Emergency Instinct - Chapter 67
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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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3 AM on-duty room.
How terrifying habits can be.
She had collapsed at midnight, so she slept exactly 3 hours.
Ji-an, who opened her eyes before the alarm even rang, checked her phone first.
There had been no emergency calls during her shift.
Thanks to that, Ji-an, who had slept well, headed to the restroom to wash her face.
She planned to clear her head, stop by her mother’s room, then check on the emergency room.
It was too quiet, which made her anxious instead.
Her mother still needed a cane, but the time she spent walking alone had increased.
Her exceptional willpower made her recovery faster. At this rate, she would soon be able to visit as an outpatient.
“Ugh!”
Ji-an stretched and walked through the dark, quiet hospital hallway.
It was when she stood in front of the restroom, muffling her footsteps.
Voices of on-duty doctors from other departments leaked out from inside.
“Really that Dongsan Hospital?”
“Yeah. Hong Ji-an was the granddaughter of the Dongsan Hospital director who got arrested.”
“No way! Really? I can’t believe it. Why did she hide it?”
“There must be something fishy about it.”
“Wasn’t there a rumor that her mother was hospitalized at our hospital?”
“That makes it even more suspicious. Dongsan Hospital was the place that distributed illegal drugs and sucked patients dry. She must have known from the beginning and moved her own mother out. I heard she secretly embezzled money under Hong Ji-an’s name too? At this rate, our hospital might get caught up in it.”
“Ah, but isn’t it a bit strange?”
“What is?”
“Hong Ji-an was famous since school. Would a rich kid desperately tutor while attending medical school? She wore the same jeans and sneakers until graduation.”
“Isn’t that just for show? I heard there’s a resident who got hired illegally without any skills. She barely even came to the hospital.”
“What are you talking about? Hong Ji-an practically lived at the hospital, dividing her time by the minute. Since her intern days, all the professors wanted to take Hong Ji-an because she was so good. I don’t know for sure, but her mother seemed to have been sick for quite a while too.”
“Are you taking her side?”
“It’s not that, we should at least hear what she has to say.”
“She’s definitely involved. The emergency room was buzzing about it too.”
Even though they were speaking in lowered voices, the content was all too clear.
Ji-an couldn’t move, unable to even breathe deeply.
Who on earth had spread such rumors?
Facts and lies were cleverly mixed and exaggerated.
After the shock passed, panic gripped her throat.
Even if she wanted to deny it, she didn’t know where or how to start.
Anyway, wasn’t it true that Ji-an was Park Soon-ja’s ‘granddaughter’ from the problematic Dongsan Hospital? Regardless of her involvement in the case, now that it was known, it would be a problem.
She had been naive. Even if she were an ordinary doctor, there would have been talk, but she had even filmed a hospital promotional video.
Ji-an turned around and fled, muffling her footsteps.
She went back into the on-duty room and even locked the door.
Slumping into an empty chair, she pressed her trembling chest.
First, she would quit the hospital promotion work.
She absolutely couldn’t let Hanyeong Hospital suffer because of her.
She couldn’t let Tae-jun be affected either.
Her sigh deepened.
It couldn’t be helped. She would suffer from rumors for a while, but she had to endure it. If she bore it silently, time would solve it. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
Should she contact him? Did Tae-jun already know?
Then, suddenly, her phone vibrated.
Her heart sank at the unfamiliar number.
Who could it be at this hour?
An unknown sense of foreboding washed over her, making her want to hide. But Ji-an mustered the courage to answer the phone.
“…Hello?”
-Doctor Hong Ji-an.
Her name flowed out with a chilling resonance.
The feeling was so eerie that Ji-an unconsciously swallowed her dry saliva.
“Who is this?”
-Shameless bitch.
Profanity came through immediately.
-No matter how much you struggle, it’s useless. This time I’m going to post online that you had your grandmother threaten the Chairman’s Wife of Hanyeong Group and extort money. Actually, it’s because of you, right? Isn’t it?
What on earth was this about? Extorting money?
-You have no conscience. Someone like you doing Hanyeong Hospital promotion? Aren’t you afraid of heaven? Wake up from your dream, you thief!
“W-who are you? What are you talking about?”
Ji-an, who had been trembling, barely managed to open her mouth and ask. Then.
-You should have behaved yourself. From tomorrow, you won’t be able to show your face anywhere. You won’t be able to play doctor anymore either, will you? I can’t live after being wronged. I’m not dying alone!
Ji-an didn’t respond anymore.
She didn’t know the reason, but it was clear they were trying to torment her with malicious, nonsensical stories.
-Hey! Are you listening to me?
When Ji-an didn’t respond, the woman screamed again.
That’s when it happened. Through the phone came noise along with the sound of a rough car horn.
Beep beep- Beep beep-
-Move! Get out of the way! Hah! How dare you ignore me? You think my revenge is funny, is that it?
She’s not in her right mind. The highly excited voice was ominous.
-Wait. Soon you’ll be beating the ground in regret too. I’m planning to take away what’s most precious to you. Your mother must be scared. Kekekekek!
The horn sounded again, and the call abruptly ended with an eerie laugh like a crazy person.
“What is all this about?”
Ji-an shook her head at the ridiculous threats.
But it wasn’t content she could dismiss as a prank call.
Didn’t they clearly say ‘mother’?
No way, no way, that couldn’t be.
When the words about planning to take away something precious and mentioning her mother flashed through her mind again, goosebumps suddenly rose all over her body.
This wasn’t the time for this.
Ji-an kicked back her chair and stood up.
As anxiety engulfed her entire body, her heart raced as madly as the loud footsteps running down the hallway.
***
At the same time, in the hospital director’s office.
Tae-jun, who had rushed over as soon as he heard the news, asked breathlessly.
“Are the preparations ready?”
Manager Kim nodded.
“Yes. We’ve controlled everything and left only the minimal routes. Everyone is waiting at their positions as instructed, so there are no escape routes.”
The moment had finally come to pull the trap they had set to catch Cha Bo-kyung.
Now, she just needed to take one more step inside.
“What about the comments?”
Tae-jun asked with a coldly hardened gaze.
“We deleted and blocked them as soon as they were posted. But they’ve already spread to group chats with over a hundred medical staff. It seems quite a few people have already seen the posts on anonymous bulletin boards.”
Manager Kim held out a screenshot.
The original text was much dirtier, but even summarizing just the key points, the malice was clear.
[Emergency Room Dr. Hong○○. Is it true?]
[I heard it’s fact. She’s the granddaughter of someone involved in Dongsan Hospital corruption.]
[I heard she pretended to be nice while hiding her identity. She has connections up top so no one can touch her.]
[At this rate, the hospital’s credibility is going to be completely destroyed.]
[They say the relationship with arrested Park Soon-ja is ‘undeniable’.]
[Creepy. Even classmates didn’t know, so wasn’t the past hidden?]
[Someone said they saw her expression harden whenever family was mentioned.]
[Posts get deleted just by mentioning it. Even more suspicious.]
[The image-making is too obvious. Excessive kindness.]
[I’m neutral, but there should be an explanation.]
Damn it!
Tae-jun let out a rough breath and shot up from his seat.
Even though it was dawn shrouded in darkness, speculation spread faster than light.
Even if they endured tonight, by tomorrow morning it wouldn’t end within the hospital. The moment the media caught wind of it, it would become uncontrollable.
They had actively suppressed it, but now there was no way to silence every mouth.
They had no choice but to face it head-on.
Tae-jun clenched his fist tightly and said.
“Prepare correction materials for an official response. How did the IP tracking go?”
“Three IDs directly commented on the video, and the location is the Incheon villa where Cha Bo-kyung is currently hiding. Anonymous forum posts were also confirmed from the same IP. Screenshots, server preservation requests – we have sufficient evidence.”
Cha Bo-kyung, who always manipulated people from behind and stirred up trouble, had gotten excited this time and acted directly. As she was cornered by leaking information to Cha Dong-un, she finally came out on her own.
The problem was that in the process, Ji-an, whom he wanted to protect more than anyone, had also been swept up in it.
He hadn’t expected Cha Bo-kyung to act so recklessly.
Tae-jun felt a heaviness in his heart.
Things had escalated and the situation had spread to places he hadn’t wanted.
That’s why it had to be finished tonight even more.
So that Ji-an wouldn’t get hurt any more, somehow quickly and quietly.
“Hong Ji-an is still in the on-duty room, right?”
Tae-jun asked in a lowered voice.
“Yes. There was no contact that she came out.”
“Bring her here as soon as she wakes up. We can’t let her go to the ER and hear strange things.”
Buzz.
As soon as he finished speaking, Manager Kim’s phone rang.
What appeared on the screen was an urgent message from the bodyguard protecting Ji-an.
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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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