UAI Chapter 08

 Episode 8 

The members lingered for about another hour before they finally began packing up their belongings when Sejin went into the bathroom to prepare for bed.  

"I still want to hang out with Sejin... Ugh," 

Roy said regretfully, clicking his tongue.  

"Sejin and Hajin must be tired too. You should get going. You can always come back tomorrow," 

Cheolhwan said, gently coaxing the members to get up from their seats.  

"Alright, but we have to come earlier tomorrow!"  

"How about we come around 8 in the morning?" 

Roy and Hwan, proving their close friendship, began discussing their plans for the next day with enthusiasm.  

Shaking his head at their energy, Joomin interjected, 

"Why 8? Sejin is still a patient. What’s the point of coming so early and bothering him?"  

"Come on, hyung! When did we bother him? Don’t you remember how much fun Sejin had with us earlier?"  

"Exactly! He must get so bored being stuck in the hospital!"  

As the two protested loudly, Cheolhwan stepped in to mediate.

"Alright, I get it. Just pack up your stuff and say goodbye. You can finalize tomorrow’s plans back at the dorm."  

Eventually, following Cheolhwan’s words, the members put on their outerwear, hats, and masks to cover their faces as much as possible. Given the commotion earlier in the day, they wanted to avoid being photographed by reporters who might still be lurking around.  

Knock, knock.

Cheolhwan tapped on the bathroom door.  

"Yes? What is it?" 

Hajin's voice came from inside.  

"Hajin, the guys are leaving now," 

Cheolhwan informed him.  

Hajin stepped out of the bathroom, wiping Sejin’s face with a towel, as if he had just finished helping him wash up.  

"Are you leaving now? Thanks for coming today. Because of you guys, our Sejin ate well and had so much fun," 

Hajin expressed his gratitude.  

Joomin smiled and replied, 

"Yeah, we’ll get going so you two can rest. We’ll come again tomorrow. Let us know if there’s anything you need."  

"Oh, that reminds me! I brought the clothes and items you asked for earlier. They’re in the bag next to the sofa, so grab them," 

Jaewon chimed in, cutting into the conversation.  

"Ah! Thanks, hyung. I was so preoccupied that I completely forgot about it," 

Hajin said gratefully.  

As Hajin exchanged farewells with the members, Sejin, who had just come out from washing up and was full from dinner, felt overwhelming sleepiness start to take over.  

Waving his hand at the members was the best Sejin could manage as a farewell.  

"Aww, so cute! Look at him waving. Hehe."  

"Looks like Sejin is getting sleepy. His eyes are closing."  

"Yeah, you're right. Let's call it a day."  

"Hajin, we’ll get going. Put Sejin to bed soon."  

"Sejin, sleep well, and see you tomorrow. Uncle will bring you another gift then."  

Noticing Sejin's eyes slowly closing, the members quickly finished their goodbyes and exited the room.  

Watching this, Cheolhwan turned to Minsu and said, 

"Minsu, I'll stay here a bit longer, so please escort the others back to the dorm."  

"Yes, sir. I’ll head out now. Hajin hyung, I’ll take my leave too. Rest well."  

"Alright, thanks for everything today. Have a safe drive back."  

As everyone left, the once noisy hospital room fell into silence.  

"Hyung, just wait for a moment. I’ll put Sejin to bed and be right back," 

"Take your time. I’ll just have a cup of coffee,"

Cheolhwan walked over to the coffee machine in the corner of the lounge and poured himself a cup before settling on the sofa.  

Meanwhile, Hajin quickly brought Sejin to bed. Smiling at the sight of his nephew, who was already half-asleep, Hajin pulled out some children's lotion and carefully applied it to Sejin’s face.  

He then removed the hair tie from Sejin’s bangs, placed it on the bedside table, and gently brushed his hair.  

Even with all this, Sejin didn’t stir, instead falling into an even deeper sleep. Hajin tucked him in snugly up to his neck and turned on the humidifier sitting on the table.  

After dimming the nightlight, Hajin left the bedroom and sat across from Cheolhwan on the sofa.  

"You’ve had a lot to do today, too. You should head home and get some rest," 

"I’ll leave in a bit. I have a few things I want to talk to you about,"  

"What is it?" 

"We'll have three security guards working in shifts, each covering a 12-hour shift. I wanted them to start earlier, but they had other commitments, so the first guard will arrive at 9 PM. The current guard will stay until 9 AM tomorrow, and another will take over from 9 AM to 9 PM."  

"That’s a relief. Having security here makes me feel a bit more at ease,"

"Yeah, the CEO hired a reputable agency for this."  

"I should call the CEO to thank him. I haven’t been in touch with him lately since I’ve been so overwhelmed."  

"He’d probably appreciate the call. He wanted to visit but decided against it, thinking you might be too busy."  

"That’s thoughtful of him. He’s done so much, and I haven’t properly expressed my gratitude. I feel bad about that."  

"It’s fine. Everyone knows how much you’ve been through. Oh, by the way, I talked to the detective handling the case. Apparently, the guy snuck in wearing a janitor’s uniform?"  

"Right! I completely forgot about that."  

"Upon investigation, it seems he paid one of the cleaning staff to borrow their uniform and ID card. He used the ID to get through the VIP ward entrance."  

"Ah, that explains it. Staff need to scan their IDs at the entrance to unlock the doors. I was wondering how he got in. So, who was the cleaning staff member?"  

"The hospital outsources cleaning services to a company, and the guy approached one of their workers. The hospital is aware of the situation and will handle it, though the worker will still be investigated by the police."  

"Do you think something like this could happen again?" 

Hajin asked nervously.  

"It’s hard to guarantee 100% prevention if someone is determined to commit a crime. But with security guards stationed now and the company strongly urging the hospital to prevent recurrence, they’ll likely tighten security in the VIP ward. After the incident, some other patients complained, so I’m sure the hospital will act on it."  

"Really?"  

"Yeah, from what I heard, some patients threatened to transfer to another hospital, saying the security here was too lax. The hospital director and other top executives had to come and apologize to calm things down."  

"Ah, a nurse told me earlier that the director wanted to apologize to me personally, but I asked them to come later since Sejin had fallen asleep crying."  

"Then they’ll probably come by again later to apologize."  

"I don’t need an apology. I’d rather they just focus on improving security."  

"If they don’t strengthen security after such a big incident, we’ll have no choice but to move elsewhere."  

"Yeah, you’re right,"

As they continued their conversation, there was a knock on the door.  

Cheolhwan stood up and opened it.  

"Good evening! I’m Lee Pilseong, the security guard assigned to this case starting today," 

Said a man in his early 30s with a sturdy build, introducing himself as he entered.  

"Welcome. I’m Kim Cheolhwan, manager of B-One. This is Seo Hajin, one of the members."  

"Hello, I’m Seo Hajin,"

"Nice to meet you both. I’ll be on duty tonight until tomorrow morning, so please rest assured,"

"Thank you. You’ve been informed about the incident earlier, right?"  

In response to Cheolhwan’s question, the security guard replied,  

"Yes! I was informed by our CEO. I also read the news article about the incident."  

"Initially, we were planning to assign security personnel regardless, but today’s incident has made both Hajin and me very concerned. Especially since there’s a child involved, it’s even more worrisome. I’ll be counting on you from now on."  

"Of course! Rest assured, our team will handle everything thoroughly. Our CEO also emphasized the importance of this assignment. We’ll strictly verify the identities of anyone entering and exiting the room, so please don’t worry."  

"Thank you. I’ll be leaving shortly, so only Hajin and Sejin will be here tonight. I’m relying on you to keep them safe. If anything happens or you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Here’s my card."  

"Understood. Here’s my card as well. I’ll step outside now and begin my watch," 

The security guard said before leaving the room.  

"I should get going too. Now that the guard is here, you can relax and get some rest. It’s been a tough day,"

"No, you had it harder, handling everything. Thanks for today, hyung. Go home and rest soon,"   

"Alright! I’ll head out now. I’ll call you tomorrow."  

"Okay. Take care."  

After Cheolhwan left, Hajin and Sejin were finally alone in the room.  

Hajin sat on the sofa, staring blankly, as fatigue began to set in.  

He hadn’t realized it before, but with everyone gone, the room suddenly felt too big and eerily empty.  

Since the death of his sister and brother-in-law, moments of solitude often overwhelmed him with loneliness and grief.  

His sister and brother-in-law had been like parents to him since he was young.  

Whenever he thought about how they had vanished so suddenly, it felt like he couldn’t breathe.  

Although Cheolhwan and the other members had encouraged him to seek counseling, Hajin couldn’t bring himself to do so.  

After all, Sejin, the last remnant of his sister and brother-in-law, had been lying unconscious in the hospital at the time.  

Hajin clung to his sanity with the sole hope that Sejin would wake up.  

He was terrified that if he lost focus, his nephew might leave him too. Unable to confide in anyone, he suffered alone in silence.  

Whenever Sejin smiled or spoke to him, Hajin sometimes pinched his own cheek, afraid it was all a dream.  

‘Sister, brother-in-law, I’m sorry. I promised to protect Sejin, but then something like this happened. Was I too complacent? Is it because I chose to be a celebrity that Sejin had to endure this? Luckily, Sejin doesn’t seem to be affected physically by today’s incident, but it’s heartbreaking that he doesn’t remember you two.  

It’s a relief that he can avoid further trauma in his current state, but isn’t it unbearably sad that he can’t remember his own parents? Will Sejin ever regain his memories? And if he does, will it be too much for him to handle?  

I don’t know what’s right anymore. What should I do? Am I doing okay? Please, give me the strength I need.’  

As his thoughts spiraled, Hajin buried his face in his hands.  

Then, the image of Sejin’s smiling face flashed in his mind.  

‘That’s right. I can’t let myself stay like this. Seo Hajin! Get it together. If I stay like this, Sejin will worry about me. I need to stay strong to protect him! Let’s do this!’  

Shaking off the creeping loneliness and sadness, Hajin focused on Sejin and managed to push the negativity aside.  

He pulled out some clothes from the belongings Jaewon had brought and went into the bathroom to freshen up.  

A little while later, after showering, Hajin entered the bedroom where Sejin was sleeping and carefully lay down beside him.  

The day had been incredibly long.  

It could have been a disastrous day, but thankfully, his nephew was safe, and with the help of the members and others, everything had been resolved.  

There was still much to deal with, from the investigation to other concerns, but as long as Sejin was healthy and happy, Hajin felt that was all that mattered.  

Thinking about all of this and feeling grateful for the people around him, Hajin eventually fell asleep.  

That night, despite the tough day, both Sejin and Hajin were able to sleep deeply without even dreaming.  

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