Boss, It's My First Time Being Your Resident - Chapter 59

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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 59. Friendship Bracelet

The red bracelet was a single thread of color in the monochrome room.

A-gang reached out as if entranced and picked up the bracelet.

The soft texture wrapped around her fingertips didn’t feel unfamiliar. Her heart sank.

“A-gang, if you twist the thread to the right once, it means good luck. Twist it to the left twice, and it means health.”

The knotting technique the teacher from Latvia had taught her grandmother, and then passed on to A-gang—the memory of spinning thread all night following those instructions came flooding back, vivid as yesterday.

One of a kind in the whole world. Unique and irreplaceable.

Why was it in Ha Tae-heon’s hands?

“One is for your brother, one is for your brother’s friend.”
“Wow, you made both of these yourself? Even one for your brother’s friend? Your brother’s so jealous!”

Her vision blurred at the longed-for voice grazing her ear.

One bracelet was meant for her brother, the other for that friend—the only close friend her brother ever had. She had given them with her own hands.

Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst.

That’s when her gaze caught on a small picture frame tilted on the desk.

It was that “legendary photograph” So-dam had shown her from Ha Tae-heon’s fan account.

A high school version of Ha Tae-heon, radiant enough to put the fresh greenness of the campus to shame.

A moment captured forever: seated on a bench beneath the sprawling shade of cherry blossoms, his arm draped over the back, his gaze steady and cool as he looked into the camera.

She hadn’t known.
The truth cut out of the frame.

That the person sitting beside Tae-heon on the long bench was Ju Junwon—the brother she had yearned for her whole life.

Beyond transparent tears, her brother’s face wavered.

No matter how much time passed, no matter how the image faded, no matter that her brother wasn’t even looking directly at the camera—

She could recognize him instantly.
Because her brother was her only world.

The tears she’d held back spilled onto the picture frame.

Why was she only now learning that the friend her brother had been so proud of, the best friend he said was the one and only in the world, was Ha Tae-heon?

A-gang wiped away the endless tears and gripped the frame tightly.

***

The morning after the dawn shoot swept through the hospital felt strangely fresh.

The Trauma Center staff meeting room.
Sunlight streamed long and bright between the legs of camera tripods scattered throughout the space.

“Ha Tae-heon never disappoints! The whole hospital’s buzzing about the Tae-wan surgery going well. Everyone’s talking about how excited they are for the first broadcast!”

While the staff hurried out to breakfast, Cha Yu-joo seized the moment when the cameras were off and perched on the seat beside Tae-heon.

“Ha Tae-heon before the broadcast and Ha Tae-heon after—you’re going to be a completely different level, right? You’d better not forget me when that happens.”
“I’m busy. Just tell me what you need.”

The cold response no longer even surprised her. Yu-joo set down the Americano she’d been holding with both hands in front of Tae-heon with a decisive thunk.

“I think I finally understand why you’ve been turning down interviews and avoiding the camera all this time.”

Whether it was the coffee or Yu-joo herself, Tae-heon gave neither his attention. He continued scrolling through the tablet in cold silence, only the long fingers moving rhythmically across the screen.

“It’s because of your father, isn’t it? Jin Shi-hwang of Taesan Group.”
“…….”

In that instant, Tae-heon’s hand stilled.
Thick tendons stood out across his large hand.

“Hey, don’t be surprised. I don’t care about that stuff.”
“…….”
“It doesn’t matter to me whether you have some background, whether your father was in organized crime in the past. I don’t care about petty details like how much blood was spilled as Taesan Construction rose from being a subcontractor for major companies to become Taesan Group.”

Yu-joo smiled generously, as if she understood everything.

With an arrogant face that seemed to absolve all sins.

“So the famous Chairman Jin Shi-hwang’s son was Ha Tae-heon? I was totally shocked, you know.”

Yu-joo’s eyes narrowed into a graceful sliver as she continued speaking.

“Why you dropped out of high school, how you ended up becoming a doctor. Now I can see Ha Tae-heon’s whole history at a glance.”

The deepest, darkest secret of Tae-heon’s life had surfaced.

Yu-joo was speaking so lightly of the shameful background Tae-heon had wanted so desperately to hide—as if she’d just picked up an interesting piece of gossip.

“The AL Apartment accident 25 years ago. It was connected to Taesan Construction, right? It happened back when they were still Han Young Construction, before the company name change, so people don’t really know about it…….”
“I didn’t know you were so interested in my background.”

Tae-heon set down the tablet with a sharp sound and slowly turned his head toward Yu-joo.

Yu-joo faltered, holding his gaze.
Tae-heon’s voice was dry, as if speaking of someone else’s story. His deep-set eyes betrayed not a flicker of disturbance.

“You said to dig. Instead of digging into A-gang, dig into Ha Tae-heon. And dig into my complicated, dramatic life story.”

Despite the ice-cold expression settling over Tae-heon’s face, Yu-joo swallowed hard unconsciously, yet pressed forward with false bravado.

“We’re investing tens of billions into this program. It’s only natural to do a risk check on the lead. I’m being professional here. Very professional.”

Yu-joo leaned in close to Tae-heon’s ear.

“But don’t worry, oppa. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re the heir to Taesan Construction or the only son of a yakuza boss. I only need you. That’s all.”

All or nothing.

Yu-joo sensed it instinctively.
This might be her last chance to approach Tae-heon on a personal level.

It was a desperate thrashing at the cliff’s edge, a last-ditch provocation.

“I don’t believe children pay for their parents’ sins. Parents are parents. Children are children. Separate existences. Aren’t they, oppa?”

Only the slightest twitch at one eyebrow—yet Tae-heon’s sardonic expression made Yu-joo feel even more maddened.

“I’ll keep all those things you’re so desperate to hide secret. It’s the tolerance I’m granting you.”

But oppa.
There’s no tolerance for A-gang.

“Cha Yu-joo. I have someone I love.”

What came from Tae-heon’s lips was an unexpectedly calm voice.

“The reason I’m saying this to you—even though I didn’t have to—is so you don’t cling to hollow hope and waste your precious time on me.”
“…….”
“Six years is enough. Let it go, Yu-joo.”

Tae-heon’s honest gaze pierced Yu-joo’s heart more sharply than any blade.

The firm tone in his voice cut deeper into her ears than any curse ever could.

There was not even a crack for her to wedge herself into.

Yu-joo wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks and clenched her jaw as she spoke.

“Is it real love?”
“Yes. Real love.”
“Do you love her a lot?”
“Yes. A lot.”
“Can I wait for you?”
“…….”
“I’m good at waiting, oppa. I can wait a few years.”

Unbothered by his passionate confession to another woman, Yu-joo forced her trembling lips into a smile. But she couldn’t hide the tears falling.

“No. Don’t wait.”

Tae-heon was firm.
Yu-joo stared into his eyes.

She knew exactly what that expression meant.

“You used to say the world has answer choices that don’t appear in the options no matter how many answers you write. Was that woman the answer?”

“Yes. The only correct answer on my test.”

Yu-joo’s face crumpled miserably.

Six years of her world collapsed entirely.

“I spent six years carefully writing answers, trying to guess the right answer on the test you gave me—and I was never even an option to begin with?”

She wanted to hold on until the very end.
To beg him to look back at her just once.
To hope that even if he found another woman, she might be his final resting place.

“Don’t make yourself pathetic, Cha Yu-joo. From now on, find someone who loves you—not someone you love. Don’t waste your time on a wretch like me.”

Yu-joo pulled her trembling lips upward with all her strength.

“That I’ve become strong enough not to be hurt by words like that—that’s all thanks to you.”

Yu-joo summoned every ounce of strength to feign composure.
And with deliberate steadiness, she turned her back to him.

“Oppa, I’m okay. I’m just going to the bathroom for a moment.”

Of course it was a lie.

Inside, she was already shattered beyond words, tattered and torn.

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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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