#Chapter 14
Bang, bang.
At the timid knock on the front gate, Sajun clenched his jaw.
“I live right next door… Um, hello?”
“…”
“I’m heading to the grocery store at the edge of the neighborhood. Do you need anything?”
The voice came from someone with a pure heart, likely trying to help a neighbor with a leg disability who usually walked with crutches.
Sajun let out a rough breath.
“Hello?”
He slowly ran a hand down his face and answered in a low voice.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“…”
Did she hear him?
There was a moment of silence from Yeonwoo.
He should’ve just stayed seated on the wooden porch.
Wanting to walk again even one day sooner had been the problem that made him step outside.
“…Alright then, goodbye.”
Yeonwoo’s crestfallen voice came from beyond the wall.
According to Madam Yang, the owner of Yeonwoo’s house and Sajun’s stepmother, Yeonwoo was polite and got along well with the villagers.
Of course she would.
Yeonwoo had adapted well even in Africa, so Sajun had assumed she’d adjust here too.
Whirr—
A moment later, the sound of bike pedals spinning reached his ears.
Looking over the short wall, he saw Yeonwoo’s figure riding off into the distance.
Her fine hair fluttered behind her narrow back.
Anyone could see she was beautiful enough to turn heads, but she was far too careless.
Even if the town wasn’t exactly dangerous, walking around alone at this hour was worrisome.
Sajun leaned against the wall, waiting for Yeonwoo to return.
While waiting, his eyes swept over his run-down old house.
Unlike this place, which hadn’t been renovated at all, the house Yeonwoo lived in had been fully modernized.
His mother, Madam Yang, had meticulously decorated it so her son would live there when he returned—but instead, Yeonwoo was the one living in it.
And Sajun had moved into this worn-out empty house.
He had no intention of explaining his odd choice to his mother.
She was a sharp woman—she was probably already watching Yeonwoo closely.
Well, he didn’t mind.
His life had always gone the way he wanted, and he intended for it to continue that way.
Though sometimes life threw him off course—like when he got shot.
He’d have to prepare to be thoroughly scolded by Yeonwoo once he returned to the hospital.
Sajun looked up at the night sky, where stars were slowly appearing, and recalled the day of the incident.
*
After Yeonwoo returned to Korea, Sajun stayed behind with the remaining team members to complete their mission, spending time in the operating room.
The number of gunshot victims began increasing significantly.
That meant the conflict, which had been operating under the radar, was now escalating into the worst-case scenario.
While living each day on the edge, relieved that Yeonwoo had already gone home, war finally broke out.
It was a month before his own scheduled return to Korea.
“A full-scale battle is about to start. Unfortunately, we’ll have to evacuate.”
“What about the patients?”
“The staff here will discharge them gradually.”
Even though the situation didn’t feel real, everyone began packing.
Watching quietly, Sajun chose to stay without hesitation.
“Then I’ll stay.”
Once the battle began, the number of injured would skyrocket. Sajun, having been responsible for surgeries, knew his absence would be a major loss.
“Are you sure?”
“I still have a month left—I’ll finish my term.”
Maybe he was a little too optimistic then.
A new four-person team was formed to defend the hospital, and sure enough, the fighting began.
The sound of artillery shook the entire city.
Outside the hospital, lines of injured people formed, and even inside, there was no room left to lay down patients.
The horrors of war were gruesome.
They spent days and nights performing surgeries, and during even short breaks, went out into the chaos to bring back patients.
Each day was dangerously unpredictable.
That day was no different.
As he tried to load a bleeding patient left in the street into a vehicle, the shelling began.
Bang! Bang!
Stray bullets tore into Sajun’s chest and leg.
Thanks to his bulletproof vest, his life wasn’t in danger, but he nearly lost a leg.
He managed to return to the hospital and was immediately taken to surgery.
A bullet had struck his left lower leg, fracturing the tibia and embedding shrapnel.
He underwent emergency surgery to remove the bullet and had an external fixation procedure.
A week later, he had a second surgery to fix the tibial fracture with metal implants and closed the wound.
Afterward, Sajun returned to Korea and was admitted to Korea University Hospital.
Though he tried to keep things quiet, word had gotten out, and fellow doctors began visiting one after another.
Of course, Ryu Ikwon was no exception.
And Ikwon was still the same overprotective older brother.
“Sajun, I hate to say this while you’re injured, but… Didn’t you say your hometown was Cheongbong? You know our princess, right? Yeonwoo isn’t going where I’m posted—she’s going to Cheongbong Sarang Hospital. Can you believe it?! I don’t know what bastard seduced her, but if I ever see him, he’s dead.”
The more he talked, the angrier he got. Ikwon left the room cursing the mystery bastard like a madman.
Apparently, Yeonwoo hadn’t mentioned anything about Sajun to Ikwon. He didn’t even suspect that he was the bastard in question.
Sajun felt a bit bad watching Ikwon walk away, shoulders drooping, but didn’t correct him.
Telling the truth would only complicate things.
Though it wouldn’t be strange for Ikwon to find out anytime, Sajun decided to play dumb for now.
Even though he was hiding out like a coward, he’d show himself soon enough.
Ding, ding.
In the distance, the sound of a bike bell rang—Yeonwoo was returning.
Sajun moved from the wall to the wooden porch.
Yeonwoo, seemingly trying to provoke him, deliberately rang her bell multiple times as she passed by his gate.
At her cute act of rebellion, Sajun couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
Whether then or now, she was still just as adorable.
*
Ta-da~!
Director Hyuncheol had turned on some trot music first thing after arriving at the hospital and was hyping himself up.
Bang!
The office door suddenly burst open without a knock.
Hyuncheol, eyes closed and enjoying the music, frowned deeply at the rude interruption and opened his eyes.
“A-Ah! Father!”
The fearsome figure entering like the grim reaper was none other than his father, Beom Unbong.
Startled, Hyuncheol quickly turned off the music and stood up.
“What’s with the face? I’m not welcome here or something?”
“N-no, of course not. I just wish you’d called first…”
“Shut up and sit.”
Though he was the hospital director and chairman, Hyuncheol was more afraid of his father, the hospital’s founder, than anyone else.
“Where’s my grandson?”
Of course, it had come to this.
Who had been blabbering?
Certainly not his kind-hearted wife.
Maybe the chief of administration?
That easygoing old man was the most likely suspect.
“Where is he?!”
Even in his 80s, his roar sounded like a tiger’s.
“Goodness, Father, calm down. You’re going to give me a heart attack.”
And indeed, his heart was pounding.
“I passed the chairman’s seat to you not that long ago, and already you’re getting uppity?”
“Who said I was getting uppity!”
There was no son more obedient than him.
Maybe Sajun, his son, was different, but Hyuncheol had never once defied his father in his life.
Even when his wife suddenly passed away, he remarried Madam Yang, who had been a nurse at the time, just to follow his father’s will.
“So where’s Sajun?!”
“Goodness, Father, can you at least tell me why you’re looking for him?”
Hyuncheol decided to play dumb and feigned innocence.
