DASH-Chapter 169

“It’s a SLAP lesion.” [1]

‘As expected,’ Jiheon thought.

“I think you were expecting it to some extent?”

The doctor asked, displaying Jaekyoung’s X-ray on the monitor.

“Yes, that’s exactly where he felt the pain.”

“I see.”

The doctor nodded briefly, enlarging the X-ray. He pointed to the top of the shoulder joint, around the 12 o’clock direction.

“It’s usually just abrasive, but the impact almost tore it here and around here.”

Unlike muscles that became stronger with use, joints were consumable tissues that wore out over time. It was inevitable for athletes to have their joints wear out quickly, as the greater the amount of training, the faster the degeneration of the joints.

Most athletes in sports that involved swinging their arms a lot, such as swimming, tennis, or baseball, had their shoulder labrums worn out even at a young age, and Jaekyoung was no exception. However, because he was naturally strong and took good care of himself by doing stretching thoroughly, he had never suffered from shoulder pain or injury.

However, faced with this unexpected accident, all his efforts seemed futile.

“But fortunately, it didn’t rupture.”

“Yes, fortunately....”

Jiheon laughed helplessly. The doctor, understanding the meaning behind the laugh, made an excuse.

“Of course, it’s unfortunate that such an injury occurred during the Olympic season. However, let’s consider it a blessing in disguise. If it had ruptured, surgery would be absolutely unavoidable. As you know, once a person’s body is cut with a knife, it can never go back to the way it was before. And the recovery period also takes «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» twice as long.”

That was true. If surgery had been necessary due to a complete joint rupture, Jaekyoung wouldn’t have been able to participate in the selection round three weeks later. The Olympics would be out of the question, and in the worst case, his career could have ended after rehabilitation.

“Non-surgical treatments nowadays are very good. This hospital specializes in restoring the body’s proper function with a focus on conservative treatment. That’s why many athletes choose to come here.”

The doctor subtly highlighted the hospital’s reputation.

“I see. The sports club members did recommend this hospital. They said it’s the best place for sports damage [2] in the country.”

Jiheon agreed moderately. Since this doctor would be handling Jaekyoung’s treatment, there was no harm in being on his good side.

“Yes, it’s our specialty. We’ll do our best, so please trust us. Athlete Kwon Jaekyoung should go to the Olympics after all, right?”

‘It will be disappointing if you do your best but it doesn’t work out.’

He wanted to say that, but he chose to believe the doctor who spoke with confidence.

Jiheon stood up, saying, “We’ll be in your care, sir.”

Leaving the treatment room, he returned to the examination room. Jaekyoung sat in the hallway awaiting the next turn after finishing another test. Four or five tests were still awaiting him.

“Your joint is fine, but the labrum is very damaged.”

Jiheon explained as he sat beside Jaekyoung.

“It fortunately wasn’t torn, but it was a close call.”

Jaekyoung had an expression as if saying, “I see.”

In the taxi, he had made such a fuss saying it was a simple bruise, but during the examination, his shoulder swelled and serious pain began, so it seemed like he was slowly grasping the situation.

“You mean the cartilage at the top of the joint, right? I heard it wasn’t great when I got it checked out earlier.”

“Well, it’s almost like an occupational issue.”

Jaekyoung must’ve found the term “occupational issue” funny because he chuckled as he repeated it.

“Good thing you don’t need surgery, but....”

Jiheon paused, closing his mouth. He lowered his head and wiped his face in silence, eventually letting out a painful sigh.

“Why the hell does this..., how did this happen?”

He didn’t mean to blame anyone; it was just a frustrated lament. However, Jaekyoung must have interpreted it as an accusation because he lowered his gaze and said:

“I’ve got nothing to say. That kid was playing so weirdly, so I watched him, thinking he’d get hurt. Then he went to a place that looked really, really dangerous. I followed him because I was worried, but then the kid suddenly fell.... That’s how it happened.”

Jaekyoung seemed ashamed because of the situation. But the way he spoke was more straightforward than usual, as if he didn’t want to make it obvious.

Jiheon buried his face in his palm again. After a moment of silence, Jaekyoung finally straightened up his posture and said:

“Hyung, I’m sorry. I must’ve startled you.”

Perhaps feeling more embarrassed for overreacting, he apologized in an unusually gentle manner.

“I’m really sorry. But it doesn’t really hurt, so don’t worry.”

Even at this moment, Jaekyoung didn’t admit to being careless or doing something unnecessary. He did apologize, but he didn’t seem remorseful at all. The only thing he was sorry about was upsetting Jiheon, especially startling him while he was pregnant, not for getting hurt while saving the child.

If it had been Jaekyoung in the past, he might have clicked his tongue and said, “I won’t do that again. I think I did something useless,” with a hint of regret. No, he might not have even bothered saving the child. If it had been Jaekyoung in the past, he wouldn’t have paid attention to such a child in the first place, let alone figure out if the child was in danger or not.

Jaekyoung had changed a lot. He might change even more in the future. While Jiheon felt happy and proud of it, he was so upset and distressed by this situation that he couldn’t just be happy.

“Hyung.”

Jaekyoung softly called him. Jiheon was worried that he would apologize again, so he spoke up first.

“No need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jiheon spoke with his face still in his hands.

“But why are you like this?”

“It’s just because I think you might be disappointed in me.”

Jiheon swept his face with his palm.

“I guess I’m more immature than you. You really act and talk like an adult, like you should... but I feel so resentful of that kid right now.”

“Don’t do that.”

Jaekyoung said as if he had waited.

“You said that’s what kids do. You told me that.”

“Still.”

Jiheon sighed at his own contradiction.

“I know. I know that kid didn’t mean any harm, but I wanted to grab him and scold him and ask why he did that. I wanted to keep feeling angry at the parents and ask them why they didn’t look after their kid properly.”

“Well, I guess he just likes going up high. That’s what I noticed. When they’re above the ground, they always want to keep going up.”

Meanwhile, Jaekyoung shared his observations seriously.

“And looking at the parents, it seems like they’ve lost their minds because of the kid. They’ve been trying to catch him walking around since the awards ceremony began. Wouldn’t they have more trouble later?”

Jaekyoung spoke with a serious expression and leaned his head on Jiheon’s shoulder without waiting for his answer.

“Anyway, I was a bit surprised when you spoke to the parents earlier, hyung. I thought you would hide your anger no matter how upset you were.”

“I’m not that level-headed.”

Jiheon said through gritted teeth. When he asked if it would be possible, especially in a situation with so many people around, Jaekyoung laughed.

“I know. For the first time in my life, I realized I’m the reason you were losing your mind in anger. I was a bit touched.”

Jaekyoung said that, but Jiheon was so dumbfounded that he burst out laughing.

“Hey, how could you say something like that in this situation?”

When he shook the shoulder Jaekyoung was leaning on, Jaekyoung quickly got upset again and asked:

“Why? Why can’t I say something like that now? Am I supposed to be overthinking? Regretting that I did something pointless? I can’t do that. If I hadn’t caught the kid, he would’ve been seriously hurt.”

After saying that, Jaekyoung lifted himself from where he was leaning against Jiheon. And he spoke in the same serious tone as usual.

“If I was involved in another incident and ended up like this, I would regret it and think I was an idiot, but no. I’ll just have to say I can’t help it and forget about it.”

What was really interesting about Kwon Jaekyoung was that sometimes he acted like he'd tossed away all the usual social norms, but at times, he gave clear-cut opinions.

Jiheon even praised Jaekyoung’s honest opinions more because it was not about convincing others; it was just him genuinely expressing what he thought.

However, wrapping his head around it and putting it into action were two different matters.

“Yeah, you’re right. But from my perspective, I can’t help but feel regret.”

“Why are you feeling regret? Is there something to regret?”

“Because it happened when I was away.”

Jiheon spoke in a gloomy tone.

“If I had been with you, this wouldn’t have happened. That’s my regre—”

“Oh, what are you talking about?”

Jaekyoung clicked his tongue without fully listening to Jiheon.

“If you’d been with me, would you have stopped me from going out to catch the kid? I’m sure you would’ve jumped out first. If you got hurt, it would be even worse. It’s better for me to get hurt.”

He said it like it was obvious, but Jiheon thought he really couldn’t fight back against this guy.

Jaekyoung said it was awful to even think about Jiheon getting hurt, and he told Jiheon not to be upset about him getting hurt.

However, Jiheon would have said the same thing in Jaekyoung’s position, so he decided to let it go. In the end, that was just their perspective. It was nothing more than a repeated sign of resemblance.

“Anyway, my joint isn’t broken or torn. The doctor said no surgery is needed. So that’s fine.”

Jaekyoung scoffed and questioned if physical therapy was a big deal. It might have been an effort to downplay the situation, but to Jiheon, it seemed like Jaekyoung didn’t really know much about it.

“Well, physical therapy is easier than surgery.”

Jiheon agreed for now. Then he quietly added:

“Still, the treatment is quite difficult. It will take some time. First of all, it’s fortunate that you can manage the pain before the selection round, but it doesn’t end with just overcoming the pain. You need to somehow make the worn-out cartilage usable again, but this can’t be done through physical therapy alone. You’ll also undergo prolotherapy.”

“What is prolotherapy?”

“To put it simply, it’s a therapy that intentionally causes a big inflammatory reaction and forces your immune cells to do their job. During the process, your collagen fibers proliferate and regenerate the damaged area more strongly.”

“Oh.”

Jaekyoung gave a quick nod. From the look on his face that said, “That’s just it,” it seemed like he hadn’t understood the full weight of those words yet.

“Each individual is different, but your cartilage has been damaged so much that it’ll be very painful if you get inflammation here. But you should never use anti-inflammatory medication.”

“Because it’s a steroid?”

“That’s right, and your immune cells have to work on their own.”

“Oh, I see.”

Jaekyoung raised his eyebrows, indicating that it was a bit of a hassle but unavoidable.

“Yeah. You can only use painkillers, but there are still restrictions on the medications you can use.”

“Mm....”

Only then did Jaekyoung seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation. Jiheon nodded quietly.

“The painkillers probably won’t do much for this type of pain.”

“So, I’ll have to endure it most of the time?”

“Yeah. And when the inflammation kicks in, it’s not just your damaged area that hurts. You might get a fever and your shoulder will be swollen, but it depends. Anyway, it’s gonna be pretty tough.”

Jaekyoung frowned without saying a word. The expression on his face said he didn’t like it.

But that only lasted a moment.

“There’s nothing I can do about it.”

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Jaekyoung quickly said in a casual tone, and Jiheon looked at him and muttered.

“Yeah....”

“But how do you know it so well, hyung? Are you telling me everything the doctor explained from memory?”

Jaekyoung said as if it was fascinating. Jiheon pondered whether to keep his mouth shut and act like a smart hyung, but he chose to speak honestly.

“It’s a treatment I’ve done before.”

“Really?”

It took a moment for Jaekyoung to ask back with a surprised face.

“Ah.... So this is what hurt your shoulder.”

“Yeah, SLAP lesion.”

When Jiheon mentioned that the damage was in the same spot, Jaekyoung’s eyes widened.

“Oh. I’ve got the same thing as hyung.”

‘What the...?’

Jaekyoung’s innocent smile was so cute that Jiheon forgot where they were and ended up pinching his cheek.

TL Note:

[1] SLAP lesion: (Superior Labrum Anterior and Posterior lesion) literally means a rip on the top, front, and back of the shoulder labrum.

[2] Sports damage: any musculoskeletal damage caused by sports activities.