
“Hyung, are we really sure Sejin has woken up? What if he falls asleep again and doesn’t wake up?”
“No, I specifically asked the doctor, and they said his condition has improved significantly. If everything continues to go well, he could even be moved to a general ward in a few days.”
“Really? Then why did he fall asleep again? He just woke up not long ago.”
“Even though his condition is better, he was unconscious for a long time and is still a patient. They said he’ll probably keep waking up and falling asleep for a while. Don’t worry too much, and take care of yourself too. You need to stay healthy so you can take care of Sejin when he moves to the general ward.”
Hearing Cheolhwan’s words, Hajin, who had been holding Sejin’s hand tightly, responded with a stronger voice than ever.
“Yeah! Now I have to protect Sejin. You’re right. I need to stay healthy so I can raise our Sejin well. That way, I won’t feel ashamed when I meet my sister and brother-in-law someday.”
After looking at Sejin’s face for a while, Hajin and Cheolhwan stood up.
Because they were in the ICU, they couldn’t stay for long. Even now, they were allowed in only thanks to the medical staff’s consideration, as it wasn’t visiting hours.
Hajin expressed his gratitude once again to the nurses before leaving the ICU.
“Hyung, I suddenly feel hungry. Let’s go grab something to eat.”
“Oh! It’s rare for you to suggest eating. Sejin must already be doing filial piety for his uncle, making you eat.”
“Haha. Does it work like that? Don’t you think our Sejin is really adorable? I can’t wait for him to be discharged so we can live together.”
“Yeah. Let’s endure just a bit longer. From now on, only good things will happen for you and Sejin. Oh, by the way! Contact the members and let them know Sejin woke up. They’ll be thrilled to hear the news. You should tell them yourself.”
“Yeah! Everyone’s been so worried because of me, but now they won’t need to be!”
“Right, right. Call them quickly.”
Hajin pulled out his phone and called Jaewon, the leader.
“Hyung!!”
“Oh, Hajin. What’s going on? Why does your voice sound like that?”
“Hyung! Our Sejin woke up!”
“What? Really?? Are you at the hospital? We’re coming over right now!!”
The other members, overhearing Hajin’s conversation with Jaewon, asked Jaewon what was going on.
“Hyung, what’s going on? Was that a call from Hajin? Did something happen?”
“Jaewon, what is it?”
Hearing Jaewon’s surprised voice, the members assumed something had happened to Hajin and started to panic.
“No, no, it’s not that. Sejin woke up!! That’s what Hajin just said.”
“What? Really??”
“Wow! That’s such a relief. Truly, such a relief.”
“We’re going to the hospital now. Yeah, we want to see Sejin too.”
Hearing the voices of the other members through the phone call with Jaewon, Hajin smiled happily.
He was deeply grateful to his members, who had been downcast recently because of him, for being so overjoyed at the news of Sejin waking up.
“No, hyungs, there’s no need to come. It’s not visiting hours right now, so we barely got in and out ourselves. Sejin will be moved to the general ward soon, so come visit then.”
“Alright. Are you heading back to the dorm now?”
“I’ll have a meal with Cheolhwan hyung and head back.”
Hearing Hajin say he was going to eat, and in such a cheerful voice, for the first time in a while, Jaewon felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest.
After the accident that took his sister and brother-in-law, Hajin hadn’t been eating properly. How long had it been since he voluntarily said he was going to have a meal?
“Alright. Tell Cheolhwan hyung to treat you to something delicious. We’ll talk more when you get home.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
After finishing the call with Hajin, the members around Jaewon spoke up.
“Jaewon, did Hajin say he’s going to eat?”
“Really? Did Hajin say he’s going to eat? Wow! It’s been so long since we’ve heard him say that.”
“Exactly. Thank goodness. We’ve been practically forcing him to eat just to keep him going. If this had continued any longer, Hajin might’ve ended up hospitalized too.”
“But isn’t it a miracle that Sejin woke up? Didn’t the doctors say we should prepare ourselves because they weren’t sure how things would turn out?”
“Yeah. Just thinking about how Hajin collapsed after hearing that still makes my heart drop. Ha...”
“Wow~ I still can’t believe it. I prayed so hard for this.”
“What? You’re not even religious.”
“Ah, hyung! Do only religious people pray? People like me, who aren’t tied to one thing, can pray to many gods. You know, ‘the more, the merrier’?”
“Hah! You always pull out these idioms at moments like this. Normally, you pretend you don’t know them because you’re a ‘foreigner.’ And why would ‘the more, the merrier’ even apply here?”
Roy’s nonsensical remark left Joomin's speechless, and eventually, he burst out laughing.
Seeing this, the other members started laughing too.
It had been so long since the dorm was filled with laughter.
Because of Sejin’s unconscious state, Hajin had been anxious every day, and everyone around him had grown extremely tense. But with one phone call from Hajin saying that Sejin had woken up, all the built-up tension melted away.
Now, all they could hope for was for good things to happen to both Hajin and Sejin from here on out.
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