Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 79: You Should’ve Asked

It had only been a short while since Ha Giyeon had returned home.

Just as Kang Jini had suggested, he was lying down in his room, trying to rest. Even after taking medicine, his fever wouldn’t go down, and eventually, Kang Jini had told him it might be better to get an IV drip. Then she left right away to call the attending physician. Giyeon didn’t even have the strength to stop her—he could only remain lying there.

If he kept missing school like this, it would only get worse. Maybe it was better to get the IV, even if he had to pay it back later. He had to start his part-time job next week anyway.

About thirty minutes later, the doctor arrived, examined his condition, and hooked him up to an IV.

“Is there anything you want to eat? You’ll need to take medicine later.”

“I don’t really have an appetite. It’s fine.”

“Then get some rest for now. If you need anything, call me.”

The moment Kang Jini finished speaking and began to rise from her seat—

Bang! The door swung open violently, and Ha Dohoon burst in. His expression, blank just seconds ago, distorted slowly as if boiling with heat—then he charged at Giyeon.

Grabbing his shoulders without warning, he shouted at him to talk, like someone who had completely lost his mind.

Giyeon struggled to push his hands off—and then, all of a sudden, he was shoved violently.

There was a sharp sting—and blood splattered.

The pain tore through him as the skin on the back of his hand split. Giyeon clutched the wound and bit his lip. By the time he realized what had happened, the needle in the back of his hand was gone, and the IV stand had fallen to the floor.

It must’ve been knocked over when Dohoon shoved him, and the needle ripped out at the same time. Blood spilled from the wound as Kang Jini rushed out to get something to stop the bleeding. Dohoon, as if shocked by the outcome, stood there looking stunned—as if he hadn’t been the one who caused it all.

When he tried to approach again, likely to explain himself, Giyeon instinctively shrank back. The bruised spot on his shoulder ached, and his body reacted out of fear—what if he used violence again?

And then—

“What do you think you’re doing.”

Lee Mihyun stood in the doorway, her expression hardened. Giyeon, forgetting even the pain for a moment, stared blankly at her sudden appearance. Until Kang Jini pressed the towel to his wound.

It was well past 9 a.m.—Mihyun should have been at work. It was rare for her to return home, much less come to his room.

Giyeon lowered his head, waiting for the verbal assault to begin. Whatever she said, he just wanted her to leave quickly.

“Leave. Now.”

“I was just—”

“Did you not hear me?! I said GET OUT!”

But unexpectedly, Mihyun’s shouting wasn’t directed at him—it was at Ha Dohoon.

Dohoon couldn’t say a word. He simply shut his mouth and left the room. Giyeon clenched his hand. If not for the yelling, this would’ve been exactly like before.

Back when Dohoon had strangled him—Mihyun had come in then too. She ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) had only kicked Dohoon out. And then the torrent of insults and blame had begun.

...Maybe I should’ve just forced myself to go to school. Or at least gone somewhere else that wasn’t here. As he pressed down on the back of his hand, guilt and regret washed over him—when suddenly, the hand applying pressure changed.

A flawless, beautiful hand—Lee Mihyun’s hand.

“...What happened?”

Her tone was not accusatory, for once. It was quiet, gentle, and calm.

But Giyeon didn’t know what to say.

He honestly didn’t understand what had happened either. So rather than stay silent, he chose to just speak the truth.

“I... I really don’t know...”

He didn’t know what this was about—whether it was Dohoon lashing out, or simply losing his temper because Giyeon didn’t go to school. He truly didn’t understand.

“......”

Seeing the confusion on Giyeon’s face, Mihyun didn’t press further. She just kept gently holding his bloodied hand.

But soon after, the doctor arrived, and she stepped aside to let him take over. Watching Giyeon being treated, Mihyun left the room.

***

Mihyun had been on her usual commute to work when she received a call from Kang Jini. Expecting it to be about something work-related, she picked up—only to hear something unexpected.

Giyeon had come home because of a fever and was too sick to attend school. Though he’d taken medicine and was trying to rest, the fever wouldn’t go down, so Kang Jini said she wanted to call the doctor. She added that even when he’d left the house yesterday, he hadn’t been feeling well.

He was sick yesterday too, but still went out...

If he was that unwell, he should’ve stayed home instead of sleeping at a friend’s place.

Mihyun gave permission to call the physician and turned her attention back to the documents in her hand. The mention of illness had brought back the allergy incident, and for a second, she’d been alarmed—but it seemed like a regular cold, and the doctor was on the way. It wasn’t anything major—just a fever.

Kang Jini was there to look after him, too.

There was no need for Mihyun to go back home.

“......”

So why was she like this?

The documents in front of her suddenly wouldn’t register. She couldn’t focus on the words.

What came to mind instead was the day Giyeon had collapsed. That pale, deathlike face—his body lying still like a corpse. Of all his expressions, that was the one etched into her memory.

The one burned in most deeply wasn’t a smiling face, or even an angry one—but the face of someone who looked dead.

Mihyun turned her eyes to the window.

What good would it do if I went? He already has someone to help him.

If she showed up, it would only make him uncomfortable. The better choice was to stay away so he could rest in peace.

“President.”

He wasn’t even fully recovered when he got discharged... Why did he insist on leaving the hospital like that? Did he really hate being there so much?

“President...?”

He seemed fine when she checked on him that day...

“President!”

The secretary raised her voice, and Mihyun finally snapped out of it and turned her head. The car door was open, and the secretary was waiting for her to get out.

“We’ve arrived at the company.”

“...Ah.”

Seeing the building in front of her, Mihyun started to step out—then stopped.

No. This wasn’t right.

She pulled her legs back inside the car.

“Let’s go home.”

“...Pardon? Oh—yes, ma’am!”

Though startled, the secretary quickly understood and closed the door carefully, heading back to the driver’s seat.

On the way home, Mihyun told herself over and over: Just a quick look. I’ll check on his condition without bothering him.

She could have just asked the doctor, but in that moment, she couldn’t think of anything else. She had to see him.

But what she saw when she entered Giyeon’s room erased all those earlier thoughts.

Blood on the floor and sheets. The toppled IV stand. Ha Dohoon, looking oddly shocked.

She didn’t know why Dohoon was home during school hours—but that wasn’t the issue.

Though she couldn’t see Giyeon’s face with his head bowed, she could imagine the expression. Probably trembling with pain, holding back tears.

That was why she’d shouted for Dohoon to leave. Why she asked Giyeon what had happened. All he could say was that he didn’t know. He was clearly overwhelmed.

Once the doctor arrived, Mihyun stepped out of the room and turned to Kang Jini.

“What happened in there?”

“I don’t know the full details myself... But just from what I saw...”

Dohoon had barged in out of nowhere, grabbed Giyeon by the shoulders, and shouted at him. It nearly turned into a physical fight—and in the chaos, he’d knocked over the IV stand. That’s when the needle came out.

Listening to that, Mihyun felt a chill of realization.

What you see and what you hear—aren’t the same.

She remembered all the times she’d hurled words at Giyeon. Remembered how she’d blindly taken Dohoon’s side.

If only she’d asked.

If only she’d asked him what had happened.

Would he still be this broken?

For the first time, Mihyun regretted what she had done. She blamed herself. She had known nothing—and yet had pushed Giyeon away.

She should have, at the very least, asked.

Wandering aimlessly outside Giyeon’s door, not knowing what to do, she finally spoke to Ha Dohoon, who stood off to the side in a daze.

“Shouldn’t you be in school right now?”

“......”

“Go back to school.”

Dohoon said nothing. He only bit his lip and walked down the stairs.

***

Will he be okay...?

Even after arriving at school, Son Suhyeon couldn’t stop thinking about Ha Giyeon.

It was such a severe cold, and his fever just wouldn’t go down.

He couldn’t come to school today—and had gone back home. But would he really be able to rest there comfortably? Maybe it was because Suhyeon had seen the way he didn’t want to walk through that gate.

I miss him...

Suhyeon realized it without thinking and rubbed at his now-warm ears.

“Thanks for helping with the move. You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine...”

“I know being a third-year is stressful, but still, you can’t leave school without permission.”

Avoiding the homeroom teacher’s worried gaze, Suhyeon lowered his head sheepishly. Since he’d taken Giyeon home yesterday, it had naturally been recorded as an unauthorized early departure. fгeewebnovёl.com

There were a few others in the class who did that, so he didn’t get scolded too harshly—but as someone who had only recently returned to school and had always been well-behaved, the teacher seemed concerned.

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Just make sure you fill out the early leave form next time, alright?”

Suhyeon nodded and apologized again.

He was glad this was a kind teacher. If it had been his second-year homeroom teacher, he’d probably have been cursed out—told he was dragging everyone down, had his parents insulted, the works.

Suhyeon was quietly grateful to have met this teacher in the end.

As he turned to head back to class, he opened the staff room door—and stopped face-to-face with another teacher.

He quickly stepped aside, but the teacher, recognizing him, narrowed their eyes.

“Aren’t you in the same club as Giyeon?”