I’m Not That Obsessive

Chapter 67

Mitchell, that guy, still arbitrarily took off my underwear these days. He used his mysterious skill of removing underwear without waking me up every night. Did he really only remove the underwear? I don’t know.

Damn, I’m suddenly getting angry?

Anyway, as I got used to walking around the house either naked or with just underwear on, showing my naked body became natural, but only to Mitchell.

This only applied to Mitchell. Absolutely not to other people.

I greeted the people leaving for lunch as I entered the shower room. There were still one or two people left, but they would be leaving soon too.

By the time I leisurely took off my clothes and turned on the water, I was alone in the shower room.

I stood still, feeling the water pouring over my head with my eyes closed. The water pressure gradually relieved my body, stiff from intense exercise.

It was when I picked up the shower sponge after washing my hair.

“Huh! What’s this!”

Suddenly, the lights went out. In this space without windows, I couldn’t see anything when the lights went off. Just as I wondered if it was a power outage, something struck my ankle with a thud!

“Ah!”

I rolled on the floor. Although hit by something blunt, the pain felt like my flesh was cut with a sharp blade. I rolled on the floor holding my ankle, being hit by the flowing water.

I heard someone leaving, but couldn’t see properly. The pain in my ankle was so severe that I couldn’t come to my senses. It felt like my twisted bone was being burned with fire.

“Ah… ah.”

How much time had passed?

The lights came back on. I looked towards the door, struggling with the pain.

I couldn’t even tell where the person who attacked me had run off to. The thought that they might still be in the gym waiting for a second chance gave me goosebumps, but I gathered courage because of Mitchell.

“Hello!”

Mitchell would be waiting for me, and I couldn’t make him skip lunch again. Mitchell’s meal was more important than my leg.

“Coach! James!”

As everyone had gone out for a meal together, no one came no matter how much I called.

Why did it have to be today? Or was it meant to be today?

Finally realizing I had to handle this alone, I managed to crawl out of the shower room.

Every time my ankle touched the floor, it felt like my bone was being scraped with a chisel. Because of this, my head was spinning and tears welled up. It was an extreme pain hard to endure.

The one fortunate thing was that my locker was on the bottom shelf. I had received the most inconvenient spot due to seniority, but today I was thankful for it.

I took out my phone from the locker and immediately called Mitchell. When he didn’t answer, I sent a message.

[Mitchell. I hurt my leg. I’ll be at the hospital.]

I waited a bit just in case. If he was filming, he wouldn’t be able to check his phone. I bit my lip, suddenly worried about the movie. With my leg like this…. The tears I had been holding back flowed down my cheeks.

I couldn’t just wait, so I pulled myself together and called 911. I called for an ambulance, almost sounding like I was dying. I couldn’t tell if what was flowing down my forehead was water or sweat.

My naked state was terrible, but I was in no position to cover up. Just as my consciousness was about to fade, I saw paramedics running in. I closed my eyes in relief.

‘Looks like Mitchell will have to eat lunch alone again.’

Even in this situation, I was only thinking about Mitchell.

***

I must have lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital with a needle in my arm. I blinked blankly at the noise around me.

“Are you okay?”

I quickly turned my head towards Mitchell’s voice from the other side. With the sunlight pouring in from the window behind him, I couldn’t see his expression clearly.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Did you eat lunch?”

I brought up what I was most worried about first. Hearing Mitchell’s hollow laugh somehow made me feel at ease. I suddenly felt like reaching out to touch him.

“I ate. But you can’t eat. You need surgery.”

“Is the bone broken?”

“It’s slightly cracked.”

I looked around with a long sigh. This must be the emergency room.

I was bothered by some people glancing at Mitchell, recognizing him, but fortunately, he told me I’d be moved to a private room after the surgery.

“Who was it?”

Mitchell asked abruptly, but I quickly understood what he meant.

“I didn’t see.”

“……”

After that, we couldn’t continue talking as they prepared for the surgery. Fortunately, the condition of my leg wasn’t too serious. I only needed a relatively minor surgery to insert a thick steel rod into my shin bone. They said the incision area would be small too.

I listened to the explanation about the surgery and after completing the rest of the procedures, headed to the operating room. Mitchell’s gaze, constantly watching me, was frighteningly subdued. I couldn’t even meet his eyes, feeling needlessly sorry.

When I was moved to a private room after successfully completing the surgery, it was David, not Mitchell, who was there. Thanks to only having lower body anesthesia, I greeted him with a clear mind.

“Mitchell left for filming.”

I don’t have anyone I can call a guardian. It would have been the same even if this was Korea, not America.

Guardian.

If there was someone I could call a guardian… Maybe… Mitchell? Yes, Mitchell.

Fortunately, I now had Mr. Mitchell Cronenwirth. Today especially, I felt more grateful for Mitchell’s existence. David being here now was probably at Mitchell’s request too.

Feeling a bit moved, I smiled contentedly, thinking of Mitchell’s face. Although the face that came to mind was that damned expression of him smiling while tormenting my lower half, which I didn’t like, it was still Mitchell. Mitchell, my guardian.

“Rest for now. Here’s your phone. Mitchell said he’d contact you as soon as filming ends.”

As I tried to suppress my twitching lips, David spoke to me.

“Yes. Thank you for your help.”

David placed the phone within my reach. He went to sit on the sofa and immersed himself in the tablet he had brought. He seemed to be working. The hospital room was spacious enough to have a sofa, so David was quite far from me.

About an hour later, I received a call from Mitchell.

“Mitchell.”

A whining sound involuntarily came out of my mouth. Belatedly remembering that David was also there, I felt a bit embarrassed.

– How are you?

“I’m fine. The surgery went well. How about you?”

– I’m on my way to you after finishing up.

“Take your time. Have you eaten?”

– Why are you so eager to feed me?

“Yeah. It’s the most important thing.”

Mitchell made a sound that was neither a laugh nor a sneer.

“How long until you arrive?”

– 20 minutes.

“You’re almost here then.”

– Are you okay?

“About what?”

– I’m starting to get annoyed.

“Huh?”

Mitchell didn’t answer. It seemed he wasn’t in a position to answer as it got noisy around him. I waited quietly without pressing him.

– I’ll be there soon.

“Okay.”

Even when Mitchell arrived at the hospital room, I didn’t hear the rest of what he was going to say. It was because he didn’t come alone, but with a couple of close staff members and even Director Robert.

I finally remembered my situation, which I had momentarily forgotten.

‘Will I be able to film?’

I need to start filming within two weeks at the latest, but it will take at least a month for my leg to fully recover. And that’s just to be okay, not to perform intense movements.

There would be many scenes of jumping from buildings and rolling on the ground, but I didn’t think my injured leg could handle it.

“We can’t help the movie. Your body is much more important.”

Director Robert seemed to share my thoughts. We discussed various things, and the conclusion was essentially already set.

I would be leaving “Racing Instinct.”

***

“Boiling aged kimchi stew. Bibimbap with plenty of gochujang, lettuce wraps with pork hocks, boiled pork with green onion kimchi!”

I listed the foods that floated up like cumulus clouds in my mind. It’s a game I often play alone in the hospital room. It’s been a week since I was admitted.

Mitchell was busy with filming, and I was stuck alone in the hospital room, but this was originally my life, so I was used to having no one around.

I felt a little lonely after having been by Mitchell’s side for a while, but I could endure it because Mitchell kept in touch consistently.

Ding-

A message came as soon as it turned 3 o’clock. Mitchell contacted me every hour. He was now fulfilling the request that had fizzled out before.

[Almost done]

It didn’t matter if the content was simple or if someone else sent it. He probably couldn’t use his phone during filming. It was enough just to know what Mitchell was doing.

[Finishing early, huh? ^-^ Take your time. Or come quickly, that’s even better. I’ll be waiting.]

After staring at my phone for a while, I scrolled up the screen. Then I reread the messages Mitchell and I had exchanged so far. I think I’ve read them over a hundred times by now…