Chapter 04
Startled by the man’s fingertip brushing against her, Ji-an quickly covered her burning ears with her hand.
“My hair was stuck,” she explained.
He raised his hands lightly, as if to say he hadn’t meant to startle her.
His tone was polite, but Ji-an felt even more nervous than before.
“…Ah, yes. Okay, then. I’ll go now.”
Feeling awkward, she quickly turned away.
She had initially planned to take the elevator, but she didn’t want to bump into him again.
More than that, her ears still burned from embarrassment, so she changed her mind. Being used to running around the hospital every day, stairs were no problem.
All the way to the blind date, her heart kept racing unusually fast.
Tae-jun stared at the briefly opening and closing emergency exit door.
“Wow, that’s fast.”
Even if she weren’t a doctor, he could believe she was a professional runner.
He looked at his own hand that had touched her.
All he had done was brush her hair out of her face, yet the feel of her skin lingered in his memory.
He had never been someone who cared about others in this way.
Why did I do that?
Frowning, he replayed his strange behavior in his mind, but found no clear explanation.
Was it jet lag? Or something wrong with my brain?
Trying to rationalize it, he turned toward the elevator. Then he noticed the bag the woman had tossed aside when saving the child.
Someone had risked their life over that designer bag, and she had left it in the hotel hallway.
Despite appearing calm, she might actually be reckless.
At least now, he had a chance to make amends.
He picked up the abandoned bag.
First, he would deal with the blind date, then find the owner later.
He entered the elevator and calmly headed to the 21st-floor lounge.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“Seo Tae-jun.”
“Oh, yes. You’re a bit late. They’re waiting for you. Please come this way.”
Tae-jun followed the lounge staff inside.
The H Hotel lounge seemed famous as a blind-date venue.
Several young couples were sitting awkwardly across from each other.
As he walked past a pair deep in small talk, one woman by the window caught his eye like a single beam of light.
It was her.
Hong Ji-an, the ER doctor from Hanyeong Hospital who had disappeared into the emergency exit earlier.
The owner of the bag he was carrying.
Was it the sunlight?
Somehow, she seemed to shine differently from everyone else.
But her expression looked more serious than during the earlier emergency.
Or… was she angry?
Looking down, she scrunched her nose and bit her lip.
Her face was clearly frustrated, but somehow, with every scrunch, she looked cute—like a little animal.
Was she waiting for the blind date and the man didn’t show?
Tae-jun paused, struck by the thought.
He hadn’t even checked the blind date’s name or photo, but he remembered his mother emphasizing that she was a busy resident.
Could it really be… her?
If she was a Hanyeong Hospital doctor, the possibility was high.
They say repeated coincidences are destiny…
He had never believed that before, but now it felt strangely real.
An unusual connection, maybe.
Her strong first impression made it feel fresh, like discovering something new.
A thrilling shiver ran through his whole body, and his mind felt alive.
Even the veins on the back of his hand gripping her bag stood out.
If he went to greet her now, would she react with wide-eyed surprise again?
Tae-jun felt an involuntary thrill and started walking toward her.
Then—
“Sir, this way, please.”
The staff stopped and gestured toward another table.
Tae-jun’s expression stiffened.
Hong Ji-an wasn’t his blind date.
Looking properly, another man was already sitting across from her.
When he reached the table the staff indicated, a completely different woman smiled at him.
“Hello, I’m Cha Bo-kyung.”
“…Seo Tae-jun.”
He spoke stiffly as he sat down.
“I had a small accident, so I’m late.”
“That’s fine, it happens. I understand. I’m a resident at Hanyeong Hospital, second year in Family Medicine.”
She was also a doctor at Hanyeong Hospital.
But she was completely different from Hong Ji-an.
Her short hair was perfectly styled, makeup flawless, wearing a feminine dress. She looked like any ordinary woman at a social event.
Ji-an’s boldness aside, Tae-jun felt nothing—just annoyance.
“Oppa?”
“Oppa?”
The word grated on him.
“Don’t you remember meeting me before?”
“I don’t.”
His expression grew colder.
“I’m disappointed. I was expecting to meet you today… We met five years ago at the Hanyeong Group year-end party. My father had just been assigned as a director at Hanyeong Electronics, so I attended with him.”
“Ah, Director Cha Dong-woon’s daughter of Hanyeong Electronics.”
“Yes. Now you remember?”
Of course he didn’t.
He only knew one director named Cha Dong-woon at Hanyeong Electronics.
Bo-kyung smiled, glancing at the bag Tae-jun still held.
“But, what’s with the bag?”
“I picked it up on the way here.”
He answered slowly, feeling an odd thirst he couldn’t explain.
“Oh? You just pick up bags?”
Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Where? From a department store? To give as a gift?”
No way.
Tae-jun’s grip on the bag tightened.
Since he had found the owner, it made sense to return it immediately.
There could be valuables inside, and she didn’t seem particularly interested in him either.
Maybe she wanted someone to help her.
Thinking this, Tae-jun raised his eyebrows in surprise at his own reaction.
It annoyed him.
The strange feeling kept stirring his nerves.
The afternoon sunlight in the H Hotel lounge was dazzling.
Ji-an was exhausted.
Her whole body felt warm and heavy, making her slump further in her seat.
She fought to suppress a yawn while the man in front of her kept talking nonstop.
“Actually, I’m not someone who waits for others. Hong Ji-an is the first woman who made me wait. Annoying, but I’ll generously forgive her.”
Yes, yes. Do as you like.
Ji-an barely held back her rolling eyes.
The man, fifteen years older than her, was the most arrogant and shameless blind date she had ever met.
“Actually, I have a special knack for investing. They call me the golden touch. Everything I touch turns to gold. If I invest in Dongsan Hospital, it will immediately thrive. Just by looking at you, Ji-an, I think I could invest.”
Unbelievable.
It felt less like a blind date and more like a fake investment consultation.
She didn’t even have time to apologize for being late.
The man rambled endlessly about himself.
“You specialize in the ER? Why bother doing that? I’ll open a cosmetic hospital in Gangnam for you.”
How could he not understand emergency medicine?
He didn’t even know the basics about residents or medical work.
“All foreigners line up with stacks of cash for Korean plastic surgery. They love it to death, I tell you, they love it!”
His words became more ridiculous, and Ji-an’s irritation grew.
“I heard from your grandmother that your hobby is like pouring water into a bottomless pot?”
What was that about?
“Throwing money at a hopeless mom, apparently. Ah, that was grandmother’s words, not mine. Haha.”
The man’s mocking tone made Ji-an’s eyes turn icy.
