Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 16

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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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#Episode 16

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Yoon Geon, who had said he’d go down first and wait, took the call and headed back up to the Hospital Ward, while Ji Mun, who had entered the Operating Room, was stuck there as the surgery stretched on.
And Bang Su Ho, the sluggard, hadn’t even answered his phone.
Spring, waiting outside the Hospital Main Gate, had no choice but to head home alone.
They’d already agreed to meet at nine, so she had to get there and wait first.

“Spring, speak well for us to the professor. You did CPR with him—he’ll take good care of you, right?”

Yoon Geon, oblivious to what people actually thought, rattled on carelessly.
“Han Spring! You became a total star?”
One of the crowd rushing past recognized Spring and called out.
A senior from Internal Medicine.
“Haha, thank you.”
Spring bowed her head politely. Soon everyone who saw her might treat her this way.
“Sister!”
Sure enough, an intern came scurrying over within a few steps. A junior from university.
“Oh, hey. On duty?”
“Yes. I saw the article. You were so cool, sister! But who’s your boyfriend? Is he a doctor at our hospital?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Come on, the article already said you two were a couple. Why hide it? Anyway, I’m so jealous. Your boyfriend is really handsome.”
A handsome portrait photographer is my boyfriend?
The words rose to her throat, but Spring held them back.
“Go on, get back to work.”
“Yes, go ahead. I really do envy you, sister!”
See what I mean.
No matter how much she protests now, her words will just wear her out.
Time would sort it all out.
Loud though this would be, it would die down soon enough.
Spring quickened her pace as she watched the junior bounce away with cheerful confidence.
At this rate, she might be late for nine.
A handsome boyfriend throwing a fit would be problematic.
Thump-thump.
As she drew closer to home, her heart began to race harder.

***

Rrrrrr, Rrrrrr.
Tae Mun, watching a surgical technique video in the Study Room on the third floor, paused it at the sound of his Mobile Phone ringing.
It was a call from Hae Il.
Tae Mun, who had spent the past few days at home resting through his Jet Lag Adjustment, answered quickly, wondering if it was an emergency surgery.
“Hello?”
-Tae Mun, you became a Star.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
Tae Mun’s thick brows twitched.
Out of nowhere, a Star.
-You haven’t checked the Video, have you? Spring was absolutely in chaos because of you. You’d better watch your behavior going forward.
“Explain it so I can understand. What on earth are you talking about?”
The moment Spring’s name came up, Tae Mun pulled his slouching body upright.
And watch his behavior?
-I sent you a Video. Check it out. Spring is someone I cherish, so manage things carefully.
Manage things.
Hae Il said what he needed to say and hung up.
While away in the United States, Hae Il had lost a lot of his manners.
What kind of Video was it that had Hae Il acting like this?
Tae Mun laughed softly and checked the Video Hae Il had sent.
He touched the screen with his index finger, and moments later Tae Mun’s head tilted slightly.
It was a video of a man and woman taking turns performing CPR on a patient who had collapsed from cardiac arrest.
The two people whose movements meshed together as perfectly as a pair of lovers were none other than Bom and himself.
Pretty fast.
It appeared someone had reported the incident at the time, as the story was being circulated in article format.
Tae Mun pressed pause on a frame where Bom’s face was close-up.
He gazed at the screen for a long while.
Tae Mun, who had wondered if his memory of Han Bom had been embellished, found that doubt completely dispelled.
His lips curved upward naturally.
In the comments, arguments swirled about whether the two were lovers or not, interspersed with praise for them both.
After watching the video repeatedly, Tae Mun checked the clock on the wall.
It was nearly nine o’clock, the time they’d agreed upon.
He turned off the video and rose from his chair.
I should head down soon.
He’d been told five others lived here besides him, but aside from Ji Mun, he hadn’t caught a glimpse of anyone for days.
Han Bom seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, and the other two didn’t appear to come home often anyway.
So the real issue was Han Bom.
He recalled a conversation he’d had with Ji Mun in the Hospital Lounge early one morning.
Some bastard had been stalking her, apparently, which meant Bom now had a reason for him to keep her close.
Before leaving the Study Room, he stared at his reflection in the full-length mirror.
His mother had said his expression looked fierce when his mouth was shut, so he’d tried consciously to soften it, but there was nothing to be done about his natural appearance.
The girl couldn’t be afraid of him.
Tae Mun lifted his lips in a slight smile, relaxing his expression, then left the Study Room and took the elevator down to the first floor.
I wonder if everyone’s here.
Ding.
As the elevator doors opened, his eyes met Bom’s, who was just stepping into the Living Room.
She halted, seeming startled, then bowed and greeted him.
It had been almost a week.
“Good to see you, Professor.”
Tae Mun nodded in acknowledgment and glanced past her shoulder.
“Oh, the others had work remaining at the Hospital, so I came alone.”
Bom, catching the questioning look in his eyes, offered an awkward explanation.
Her hunched shoulders and strained expression made clear how much she feared him.
It wasn’t like he was going to bite her or anything.
“Can’t be helped. Want some coffee?”
“Oh, would you like some coffee? I’ll make it for you.”
Gauging his mood, Bom set down the bag she’d been holding near the sofa, slipped off her coat, and hurried toward the Kitchen.
Had something changed in her feelings?
For someone who hadn’t even been coming home, she was moving quite briskly.
But what was this scent?
The fragrance that had lingered through the house for days now drifted strongly as she passed.
It was like flowers, or perhaps shampoo.
Tae Mun’s eyes followed her slowly. The sight of her in a white t-shirt and jeans threw his vision into disarray.
Despite the simple outfit, the effect was considerable.
Perhaps from rewatching the video dozens of times, but his sense of familiarity felt deeper than usual.
If he looked at her now, it seemed impossible to call her the same person as the woman in the video, so pure did she appear, yet his mind had already resolved the Cognitive Dissonance and accepted that they were one and the same.
Both versions were cute.
“I don’t drink bad coffee.”
He approached with deliberately mischievous teasing.
Bom, who had moved to the Espresso Machine, turned only her head to look at him, breaking into a bright smile.
“Lucky for you, then. I pull exceptional coffee.”
Leaning against the island counter at an angle, Tae Mun smiled subtly.
Unlike others, Bom seemed quick to shift tactics and had apparently decided to stop running.
While he didn’t entirely trust it, her flustered movements were endearing enough to watch in silence.
Rising onto her toes, Bom opened the upper cabinet above the sink, where various coffees and teas were stored, and carefully retrieved the Coffee Beans.
Her claim about pulling exceptional coffee seemed doubtful.
She probably preferred instant coffee stored in neat rows in the upper cabinet—the kind sickeningly sweet on the tongue.
Tae Mun’s gaze had been drawn momentarily to her graceful back, slender yet elegantly curved, when he caught sight of Coffee Beans tumbling across the sink counter and let out a small laugh.
“Oh!”
Half the beans went into the hopper where they belonged, and half spilled out.
Spring’s earlobes and nape flushed as she glanced nervously over her shoulder, reading the mood.
Tae Mun exhaled deeply, rubbing the soreness from the back of his neck.
Cute, and now she’s being even cuter.
Thud-thud.
He moved slowly toward her, closing the distance.
A single coffee bean rolled across the white marble countertop; he plucked it up and tossed it into his mouth.
His teeth crunched down, and the bean crumbled, releasing that distinctive bitter coffee taste.
“Not working?”
He asked, rolling the crushed bean around on his tongue.
“Oh, no, it’s fine.”
Spring pressed the power button as if to prove she could manage it, and the machine began grinding.
Then, a moment later.
“Um, why isn’t it coming out?”
Acutely aware of his presence, Spring jabbed the button repeatedly.
As if pressing it harder would help. There was no water.
Tae Mun reached toward the water tank.
“Why won’t this work… wa—?!”
In that instant, Spring turned toward him.
“……!”
As Tae Mun leaned down to grasp the water tank, he felt something soft brush against his lips, and his breath caught.

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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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