BMB Vol.1 Chapter 1 Part 4

At this sudden boast without even a greeting, Seyoon gruffly asked back as if it was nonsense.

“What are you talking about? Who was stopping you from calling?”

“No, no. Eungyo-hyung really forgave me. He said I can call as long as I don’t drink.”

Shouting “Woo-hoo!” and kicking his feet on the bed as if swimming, Seonwoo’s excitement was immediately dampened by Seyoon.

“…Did you have a dream?”

“No! He came today and said that. And he bought me dinner too. I ate 4 servings of that expensive free-range beef steak!”

Bragging about eating 4 servings of natural beef steak from pure Korean cattle raised on pasture without genetic modification, Seonwoo was met with a serious response from Seyoon.

“From my perspective, the problem isn’t Eungyo-hyung right now, but your internal organs. Go to the hospital quickly. You must have a problem with your stomach or intestines right now.”

At Seyoon’s tone, which firmly insisted on going to the hospital and getting checked every time they met, saying there was a problem with his internal organs – even though he had been eating a lot lately – Seonwoo pouted his lips.

“I’m telling you, it’s not that. It’s because of the pain of heartbreak.”

“What kind of person eats like you do because of heartbreak? Normally, people can’t eat or sleep and waste away, but you’re about to burst right now. Even a pregnant woman wouldn’t eat like you do.”

“I’m telling you, it’s because my stomach feels empty.”

“That’s exactly it – when you’re heartbroken, your heart should feel empty, not your stomach. This is a disease. Don’t you have some kind of parasite or something?”

He was saying exactly the same thing as hyung.

Certainly, he had been eating a lot lately, but the possibility of having roundworms was extremely low. He was taking care of all his meals, lodging, and necessities within the National Genetic Engineering Center, and the hygiene management of the cafeteria was perfect.

Numerous researchers would randomly take plates and utensils from the cafeteria for various tests on an irregular basis, so it had to be clean.

“Our cafeteria is famous for being clean.”

“Even if it’s not a parasite, you’re definitely not normal right now. Go to the hospital and get a checkup. By the way, I happened to meet your brother yesterday, and he was worried because you haven’t been in touch.”

“I talked to hyung on the phone this morning. I’ll contact him again.”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t checked when his day off was yet. Knowing that his brother would bombard him with nagging if he didn’t contact him again, Seonwoo sat up on the bed and turned on the system controller on the bedside table to check his lab schedule.

“It’s in two days…”

“What is?”

“My day off. I should call hyung tomorrow.”

“That’s good. Please go and get your stomach checked out quickly.”

“I told you not to worry.”

“How can I not worry about someone who knowingly had appendicitis but stubbornly waited until it burst because he was too lazy to go to the hospital?”

Seonwoo remembered an incident about four years ago when he had appendicitis. At that time, he was too busy with the final stages of his research and said he would go to the hospital when it burst, which resulted in him receiving every curse word in existence.

Yes, that had happened. His brother and Seyoon had taken turns cursing and nagging, and he had gone to the hospital because he couldn’t stand listening to it anymore. He had said he would postpone the experiment and get surgery rather than listen to their nagging.

“I went in the end, didn’t I?”

“Most people go to the hospital because they’re in pain, before getting cursed like that. And in the first place, most people have their appendix removed when they’re very young. They don’t keep that vestigial organ until they’re 23 like you did.”

“The appendix isn’t completely useless. In emergencies, appendix tissue can be modified to temporarily replace part of the intestine.”

“Stop talking nonsense about such extremely rare cases and go get checked quickly.”

“Alright, I got it.”

Thinking that he had to visit his brother once anyway to remove the egg, he decided he would do it then. He lay back on the bed and rolled over once, and Seyoon finally focused on the main point.

“So, did you record Eungyo-hyung saying he’d forgive you?”

“No.”

“What have you been listening to all this time?”

Seyoon exploded, saying he had told Seonwoo to record it several times, even if he felt too self-conscious to videotape it. He was saying all this for Seonwoo’s sake, but he just wouldn’t listen.

“He said I could call, so it’s really okay.”

“Haven’t I told you that people’s hearts are the most unreliable thing in the world, and that’s why any evidence is better than none?”

“You did, but… it’s too late now.”

When Seonwoo said that hyung had already gone home, Seyoon clicked his tongue softly.

“Make sure to record the next time you talk. No, don’t you have an automatic recording function? Turn that on.”

At the advice to turn on the recording function in case he forgot again, Seonwoo said he’d do it with an indifferent face.

“I’ll set it up.”

“Make sure you do.”

“I said I would.”

“Anyway, it’s good that there won’t be any lawsuits since hyung has completely forgiven you. But it’s surprising that hyung let you off so easily. I thought for sure this time Eungyo-hyung would get a restraining order against you.”

“Well…”

Honestly, Seonwoo agreed that it was unexpected. Given Eungyo-hyung’s personality, he thought he would change his number for real this time, but being told he could call was almost like a windfall.

“Well, I guess Eungyo-hyung is human too, so he must have some compassion.”

“…Compassion?”

“Yeah. You know how normal people feel guilty after scolding a dog or cat? When a weak and lacking animal causes trouble, you have to scold it, but when you see its face, you soften up, and even after scolding it, you don’t feel good. That kind of thing. Eungyo-hyung is human after all, so he probably felt sorry after scolding someone as lacking as you. So he’s comforting you and giving you a piece of candy.”

“Am I at the level of a dog?”

“Except for walking upright and engineering-related subjects, you’re exactly at that level. Oh, and excluding motor skills. A dog’s motor skills are a thousand times better than yours.”

Seonwoo meekly accepted Seyoon’s merciless assessment that comparing his motor skills to a dog’s would be an insult to the dog.

“That’s true.”

“I’m glad you know. Anyway, I’m relieved it’s been resolved well. But don’t act recklessly again just because hyung forgave you. Behave yourself from now on. And make sure to quit drinking.”

“I got it…”

“And just because he said you could call, don’t call ten times a day. Send a text message asking how he’s doing once every three or four days. If you tactlessly call every day, hyung might get annoyed and change his number without telling you.”

At those words, which seemed to read his mind, Seonwoo gasped in surprise and stopped breathing. Seyoon clicked his tongue as if he had expected this.

“You were planning to call right away, weren’t you?”

“Well…”

“Just send a text asking if he got home safely. And apologize once more.”

At Seyoon’s advice to leave a record by text if he couldn’t record, back in lawyer mode again, Seonwoo nodded obediently this time.

“Okay.”

As soon as Seonwoo’s smart reply ended, Seyoon suddenly sighed.

“Are you really my friend? Or my son? I’m someone who really wants to get married, someone who wants to have three kids, but I’m scared that I might have a son like you.”

“Don’t worry. The probability of having a kid like me isn’t high.”

“Well, they say there’s never been anyone like you in history, so I guess there won’t be the tragedy of two being born in the same era.”

“It’s not just that. With your genetic combination, it would be hard to produce intelligence like mine, so you don’t need to worry.”

As Seonwoo beamed and dropped this fact bomb, saying Seyoon wasn’t that smart, Seyoon hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to curse or not. But he soon decided against it. There was no point in cursing since he wouldn’t understand anyway.

“Anyway, I’m glad everything’s really resolved now. Well, I’m hanging up. I have work to do.”

“Are you still at the office?”

“Yeah. I’m busy these days.”

“I see, it’s good to be busy. Alright, I’ll hang up then.”

No matter how much science advances, it’s still people who do the work. After ending the call with his busy friend, Seonwoo sprawled on the bed again and flapped about.

Anyway, happy at the fact that he could call Eungyo, he kicked his feet like a child, swimming on the bed. Then he suddenly flipped over and grabbed his phone again. He immediately found Eungyo’s number and wrote a message.

Get home safely. Thank you for today, and I’m sorry again.

After sending the polite apology message as Seyoon had advised, he was about to lie down again when he suddenly remembered an important fact.

“Ah, the car wash fee.”

He was about to send another message asking how much the car wash fee was, but he remembered Seyoon’s advice to only send occasional check-in messages.

Worried that if he sent another message asking about the car wash fee, hyung might change his phone number, he glanced at his phone and decided to turn it off completely. Then he buried the phone under his pillow and picked up the home system controller next to it to start searching.

“Car wash fee, car wash fee…”

After checking the highest service fee for car washes in case of permanent marker graffiti, he nodded. Then, realizing he hadn’t received the account number either, he wondered what to do when a brilliant idea struck him.

“Day off…”

His day off was the day after tomorrow, so he could go to hyung’s company after a long time and hang out at the large cafe in front of the company before calling hyung. It would be polite to hand over such things in person, so he could pretend to bring cash while seeing hyung’s face once more.

“I… really am smart after all.”

At the thought of being able to see hyung’s face even for a moment, he hugged his pillow again and screamed. And after rolling around like that about three times, kicking his feet, he suddenly lost consciousness.

It seems he had fallen asleep again suddenly.