Chapter 31
“I’ll give you all the support you need, so go. Go and protect Yeonwoo.”
The eldest son, Il-kwon, held authority rivaling that of their father.
In truth, all major decisions were ultimately made by Madam Ok, their mother. But in this matter, it seemed she would side with her eldest son.
“The best solution would be for you to bring Yeonwoo back to Seoul, but if that’s not possible, then the only option is for you to stay by her side and protect her.”
Madam Ok’s permission had been granted.
“Yes, I understand. I’ll do that.”
Sae-kwon understood why Yeonwoo wanted to live alone, away from home.
Yeonwoo, I really did my best.
“Sae-kwon, don’t go blabbering to Yeonwoo and make things more complicated. Watch your mouth.”
“Me? You know how tight-lipped I am. No one’s more discreet than me! Right, Mom? Don’t you remember how many of your secrets I kept when I was little?”
“Sam-kwon, have some fruit.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Sae-kwon quietly shut his mouth, knowing full well that when their mother called him by his full name, Sam-kwon, she was angry.
At this rate, will all of us end up moving down to Cheongbong?
Seeing the determined expression on Il-kwon’s face, he suddenly felt the urge to flee.
A week passed swiftly.
Finishing her night shift, Yeonwoo began her day shift by surveying the unusually quiet emergency room.
Man-soo, who had been on duty overnight, was getting ready to leave. Apparently, the chili pepper festival started today, and everyone had gone to attend it.
The medical staff, enjoying a rare moment of calm, all looked visibly relaxed.
Yeonwoo was no exception.
Sipping on the coffee that Nurse Park brought, she reviewed a patient referral form.
A pelvic fracture patient was being transferred in. There was no internal bleeding detected, but post-admittance monitoring was required.
Yeonwoo checked for available space in the ICU and decided to accept the patient.
As she was preparing, Ji-woong suddenly said something unbelievable.
“Looks like we won’t be getting any patients today, huh?”
A strange silence swept through the ER station.
Everyone froze and glared at the man who had just uttered the forbidden words.
Yeonwoo clenched her fists as she looked at Ji-woong’s cheerful face.
“I mean, the whole hospital’s unusually quiet today. You guys know the chili pepper festival started in town today, right? Didn’t you see the banners? They’re bringing in all the popular trot singers—Lee Chansu, Noh Sang-do, even Hong Ga-in. Everyone’s probably over there.”
“…Seriously, how could you say something like that? Ugh, I give up. You’ve worked in the ER long enough to know better…”
Nurse Park snapped at him, flustered.
The ER is unpredictable.
Even if it’s quiet for a moment, it could suddenly overflow with patients.
“Come on, you’re overreacting. And besides, we’ve got Dr. Beom with us. What are you worried about?”
“Good thing Dr. Man-soo isn’t around to hear that.”
“Man-soo said he’s going to the chili pepper festival this afternoon. Let’s all go after our shift ends. Yeonwoo, this is your first chili pepper festival, right?”
Chili pepper festival, my foot.
In her hand was the patient referral form she had just received by fax.
Is this the beginning… or the end?
“Last year, they held a contest to see whose chili pepper was the biggest.”
At Ji-woong’s words, the nurses burst out laughing again.
“And?” Yeonwoo asked.
“Our family’s chili peppers won first place.”
“…Really?”
Yeonwoo narrowed her eyes and gave Ji-woong a doubtful look.
“They were this big.”
He pointed to his forearm to emphasize the size.
“They grow peppers that big? Sounds like some mutant crop.”
“Crops grow in proportion to their owner’s care. Ours just happened to thrive.”
Was it really okay to keep having conversations like this?
Yeonwoo was wondering that when suddenly someone cut in.
“Oh please, I’ve seen Ji-woong’s ‘pepper,’ and that’s a huge exaggeration.”
It was Dr. Gam from physical therapy.
“Dr. Bi? What are you doing here?”
Ji-woong, who’d been acting all cocky, instantly backed down and looked away.
Yeonwoo had heard the well-built physical therapist was nicknamed “Dr. Bi” in the PT room.
“Just passing by. You all know I’m the president of Yeonwoo’s fan club, right?”
Yeonwoo’s fan club?
Was he talking about her?
Seeing how Dr. Bi gazed at her, she realized he indeed meant her.
But this was the first she was hearing of it.
“Oh, please. Stop that. What fan club? This is tiny little Cheongbong, not a K-pop concert. Just like her quietly on your own.”
It seemed Ji-woong knew about it, judging from his grumbling.
“Tada! You must be tired. Have this!”
Dr. Gam handed Yeonwoo a health drink.
“You starting tributes already, huh?”
“Of course.”
Everyone was acting weird.
She wasn’t a celebrity—just a regular person. So what was with the fan club and “tributes”?
Dr. Gam, younger than her, wore a tight uniform that accentuated his muscular frame—clearly showing off.
But Yeonwoo wasn’t the least bit interested.
“Yeonwoo-nim, are you going to the chili pepper festival today?”
“….”
She hadn’t expected this from him.
“No, I’m too busy.”
“Ah, I see. Well, then, I’ll get going. Fighting today!”
Waving cheerfully, Dr. Bi left the ER.
Yeonwoo shook her head in disbelief.
“Yeonwoo, let’s go! Come on?”
Ji-woong began pestering her again.
“I don’t want to. I hate crowded places.”
“Come on, it’s a country festival. How crowded could it be? Let’s go, yeah?”
“Sorry, but I can’t.”
Even if she did go, she’d only go with Dr. Beom. Definitely not with Dr. Gam or Ji-woong.
Should I just go ahead and ask Beom to come with me?
Just as Yeonwoo was considering it, a patient arrived.
A man in his 40s entered the ER with his wife.
Yeonwoo went to the bed and began examining the patient.
“My head feels like it’s going to explode… Ugh, it hurts so bad…”
She checked his vitals—blood pressure, pulse, and temperature were all within normal range.
But the sudden, severe headache with no visible injury was concerning.
“What’s wrong with him?!”
The wife asked anxiously.
Yeonwoo shined a penlight to check his pupils and asked a few questions.
“When did the headache start?”
“About an hour ago. It feels like I got hit with a hammer.”
“Any nausea or dizziness?”
Yeonwoo gently moved his neck to check for stiffness—it was stiff.
“I felt queasy and threw up.”
Severe headache with neck stiffness—signs pointing to spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage.
“Call Dr. Beom Sajun. And order a brain CT.”
Of course, not every headache with neck stiffness means a hemorrhage, but in this case, a CT scan was essential.
And if there was anyone more accurate at diagnosing these, it was Dr. Beom.
“Got it!”
Soon after, Dr. Sajun came down and the patient underwent a brain CT.
The results revealed a classic case of subarachnoid hemorrhage.
“See this white shading here? That’s the bleeding. He needs surgery immediately. I’ll write a referral—please transfer him to M University Hospital.”
Cheongbong Sarang Hospital didn’t have a neurosurgery department head at the moment.
Yeonwoo had seen Dr. Beom perform emergency brain surgeries in Africa, but this hospital still had many limitations.
The patient was quickly transferred to another hospital.
As Yeonwoo finally took a breath—
The ER phone rang furiously.
“Doctor! The stage at the chili pepper festival collapsed, and the injured are on their way here!”
“Everyone, get ready.”
Rolling up his sleeves, Dr. Beom rushed out of the station.
Yeonwoo turned to Ji-woong.
He was pale as a ghost, trailing behind the others under the weight of their angry glares.
The once quiet ER had turned into a bustling marketplace in a matter of moments.
