Boss, It's My First Time Being Your Resident - Chapter 51

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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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Chapter 51. Venice on a Spring Day (1)

Time stopped.

A-gang, flustered, looked up at Ha Tae-heon, his lips moving silently.
Countless unspoken words pressed up to the edge of his jaw.

“That promise you made… with my senior?”
“Why? Can’t I do it?”

At Ha Tae-heon’s offhand counter-question, A-gang’s pupils trembled faintly.

“You said you were going to pick up a dog from the shelter that you’d decided to adopt. I’ll give you a ride.”

A-gang’s eyes widened.
Just as he was about to ask how his senior knew that, Ha Tae-heon spoke first.

“There are ways to know.”
“Ways to know?”
“Well, for instance… your voice when you were talking to your friend was unusually clear to my ears.”

Ha Tae-heon laughed softly.

“Um, actually I promised to go with Woo-seop.”
“Woo-seop? Sim Woo-seop?”
“Yes…”

As if not asking twice, Ha Tae-heon fixed A-gang with an unflinching stare.

“Alright. It’s late anyway, so get some rest.”

Ha Tae-heon rose without hesitation.

Until the moment he crossed the on-call room and grasped the door handle, A-gang swallowed his words again and again, watching only his retreating figure.

A-gang stood in place, shuffling his feet for a long while, before finally closing his eyes tight and calling out toward Ha Tae-heon’s back.

“Senior! I just remembered something!”

“Woo-seop switched his shift that day, so he doesn’t have time. Please give me a ride!”

***

And then, improbably, the weekend arrived in a rush.

A shelter on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

Once the noise of Seoul’s urban sprawl faded into the distance, Ha Tae-heon’s car turned onto a wide, well-laid road following the river.

Outside the window, an endless tunnel of cherry blossoms stretched out.

It was spring.
Spring with the whole world tinted in soft pink.

Nearly a month had passed since A-gang began living in that cramped on-call room.
He had scarcely noticed that the season had shifted so brilliantly.

In the cherry blossom tunnel, petals scattered ceaselessly.

But why was it?
Unlike the peaceful afternoon, his heart was turbulent as a small, lost bird thrashing inside a cage.

A-gang drew a breath, his two hands neatly clasped on his lap, squeezing tightly.

The breath wouldn’t come easily.
As if the oxygen in the car had grown thin.

He had blurted something out on impulse and managed to ride in Ha Tae-heon’s car, but now the entire car seemed filled with him.

His scent, his voice, his body heat, his breath…

A-gang’s eyes, which had been fixed forward, slid sideways, stealing a glance at Ha Tae-heon’s profile as he gripped the steering wheel.

It was fresh as spring sunlight.

Seen in the heart of spring rather than the bleakness of the hospital, he was strangely dazzling.
Even the crisp white shirt he favored looked oddly refreshing today.

Entranced, unable to tear his gaze from Ha Tae-heon’s profile—

“Why are you staring like that?”
“Oh, no! Just… the cherry blossoms are pretty.”
“There are more flowers over there by the Riverside.”

Ha Tae-heon flicked his chin, pointing out the window on the opposite side of the driver’s seat.

“Right… that’s true!”

A-gang turned his head hurriedly, casting his lost gaze out the window. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment for no reason.

An awkward silence settled between them.

How could he endure this quiet?
Just as the unease deepened, Ha Tae-heon broke the silence first.

“So what dog are you adopting?”
“Oh! You know that dog that patient had?”
“Hmm? What dog?”
“That dog rescued from a fighting ring in that gangster patient’s case.”
“A fighting dog?”

Ha Tae-heon laughed briefly, as if exasperated.

What should have been a large and fearsome fighting dog emerged from A-gang’s lips sounding meek and gentle as a lamb.
A fluffy little Maltese with sweet, innocent eyes that seemed to mirror A-gang himself.

“Yes. I decided to adopt it.”
“…Will you be alright?”
“It’s in the shelter now, but they said it’ll be euthanized in two weeks. Fighting dogs don’t get adopted easily anyway…”

A-gang continued, his eyes mixed with half-concern and half-excitement for his new family member.

“It came out of such a hard place. I want to make sure it knows what it means to be loved.”
“You’re really sure you can handle it?”

It was a skeptical question—how could someone so frail, barely managing his own life, possibly care for a fighting dog of that size?

“Ever since that day, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Those eyes… I can’t forget them. I’m placing the rest of the dogs in private shelters.”

Ha Tae-heon looked at A-gang with a surprised expression, glancing at his lips.
Those small lips, declaring his conviction with unexpected firmness, were both bold and endearing.

“You must like dogs.”
“It’s not just that…”

When A-gang met the wounded dog’s precarious gaze, his brother came to mind—but he couldn’t tell Ha Tae-heon that.

Barely composing himself as a sharp ache bloomed in his chest again, A-gang quickly changed the subject.

“Senior, you mentioned going somewhere this weekend before. Is there something you need?”

A-gang collected himself, looking carefully at Ha Tae-heon.

“Oh, it’s nothing big. A friend of mine is opening a restaurant. He does French cuisine, and he needs a taster to give advice on the new menu development. Since you seemed to have lived in France for a while, I thought I’d take you along.”
“Ah, I see…”

So that was the reason.

The answer was so straightforward that all the sleepless nights spent assuming it was a date invitation felt absurd.

A-gang’s hope, swollen with anticipation, deflated in an instant as if pricked by a sharp needle.

“I’ll go! I want to go. I don’t know much about cooking, but…”
“Nervous about surgery?”

Ha Tae-heon asked casually, turning the wheel with one hand.

“Yes. Very much.”
“No need to be nervous. First assistant—just pull well, spread well, cut well. Master those three things and you’re halfway there.”
“Okay…”
“I’ll be in front of you, and Eun-do will be beside you. Just keep your head straight and help keep the field of view clear.”
“Yes!”
“A-gang. But won’t the camera bother you during surgery? We’ll be filming the whole time.”

A-gang tilted his head.
It was true that he disliked standing before a camera, but Ha Tae-heon couldn’t possibly know that.

Was he concerned about camera phobia?

Fearing Ha Tae-heon might withdraw the hard-won opportunity to assist, A-gang spoke urgently.

“I’ll be wearing a mask, cap, and glasses anyway! My face won’t be exposed, so it’s fine. I absolutely want to be in the OR, senior!”

Please don’t take back this offer to be first assistant.
This is such an opportunity I’ve earned.

A-gang looked up at Ha Tae-heon with eyes full of longing.

Ha Tae-heon, who had been watching the road, turned and glanced briefly at A-gang’s flushed face.

A low chuckle escaped his lips.

“Senior, but you must be busy. You’re not giving me a ride just because of me, right?”
“What, I’m supposed to just live in the hospital all day?”
“But I heard you don’t rest much…”
“Before a major surgery, even a short break is better for conditioning.”
“I see.”

The car had meanwhile turned into the end of the road along the Riverside.
The river water, holding the sunlight, sparkled brilliantly as if scattered with jewels.

“Hungry? Let’s grab some food.”

Ha Tae-heon checked the navigation and turned the steering wheel.

Ha Tae-heon’s car entered a quiet street. The clock already showed 1 p.m.

“My friend’s restaurant should be somewhere around here…”

At Ha Tae-heon’s murmur, A-gang looked around with unfamiliar eyes.

Despite the bright daylight, colorful neon signs blinked softly here and there.

Roman Hotel, Shangri-La Motel, Alps Unmanned Motel, Valentine Castle, Emperor’s Palace.

For a restaurant district, the buildings were far too ornate and exotic.

Ha Tae-heon’s grip on the steering wheel visibly stiffened.
If a hand could have a face, it might look like this. Bewilderment was written plainly across Ha Tae-heon’s knuckles as he clutched the wheel.

A one-way street so narrow it was impossible to turn around.

The maze-like narrow passages had nothing but black-curtained parking lot entrances lined up in rows.

Unable to find an exit, Ha Tae-heon’s car slowly crossed through the middle of the neighborhood.

“Wow! Senior, is this place themed after Europe? Rome, Venice, Alps? All the buildings look like palaces. This is so unique!”

“Huh? Um… yeah…”

Ha Tae-heon gripped the wheel without meeting A-gang’s eyes.
European theme.
Fine, let’s call it a European theme.

“You know those places, right? Where they turn entire small villages into tourist attractions—like a French village or an Alps village? This feels exactly like that!”

A-gang spoke with curiosity bright in his eyes.

“…Oh, um, sure?”
“Yeah! I want to go explore inside.”
“What? No way! Absolutely not!”

Ha Tae-heon spoke firmly, his voice sharp.

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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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