IMTS 10

Chapter 10

“Could you at least do some cleaning?”

Only then did Cheong-ah notice the state of Yoo-shin’s room. It was even filthier than a few days ago—an upgraded level of mess.

“…….”

At his indifferent tone, Cheong-ah bit her lip hard.

Still, her lips twitched involuntarily. Heat rose to the top of her head. Looking at Yoo-shin now seemed impossible.

“Starting today. The deadline… is until my room is clean.”

Yoo-shin looked down at Cheong-ah’s bright-red ears and cleared his throat with a “Hmm.”

“Then, I’ll be counting on you.”

There seemed to be a sneer hidden in his voice.

Cheong-ah couldn’t tell whether that was just in her mind or if it was really there.

She could only nod silently in response.

Wang Gil-dong Landfill

As Cheong-ah cleaned Yoo-shin’s room, she recalled the place where she had once been in hiding.

That hellish space, full of trash and stench. Blind spots in the CCTV. Only cold and filth-filled memories remained from the undercover investigation.

Strangely, Yoo-shin’s room kept reminding her of that place.

Except for the smell, it was no different from the landfill if you considered the amount of trash and the state of hygiene.

Cheong-ah wiped the sweat from her forehead with the wrist of her rubber glove.

“How… can it get this dirty every single day?”

She had stayed late cleaning just last night, delaying her own departure.

Yet today, the desk was piled with even more papers than yesterday. Textbooks from the shelves had also returned from some research and were stacked endlessly.

On the central table, drinks and promotional materials from pharmaceutical companies were piled like a mountain. The sofa and floor had no free space to step on.

“Wait… why are there dumbbells arranged by size? Is this guy crazy? If he uses them, he could at least put them away. Ugh. Heavy!”

She couldn’t help but curse.

Still, this was clearly an opportunity Cheong-ah couldn’t miss.

Min Yoo-shin.

He was the most suspicious person in the hospital. If he opened his lab door wide for her, why would she refuse to take advantage?

She wanted to find any clue she could.

The problem was how filthy the room was. Too filthy. There was so much to clean that she barely had time to check anything.

“Seriously… how can it get this dirty anew every single day?”

Sighing deeply, Cheong-ah picked up trash from the floor, then gathered the piled-up lab coats from the sofa and headed to the laundry room.

“Hello, Ma’am. You’re in this room again today?”

As she left Yoo-shin’s room, someone greeted her. It was Professor Kim Dong-ho, who used the lab next to Yoo-shin’s.

“Ah… haha. Hello, Professor.”

Cheong-ah smiled reflexively.

Professor Kim nodded, giving a wry smile, as if he knew her struggles all too well. Apparently, Yoo-shin’s room was notorious even among the professors of the gastroenterology department.

Peeking into the lab through the still-open door, he asked in surprise:

“Wow. What’s this? Why is it so clean?”

“Huh?”

Cheong-ah’s gaze naturally followed his.

To her, it still looked dirty and hopeless, but to Professor Kim, it seemed much tidier.

“Wow, you really clean well. But isn’t this kind of work outside your duties? I didn’t think Professor Min would make you do this.”

Professor Kim spoke with a concerned tone, pretending to be worried, but Cheong-ah knew it was only a pretense.

If he were really concerned, he wouldn’t have let her stand there carrying laundry with both hands. Or at least he could help.

Cheong-ah laughed theatrically and replied:

“No, it’s nothing like that. I’m just helping the professors during my free time… a sort of service. Service.”

“Ah, a service…?”

He fidgeted as if thinking something over.

“Then… can I receive that cleaning service too?”

“Ah—”

Before Cheong-ah could answer, the lab door next door opened again. Out came Professor Yang Dong-jun of the gastrointestinal function department.

“You’re cleaning… really?”

Cheong-ah glanced at him, feeling slightly more embarrassed. But before she could respond, Professor Kim waved his hands, refusing.

“What’s wrong, Professor Yang? I asked first. My room is urgent. Next week, the ‘Return of the Master’ filming crew is visiting. The hospital’s reputation is at stake. Tsk.”

“Professor, same here! The SIT sponsor is visiting. You know this is considered collaborative research for our GI staff, right?”

The two professors exchanged sharp glances, with Cheong-ah between them.

Left, right.

Cheong-ah quietly mediated with a small voice:

“I’ll do it! For both of you.”

Just as their voices were about to escalate, they stopped and simultaneously turned to grin at her.

“Really?”

“Oh, thank you! Thanks to you, Ms. Park, our department’s reputation will improve. Haha!”

Cheong-ah bowed slightly and dashed down the corridor with the lab coats.

‘Wow, what luck is this?’

During her undercover investigation, not only did Min Yoo-shin open his lab to her, but the other professors’ labs were also accessible.

It was like a special service, giving fish to a cat.

There was no rule that only one professor in the hospital could be involved with drug-related matters. If she could check other professors’ rooms too, it would help.

Of course, her body would be exhausted.

“Ack, the smell of the patch.”

“You haven’t done much physical work before, huh, Bok-seon? Sheesh. You’re the youngest among us, and you’re this weak. What to do.”

The senior cleaning ladies in the break room anxiously applied pain relief patches to Cheong-ah’s back and neck.

“Hehe, thank you, sisters. Ah, feels much better. Let’s go clean the morning shift now!”

Though she cheerfully set off, it was already a couple of hours into her workday.

During that time, Cheong-ah had polished Professors Kim and Yang’s labs, checking for anything suspicious.

She planned to visit the most suspicious Min Yoo-shin’s room after work.

Last night, while clearing the mountain of books in Yoo-shin’s room, she found a suspicious lock on a drawer.

‘I’ll check it tonight. I need to handle it quickly before it worsens.’

Spinning her wrist with the patch on it, her steps stopped suddenly.

Someone had grabbed her neck.

When Cheong-ah turned, she saw Min Yoo-shin’s face, his eyes narrow.

His cold gaze swept over her shoulders and wrists where the patches were applied.

“The smell…”

Cheong-ah smiled awkwardly at Yoo-shin’s trailing words.

“Ah… does it smell a lot? That’s bad. I can’t even lift my wrists without these.”

It was clearly exaggerated, but Yoo-shin’s expression didn’t soften.

“…….”

He silently stared at her wrists for a while, then slowly lifted his gaze to her face.

In an instant, his hand reached for her forehead. With a snap, the bandage on her forehead fell off.

Cheong-ah, confused, brought her hand to her forehead, but Yoo-shin brushed it away.

“Don’t touch it. Scar will remain.”

“Ah……”

“Just hold on for two more days. It’s almost healed.”

By now, Yoo-shin had taken skin-regeneration tape from his gown pocket.

Not a magic pocket, yet it contained everything imaginable.

He supported the back of Cheong-ah’s head with one hand and pressed the tape onto her forehead.

“I told you I’d take responsibility for this one thing.”

His fierce gaze softened, and a faint smile appeared briefly.

Cheong-ah pressed her lips together, unsure of what expression to make or what to say.

“The room’s much cleaner too. Thanks. Just a little more, please.”

“Ah… yes.”

They exchanged brief greetings and walked in different directions. But before taking even a few steps, Cheong-ah realized her heart was pounding wildly.

Thump, thump.

She tapped her chest a few times and took a deep breath.

Just as she was about to thoroughly clean his room, she happened to meet Yoo-shin’s face head-on. Naturally, her heart was racing.

‘My heart is about to explode.’