⊱La douleur que j'ai causée aux gens⊰

The pain I caused people

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"Attention, everyone!"

All the males in the dressing room paused their actions and turned their heads toward me while Envy rubbed his face with his hand, sighing. The men were all undeniably handsome that I started to grow flustered from their intense stares. Sweat was already forming on my forehead but I paid no heed to it.

"Excuse me but who are you?"

Breathing heavily, I ignored the staff lady's question and raised a hand in the air. "Whoever is not envious of this man beside me, please raise your hand."

The room was still and silent as they all looked at me and Envy incredulously, some judging me before continuing what they were doing.

"Okay, then... Whoever is envious of this green haired man, please raise your hand."

Once again, they stayed quiet, looking us up and down. Murmurs started filling the room and I sighed, clutching my head that had been pounding for a while. How cooperative.

"Everyone, back to your preparations," the staff lady announced before approaching me with a frown and fixed her glasses. "As I asked, who are you?"

"We're just here to conduct a survey with supermodels all over the world. And businessmen all over the world so-" I suddenly started coughing violently before finishing my sentence. The last few days, I sometimes had a coughing fit like this but my throat felt like it was being ripped at the moment. I quickly grabbed Envy's wrist to head out. "If you'll excuse us."

My body turned hotter each minute we walked through the hallways. Men and women were walking to and fro, preparing for the large-scaled fashion show. The outfits looked decent enough through my hazy eyes, but I could see a few improvements I could do. Perhaps it was the daze clouding my judgment.

"Are you okay? Did you catch a cold or something?"

Even if Envy tried to sound nonchalant, he was clearly worried.

And a cold? As if I was that weak to catch a cold! I was just burning up from embarrassment.

"Just peachy," I chimed, patting my burning cheeks and forehead to cool myself. "That didn't work as usual. I need some air right now."

"That was embarrassing is what it is. You just went ahead and asked them directly like you would get an answer so easily."

He seemed ten times more annoying than normal that I wanted to explode. I huffed out and pushed the main entrance open to stagger outside. Cold air entered my parching lungs as if extinguishing the fire in it.

Walking ahead, facing the ashen sky, I kept breathing in and out in short pants until another coughing fit convulsed my body.

"Seoyun?"

All the heavy coughing hollowed out my chest and I felt so weak that my limbs became paralyzed, dropping my body onto the cold hard cement below me. I started shivering from the frosty air.

"Seoyun!"

Warmth wrapped around me and I was lifted from the ground to face Envy who seemed more apprehensive than I expected. Another cough erupted from me and I covered my mouth before taking my hand off when I felt wetness against it.

Then I saw it.

Blood mixed with mucus.

"I..."

I was actually sick?

Envy's eyes widened in sheer horror when he saw my bloody palm. In an instant, his whole body froze. We had forgotten what would happen when someone caught an illness that both him and I didn't know what to do.

As if panic settled in, snapping him out of his stupor, Envy immediately lifted me up in bridal style and began running. Trembling from the chilly wind blowing through my skin, I clenched his coat and moved closer to huddle up to him. Breathing was painful with the wind smothering me.

I didn't know how much time had passed when Envy breathlessly screamed for help after entering a building. Warm air fanned my face and drowsiness engulfed my senses, but his thunderous deep voice kept my eyes open to watch him.

As he struggled to breathe, panting and wheezing, his chest heaved up and down rapidly and his face was contorted in desperation. He wasn't thinking straight. He truly believed that I was prone to death.

Everything was happening so fast.

I was placed on a bed and transferred to a room where the lights were blinding me that I had to shut my eyes. I felt exhausted. I couldn't make out what the doctors were talking to each other. My mind was blank and all I could focus on was the pain in my chest and throat.

Sooner than I hoped, I was knocked out.

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A strong wave of migraine hit me when I opened my eyes. My fever had gone down and my breathing was not much difficult anymore. It was dark inside the room I was in with only the wall lights on above my bed, illuminating the interior.

Judging from the monitor beeping beside me and the IV drip attached to my arm, I was in a hospital.

I started wondering if what I remembered happening was real or not until someone spoke.

"Seoyun?!" Envy shot up from the chair in the corner of the room and sighed out in what I assumed was relief. "Thank goodness... I was really-"

Even after coming up to stand beside my bed and taking in my appearance, he didn't finish what he was saying. It seemed like he was holding himself back from something, so I let him be and thought out loud.

"What happened?"

It was strenuous enough to roll two words off my tongue. A cough was crawling up my throat but I swallowed it back down, not wanting to see my own blood again.

"You were ill. The doctor said you can be cured since it hasn't become severe." His dark eyes were softer than I had seen before as they gazed longingly into mine. "You have to rest for a few days."

Letting out a deep breath, I lifted myself to sit up and to my surprise, Envy helped me, holding me carefully. My whole body was aching but it hurt more without moving.

"This must be how people felt when I touched them, huh," I whispered hoarsely, tracing the needle in my arm. "I feel like shit."

Envy plopped down on my bed next to me. "Do you want water? Something to eat? You should tell me or the nurse when you need something."

I gawked at him. He was being awfully gentle. I had never seen him act like that even when I was human since I rarely fell sick. And when I did, it was never this bad.

"You will... bring food and water?"

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Sure. Since I can't leave you for long, I'm practically stuck here with you. The sooner you recover, the faster we can get out of here. The disinfectant smell is killing me!"

I followed his hand to see where he was pointing and found a bed laid out on the floor a little farther than mine.

"I'll be living there."

I frowned. "But, won't you fall ill if you're sticking with me?"

Envy chuckled, smiling tiredly at me. "You're worried about me?"

Whether it was because of my lethargy or the comfortable atmosphere between us, I didn't think before nodding in all seriousness. Obviously, he was taken aback but he kept his smile adorning his lips.

"Then, I'll just keep my distance from you. Is that good?"

I hummed. "Yeah."

Few days were lost with me laying in a hospital. The illness was something I never expected would happen to me, but with human qualities, I could never guess what would really happen.

Especially the flutters and jitters in my heart whenever Envy would make caring gestures like constantly asking if I was feeling fine, fixing my pillows and covers for me, and making me smile by slipping in jokes and banters while chatting. He would say he was bored when I teased him about it, but I really appreciated it.

Seeing him act like that, I didn't regret the few days until I was discharged from the hospital.

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