Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 52

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

#Episode 52

“Why are you standing like that?”
Cha Tae Moon moved his Adam’s apple slowly, watching Han Bom. In that moment, it felt as though the crowded Hospital Cafeteria had emptied until only the two of them remained.
This was serious.
Han Bom, you really can’t be doing this.
The more he looked at him—impossibly charming in ways Han Bom hadn’t noticed before—the hotter his own face burned.
What if he thinks I’m a pervert?
“Bom.”
Cha Tae Moon spoke in a lower, graver tone, reeling in Han Bom’s wandering gaze.
“Aren’t you hungry? Even if you’re not, I think you should eat something.”
“Sorry?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Cha Tae Moon took Han Bom’s hand and led him into the cafeteria. Dazed, Han Bom let himself be pulled along, his body moving as though guided by another’s will. Before he’d fully gathered his senses, the two of them were seated across from each other at a table.
And the moment awareness returned, Han Bom realized where they were.
The barrage of stares came from every direction.
Cha Tae Moon was the Hospital’s hottest topic lately. What in the world did it look like they were doing right now?
“Look, they really are dating?”
“Whoa, so the rumors were true.”
“Why would that journalist have called them lovers if she hadn’t done her homework?”
The voices of those gossiping about them rang out with crystalline clarity.
“Go on, eat.”
Cha Tae Moon seemed utterly oblivious to the chatter, his composure unshaken.
There was even the faint shadow of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Here, pick up the spoon.”
Please don’t do this!
He actually placed the spoon directly into Han Bom’s hand. Then, with the same deliberate care, he pushed the glass of water he’d brought over toward Han Bom’s place.
Han Bom’s fingers trembled as he gripped the spoon.
“Bom likes this, doesn’t he?”
Cha Tae Moon transferred his portion of Vienna sausage onto Han Bom’s tray.
“P-Professor.”
Han Bom called out to him, his expression blank with disbelief.
“What, should I give you more?”
This is a Hospital Cafeteria, sir. Please.
If a first-year resident were eating alone with any other professor, they’d assume they’d be disciplined for it—but the reaction happening now was unmistakably different.
“Does it bother you?”
“Does it not bother you, Professor?”
……How could it not bother him? He was doing this because it didn’t bother him, wasn’t he?
“You have to get used to it. It’s true that we’re dating, after all.”
Watching him smile with a confident gaze that narrowed into crescents, Han Bom suddenly found that the stares of everyone around them didn’t matter at all.
Right—what did any of it matter?
“The cutlassfish is thick and appetizing.”
Cha Tae Moon took a piece of cutlassfish from that day’s side dishes, carefully deboned it, and placed it on Han Bom’s tray without hesitation.
The moment he did, gasps and exclamations erupted all around them—”Oh my,” “Wow,” “No way,” “This is insane.”
Han Bom retracted his earlier conclusion. This wasn’t okay.
He had to finish eating and leave. Now.
Han Bom began eating hurriedly.
“Bom, eat slowly.”
Professor, was this really why you wanted to eat in the Hospital Cafeteria?
He couldn’t even tell whether the rice was going into his mouth or his nose.
“You’ve got some rice on your lip. Were you saving it for later?”
Cha Tae Moon reached out with a long arm and gently wiped the grain of rice from the corner of Han Bom’s mouth, then brought it to his own lips.
Why are you eating that?!
Han Bom’s eyes went wide with shock.
“You’re quite high-maintenance, aren’t you? I’ll have to be more attentive from now on.”
Han Bom, frozen mid-breath, slowly turned his rigid neck to survey the people around them.
Their eyes, widened in equal astonishment, stabbed into him from all sides.
I need to escape.
Actually, this was perfect. He’d just run away to Busan.
He was certain the gossip swirling around the two of them wouldn’t fade in a day or two.
It struck him then that he’d never mentioned to Cha Tae Moon that he’d be going to the Busan Branch in May.
Realizing it was late but still necessary to tell him now, Han Bom opened his mouth, ignoring the murmur of voices around them.
“Um, Professor.”
“Yeah? Want more cutlassfish?”
“No, I mean—it’s just that I’ll be assigned to the Busan Branch in May.”
Cha Tae Moon paused for a moment, then nodded.
But the loose smile that had been playing at his lips faded, and his mouth tightened.
Han Bom, who’d been joking about needing to flee, suddenly felt something shift in his chest at the thought of actually leaving.
The idea that he’d feel like something was lodged in his eye if he couldn’t see Cha Tae Moon for even a day made him wonder how he’d survive a whole month.
As Han Bom looked at him uncertainly, Cha Tae Moon’s dark eyes seemed to deepen, as if he shared the same feeling.
“Should I go too?”
“Pardon?”
There were already several patients scheduled to see him tomorrow.
It was probably just something to say, but hearing it nonetheless made Han Bom happy.
Setting his tray aside, Cha Tae Moon rested both forearms on the table and gazed at Han Bom intently.
“How will we be apart for a whole month?”
“I’m too embarrassed to stay. I’ll just hide away in Busan for a bit and come back. Besides, I’m done with lunch anyway.”
Still, it was only a month.
Time that would slip away in a blink.
It wasn’t as if they were parting forever—just being apart for a while—but the mood felt heavier than it should, so he said it deliberately to lighten it.
Cha Tae Moon let out a small laugh at Han Bom’s joke.
“You’re running away and leaving me here alone.”
Han Bom chuckled, his shoulders shaking.
“It’s my own doing.”
Even as he laughed, Cha Tae Moon’s expression was tinged with regret as he looked at Han Bom.
Because Cha Tae Moon needed to head to the Outpatient Clinic soon, and because Han Bom’s face was burning under the weight of everyone’s stares, he decided to get up.
“Professor, I’m finished eating. Let’s go.”
“All right.”
Before Han Bom could even pick up his tray, Cha Tae Moon grabbed it with one hand and took his tray as well.
It was already generous enough that he’d let Han Bom carry his tray, but doing this so deliberately—
It seemed like avoiding the cafeteria for a while would be the smartest move.

***

After evening ward rounds ended, everyone gathered in the Doctor’s Office to write out the Handover Notes.
Tomorrow would be hectic.
“Ugh, why is there so much to hand over? I’m going crazy. Chief, isn’t there some way around this?”
Ju Min Ki complained to his chief resident.
“Hey, write it down properly. Don’t let the Professor chew you out like last time.”
Kim Young Woong scolded Ju Min Ki, then craned his neck forward to peer at the monitor.
Han Bom’s handover notes hadn’t come through yet. He figured they’d arrive tonight or tomorrow.
“Honestly, receiving handover notes and memorizing them is the hard part—writing them isn’t difficult.”
It was true, as the chief resident said, that taking over a new rotation was harder.
To make someone else’s handover truly your own, memorizing it thoroughly was never enough.
Han Bom passed the Handover Notes to Ji Moon and explained the precautions verbally as well.
Since he’d be heading to Busan tomorrow, if he didn’t do it now, he’d have to do it over the phone.
“I think I’m going to have a panic attack.”
As Han Bom was explaining everything carefully while soothing Ji Moon, who was whining about an impending panic attack, his phone rang.
Rrrrrr, Rrrrrr.
Han Bom looked at his phone and tilted his head in confusion.
It looked like an in-hospital number, but it wasn’t saved in his contacts.
“Hey, did our Bom do something wrong? Why aren’t you picking up?”
The chief resident, who’d been loitering nearby, stepped closer and peered at the number displayed on Han Bom’s phone.
“Whoa! That’s the Director’s Office, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Just answer it. That’s definitely the Director’s Office number.”
How do you even have that memorized?
The chief resident even pressed the answer button for him. Han Bom, bewildered, took the call.
“Yes, this is Han Bom.”
—Good afternoon. This is the Director’s Office secretary.
“Ah, yes. But what can I help you with……?”
—The Director would like to see you right now. Do you have time?
Cha Tae Moon pressed his ear close, then gestured frantically with his hands and eyes, telling me to say yes.
“……Yes, I think I can make it in about thirty minutes.”
—Then we’ll be waiting for you.
After Han Bom hung up, he opened his mouth, aware that all eyes had fixed on him.
“The Director is asking to see me. Do you happen to know what it’s about?”
“How would we know? You’re the one who should know.”
“……What could it be?”
He had some idea of what it might be.
The scene he’d caused in the Hospital Cafeteria—word of that could easily have reached the Director’s ears.
What now.
Like a thief with nothing to hide but whose nerves betray him, Han Bom’s face began to drain of color.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————