Episode 9. I Came to Find the Leeches
A-gang finally understood why her colleagues would shudder the moment the word “leech” was even mentioned.
Leeches were certainly creepy—but seeing them tirelessly sucking blood, working day and night, they had somehow started to look… almost cute.
But!
Leech therapy was usually a last resort.
If leeches were being used, it meant the venous circulation in the transplanted skin flap had already developed a serious problem.
In other words, the situation was dangerous enough that the carefully reattached segment might undergo necrosis—and a finger could ultimately be lost.
For an entire week, she had barely slept for even an hour, terrified that her grandmother might never regain her finger. Days and nights blurred together; reality and dreams no longer felt distinct.
It was a bright spring day.
The sunlight was so dazzling it was hard to even keep her eyes open.
For the first time in a while, she was walking down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, wearing a white dress and matching white sandals.
“Ah! It’s been so long, Paris!”
The scent of freshly baked baguettes seemed to sink deep into her nose.
It looked like a fashion show had just ended at the Grand Palais. A model, surrounded by an uncountable number of bodyguards and onlookers, was slowly making his way out.
Even from a distance, the man radiated presence.
Who is that, causing such a commotion?
Curious, she pushed through the murmuring crowd and stood on tiptoe.
Huh? Huh??
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
A powerful stride, a characteristically cynical expression, pale skin, and an almost unnaturally striking, dangerously alluring face—as if sculpted from dark energy itself.
Cheonghwasan… that delinquent man? No—dangerous man?
Why was he in Paris?
Their eyes met in midair as the man removed his sunglasses. He smiled faintly and waved as if greeting an old acquaintance.
“Hey, leech handler! Hold on a second.”
Who? Me?
A-gang pointed at herself, silently mouthing the question.
“Yes, you. Miss Leech Handler over there—will you marry me?”
His hand shot out like a grim reaper’s shadow. A massive silhouette fell over her.
“Aah! No! You’re a gangster!! Get away from me! You’re scary!”
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of her, leaning in close.
“You were the one who reported me to 112, weren’t you?”
“N-no!! Not me! Ah—okay, it was me! Please forgive me!”
“Then marry me. It’s your punishment.”
Marry me, marry me, marry me…
“Aaaah!! No!!”
“A-gang, A-gang?”
Sodam’s gentle voice seemed to drift in from somewhere.
“If you’re tired, don’t sleep slumped over the table—go lie in bed for a bit. You’re probably having sleep paralysis again.”
Was it a dream?
“Ah?! A-gang! Something’s wrong! Wake up quickly!”
“W-what!”
Startled, A-gang shook off her daze as urgent hands shook her shoulders.
“Didn’t you close the lid on the plastic container properly? The leeches escaped! What do we do?!”
Twelve remained in the container, eight were crossing the table, seven were exploring the floor, eight were racing down the hallway. Three were missing!
“Sodam… what do I do now?”
“A-gang… what are we going to do…”
“If the professor finds out, I’m dead…”
Dark shadows fell over both their faces simultaneously.
“Should we try ordering more from the supplier?”
“Even if we order, it’ll take days. Let’s find them quickly!”
“Right! I just ran into Senior Seongjin when I came in—he was carrying a surgical tray. Maybe they got in there? Or maybe they’re stuck on his sleeve!”
“Senior Seongjin? Which way did he go?”
A-gang rushed to the corridor railing and stretched onto her tiptoes, scanning around.
“There!”
Sodam pointed toward the right side of the first-floor main hall—the trauma center.
“Hello! I’m Joo A-gang, first-year resident in PS!”
The atmosphere inside the trauma center was so cold it felt as if frost were dripping from the air itself.
Everyone seemed busy; no one paid her any attention. Still, she pressed on.
“I came here because I received information that the leeches from our department walked in this direction!”
“Leeches?”
Only then did multiple pairs of medical staff eyes turn toward her at once.
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone come to the trauma center looking for leeches instead of a patient. Is she a new doctor?”
The nurses gathered at the station giggled while glancing at her.
Hesitating, A-gang carefully stepped inside.
She wanted to ask permission first and take a proper look—but who exactly was in charge?
Her eyes landed on the back of a man sorting charts in front of a monitor.
He wore a long white coat. His shoulders were unusually broad and detached.
A man so tall he looked more suited for a runway than a hospital.
“Doctor, hello! I’m Joo A-gang.”
“……”
Tap, tap, tap—the sound of rapid typing filled the silence.
He didn’t even turn around. But she decided to just say her piece anyway.
“Doctor, the leeches I’m responsible for… I heard from Sodam that they went in this direction…”
Her voice grew smaller under the man’s unresponsive back.
She had heard that trauma center doctors were intimidating men overflowing with testosterone.
Rough bodies, rough mouths.
People said they were often more frightening than gangsters in the operating room, and the idea alone made her shoulders tense.
She half-expected him to suddenly turn around and scold her, and her heart thumped nervously.
“Um… Doctor, there are no patients today, so may I look around for a moment? If I don’t find the leeches, it’ll be a disaster… I’m already being punished by my professor… could you please allow it?”
Why did she sound so foolish? Her tongue wasn’t even twisted.
“How exactly would it be a disaster?”
The man’s sudden reply startled her.
His voice was low and heavy. Familiar, somehow.
“Well…”
“What kind of disaster? Will someone die?”
At that moment, he slowly turned around.
Huh?
A gangster?
Her legs froze in place.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
“Ah… uh… huh…”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“I… I mean…”
Her thoughts tangled like a ball of yarn a cat had played with and abandoned in a corner.
It was him.
Cheonghwasan—the delinquent man.
The same man she had reported to 112.
An enemy met again on a narrow bridge where neither could turn back.
“Do leeches have legs? If anything, they didn’t walk into the trauma center—they crawled.”
Taeheon spoke flatly, as if A-gang’s frozen reaction was nothing unusual.
“Ah, well… they actually attached themselves to Senior Seongjin’s clothes, or rather, Senior Seongjin walked this way…”
Why couldn’t she speak properly?
She bit her dry lower lip.
Cold sweat gathered along her spine.
“Do you not know subject, verb, and object? Is this how you were taught to report? Cut the unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. Just the facts.”
“……”
Sigh.
A short breath echoed repeatedly in her mind.
The man she reported to 112 was now her new boss.
How did this even make sense?
Her vision darkened.
He was definitely a gangster. A recently released one, at that.
Even the monk had mentioned that gangsters often visited the temple. All signs pointed toward him being part of an underground organization.
Everything fit together perfectly.
She had escaped her previous workplace and ended up here—yet there was no paradise anywhere she ran to.
God… Buddha… do you have something against me?
“Do I also have to teach you how to speak?”
His voice struck like frost.
“N-no…”
“Say it again. Properly.”
She had never imagined this.
That the continuation of that day would become today.
“I… I will report again.”
Half of her sentence crumbled as she nervously bit her lips.
Taeheon glanced at her.
“Ah… uh… haaa… uh…”
Even in those four broken syllables, all her emotions were laid bare.
But Taeheon only found it mildly interesting.
