Bring It On! - Chapter 67

Chapter 67.

“Jay, are you okay? Jay!”

I called his name and shook him, but there was no response. He had lost consciousness. The moment I realized it, I didn’t even have time to think. 

My voice rang out, screaming for help. Medical staff rushed over and tried to pull his body off me, but even with three men working together, lifting his solid frame was no easy task.

Somehow, they managed to get Jay onto a gurney, and I watched him anxiously. When his long arm slid limply off the side, my own hands trembled with worry. I clasped them together to stop the shaking, but my grip had no strength in it, stiff with tension.

“Are you his guardian?”

“Yes. No, I mean, not really… for now, just… someone who knows him.”

My distracted answer made the staff’s expression turn unreadable.

“Do you know how to contact his guardian?”

I thought of Park Jong-hoo’s business card.

“Yes, I do.”

Swept along in the chaos, I ended up following Jay. Before I could contact Park myself, another staff member recognized Jay and frantically made a phone call somewhere. In the midst of people bustling around, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

The body that had been pressed so tightly against mine was hot as iron. The residual heat of him lingered faintly on my skin. His whole body was drenched in sweat, and his complexion was utterly pale. 

None of his usual healthy color remained.

What if something really went wrong? The thought made my chest seize. I kept exhaling slowly, trying to calm my nerves.

Almost without realizing it, I followed all the way to his room, but I didn’t dare go inside. I hovered near the doorway until, not long after, Park Jong-hoo arrived.

“Ms. Sun Woori.”

“Jay, he…”

“I’ve been informed.”

“I think they’re still running tests, no, treating him right now…”

My words tumbled out in disarray, my anxiety spilling over. The sensation of his burning-hot body in my arms still felt vivid.

Not long after, the door opened. While Park spoke quietly with the doctor, I carefully stepped into the room. A humidifier let out a steady stream of white mist. Jay lay there with his eyes closed, stretched out on the bed. With him lying on it, the king-size bed looked small, like a single.

Then, a faint whimper escaped his lips. Was he having a nightmare? When I drew closer, I saw his face contorted in distress. Sweat beaded so thickly along the strong line of his neck that it gleamed.

“Jay.”

I pressed my sleeve gently to his forehead and called his name. My voice was so soft I could barely hear it myself, yet his eyelids twitched. Slowly, they lifted, revealing clouded, unfocused eyes that locked onto my face.

“You okay? Are you coming to?”

He didn’t respond, only kept breathing shallowly, raggedly.

“Jay.”

“…Come here.”

The words came out in a low, cracked murmur. Each syllable hit me square in the chest with surprising weight. There was no irritation, no attempt to push me away. This was Jay speaking. The Jay I knew, speaking to me. That certainty jolted through me. I quickly nodded and leaned closer.

At once, a heavy strength pulled me in.

“Ugh—!”

I was helplessly dragged into his arms. Just moments ago he’d seemed like a man on death’s door. Where on earth did this strength come from? 

I had only meant to pat his back lightly, but instead I found myself half-sprawled across his bed.

“H-hey, wait, easy, I can’t—”

“Hnnngh…”

His eyes, once twisted in pain, had closed again in peace. Like on the deserted island, Jay hugged me tight like a body pillow, sinking into a deep sleep.

***

“…Overwork?”

In a position that was neither properly sitting nor lying, I asked. Park Jong-hoo nodded, unable to hide a troubled look. At that, a sound of disbelief slipped from me.

“What kind of quack doctor—”

“Professor Choi is the foremost authority in the country.”

“A shadow doctor, then—”

“No one uses a shadow doctor for routine exams. And Professor Choi certainly wouldn’t.”

“Right. You two must be pretty close. That was out of line. Sorry. But still, overwork? For this guy? Jay, of all people? Isn’t that just ridiculous?”

Jay had fallen asleep with his face pressed right up against the left side of mine. His arm, heavy as stone, wrapped around me like a shackle, refusing to let go. Because of that, I was stuck in a grotesque, painful position. My lower body was hanging off the bed, my upper body sprawled across it.

“…Why don’t you just lie down properly.”

Unable to watch any longer, Park Jong-hoo looked down at my legs trembling with strain and said so. But with people around, how could I possibly lie in the same bed, tangled up in his arms? On the deserted island, maybe. There had been no eyes to see us then. But I wasn’t shameless enough to do the same here.

“It’s fine. He’ll wake up soon enough.”

“…You really think so?”

Park’s doubtful tone made me frown.

“Why do you sound so uneasy? What, do you want my back to actually snap?”

“It’s the first time he’s slept in a month.”

“…Who? You mean him?”

I turned my head toward Jay, which I had deliberately been avoiding. Gone was his usual sharp, irritable look. His thick lashes drooped down with a fragile grace. Back on the island, under that brutal sun without even sunscreen, how had his skin stayed so flawless, not a pore in sight? 

For a moment I just stared, spellbound by the smooth, sculpted lines of his face. This was the Jay I knew. Suddenly, I realized how unnervingly quiet the room had become.

“Don’t mind me. Please, just make yourself comfortable.”

At Park’s words, I hurried to compose myself. It felt like he had caught me openly staring. Embarrassed, my throat tickled for no reason. I coughed twice and tried to continue as naturally as possible.

“Overwork, you said. Does Jay really… have that much on his plate?”

“That’s true, but… Ever since he came back from the island, the CEO has been suffering from insomnia.”

“But he doesn’t even remember it.”

He had forgotten everything about that island. Forgotten Suho, forgotten me. If he’d erased it all, then at the very least, shouldn’t he be eating and sleeping without a care in the world? 

Even in the shelter, he’d slept just fine. The ground had been damp, the air humid, the space so cramped he could barely stretch an arm. And yet here, in conditions incomparably better, he couldn’t sleep? The thought hurt. If he was going to forget it all, then the least he could do was stay healthy. Otherwise, it felt all the more unfair.

“Yes. He remembers nothing about what happened there. But… in my opinion, I can’t imagine the ordeal of drifting at sea has no connection to his insomnia. That said, the CEO himself…”

Park, who had been speaking smoothly, trailed off. But I could guess the rest easily enough. Jay must have been stubborn. He wouldn’t want to admit that something he couldn’t even remember was still controlling him, keeping him from sleep. 

From what I’d seen these past weeks, that was exactly the sort of man he was.

“For now, you should rest a bit. From the looks of it, he won’t be waking any time soon.”

“Suho’s waiting for me.”

“Ah…”

Dinner time had long since passed. How had things ended up like this? I tilted my head back to check the clock on the wall. It’s nearly 10 o’clock already.

The realization made my stomach drop. It’s that late already…? The whole mess had started because Jay suddenly collapsed on top of me. 

I hadn’t been able to think straight since. I began to squirm, trying to get up, but Park quickly reached out both hands to stop me.

“I’ll go instead.”

“To Suho?”

“Yes. Our staff already moved your belongings here to the room. I’m sure Suho understands the situation by now.”

“Oh—my stuff…”

It was obvious Park wanted to preserve the current arrangement, doing his best to persuade me to stay put. Not out of concern for my comfort. If anything, being stuck plastered to Jay like this was the most uncomfortable situation of all, and surely he knew it. 

No, he just wanted Jay to sleep, even one hour longer, and figured leaving me here was the best chance of that. If I moved, even slightly, this overly sensitive man might wake.

But how long was I supposed to keep this up? My body ached, the posture was unbearable…

I stared up at the hospital ceiling, hesitating only briefly before making my decision.

“Please look after Suho for me. Tell him I’ll be there soon, and not to worry too much.”

“Of course.”

As though afraid I’d change my mind, Park gave a short reply and hurried out of the room. Click. The door shut, and only then did my sense of reality return. The whole day had come crashing down at once.

Carefully, I lifted my dangling legs onto the bed. With my back turned to Jay, I curled sideways, quietly feeling the warmth of his arm wrapped around me. What once had felt suffocating and irritating now seemed almost familiar.

Insomnia.

So that’s what it was. But why? Jay had faced all kinds of danger. Even on the night he nearly drowned, he’d come back to the shelter and fall asleep without trouble. And the next day, he almost drowned again.

He was that unbothered by stress, that unshaken by fear. So what, now, what on earth was keeping him awake?

My gaze lingered on the arm slung across my waist. Slowly, I laid my hand on the back of his.

***

“Mmh…”

A groan slipped from me, edged with irritation at the bothersome sensation. The heat of his body weighed stiflingly over mine. I pushed back with my elbow against the hard mass at my back, but instead of letting go, it clung to me even tighter. 

His damp breath tickled the skin just behind my ear, and I felt his hand slip beneath the loose hem of my T-shirt.