Chapter 41
Sajun stood with his arms crossed, watching what Yeonwoo was doing.
Her cheeks, flushed with excitement, looked fresh and lively.
Only moments ago, she had seemed as if her body might sink into the ground, but now energy swirled through her as if nothing had happened.
She came up to him, crouched down, and after a moment of thinking about which leg might be hurting, carefully rolled up the left pant leg.
She knew which leg was injured.
“…Ah.”
A soft sigh of pity escaped Yeonwoo’s lips when she saw the surgical scar.
To Sajun, it was a mark he had grown so used to that it no longer meant anything, but to someone seeing it for the first time, it was ugly enough to make them frown.
A shadow fell across Yeonwoo’s face, as if she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
She let out a long sigh and even looked up at him with reproach in her eyes.
Her long lashes fluttered as she blinked a few times, the corners of her eyes lifting slightly in a mischievous way.
Sajun’s gaze became fixed on her face, which looked almost miraculously lovely.
Beautiful enough to leave him dazed, Yeonwoo’s entire attention was on his leg.
It’s just a scar, nothing worth worrying about.
“…It must have hurt a lot.”
Ah, great.
Her small hands gently caressed the scar, and her eyes quickly filled with tears.
Now that was a blow to his heart.
Sajun furrowed his brows, pressing against the ache in his chest.
Had he ever seen her cry before?
“It’s nothing. It’s healed and doesn’t bother me at all.”
He tried to pull his leg away from her grasp, fumbling in a desperate attempt to comfort her.
“Yeonwoo.”
“…It’s not fine.”
“Princess.”
“Calling me that won’t change anything.”
He tried to cup her cheek and meet her gaze, but it didn’t work.
“It won’t happen again.”
“Give me your leg.”
Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Yeonwoo firmly took hold of his leg.
“Do you at least massage it?”
Then, as if she had never been crying, she looked up at him with a firm, scolding expression.
“Huh? Oh… no. Not lately…”
Her touch grew more firm as she began to work over the tight, knotted muscles.
Sajun silently looked down at her hands massaging his leg.
I’m being loved by Yeonwoo.
Her feelings came through clearly in her touch.
But this was…
His breathing quickened, his pulse racing wildly.
He knew this wasn’t the moment to feel this way, but the excitement surged to its peak.
Clenching his fists, he tensed his abs.
Damn it…
The way her hands kneaded the muscles of his injured leg almost felt like she was touching somewhere far more sensitive, and it made his head spin.
No. Absolutely not now.
Oblivious to his struggle, Yeonwoo continued the massage with even more care.
Sajun ground his teeth.
“How is it, does it feel better?”
Her long lashes, the clean, well-defined philtrum, and those small, full lips beneath — all of it doubled his excitement.
“….”
His throat felt tight as he managed only a nod.
“Alright, I’ll put the heat pack on now.”
She wrapped the warmed pack around his leg and secured it with a rubber band so it wouldn’t slip.
“All done.”
Sajun took in every bit of her with his eyes, letting out a long breath as his chest felt like it was swelling to the point of bursting.
Pleased, Yeonwoo smiled and finally straightened her back.
As she stood, his gaze followed — catching her slender waist, flat stomach, and long legs.
Everywhere he looked felt dangerous.
“Don’t overdo it. I’ll be going now.”
“Wait.”
He stopped her just as she was about to leave.
Her pupils trembled slightly, a hint of tension in them — something Sajun didn’t miss.
“My leg still hurts.”
He began scheming just to keep her with him longer.
He tilted his head slightly, the angle he knew made his face look best.
He wanted to feel that gentle touch a little longer… and, to be honest, he wanted to kiss her again.
“Oh no…”
Looking genuinely upset, Yeonwoo crouched down again and examined his leg.
She adjusted the heat pack and slipped her hand under it to check the temperature.
“Did you come back to work too soon?”
If he had known this kind of precious care was waiting, he would’ve come back much sooner.
“Sigh… Just remember you’re not alone, Master. If you break down, I break down too, you know?”
“….”
“I came to Cheongbong because you’re here. I’m here because I trust you.”
“….”
“We’ve only been dating for one day. And I didn’t even know your leg was like this… But it shouldn’t cause problems, right?”
“What kind of problems?”
“Oh, um… just… in general.”
Her cheeks flushed bright red, as if embarrassed by her own words.
Wait, is she thinking the same thing I am?
Sajun pressed a hand against his pounding chest and met her gaze.
“Ryu Yeonwoo.”
“…Y-Yes?”
She couldn’t even meet his eyes properly.
“You mean… problems in bed?”
He asked it outright.
“O-Of course it’s not that I don’t worry about that, but, well… it’s not like you do everything with your legs. There’s more than one position, and… I could be the one using the strength…”
Oh, I’m losing it.
When flustered, Ryu Yeonwoo just said whatever came to mind.
All he could see were her lips.
Sajun leaned in and captured them with his own.
“Mm!”
Startled, she almost toppled backward, but he held her firmly and bit gently at her sweet lips.
After a long moment, he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers and whispering:
“I’m good at it.”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m serious. You trust me, right?”
Yeonwoo gave a small nod.
Sajun pressed his lips to hers again, savoring her trembling breath.
He thought how nice it would be to just stay like this, doing nothing but kissing, when suddenly — his phone rang.
Yeonwoo startled and quickly pulled away, but he caught her before she could fall back.
“Careful.”
“Your phone’s ringing.”
“I know.”
It wasn’t an important call, and it rang only briefly before stopping.
Still, it was enough to break the mood that had been heating between them.
Yeonwoo smoothed out the wrinkles in her white coat and stood.
“They said you can keep the heat pack here. They know you’re the hospital director’s son. Hahaha. Anyway, I’ll leave it here. But when you’re done with it, you do have to return it to the physical therapy room, alright?”
“My leg still hurts.”
He tried again, wearing a pitiful expression to keep her close.
“Yes, so rest well before you come down. I’ll cover the patients. They say even a temple dog learns to recite poems after three years — when will it be my turn, I wonder? Hehe. Anyway, I can handle most patients myself now, so you can rest easy. It’s not like I’m alone in the ER; Jiwoong’s there too, so it’ll be fine.”
Seeing her flustered and awkward made him almost painfully happy, and Sajun let out a sigh, running a hand over his face.
“Yeonwoo.”
But she hurried out of the on-call room as if fleeing.
Bang!
She had closed the door too hard, but perhaps feeling guilty, she cracked it open again to say, “It was the wind,” then gently shut it before disappearing.
Left alone, Sajun leaned back on the sofa, tilting his body at an angle.
A small laugh escaped him.
The space Yeonwoo had just left felt empty and strangely lonely.
Rrrr, rrrr.
His phone rang again, as if telling him to get a grip.
It was a call from Ikwon.
Talk about timing.
Like a warning to stop fooling around, the ringtone blared obnoxiously.
Sajun stood, picking up two résumés from the desk — ones the administration director had brought him earlier.
Both had his name listed as a reference.
One belonged to Ryu Ikwon, the other to Jung Seyoung.
One plus two.
A miracle Yeonwoo had brought him.
“Yeah, Ikwon.”
Sajun answered in the gentlest voice he’d used in a long time.
