Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 34

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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 34

“Even I have to admit he’s good-looking. Don’t you think?”
“That’s a misunderstanding. No, it’s not like that.”
“Come on. We’re family, aren’t we? We should celebrate this kind of thing. Don’t you agree?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“It’s fine. Don’t be like that. Why hide something like this? Spring has come for our little Spring.”
He was teasing her with her name again.
When Han Bom shot him a look, Young-ung grabbed her shoulder and steered her toward the Elevator.
“Let’s go get prepped for surgery.”
Han Bom let herself be dragged along, but her eyes lingered on the Emergency Room entrance.
She caught sight of the Blind Date Man from the Police Department directing patients into vehicles parked at the Emergency Room doors.
He was handsome enough, but Cha Tae-moon was still in a class of his own. The thought of his face brought a smile to hers.

Han Bom headed for the Doctor’s Lounge, where spare Gowns hung waiting.
First, she needed to change out of the one stained with blood.
She opened the door, stepped inside, and reached for a clean Gown on the rack.
Rustle.
As she began pulling items from the Gown’s pockets one by one, the door swung open.
She turned—and froze. It was Cha Tae-moon.
“Oh? Professor.”
Han Bom stopped what she was doing and stared at him with wide eyes.
“……”
His gaze swept over her Gown in silence, cool and measured. Without thinking, she felt herself shrink—but then she lifted her shoulders back, defiant. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Did you need something?”
She asked the question as casually as she could manage.
Tae-moon stepped closer, his hands still thrust into his Gown pockets.
With each inch that vanished between them, her heart began to stutter, beating out of time.
What was he doing in the Doctor’s Lounge anyway?
Rounds had ended without incident. There’d been nothing unusual.
Surely he didn’t come here just to see me?
His deep, dark eyes wandered across her face.
Was he trying to make her heart stop?
In those quiet black irises, flames flickered and burned.

***

Meanwhile, just moments before, Tae-moon had sought out the Donor’s Patient Room during Rounds because something about the man’s expression during the Harvest Surgery briefing had troubled him.
If the Donor had a change of heart, the surgery couldn’t proceed.
While the Recipient mattered, in Transplant Surgery, the Donor’s health and wellbeing came first.
Even if the operation went flawlessly, they’d still be removing a healthy organ—the fear was only natural.
After visiting the Donor again to confirm there were no concerns, Tae-moon had left the Patient Room and was heading up to the Research Lab when he heard voices rising from the Nurse Station.
Kim Young-ung, a second-year resident, was chatting with several nurses.
And the subject of their conversation was none other than Han Bom. Tae-moon slowed his pace and listened in.
From what he gathered, she’d taken a blow to the face while dealing with a drunk in the Emergency Room.
Even if Young-ung was embellishing the details, it seemed clear that Han Bom had indeed been hit.
Dealing with an intoxicated patient, of all things.
Hard work was admirable, but reckless behavior that put herself in harm’s way was another matter entirely.
“Hey, by the way, Young-ung—we’ve all been wondering. Are you and Han Bom really in a relationship with Professor Cha Tae-moon?”
Tae-moon had been about to turn away, but the question stopped him cold. He decided to hear more.
“People are saying that because of some article, but it’s false information. I can guarantee that.”
“See? I told you so. I knew it wasn’t true.”
Tae-moon’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile.
He was already seething over the fact that Han Bom had fearlessly confronted a drunk—and now Young-ung was pouring fuel on the fire.
The way the resident spoke made it sound as though someone like Han Bom could never be worthy of him—a man pushing thirty-five.
Tae-moon walked forward with deliberate steps toward the Nurse Station.
One of the nurses, who’d seemed very interested in the gossip, suddenly looked flustered at his approach.
“What’s all this interesting conversation you’re having?”
Kim Young-ung noticed Cha Tae-moon’s arrival only belatedly, and started visibly.
“H-hick, P-professor…….”
“Ah, hello.”
Tae-moon smiled and stepped beside Kim Young-ung.
“Go on. Am I not supposed to hear this?”
“Well, it’s not that…….”
“You vouched for me, didn’t you? Tell me. This is interesting.”
Young-ung, fidgeting with uncertainty, glanced at Tae-moon’s face before speaking in a voice barely audible.
“I saw Han Bom’s boyfriend.”
At Young-ung’s words, Tae-moon paused, processing what he’d heard.
“……No way. That doesn’t make sense. She didn’t have a boyfriend, and suddenly she does?”
The nurse looked at Kim Young-ung with an expression of disbelief.
“I saw him with my own two eyes. Ah, I mean, I did see him.”
Kim Young-ung’s voice was steady as he corrected his dialect, conviction ringing through every word.
“You saw him? Where?”
Tae-moon asked with a faint smirk.
The nurses, who had stepped back thinking he’d joined the conversation, moved closer now.
Emboldened by this attention, Kim Young-ung cast an appraising look up and down Tae-moon’s frame, then smiled knowingly.
“If you’d seen him too, professor, you’d probably be shocked. Is he even taller than you? In any case, he has an exceptionally handsome face.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes! I saw them meet clearly in front of the Emergency Room. He greeted me too.”
Whether to believe Kim Young-ung or not—that was the question.
“He exchanged greetings with that man?”
“Yes. He’s a police officer. I heard he’s a team leader.”
The mention of police struck a chord.
Could it be that the Blind Date Man from before had come looking for her? The odds seemed increasingly high.
“Is that right?”
At Tae-moon’s show of interest, an increasingly excited Kim Young-ung launched into a description no one had asked for.
“Black jeans with a leather jacket draped over his shoulders, and no lie—his waist came up to around my chest. He had a real masculine style to him.”
“Keep going.”
Tae-moon’s brow began to narrow gradually.
“Yes, and he was looking at Han Bom like—just like this—with an intense hunger, like someone who’d been starving for three days, I mean, not someone, but a person, starving like that. It seemed like he liked her quite a lot.”
As Young-ung spoke, Tae-moon’s expression grew steadily colder, and the nurse began shooting him warning glances to stop.
But Kim Young-ung, his excitement now fully kindled, showed no signs of stopping and continued his story.
“And I’ve never seen a soldier or police officer do this before—I mean, showing loyalty like this. When that officer was leaving, he gave a military salute to Han Bom and shouted ‘Loyalty!’ and wow, it was so…….”
Kim Young-ung, who had been demonstrating the gesture with his body, suddenly closed his mouth.
“Why’d you stop?”
Tae-moon tilted his head slightly with a questioning look, and sensing something amiss, Young-ung straightened up, standing at full attention.
“Something’s wrong.”
Young-ung fell silent.
Then the nurse beside him, who had been reading the room, spoke to Young-ung.
“Um, Mr. Kim. I think the elderly gentleman in Room 902, Lee Seok-yul, has pulled out his catheter again. It’s swollen and won’t go back in easily. Could you help us?”
“Oh, really? That’s a problem. It might have torn. Please bring me a Foley catheter set.”
“Yes. Here it is.”
“Then professor, I’ll take my leave now.”
Having received the Foley catheter set from the nurse, Young-ung bowed to Tae-moon and made his escape.
Tae-moon watched the retreating figure flee, then glanced down at his wristwatch to check the time.
“Take care.”
“Yes, professor. Do well today too.”
After exchanging greetings with the nurse, Tae-moon reached into the Dressing Cart standing in the Nurse Station and pulled out a tube of gentamicin ointment.
“I’ll take this with me.”
When Tae-moon spoke with such certainty, the nurse nodded, looking slightly taken aback.
“Yes, please use it.”
Tae-moon set out to find Han Bom.
The first place he checked was the Doctor’s Lounge, and as he’d anticipated, Han Bom was there.

***

“……Professor?”
Cha Tae-moon’s cool gaze fixed on the blood smeared across Han Bom’s gown sleeve.
Bom quickly shed her gown and draped it over the table.
Her eyes burned with an intensity that seemed almost lethal.
“Why is there blood on your gown?”
“Oh, I got it on me while treating a patient.”
“Which patient? What kind of treatment?”
Tae-moon stepped closer.
His eyes narrowed, and he gestured silently for her to explain herself.

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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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