Chapter 4 …
After finishing his morning appointments, Eugene checked his phone and saw two missed calls. With a look that said he’d expected as much, he called the number back.
“What’s the occasion?”
—This is strange. No matter how busy people are, everyone answers my calls right away. You’re the only one who doesn’t. Why do you think that is?
It was Eugene’s father, Si Seongseok. He also happened to be the chairman of the board of the Hansung General Hospital Foundation.
“Aren’t you the one who always calls only when I’m busy?”
—You’re busy no matter when I call anyway.
As the director and sole physician of Seoul Clinic, Eugene was almost always busy. Except for mealtimes, he barely had a moment to catch his breath throughout office hours. So calls he didn’t deem important usually went unanswered.
That went doubly so after work and on weekends. It was his own way of maintaining work–life balance.
“So, what is it you wanted?”
—Didn’t a pretty, well-mannered woman come to the hospital? I hear she came down with so much luggage it looked like she was planning to live there.
The moment he heard Seongseok’s words, Eugene thought of the woman from the house across the street who had come in for an appointment that morning. He’d already suspected it. The instant he’d seen her at the terminal, he’d recognized her.
From time to time, Seongseok arranged blind dates for his son, who was well past marriageable age. Since Eugene refused to come up to Seoul, Seongseok sent the women down instead. Things had been quiet for a while, but here it was again.
The process and the outcome were always the same. The women, raised delicately, would spend a few days at Sunrise Resort experiencing life in Cheonghaeri, and in the end, they would wave their hands and leave.
Eugene’s indifference played a big role in that, but what was usually decisive was his statement that he planned to bury his bones in Cheonghaeri.
“There was another applicant who said she wanted to live in Cheonghaeri?”
—You’re not going to stay there for the rest of your life, are you? Right? No, of course not.
Seongseok worried that Eugene might never come back up from Cheonghaeri. The most ideal outcome in his mind was Eugene getting married and then returning to Seoul.
—I met her once. She’s not just pretty—she’s easygoing and has a great personality. You know the type, soft on the outside but strong on the inside? Exactly that. This time, it really feels like a waste, so when she comes to see you, don’t think of it as a blind date. Try meeting her seriously.
“Then seriously, please buy me one ultrasound machine. There’s a really good new model that just came out.”
—Didn’t you wring a mobile X-ray machine out of me last time?!
Seongseok raised his voice. In exchange for meeting the women he introduced, Eugene had equipped the clinic with one expensive piece of medical equipment after another.
“If you don’t like that, why not send a specialist down here?”
—There have to be applicants first! If I told them to go down there, they’d probably quit the hospital on the spot.
“Is Hansung Hospital that short on doctors?”
—What good are lots of doctors if I don’t have a doctor son?
There were plenty of women lining up to marry Eugene, but not a single doctor applicant he actually needed. He’d thought at least one screw-loose person might be willing to turn down one of the nation’s leading hospitals to come down to Cheonghaeri, but kids these days were smart and practical.
“Director, it’s time to eat.”
Nurse Song knocked on the office door and came in, miming eating with a spoon when she saw Eugene on the phone. After quickly ending the call with his father, Eugene moved to the break area with Nurse Song.
The staff break area doubled as a pantry and dining room, fully equipped with a refrigerator, kitchen facilities, and even a coffee machine. Since there weren’t many decent restaurants nearby, the hospital staff usually ate here.
On the long rectangular table were neatly laid out side dishes, rice, and steaming soup. Half the food had been delivered from a side-dish shop, and the other half had been brought in by local residents. The people of Cheonghaeri often dropped by the clinic with food and side dishes, so the fridge and pantry were always full.
Nurse Song, a head nurse; Mr. Kim, a physical therapist; Nurse Park; Nurse Lee; and Hwang Haena, a pharmacist from the Seoul Pharmacy. Including Eugene, the six of them usually ate lunch together here.
“Director, come on over.”
Haena smiled brightly and gestured for Eugene to come sit down. She offered him a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks she’d just unwrapped, but Eugene waved them away and picked up the new pair placed in front of him. No matter how often he refused, she never got tired of offering.
Haena’s expression dimmed slightly. After a moment of gauging Eugene’s mood, she spoke in a deliberately casual tone.
“I heard someone new moved into the house across from you.”
“And who did you hear that from this time?”
Eugene asked offhandedly, narrowing his brows.
Today’s lunch topic was the young woman who had appeared in town—bait his father had dangled to lure him back to Seoul.
But this time, it was different. More meticulous and calculated. Eugene clicked his tongue at the thoroughness of even having her move into the house across the street.
“All the customers at the pharmacy were talking about her.”
“In this town, there really is no such thing as a secret.”
“I guess she won’t be staying long. My mom heard it somewhere and told me—she said the woman plans to stay only until her work is done.”
After hearing that a young woman had moved in alone next door to Eugene, Haena had sent her mother to find out the details.
Young women did occasionally come down to Cheonghaeri, but this was the first time someone had actually moved in. That was why the usually quiet village was buzzing.
She’d come to the pharmacy earlier to pick up her prescription, and the woman had been even prettier than expected, which made her uneasy.
“You saw her face during her appointment too, right, Director?”
“Yes, I did.”
“…So? What did you think?”
“What do you mean, what did I think? She’s just a patient.”
Seeing Eugene’s blatantly uninterested, annoyed demeanor, Haena smiled faintly, just barely noticeable.
“She’s in an unfamiliar town, so she must be having a hard time. As neighbors, shouldn’t we help her out? She looked like she could really use some help.”
Mr. Kim spoke up, chewing on his rice.
“Mr. Kim, you’re the type who likes any young woman, aren’t you?”
Nurse Song snapped back sarcastically as she pulled the plate of spicy stir-fried pork closer to herself.
“Watch what you say. When did I ever say I like any young woman? I said we should help her because she’s a neighbor.”
“Oh, please! You’re so transparent—can’t an old dog ever learn new tricks?”
The hospital staff, accustomed to their bickering, continued eating as if nothing was happening.
Everyone in town knew that Mr. Kim had been divorced by Nurse Song after having an affair.
The problem was that both of their workplaces were Seoul Clinic. Neither was willing to give up such a good job, so they eventually agreed to keep working together. They liked to pretend they had a cool, Hollywood-style relationship, but in reality, it wasn’t quite like that.
“Ugh, I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Director, you should meet a gentle, kind woman. Nothing else matters—just someone who has strong trust in her husband. That’s all you need.”
Mr. Kim drooped his eyebrows and complained, but Eugene pretended not to hear. This wasn’t a rare occurrence.
“It’s not just wives. Husbands should be gentle and kind too. That way, couples don’t fight and live well together. But Director, you need to meet a busy woman who has her own work. Men like you tend to make women feel lonely.”
Nurse Park added coolly. After divorcing her husband, she’d come back to her hometown with her child.
She’d gone through a lot emotionally in an unfamiliar city, but now she had regained her stability. Life had become much easier thanks to her parents in Cheonghaeri helping take care of her child.
Like this, Seoul Clinic had only single or divorced staff—no married ones.
“If the Director had any intention of getting married, he’d have done it long ago. There’s no need to look far when there’s someone suitable nearby.”
Mr. Kim shot a meaningful glance toward Haena.
In fact, people often encouraged Eugene and Haena to get married. They never said it outright to Eugene, but many townspeople secretly hoped the two would marry and settle down in Cheonghaeri.
Eugene might be the well-earning director of the clinic, but Haena’s father was the village head of Cheonghaeri and owned a lot of land. More than anything, she was an indispensable pharmacist for Seoul Clinic.
“Mr. Kim, you’re saying unnecessary things again.”
Haena blushed slightly, but as always, she didn’t strongly stop him. Rather than stopping him, she subtly encouraged it.
“Hey, what I said isn’t 100% nonsense, is it? Director, don’t you agree?”
“100% correct.”
Seeing Eugene unusually cold today, Haena pouted her lips.
