BC | Chapter 8

In the early morning, when the rush-hour traffic had eased, the taxi sped down the clear road and came to a stop in front of the hospital. With a bright smile, Yoo-eun’s father turned to look at the passenger seat beside him.

“Daughter, should Dad come pick you up after you’re done today?”

“No, I have a dinner party with the exhibition team and the hospital’s PR team today.”

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“Then, should I come to pick you up after the dinner?”

Yoo-eun smiled softly, her eyes crinkling slightly.

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“Dad.” she said warmly.

It was a brief call to assure him not to worry. However, her father let out a sigh, as if he just couldn’t help but be concerned.

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“But still…”

“I’ll go in on my own”

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At Yoo-eun’s firm response, only then did her father reluctantly acknowledge it with a resigned expression.

“Okay, sure. But if you can’t catch a taxi, call me, even if it’s late.”

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Yoo-eun also nodded without adding any further objections. She had an idea why her father was acting this way. It seemed that he still believed the accident that happened to her mother was his fault.

Her father, who had worked at a financial company for over 20 years, quit his job and started driving a private taxi when he heard that her mother had developed a heart condition. He made the decision because he thought a private taxi, with its flexible working hours, would be better than a company with frequent overtime for taking care of her mother’s health.

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Fortunately, her mother was among those with a good recovery after surgery. Driving her to frequent follow-up appointments, her father often felt proud, saying time and again that choosing to drive a private taxi had been the right decision.

But on that one particular day, the only day her father couldn’t pick up her mother, the accident happened.

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And Yoo-eun had to face her mother in the emergency room.

 

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     “If I had gone to pick you up, this accident wouldn’t have happened. Honey, oh honey, what do I do?”

 

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That day, her father repeatedly wailed and fainted, lamenting that he shouldn’t have listened to her mother insisting on going to the follow-up appointment alone.

Covered in the blood her mother had spilled as she was dying, and on the verge of losing her mind, Yoo-eun snapped back to reality with the thought that her father might also die at this rate.

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Her father, who had loved her mother deeply, remained bedridden for over six months even after the funeral. She tried every possible way to help him get back on his feet, but it was impossible.

 

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     “If I hadn’t gone to pick up mom, you wouldn’t be here next to me, Dad!”

 

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Finally, one day, holding her frail father, Yoo-eun burst into tears. She cried, saying that if he had gone to the hospital to pick up her mother, she might have ended up facing his injuries in the emergency room as well. Her father stared at her with a vacant expression.

The next day, her father took the taxi wheel again.

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“Yoo-eun!”

Her father called out to Yoo-eun as she was getting out of the taxi, with the passenger side window rolled down.

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“Yes, Dad.”

Yoo-eun, slightly bending her knees, looked into the car and made eye contact with her father.

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“Did Mr. Jeong Beom-woo come by to see you, by any chance?”

Because of the unexpected name that slipped from her father’s lips, Yoo-eun’s heart sank. Her father was looking at her with a gentle smile.

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Yoo-eun’s eyes widened in confusion.

Yoo-eun was the type of person who couldn’t lie. Especially in front of her father, who knew her nature well, she couldn’t bring herself to deceive him, no matter what.

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“How do you know that, Dad?”

“Oh my. Our teacher, he came by. Thank you! Mr. Jeong Beom-woo was a passenger the day before yesterday.”

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“I see.”

Yoo-eun awkwardly nodded. She had to tense the area above her eyebrows, as wrinkles were starting to form on her forehead.

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“I told him that my daughter is exhibiting here and that you should definitely go and take a look. But it seems like he even greeted you separately! Wow, how honorable!”

     “Dad, do I really have to endure this glory that’s nothing but wounds?”

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Yoo-eun couldn’t bring herself to ask the question that lingered in her mind and only gave a half-hearted smile.

“That teacher probably worked at the hospital where Mom had her surgery, right? Maybe you two even crossed paths once. It’s a kind of fate, after all.”

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It seemed that her father didn’t know that Jeong Beom-woo had been part of her mother’s surgical team. In fact, Yoo-eun had only found out by chance, so it was understandable that her father didn’t know. She only remembered the face of Professor Park Su-han, who had led the surgery, but she couldn’t remember the faces of the residents who followed him.

“Ah, I see.”

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Yoo-eun kept awkwardly nodding her head.

“So, I bragged a bit about our daughter. I told him that our daughter used to attend medical school, but now she’s working as an artist.”

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“Dad, why did you say something like that?”

After losing his spouse in the accident, her father’s focus was entirely on his daughter. Those who had ridden in her father’s taxi had probably heard him brag about his daughter at least once.

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But of all people, it had to be Jeong Beom-woo.

A deep sigh escaped.

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“Are you struggling?”

Without knowing the reason, her father looked at Yoo-eun with a sympathetic expression.

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“No, Dad. I’m just happy that I can have an exhibition like this.”

“Good. Our daughter, fighting today too!”

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As Yoo-eun quickly changed her expression and smiled, her father clenched his fist in the air and burst into a hearty laugh. Watching her father’s taxi, filled with cheerful energy, disappear into the distance, Yoo-eun let her shoulders slump.

     “Yeah, as long as Dad is happy, that’s what matters.”

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It was at that moment, as she turned toward the entrance of the hospital, thinking that way.

“Sis!”

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Jun-young, who got out of the taxi, waved his hand above his head. Yoo-eun also waved her hand back with a flutter, excited.

“Did you eat something today? I couldn’t have breakfast, but do you want to eat something together? You have anemia, you know.”

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After a moment of hesitation, Yoo-eun shook her head. Although the first performance started at noon, she didn’t feel like eating anything two hours before the performance.

“No, I just don’t want to eat.”

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As Yoo-eun entered the lobby, she suddenly felt dizzy and stopped for a moment. Then Jun-young wrapped his arm around her shoulder and scolded her.

“See? You’re dizzy because you haven’t eaten anything.”

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Yoo-eun quietly shrugged off Jun-young’s hand and muttered.

“Can you be quiet? The voices are ringing in my ears.”

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“Lean on me until we get to the exhibition hall. Do you think you can perform today?”

Whether Yoo-eun pushed him away or not, Jun-young continued to make a fuss. The back-and-forth about whether he should support her or not went on. Yoo-eun, feeling like her stomach was churning again, gave up on stopping Jun-young and took slow steps forward.

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On his way back to the hospital after attending an external conference in the morning, Beom-woo quietly stared at the back of  Yoo-eun, who was walking, practically in the arms of Jun-young.

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“They’re not dating, are they?”

The face of Shin Seong-heon, who had boasted that no one could match his instincts when it came to romance, appeared in front of his eyes. It seemed that this time, Seong-heon had been wrong again.

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“That’s definitely dating—how can you wrap your arm around someone’s shoulder if you’re not in a relationship?”

To Beom-woo, Yoo-eun, who was being supported due to dizziness, appeared to be engaging in the affectionate gestures of a romantic couple. According to Beom-woo’s understanding, a man and a woman who weren’t in a relationship couldn’t possibly stand that close to each other.

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“Fine, if they’re dating, they’re dating.”  – Beom-woo deliberately averted his gaze and muttered to himself.

“What does it have to do with me anyway? I’m just curious about why Yoo-eun suddenly quit her sub-internship.”

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     “But then, why do I feel so irritated?”

Although he wasn’t usually the type to be oblivious, he could feel himself becoming unusually sensitive these days. Beom-woo quickly decided that he needed a strong espresso to gather his scattered thoughts and walked briskly into the hospital lobby.

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＊＊＊

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Today, he performed two emergency surgeries. Skipping lunch and standing in front of the operating table all day left him with an overwhelming sense of fatigue.

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“Professor Jeong Beom-woo, are you leaving for the day?”

As he passed through the lobby, stretching his seemingly coiled shoulders, a familiar voice stopped Beom-woo in his tracks.

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The person approaching with a gentle smile was Yoo Won-il, an employee of the hospital’s public relations office.

“Oh, it’s been a while.”

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As Beom-woo greeted him casually, Won-il also smiled and gave Beom-woo’s back a friendly pat.

“How have you been lately? I’m planning to have a small drink today, would you like to join me?”

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Beom-woo’s mother and Won-il’s mother were senior and junior in high school. Although Beom-woo’s mother had passed away, their connection had continued.

“No, I’m just tired from standing all day.”

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“It’s been a while since I had a drink with you, and I thought it would be nice to have one together while also catching up.”

At Beom-woo’s refusal, Won-il clicked his tongue in disappointment.

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“While also catching up?”

“Yeah, it’s our team’s dinner gathering today.”

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At the mention of the public relations team’s dinner, Beom-woo wrinkled his face in disgust. It was a team where only heavy drinkers gathered, and they never returned home before midnight.

“Forget it. I’m tired.”

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When Beom-woo once again firmly declined, Won-il nodded as if he understood.

“Your team and you don’t quite match, do they? But today, other teams are joining in.”

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“Other teams?”

Before heading down the stairs to the executive parking lot, Beom-woo asked out of courtesy. It wasn’t a recent thing that the PR team joined forces with other teams. They were notorious for looking for sacrificial victims to get drunk with, under the pretense of expanding their network. Which team would end up being the PR team’s drinking companions today?

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“Yeah, the exhibition team from the pediatric ward.”

Beom-woo’s body, which was about to step down one more stair, tilted downward and then suddenly shot upward.

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