Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 11

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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 11

His gleaming eyes stripped away any words she might have offered.
“No, sir. Sleep well.”
She bowed her head in greeting.
“You too. Rest well.”
He smiled softly as he returned the greeting, and the gesture only sharpened the already striking beauty of his face.
He waved and headed toward the elevator.
But what was she supposed to do about what she’d already seen? She couldn’t unwatch it.
“When coincidences pile up, they call it fate. I’d say we’re anything but ordinary fate.”
Tae Moon had thrown out the loaded remark as he stepped into the elevator.
Bad fate, surely. Bad fate!
Bom forced a smile and watched him until the doors slid shut.
The elevator climbed toward the third floor.
Bom trudged up the stairs back to her room.
Click.
She closed the door, perched on the edge of her bed, and stared into space.
Did his talk of responsibility mean she should move out of the room?
Now that she thought about it, that was the only thing she could take responsibility for.
Was she really going to have to leave carrying the memory of his nakedness with her?
Besides, she’d run into him at the hospital every day anyway.
And truthfully, she had nowhere else to go.
A belated regret arrived: if instead of denying she’d seen anything, she’d just showered him with compliments, she might’ve gotten off half-free. But the arrow had already left the bow.
Sigh.
She should wash up, but she had no energy for it whatsoever.
Bom lay flat on the bed, arm raised to cover her eyes.
Her shame was complete.
She should’ve just gone to sleep quietly instead of heading down to the first-floor bathroom for a half-bath and…
She’d gotten a full view of her future professor’s—well, the damage was done.
Maybe going out to that unwanted blind date in the first place had been a harbinger of misfortune.
She desperately wished all of this had been a dream.
Why had she even agreed to go on the blind date…?
No, wait—that wasn’t her aunt’s fault! That was her own stupidity!
She quickly cut off that resentment before it could turn toward her aunt.
Her aunt was her only family—a parent in all but name.
And she was the person who loved her more than anyone.
Bom’s parents, she’d heard, were both doctors who’d married after a long courtship.
Her father Han Sang Gu had specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology, while her mother had specialized in Surgery.
Bom had chosen Surgery partly to become as accomplished a surgeon as her mother.
But their happiness hadn’t lasted long.
Constant fighting, her father’s infidelity, her mother’s cancer battle—there was never a peaceful day.
When her mother finally passed, Bom came to live with her aunt, who had been her mother’s best friend.
Her aunt, an Internal Medicine doctor, had never married, caring for Bom like a daughter.
Since entering university, Bom had lived apart from her, though her aunt’s home remained a refuge to return to whenever she needed.
Bom shifted onto her side, lost in thought.
If worst came to worst, she could just find a studio apartment.
Was the house owner sleeping upstairs right now?
Unlike the second floor with its four rooms, living room, and two bathrooms across two stories, the third floor had a study, one bedroom, a living area, a bathroom, and a spacious balcony.
She’d rather stay out of sight for a while.
If she just kept quiet and well-behaved, maybe he’d let her stay longer?
Bom turned this hopeful thought over as she pulled herself up.
A broken bag of Bath Salts lay scattered in one corner of the room. She pretended not to see it and left.
She headed to the second-floor bathroom to wash up before bed.

***

Bom’s eyes opened softly in the pale blue light seeping through the window at dawn, and she bolted upright.
She could have slept longer, but she’d made up her mind yesterday to slip out as quietly as possible and draw as little attention as she could.
Bom opened the door softly and emerged, showered quickly in the second-floor bathroom, and dressed.
She’d started to dry her hair with the blow dryer but abandoned the idea—the noise might wake the landlord.
Ready for work, Bom eased the door open, checked the hallway, and crept down the stairs.
The spiral staircase felt unusually long today.
The first floor lay wrapped in deep shadow. That didn’t mean the landlord was asleep, though.
She couldn’t afford to be careless.
Without so much as a glance toward the bathroom, Bom hurried toward the entrance.
The black male dress shoes she’d missed yesterday sat plainly on the entrance shelf.
The gleaming, high-quality handmade leather was a world apart from what her classmates wore.
Bom bent down, straightened the shoes neatly, slipped on her sneakers, and slipped out.
It was a petty gesture born from a small, desperate wish to make a good impression.
Click.
The door lock’s click sounded unnecessarily loud.
She moved like a cat burglar.
As she crossed the garden, she found herself reflecting wryly on how she’d been acting like a thief in someone else’s house.
The cold air caught in her throat. Mercifully, the rain had stopped.
Clang.
Once the heavy iron gate swung shut, Bom finally let herself breathe deeply.
Come on, you can do this, Han Bom.
She picked up her pace with deliberate energy.

***

Han Bom.
Going to work at this hour?
Tae Moon, sleep-deprived from fighting jet lag, took a sip of the coffee he’d made downstairs and gazed out from the balcony.
Han Bom was hurrying through the shadowed garden in quick strides, as if terrified of being spotted.
She’d almost turned to glance back before leaving the gate, but shook her head and slipped through—and he found himself smiling.
In her jeans and short jumper, she was unmistakably a college student from behind.
Walking around like that, didn’t men flock to her?
Why not wear a hat to hide her face, or baggy clothes to hide her figure?
Did she not realize how beautiful she was?
Tae Moon’s eyes followed her retreating form with something like disapproval, then he glanced away to check the time.
It was just past five in the morning.
He’d told the child from yesterday’s surgery to call if anything went wrong. No word yet.
Which meant the small one was holding on, surviving as she had to.
Resilient little thing.
Putting a blade to someone’s body meant taking full responsibility for them until the end.
Though Hae Il had called him in for an emergency surgery, the child was his patient, no matter what anyone said.
Then I should loosen up and head to the Hospital.
After a quick shower, Tae Moon changed into black workout clothes and headed to the Underground Training Room.
Exercise equipment filled the space—machines set up for building strength.
Fortunately, they were well-maintained and spotlessly clean.
Someone living here must be a fitness enthusiast.
After warming up with a ten-minute walk on the treadmill, Tae Moon moved to the upper body section to work on strength training.
He sat at the chest press machine, gripped the bar, and pushed it up with force—but it flew up without any real resistance.
Wondering if something was wrong, he stood and checked: the weight was set to ten kilograms.
No serious lifter would leave it like that. It seemed Han Bom used this space.
Then again, those slender arms would find ten kilograms plenty heavy.
Tae Moon checked the weight settings on other machines—the lat pulldown and others.
“Looks like she’s a beginner after all, despite appearances.”
Picturing Han Bom moving diligently around the room, he let out a quiet laugh.
But then there was the hip abduction machine.
That lower body apparatus was set so heavy that even he found it demanding.
So her lower body strength matches mine, does it?
Tae Moon scanned the entire room again with fresh eyes.
He could easily picture her sweating as she worked out.
What would it feel like to train together?
Remembering how she’d left without a chance to exercise this morning because of him, he simply turned and left the training room.
Tae Moon went back up to the third floor, grabbed his phone and Hoodie Jumper, then made his way down to the first floor.
Dawn light streamed through the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows.
The moment he stepped out through the Entrance, cold but crisp air flooded his lungs.
Why not run over to the Hospital and check on things?
Tae Moon passed through the Garden, pushed open the gate, and began jogging in place to warm up before taking off in earnest.
If he said he wasn’t looking forward to his new life here in Korea, he’d be lying.
As he began to run with vigor, he gazed up at the sky suffused in a deep crimson dawn.
Seeing people walking briskly toward the Hospital in the early morning, a warmth bloomed in his chest.
He tightened the drawstring of his Hoodie Jumper and picked up his pace. Cherry blossoms from the rows of trees scattered in the wind, tickling his face.
Spring. It was spring.

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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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