You Were Stolen from Me, so I Will Live for Myself

Regret and Childhood Friend

“…I feel kind of tired.”

All of a sudden, my whole body feels heavy. I rest my elbow on the desk and hold my forehead.

Maybe it’s because all the recent exhaustion is catching up with me.

Could it be that after settling things with Kanzaki, I finally let my guard down?

But my heart is beating strangely fast. My breathing is shallow.

“President, are you alright?”

My secretary looks at me worriedly as she says so.

“…yeah, I’m fine.”

Even though I answered so, my vision is getting blurry.

Suddenly, I feel a strange pain deep within my chest.

…what is this?

Despite the pain, I lower my gaze to the documents on my desk. Contracts waiting for my signature, ongoing projects, emails from clients, work is piling up like a mountain. I can’t stop.

Telling myself that It’s just my imagination, I grab my pen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night.

I collapse onto the sofa. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.

Every time I dream about something, I wake up drenched in sweat.

“…I’m just exhausted.”

I mutter to myself so, staring up at the ceiling. However, even doing so feels strangely heavy.

My heart is beating irregularly, it’s beating too fast, too uneven.

…I’ll be fine after some sleep.

Telling myself that, I close my eyes.

However, the faint discomfort lingering deep within my chest doesn’t fade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day.

“…!”

Suddenly, I’m hit with a sudden wave of dizziness. The documents on my desk scattered across the floor.

“President!?”

I hear my secretary’s voice from a distance. The world around me is shaking.

…what the hell is happening?

My breathing becomes shallow again. My heart feels like it’s being squeezed tightly. Darkness creeps into the edges of my vision. My head feels hazy. The voices around me are fading away.

…this is bad.

—the next moment, I lose consciousness.

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When I wake up, I see a white ceiling in front of me.

“…where am I?”

When I try to sit up, I notice that there’s a tube connected to my arm, it’s an IV drip.

The beeping sound of the oxygen monitor. The faint smell of disinfectant.

Hospital…?

While I’m still processing the situation, a doctor enters the room.

“You’re awake.”

I look at him in confusion.

“What…happened to me?”

The doctor replies in a calm tone.

“Your blood test results are abnormal. We need to conduct further tests immediately, identify the cause and begin treatment as soon as possible.”

The doctor’s calm words pierce through me sharply.

“…I’ll be okay, right?”

I ask so with a sliver of hope.

However, the response I get is the harsh truth.

“Unfortunately, your condition is extremely serious.”

—you’ve got to be kidding me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Am I—is my body really beyond saving?

I’m fully conscious, but my body feels like it belongs to someone else. I can’t move my body.

My whole life flashes through my mind in slow motion.

Money. Status. Women.

I thought I’ve gotten everything I ever wanted.

However—

…there’s no way it ends like this.

I’ve worked so hard and finally achieved success. I can’t let it end here. There must still be something I can do.

That’s right, I can still do more. I’ll keep climbing higher. There must still be so many things left to enjoy.

However, despite my strong resolve, my body refuses to listen to me. Even lifting my arm feels impossible.

What if—

What if this is really the end?

I ask myself so.

What do I regret?

The choices I made?

The things I abandoned?

The things I acquired?

I stare blankly at the ceiling, unable to gather my thoughts.

The hospital room is really quiet. The only sound that can be heard is the steady beeping of machines.

Perhaps this is a good opportunity to reflect on my life.

But even if I think about my past regrets, nothing will change. I should focus on what I can do now.

For example—what if I really am on the verge of death?

Is there anything I will regret not doing while I still have the chance?

As I’m thinking about this—

Clatter!

The door slams open.

“…hah, hah…!”

Heavy breathing echoes throughout the hospital room. I slowly turn my gaze towards the door. Standing there is—

Yuki.

She is dressed in a suit, but her hair is messy, and her eyes are not focused. Her shoulders are rising and falling with each breath, she must’ve rushed here in a panic.

“…Yuki…why are you here?”

I muttered so in shock.

Yuki just stands there staring at me, unable to even catch her breath. Suddenly, tears well up in her eyes.

There is no way she is here.

It hasn’t been that long since I collapsed. I heard that my employees just returned to the office to inform relevant parties about my absence.

It’s far too early for an outsider to come visit. There is no way Yuki could’ve found out about my hospitalization this quickly, let alone rushed over to see me.

…impossible.

In the midst of my confused thoughts, a thought suddenly crosses my mind.

…am I hallucinating?

Maybe this is just a side effect of the medication they gave me. If that’s really the case, it also explains the strange uneasiness in my chest.

But then, I can hear her heavy breathing. I can see that her shoulders are rising and falling with each breath. Yuki is staring at me intently.

—she is real.

The moment I am certain of that, a flood of questions crosses my mind.

How did she find out about me?

Did someone tell her?

Who could it have been?

Or maybe…?

However, before I can ask her about it, the expression on Yuki’s face erases everything else.