Chapter 154: Meeting (1)
The girl with the long black hair asked, "What time is today's diagnosis?"
"The appointment is at 11 A.M." The middle-aged man carefully gave a suggestion, "The CEO wanted to take you there himself..."
"No."
The suggestion was instantly shut down.
"I want you, the butler, to take me."
"Ah... but still..."
"Nope. Dad is too annoying."
"Hmm... Alright."
The butler could imagine the CEO's disappointed look, but he had no choice since it was her decision.
"Then let's take our time eating before going. Should I call a lady to help with your clothes?"
Some clothes were difficult to wear on her own. The butler was like family, but they usually called another lady to help her change since he was still a man.
"No," the girl refused even that because she didn't want to seem like someone who couldn't get anything done alone.
"Alright."
The butler showed himself out, and the girl went to eat.
Bzzzt.
The wheelchair moved on its own towards the table with breakfast. She slowly started eating the food while trying to enjoy the flavors. It wasn't... very good.
She didn't have the luxury to taste the food because only one thing was on her head.
'I wonder if the results will be good.'
She was about to receive some important news.
It was whether she could receive another shot of the stem nerve boost. If she could receive the shot, she could properly walk around while the boost was active. Of course, her father would be strictly against it. She wasn't planning on using it carelessly either. She knew the lasting effects of taking the shot too many times. Some people questioned why she still wanted to take the shot. Still, little did they know there was a significant difference between being able to sometimes walk with treatment and being unable to walk at all.
Tak.
After twenty minutes of her boring meal, she placed her utensils down and headed to her room. It had been a while since she took out some nice clothes to go outside.
'... Maybe not a dress.'
She picked up a dress without thinking, but it wasn't a good idea since the forecast said it would be cold today. However, she didn’t easily change her mind because if today's results were good, she wouldn't be able to wear it for a while. After thinking for a bit, she made a decision.
'Let's wear it.'
She took out a long, black dress. Something like this would be easy for her. She could even wear underpants for the cold. Since she would be mostly indoors, the cold wouldn't affect her either. After she rationalized it to herself…
"Phew..."
She pressed a specific button on her wheelchair.
Bzzzzt...
The wheelchair chair went up and lifted her body like a baby walker. She moved to her bed in that state and pushed her body onto the bed. She quickly shoved her legs into the dress when she felt the softness on her back. After some trouble, the dress came up to her knees. Next, she bounced her pelvis and got it over her belly button.
'All done.'?
After the button made a clicking noise, she could feel her waist tighten. The size still fit her. She finished putting the dress on, but it wasn't over yet. She had to go back inside the wheelchair to wear her top. She slowly rolled her body and crawled beneath the bed. She practiced crawling from the floor into her wheelchair repeatedly.
First, she needed to change her wheelchair to mount mode.
Bzzzt.
The wheelchair chair came out and turned toward her. She didn't need to turn around to sit on it because the chair automatically changed positions once she sat. She grabbed the two handles using her arms, raised her torso, and lifted her body. Her arms shook, but it only took an instant. As long as she could withstand three to four seconds, she could sit.
Tak.
Her body fit perfectly into the chair that was in mount mode.
Bzzzt.
Her wheelchair went back into drive mode and her seat moved back into place. Wearing a top was easy.
"Phew."
She felt proud. Unconsciously, she saw herself in the mirror. She saw her sad eyes. It was miserable.
Her miserable feeling defeated her proud emotions.
***
Today was a weird day for Sang-Hyeon. First of all, it was strange that the day started with Ju-Hyeok sleeping in.
'That guy is sleeping in?'
There was a doctor's appointment in the morning today. Ju-Hyeok planned to go with him, but it didn't seem like he was waking up. As always, Sang-Hyeon woke up early, brushed his teeth, and washed himself. Even then, Ju-Hyeok didn't wake up.
'I'll just go by myself.'
It was just an appointment. It would be weird if Ju-Hyeok went with him anyway. Sang-Hyeon didn't understand why Ju-Hyeok wanted to tag along. He was running late. Sang-Hyeon decided to go by himself and put on a jacket. He heard from the forecast that the weather would be cold today.
'There's no time. Let's go quickly.'
He checked the time while putting on his scarf and left.
***
Ju-Hyeok sleeping in wasn't the only weird thing that happened today. Since becoming more popular, Sang-Hyeon had to always cover his face with a mask. Because of the cold warning today, he covered himself with a scarf. He didn't think he'd meet any fans today, but to his surprise, he met one as soon as he took the stairs.
"Almond."
"Huh?"
It was Ji-Ah.
She asked him when he was leaving today. Was it to see him? She was at her door for some reason in the morning.
"You're going to the hospital, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you fight with Mr. Ju-Hyeok again?"
"No, he's just sleeping in."
"Ah... umm... I have a favor to ask."
"A favor? What is it?"
"My friend is a big fan, and she wants to see Almond..."
"Ah, really? Who is it? It seems like she's here right now."
.
Sang-Hyeon glanced at the window and saw a girl peeking.
"Hello!"
She looked cute with her bright smile.
"M-My name is Heo Yeon-Joo! Hahaha."
Seo Ji-Ah's friend awkwardly laughed and introduced herself to Almond.
"It's so nice to meet you! I'm a fan!"
It seemed like she would just stare at him from the window.
"She helped me with the?LIL video because I don't really know LIL very well. She seems a little dumb, but she's actually pretty smart."
"Wow. Thank you so much."
Yeon-Joo jumped in happiness as Sang-Hyeon smiled and thanked her.
"H-He thanked me! Me! Kyaaa!"
'What an energetic person.'?Sang-Hyeon scratched his head. Ji-Ah made an awkward smile and quickly went inside to silence her friend.
"Good luck at the hospital."
"Yeah. You did well."
***
The reason today was strange wasn't because of Ji-Ah's friend. He only ever had female fans run up to him, but today, a male fan approached him for the first time.
"Wow. You're Almond, right? You ride public transit too... Can I take a picture with you?"
He met the fan in the subway.
"Ah, yes. It's me..."
Sang-Hyeon scratched his head while removing the scarf wrapped around him.
'How did he recognize me?'
He was surprised someone recognized him despite wearing the scarf like a mask to cover his face.
"Are we taking it in here?" he asked the fan because taking it inside the subway was a little odd.
"Ah, no. I'll get off with you."
Really? He was an overenthusiastic fan.
'That means we have to stay together.'
Sang-Hyeon felt burdened that the fan had to wait for him to get off, but what was even worse was that he had to make small talk with him.
"Let's just take it here."
Sang-Hyeon posed, holding the safety handles, and took a picture with the man.
"Wow, thank you so much. I look like a squid in the picture, hahaha."
"Hmm..."
Sang-Hyeon wanted to console him, but couldn't say much since it was true. The man really did look like a squid in the picture. Despite Sang-Hyeon staying silent, the man laughed it off. Then he went to the next train on his own. He must've noticed that Sang-Hyeon felt pressured.
Before he switched to a different train, he shouted, "Please, play Kingdom Age!"
All the disinterested passengers turned around and looked at him. He seemed to have enjoyed the gaze because he started flexing his arms to them.
"King~! You can't beat me! ~Dom!"
"... Wow."
Sang-Hyeon looked away with a bewildered look.
'He was a Kingdom fanboy...'
Not only was he a Kingdom Age fanboy, but he was also thirsty for attention. Shouldn't guys like that be a streamer?
“This station is—”
Five more stops were remaining. Sang-Hyeon estimated the time remaining and looked at his cell phone.
***
As he left the subway station, he instantly saw the hospital.
He suddenly thought to himself, 'Wow, there are a lot of weird people.'
He only met two, but their impacts were strong. He felt that the fans he had met until now were normal.
'I need to get used to it.'
None of them had ill intentions. They just had unique personalities. Sang-Hyeon tried not to care about it and headed inside the hospital. Little did he know that the fan he would meet inside would make his day even more strange.
"You can wait over there."
He was assigned a seat by the hospital reception. Sang-Hyeon's waiting number wasn't very long. He set the appointment a week prior, and the doctor wanted to take a special look at him.
'There's quite a bit of people.'
Sang-Hyeon was waiting in front of a door with the sign,?'Specialization in Brain Wave Research.' It wasn't a small door like other diagnosis rooms and had two huge doors like a gate. He could tell from the door that the patients entering were here for a special assessment, but regardless, there were quite a lot of people waiting.
'I thought the assessment was specialized for capsules...'
Brain wave was mostly only associated with capsules. Did that mean everyone working here was associated somehow with capsules? There were elders and even a young girl in a wheelchair.
All these people?
'The world sure has changed.'
Sang-Hyeon sat down in the waiting lobby while sounding like an old man.
Roll. Roll.
He could hear the sound of a wheelchair moving alongside children. He felt drowsy doing nothing when a wheelchair suddenly stopped in front of him.
'What the?'
Until then, Sang-Hyeon didn't think it had anything to do with him. However, the person sitting in the wheelchair handed a small note to Sang-Hyeon.
"Can I please have an autograph?"
She said it so plainly. It sounded like a deliveryman asking for a signature for a package. Sang-Hyeon lifted his head with a strange feeling inside of him. He met eyes with the girl.
"...?"
At that moment, his eyes lost focus and he stared blankly at her. The girl asking for his signature had long black hair and sharp eyes. Her large half-open eyes were visible through her straight, but fancy eyelashes. When he stared into them, he saw something pure inside, whether it was aspiration or passion.
But...
'She looks like her.'
She looked very similar to the Han So-Yeon in his memory. Not just how she looked, but the overall atmosphere she gave. It felt like she was made from the same philosophy, but he knew there was no way Han So-Yeon would be here. It was impossible.
Still—
‘It's not fun... is that a valid reason?’
He could hear the voices in his head again, but this time, he could instantly tell they were hallucinations because the girl before him was saying something completely different.
"Sign. Please," she proudly asked for the autograph as if she left something with him. For some reason, she didn't sound rude. The fact that she was sitting in a wheelchair probably helped.
"Are you not going to?" The girl asked, tilting her head.
Sang-Hyeon smirked because he realized he had blanked out for a while.
"Ah... Of course. You do know who I am, right?"
"You're Almond."
He met eyes with her again. For some reason, he felt like she didn't like games. That was the atmosphere she gave off.
"... You look like you don't like games very much."
"I'm good at games," the girl responded to Sang-Hyeon's question, which came out unconsciously.
Her smile was almost taunting.
"Maybe even better than you, Almond."
The two met eyes and there was a slight spark between them.
'Better than me?'