Chapter 50
With the arrival of Ikwon and Seyoung, Yeonwoo’s daily life changed significantly.
Especially after work—those hours were no longer hers alone.
As usual, they all gathered for dinner together.
“Get some rest, everyone.”
“Yeonwoo, make sure to lock the doors.”
After helping clean up, Sajun and Ikwon left Yeonwoo’s place, offering the same farewell as always.
Just before exiting the front door, Sajun turned around and locked eyes with Yeonwoo.
His lingering gaze wandered over her face.
Yeonwoo, too, found it hard to say goodbye—but tomorrow would come.
“Take care.”
She smiled brightly as she bid him farewell.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go. Why are you just standing there? Let’s go.”
Pressed by Ikwon, Sajun chuckled.
He really was impossible.
After the two left, Seyoung stood up and headed into the kitchen.
“Why? Do you need something?”
Yeonwoo asked, and Seyoung checked something before rushing over.
“Master Beom is seriously amazing.”
“What do you mean?”
It wasn’t like he hadn’t done impressive things before, but she was curious about what triggered that comment.
“I mean, it’s on another level compared to when Ikwon did the dishes. The sink is sparkling!”
Sajun had been on dish duty tonight.
“Well, that’s just how he is. You can tell a lot from a small action. He never does anything half-heartedly.”
“So you like that? Do you?”
Seyoung clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, I love it.”
“Good. At least one of us is doing well in love.”
“You’ll meet a good guy too. Though… I’m not sure if he’ll be in Cheongbong.”
“There probably isn’t anyone as good as Se-gwon, right?”
“…Segwon isn’t exactly a ‘good guy,’ is he? More like a bad boy.”
“Hehe. Bad boys are always the most tempting.”
Seyoung still hadn’t gotten over Segwon, it seemed. Every now and then, like today, she would bring him up.
It’s not like anything even happened between them, yet she remained remarkably consistent.
“Yeonwoo, want to eat some watermelon?”
“Watermelon?”
“Yeah.”
They had just eaten dinner, but since Seyoung said she wanted some, Yeonwoo couldn’t say no.
“I’ll get it.”
“Thanks!”
Yeonwoo diligently cut up the watermelon for her friend. When she brought out a plate full of slices, Seyoung practically lunged at it.
“Wow, this is delicious! So sweet!”
“It’s really ripe.”
“You should eat some too!”
“Okay.”
She briefly thought about bringing some to the neighbors but gave up just as quickly.
It was obvious she’d just be using it as an excuse to see Sajun.
And who knew how Ikwon would react?
“Oh, it’s raining.”
Seyoung shouted while looking out the window.
It wasn’t just a drizzle—it was pouring, sheets of rain pounding down from the sky.
“What’s with this rain…?”
“Maybe it’s the monsoon season? It’s coming down like crazy.”
“You cold, Young-ah? Want me to turn up the AC?”
“Nope. It’s perfect right now.”
“Then… I’m going to go rest. That okay?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna watch a movie before bed.”
“Don’t be late tomorrow. Sleep early.”
“Got it. No worries.”
Recently, the number of emergency surgery patients had surged.
It felt like the paramedics were sending all their patients to Cheongbong, and the ER was overflowing with all sorts of cases.
As a result, the ER staff were barely holding up, even if they had three or four bodies to share the work.
On top of that, when she came home from work, Ikwon and Sajun would show up for dinner, turning her once lonely life at Cheongbong into something busy and far from peaceful.
So she had to rest whenever she could.
Yeonwoo laid down on her bed.
Then again, when was she finally going to use those?
Whenever she was alone with Sajun at the hospital, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, but nothing had progressed past kissing yet.
Ugh…
As Yeonwoo drifted into sleep, that was all she could think about.
“Yeonwoo, wake up. Something’s wrong.”
She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep when Seyoung shook her awake.
“What? What is it? An emergency patient?”
Yeonwoo mumbled as she rubbed her eyes, startled.
“No, but it’s still an emergency. The whole village is in chaos.”
Yeonwoo sat up in bed.
“What happened with the villagers?”
“Don’t you hear that?”
She focused and could make out people shouting outside, telling everyone to come out.
It sounded like they were knocking on every door and yelling—something must have happened.
Even the occasional police siren could be heard.
Yeonwoo ran to the front door.
“…Oh.”
Rain was pouring like the sky had been ripped open.
“Evacuate before the stream overflows!”
Someone was shouting as they went around waking people up.
Her trauma from the flood in Sutan a year ago came rushing back.
Bang! Bang!
People banged on doors, shouting for others to come out.
Yeonwoo quickly ran out the gate.
A city official holding a flashlight was pounding on doors and shouting for everyone to evacuate to the community center.
A narrow ditch ran outside the front gate, connecting to the nearby stream.
The ditch was already overflowing onto the sidewalk, and water was up to her ankles.
“Grab your valuables and head to the community center. It should be safe there.”
“Yes, sir.”
Standing in the rain, Yeonwoo didn’t know what to do. She stared at the rising water around her ankles.
Then the gate next door opened, and Ikwon and Sajun emerged.
“Doctor! Oppa!”
Somehow, Sajun had found a yellow raincoat and draped it over Yeonwoo.
“The hospital might be better than the community center. Can you drive?”
“What?”
“Take Seyoung and go to the hospital. We might need to help out here, so we’ll go to the community center.”
“W-We want to go to the community center too. Let’s go together.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Let’s go together.”
“Then go back inside, change clothes, and grab a raincoat. Give this one to Seyoung.”
Sajun handed her a spare raincoat.
Yeonwoo took it and ran back inside.
Seyoung was frantically stuffing things into a suitcase.
Mostly food, though.
“Young-ah, put your raincoat on first. We’re heading to the community center.”
“What about the suitcase?”
“Put what you need in a backpack instead.”
“Got it.”
Yeonwoo quickly changed into dry clothes, grabbed an emergency medical kit, stuffed it into her bag, and stepped back outside.
The two of them, now wearing yellow raincoats, left the house hoping the water wouldn’t rise any higher.
“Yeonwoo, wait a sec—ack!”
Ikwon was struggling to carry sandbags to the front gate.
“What are you doing?”
“Move them to the front door. Let’s block any gaps so water can’t get in.”
“Got it.”
Yeonwoo and Seyoung helped carry the sandbags and stacked them by the front entrance.
“Seriously, a stream overflowing? This kind of thing only happens in places like Sutan.”
“Well, we do have floods during monsoon season sometimes.”
“I guess, but still…”
“Oppa, are we going to the community center now?”
“Wait a bit. Sajun’s bringing a vehicle.”
“Okay.”
Vroom, rumble, rumble…
Suddenly, the ground shook with the loud chugging of an engine, and the three turned toward the sound.
Sajun was approaching with a tractor, the back bed loaded with elderly villagers.
“Wow, so cool! I’ve never ridden a tractor before!”
Seyoung shouted excitedly.
Yeonwoo felt the same.
She stared at Sajun, who looked amazing doing even something like this.
“Wait, I thought he was bringing a car…”
SPLASH!
In the downpour, the rusty tractor clattered along, flinging muddy water everywhere.
“Hop on.”
“Ah, yes!”
The seniors sitting huddled in the back greeted them warmly.
“Come on, everyone! This blasted rain, huh?”
“Hello!”
“Hello! Are you all feeling okay?”
They exchanged greetings as they climbed aboard.
Sitting tightly packed in the cramped trailer, Yeonwoo looked at Sajun’s back.
He gripped the wheel and drove forward steadily—it was impressive, but she couldn’t help smiling.
The tractor rumbled forward through the storm, unwavering.
And whenever they spotted someone walking alone, they gave them a ride.
…but had the tractor previously hauled cow manure?
That smell…
Seyoung and Ikwon, stuck right next to each other, were pinching their noses and trying not to gag.
