《How to Tame a Bad-tempered Professor》 Chapter 1 Episode 1. I Want to KissTL: Sisona The loud music was thumping, pounding her heart. Although she was normally quiet and calm, preferring quiet places, she did not refuse Seunghee¡¯s suggestion to go to the club today. Perhaps after daily life surrounded by the blank white walls of the hospital, she wanted to feel a sense of liberation for at least a day. From tomorrow, her hellish life as a resident would begin. She could think of the next four years as having no freedom. So it seemed like she needed to run out of the hospital today and fully enjoy her last bit of freedom to gather the strength to endure the next four years. ¡°You¡¯ve already rejected three times in one hour. You¡¯re going to set a record today.¡± Seunghee shook her head as she watched the man walk after refusing her proposal to join their table. Nayoung kept drinking without caring. Today, she just wanted to enjoy her drink. She had no intentions of meeting a man. What¡¯s the point of trying a new relationship here when starting tomorrow, the resident¡¯s schedule would not even allow time to sleep, let alone date? She was also not the sociable type who could easily converse with strangers. ¡°We¡¯re already twenty-seven. When the residency ends, we¡¯ll be over thirty. Maybe today is your last chance to meet a decent man in your twenties. Are you really not interested?¡± ¡°So, are you sure a club is the place to meet a decent man?¡± ¡°In my eyes, handsome men, fun-loving men, rich men, they¡¯re all here. If I were as pretty as you, I would go straight to the man I like and ask him to dance.¡± Seunghee, whose only hobby was reading romance novels, probably came to the club today dreaming of a romantic encounter, so Nayoung just listened to her talk with a smile. While Seunghee was checking out the men around her, she noticed someone and quickly tapped Nayoung¡¯s shoulder with her hand. ¡°Oh my, oh my, what¡¯s happening!¡± Her hand was quite harsh, so Nayoung squinted one eye and looked at Seunghee. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I know that man. He¡¯s the film director Cha Hyun! Oh my God. The women next to him are so beautiful too. Could they be actresses?¡± If it¡¯s film director Cha Hyun, Nayoung also heard his name through the media. He was a young film director who was rising rapidly, being called a genius director with just two films. Nayoung looked in the direction Seunghee was pointing to. There was a room with glass walls set in a high place that required climbing stairs. Everyone gathered in the room looked sophisticated and fashionable. But the person who caught her eye was not the film director Cha Hyun, but the man next to him. From her seat, she could only see his back, but that very sight brought back a long-forgotten memory. The back of a male student sweating after taking off his tiger mask. The frustration of trying to call him but not being able to voice out. It had already been 17 years. This was the first time she had remembered that moment just by seeing someone¡¯s back, and Nayoung couldn¡¯t take her eyes off the man¡¯s back. Thump, thump, thump. Her heart, pounding to the beat of the music, sent another vibration through her body. The moment the man she had been watching turned his head, she sprang up from her seat, turned around, and quickly said to Seunghee, ¡°I¡¯m going to the bathroom.¡± ¡°Shall I go with you?¡± ¡°No.¡± Nayoung hurriedly left the spot, and Seunghee was engrossed in posting on SNS that she had seen film director Cha Hyun. *** Taehyuk turned his head and looked down. It had been three years since he returned to Korea. The jet lag hadn¡¯t settled yet, so night felt like day, and day felt like night. If it weren¡¯t for his 20-year-old friend Cha Hyun calling him out to celebrate his return, he would have been sleeping at home. He was already tired, and now he had been brought to this noisy club. Through his complaining gaze, he spotted the back of a woman walking through the crowd. The woman in the plain white blouse and jeans stood out more than the women in flashy outfits, under the club¡¯s bright lights. Her long, slender neck under her tied-up hair was elegant like a ballerina¡¯s, and her delicate, curvy body maintained a dignified posture even amidst the loud music. Her face¡­¡­ Judging by how the men around her couldn¡¯t take their eyes off her as she passed, she must have been pretty. Hoping to catch a glimpse of her face if she turned her head, Taehyuk continued to stare. He wasn¡¯t expecting much, but he couldn¡¯t easily look away. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Cha Hyun poked his arm, noticing his attention elsewhere. He had specially arranged this gathering for Taehyuk, who had returned to Korea after a long time. It was the hottest club these days, and the women he had invited were celebrities with both beauty and fame. He had created a perfect atmosphere for Taehyuk to enjoy and have fun, but Taehyuk, the main character of the day, was looking bored, leaving Cha-hyun dissatisfied. ¡°Is the director¡¯s friend of a reticent nature?¡± Since Taehyuk wasn¡¯t talking, the women asked about him through Cha Hyun. This was already a failure, Cha Hyun thought, looking at Taehyuk with displeasure. Was it so hard to just have fun at the club? ¡°I¡¯m going to the bathroom.¡± S~?a??h the ??v?l_Fir?.?et website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. As Taehyuk was about to get up and leave his seat, Cha Hyun admonished him. ¡°Come back within 10 minutes.¡± Cha Hyun anxiously watched Taehyuk, who left without answering. He wouldn¡¯t run away, would he? If it wasn¡¯t for the other guests he had invited, Cha Hyun would have followed Taehyuk all the way to the bathroom. *** When her mother called while she was at the club, Nayoung was greatly flustered. Since she had the image of a model eldest daughter at home, her parents would never even think of her going to a club. Especially if her father found out, it would be a big problem. Nayoung boldly pressed the end button. Because it seemed like not answering the call was the right thing to do at that moment. She let out a short sigh and was raising her head when she noticed a man walking towards her and stopped in her tracks. ¡°We meet again.¡± He was the man whose table she refused to join. It was annoying because it didn¡¯t seem like a coincidence but rather like he intentionally followed her. ¡°You keep refusing to join and you don¡¯t dance. What¡¯s the point of coming to the club then?¡± Nayoung tried to walk past the man without answering, but he grabbed her arm. ¡°Let go.¡± Her face immediately turned cold as she refused, but the man did not let go, smiling instead. ¡°You keep doing that and I¡¯ll get angry. I¡¯m just trying to have a conversation. Why are you so sensitive?¡± She tried to shake off the man¡¯s hand with force, but it didn¡¯t come off as if glued. ¡°Don¡¯t look down on people just because you think you¡¯re pretty. Girls like you always need to be pushed to listen.¡± Nayoung felt nauseated by the man¡¯s uncivilized behavior, which had crossed a line. She regretted following her friend Seunghee to the club. ¡°Guys like you need to be pushed to listen too.¡± Another man¡¯s voice interrupted, firmly gripping the wrist of the man who had been holding her. Only then did the hand that was holding her arm let go. The man grimaced in pain and angrily shouted at Taehyuk. ¡°Let go!¡± However, when Taehyuk applied more force, the man whimpered and begged. ¡°Ah! I¡¯m, I¡¯m sorry. Please let me go!¡± Nayoung looked in surprise at Taehyuk, who had suddenly appeared. The dark blue suit he was wearing was certainly the one worn by the man who had been with film director Cha Hyun just a while ago. The man whose back she had been looking at was even more handsome from the front. His long, clear eyes were elegant beneath his smooth eyebrows, and the brown pupils set within them shone like gems. His prominent nose and sleek jawline harmonized perfectly, exuding masculinity from his face. He was an unusually handsome man. However, her heart was not fluttering as it had been when she saw his back. His face was just stranger to her. As soon as Taehyuk let go, the man cursed under his breath and ran away. When Taehyuk, who had been watching the fleeing man, turned his head and looked at her, Nayoung didn¡¯t avoid his gaze. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Taehyuk¡¯s mouth twitched into a brief smile. The woman, who he had only seen from the back, was indeed beautiful. Her fair skin glowed like porcelain, and her black pupils were refreshing and clear. Her straight nose and round face held the elegant charm of an oriental beauty. Taehyuk, who had a personality that made it hard to get close to anyone, felt quite an odd sensation when he saw her face. It was familiarity. When had he seen her before? ¡°That guy might come back with his friends.¡± Nayoung, thinking of the fleeing man¡¯s friends, warned Taehyuk. ¡°I have friends too.¡± ¡°But if a celebrity gets into a fight in a place like this¡­¡­¡± Nayoung, who knew that his companion was film director Cha Hyun, suddenly closed her mouth mid-sentence, realizing she had inadvertently let slip that she had been secretly watching him. Taehyuk also noticed that she already knew about his group, and his eyes narrowed. Unlike him, Cha Hyun had a sociable personality and was popular with girls since childhood. He had never been jealous of that, but suddenly, he was irritated by it. ¡°I need to check on my friend, so I should go.¡± Nayoung hurriedly moved to avoid him and walked down the hallway. But she felt like someone was following her and when she looked to the side, he was walking right behind her. ¡°You go first.¡± She thought he was going to his group. ¡°No, I¡¯m going with you.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Nayoung¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. The man¡¯s calm gaze met hers, as if she was startled over nothing. ¡°I think it¡¯s right to take responsibility since I got involved in someone else¡¯s business.¡± Is this man saying he¡¯s going to take responsibility for me? A statement from a man she met less than 5 minutes ago threw Nayoung into confusion. Taehyuk looked around for the man who had been pestering Nayoung earlier. He intended to be by her side in case that man reappeared and bothered her again, at least until they left the club. When she returned to their seats, Seunghee was nowhere to be seen. Nayoung hurriedly looked around for Seunghee and spotted her dancing on the main stage. Nayoung decided to wait until Seunghee finished dancing, as she seemed to be having fun dancing with strangers. When Nayoung turned her head, she was startled to find a man sitting in Seunghee¡¯s place. He was sitting on the sofa as if it was his spot from the beginning, looking at her. Nayoung turned her gaze to the room where he had been originally, and she heard his voice. ¡°Cha Hyun won¡¯t be coming.¡± Nayoung, who didn¡¯t understand why he was saying that, looked at him again. Taehyuk teased her with a smirk. ¡°You look disappointed.¡± Without a word, Nayoung filled his glass with beer. ¡°I¡¯ll repay you for helping me earlier with this drink.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, a beer won¡¯t be enough.¡± At his words, Nayoung looked troubled. ¡°I haven¡¯t received my paycheck yet, so I don¡¯t have much money.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have a friend who has a lot of money.¡± After saying this, he called the waiter and ordered a really expensive bottle of liquor. glug glug glug Staring at the amber-colored liquor filling into her glass, Nayoung swallowed hard. She had come here to drink tonight, but never expected to drink such luxurious liquor. Taehyuk pushed the glass of alcohol towards her. ¡°Try it.¡± Nayoung alternated her gaze between the liquor and his face. When she hesitated to drink, Taehyuk picked up his own glass and drank first. ¡°There¡¯s nothing in the drink.¡± She didn¡¯t know who he was, but he didn¡¯t seem like someone who would harm her. Could it be because his figure from behind reminded her of that Oppa from 17 years ago? She didn¡¯t feel a repulsion from his gaze, and she felt a sense of comfort from his voice. The prickly thorns she always held up were gradually softening. Nayoung lifted the glass with both hands.. Just before drinking, she looked into his eyes. The smooth curve of the man¡¯s smile caused a tickle in her heart. Then, the alcohol that flowed into her body warmed her. Only then could she truly feel a sense of liberation. She had 12 hours left until her freedom ended. *** Getting drunk was not as unpleasant as she thought, but rather, the tension in her body and mind disappeared. And the man in front of her didn¡¯t feel like a stranger anymore. It was absurd but not unpleasant that she had more conversations with him, who she met for the first time today, than the colleagues she had seen for several years. She didn¡¯t even know his name. Since they would never meet again after today, she deliberately didn¡¯t ask, and likewise, didn¡¯t tell him her name. As long as the alcohol they were drinking together at the moment was satisfying, that was enough. Now, she had 10 hours left of her free time. ¡°What would you do now if the end of the world was coming in 10 hours?¡± At her apocalyptic question, the man smirked. ¡°Is my question childish?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s cute.¡± Since Nayoung thought he was teasing, she ignored him and picked up her glass of alcohol. She asked because she didn¡¯t want to just say goodbye and part ways. Yeah, let¡¯s keep it moderate. Wishing too much from a person she met and will part with on the same day was not right. ¡°I want to kiss.¡± Startled. Nayoung, who was about to put the glass of alcohol to her lips, moved only her eyeballs to look at the man sitting in front of her. He was looking straight at her, resting his chin. ¡°With a woman whose name I don¡¯t even know.¡± At first curiosity, then a protective instinct, then a sense of familiarity, and instinctively, desire. The various emotions caused by her shook Taehyuk¡¯s numb heart. She was like a spark recklessly thrown into his heart. ***** TL Notes: Hi Everyone ????, It¡¯s my first time translating a novel so please let me know if you find any mistakes or issues with my translations. I plan to release 3 chapters each week for this novel, or maybe more depending on my free time. Enjoy!!! ???????? ***** Discord Server: https://discord.gg/woopread Chapter 2 - One Night Stand Episode 2. One Night StandTL: Sisona The moment she heard the man say he wanted to kiss her, Nayoung felt a dizzying vertigo. It must have been the alcohol she had drunk, to the point of intoxication. She wanted to deny that it was absolutely not because of this man. ¡°I think I need to go home now.¡± Her survival instinct kicked in as she started to feel anxious. She quickly got up from her seat, but her body swayed heavily. Nayoung, who did not expect to be so drunk that her body wouldn¡¯t listen, was greatly taken aback. His hand had firmly grabbed her arm without her realizing it. Because she had just shown a pitiable appearance, Nayoung couldn¡¯t ask him to let her go and instead looked up at him. The man standing in front of her was much more overwhelming than when they were sitting face-to-face. It was amazing how she could look at this man and remember her old faded memories like an old photo album. There was no way he was the same person. She didn¡¯t even want him to be the same person. Because it would turn into a tremendous relationship that she couldn¡¯t handle. Since they were only meant to meet and part on this day, Nayoung decided not to ask him anything. ¡°Are you really going to go now?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s my first day at work tomorrow, so I can¡¯t be late.¡± Taehyuk also had his first day at work tomorrow. However, he didn¡¯t want to part with her yet. However, she didn¡¯t even seem to want to tell him her name. So he stubbornly didn¡¯t tell his name either, but he lost that resolve at the last moment. ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious about my name?¡± At his question, her pupils widened slightly. But soon, she laughed and nodded her head. So effortlessly. That struck his pride deeply. He had never clung to someone who said they were leaving, nor did he want to. Taehyuk immediately let go of her arm. ¡°Okay then. Take care.¡± Taehyuk turned his body away from her first. And he headed for the place where he should have been. Come to think of it, the girls that Cha Hyun brought today were prettier, and they knew how to have fun. It was a much better option, except for the fact that they couldn¡¯t make him feel anything. As he tried to rationalize it and was about to go up the stairs, someone from behind grabbed his hand. Turning his head to look behind, Taehyuk felt a sense of relief upon seeing her, who had followed him. But she didn¡¯t follow him because she wanted to hold onto him as he was leaving. ¡°That guy from earlier is back.¡± Looking in the direction she pointed, sure enough, the guy from before was staring in their direction with a group of his friends. He must have been waiting for them to part. He had promised to ensure her safety first. And Taehyuk still felt the same, so he turned back and came back down the stairs. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you.¡± Taehyuk left the club with her. Once outside, the pounding music disappeared and was replaced by the noise of the city. Taehyuk even helped her hail a taxi. In the end, the last thing he heard from her was a word of gratitude. ¡°Thank you.¡± Taehyuk didn¡¯t like those words, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Nayoung couldn¡¯t look him straight in the eye and lowered her gaze. If the taxi driver hadn¡¯t rushed them, they might have stood facing each other in silence for a long time. Thump. As he closed the taxi door for her, the taxi immediately took off. Taehyuk stared at the departing taxi for a long time before taking out his phone and calling Cha Hyun. -You said you¡¯d be here in 10 minutes, but do you know how many hours have passed? As soon as he picked up, Cha Hyun scolded him. Hearing Cha Hyun¡¯s familiar voice, his meeting with the woman felt like a dream. ¡°How do you woo a woman? The woman had already left, but Taehyuk asked Cha Hyun a question to correct his flaws now. -What? ¡°You¡¯re good at it.¡± It seemed like what he couldn¡¯t do today was due to a lack of skills. -If I teach you, do you have a woman to woo? ¡°She was here, but she left.¡± -Hahaha. Hearing about his epic failure, Cha Hyun laughed heartily. He thought it was funny, too. That he was talking like this to Cha Hyun. He, Choi Tae-hyuk, who was rejected by a woman. -Where are you? I¡¯ll come to you. ¡°In front of the club.¡± He was staring blankly at the night view of Seoul while waiting for his longtime friend instead of the woman who left, when a taxi stopped across the street. Watching a woman get out of the taxi, Taehyuk slowly stood up. It was still a chilly night closer to winter than spring, but watching the woman cross the street towards him made warmth spread inside his body. S~?a??h the ??v?lF?re.?et website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. Today, Taehyuk had experienced many emotions through her, but at this moment, it was hard to put a name to what he was feeling. She came back, and he was happy, but that wasn¡¯t all. A deeper and more colorful emotion stirred within him. ¡°Did you really wait here, thinking I¡¯d come back?¡± Nayoung couldn¡¯t help but keep looking back at him from the taxi. When she could no longer see his figure, her heart felt unbearably stifled. If he had held onto her until the end, she might have been able to leave without hesitation. But because he didn¡¯t, Nayoung was left with more regrets. She only had a few hours left of freedom, and since her freedom hadn¡¯t ended yet, Nayoung found it hard to resist her impulses. In the end, she turned the car around and came back to him. She wanted to do as she pleased until she had to go back to the hospital. So that when she thought about his face over the next four years, she wouldn¡¯t be left with regrets. *** As the warm March morning sunlight poured onto her face, Nayoung squinted and opened her eyes. Feeling bewildered as the unfamiliar hotel room view entered her sight, Nayoung felt wide awake. Nayoung slowly turned her head to look at the person beside her. A man was lying there. The naked body of the man, even more elastic and beautiful in the bright light, looked like the statue of David1. Nayoung held her breath, so that he wouldn¡¯t wake up, and looked at his sleeping face. If she had taken the taxi and gone straight back to the hospital, she would never have seen this face, which made her feel strange. Last night, the two of them moved to a quieter place and had a second round of drinks. As she got more drunk, she laughed more, and the man looked increasingly handsome. No, it wasn¡¯t an illusion, he was really handsome. The man was determined to seduce her, but how could she, who had no immunity to him, resist him to the end? There were gaps in her memory, so Nayoung doubted if it really happened to her. But the sight of the two people lying naked on the bed was undeniable proof. She spent the night with a man she met for the first time yesterday. She wasn¡¯t naive enough to believe in a fate-bound love. The two had been drunk enough to lose control, and they were merely loyal to each other¡¯s desires. Blaming someone else was also a meaningless deviation. Starting today, a hellish residency awaited her. She couldn¡¯t even dream of dating. So, the deviation should end here. She had to part ways with this man here. Even if this moment became the last time she saw him, Nayoung had no other choice. ¡°If we meet again in 4 years, I¡¯ll tell you my name then.¡± She made a one-sided promise to the man who was asleep and didn¡¯t hear her, dressed herself, and left the hotel. It was time to return to the hospital. *** Today, something more exciting and grand happened at Hanyang University Hospital than the start of the first year residents¡¯ duties. A renowned surgeon, recognized at the Cleveland Clinic in the U.S., had returned to his alma mater, Hanyang University Hospital. They said he was a legend who made a name for himself during his residency, but Nayoung, who had just started her residency, found it hard to believe. Being a resident, it would be a relief just not to make mistakes. It was impossible to become a perfect doctor right after losing the intern tag. Knowing how much time and effort it takes to train one doctor, Nayoung felt the new professor, who had been successful from the start, was a bit like a con artist. It must surely be an exaggerated rumor. ¡°I saw you with that guy and immediately made way for you, right? It went well?¡± Seunghee, who disappeared first at the club yesterday, asked about the man as soon as she sat down next to her. Nayoung¡¯s heart pounded for a moment, but she immediately shrugged it off and said, ¡°Nothing happened.¡± She had caused the biggest accident in her life, but she couldn¡¯t even tell her best friend Seunghee. If Seunghee knew, it would be even harder to forget. Her freedom was over now. So, she had to stop thinking about the man whose name she didn¡¯t even know. ¡°Really? He seemed like such a really nice guy.¡± Seunghee pushed up her glasses and regretted not being able to see the man¡¯s face properly since she didn¡¯t wear her glasses yesterday. Nayoung just laughed it off. Fortunately, Seunghee didn¡¯t bring up the man from the club anymore. Instead, she turned her attention to the love stories among the hospital¡¯s fellow doctors. Seunghee slapped Nayoung¡¯s arm and pointed at a beautiful female doctor sitting in front. ¡°Today¡¯s new professor and Professor Yoon I-na, were once a famous couple. Doesn¡¯t Professor Yoon look a little excited today?¡± She managed to date while leading an excellent residency life? Nayoung felt down today when the image of a handsome man she had to give up on while coming to the hospital came to mind. However, unlike the legendary professor, she wasn¡¯t cut out to handle both her resident life and love life well at the same time. Both would become a mess. So she told herself again that breaking up with the nameless man was the right thing to do. ¡°If they had been apart for so long, they must have broken up by now.¡± Nayoung responded cynically. Just as she had accepted reality and missed out on a wonderful man, they must have been the same. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be more affectionate if they met after a long time? Wow! It¡¯s like a total drama.¡± Seunghee was already deeply engrossed in other people¡¯s love affairs and letting her imagination run wild. Nayoung was a little envious of Seunghee, who looked happy just from hearing other people¡¯s love stories. Nayoung, who was sleep-deprived, leaned her body against the chair and closed her eyes for a moment. Although her heart felt hollow and empty, she tried to ignore it. As the conference room, which was bustling, quieted down as though someone had died, Nayoung realized through her hearing that the legendary professor had arrived. She slowly opened her eyes. As the pitch darkness lifted, the view of the conference room came back into her sight. Surgery Department Head Park In-ho was standing at the podium, and a tall man was standing next to him. He was a young, new professor who had flown in from the Cleveland Clinic. He wore a white doctor¡¯s gown that gave a good impression to anyone, but his imposing aura was not hidden at all. The new professor looked not as if he had come to save people in this hospital, but as if he had come to conquer the hospital. The moment she saw the confident and handsome face of the new professor, Nayoung¡¯s pupils constricted sharply. At first, she thought she was dreaming with her eyes open. If this was reality, Nayoung was not confident that she could handle it. It was him. The man she had spent the night with. She had coolly parted, promising to meet again four years later, but they ran into each other in the hospital before even a day had passed. Moreover, he had suddenly appeared in front of her as a high-ranking professor. This wasn¡¯t a fateful meeting; it was a disaster. She had to undergo training under that man who had seen her entire body? Nayoung¡¯s face turned pale, and her mind went blank. ¡°Since the residents are seeing you for the first time, introduce yourself formally.¡± Regardless of her, who was turning pale in her seat, the introduction of the new professor flowed smoothly. He stepped forward and opened his mouth for the first time. In a confident voice filled with absolute authority, unlike the tender voice from last night. ¡°I will be working in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery department from now on, my name is Choi Tae-hyuk.¡± It was a name he hadn¡¯t told her, a name she had thought it better not to know, but now that she knew even his name, she could not deny that this situation was reality. The man from that night was infiltrating her daily life without permission and confirming her worst fear. ¡°You¡¯re screwed,¡± she thought. ¡°Look, look. Professor Yoon¡¯s expression completely changed the moment Professor Choi appeared.¡± Seunghee was still deeply immersed in the professors¡¯ love affairs. However, Nayoung couldn¡¯t hear what Seunghee was saying. She couldn¡¯t breathe right now. She had to figure out how not to be noticed by Professor Choi Tae-hyuk at the hospital. Should she change departments? But even if she moved to another department, she would inevitably run into the surgery professor. Unless she left the hospital, she was bound to be found out sooner or later. Like Russian roulette. If only she could turn back time to yesterday, the first thing she would ask him was his profession. If she had just known that he was a doctor, she would have bolted without looking back. The moment Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, who was scanning the conference room, turned his gaze toward her, Nayoung found it difficult to breathe. ***** TL Notes: 1) Referencing David of Michelangelo Statue ¨C> Read More Here ¨C> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo) ***** Discord Server: https://discord.gg/woopread Chapter 3 - Take it off Chapter 3: Take it offTL: Sisona ¡°What are you doing?¡± Seung-hee asked incredulously as Na-young suddenly hid her face behind her back. Na-young buried her face in Seung-hee¡¯s back, fighting the urge to cry. ¡°What should I do, Seung-hee?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Despite leaving the man alone in a hotel room to focus on her residency at the hospital, that man turned out to be her supervising professor and appeared at the hospital. It seemed like she was being punished for selfishly acting without the man¡¯s consent. But this was too much! *** Arriving at the lab assigned to him, Tae-hyuk sat on the sofa, casually throwing his long legs on the table. The elite dressed in a doctor¡¯s gown transformed instantly into a carefree rogue. Tae-hyuk leaned his head against the wall and lazily closed his eyes. Hospital duty was a familiar routine for him, but he was still adjusting to the jet lag, feeling tired despite not doing much. Actually, he was still caught up in the remnants of last night. He had met a woman, and his night was completely filled with her. Everything was perfect. Until she ran away while he was asleep. He was angry at himself for just sleeping soundly, not guessing that the woman who didn¡¯t even share her name could leave like that. Tae-hyuk reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, shiny object he had kept inside. A woman¡¯s earring, small enough to be easily lost. The woman, whose name, age, or address he didn¡¯t know, had disappeared, leaving behind just one earring. Looking at the earring, Tae-hyuk grabbed his phone with his other hand and called Cha Hyun. ¡°I need you to find someone for me.¡± -Am I a detective agency? ¡°The woman I mentioned yesterday.¡± Cha Hyun, too, was curious about the identity of the woman who had left Tae-hyuk twice. -What¡¯s her name? ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± -What? Then what do you know about this woman? ¡°I really want to find her, please help me.¡± -You should ask Santa Claus for that. Cha Hyun hung up the phone in annoyance, but Tae-hyuk knew he would help. As a film director who met many people all over the country, Cha Hyun was adept at finding people. And Tae-hyuk had to focus on his hospital duties and didn¡¯t have time to look for her himself. He decided not to be impatient. Believing that if it was meant to be, they would surely meet again. *** ¡°Achoo!¡± Na-young coughed loudly on purpose. That way, it wouldn¡¯t be awkward for her to wear a mask. Her colleagues¡¯ eyes were drawn to her, looking very different than usual. ¡°Dr. Moon, didn¡¯t you used to not wear glasses?¡± Not caring about looking unattractive, she also wore very thick horn-rimmed glasses. Na-young pushed up the horn-rimmed frames nonchalantly. ¡°Ah! My eyes have gotten worse lately.¡± ¡°You should wear prettier glasses then. Those don¡¯t suit you, Dr. Moon.¡± s?a??h th? N0??F?re.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. Regardless of what her senior said, Na-young didn¡¯t care. She was disguised to avoid being recognized by Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. She let down her hair, which she usually kept neatly tied up for convenience at work, to cover her face as much as possible. She was desperate to hide her identity from Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. In yesterday¡¯s large meeting room, there were so many doctors in the same gowns that he probably didn¡¯t notice her, but avoiding him during rounds was impossible. Her heart rate increased at the thought of facing Professor Choi Tae-hyuk soon. Oh Lord! Buddha! Allah! Na-young, an atheist, prayed to every conceivable deity. Please, don¡¯t let Professor Choi Tae-hyuk recognize her. Unlike her desire to avoid him, others were sharing rumors and looking forward to Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s appearance. His natural good looks alone garnered him the attention of others. Add to that his exceptional skills, and to the residents, it was as if a hero had arrived. At exactly 7:50 AM, when the morning rounds were about to start, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk made his entrance. The man, striding down the hallway bathed in the morning sunlight pouring through the windows, was magnified in her eyes. With his arrival, her heart seemed to stop for a moment, then started beating rapidly again, her mouth going dry. Please! Hoping not to be caught. If it were possible, she wanted to turn around and run away right then. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, walking down the hallway as if on a runway, basking in everyone¡¯s attention, stopped in front of the residents. Everyone looked up at him with tense eyes. Normally, professors are beings to be respected and looked up to, but with Professor Choi¡¯s tall stature, it was natural to look up to him. Only Na-young kept her head deeply bowed, afraid of revealing her face. This made her stand out even more, but Tae-hyuk, paying no attention to the resident wearing a mask, briefly addressed everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s start the rounds.¡± Since it was his first time meeting the patients he would be taking care of after returning to Korea, his attention was solely on them. Therefore, he deliberately avoided paying attention to anything other than the patients. Na-young, trembling with anxiety since morning, had no need to hide. The rounds needed to be conducted swiftly, as there were numerous patients to check within a set time. Patients seeing the new professor for the first time also observed him with curious eyes. His overly glamorous appearance for a doctor led some to doubt his skills. However, his imposing aura deterred anyone from daring to question his competence right to his face. ¡°This patient will undergo a hepatectomy for liver cancer.¡± Dong-gun, the chief, briefed Professor Choi in detail about the patient¡¯s condition and the changes that had occurred over the day. Na-young, a first-year resident, should have been diligently recording the contents of the rounds, but she wrote almost nothing today, too busy watching Professor Choi. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk didn¡¯t let the first day slide by casually. ¡°What are the patient¡¯s CBC (complete blood count) levels?¡± When Professor Choi asked for more details, Chief Dong-gun naturally looked her way. It was Na-young¡¯s patient. Normally, she would have immediately recited the figures, but now, frozen like a statue under Professor Choi¡¯s penetrating gaze, she couldn¡¯t say a word. Their eyes met directly, just like in the club. Instead of the pounding music, now her heart was beating wildly. Overwhelmed with the fear that he might recognize her, she couldn¡¯t open her mouth. As her silence grew longer, everyone¡¯s gaze became uneasy. ¡°Dr. Moon. The CBC levels.¡± Dong-gun prompted her again, but Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s frowning expression loomed larger in her eyes. Her mind went completely blank. ¡°Are you wearing a mask because you¡¯re sick?¡± Finally, when Professor Choi inquired about her condition, Nam Ho-jin, a second-year resident, quickly explained on her behalf. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s burning up with fever but still hanging in there.¡± Exaggerating as was his habit. Na-young, who had no intention of making up such a lie, couldn¡¯t hide her flustered expression. If it weren¡¯t for Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s cold stare right in front of her, she would have told the truth immediately. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk did not check whether she was really burning up with fever, nor did he show sympathy for her alleged illness. He just wanted to avoid wasting time and get her out of the way. ¡°Leave. You seem useless here.¡± She was shocked to hear the word ¡°useless,¡± a term she had never been called before. Why am I useless? Why! The man who first introduced the model student, Moon Na-young, to deviance, had within a day also taught her about incompetence. Was this a cursed connection or a fated one? By the end of that day, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, the legendary professor from the United States, had become known among the residents and interns as a venomous professor to be wary of. After a busy day, the residents gathered and unanimously began to discuss the new professor¡¯s cruelty. It was as if they were sharing tales of an adventure. ¡°Wow! I thought I was going to get hit in the operating room. It wasn¡¯t even a big mistake, just a slight loss of strength, but he was so harsh.¡± ¡°The chief was told off for tying knots too slowly and was ordered to practice a thousand times. Right in front of us, the chief¡¯s dignity was completely shattered.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t spare the nurses either. He nearly killed someone for not following the medication order exactly. That nurse must still be crying.¡± Everyone realized it in just one day. The new professor was a real piece of work. ¡°¡­¡­¡± She sat in a corner, silently listening to all these stories, still doubting if all of this was even real. Nam Ho-jin, who wasn¡¯t joining the conversation, turned to her and remarked. ¡°At least Dr. Moon had it better. Getting kicked out of the rounds was actually a favor.¡± Na-young could only smirk at her colleagues who envied her situation. She had intended to remember her encounter with him as a cinematic one-night event and diligently continue her residency. But the moment he appeared before her and uttered the name Choi Tae-hyuk, it became impossible to do so. A favor, really? What a joke. That perfect man from that night had now become nothing more than a bad-tempered professor. *** Na-young steeled herself and went to the morning rounds. Still hiding her face with a mask and glasses, she resolved not to freeze up and become mute like yesterday. She was not a useless person. She was undergoing her residency to become a necessary doctor in this hospital. She didn¡¯t want to hear such remarks again. Today, at 7:50 AM, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk appeared on time. The doctors, gathered for the rounds, looked at him with a noticeably different gaze than the day before. ¡°Let¡¯s start the rounds.¡± They looked at him, speaking normally, with uneasy eyes. Any slight mistake, and it was clear that harsh criticism and insults would spew from his mouth. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk was just a handsome and upright man with a terribly bad personality, well-concealed behind his appearance. Beware, or you¡¯ll be in big trouble! Everyone thought the same and followed Professor Choi Tae-hyuk down the hospital corridor. ¡°ESR levels are 18, and the patient had a fever last night, so we checked the vital signs every 30 minutes. It has now dropped to 37 degrees Celsius.¡± Na-young, as she had resolved, did not become mute in front of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk and properly briefed him on the patient¡¯s condition. The moment Tae-hyuk heard her voice, his gaze involuntarily turned towards her. The voice was¡­ familiar. But with the mask on, he couldn¡¯t see her face clearly. Tae-hyuk dismissed his reaction to the similar voice as just overthinking about that woman from the night before. There was no way the woman from that night could be in this hospital. Especially not as a resident working under him. It just didn¡¯t make sense. Tae-hyuk quickly shifted his gaze and continued the rounds. ¡°Who¡¯s assisting in my surgery room today?¡± The next challenge arose after successfully completing the rounds. Since Na-young¡¯s patient was undergoing surgery, she had to enter Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s operating room. Reluctantly, Na-young raised her hand. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk gestured for her to come closer. Na-young, wanting to keep her distance from him as much as possible, found herself unable to move even at his beckoning. The other residents looked at her with anxious eyes, as if expecting Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s reprimand at any moment. But surprisingly, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk didn¡¯t get angry. Instead, he walked towards her. Step by step. As Professor Choi Tae-hyuk approached her, Na-young¡¯s heartbeat accelerated, and her breathing became rapid. She felt like she was about to have an arrhythmia. She wanted to scream at him to not come closer. Stop. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, stopping right in front of her, crossed his arms and looked down at her with a haughty expression. ¡°Do you still have a fever?¡± Na-young shook her head. If she said she was sick, she thought he might tell her not to enter the operating room. That would be a loss for her. ¡°Answer me when I ask you something!¡± As Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s voice grew harsher, the residents around them became even tenser. It was odd to see Moon Na-young, who was always smart and composed, shrink like this in front of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­¡± As her voice was barely audible, Tae-hyuk leaned closer, then paused when he caught the scent coming from her head. This herbal fragrance. It was definitely the scent he had smelled on that woman that night. He knew that people could use the same shampoo, but the d¨¦j¨¤ vu he felt when he heard her voice earlier made him more sensitive. Impulsively, he commanded. ¡°Take off your mask.¡± ***** Discord Server: https://discord.gg/woopread Chapter 4 - Just a Whim? Chapter 4: Just a Whim?TL: Sisona At his command, Moon Na-young was horrified. Facing the risk of exposing her face, she quickly grabbed her mask with both hands and shook her head. ¡°Because of the virus, I can¡¯t!¡± Choi Tae-hyuk was rather irritated by her vehement resistance. He would have understood if it was in front of a patient whose immunity had drastically dropped, but he was clearly an adult male with no apparent immunity issues. So, her words were just an excuse in front of him. Tae-hyuk reached out his hand to remove her mask himself. As Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s hand approached, Na-young instinctively turned her body and ran away. With the mindset of surviving first, she ran without looking back. Everyone present, including Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, was shocked to see her suddenly run away. They couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. Nam Ho-Jin, standing right next to Professor Choi, cautiously asked. ¡°Should I catch her?¡± Professor Choi Tae-hyuk glared fiercely at Nam Ho-Jin instead of the fleeing Moon Na-young. *** Having fled from Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, Na-young immediately went to the department head¡¯s office. ¡°Director, I want to change my major.¡± It was unbelievable for the department head, as a first-year resident, only two days into the job, was making such a request. It was too short a time to decide it wasn¡¯t her calling. ¡°Why don¡¯t you try it for a month before deciding?¡± The director wanted to keep her in surgery as much as possible, as she had been diligent even during her intern years. ¡°I would like to, but Professor Choi!¡± Na-young stopped mid-sentence. Realizing she had misspoken. Coming to the director to blatantly blame her mentor was an insane act in the hospital. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯ll leave now.¡± Na-young quickly fled from the director¡¯s office. She really didn¡¯t know where her resident life was heading. *** Tae-hyuk immediately sat down at his computer in the research lab and looked up the personnel records of the surgical residents. He wasn¡¯t sure that the resident was that woman, but he couldn¡¯t shake the uncomfortable feeling and had to check properly. His hand, scrolling quickly through the personnel records, suddenly stopped. Tae-hyuk leaned closer to the monitor and stared intently at the photo in the personnel record. This clean and beautiful face was undoubtedly hers. He looked at the name on the personnel record. ¡°Moon Na-young.¡± Tae-hyuk was more astonished than happy to have found the woman so quickly, a woman who had disappeared from the hotel. He hadn¡¯t expected her to be a doctor like him, let alone a first-year resident¡­ He thought finding the owner of the single earring would lead to a happy ending, but once he found her, the genre seemed to have shifted from romance to extreme job. While he was pondering what to do next, the phone in the research lab rang. Tae-hyuk reached for the phone. ¡°Yes, this is Choi Tae-hyuk from Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery.¡± [Professor Choi. Come to the director¡¯s office immediately.] It was a call from the director. Rushed as it was, Tae-hyuk thought it might be about an important patient he was in charge of, so he headed straight to the director¡¯s office. ¡°Are you here?¡± Director Park looked at him with a serious expression. Tae-hyuk couldn¡¯t understand why Director Park was looking at him that way. Director Park began to speak gravely. S~?a??h the N0v?lFire(.)n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. ¡°A resident wants to change their major because of you.¡± The image of the woman running away from him flashed through his mind, and without Director Park even mentioning her name, he had a guess who it might be. ¡°I know too well that you, Professor Choi, are talented. But you¡¯re not working alone. Take it easy. Nowadays, residents don¡¯t work as hard as in your time. They even have laws to prevent them from working 100-day shifts.¡± While Director Park was persuading him not to be too hard on the residents, Tae-hyuk was thinking about Moon Na-young¡¯s behavior. She must have recognized him from the beginning. He realized she wore the mask not because she was ill, but to hide her face from him. Considering she even tried to change her major, she must have been desperate to avoid him. Tae-hyuk knew what being a first-year resident entailed, as he had gone through that phase himself, so he could understand why she would want to avoid him. But that didn¡¯t make him feel any better. He could go to her right now and confront her about why she ran away from the hotel and why she tried to change her major to avoid him at the hospital. But doing so would diminish the effort he had put into finding her. Tae-hyuk didn¡¯t want to meet her again just to confront her. He just wanted¡­ Tae-hyuk tried to calm his emotions and think rationally. His actions now would determine her first year as a resident. As her supervising professor, his influence on her was inevitable. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Choi Tae-hyuk said, offering to personally persuade the resident. Director Park gave him a serious advice. ¡°Just don¡¯t threaten her.¡± Tae-hyuk grimaced. Now he thought that she might have become disillusioned upon knowing his true character. Leaving the director¡¯s office, Tae-hyuk took out his phone and made a call. [Why are you calling me out of the blue?] The person he called was Oh Seung-Jun, an orthopedic professor and his college classmate. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your sister went to our medical school? Is she a resident now?¡± [My sister?] Oh Seung-Jun got a bit scared when Choi Tae-hyuk suddenly called asking about his sister out of nowhere. *** Na-young couldn¡¯t avoid Professor Choi Tae-hyuk for long. As long as she was a resident in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, she was bound to encounter him. Although she understood this logically, she lacked the courage to act and remained immobile when her phone rang. Surely it was a call to come quickly, Na-young thought with a heavy heart as she checked her phone. But it was her friend Seung-hee. ¡°Hello?¡± [Did you cause a scene during the rounds?] Seung-hee knowing about it meant the whole hospital must be talking about how she had run away from Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. Her calm image had completely shattered within two days of his arrival at the hospital. [Are you okay?] Na-young was moved by her friend¡¯s genuine concern, not blame. ¡°What should I do now?¡± [Professor Choi Tae-hyuk won¡¯t be too harsh. You didn¡¯t harm any patients.] She wasn¡¯t lamenting the incident, but her jeopardized resident life. Now, she regretted that one night too much. She should have held back. Why did she act like an unrestrained colt and cause this trouble? As she despaired, Seung-hee tried to comfort her. [Don¡¯t be too scared of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. My brother told me he¡¯s not perfect either.] Seung-hee¡¯s brother was Professor Oh Seung-Jun from orthopedics. [He got so drunk at a club the night before starting at the hospital that he almost missed his first day.] The night before his start was when Choi Tae-hyuk had spent the night with her, and Na-young froze, her eyes widening. ¡°What? He blacked out?¡± [Yeah. He drank so much he couldn¡¯t remember anything he did. Seems like he becomes a fool when drunk. Haha.] Na-young was stunned. She remembered everything, so naturally, she thought he would too. But he didn¡¯t remember? Director Park had specifically instructed the residents to observe and learn from Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s surgery, so those who couldn¡¯t enter the operating room gathered in front of the monitor where they could watch. Na-young deliberately stood at the very back. She had only heard about his exceptional surgical skills but had never seen them firsthand. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk hadn¡¯t appeared in the operating room yet. The anesthesiology staff entered first and proceeded with the patient¡¯s general anesthesia. The door opened with a thud, and like a protagonist, the surgeon, Choi Tae-hyuk, finally entered. Standing at his position, his gaze turned toward the patient lying on the operating table. He appeared almost like the sole savior in front of a life at stake. Despite him being an irresponsible man who couldn¡¯t even remember spending a night with a woman, she didn¡¯t plan to see everything about him in a negative light. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± Professor Choi Tae-hyuk always started with respect. But everyone knew that as the surgery progressed, his true, viper-like nature would emerge. The hepatectomy for the liver cancer patient took four hours to complete. Na-young, witnessing Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s surgical skills firsthand, thought they were as precise and clean as something out of a medical textbook. She couldn¡¯t even guess how many surgeries she would have to participate in to reach his level. After the surgery, Na-young approached Professor Choi Tae-hyuk first. She had something she needed to confirm with him today. ¡°Professor Choi!¡± At her call, Choi Tae-hyuk, who was walking alone, stopped in his tracks. As he turned around, Na-young lifted her hand and removed the mask she was wearing. Her heart pounded at revealing her real face to him for the first time, but as her gaze met his calm one, her heartbeat returned to normal. He really doesn¡¯t remember. Truly¡­ Feeling both disappointment and relief, Na-young bowed her head deeply. ¡°I was rude this morning. I apologize.¡± She formally apologized for running away in front of him. She didn¡¯t feel sorry about running away from the hotel that morning, but as a resident, it was certainly wrong to run away from a professor. Prepared to endure whatever harsh words he might have, ¡°Moon Na-young.¡± To her surprise, his voice calling her name was extremely calm. And since she didn¡¯t expect him to know her name, Na-young looked up at him with startled eyes. ¡°Do you still want to transfer to another department?¡± Hearing such a question from the very person who made her feel that way, a strong wind seemed to blow through her heart. It was a different kind of resonance than the intense attraction she had felt for him in the club. The emotion she felt was resistance. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, standing before her, felt like a huge mountain she had to overcome. There was a sense of pressure that to become a true doctor, she must conquer this mountain. So, it wasn¡¯t easy for Na-young to simply say she wanted to run away and avoid him. When she didn¡¯t immediately respond, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk crossed his arms, and his tone was no longer polite. ¡°If you¡¯re leaving because you lack confidence, leave as soon as possible. Don¡¯t stay here and hinder other doctors.¡± Faced with his criticism, fully reverted to his viper-like professor demeanor, Na-young felt her blood boil. ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡± Na-young strongly denied it. ¡°Then why do you want to change departments? Is it just a whim?¡± His words, gradually painting her as an unworthy person, provoked her to shout back. ¡°I have no intention of transferring to another department, so please continue to guide me well!¡± She spoke as if making a declaration of war, bowing deeply with all due respect. As soon as she straightened up, she turned around and strode away. Tae-hyuk watched her retreating figure. He knew that this time she wouldn¡¯t return to him like she did by taking a taxi back to him. When he woke up in the hotel room and realized she had left without leaving any message, Tae-hyuk had promised himself that if he ever met her again, he wouldn¡¯t let her slip away like a fool. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± But now that he had met her again, he could only watch as she walked away. It felt like a hole had been punched in his heart, and the emotions he had felt for her were slowly leaking out. He craved a drink. A very strong one. *** TL: If you are enjoying this novel so far, please leave a review on NovelUpdates or a comment below. Thanks. Discord Link ¨C https://discord.gg/woopread-708613326262894654 Chapter 5 - Madonna Chapter 5: MadonnaTL: Sisona After receiving his call and coming out to the bar, Oh Seung-Jun looked at Choi Tae-hyuk and laughed brightly. ¡°Did your personality change while you were in America? Or is it just today that you¡¯re acting strange?¡± Suddenly calling him about his sister, not to mention exposing his embarrassing past through her. And he was the one who suggested drinking first. None of these actions seemed to fit the Choi Tae-hyuk that Seung-Jun knew. While drinking, Tae-hyuk asked in a blunt voice. ¡°Do you know Moon Na-young, a first-year resident in our department?¡± Seung-Jun nodded at the familiar name. ¡°Of course, I know her. She¡¯s pretty, smart, and haughty. She¡¯s a classmate of my sister and the Madonna of their class.¡± Tae-hyuk frowned at the irritating nickname, Madonna. ¡°So, she had a lot of guys interested in her?¡± Seung-Jun shook his head. ¡°She was sharp in that regard. She rejected every guy who confessed to her, saying they were a distraction from her studies.¡± But the night before she started her residency, she slept with him. It seemed Moon Na-young had intended from the start to end it as a one-night stand with him. A firm tension gripped Tae-hyuk¡¯s jaw. He finished the rest of his drink in one gulp, put down the empty glass, and asked Oh Seung-Jun. ¡°Do you know who those guys were that confessed to Moon Na-young?¡± Seung-Jun wore a puzzled expression. ¡°Why would you want to know that?¡± He wasn¡¯t the type to be a noble loser; it just felt like he had been wronged. So, he needed a way to relieve his stress. *** When she continued to express her desire to stay in the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery department, Director Park was genuinely happy and told her she had made a good decision. ¡°Even though Professor Choi is harsh, you can learn a lot from him. So try to adapt well.¡± Na-young still felt uncomfortable training under Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, but she decided not to run away. More than anyone, she couldn¡¯t stand being treated as a pathetic resident by that man. She became determined to earn his recognition. As a first-year resident, she was in charge of the emergency room, which meant she had many on-call duties, especially on weekends when others were resting. While taking a brief break and sitting in the station chair, she noticed a Post-it note someone had written. ¡°Heart of a lion, eyes of an eagle, and hands of a woman.¡± These were qualities essential for a great surgeon. Since she was a woman, she thought she already possessed one of these qualities and laughed to herself, but then an emergency room call came in. A teenage boy had been in a traffic accident, was unconscious, and brought to the emergency room with severe abdominal distension and dropping blood pressure. ¡°Huh? If the CT scan shows an aortic aneurysm rupture, isn¡¯t that a case for the Vascular Surgery department?¡± [The Vascular Surgery professor is currently out, and there¡¯s no one available to perform the surgery right now. Who¡¯s on duty in your department?] With an aortic aneurysm rupture, the patient couldn¡¯t wait for the Vascular Surgery professor to arrive at the hospital. If they tried to transfer the patient to another hospital, there was a high risk of death in the ambulance. It was a critical emergency, and Na-young felt every nerve in her body tense up. She urgently called the on-duty professor who was available for surgery right away. It was Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. As soon as he heard her explanation, Professor Choi quickly said. [Book the surgery room immediately and have everything ready for the operation before I arrive.] After hanging up, she hurriedly arranged the operating room, contacted anesthesiology, and moved the patient to the operating room. As soon as Professor Choi entered the operating room, he picked up the scalpel. The moment his scalpel smoothly cut through the patient¡¯s abdomen, bright red blood gushed out, splattering everywhere, drenching her face. Still wearing her glasses, Na-young¡¯s lenses became smeared with blood, turning her vision a deep red. Everything she saw looked like a scene from hell. ¡°Suction!¡± Professor Choi Tae-hyuk shouted fiercely, but Moon Na-young was frozen, unable to move. With so much blood loss, how could this patient possibly survive? The patient¡¯s blood pressure was dropping alarmingly fast. She was completely gripped by the fear of death. The surgery that started at night only ended when the sun rose. And the patient did not die. The Vascular Surgery professor, who was called urgently, joined the surgery and saved the patient¡¯s life by repairing the ruptured aorta and replacing it with an artificial one. Na-young slowly wiped off the blood on her face after taking off her glasses. Even this small act required all her remaining strength. Just as she finished cleaning her face and was about to leave, she hesitated upon seeing Professor Choi Tae-hyuk leaning against the wall in the hallway. It seemed he was waiting for her, as he straightened up and walked towards her without hesitation. Na-young had to suppress the urge to turn around and hide in the women¡¯s restroom. Now, she had to face him without her glasses, completely bare-faced. Choi Tae-hyuk stood in front of her and asked accusingly. ¡°You thought that patient was going to die, didn¡¯t you?¡± Unable to deny, Na-young could only look up at his face. Indeed, she had believed so, and during the early part of the surgery, she couldn¡¯t do anything. It was only after Professor Choi had clamped the ruptured aorta and infused the patient with blood and heart-lung solution, stabilizing the blood pressure, that she regained her senses and could assist in the surgery. ¡°If you¡¯re going to enter my surgery and be a nuisance with such thoughts, don¡¯t ever come back!¡± That¡¯s why, even though Professor Choi harshly scolded her, Na-young couldn¡¯t say a word in her defense. Even when he scolded her harshly and she continued to be out of it, Tae-hyuk frowned deeply and then extended his hand, commanding. ¡°Give me your hand.¡± She thought he might be about to punish her by slapping her hand. Without complaint, Na-young placed her left hand on top of his. She felt him grip her hand firmly. Swiftly. Before she realized what was happening, her hand was placed on Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s chest. Beneath the thin surgical gown, his solid body was palpably felt. Thump, thump, thump. Even the beating of his heart was clearly felt. ¡°Don¡¯t forget. The toughest thing we have is life.¡± Tears welled up in Na-young¡¯s eyes. It seemed she would never forget. The coldness of death she felt in the operating room and the warmth of life she felt from his body. *** During the morning rounds, Nam Ho-jin commented, trying to be funny, upon seeing her without glasses. ¡°The ugly Moon Na-young didn¡¯t come today.¡± When Na-young and the other female doctors glared at him with narrowed eyes, Nam Ho-jin quickly shut his mouth. At 7:50 AM, as always, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk appeared. His gaze briefly met hers but he quickly looked away and said to everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s start the rounds.¡± It didn¡¯t seem that long ago when she first heard those words, but they had already become familiar. Na-young, walking at the front, watched Professor Choi¡¯s back and made a promise to herself. To really do well. To definitely earn Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s recognition before her first year was over. For the first time since he appeared at this hospital, Na-young could face him as doctor to doctor, setting aside the memory of that one night. s?a??h th? N?v?lFire.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. But, on the contrary, Tae-hyuk was not like that. Tap, tap, tap. Sitting at his office desk, Tae-hyuk glared at the Death Note. It was the list of male doctors who confessed to Moon Na-young, as told by Oh Seung-Jun. There were too many. He was pondering how to legally deal with all these guys when a knock sounded and the door opened. ¡°Professor.¡± It was Chief Dong-gun. ¡°Are you okay with having a welcoming dinner and gathering for you today, Professor?¡± Tae-hyuk didn¡¯t particularly like gatherings. But such an occasion might provide an opportunity for a private conversation with Moon Na-young. The prospect lifted Tae-hyuk¡¯s spirits. ¡°Sure, I understand.¡± When Professor Choi readily agreed, Dong-gun immediately sent out a notice for the dinner to the entire Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery department. Attendance was mandatory for those in the department. Since it was also officially a welcome party for Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, an invitation was extended to other departments for those interested, gradually increasing the size of the gathering. *** ¡°¡­¡­¡± As the guest of honor at the gathering, Choi Tae-hyuk sat in the middle, looking grumpy, which prompted Director Park, seated next to him, to scold him. ¡°Lighten up. This is your welcome party.¡± So, this was a place to welcome him, but why wasn¡¯t Moon Na-young here? With so many people attending, his irritation grew. So many people came! Why not Moon Na-young! ¡°It seems like a resident from Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery is missing.¡± Eventually, he brought it up. Kim Young-mi, who swapped duty with Na-young today, responded. ¡°Ah! Dr. Moon Na-young is on duty, so she¡¯s staying in the ward.¡± Tae-hyuk had already checked that Na-young wasn¡¯t on duty today, so he looked at Young-mi disapprovingly. Young-mi was nervous, unable to understand why. Just then, Director Park stood up to propose a toast, allowing her to escape from Professor Choi¡¯s piercing gaze. ¡°Come on, everyone, raise your glasses. It¡¯s rare for the surgeons of Hanyang University Hospital to gather like this, so let¡¯s make this toast meaningful.¡± Tae-hyuk gave up and raised his glass. Truthfully, even if Moon Na-young had come to the dinner, there wasn¡¯t much he could have done. Acting like that night would have caused trouble, and pretending to be a friendly professor would only make her more wary. ¡°And today is the welcome party for Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. Let¡¯s drink to welcome Professor Choi back.¡± As Director Park mentioned his name, all eyes turned to him. In this awkward and focused moment, Yoon I-na, sitting in the front row, cheerfully clinked her glass against his. ¡°Welcome.¡± Seung-hee, sitting in a corner, quickly snapped a photo of this with her phone. She felt immensely proud of herself for capturing such a significant moment at the gathering. *** ¡°Woooaaah!¡± The sound, akin to a wild animal¡¯s howl, came from a delirious patient with hepatic encephalopathy, thrashing violently. When she rushed to the sound, the intern, terrified by the patient¡¯s irrational state, hadn¡¯t even attempted to administer an enema. She had no choice but to help. Even restrained in a restraint bed, the patient showed incredible strength, requiring both of them to struggle to hold and secure him. After barely completing the enema, Na-young retreated to a corner to rest. The patient with hepatic encephalopathy needed enemas every 30 minutes until his blood ammonia levels decreased, so she took out a chocolate bar to replenish her energy. Just then, her phone rang. It was a message from Seung-hee, who had gone to the gathering. It was a photo of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk and Professor Yoon I-na clinking glasses. Na-young laughed helplessly. While she was enduring the filth and waging a war with the enemas, that man was drinking affectionately with his ex-lover. Na-young glared at the photo and bit into her chocolate bar aggressively. After leaving the intern to finish up with the hepatic encephalopathy patient, Na-young realized her body had already absorbed the foul smell. She lifted her arm, sniffed, and grimaced. She was about to head to the changing room for a shower when she heard a low, firm voice behind her. ¡°Dr. Moon Na-young.¡± Turning around, Na-young flinched upon seeing Professor Choi Tae-hyuk walking towards her. What? Why is he here when he should be at the welcome party? As he approached quickly with his long strides, Na-young hurriedly extended her hand to stop him. ¡°Wait! Stop right there.¡± He halted abruptly. He seemed utterly bewildered, as if he hadn¡¯t expected a first-year resident to issue a restraining order against him. ¡°Can¡¯t we just talk from there? I can hear you.¡± She couldn¡¯t let him smell what was emanating from her. Although it was a consequence of her medical duties, the embarrassment was hers to bear. And to Tae-hyuk, her behavior appeared as nothing more than a defensive stance against him. He had left the dinner party to meet her, only to be told not to come any closer. This was like being treated as a stalker. Even if she wanted to avoid encountering him in the hospital, Na-young shouldn¡¯t have acted this way. Because, after all, he was a professor, and she was a resident. ¡°I don¡¯t like that,¡± Tae-hyuk said, moving his foot towards her. ***** If you are enjoying this novel so far, please leave a review on NovelUpdates or a comment below. Also consider joining our discord to talk with or report any mistakes. Thanks. Discord Link ¨C https://discord.gg/woopread-708613326262894654 Chapter 6 - Come to My Room Chapter 6: Come to My RoomTL: Sisona Professor Choi Tae-hyuk refused her request and approached her again, causing Moon Na-young to panic and turn around to flee. Seeing her running away again, Tae-hyuk had an incredulous expression on his face. How many times has she run away from him now! Tae-hyuk roughly ran his fingers through his hair. It¡¯s human psychology to want to hold on more to something that¡¯s escaping. It felt like a real test of patience. After escaping from Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, Na-young immediately went to the shower and washed her body several times. Normally a 5-minute shower, it took her 15 minutes this time, and waiting for her as she came out was a chilling call. This was simply a threat. But frighteningly, it had already been over 10 minutes since that message arrived. Hesitating whether to go or not, Na-young, feeling anxious, headed towards Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s office. At this rate, she might be considered a habitual runaway and face harsher punishment. But what could she do? Every time she got involved with him, she found reasons to run away. Arriving at the office with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s name on it, Na-young took a deep breath and knocked. Knock, knock. Click. Opening the door, Na-young widened her eyes at what she found. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, who had summoned her to his office with a frightening threat, was asleep, leaning against the sofa. ¡®What? Is he really asleep?¡¯ Seeing that he didn¡¯t open his eyes even as she entered the office, it seemed he was indeed asleep. Still unable to relax, Na-young kept her distance and observed him. Like dealing with a fierce animal that might attack if approached too closely. After a few minutes passed without him waking up, Na-young relaxed her guard and slowly approached Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. His face in sleep, similar to the last time she saw him at the hotel, was so captivating she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off it. As she got closer, the sharp smell of alcohol mixed with the scent of meat emanated from his body. If she could smell him, then he must have definitely smelled her too, making her earlier escape seem like a good decision. Even though it seemed she had gotten on Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s bad side even more. ¡°Professor?¡± Na-young called him in a soft voice. She didn¡¯t try to wake him up earnestly because if he did wake up, all he would do was scold her. Na-young leaned in closer to his face. Now she could even see his closely spaced eyelashes in detail. His sleeping face, silent as it was, looked like a well-crafted statue. With a sharp nose and deep eyes, he had a handsome, manly face. Suddenly, the expression he had at the climax moment came to her mind, and Na-young hastily stepped back. Na-young decided to leave without waking him up. Turning around to walk to the door, Na-young stopped. If she just left like this, there would be no evidence that she had come to his office as he instructed, so she turned towards his desk. She could just leave a note on a Post-it. Seeing a pen on his desk but no Post-it in sight, Na-young opened a drawer. Hesitation. She was looking for a Post-it, but her action stopped upon seeing something else. Inside the drawer was a small velvet box, just the right size for a ring. Na-young looked up again at Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, still sleeping on the sofa. Just when she thought she could treat him simply as her advisor. What was this, prepared for some other woman? A sudden surge of anger rose in her, unjustifiably. *** Waking up, Tae-hyuk furrowed his brow, realizing he had fallen asleep on the office sofa. He absolutely detested sleeping anywhere after drinking. How long had he slept? Tae-hyuk checked his wristwatch and lowered his feet, which he had placed on the table, to the floor. Thud. Hearing the sound of stepping on paper, Tae-hyuk checked the sole of his shoe. Peeling. What he peeled off from the sole was a Post-it note. Realizing she had already come and gone, he let out a wry laugh. When he approached, she ran away, and when she came to him first, he was asleep under the influence of alcohol. It all seemed so absurd. Tae-hyuk¡¯s brow narrowed slowly as he looked at the crumpled Post-it he had stepped on. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± But why was it stuck under the sole of his shoe? Somehow, that felt very bothersome. Tae-hyuk abruptly stood up from the sofa and walked to his desk. He opened the drawer. Confirming that the Post-it he found and the one written by Moon Na-young were the same, Tae-hyuk took out the velvet box he had placed in the same drawer. Click. Opening the box, a single earring emerged. ¡®Did she see this?¡¯ Tae-hyuk alternated his gaze between the earring and the Post-it. Still, he really didn¡¯t understand why it was stuck under the sole of his shoe. Because he had slept with his feet on the table? But he was a professor. The boundary between politeness and rudeness shown by the Post-it left Tae-hyuk unable to move on from that spot for a long time. It seemed she purposely left it under his shoe. *** Hearing that a patient who underwent aortic replacement surgery had been moved from the ICU to a general ward, Na-young went to check. S~?a??h the N?velF?re.?et website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. Seeing the patient, who she thought would die, sitting up and eating on his own, she was overwhelmed with various emotions. She felt regret for having given up on someone who could recover like this. Therefore, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to enter the room and greet him. Thud. When someone stood right next to her, Na-young turned with a look of discomfort, then her eyes widened realizing it was Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. ¡°Professor, did you come to see this patient too?¡± He was a patient from vascular surgery, but it was as if Tae-hyuk had saved him. ¡°No, I came chasing after Dr. Moon.¡± Professor Choi Tae-hyuk turned his head and looked straight at her, his words making Na-young momentarily dazed. ¡°It seems like running away from me has become a habit for Dr. Moon. So, I¡¯m trying to make it a habit to chase after her.¡± His words felt like a sharp jab. Na-young quickly apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll make sure it never happens again.¡± ¡°Apologies can also become a habit.¡± He twisted her words leisurely, and Na-young secretly cursed him in her mind. Yeah, you¡¯re so great. ¡°But there¡¯s something I¡¯m curious about regarding Dr. Moon.¡± Expecting it to be unrelated to medicine, Na-young tensed slightly. Did he remember? Fortunately, or unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t it. ¡°Why did you stick that Post-it under my shoe that day?¡± As Professor Choi Tae-hyuk looked at her with genuine curiosity and asked, Na-young calmly responded without changing her expression. ¡°Huh? I left it on the table. Perhaps you stepped on the Post-it that fell on the floor.¡± When she evaded the question, Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s eyes narrowed. But he couldn¡¯t scold her further over that. There was no evidence that she really did it. ¡°So, my Post-it did wrong. It couldn¡¯t even stick properly and fell off.¡± Na-young bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Just then, a resident from vascular surgery approached them and greeted first. It was the resident who had come into the operating room that day. ¡°Did you come to see patient Ryu Sang-min? He really wanted to thank both of you. Shall we go in together?¡± When the resident suggested they go in to receive the patient¡¯s thanks, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk turned away, saying disinterestedly, ¡°He¡¯s not even my patient, why bother.¡± And he just walked away. Why bother, indeed. The survival rate of an aortic rupture patient in surgery was less than 50%. And if the patient had died under Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s hands that day, he would have faced a medical lawsuit simply because he was not a vascular surgery professor. Despite everything being against him in that situation, he had entered the operating room and taken the scalpel, yet he walked away saying the patient wasn¡¯t his. Na-young greeted the vascular surgery resident and chased after Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. Earlier, it was Professor Choi who had chased after her, but now, she was the one following him. ¡°Professor Choi!¡± At her call, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, who was walking ahead, stopped and turned around. ¡°Have you had lunch?¡± Tae-hyuk was a bit taken aback when Na-young approached and asked first. ¡°Not yet.¡± He had spotted her on his way to lunch and ended up here. ¡°Then let me buy it for you.¡± Tae-hyuk stared at her intently as she, who had been busy avoiding him, offered to buy him lunch. His eyes seemed to demand an explanation, so Na-young smiled politely and said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t attend the welcome party. I¡¯d like to formally welcome you to the team by buying you lunch.¡± At her words, which firmly set their relationship as professor and resident, Tae-hyuk felt a twinge in his left chest. He had pretended not to remember for her sake, not wanting her residency to be ruined because of that night, but he didn¡¯t want her to forget that night so quickly either. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk and the man Choi Tae-hyuk could never be of one mind. He wanted to ask if she was just pretending to adapt perfectly or if her heart felt the same, but unable to ask, his words came out brusquely. ¡°So, are you trying to butter up the professor? I really detest that kind of thing.¡± Whenever he spoke so harshly, Na-young couldn¡¯t help but recall how he was that night. How he spoke to her, how he looked at her. But now, truly wanting to see him only as her advisor, Na-young acted like a resident eager to impress her professor to the end. ¡°I¡¯ve made a lot of mistakes with you, so I want to apologize this way.¡± She had run away from him, a professor, twice, so a proper apology was necessary. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk checked the time on his wristwatch and then said, ¡°Then buy me lunch some other time.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I have surgery in 30 minutes.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t 30 minutes enough?¡± It wasn¡¯t the first or second time doctors at the hospital had to eat quickly. 30 minutes was enough time to finish a meal and even dessert. ¡°No, it¡¯s not enough time.¡± Professor Choi Tae-hyuk spoke firmly and then walked away briskly. Na-young furrowed her brow watching his retreating figure. Is he making excuses because he doesn¡¯t want to eat with me? Feeling uneasy, Na-young reluctantly went to have lunch alone. *** Ascites in cirrhosis patients can compress the heart and lungs, causing difficulty breathing, so it needs to be drained. Na-young explained the procedure to an intern who had never done ascites drainage before. ¡°You¡¯ll hear shifting dullness when you tap.¡± After locating the ascites with percussion, she prepared the dressing and inserted a thick 18-gauge needle into the patient¡¯s body. A higher gauge needle meant more pain, and the patient made a painful expression. She deliberately looked only at the yellow fluid filling the jar, not at the patient. It¡¯s said that humans are creatures of adaptation, becoming familiar and indifferent to whatever they do as they gain experience. But could she ever become accustomed to the sight of patients in pain? Na-young wasn¡¯t sure. After finishing with the patient and charting, her phone rang. Checking the message, Na-young hesitated seeing it was from ¡®Professor Choi Tae-hyuk.¡¯ Huh? It seems his comment about buying him lunch later was genuine. She had taken it as him not wanting to eat with her. Na-young quickly sent a reply. Since even 30 minutes seemed too short for a meal with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, she had to opt for dinner. She was about to resume charting when Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s reply arrived sooner than expected. Staring at the message, which sounded like an invitation for a date, Na-young couldn¡¯t take her eyes off it for a while. Chapter 7 - Who Is It? Is She Pretty? Chapter 7: Who Is It? Is She Pretty?TL: Sisona Seung-Jun was startled to find Choi Tae-hyuk standing in front of a mirror, fussing with his hair, when he stopped by Tae-hyuk¡¯s office to ask him to have dinner together. It was unmistakable ¨C Choi Tae-hyuk, of all people, was primping in front of a mirror! Seung-Jun burst into the office, making a loud announcement. ¡°Are you meeting a girl? Who is it? Is she pretty?¡± Tae-hyuk glared at Seung-Jun and dismissively told him to mind his own business, then picked up a jacket hanging on the coat rack. As Tae-hyuk hurried to leave the office, Seung-Jun blocked the door with his hand, making a pitiful face. ¡°We¡¯re both getting older; don¡¯t just meet nice girls yourself, introduce me to someone too.¡± He was on the verge of cursing at Seung-Jun, who was being particularly annoying today. How could he ask for an introduction when his nose was three feet long? ¡°Move. I don¡¯t have time to deal with you.¡± Tae-hyuk brushed off Seung-Jun¡¯s arm and walked down the hallway. Seung-Jun, left behind, took out his phone and made a call. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s me. Looks like Tae-hyuk has another appointment.¡± [What appointment?] ¡°He wouldn¡¯t tell me willingly, with his personality.¡± The atmosphere seemed like Tae-hyuk was definitely going to meet a woman, but Seung-Jun didn¡¯t tell Yoon I-na the truth. He knew she still had lingering feelings for Tae-hyuk. There seemed no need to hurt her by saying it outright. After hanging up with Yoon I-na, Seung-Jun looked down the empty hallway Tae-hyuk had left behind. He suddenly remembered something Tae-hyuk had said while drinking. ¡®Do you know Moon Na-young, a first-year resident in our department?¡¯ It couldn¡¯t be. Surely, a professor wouldn¡¯t harbor improper thoughts toward a new resident just starting out, right after returning to the hospital. Feeling uneasy, Seung-Jun called his sister, Seung-hee. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you dinner. Come out with Moon Na-young.¡± It seemed like a good idea to subtly warn Moon Na-young. But Seung-hee said she couldn¡¯t come because she was on duty. ¡°Then at least send Moon Na-young.¡± [Are you crazy?] Trying to look out for her, he ended up being called crazy by his sister. *** Receiving a message from Seung-hee, who was cursing her brother, Na-young didn¡¯t think Oh Seung-Jun had lost his mind. In fact, having dinner with him seemed like a pretty good idea. Oh Seung-Jun was the brother of her close friend and a colleague of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. She was a bit worried about the atmosphere getting awkward if it was just the two of them, but with Oh Seung-Jun there, that seemed unlikely. So, Na-young called Seung-Jun first. [Was it you who was having dinner with Choi Tae-hyuk?] But Seung-Jun seemed surprised by her invitation to dinner. No, he seemed surprised that she and Professor Choi Tae-hyuk were having a meal together. Na-young felt a bit regretful for contacting him first, but she couldn¡¯t lie about it now. ¡°I¡¯ve made a lot of mistakes with Professor Choi, so I¡¯m buying him dinner as a gesture. Please come and be on my side, Professor Oh.¡± [So, you¡¯re buying him dinner because he¡¯s your supervising professor?] ¡°Yes, of course. How can a resident learn if they¡¯re disliked by their supervising professor?¡± Na-young found herself explaining in detail, feeling a sting in her heart. [Okay, I¡¯ll take responsibility and sort things out between you and Professor Choi.] Sort things out? Hearing something so grandiose from Oh Seung-Jun made Na-young a bit anxious. Should she have gotten Professor Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s consent before calling Seung-Jun? It should be fine. After all, she was the one paying for the meal. *** Arriving early at the meeting place, the main gate, Tae-hyuk checked the time on his wristwatch. He had arrived a bit early because of rushing due to Oh Seung-Jun, but he didn¡¯t mind. Waiting like this didn¡¯t seem so bad. He usually hated waiting for someone, but right now, he didn¡¯t feel that way at all. She thought of it as just a dinner between a supervising professor and a resident, so the atmosphere would be entirely different from when they met at the club, but still, Tae-hyuk was looking forward to meeting her. However, he had to be careful not to let any personal feelings show. For the time being, he had to properly play the role of a respectable professor to her. Dignified and with decorum. Tap. As someone lightly tapped his shoulder, Tae-hyuk naturally thought it was Moon Na-young and turned around smiling, only to frown upon seeing Oh Seung-Jun standing there. ¡°Are you a stalker? Why are you following me here!¡± Seeing Tae-hyuk¡¯s immediate anger, Seung-Jun also looked taken aback. The expression Tae-hyuk had just before turning around was unmistakably that of a man on a date. He would never have believed Choi Tae-hyuk could look like that if he hadn¡¯t seen it with his own eyes. ¡°Are you out of your mind? Calling Moon Na-young? She¡¯s just a first-year resident. She¡¯s busy enough with her hospital work, what are you doing to her?¡± Tae-hyuk tried to push Seung-Jun away and get rid of him. ¡°Get lost.¡± ¡°Get lost? I¡¯m here because Moon Na-young invited me!¡± At Seung-Jun¡¯s words, Tae-hyuk hesitated. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Moon Na-young felt uncomfortable having dinner alone with you, so she invited me too. Don¡¯t you understand the situation? Professor Choi.¡± Finally, Choi Tae-hyuk, unable to say anything, shut his mouth as Seung-Jun clicked his tongue and then clasped his hands together, pleading politely. ¡°Professor, please resist your desires and teach her with a noble heart, turning her into a great doctor.¡± Madonna, freeze to death. Tae-hyuk hated that nickname the most. He saw Moon Na-young coming down the escalator from a distance. Seeing the two of them together and not being surprised showed that Seung-Jun was right. Tae-hyuk thought it wasn¡¯t something to be disappointed about, but his mood was already heavier than before. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to have dinner with both professors.¡± Seeing her polite attitude, Seung-Jun deliberately spoke as if for Tae-hyuk to hear. s?a??h th? N?v?lFire.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Wow, Dr. Moon really respects the professor.¡± Seung-Jun¡¯s retort that only he harbored ulterior motives made Tae-hyuk¡¯s eyes darken even more. He was the first to turn around and walk ahead. Thus, Seung-Jun and Na-young ended up following him. ¡°It would have been nice if Seung-hee could join us.¡± Since Seung-hee was their common link, they naturally ended up talking about her. ¡°That kid still has a long way to go. She needs to work twice as hard as others, but she¡¯s getting lazier, reading romance novels.¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s been working hard lately.¡± Na-young glanced at Professor Choi Tae-hyuk walking ahead, his tall and broad back in view. She felt a bit uneasy since he had been silent all this time. Could he be upset because she invited Professor Oh Seung-Jun without his permission? But apologizing in front of Professor Oh would make him uncomfortable, so she couldn¡¯t apologize right now. ¡°Are you and Professor Choi close?¡± She asked about their relationship deliberately to draw him into the conversation. ¡°Of course. Among our peers, I¡¯m the only one who can handle Choi Tae-hyuk¡¯s ridiculous personality.¡± Professor Choi Tae-hyuk turned around and glared at Oh Seung-Jun. ¡°Ridiculous?¡± ¡°Why? You want to act like a cool professor in front of the young resident now? You¡¯re already known as the venomous professor among the residents.¡± When Tae-hyuk looked at her, Na-young smiled politely, interpreting it positively. ¡°Being scolded helps avoid the same mistakes. I think I need Professor Choi¡¯s stern guidance.¡± ¡°He used to openly curse at professors even when he was a resident.¡± ¡°What?¡± She was so surprised that she covered her mouth with both hands. Tae-hyuk gestured to Seung-Jun not to reveal any more of his unsavory past. ¡°Come stand next to me.¡± Seung-Jun deliberately stayed beside Na-young, shaking his head. ¡°No thanks. I prefer being next to Dr. Moon Na-young.¡± Tae-hyuk¡¯s mood was evidently affected, and he moved to grab Oh Seung-Jun. Seung-Jun, not standing still, dodged behind Moon Na-young. Suddenly, the two professors started a game of tag around her. Na-young found the situation absurd yet funny, as the professors, who should be authoritative, acted childishly. She covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. Rrrrrrrrrr Rrrrrrrrrr- Then someone¡¯s phone rang. It was Seung-Jun¡¯s phone. Upon answering the call, Seung-Jun¡¯s relaxed expression vanished instantly. ¡°Got it. I¡¯m heading to the ER right away.¡± Hearing the mention of the emergency room, Tae-hyuk also stopped chasing Seung-Jun. Seung-Jun quickly explained to the two of them as he hung up the phone. ¡°An emergency surgery came up. I have to go.¡± Before either of them could say anything, Seung-Jun had already left in a hurry. After all that commotion, only the two of them remained. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± As Tae-hyuk and Na-young, who had been watching Seung-Jun leave, turned their heads and their eyes met, a strange tension filled the air. It didn¡¯t take a year, just a second, for the relationship between a professor and a resident to change. The moment she locked eyes with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, she felt a completely different sensation than when she was comfortably talking with Professor Oh Seung-Jun, and she couldn¡¯t help but become conscious of it. Perhaps it was a mistake to call Oh Seung-Jun in the first place. If he hadn¡¯t been there from the start, she wouldn¡¯t have felt this self-conscious. Na-young turned her gaze away first and spoke casually. ¡°Then, I guess it¡¯s just the two of us for dinner.¡± He nodded in agreement. *** Na-young went to a nearby restaurant known for its barley grilled fish set meal with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. ¡°I chose this place because it¡¯s affordable, tasty, and healthy, thinking you might feel burdened if I picked something expensive.¡± The barley grilled fish restaurant was a place Tae-hyuk had visited a few times before going to the United States. It was a well-established eatery near the hospital. Since the only menu item was the barley grilled fish set, there was no need to ponder over what to order. There was a brief silence as the two sat down. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk didn¡¯t seem to mind the silence much, but it bothered her greatly. The awkwardness between them kept dragging her back to that day. Therefore, driven by the silence, Na-young asked anything. ¡°How was your life in the U.S.?¡± ¡°Just like here, always in the hospital.¡± It sounded like the only difference was the ethnicity of the patients. ¡°I¡¯d like to work at Cleveland Clinic someday.¡± Tae-hyuk frowned and immediately shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing special.¡± Huh. She wondered why he, who had worked there and gained recognition, was discouraging her from going. ¡°But I still want to go.¡± Thinking of crossing the Pacific Ocean, not just being a resident. The first meeting when everything seemed to work out effortlessly now felt like a dream. How was that even possible when things are so difficult now? Tae-hyuk just stared at the innocent barley grilled fish. ¡°Try it. It¡¯s really good.¡± When he looked up at her, Na-young smiled properly. Even though it wasn¡¯t with all her heart like that day, she still looked beautiful. Tae-hyuk picked up his spoon. As Professor Choi Tae-hyuk began to eat, Na-young also ate more comfortably. ¡°Fortunately, we haven¡¯t received any emergency calls. Looks like we¡¯re lucky today.¡± She meant it in a good way, but when Tae-hyuk stopped eating and stared at her face, Na-young hesitated. ¡°Ah! I hope I didn¡¯t jinx us by saying that.¡± It wasn¡¯t because of what she said, but because she used ¡®we¡¯. That one word suddenly made them feel closer. Just as he was about to say something to Na-young, a familiar voice greeted him. ¡°Professor Choi. Fancy seeing you here.¡± It was Yoon I-na. Instead of an emergency call, a woman with a history with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk appeared.