Chapter 8 …
Eugene had just put on his coat and was stepping out of the examination room when he came to an abrupt halt.
The consultation was over, and all the staff had already gone home, yet a full-body massage chair was diligently operating with a soft mechanical hum.
A middle-aged man standing beside it bowed his head slightly with an apologetic expression.
“The clinic is closed. Please come back tomorrow.”
“I don’t need a consultation. My body just feels stiff, so I thought I’d get a massage before heading out.”
The person reclining in the massage chair with his eyes gently closed was Chairman Kang.
Kang Soon-byeong, chairman of Sunrise Hotel & Resort, a corporation with annual revenues exceeding one trillion won.
Having stepped back from frontline management, he often toured Sunrise resorts accompanied by just one executive secretary. This time, it was Cheonghaeri’s turn again.
Despite being the owner of a massive hotel chain, Chairman Kang wasn’t a widely recognized public figure. Even Sunrise employees rarely knew what he looked like—but Eugene recognized him at first glance. He had seen him once before at a gathering he’d attended long ago with his father and grandfather.
‘Director Shi was the first person in Cheonghaeri to recognize me.’
Chairman Kang, who had come in for a simple checkup only to have his identity discovered, promptly appointed Eugene as his personal physician for the Cheonghaeri area—entirely on his own authority.
“Why get a massage here? Why not do it at home?”
“It’s strange. Doing it at home feels different from doing it here. Maybe it’s the humidity and the sea breeze.”
“It’s psychological.”
Clicking his tongue, Eugene dropped the bag slung over his shoulder onto the waiting room sofa and sat down. Considering that this was the very man who had donated three full-body massage chairs worth tens of millions of won to the clinic, there wasn’t much he could say.
“How’s the clinic doing?”
“Too well—that’s the problem. It should be struggling.”
Chairman Kang burst out laughing at Eugene’s irritated reply. It was funny precisely because he knew Eugene wasn’t joking.
“Isn’t that your own doing? A talented man like you—why come all the way down here and put yourself through this hardship?”
“I regret it every morning the moment I open my eyes.”
When the massage ended, Chairman Kang raised his upper body. As the executive secretary reached out to help, he waved him off.
“That’s enough. What, do you think I can’t even stand up on my own?”
Slowly getting out of the chair, Chairman Kang moved to the sofa across from Eugene. He clasped both hands over his cane, resting it against the floor, and fixed his gaze on him.
“How long will you be staying this time?”
Chairman Kang usually booked rooms under his secretary’s name. Sometimes he stayed in a suite, sometimes a family room, sometimes a villa—but without any special treatment, just like any other guest.
“Well, maybe I’ll stay a bit longer this time. I met a rather interesting person earlier. Had a very enjoyable time.”
“Did that person enjoy it as well?”
“Of course! We really hit it off. A curious one—asked about everything under the sun. So I decided to generously share my knowledge.”
Chairman Kang had personally received the young woman’s contact information—the one he’d met on a bench. Since he usually communicated through his secretary, this was a first even for him.
“Did you come here just to tell me that?”
“No. It’s about that thing I mentioned last time. Remember? I told you to meet my relative’s niece.”
“I told you I wasn’t interested.”
Eugene frowned deeply, clearly displeased.
“Why reject it outright without even meeting her?”
“I don’t want to be tied to you through marriage.”
“I don’t have children, so my nieces and nephews are like my own kids. If Director Shi became my nephew-in-law, I’d take good care of you. Think it over carefully.”
“Still not interested.”
Chairman Kang was quite fond of Eugene. That was why he wanted to link him to a distant relative’s daughter and bring him into the family. But Eugene refused to budge.
No matter that Eugene was the son of the chairman of Hansung Hospital—this was a match personally arranged by Chairman Kang of Sunrise. And yet Eugene rejected it without a second thought. That annoyed him.
“You’ll regret it later.”
“I won’t. Please introduce her to someone else. I’m out.”
When Eugene firmly refused again, Chairman Kang shot him an unhappy glare.
In the morning, Se-yeon struggled to open her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The price she paid for enjoying romance in the cold sea breeze the day before was severe. Her tonsils were so swollen it hurt to swallow, and she had a fever. What had started as mild body aches had worsened.
She’d already been exhausted, and yesterday’s outing had been the final straw. Doctors didn’t tell patients to rest for no reason.
…I need to stay healthy.
Her plan to remain healthy during her stay here collapsed in less than a day. She really didn’t want to go back to Seoul Clinic—but after only a few days, she had no choice.
Se-yeon barely managed to sit up. Her head was spinning, but she still had to feed Cheshire.
Following the advice of the doctor next door, she’d only given him water and fasted him all day yesterday, then mixed two kinds of kibble and fed him a small amount at night. He must’ve been hungry—he’d been crying for food since early morning.
After feeding Cheshire and taking her prescribed medicine, she lay back down, but even after sleeping, she felt worse instead of better.
In the end, Se-yeon got dressed, grabbed her car keys, and went out. She didn’t have the strength to drive, but waiting for a bus would take too long, and there was a risk the clinic might close. She drove the car she’d parked on the vacant lot and headed to Seoul Clinic.
I wonder if that elderly gentleman is okay.
He hadn’t been sitting outside for very long, but the sea breeze had been cold. Given his age—and if he wasn’t used to it like she was—he might’ve caught a cold by now.
She didn’t even remember how she managed to drive there. Still half-asleep, she barely arrived at Seoul Clinic.
After parking in front of the building, Se-yeon washed her hands thoroughly, dried them, pressed her mask tightly against her face without leaving any gaps, and went inside. Not washing hands made you a criminal; not wearing a mask made you a criminal too. The indoctrination from the old man she’d met at the clinic was terrifying.
“I’ll wait here.”
After writing her name and date of birth in the notebook, Se-yeon found a secluded spot on the waiting room sofa, leaned her back and head against the wall, and closed her eyes. She needed to recover her usual condition before returning to work next week—a worry crossed her mind.
“…Myung Se-yeon.”
She’d fallen asleep completely, and the nurse’s voice sounded like a distant hallucination as her consciousness returned.
“The nurse is calling your name, miss.”
Someone gently shook her arm. At this point, strangers in the waiting room knowing her name no longer surprised her.
“…Thank you.”
Fighting to clear her fading consciousness, Se-yeon stood up. After sitting in the chair outside the examination room for a few minutes, she went inside.
“Where does it hurt?”
“Everywhere.”
As she sat blankly in the examination chair, the voice of the man next door buzzed in her ears. She didn’t have the strength to retort even if he was being sarcastic—but thankfully, he simply examined her like an ordinary patient.
“Your symptoms have worsened. What did you do yesterday for it to get this bad in just one day?”
“Yesterday I went into town, rented a car… bought coffee and bread at a café… watched the sunset at the pier. And I fed Cheshire too.”
She listed everything she’d done the day before in detail. He probably wasn’t asking about her daily routine—but she didn’t even have the mental clarity to judge that.
“Ah.”
After checking her temperature with a forehead thermometer, he examined her mouth. The fever had risen so high that the metal tongue depressor felt cool against her tongue.
“I’ll change your fever reducer and painkillers and put you on antibiotics. Get an IV drip, then go home and lie down. After that, your fever should go down and you’ll feel more comfortable. Go outside and get instructions.”
“…Okay.”
Se-yeon nodded weakly and left the examination room. Being sick, she didn’t have the energy—or the will—to argue with the man next door.
After paying, she stopped by the pharmacy next door and picked up her medication in advance. By the time the IV was done, both the clinic and the pharmacy would be closing, and that made her anxious. The pharmacist treated her coldly again today, but she didn’t have the mental energy to care.
“Myung Se-yeon, please come this way.”
Following the kind-voiced nurse, Se-yeon went through the door labeled IV Room. Inside were heated stone beds on both sides; she chose one and lay down.
“You can take a nap.”
The nurse kindly connected the IV line to her arm, turned up the warmth of the stone bed, and left.
Se-yeon placed her arm over her forehead and closed her eyes. With her back warm, sleep washed over her.
