Chapter 07

Generally speaking, I’m healthy enough that I don’t even catch colds, but somehow a fever I couldn’t explain set in and my vision was disoriented. I managed to get back from the hospital with help from my sister because of the high fever and blurred vision.

“It’s a sign of the ring.”

The doctor grinned and added that I shouldn’t worry. He told me that it was best to just go back and rest since now, there was no need for any medicine and by tomorrow I’ll be as good as if it never happened.

I questioned the doctor several times. I didn’t know if the ring he was talking about was the right one that I knew of.

‘I never thought I’d have a ring.’

I lowered my feverish eyes, looking down at my left ring finger. I didn’t see anything but there seemed to be a tingling feeling spreading around my left ring finger.

Suddenly, I felt worse. I didn’t know who my partner was, but I was sure of at least one thing.

The number of people who I had even the slightest contact with the previous day seemed to be about a hundred. Most of them are people I’d met before because of my work or didn’t even know, and in that mix of people was my other half of fate. Suspicion and anger mounted over this strange ring that was forcing a relationship with someone I didn’t even know.

With a deep sigh, I swept my fringe away irritably, and while looking at me through the rearview mirror, Ji Yeon carefully asked.

“Oppa1, are you alright?”

“… Not alright.”

My head hurt from wondering how I could find one person out of all those people. Sighing with understanding eyes, Ji Yeon said she heard about it from somewhere.

“I heard that for some people, their partner comes to mind because of the fever from the manifestation of the ring, but you didn’t have that.”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have stayed still like this.”

As I answered, Woo Seo’s face suddenly flashed across my mind.

‘Come to think of it…”

When I woke up groggy with a fever, it was Woo Seo’s face that clearly came to mind as if it was in front of my eyes. I remembered him smiling in the picture, and his surprised face that I saw when he unintentionally threw himself into my arms.

It couldn’t be.

I deliberately threw the possibility away. If I was really connected to Woo Seo by the ring, then it’s ridiculous that I’ve been struggling to stay away all this this time.

++++++++++

“Excuse me, Mr. President2…”

I lifted my forehead out of my hands and raised my eyes at the sound of being called. My eyes, stiff from fatigue, turned towards the door. In the gap of the half opened door, team leader Lee’s head of pomade appeared, annoyingly.

“You don’t knock?”

“I did, but it didn’t seem like you could hear me… I apologize.”

He spoke while feeling treated unfairly, but quickly shut his mouth. After signalling for him to come in, he rushed inside and placed a USB on the desk.

“The app test file to be sent to Enterstone3.”

“I’ll page you after confirming it. Get out.”

I picked up the USB with tired eyes without giving team leader Lee a proper glance. As I was trying to plug it into the PC at work, he didn’t turn around to leave but spoke up anxiously.

“Um…these days, you seem to be in bad condition, but you must’ve had a checkup at the hospital already…”

“I’ll take care of myself, so team leader Lee can just do your job.”

“… Yes.”

If he had invisible ears, they’d surely be drooping as Team leader Lee left the president’s office, trudging. As soon as he left, I sighed deeply in the office alone and fell back into the chair.

I didn’t think insomnia could be so terrible. No matter how tired I was, I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to sleep but it doesn’t go the way I expect; like a fainting spell, I’d black out and at some point come back. It wouldn’t be more than a few seconds of unconsciousness, but it gave me chills enough to think that I might die like this. My mood was bad as the back of my neck felt like [the muscles] were strained, I pressed the sides of my head with both hands as the stress set in.

There was only one way to appease the worst situation.

To sleep in physical contact with the ring’s counterpart.

Honestly, under the current situation, it’d be absurd to think that one could fall deep asleep just by being in contact with someone, but there seemed to be no other option than that.

Damn ring.

Whether it’s a fated partner or not, for me, who wasn’t interested in dating in the first place, it’s been frustrating looking for someone during all this time. Without any feelings, it doesn’t make sense that I have to be with someone for the rest of my life because of this ring connection.

I don’t know how many times I’ve had such thoughts, and with a deep sigh, I checked the file that team leader Lee left behind. With a brief alert came a message from Ji Seok.

[Hyung, you ju st slo ly come. Woo Seo i hera.]

His fever must be as bad as the one I had.

While trying to decipher Ji Seok’s message, I paused on Woo Seo’s name. I tightly shut my eyes for a moment at the same time, as Woo Seo’s face was flashing before my eyes. Still, from head to toe, I cannot forget him.

‘I’m going in circles.’

I barely managed to clear my mind of such thoughts, but I couldn’t understand why that moment of unexpectedly meeting kept circling through my head. It’s about time to erase it from both my head and heart.

Suddenly, the memory of that instant when I came into contact with Woo Seo struck me.

I can’t tell how many times the words ‘no way’ repeated itself in my head. [Those words] continued until I came across Woo Seo in the apartment elevator. I don’t know if it was because of that, but I couldn’t readily ask if there was a red ring on his left ring finger. Anyway, we’ve already had contact, so I knew I’d have to ask one day.

It was silent in the elevator and I was sensitive to Woo Seo’s nervousness. His left hand was slightly hidden behind his back so I couldn’t see it clearly. I wasn’t able to tell if he was deliberately hiding it or not.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

The reason why Woo Seo’s complexion was bad might be the same as mine. ‘If he’s as nervous as he is now because he has the ring and knows who the other person is…’

It was strange. I wasn’t sure but my heart still fluttered pleasantly and I was incessantly tempted to check his left hand as he dawdled, even if I had to force him. Like me, his eyes were a little bloodshot on his tired face, and whenever I felt him unconsciously let out a tired breath, my sensitive nerves were all focused on Woo Seo like he was poking me.

With a nervous heart, I was walking towards my car but Woo Seo had stopped. He turned his head and smiled, said that [his place] was close by and that he’d go alone; he was talking nonsense. I had already heard from Ji Seok that his one-room flat was 12 stops away from here by subway.

Meanwhile, he took a few steps back and asked me to look after Ji Seok. Clearly seeming to want to avoid me, but I was unable to let him go so I strode up to him and grabbed his arm. Then, Woo Seo’s eyes landed on my left hand instead of the right hand that had momentarily caught his arm. When I noticed, along with a peculiar nervousness, I felt a pleasant rush and filled with conviction.

With force, I pulled Woo Seo’s arm and grabbed his left hand to confirm. Sure enough, a vivid red band caught my eye.

Shin Woo Seo… is my fated partner connected to the ring.

I felt as if all the stifling feelings in my head had cleared up immediately. The emotions that I had suppressed for three years overflowed in that moment and flooded my whole body.

I needed to confirm. To confirm that it was not just a red line, but a confirmation of each other’s obvious influence on the other as a pair.

I pulled Woo Seo, who was stunned and rooted in place, into the car and evened out my stifled breaths.

I looked at him silently sitting in the passenger seat with his eyes down, and wanted to question him. Why didn’t he tell me if he knew earlier? If he had noticed and contacted me even one time through Ji Seok…

‘Then Ji Seok would have known.’

I could see what Woo Seo was worried about. It wasn’t just as simple friends, but a confession to an unrequited love that he was connected to his brother with a ring, which was difficult to admit.

It was as if the old me had appeared, still the same. Instead of confessing that I had fallen in love with my younger brother’s friend, I was like the fool from three years ago, who thoughtlessly chose to build a wall and drift apart.

Thinking of him having thoughts of me rolling round in that little head, that alone made me feel better.

There was a lot I wanted to say. But I wasn’t sure what to do with my feelings yet to say all those things. It was just like fate that Woo Seo and the ring were connected, and there was a wave of strange emotions rippling through my stomach that had been suppressed by my mind so many times up until now.

Meanwhile, Woo Seo’s eyes sank even deeper and he bowed his head. It was sad to see his fatigued face darken as if he was about to collapse. Although I was also tired, I was more worried about Woo Seo. At that moment, I was amazed as I thought about when I had never worried about anyone before.

“For one hour, let’s sleep.”

Holding Woo Seo’s hand, I set the alarm. I actually wanted to put him in a bed and let him sleep for a longer time but I couldn’t suggest that kind of offer since I’ve been keeping him at arm’s length.

Flustered, I closed my eyes and held Woo Seo’s hand tightly. Before, when I’d close my eyes to sleep, my head would be filled with thoughts and my nerves would be extremely sensitive; this time, I felt fine. Rather, it was amazingly comfortable, like lying in an expensive bed. Thinking that this was evidence of my connection with Woo Seo, the joyful beating of my heart was like a pleasant lullaby.

I didn’t know when I fell asleep.

I was only when I heard the alarm and opened my eyes that I realized I had been sleeping so soundly. After just an hour of sleep, I felt relaxed and clear-headed. I felt like my mind of unnecessary and chaotic thoughts had been neatly organized, and I even wanted to sleep a bit more because of the refreshed feeling that swept through my whole body.

I laughed forcefully and looked at Woo Seo. The fatigue that had lingered in his complexion also seemed to have noticeably disappeared. His cheeks which had seemed a little pale, were ruddy.

The ring’s ability was truly amazing. I had been struggling to death, thinking there was nothing more painful than this insomnia, but just holding hands while falling asleep gave me a taste of such extreme satisfaction, it was bordering on pleasure. It was to the point where I was worried I might get addicted.

However, sleep wasn’t the only thing the ring brought me.

‘I don’t want to let go.’

I used to think that possessiveness and obsession for someone was a far cry from me. Three years ago, when I realized my feelings for Woo Seo, I was filled with thoughts that I should distance myself away from him as soon as possible, much less cling to him.

But if both are so far apart and but still remain the same, no, if one had stronger feelings, then it’d be no use to step back.

I could see the line of the red ring carved on Woo Seo’s ring finger between the fingers of my hand holding his. The red band connected to Shin Woo Seo gradually broke down the frustration somewhere in my heart. A snake as black as coal escaped through the cracks, saying it was an opportunity.

“An hour a day is fine. Let’s sleep together.”

During that time, I intend to change the shape of the superficial rings we have. Even if Shin Woo Seo doesn’t want it.

1 Oppa – used to address older male relatives or acquaintances by females

2 the term here is 대표님 which is “representative” or “leader” in the same sense as a company CEO

3 t/n: might be a company name or something else i have yet to figure out but the context is still the same, sending the file to another company.