Chapter – 18
“W-What the hell am I supposed to do, you crazy bastard…?!”
She didn’t know he was unmarried, but she did know he was forty.
So what exactly was she supposed to do?
Watching Cheong-a fluster, Yusin snickered.
“Wanna take responsibility? Then I might let you see it one more time.”
What the hell was he even saying?
Cheong-a’s mouth fell open, her voice coming out in a stammer.
“W-What the—? You senile criminal freak, have you lost your mind?”
“Senile? …Ah, damn it.”
For a moment, Yusin failed to hide the surge of emotion on his face.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as if he were about to say something, but his lips never parted.
There was no way he could calmly explain right now that his personal information had been fabricated.
“Hah… Criminal? What crime am I supposedly guilty of? Did I do something wrong? You’re the one who attacked an innocent civilian without a warrant. Do you know what happens when a police officer assaults a civilian? You get disciplined. No—worse. You attacked a doctor in a hospital, so that’s a violation of Medical Service Act Article 12, Clause 3. Up to seven years in prison, or a fine between ten million and seventy million won. And if you caused serious injury by striking a vital point? That’s straight-up prison time for you.”
Fueled by indignation, he rambled on far longer than necessary.
“……”
Cheong-a blinked once, then twice.
At that moment, Yusin squeezed his eyes shut in a grin and wrapped his thumb and index finger around her neck, finding her carotid artery.
Then, in one swift motion, he applied pressure and cut off the blood flow.
“Sorry. I’ll tell you one of my secrets next time we meet. Deal?”
Cheong-a struggled to break free, but escaping Yusin’s large hand and sheer grip strength was no easy task.
“You psycho—! Ngh—! …Khk.”
“Sweet dreams, princess.”
“…Ah. Damn it…”
For a brief moment, Cheong-a regretted not mercilessly smashing his groin with everything she had.
But within seconds, her breath failed her, and with a dull thud, her body went slack.
Yusin kept his hold on her carotid artery for a few more seconds, then peeled off the regenerative tape from her forehead.
As expected, the wound had healed cleanly.
He looked down at her limp form with faint pity, then brushed his thumb once across her forehead.
Her smooth, unblemished skin grazed his fingertip, and once again, the corner of Yusin’s lips curved upward.
“I took responsibility, didn’t I?”
He hurried out of the on-call room.
Anyone with her level of physical conditioning would wake up in under thirty seconds.
Regaining full clarity and mobility might take a little longer—but at most, a minute or two.
Through the in-ear device came the sound of Chammae laughing so hard he was practically choking.
Yusin paused briefly with his hand on the doorknob, then strode toward his lab, irritation sharp in his voice.
“You think this is the time to laugh?”
Bursting into his lab, Yusin yanked open the last locked drawer and snapped at Chammae.
[Hey, this is hilarious. I can’t help it.]
“Where the hell is the guy who was supposed to help me? He said he’d be here soon—damn it.”
Inside the drawer was a large bag.
[Mute ran into another professor while sprinting over. I told him to intercept and keep them busy so no one hears you fighting for your life.]
“Wow. I’m touched. Truly.”
As he spoke, Yusin dug his fingernail firmly into the bridge of his nose. With a soft pop, the silicone prosthetic came loose.
He slipped his nails behind his ears as well, peeling away the silicone there. The exaggerated angles beneath his ears disappeared.
Finally, he removed the artificial front teeth attached to his real ones and tossed everything into the bag.
“Anyway, we’ve got the rendezvous location. I’m pulling out.”
[Hmm… Okay. Mute can handle things from here.]
Yusin stood and headed for the sink at the lab entrance, washing away the remaining bits of silicone from his face.
[Scalpel. Should we officially post the transfer for that professor who was on standby for Boksan University Gumi Hospital? Effective today?]
“Why are you even asking? And reroute all my scheduled patients to other professors. As for the real patients… the hospital can deal with it.”
[O-kay.]
After washing up, Yusin lifted his head and studied his reflection.
He looked like Professor Min Yusin—but cleaner, sharper.
Staring at his dripping face, he muttered,
“Now this looks more like me.”
He took one last look around the room.
After sweeping a few personal items into the bag, he hesitated briefly, then tore a sheet from a pharmaceutical company memo pad and quickly scribbled something down.
He tossed the note into the very drawer Cheong-a had struggled so hard to open, then shut it.
[Scalpel, we’re cutting it close. Shouldn’t you hurry? I’m scared the meerkat lady’s gonna come charging in swinging her baton.]
“Ah. The meerkat won’t be coming.”
[Huh?]
“Don’t forget to doctor the CCTV.”
“Gah!”
With an irritated groan, Cheong-a sprawled flat on the on-call room floor.
Her back screamed in protest, and she clutched her side, groaning and grimacing.
“Damn it! That lunatic Min Yusin! Ah—! Who cares if it swells up or bursts?! I should’ve kicked him!”
Misplaced sympathy.
Why had she let herself empathize with someone else’s body and screw everything up?
The humiliation of being taken down by a guy who couldn’t even fight properly made tears sting her eyes.
A brute with nothing but strength.
His hands—so big, so strong.
Where he’d grabbed her, her side throbbed painfully.
—Sweet dreams, princess.
The memory of his low voice whispering in her ear made heat rush to her face.
“Princess? Priiiincess?! You crazy old bastard! Agh—!”
Cheong-a sprang up and yanked hard on the door handle.
No matter how much strength she put into it, the door only rattled loudly, refusing to open.
A lock on the inside meant something was blocking it from the outside.
Compressing the carotid artery to knock someone out only takes a few seconds at most.
And in that time, Min Yusin had efficiently sealed her in and fled.
‘And he had the nerve to talk about civilians and warrants?’
Cheong-a tugged at her hair, desperately thinking of a way out.
Then her fingers brushed her forehead.
At some point, the bandage had come off—and beneath it, her skin was completely healed.
Wait. Hold on.
Hadn’t something touched her forehead earlier?
And when she’d pretended to be asleep in his office, that bastard had brought something to her lips too—
“Aaaaargh!”
She kicked the floor and screamed.
So he was a habitual pervert after all?!
After raging for a while, she looked up—only to find the on-call room door now open.
A doctor stood there, leaning weakly against the frame, dark circles under his eyes.
“….”
“….”
It looked like he’d been waiting there for some time.
“Uh… if you’re done cleaning, could I get some rest? I’ve been up all night doing emergency endoscopies. I’m exhausted…”
The doctor asked, looking on the verge of tears.
“Also, why is the handle wrapped in bandages? You wrapped it so tightly I almost couldn’t get in…”
At that, Cheong-a immediately understood why the door hadn’t opened.
“Do you think I wrapped it? While I was locked in here?”
“Ah… Right. True. Who locked you in to clean? Haha, that’s funny… Anyway, good work.”
Clearly delirious from exhaustion, the doctor shuffled inside and collapsed face-first onto the bed, instantly passed out.
Grinding her teeth, Cheong-a stormed out of the room and headed straight for Min Yusin’s lab.
‘He’s already gone, right? Damn it… what do I do?’
The corridors were filling with medical staff preparing to open the examination rooms.
“Hey, does this kind of same-day transfer even happen?”
“No idea. I’ve worked here fifteen years—never seen it before.”
Cheong-a froze as she overheard nurses passing by.
“But Professor Min was originally assigned to the Gumi hospital. He was just temporarily dispatched here because Professor Wang’s on medical leave.”
“Still, though. A transfer effective today? How are we supposed to finish all the exams?”
Professor Min?
Transferred to Gumi Hospital?
…Was that Min Yusin?
