Chapter 301
Fortunately, I was sitting with my back to Seo Moon-gyeol.
Thus, Seo Moon-gyeol probably hadn’t fully seen the mess in front of me yet.
I couldn’t be completely sure, though.
But he needed to stay that way.
‘I have to clean up while he’s still dazed.’
Since I couldn’t throw the trash in Seo Moon-gyeol’s room’s bin, I hastily gathered the tissue balls that were scattered on the floor while I cleaned the room. Seo Moon-gyeol behind me remained silent.
I glanced back briefly and saw Seo Moon-gyeol pressing his eyes with his palms.
Having managed to stuff the tissue balls into both pockets of my pants, I casually took off my bloodstained top, trying to make it seem natural (and noticeable).
Then, I crumpled the bloodstained parts to make them less visible.
It was a bit cold wearing only my inner layer, but it was better than wearing the bloodstained clothes that practically advertised something had happened.
Though it wasn’t that cold, one of the reasons my body shivered unnaturally was probably because my stamina stats were gradually falling even after treatment.
When my stamina finally dropped below 5 and blood surged up my neck again, the same warning window from before appeared before my eyes.
[Warning! Stamina has reached a dangerous level!]
And…
[For survival, it is recommended to invest remaining stat points into stamina.]
Remaining stat points!
Come to think of it, I had quite a few stat points left to invest.
‘I invest them. All in stamina!’
|■■| On Raon
Level: 41 Experience: 65.60%
HP: 63/280 Fatigue: 60
Stamina: 152 Strength: 48 Agility: 908
(continued)
After investing all the remaining stat points into stamina, I received a burning stat double effect, quickly recovering beyond my original stamina.
As a result, my maximum HP increased to a triple-digit number again, but my current HP was still less than half because my condition was so poor.
At least the headache subsided a bit, and my nosebleed stopped enough that breathing became easier.
Inversely, it showed how critical my condition had been until just before.
‘I’m going to survive now.’
When I finally let go of my hand, which had been plugging my nose with tissue.
“…What time is it?”
A hoarse voice was heard.
“…”
I had hoped he would fall back asleep.
Unfortunately, Seo Moon-gyeol, who had been blinking every few seconds, now seemed to realize it wasn’t a dream and was slowly sitting up.
“It’s twelve. Sleep some more.”
Actually, it was almost 1:30 AM.
I couldn’t confidently explain why I was still in Seo Moon-gyeol’s room at this hour.
Fortunately, Seo Moon-gyeol, the naive lamb, seemed to accept my lie without suspicion.
“Raon.”
“Yeah.”
“Why is there blood on the tissue?”
“…”
I was screwed.
My heart pounded so loudly that I was afraid Seo Moon-gyeol might hear it.
“Didn’t you mistake it for wiping a nosebleed?”
I answered with a nonchalant smile, but, unfortunately, Seo Moon-gyeol shook his head without even thinking about it for long.
“No. I think I saw you spitting blood into the tissue.”
I was going to lose my mind.
Thankfully, Seo Moon-gyeol didn’t seem fully awake, speaking with a strangely relaxed expression and a dazed tone, as if he didn’t know what he was talking about.
Moreover, saying he saw me spit blood into the tissue rather than onto the floor suggested he woke up not while I was coughing violently during treatment, but afterward, when I had taken my hands off.
The most awkward part was that I felt like I had to spit out the blood pooled in my mouth once more due to the aftermath of earlier.
“Look.”
To make matters worse, Seo Moon-gyeol got out of bed and approached me.
It’s no easy feat to get out of bed after just waking up, but this guy managed it.
At least the violent coughing, as if I were going to cough out my entire lungs, had stopped. I swallowed the blood pooled in my mouth to avoid the situation.
“It’s nothing. I suddenly had a nosebleed, and I bit my tongue in surprise.”
Without giving him time to think deeply about my change of explanation, I bit my tongue hard with my canine tooth, worried he might suspect my story.
I read somewhere that biting your tongue wouldn’t kill you, but it would hurt enough to make you wish you were dead.
It was true.
‘Damn, it hurts!’
The little bit of HP I had managed to recover was drained again.
Not long after my headache had gone away, the sharp pain from my tongue made me grimace.
‘But biting my tongue definitely looks less severe than coughing up blood…’
I hoped Seo Moon-gyeol wouldn’t worry unnecessarily. It’s much easier to believe that I bit my tongue than to explain why a healthy member suddenly started coughing up blood.
“Open your mouth.”
At Seo Moon-gyeol’s urging, I showed him the piece of flesh where blood had gathered as evidence.
Only then did Seo Moon-gyeol’s sleep seem to fully disappear as he grimaced and spoke with concern.
“That must hurt. You’re bleeding a lot.”
“Yeah. It hurts.”
I exaggerated my pain, thinking it would be better to focus Seo Moon-gyeol’s attention here, even though I could heal it quickly with Grace.
The problem was, it wasn’t an exaggeration—it really hurt.
‘I should’ve said the nosebleed ran down my throat.’
They say ignorance leads to physical suffering.
If a situation like this happens again, I’ll remember to use that excuse.
I stored this plausible excuse in a corner of my mind.
“I’ll get some ice.”
My precious blood.
As I swallowed the blood pooling in my mouth, I held Seo Moon-gyeol back from getting up and reassured him that it wasn’t serious.
“It’s okay. I’ve bitten my tongue a few times before, and it stops quickly.”
Though my pronunciation was a bit slurred because my tongue was still numb, it was understandable enough.
“Yo-han hyung said you have a tendency to bleed a lot, so you need to be careful.”
Seo Moon-gyeol spoke with concern.
“Yo-han hyung said that?”
“Yeah.”
Well, I guess it’s because I’ve had a few major nosebleeds in front of Ban Yo-han, leading to that misunderstanding.
I’ll have to clear that up later.
“It’s not true. The bleeding’s almost stopped.”
After healing the wound on my tongue a bit with Grace, I stuck my tongue out again to show Seo Moon-gyeol.
“Good. Did your nosebleed stop?”
Seo Moon-gyeol glanced at the T-shirt I had taken off.
I thought I had crumpled it up well, but the bloodstains were slightly visible.
“Yeah. I came to ask if you had iced your ankle, but then my nose started bleeding because of the dry weather.”
Trying to lighten the mood and make it clear that I hadn’t picked my nose, Seo Moon-gyeol nodded with a slightly relieved expression.
“I see.”
If the person in front of me were Ban Yo-han, or Gyun Seong-ha, who is sharp and suspicious, it would have been hard to get away with this.
‘Thank goodness it was Seo Moon-gyeol.’
Seeing that Seo Moon-gyeol had completely let go of his doubts, I fully healed my tongue and glanced at my information window, confirming that my HP had slightly decreased.
While the efficiency of healing others was poor, healing myself seemed decent enough.
“Ji-woo hyung took care of the icing earlier.”
“Oh, I see. Sorry for waking you up for nothing.”
“It’s fine.”
Seo Moon-gyeol answered plainly as he took out his clothes from the closet and handed them to me.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
“Thanks.”
Feeling a bit cold, I didn’t refuse his kindness and accepted the new T-shirt he offered.
As I put on the new short-sleeved shirt, I made a request to Seo Moon-gyeol.
“Don’t mention the nosebleed today. It’s no big deal, but Ji-woo hyung will worry a lot if he finds out.”
Knowing Seo Moon-gyeol had managed to hide his painful ankle until we reached the hospital, he nodded after a moment.
“Okay. But you have to tell me if you’re hurt.”
“You too, hyung.”
Having been scolded by Gwak Sang-hyun for hiding his pain recently, Seo Moon-gyeol seemed at a loss for words.
“Just kidding.”
Seo Moon-gyeol’s sullen expression relaxed.
“Go back to sleep before you wake up completely.”
When I said I wouldn’t leave if he didn’t sleep, Seo Moon-gyeol obediently returned to bed and lay down.
“I’m turning off the light.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Tak. I pressed the switch and turned off the light.
When I opened the door, I saw that Kang Ji-woo had also gone to bed. Except for a small light we leave on at night, all the lights in the house were off.
“Raon.”
“Huh?”
Thinking there was still something to say, I turned around.
“Thank you.”
What was that all of a sudden?
The answer came from the affection notification window.
[Seo Moon-gyeol deeply appreciates your caring concern and sincerity. Seo Moon-gyeol’s affection +4. Current affection +80]
Ah, so that’s what it was.
I was surprised, thinking Seo Moon-gyeol might have noticed I treated his ankle.
“It’s nothing.”
“And.”
There’s more?
“If you’re really in pain anywhere, you must tell me.”
I answered calmly that I understood, and closed the door as I left.
……Does he really know nothing?
* * *
The next morning.
Seo Moon-gyeol, who had woken up, informed the members and Gwak Sang-hyun that his ankle had significantly improved.
At first, they doubted he was pretending to be okay because he wanted to be on stage, but seeing Seo Moon-gyeol’s ankle with their own eyes, they were more amazed than suspicious.
“Wow, it really does look fine.”
“How did it heal in just one day? That’s incredible.”
“Isn’t it all thanks to my special massage?”
“No way.”
“Why not!”
“No way!”
Since I shamelessly insisted, they didn’t even suspect I had done anything.
As soon as the hospital opened, Seo Moon-gyeol went for a check-up and received the doctor’s permission to perform as long as he didn’t do strenuous dance moves like jumps with his usual vigor.
Kang Ji-woo firmly warned him that if he jumped higher than him on stage today, he wouldn’t let him perform at the next stage. Seo Moon-gyeol nodded to him and Gyun Seong-ha, who seriously agreed beside him, looking visibly happy.
I decided it would be good to treat Seo Moon-gyeol’s knee later.
After thinking it over all night.
Even if the grace efficiency isn’t great when treating others.
If I could ensure someone’s bright future by using some stats I could replenish later, it would be a pretty good deal.