The coach said he would contact the foundation regarding the hospital bills.
I told them I'd rather leave it all to them, but they insisted that I should never completely entrust money matters to others. They told me to make sure I hear about the progress.
Honestly, if you asked whether I'm tempted by the money, that would be a lie. It wasn't my money to begin with, and it never passed through my hands. I'd prefer not to worry about it at all, but apparently that's not an option. It's completely unreasonable.
Well, I suppose this is just complaining from a position of privilege. If I didn't have any income, I would have been grateful for even the settlement money. There's a reason they say generosity comes from a full storehouse.
Anyway, I couldn't keep the hospital bill payment completely anonymous, but fortunately, I can at least keep it secret until I'm discharged.
That makes sense because right now, we're just a former pro gamer and a fan who happened to meet at the hospital. If news got out that I provided any financial help, her parents and Minseo would feel burdened.
Of course, they'd be grateful and happy, which would make me feel good too. But considering that even I find unexplained kindness burdensome, it's better if our team makes contact after I've left.
After that, whether the team pays the hospital bills in my name or someone else's, it's no longer something I need to worry about.
"I'll be discharged first, then. Take care of yourself, get healthy with your treatment, and let's meet again."
"Oh, can we really meet again?"
"If Minseo calls me, we could."
"Ah..."
"I'm kidding. We don't know what will happen later when we both get busy, but I do stream, so you can always watch me there."
After saying goodbye to Minseo, I completed the discharge procedures. There were no side effects from the eye surgery during these three days, so now I only needed to worry about regular check-ups.
If there was anything unusual during my stay, it was probably the fans who came looking for me whenever I left my room.
I mean, people who needed to know probably knew I was hospitalized for surgery since I kept streaming from my hospital room. But anyone who came all the way here would likely know which room I was in.
"Wow, Gnar-nim! Hwang-nim! I really enjoy your streams. Could I possibly get your autograph? I've been waiting for two hours watching your stream until you came out."
"Oh my... You could have at least said something in the chat."
"That would have been inconsiderate. If I had done that, other people would have come to your room asking for autographs too. How troublesome would that have been for you?"
"Wow... Then could you tell me your username? I'll include it with the autograph."
"Ah, th-that's... It's 'IWantToLickGnarsFeet'..."
"Oh, um. Yes. Gnar is cute, isn't he?"
"...Thank you."
The surprising thing was that they weren't coming directly to my hospital room but waiting in the lobby.
It was both startling and touching. They could have easily sent a message through a nurse or typed in the chat since I was streaming, but they didn't.
Thanks to that, while other viewers expressed envy, no one called it inconsiderate. After all, they had dedicated hours of their time waiting.
"Your viewers are really well-mannered. I'm jealous."
"They tease me in chat sometimes, but I can feel they care about me. But Jaemin, don't you have a good relationship with your viewers too?"
"Ugh, they're always insisting I'm a man. Some people even stare at my chest trying to figure out if it's true."
"Hahaha."
I suppose this might seem enviable to Jaemin who gets teased all the time. But Jaemin's viewers are pretty decent people too.
Even with all the teasing, hardly anyone crosses the line. And when someone does, the other viewers gang up on them until they can't take it anymore and disappear.
People who play League of Champions are used to toxic chat, so this is possible. Even those who speak gently now might have once received month-long chat bans.
Anyway, the viewers who came to see me were clearly very well-mannered. From that perspective, if I tried to reassure Jaemin that her viewers are good people too, it might come across as insincere.
In these situations, it's better to just accept the compliment. That's what I've learned from the politics of League of Champions.
After organizing the unfinished wedding dress from the hospital room and bringing it home, I'd find only Hyeonseo there since Gabi would still be attending her lecture.
Oh, I'm talking about Jaemin's home, of course. There's nobody at my place right now.
...Just because I married Jaemin doesn't mean I think of her house as our newlywed home or anything.
"I'm back."
The home I returned to was warm from the heating, unlike the cold outside air. Yet somehow, it felt strangely cool inside.
The reason for that feeling was obviously the lack of human presence. While the apartment wasn't completely soundproof, it could block most noise. If Hyeonseo was playing scrim matches after lunch or grinding solo ranked games, I should at least hear her murmuring during team briefings, even if the keyboard sounds were muffled.
It was too quiet. Thinking about Hyeonseo's playstyle when I was giving feedback, she rarely had her microphone off since she was always making a positive atmosphere as the team's pillar.
"Where did Hyeonseo unnie go?"
I muttered while looking toward Hyeonseo's room, and Jaemin responded while hastily taking off her shoes.
"Maybe she went out for a late lunch?"
"But her shoes are still here."
"Well... It's not like she only has one pair of shoes. She could have gone out in slippers."
"That's true."
I didn't think much of it at first. But maybe it's some kind of intuition I've developed since becoming a woman. I couldn't help feeling concerned about Hyeonseo's room.
Of course, I know. Intuition could be seen as interference from delusions created by the brain.
But sometimes what we call our sixth sense is accurate. The brain has already compiled all the information and reached a conclusion. But because our processing speed or awareness is lacking, we first rely on intuition and then gradually trace back the reasons.
Playing League of Champions and building up data has made me somewhat believe in intuition.
So I got up from my wheelchair and hopped over to Hyeonseo's room. Jaemin seemed startled and followed me with her phone that was still streaming.
"W-wait. Is it okay to just go into someone's room when they're not there?"
"I'm just going to knock. Hyeonseo unnie, are you home? Are you gaming? If you're gaming, I won't disturb you. If you're sleeping, I know you have scrims at this hour, so get up quickly."
I was being pushy because I was worried.
If Hyeonseo had been just an ordinary pro gamer, an ordinary man, I wouldn't have acted this way. Or even if she had been an ordinary woman.
But Hyeonseo was a case of a man who became a woman. And she had been living with others until now, but spent these last three days alone.
Well, not completely alone. She had a daily schedule, and when playing games, she was busy with cooperation and competition with other players.
But having your gender reversed must inevitably cause emotional instability. I know because my own life was once shattered because of it. No matter how well things were going for Hyeonseo, I couldn't help but worry.
"Ah... Noel is here..."
And was my worry justified? Hyeonseo's voice came from behind the door. And it sounded like she was dying.
"Unnie? Why does your voice sound like that? I'm coming in. Tell me now if I shouldn't."
How could I ignore that cracked, sunken voice?
In that moment, I remembered my past self, locked in a room eating just one small cup of instant noodles a day. I couldn't possibly leave Hyeonseo alone.