Emergency Instinct - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, there had never been anyone who took a liking to Ji-an.

The hospital calls that rang incessantly played a part, and no man would like her cold response of just waiting for time to pass.

Ji-an let out a sigh, opened the car door, and sat next to her grandmother.

Perhaps due to the fatigue from the nightmarish night, she felt particularly suffocated.

“Tsk tsk, how filthy. You look like a complete beggar.”

Grandmother looked Ji-an up and down and spat out harsh words without hesitation.

The signs weren’t good from the start, but Ji-an bit her lips tightly and endured it.

“We don’t have time, so let’s get moving. This is a blind date I arranged with great difficulty.”

Normally, she would have obediently followed along. But.

“Today, I don’t want to.”

Ji-an ended up blurting out her true feelings that she couldn’t swallow.

She thought she had gotten used to her grandmother’s coercive behavior and verbal abuse.

But perhaps because it was her birthday, she missed her mother terribly. She couldn’t suppress the emotions that surged up to her throat.

“I’ve been staying at the hospital for several nights without sleep, so today I absolutely must go see Mother. So just this once…”

“Ha! You insolent bitch.”

At the curse that flew at her immediately, Ji-an looked at her grandmother resentfully.

“You really took me for a fool, didn’t you? I heard all about how you sat there with that sullen face and ruined every blind date. Where do you get off scheming? This time it won’t go your way. Either you properly go on this blind date, or I’ll immediately remove your mother’s room from Dongsan Hospital!”

“Grandmother! How could you say such…”

“You promised with your own mouth to cooperate with the Hong Family affairs. Since you’re not doing it properly, I have no choice either, do I?”

Ji-an couldn’t even manage a bitter laugh.

It was truly the worst.

Grandmother hadn’t changed at all from 20 years ago when she kicked out her 8-year-old granddaughter who had lost her father.

She tore open wounds, trampled on them, and made people endlessly miserable.

She couldn’t breathe at all.

Ji-an’s chest tightened and she couldn’t bear it, so she tried to open the car door and get out.

“If you get out like this right now, you’ll regret it.”

A chilling coldness held Ji-an back.

“You know well since you’re a doctor. If I immediately remove the caregiver and stop physical therapy, how many days do you think your mother will last? Limbs stiffening and bedsores developing happens in an instant.”

Her heart sank with a thud.

It shattered into pieces as if a blade had been thrust into it.

Ji-an broke out in goosebumps all over her body and even her hands began trembling like a patient with hand tremors.

“I don’t like it either, but I’m putting up with you calling yourself my granddaughter while doing useless things and spending my money, aren’t I?”

Under the merciless threat, Ji-an couldn’t open the car door.

At this worst birthday present, her eyes reddened and her whole body trembled.

It was tens of thousands of times more horrific than last night’s death pronouncement in the emergency room.

The tyranny of blood relations worse than strangers was once again embedded as a deep, unhealable wound in her heart.

***

Tae-jun hurriedly drove his car into the underground parking garage of H Hotel.

As he parked and got out, his phone rang.

“Yes, Mother.”

He spoke while heading toward the elevator.

-Tae-jun, have you arrived?

“Yes. I’m in the parking garage now.”

-Hurry up a bit. Being late isn’t good manners.

“I’m still 10 minutes early.”

-It’s good to go early. I specifically chose the hotel where you’re staying.

“I’ve only been back in Korea for a week. I barely managed to make time from my packed schedule.”

-Yes, I know well. But please pay some attention. It’s a chance encounter, and the girl is so pure and well-behaved. You don’t know how much everyone covets her. It’s amazing that she studied medicine, which is so difficult, and I was so surprised to hear she’s even doing her residency at Hanyeong Hospital.

“Are you finished?”

As his mother’s words grew long, Tae-jun, who had been listening quietly, asked coldly.

-No, Tae-jun. The Hanyeong Hospital resident is as busy as you are. Since we barely managed to arrange this meeting, you must ask for a follow-up. You have to spend time with someone to know them. You need to meet at least three times to understand.

“She’s not a child, I’ll handle it myself.”

-Where is there a child as disobedient as you? Even when I tell you to come home, you insist on going to a hotel, and even when I say I miss you, you didn’t come back once from America for 2 years.

The caring voice continued.

-You’re the heir to Hanyeong Group. To lead the entire group, you can’t just work. First, you need to start a family and look around you…

“The elevator’s here. I’m hanging up.”

Tae-jun didn’t listen further and quickly ended the call.

Why did she suddenly become obsessed with marriage…

He felt sick of it even before meeting his blind date.

Until now, Tae-jun had been working at Hanyeong Automotive’s American branch.

He launched the new car HC and took on the challenge of entering the American market in earnest as the person in charge.

Hanyeong Automotive, being a latecomer, struggled for a while. But aggressive marketing showed results, and they gradually escaped the deficit. And finally, three months ago, the sales of the new car HC turned into a growth curve.

Thanks to this, Tae-jun’s return to Hanyeong Group headquarters was decided earlier than planned.

Work flowed smoothly according to his plan. But he encountered an unexpected obstacle called marriage.

As soon as he arrived in Korea, his parents began pressuring him about marriage.

It seemed they were properly stimulated by hearing that a friend couple had grandchildren.

Contrary to his parents’ wishes, Tae-jun had no interest in marriage whatsoever.

He was called a workaholic so often it was boring, and nothing had ever excited him as much as work. On the other hand, marriage felt like nothing but a waste of time, let alone exciting.

Most importantly, he was about to be appointed as managing director of Hanyeong Group headquarters.

It wasn’t a position he had climbed to carelessly just because he was the chairman’s son.

Starting as an intern in college, he had worked through all of Hanyeong Group’s subsidiaries to get here.

He had the grand goal of globalizing Hanyeong Group.

There were many things he had to do and wanted to do in the future.

During this busy time of adjusting to time zones and understanding work, he didn’t have time to leisurely go on blind dates.

Tae-jun, who decided to finish within 30 minutes as a form of filial piety, got on the elevator and pressed the button for the 21st floor.

His attention quickly turned to his phone screen as he looked down.

Numbers filled the screen, and the sales status of Hanyeong subsidiaries caught his eye.

***

In the end, Ji-an finished dressing up for the blind date according to her grandmother’s wishes.

She let down her hair that she usually tied up tightly, and covered her dark circles with heavy makeup.

She even put on stuffy false eyelashes, wore a luxury classic two-piece that made her look at least ten years older, and hung a scarf around her neck that wasn’t her taste.

When she carried the luxury tote bag that came with strict instructions to return it, her grandmother’s taste was complete.

Looking at her pale reflection, Ji-an felt sick to her stomach. But she suppressed her feelings and walked into H Hotel.

Ji-an passed through the hotel lobby and stood in front of the elevator on the first floor.

She sighed involuntarily.

Today didn’t seem like it would end with just her going on a blind date.

She had to quickly move her mother to another hospital before her grandmother did something terrible.

Realizing she could no longer hesitate, Ji-an left a message for a school senior who had once offered her a high-paying doctor position.

She had to give up the residency she had desperately held onto, but there was no other way.

Even if she had to give up her dream of becoming a specialist, she had to choose something that would earn her a little more money to save her mother.

It was when Ji-an gritted her teeth and made her decision.

A girl who appeared to be a kindergartener stood next to her, bouncing around with her mother. Ji-an’s gaze naturally went to the pretty mother and daughter.

“Mom. I want candy! Candy!”

“Okay. But you can only eat one more.”

The child, who put the yellow candy her mother gave her in her mouth, got even more excited and bounced around.

The child was wearing cute red shoes. They were cute shoes with the same design as her mother’s.

They’re a couple.

Ji-an used to do couple things with her mother when she was young too.

They would wear the same clothes, the same shoes, vests, bags, pins….

Her father, feeling left out, once asked to join in and walked around wearing matching ribbon pins with them. How much they had laughed at that sight.

As precious memories surfaced, tears welled up in her eyes.

Would Mother be upset if she knew about this situation?

Her heart felt heavy. But she steeled herself, knowing that everything was a choice made to protect her mother.

The elevator that had come up from the basement arrived at the first floor and opened its doors.

Inside was a handsome man in an elegant navy suit, complete with a pocket square.

Though he was looking down at his phone, his tall stature and striking appearance radiated considerable presence.

Feeling inexplicably intimidated, Ji-an headed toward a corner of the elevator and reached out to press the button.

But the 21st Floor Lounge, where her blind date was to take place, was already lit up.

Glancing sideways, Ji-an found herself stealing a look at the man without realizing it.

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