But Yeo Jun said, "No, that's not it, Ji Ho. I've never been good at anything. I can't do anything properly. Even talking to someone, meeting someone — even this small thing — I can't manage. I just can't do it."
Ji Ho said to Yeo Jun, "It's not true that you're not good at anything. You can do things that no one else can do. Your sketches, your paintings—they are your talent, your skills, and in that, you are the most skilled among us.
In our whole village, no one is as good at sketching or painting as you are, and you do it so easily."
Yeo Jun asked skeptically, "You mean my paintings are good, they're not garbage?"
Ji Ho replied, "Absolutely. Your paintings are very good, and in my life, no one I've met so far could make paintings like yours."
Yeo Jun asked again, "Really?"
Ji Ho said, "Truly. All these paintings, all your sketches—they are very special and unique. What you can do, no one else among us can do. In this, you are far from a loser. So don't ever think that you're bad at anything."
Ji Ho's words made Yeo Jun feel good. He quietly said, "Thanks," because for the first time in many years, someone had appreciated his work and recognized his talent.
Yeo Jun then asked Ji Ho, "Um… can I ask you something?"
Ji Ho said, "Yes, ask. What do you want to ask?"
Yeo Jun said, "Um… a few years ago, I had an accident. After that incident, whenever someone touched me, their hands would feel like they were burning. It felt as if their hands were on fire. If I go to the hospital today and the doctors touch me during treatment, I don't want to feel that burning again. That's why I don't want to go outside."
Ji Ho understood how deeply that accident had affected Yeo Jun's life. he calmly said again, "Yeo Jun, do you ever feel burning in your own hands? Do you feel like your hands are burning?"
Yeo Jun said, "No, I never feel that in my own hands."
Ji Ho said, "See, Yeo Jun, every question has an answer, and your question has an answer too. You just have to recognize it. You feel the burning in other people's hands, like fire—it burns you. Whenever it burns you, you can extinguish that burning using your own patience, your own hands. If people act like fire, then be like water—cool and calm, and put it out. Yeo Jun, we can always be here for you, support you, but we can't heal you. If someone can heal you, it has to be you. No one else. Until you stop that burning yourself, it will always hurt you. People give you what they have, even if they only have fire to burn you, but you give yourself what you have. Whenever people try to burn you, give yourself the coolness within, don't let yourself burn with it. In this world, if anyone can save you from that burning, it's only you."
Yeo Jun said, "Are you serious, Ji Ho?"
Ji Ho replied, "Yes, I'm serious. Yeo Jun, trust yourself. Believe in yourself. You'll see, no one will be able to burn you."
"Ji Ho reached out his hand and said softly, 'If I touch your hands, you might feel the burning. But if you are the one to touch me—if you allow yourself to truly feel my hand—you won't let that burning reach you. Instead, you'll give yourself the peace and comfort that you truly want.'"
Hearing Ji Ho, Yeo Jun gently extended his hand and thought to himself, "This burning cannot burn me. Ji Ho is right. I won't let this burning reach me myself."
Yeo Jun extended his hand, thinking to himself, "I will not let this burning reach me." He took a deep breath and held Ji Ho's hand. Yeo Jun was amazed—he didn't feel any burning. When he touched Ji Ho himself, he didn't feel the burn. Kian was quietly just watching all of this, and Ji Ho was also quietly smiling, looking at Yeo Jun.
"Excited, Yeo Jun said, 'Guys, I don't feel any burning at all! All these years, whenever people touched me, I only felt pain and burning. I never allowed myself to feel it differently. But now… now that I tried this, I don't feel any burning at all!'"
Yeo Jun held Ji Ho's hand tightly. At that moment, all three of them were smiling—Kian and Ji Ho were both extremely happy for Yeo Jun.
Then Kian, feeling slightly uncomfortable in his own back, said, "I also want to say something to both of you."
They both listened as Kian spoke. Stretching his back, Kian said, "Sitting like this makes me feel like an old man. My back won't straighten from the pain. I feel like if I stay here any longer, my hair will start turning white too."
As soon as Kian said this, all three of them laughed. Then, slowly, the three of them came out from behind the bed. Yeo Jun felt so relieved, it was as if someone had pulled him out from the jaws of death.
Yeo Jun called Ji Ho, and he looked over when he called. Yeo Jun was standing right in front of him. He asked Ji Ho, "Can… can I hug you?"
Ji Ho said, "Of course, why not?" he smiled as he said it.
Yeo Jun slowly stepped forward, thinking to himself again, and gently hugged Ji Ho. While hugging him, he didn't feel any burning at all.
As he moved away from the hug, Kian, pouting, said, "You both forgot me! Aren't you going to hug me?"
Yeo Jun stepped forward and gently hugged Kian too. Again, he didn't feel any burning. He had controlled his mind and thoughts so well, thinking of Ji Ho, that he didn't feel the burn at all.
After hugging Kian, when he moved away, Yeo Jun smiled and looked at both of them, saying, "Thank you… thank you so much. Everything you both did for me today, every word you said, means so much to me. Ji Ho, you spoke the truth—I alone can heal myself."
A shining smile appeared on Yeo Jun's face.
Ji Ho smiled and said, "There's nothing to thank me for. I just spoke the truth, and you already had the answer within you. I only helped you recognize it. This wasn't a big deal—I didn't do anything. Whatever was done, you did it for yourself."
After staying a little longer with Yeo Jun, Ji Ho and Kian left. Kian went home because he had only come to see Yeo Jun, and Ji Ho went back to his work.
At this moment, Yeo Jun was completely relaxed. He no longer felt afraid of anything. He wasn't nervous to meet people anymore, and he was fully mentally prepared to face the hospital treatment.
Joon Hyunk's presence, along with the words of Kian and Ji Ho, were slowly dissolving all the negative thoughts that had been lingering in his mind for years.