My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 50
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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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50.
“Amnesia? You mean amnesia?”
Lee Jin’s eyes widened as she looked at Kang Hyun.
Since she’d been having a perfectly normal conversation with him just moments ago, her astonished gaze suggested she was discovering some condition she’d never heard of.
Seeing her reaction, Kang Hyun realized it was Cheon Eun-jeong who’d thrown out that comment about amnesia, and he let out an exasperated breath.
“Stop watching so many dramas. And look in a mirror before you say anything else about amnesia.”
Cheon Eun-jeong had been so disoriented that she’d forgotten what state she was in when she arrived at the hospital. But even so—to look at herself and ask, “Who are you?” Kang Hyun had to look away.
“Hey, no matter what, I’m not unrecognizable!”
You look like a completely different person. You don’t need a disguise—just wash off the makeup and nobody will know who you are. Unable to voice this aloud, Kang Hyun conveyed the sentiment through his eyes alone.
Cheon Eun-jeong, catching his drift, bristled.
“If you weren’t a patient right now, I’d slug you for that.”
She exhaled roughly, as if begrudging the circumstances, and shuffled toward the mirror in the room. The moment she saw her reflection, she let out a shriek.
“Ahhhhh, what is this!”
You’ve done your job here, so couldn’t you leave now? Kang Hyun looked at Cheon Eun-jeong with cold eyes that said exactly that.
Cheon Eun-jeong crept toward the bed, suddenly aware that her condition was far more dire than she’d realized, and her agitation grew.
“I should get going. I’ve confirmed you’re fine, so I’ll head out and come back tomorrow.”
“You don’t need to.”
When Kang Hyun flatly told her there was no need, Cheon Eun-jeong shot him a glare.
“What about you?”
She turned the question toward Lee Jin. She was asking whether Lee Jin would leave with her since they’d come together.
“You go ahead. I’ll leave later.”
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Call me if you need anything—I’ll pick it up for you.”
Cheon Eun-jeong hurried out of the room as if making an escape. Once she was gone, the ward felt unusually quiet.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
Kang Hyun gestured to the caregiver’s bed positioned beside him. Lee Jin had no desire to lie down there, so she shook her head.
He was the same Kang Hyun as before, yet somehow an invisible wall had risen between them, leaving everything feeling suffocating.
It was because their relationship was no longer what it had been.
Knowing this, Lee Jin made an effort to maintain boundaries, even as concern tugged at her heart.
“Check inside that drawer. There should be basic convenience items for caregivers. If you need anything else, there’s a convenience store downstairs—you can buy what you need there.”
Yet Kang Hyun acted as if the distance between them didn’t exist at all. He fussed over Lee Jin and worried about her the way he had when they were dating.
“The patient should focus on recovery. People who are fine can take care of themselves without anyone worrying about them.”
Even when Lee Jin replied curtly, Kang Hyun only chuckled as if amused. After that, he pressed the call button and requested caregiver bedding from the nurse.
Watching him—as if patient and caregiver had switched roles—Lee Jin sighed.
Night falls quickly in a hospital.
The VIP Ward, being a private room, offered far more freedom than other wards, but once evening gave way to dusk, the lights throughout the ward dimmed.
Before nightfall came, Lee Jin had tried to fulfill her duties as a caregiver. But now she had no choice but to lie down in bed.
The caregiver’s bed was large and comfortable, befitting a VIP room—but its location was the problem. It was positioned directly beside the patient’s bed, close enough that turning her head would bring their eyes face to face.
Lee Jin kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling, avoiding his.
Every so often, worry crept in—what if he was suffering greatly? She stole a glance at him. They’d mentioned that pain might intensify at night.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
She asked him this.
“Yeah, hurts a lot. Really badly.”
His words came with a playful lilt that made it impossible to tell if he was serious. Anyone would assume he wasn’t in real pain, given his tone.
Yet she couldn’t dismiss it as mere falsehood, because no matter how you looked at him, he was clearly a patient.
His appearance alone was enough to suggest genuine suffering, so Lee Jin held her tongue. Honestly, there was nothing she could do to ease his pain.
As she fell silent, Kang Hyun spoke again.
“But having you beside me makes it bearable. Really.”
This was his honest heart speaking. If she stayed and didn’t leave, even if the other leg broke, he could endure it.
Lee Jin exhaled slowly, as if absorbing the weight of his words.
After that, time passed without much conversation, yet Kang Hyun felt as though his wounds were healing and his bones were mending simply from her presence beside him.
***
The next morning, a visitor arrived.
Since the visitor had come while Lee Jin was briefly away from the room, Kang Hyun had to face them alone.
“Who let you in?”
At her cold question, Do Hyun-su flinched, his shoulders trembling as he stood there with the Fruit Basket he’d brought.
“Why do you want to know that?”
“I’ll have you fired for dereliction of duty.”
“Hey! Is that any way to talk to someone making a hospital visit?”
Do Hyun-su was well aware that not just anyone could enter a VIP Ward. That’s why he’d clung to Cheon Eun-jeong with every ounce of flattery he could muster when she arrived.
Cheon Eun-jeong had heard about Jin Ae’s hospitalization late and gone there first, so Do Hyun-su, lacking any connection to her, had come straight to Kang Hyun’s room instead.
“By the way, how did you find out I was hurt?”
Kang Hyun narrowed his eyes with a suspicious air, studying Do Hyun-su’s face as though observing a specimen. Stung by the scrutiny, Do Hyun-su mumbled a response.
“Finding out something like that is easy enough.”
“Hmm… Your secretary’s handiwork?”
How did he know that? Do Hyun-su’s eyes widened in surprise.
When Kang Hyun had visited Do Hyun-su before, he’d seen the man’s secretary.
He’d noticed at the time that Do Hyun-su had an unusually competent secretary for someone so unremarkable, and that memory surfaced now.
“How much does your secretary make?”
“What? Why?”
“I’m thinking of offering more and recruiting her.”
“Hey! Kang Hyun! Are you joking?”
“Do I look like I’m joking right now?”
At that cold gaze, Do Hyun-su swallowed hard, his throat dry. All the ways he’d fallen short with his secretary flashed through his mind like a lantern show.
No. My secretary. I have to protect her at all costs.
Sensing the danger, Do Hyun-su forced out a nervous laugh and changed the subject.
“Anyway, you’re pretty badly hurt. Recovery’s going to take some time.”
Kang Hyun didn’t smile back at his laughter. If Do Hyun-su had truly come out of concern, he wouldn’t be making his discomfort so obvious.
“So, what’s your real business?”
“What kind of business are you asking about from someone here to visit…”
“If you have no business, get out.”
“You heartless bastard.”
Do Hyun-su grumbled, but that look in his eyes suggested he had something he wanted to ask. Catching the hint, sensing he really might be thrown out, he hesitated for a moment before broaching the real reason.
“That Traffic Accident you were in. What happened?”
Do Hyun-su had received word of Kang Hyun’s situation from his secretary as an urgent report.
Whether he’d become addicted to digging into the man’s affairs or whether he still thought his earlier background investigation was ongoing, his secretary had relayed the information in a state of high excitement.
‘Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe she really is quite capable?’
Realizing his secretary’s competence for the first time, Do Hyun-su nodded to himself briefly before abruptly cutting off his train of thought.
An accident was just unfortunate news. Do Hyun-su had merely clicked his tongue at Kang Hyun’s Traffic Accident; he’d felt no curiosity about how badly he was hurt or what his condition was like.
But what his secretary said next captured his attention.
“According to the report, Kang Hyun threw himself toward the car.”
“What? Why? Has he finally lost his mind?”
“No, rather it seems a woman trouble caused conflict with his mother.”
“What? He did that because of Lee Jin?”
Do Hyun-su desperately wanted to know if this was true. He was the kind of person who couldn’t focus on anything else until his curiosity was satisfied.
That’s why he’d made this hospital visit as an excuse. To find out the cause of Kang Hyun’s accident.
If it were true, he could spread the news in business circles and have him humiliated, or use the pretext of sharing valuable information to monopolize everyone’s attention.
Having concealed such scheming and asked about how the accident happened, Kang Hyun proved once again not to be easily handled.
“Why do you want to know that?”
Anxious that he might fail to extract the information he wanted, Do Hyun-su played his trump card.
“I heard you deliberately threw yourself toward the car. Is it true?”
Just as Kang Hyun was about to respond, the door to the room opened.
Standing in the doorway, Lee Jin’s face was ashen—as if she’d heard their entire conversation.
“What did you just say?”
When Lee Jin turned her question toward Do Hyun-su, he shuddered at the ominous premonition and cried out inwardly.
‘No—why is she coming out from in 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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