Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 61

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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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#61

Cha Tae Moon cupped Bom’s face in both hands like driving in a wedge, holding her so she could see only him.
Even in the darkness, Bom’s lovely face shone with beauty.
He stepped closer, collapsing the distance between them entirely.
They were so near that just lowering his head slightly would bring their lips together.
This is what we are.
He shot Lee Jae Hyung a look that said: don’t you dare touch what’s mine.
The moment their eyes met, Jae Hyung flushed crimson and hastily left.
“……Professor, what brings you here? Did you come to see me?”
“I came to see Bom.”
“You didn’t mention this until after morning rounds.”
Joy radiated from Bom’s face as she struggled to suppress her smile, her lips twitching upward.
How had he gone so long without seeing her face?
Now that he saw it, he couldn’t fathom how good it felt.
The warmth radiating from her fingertips made his chest tingle.
He released her cheeks from his grip and drew her small frame against his chest.
Bom, yielding without resistance, buried her face against his chest and exhaled a long breath.
He rubbed his cheek against her crown, drawing in her scent deeply. His breathing grew heated and ragged.
After holding her for a long while, Cha Tae Moon carefully released her from his embrace.
“Should we step inside somewhere for a bit?”
“Oh, yes. I know a place. Since this is a tourist area, there are plenty of cafes and bars open twenty-four hours.”
Flushed with excitement, Bom took his hand and led him outside.
Then she belatedly realized she was still wearing her hospital gown, and her steps faltered with an embarrassed expression.
Cha Tae Moon, who had been holding her small hand tightly, stopped as well.
“Professor, would you wait on the bench over there for a moment? As you can see, I’m not dressed for going out.”
“Of course. I’ll wait. Take your time.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Bom smiled brightly and rushed toward the building where the Dormitory was located.
He stood with one hand thrust into his trouser pocket, watching her receding figure.
But then Bom, who had been running away, suddenly stopped and turned around, running back toward him.
“……Why?”
In that instant, Cha Tae Moon’s eyes widened.
Bom reached him breathless and kissed his lips.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!”
Watching Bom scurry away after that adorable kiss, Cha Tae Moon felt his lips curve upward.
This woman would drive him mad.
The soft sensation still lingered, tickling his lips as he brushed his hand across them.
A laugh escaped him.
Because of Bom, who seemed to drain the very soul from him, his heart wouldn’t survive intact.
Bom’s face remained as beautiful and lovely as ever, though she appeared slightly gaunt, as if she’d lost some weight.
It gave her a more mature air than usual.
Cha Tae Moon suppressed his soaring anticipation and swept the wind-tousled strands of hair back from his face.
Having rushed here like a madman with the sole determination to see Bom, he could finally breathe.
Now that he’d seen her, his purpose was accomplished.
Wanting more than that would make him a thief—a man without a conscience.
Even as he tried to convince himself thus, his excitement refused to settle.
Busan.
And the Waterfront.
In this place where the sea and night sky spread out—something he couldn’t feel in Seoul—Cha Tae Moon’s exhilaration only grew.
……Perhaps it was all right to lose a little of his conscience.

***

At that same hour, Tying practice was well underway at Seoul House.
“Ugh, I’m done. I can’t do this!”
Bang Su Ho, who had been practicing the Tying technique with forty-five centimeters of Silk Thread on a Spring Notebook, flung down what he’d been working on and sprawled flat on the living room floor.
“The evaluation is Monday. Get back to it.”
“He should’ve reached Busan by now, don’t you think?”
“Probably.”
Ji Moon pressed his tired eyes open and continued practicing the Tying Technique.
Relentless man.
He goes off to Busan for leisure while dumping homework on us.
Of course it wasn’t really leisure—it was something to do with his position as the Next Chairman—but for them, who’d been looking forward to chicken and beer, it felt like a bolt from the blue.
“But why did he tell us not to contact Bom?”
Bang Su Ho asked, staring up at the ceiling.
“Can’t you see? He was supposed to go tomorrow, but rushed off tonight instead. He’s playing Secret Inspector.”
“Should I give her a heads-up anyway?”
Bang Su Ho looked like his fingers were itching to do it.
“Just leave it. If he finds out you told her, he’ll have you bring every scrap of silk thread from the Operating Room.”
“Well… yeah, he probably would.”
Bang Su Ho, who’d been sprawled on his back, sat up, unable to resist any longer.
“How much have you done?”
He craned his neck to look at Ji Moon, then let out a yelp.
“Wow, look at this bastard. You got no conscience? When did you manage to do all this? Look at you already working on the Double Tie!”
Infinite repetition until the body learns it.
That was what Cha Tae Moon kept hammering home until his voice ran raw.
Ji Moon never dreamed of outpacing his cousin, but he had to at least keep up with his heels, didn’t he?
“That’s why I’m telling you to get on with it.”
Tying is the foundation of surgical technique.
If the Tying isn’t done properly, the site that’s been painstakingly sutured comes open—a disaster. Vessel Anastomosis is the same.
So it couldn’t be emphasized enough, no matter how many times.
“If things go wrong, he’ll drag me into the Operating Room too, won’t he?”
“That’s exactly why he’s having you practice basic techniques in the emergency room first.”
“Damn these clumsy hands! Why can’t I do anything right!”
Bang Su Ho hurled the notebook down.
“Does throwing a tantrum tie a knot?”
“Will you help with mine too?”
“You think that man wouldn’t know?”
“Ugh, what a life. Maybe I should move out.”
Bang Su Ho was always muttering about moving out, and Ji Moon felt sorry for him, but he had his own problems to worry about.
“Pulling weeds would’ve been better.”
Yet even as he said it, he dragged the notebook back toward him and resumed tying knots. Night deepened in silence all around them.

***

Bom changed her clothes at the Dormitory and rushed out, walking along the Waterfront hand in hand with Cha Tae Moon.
The night breeze was cool, the air crisp.
And above all, his scent—familiar to her—tickled the tip of her nose.
Lights set along the coastline and the glow from high-rise buildings stretched long over the dark sea.
The city, brimming with the sea’s energy, overflowed with a vibrancy that couldn’t be found in any other metropolis.
“There are so many people. Even at this hour.”
Cha Tae Moon glanced back at Bom and whispered softly.
“Yes.”
Adjusting the grip on his hand, he pulled her a little closer.
To keep her from bumping into passersby.
“Are you getting tired from all the walking?”
“I’m fine.”
When Bom had come to Busan, the very first thing she’d wanted to do was walk along the coastline holding her lover’s hand.
So a little more walking didn’t matter.
She thought she could walk through the whole night without complaint.
“Aren’t you going to ask how I came down?”
“Well, you came to see me, didn’t you?”
Bom asked, her tone light but her words sincere, and he caught her gaze.
His dark eyes, like the night sea, shimmered softly.
Sweat began to gather in the tight clasp of their hands, and his breathing quickened.
Whenever Cha Tae Moon looked at her so directly like this, tension always rose. Only now did Bom truly feel that he was here before her.
“I missed you. A lot.”
He turned his body slowly to face her, his gaze tangling with hers.
This strong man was confessing in a trembling voice.
A shadow fell across Spring’s face as his face drew slowly closer.
His throat moved deliberately, and the world around them fell silent in an instant.
She heard nothing—not the wind, not the sound of cars, not the waves.
Only his breathing resonated against her ears.
Spring, gazing up at him with eyes that trembled faintly, closed her eyes the moment his face drew near enough that their lips would touch.
But why wasn’t he kissing her?
Her heart was pounding as if it might burst, yet no matter how long she waited, his lips never met hers.
Spring slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.
His dark pupils were right before her nose.

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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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