Boss, It's My First Time Being Your Resident - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 55. Spring Rallies

“Mom, I’m sorry. I’ll call more often from now on.”

A-kang stepped into the house, still holding her mother’s hand tightly.

“Calls? You should visit more often! Come home!”
“It’ll be hard for the next four years…….”
“I’ll find a place for you near the Hospital.”
“Even if I rent a room, I won’t have time to go there except on days off like today. The On-call Room is more convenient, really.”

Except for washing up.

Ever since Tae-heon had mentioned the ghost story about the On-call Room, rushing to the shower the moment her shift ended and finishing in under ten minutes had become a critical daily mission.

Then it happened.
That handsome face wearing a serious expression as he laid out the rules suddenly flickered through her mind unbidden.

Her cheeks flushed without warning, and A-kang shook her head in alarm.

“Ugh! Even though I gave birth to you with my own body, I just can’t understand this!”
“I’ll come again next time I have a day off.”
“I’ve made some rallies soup and rally pancakes for our girl. Go wash up and come down for dinner. They’re in season right now, and they’re delicious.”

Her mother continued busily, neatly setting down slippers at A-kang’s feet.

“I spent days wondering what home food my daughter would want after so long.”
“Thank you, Mom. Grandfather went down to Hae-sung-ri—hasn’t he come back yet?”
“He’s been swamped with the Seoul Bridge construction bid. The bidding was suddenly postponed, and he’s not sleeping well these days. It’s his last lifelong project.”
“I hope it works out…….”
“Let’s give the puppy a bath first.”

As her mother nodded toward the Mapo residence, two servants simultaneously lifted the cage.

“Wait! No. I’ll wash him. I got instructions from the shelter about what to be careful with.”

“Let me have him. I’ll bathe him well.”

Moon-joo, who had approached before A-kang realized, lifted the dog from the cage and cradled it in her arms.

***

“How can you just bring a dog here without permission! Did I say you could?”

The moment the study door opened, her father’s rebuke came flying.

She had planned to greet him first before dinner, bringing the dog upstairs.

The freshly bathed dog emanated a fluffy shampoo fragrance.

Delighted that its body felt light after so long, the puppy wagged its tail vigorously and began bouncing around the study with unbridled energy.

“Grandfather said yes…… and Mom said you’d definitely like it too…….”

A-kang’s voice grew quieter.

“Me? This calf-sized mutt?”

Her father pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up and glared at the dog in exasperation.

Yet somehow, the dog paid no mind to the icy indifference.

Instead, it thrust its snout between her father’s legs and began sniffing, exploring his scent.

“Like it? Absolutely not! Find somewhere else right now! Since Moon-joo likes dogs, send it to her place!”

It was the moment her father, wincing, pushed the dog away and settled deep into the sofa.

The puppy, as if it had been waiting, rested its chin on her father’s knee and sparkled its large eyes.

Despite the sharp, forbidding air that had filled the study just moments before, the puppy opened its mouth in a bright smile and gazed up at her father—like a young dog yearning for the touch of an owner it had long awaited.

Her father, who had been holding the dog at bay with a displeased look, turned his head toward A-kang.

“So when are you planning to bring home a proper son-in-law?”
“Dad, I’m only in my first year now. Marriage……I haven’t thought about it yet.”
“That’s why you keep getting hurt at the Hospital!!”

In that moment, her father’s raised voice filled the study.

“Dad……?”

A-kang stared at her father in surprise.

“……How did you know?”

Her eyes trembled faintly.

The bruises on her hidden back hadn’t faded yet, and a dull ache shot through her with each breath. But this was something no one should have known about.

Only a few nurses and patients had seen her struck by the Pole a patient swung in the hallway.

And even then, she’d claimed it was her own carelessness that made her fall.
How on earth did her father know……?

A look of bewilderment flickered across his face, as if he’d realized his mistake.

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t be taking such brutal blows there!”

Her father cleared his throat with a cough and hastily changed the subject.

“Either find yourself a dependable man to protect you like I said, or quit that war zone of a Hospital right now! One or the other, you hear me? Phew.”

Her father furrowed his brow in frustration.

“And this dog was raised by some gangster, wasn’t it!”
“……How did you know that too, Dad?”

A-kang’s eyes filled with questions.
There was no way her father could know the Hospital’s internal affairs in such detail.

“There are ways to know these things.”
“Surely you didn’t plant someone inside the Hospital?”

A chill settled over A-kang’s face.

“Anyway! Make a decision before this year ends! If you’re going to keep working at the Hospital, at least meet the man I know and see if it works out!”

Her father shifted his glasses and turned his gaze to the dog, as if to hide his consternation.

“Sigh! Why does he keep pestering me like this!”

The more he pushed the dog away, the more it burrowed toward him with surprising affection for something so large.

Her father held both hands up defensively, but it was no match.

Then it happened.

The dog’s large front paw gently brushed the remote control sitting on the table.

Suddenly, a young boy’s voice sounded, and the large screen covering one wall of the study brightened as video began to play.

The voice wasn’t unfamiliar.

A-kang slowly turned her head.

– Dad, Dad! Why does the child keep muttering after eating rallies? What are rallies? Tell me!

On the screen, her older brother from childhood played, grinning like sunshine itself.

Her brother, whom she could never meet again, who now existed only in memory.

Flustered, her father pushed the dog away urgently, but it was already too late.

After her brother’s brief recording ended, the video transitioned into a short film with unknown actors.

A vivid scene of school violence unfolded—someone being relentlessly driven into a corner in a dark school bathroom.

A-kang understood instinctively.
This was a recreation of her brother’s final moments.

It had been like any other day.

Because replaying that instant in her mind was agony beyond imagination, the entire family, as if by unspoken oath, never spoke of it—as if it were taboo.

“…….”

“…….”
“I miss my brother so much too…….”

As if desperately trying to wipe away his deep sorrow.

“But he’s waiting for your answer.”

“Pardon?”
“Spring Rallies.”

Ding.
With a cheerful notification sound, a message suddenly appeared on her phone screen.

[Tae-heon
Did you get home safe? If you did, message me back.]

By coincidence, her father’s eyes caught the message first.

Her father slowly picked up her phone with a puzzled expression.

“Tae-heon?”

Her father’s brow twisted instantly.

“You have another older brother?”
“Oh! Dad! Give me my phone!”

A-kang reached out urgently, but she was already a step too late.

Her father’s index finger flicked rapidly across the screen—it had already reached the photo album.

Soon, her father’s voice rang out through the study in startled alarm.

“Daughter! You visit motels too?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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