The Sun to my Moon

Chapter 28: Check-up

Hae-ri took a deep breath. "Do you think it's possible I'm being poisoned?"

Dal-geon went very still. "Mwo?" he said in a voice that was not his own.

"I just thought—I don't normally get sick that often," she fumbled, feeling ridiculous about how over-the-top it all sounded now that she was saying it out loud. "And since you've been so paranoid about that stuffed lamb meaning that Edward Park was after me, I thought maybe—"

Dal-geon jumped up from the couch. "Omo eottoke," he said, wild-eyed. "You're being poisoned."

"Maybe," she qualified quickly, alarmed at the frantic nature of his reaction. "It's just a theory. I'll need to go to my doctor to make sure—"

He shook his head. "You can't go to your doctor."

"I'm going to have to at some point if I want to find out for sure," Hae-ri pointed out. "Not to mention figuring out how to deal with it."

"Of course you need medical attention," Dal-geon said impatiently. "You need to see a doctor immediately. But you shouldn't go see your normal doctor. Edward Park will be expecting that. He'll have planned for it. What's your doctor's name?"

"Won Shinyoung Seonsaengnim."

"He'll have gotten to Won Seonsaengnim somehow. Tricked her, hypnotized her, or blackmailed her. Or he might have planted someone in her office or in the pharmacy you use—someone who could switch out whatever treatment Won Seonsaengnim prescribed for something that would hasten, rather than counteract, the effects of whatever drug Edward Park has been slipping you."

"Dal-geonssi, you're overreacting again. We don't even know for sure what's happening, and you've already plotted out five steps in a conspiracy that may or may not be real. I could just be sick."

He stepped towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders, giving her a little shake. Hae-ri winced, as the shake didn't help with the headache and lingering dizziness she was still experiencing, but Dal-geon didn't let go. "Wake up, Hae-rissi," he said angrily. "You never had a virus. Edward Park has been poisoning you for weeks—since before he even sent that damn lamb. You have shadows under your eyes, and you've lost weight recently—weight you can't afford to lose. You're pale and clammy. Aish I can't believe I let this happen. I can't believe I didn't see it. I've been so focused on looking outward for threats I didn't notice what was happening before my own eyes." A ragged breath tore from his chest. "I should have noticed. I should have noticed he was taking you away right in front of me."

Hae-ri knew she ought to say something reassuring, but all she could think to say was, "This is you not freaking out?"

He chuckled then, a mirthless laugh that was unfamiliar to her, and he stepped even closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Mianhaeyo," he said. "I would never have made such a promise if I'd had any idea you were going to drop that kind of bombshell on me."

He clutched her tight, and to her surprise, she could feel him trembling against her. "You're shaking," she observed wonderingly.

"Oh," he said, surprising her further with the admission. He leaned back to look in her eyes but did not release her entirely. He smiled ruefully. "That tends to happen when I'm forced to face the possibility of losing you."

It occurred to Hae-ri that this was the third time in as many months that he'd panicked and held her like this. Unbidden, Hwa-sook's words echoed in her mind. 'Dal-geon cares about you. If you haven't noticed that by now, you haven't been paying attention.'

She shoved this entirely unproductive thought from her mind. "So what do we do now?"

Dal-geon stepped away from her reluctantly, but slid one hand down her arm if capture her hand in his. Hae-ri permitted this, feeling it would be unwise to make a fuss about it and risk agitating him further. For her part, she was feeling unsettled by how natural it felt to stand hand in hand with him while they contemplated their next plan of action.