Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 6

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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 6

“Oh, Chief told you that?”
“He said you’d picked up at least half his habits.”
“Just let it go in one ear and out the other. I stumbled into this by accident — I’m no less of a wreck than you are, trust me.”
Jimun let out a good-natured laugh, waving off the concern.
Kindhearted and easygoing, Jimun was nothing short of a lifesaver to her.
“Here, have this. Cheer up.”
She pulled out an Energy Bar she’d been saving and held it out to him.
“Oh, thanks. You’re the only one who thinks of me like that.”
Jimun’s mood lifted instantly. He bit into the bar with a bright smile.
“Oh, right. Suho was saying you went to a hotel yesterday and brought back a patient. In a 119 Ambulance, no less.”
“Yeah, that happened.”
When she’d checked this morning after arriving at work, that patient had been admitted to Cardiology for tests.
“But here’s the thing — Suho’s dying to know where you went yesterday all dolled up like that. He’s been asking around like crazy.”
“What’s the big mystery? He can just ask me directly.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Anyway, how was the blind date? Was he really as handsome as your aunt said?”
She nodded. Handsome was handsome, after all.
“For real?”
“Yeah. Actually, he was even better than that.”
With a face like carved stone and a wild magnetism to match, he seemed almost wasted working as a police officer.
“Now you’re making it up.”
Jimun pressed his lips together skeptically.
“Why would I lie about that? Honestly, it was eye-opening.”
She’d been a little frightened at first, but watching him perform CPR had somehow dispelled most of that unease in a single night.
“More handsome than me?”
Jimun, who looked like he’d stepped out of a drama, had a particular pride in his appearance.
But as she studied his face more carefully, there was something oddly familiar about it.
What was it?
Wait.
The realization struck her like a blow — that familiar quality came from the man she’d met at the blind date yesterday.
Those sharp, piercing eyes. That pronounced bridge of nose. That flawless skin.
They really did look strikingly alike.
“Um, Jimun… do you happen to have a cousin who went to the Police Academy?”
“Police Academy? No. But I do have a cousin who went to Medical School. You know him — he owns the House we’re living in.”
“Oh… right. That’s true.”
What was she thinking right now?
That Medical School graduate was studying abroad, as far as she knew.
She lived in his house on the condition that Jimun would manage it until he returned to Korea.
The place was so vast that, besides her, two of their classmates were renting rooms there as well.
Jimun said his cousin was the scariest person in the world, but to her, he was simply a kind man for letting them — people with nowhere else to go — live there.
“Actually, I meant to tell you all when everyone was around, but something’s come up.”
Jimun suddenly grew serious, as if something important had just occurred to him.
“What is it? Is it serious?”
“No, nothing like that. I got a call from my cousin a few days ago.”
Something felt off. Surely he wasn’t going to ask them to move out.
“I should have told you sooner, but everything’s been so hectic. Sorry.”
“So what did he say?”
“He’s coming back to Korea soon. He said he’d be moving into the house, so we should know about it.”
“He’s coming back to Korea?”
“I’m not even sure about the details. He just said that and hung up.”
“Jimun… does that mean we have to move out?”
“Why would he do that? I’ll talk to him about it. Let’s not worry about it yet, okay?”
Even as Jimun tried to sound reassuring, his voice betrayed his own uncertainty.
“He hasn’t come back to Korea yet, right?”
“Probably not. I’m telling you, don’t worry so much. No matter what happens, I’ll take care of you.”
“… Okay.”
Creak.
The break room door swung open loudly, and second-year residents Ju Mingi and Kim Youngeung walked in.
“Alright, we’re here. Jimun, you earwig with a death wish—come grab some pizza.”
Suho and Jimun shot up from their seats and rushed toward the second-years, hands already reaching.
“Wow, what is all this?”
“Chief’s got a soft heart. He felt bad about chewing you out, so he sprung for it. Better eat before it gets cold.”
Kim Youngeung, who’d transferred up from the provinces, went by the name Chief used—Hong—whenever the actual Chief wasn’t around.
True enough, the kindhearted Chief had apparently felt guilty about scolding Jimun and decided to buy him pizza as a peace offering.
“Thank you.”
News of the landlord’s sudden return had set Suho’s heart racing, but the moment that warm pizza was placed in front of him, all his worries evaporated.
He won’t kick us out the second he arrives, will he?
A baseless but stubborn faith took root: Jimun was kindhearted, so the landlord couldn’t be a heartless sort either.
Jimun tore into the pizza as if his gloom had never existed, biting through slice after slice with abandon.
Suho fetched a cola from the break room and poured it into paper cups for everyone.
“Jimun.”
Kim Youngeung called out to him.
“Yes, senior.”
Jimun looked up, bracing himself for another lecture.
His hand drifted automatically toward his ear.
As he began picking at it, Kim Youngeung reached over and patted the back of his head, speaking in that heavy provincial drawl.
“Stop that—you’ll end up with earwax buildup like me if you keep digging around in there.”
Pfft—kek, kekk!
Suho clapped a hand over his mouth, still drinking his cola.
He managed not to spray it across the room, but Kim Youngeung’s sharp ax-blade stare landed right on him anyway.
“I—I’m sorry. Something went down the wrong way—”
Every time Kim Youngeung cracked a joke like that with such a stern expression, Suho had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing again.
The man never used his accent in front of professors, but the moment he was around peers or interns, the dialect came pouring out.
“Let the kids eat in peace, you numbskull.”
“Hehehehe—dig in, everyone.”
Ju Mingi hollered, and Kim Youngeung’s face rearranged itself into a grin as if he’d never been scolded at all.
The second-years were always a riot.

***

Shim Eungyeong, the director of YJ University Hospital, finished her executive meeting and settled down for tea with Hospital Director Kwak Younghwan.
She was waiting for her only son, who had just returned from the United States and was on his way to the hospital.
“It’s already past seven. Director, you should head home.”
Eungyeong glanced at her watch as she spoke.
“Oh no, I’ve waited this long—I might as well stay and see Professor Taemun’s face before I go.”
“Is that so?”
At the director’s words, Eungyeong smiled and brushed back a lock of her short hair with a graceful gesture.
Her son, who would one day become the next director, was coming—and she wanted to make an impression.
Eungyeong had devoted herself to running the hospital according to her father’s wishes.
With the single-minded ambition of building one of Korea’s top five hospitals, she had poured energy into recruiting talent and acquiring the latest medical equipment across the board.
Her husband, who led a mid-sized conglomerate, hoped that their son Taemun would take over his business one day, but Taemun had lived since childhood as though he were born expressly to become a doctor.
After obtaining his medical license in the United States, Taemun had gone on to earn his specialist credentials in Korea, completed his subspecialty training, and then returned to America to undergo advanced fellowship training.
Though his skill must have grown immensely, he was undoubtedly shaping up to be an exceptional surgeon.
“Then shall we have him start working in April?”
The director posed the question carefully.
“I’ll have to ask Taemun what he thinks, but I suspect that’s what he’ll want.”
“Ah, yes. He was quite the talk of the town during his internship and residency, after all. The chief of surgery has high expectations for him.”
“I suppose so.”
Eungyeong concealed her maternal pride beneath a subtle smile and lifted the now-tepid teacup, taking a sip to wet her throat.
Tap, tap.
A firm knock sounded at the door. Eungyeong’s lips curved up of their own accord.
The director’s office door opened, and Taemun stepped inside.
“I’m here, Mother.”
At Taemun’s entrance, the hospital director jumped to his feet.
Eungyeong uncrossed her legs and rose from the sofa.
Her one and only son.
Her son—a pride as great as her own—approached with a radiant smile.
“Welcome home, son.”
Joy too luminous to conceal shone across Shim Eungyeong’s face as she greeted him.

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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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