IMTS 09

Chapter 09

Cheong-ah clasped her hands over her face.

Then, her eyes caught sight of the rubber gloves that had been gripping the toilet just moments ago.

“Ahhh!”

Cheong-ah screamed again, flinging her hands away from her face. Because of that, she had no choice but to witness Yushin putting something away into his pants.

“W-what! Look away!”

“…….”

Yushin shouted, his face turning pale, but Cheong-ah froze, unable to turn her head. Then, her head tilted slightly, crooked.

“No, wait a minute… that… why is it so big?”

At that low mutter, Yushin’s face turned even redder.

Cheong-ah swallowed hard.

She had to use every bit of knowledge she possessed to analyze what she was intuitively realizing right now.

Could it really still be swollen from getting hit with the mop?

‘Wait, wait a minute! This is a huge problem!’

Really? Crazy. Crazy!

What on earth did I just do?

“Ah!”

Only then did Cheong-ah feel like she could understand why Min Yushin had been so irritable.

If it was still swollen like that…

Forehead? He could definitely hit me.

Anger? Of course he would feel it.

Foot? Could probably kick me ten times over.

Yes, absolutely.

‘And since I poked him all the way up his back with the tanghulu stick, seeing me would probably make him insanely furious, right?’

The suspicion and anger Cheong-ah had felt toward Yushin just moments ago melted away like snow.

“Professor……”

Cheong-ah lowered her head deeply and spoke quietly, her voice even lower than before.

“R-really… what should I do. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it was still… this swollen.”

Yushin stared blankly at Cheong-ah before covering his face with his hands with a loud smack.

“Park Bok-seon.”

Through the gaps in his fingers, Yushin’s low voice flowed out.

“Yes… uh…?”

“Leave.”

The decisiveness in his voice deepened Cheong-ah’s sense of guilt.

“Sniff… Professor, I’m sorry. Should I, should I kneel? What should I do… really……”

“No. Don’t! Don’t do anything and just get out!”

Yushin’s voice grew louder.

Confusion, anger, and shame all tangled together, causing him to shout in a way unusual for him.

“But you haven’t accepted my apology yet. Sniff, I really didn’t mean to poke you with the stick—uh, the tanghulu stick! I swear it wasn’t on purpose! Waaaah… I can’t go like this. I can’t get fired. I need to earn money.”

Cheong-ah clasped her hands and begged earnestly. Each time, the rubber made a squeaking friction sound and the toilet brush rattled.

At that, Yushin grimaced again and turned his head away.

“Fine, fine. Now. Go. Just go!”

“R-really? You’ll accept my apology? You won’t say one thing and mean another? Really? Really!”

Cheong-ah begged with all her might, and Yushin pushed her out of the bathroom, leaning his head against the door.

‘What the hell… is she seriously crazy?’

Yushin’s heart pounded relentlessly once again.

Meanwhile, outside the bathroom, Cheong-ah hurried along. She chewed her lips nervously and muttered to herself.

“This is a disaster… what should I do… why isn’t the swelling going down?”

Cheong-ah brought her hands together, forming a round shape as if to estimate the size of the swollen area she had seen moments ago. She couldn’t help but sigh.

“Ugh, it looks even worse… This is bad. This isn’t normal.”

No matter how she thought about it, it was clear something was wrong.

The condition was far worse than when she had checked it herself before.

“That guy… is he even a doctor? Why did he leave it like this? …This is insane!”

After finishing his outpatient work and heading back to the lab, Yushin stopped in his tracks.

He had spotted Cheong-ah coming toward him, carrying something in her arms.

“What is it?”

Cheong-ah hesitated before offering a paper bag to Yushin. When he glanced inside casually, he scoffed.

“What is this—”

“I collected everything that’s supposed to help reduce swelling,” she said.

She carefully took out the items and showed them to Yushin:

Pumpkin tea, buckwheat tea, Job’s tears tea.

And even a Gua Sha massager and a heated compress.

Yushin, watching Cheong-ah smile as she displayed the contents, silently turned his body and began walking quickly, avoiding her.

“Ahhh, Professor…”

Cheong-ah’s embarrassed voice called from behind, but Yushin ignored her and increased his stride toward the elevator.

Cheong-ah ran to catch up.

“You said you’d accept my apology!”

“…….”

Unfortunately, all the elevators were at the upper floors.

Judging that it would take time for one to arrive on the first floor, Yushin turned toward the stairs and leapt up two or three steps at a time, quickly reaching the fifth floor where his lab was.

But Cheong-ah was even faster than he anticipated.

The moment he opened the stairwell door, Cheong-ah followed right behind him.

“Professor!”

Her voice was pressed close to his back. Reflexively, Yushin turned around.

Thud!

“Ugh?”

Cheong-ah’s forehead collided squarely with Yushin’s solid chest. She jumped back, her face flushed, fumbling for the bandage on her forehead as she apologized.

“Ah… I’m so sorry.”

Yushin, with his hands in his lab coat pockets, looked down at her.

“Park Bok-seon, don’t you have anything to do?”

Though the slight curve of his eyes and mocking tone were almost sarcastic, Cheong-ah didn’t back down. Instead, she smiled brightly, taking something out of the paper bag and offering it to Yushin.

“Yes, yes. I do. I need to help reduce your swelling, Professor. Hehe.”

In her hand was the Gua Sha massager.

The pale pink stone, with gentle curves, sparkled.

“I searched hard, and this had the best reviews.”

Cheong-ah mimicked rubbing her forearm with it. Yushin’s eyes squeezed shut.

‘It’s swollen… I didn’t do anything…!’

His lips moved several times. He closed his mouth, holding back the words about to escape, then swiftly turned away.

Cheong-ah shook the paper bag and chased after him.

“I’m busy. I’m not a leisurely person like Mrs. Park,” Yushin said sarcastically.

But Cheong-ah didn’t give up.

“I’m busy too. But today I came in 30 minutes early just to give you this!”

“Is that so?”

Yushin stopped only when they reached the lab. Cheong-ah took the opportunity to extend the bag again.

After a moment’s thought, Yushin pushed the bag away and spoke.

“I don’t need any of this. If you have time to chase me for an apology, why not make it up physically instead?”

“Huh… physically?”

Cheong-ah looked up at Yushin, her eyes wide. A mischievous smile was on his face.

“You said you’re sorry. You said you wanted to apologize. You can at least offer that kind of service, right?”

“What… does that mean…”

Her mind spun from his words. In the meantime, Yushin’s large hand grabbed her shoulder.

“Huh?”

And with a click, the door swung open and Cheong-ah’s body was pushed forward.

“Ah!”

She stumbled to a stop, quickly turning her gaze to Yushin. She bit her lip hard and met his eyes.

Her heart pounded uncontrollably.

What could this mean? Make it up physically?

No matter how she thought, her mind kept wandering to bad ideas.

Nothing else came to mind.

After a deep, quick breath, Cheong-ah was just about to punch Yushin, telling herself not to think crazy thoughts.

But fortunately, Yushin spoke first.

“Why are you looking at me? Your work is over there.”

For a moment, Cheong-ah blinked a couple of times, her fist still clenched.

Yushin, with an indifferent expression, pointed toward his room.

Cheong-ah slowly turned her head, following his gesture.