Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 26

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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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#26

“Oh, no. It’s not that—I was just going to throw away your cup once you’re finished with your coffee…….”
The warm, large hand was surprisingly soft.
He wrapped her small hand completely in his grip, showing no sign of letting go.
“……?!”
“……Delicate. Skilled hands.”
He spoke and then released her.
While her face flushed crimson, her ears burning hot, he walked ahead with perfect composure.
“Professor, am I really that skilled?”
She laughed brightly and hurried to his side.
Whenever anyone praised her work or her deft hands, energy surged through her like a rabbit gone mad.
“Professor, do you know my nickname?”
“I’m not sure. Something like goddess?”
“Are you teasing me?”
“Teasing? So what is it?”
“Well, there was this incident during my internship…….”
Her cheerful chatter continued endlessly, interwoven with Tae-mun’s laughter like a chorus.
Yes, all she needed to show this man was competence and skill.
She was certain of it.

***

“Royal, hurry up. Is that why you’re Royal—because you walk so slowly?”
Su-ho jabbed at Ji-mun.
Now that it had come out that Professor Tae-mun was the Director’s son, Ji-mun too had ascended to the rank of Royal as part of the Director’s family.
“I’m not actually Royal. It’s just my relatives who have money—my house is broke, broke. So stop calling me Royal!”
“That’s funny. You drove that hundred-million-won car last time, remember? Said it was your father’s. You took all of us on a drive and everything.”
“I bought it used. Used.”
“Royal’s lying now. How’d you keep that secret all this time, you shameless Royal? Must’ve been fun?”
“Shut up and just take this.”
She handed Su-ho the plastic bag of meat she’d bought at the supermarket.
Yun-gun, his ears apparently sensitive, had his headphones on and was walking ahead.
“Wow, look at all the lights they turned on for your arrival.”
Just as Su-ho said, the Mansion blazed with light.
Even the garden, which usually had minimal lights, was bright as day.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Ji-mun disarmed the door lock and opened the gate. They poured inside.
“Don’t push me.”
“This guy’s unbelievable.”
She shoved Yun-gun and Su-ho, who were bickering to get in faster, through the door and followed them inside.
“Oh, hyung! When did you get here?”
Ji-mun, who’d climbed the stairs first, spotted Tae-mun and called out.
Tae-mun, dressed in jeans slung low on his hips and a black short-sleeved t-shirt, was looking at them with utter disdain.
Wait—what was he doing?
In his hand was the pink watering can that she used.
Unbelievable.
He was watering the cherry tomato pot.
Her heart lurched at the sight of him—romantic as a florist.
The professor deserved to eat those cherry tomatoes.
She smiled knowingly, thinking it with her eyes—so different from the others who just devoured them without care.
“Welcome, Professor. We’ve arrived.”
“……Hello.”
Su-ho and Yun-gun greeted him.
“Come in, then.”
Tae-mun, who’d been scrutinizing each of them in turn with his steady gaze, set down the watering can and headed toward the Terrace.
They trailed along behind him obediently.
“Wait, hyung—did you set everything up already?”
“Hurry up and change. I’m getting the charcoal started.”
The moment Tae-mun finished speaking, everyone bolted toward the Foyer.
Bom ran with them, glancing back to take in everything he’d prepared.
“What? Missing something?”
Tae-mun noticed the direction of her gaze and sauntered toward her slowly, long legs unfolding with casual grace. He moved like a predator at ease—dangerous without urgency.
Held by the weight of his presence, she could only watch. Then he locked eyes with her, deep and searching.
“Well? Bom.”
A fresh, clean scent drifted from him as he drew close—something like fruit mingled with forest air, a fragrance she couldn’t quite name.
“It’s nothing. You must have worked hard to prepare all this alone.”
The table held meat, vegetables, and an array of seasonings arranged with the precision of a professional catering.
“Not really. But what’s that in your hand?”
Before she could answer, he took the bag from her fingers.
“What strength do you have to be lugging something this heavy around?”
“Actually, it’s not that heavy…”
“Beer?”
“Yes, Non-alcoholic Beer. Should I not put it in the refrigerator?”
“Just put it in the Ice Box here.”
“You even have an Ice Box.”
Watching him pull off this camping atmosphere so thoroughly, Bom couldn’t help but smile.
‘He puts his whole heart into everything he does.’
“The beer’s just for show. Now go change and come back out.”
“Understood! I’ll be quick.”
“Take your time.”
He smiled and began placing the cans into the Ice Box.
Tae-mun was still difficult to read, but their internal intimacy had climbed considerably.
She was, after all, the first woman to show him her bare body since he’d grown into manhood.
Bom turned away with a half-smile playing on her lips.
The Hospital was currently promoting him across its homepage, and a massive banner hung on the Hospital’s outer wall.
With surgical prowess brilliant enough to merit a position as the face of the Surgery Department, he was a rising star.
Before heading to America, he’d already performed the youngest-ever Pancreaticoduodenectomy using Robotic Surgery, and had gone on to develop the world’s first Robotic Ampullary Resection Surgery—his credentials were so dazzling they made jaws drop.
This afternoon, too, his performance had been brilliant.
The patients who’d arrived at the Emergency Room by ambulance passed through his hands to patient rooms, to operating theaters, and some—back home.
Incisive judgment backed by execution.
Bom had learned much.
And knowing he was the Director’s only son made a certain humility creep in, whether she liked it or not.
If that makes me a materialist, so be it.
Besides, he was both a Surgery Department professor and the head of the house.
There were more than enough reasons to be on her best behavior.
Awkward memories surfaced from time to time, unbidden, but no one could read her thoughts, so she could overcome such things easily enough.
If I could acquire even a tenth of his skill, would a little flattery matter?
Stepping into the Foyer, she found the others already coming down from the second floor.
“Bom, hurry down. We’re starting the grilling.”
“Got it!”
With the owner of the house now present, the place thrummed with life.
Nothing like this would have been imaginable during those quiet days living alone with her aunt.
Bom quickened her pace, her heart racing with anticipation.

***

When Tae-mun was lighting the charcoal with a torch, the others came pouring outside.
Looking at the three large frames, he felt laughter bubbling up.
They were the sort of men who’d stand out anywhere—striking, accomplished.
Su-ho from the Emergency Medicine Department, and Ji-mun and Yun-gun from the Surgery Department.
And Bom, who should be changing out of her clothes by now.
They were fledglings for now, but with proper grooming, each would pull his own weight.
If they couldn’t manage it, he’d just keep pushing until they could.
“Yun-gun.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Yun-gun, who looked like an idol singer, smoothed his unruly hair and avoided his gaze.
“At home, feel free to think of me as your senior. And keep your room clean. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Ji-mun.”
“Yeah, hyung. You called for me?”
Ji-mun came scurrying over.
He’d always been introverted, and since Uncle’s accident, he’d grown noticeably more withdrawn.
But Cha blood runs true, wherever it goes.
Even if he seemed meek on the surface, his stubbornness was anything but ordinary.
“You grill the meat.”
“Sure. The way I’m feeling right now, I could eat it raw.”
“Don’t you dare undercook it. Pork belly needs to be well-done.”
“Got it.”
“Su-ho.”
“Yes, sir.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the way he called me “sir” without being asked.
I’d seen him a handful of times in the Emergency Room, but he was a guy with remarkable nerve.
“You don’t even work in Surgery. Why are you living here?”

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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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