CHAPTER 10
Staring blankly at Jaehyuk, Harin merely blinked. He placed a phone in her hand.
“Put your number in.”
“Professor.”
“Should I ask Hajun? Or maybe I could call your mother and catch up with her after all this time. I could ask her myself.”
“Are you seriously going to do this?”
Like the fox that he was, Choi Jaehyuk had even brought up her mother, completely cutting off her escape route.
When Harin glared at him fiercely, he motioned with his chin, urging her to hurry.
Reluctantly, she punched in her number and let out a quiet sigh.
Only then did Jaehyuk smile in satisfaction.
Even that smile looked annoyingly good.
Because at this very moment, he seemed to have reverted to the Choi Jaehyuk she had known as her first love all those years ago.
Unlike the suit she had recently seen him wearing, the hoodie he had pulled over his head reminded her of Jaehyuk from the days when he had been her tutor.
As though he hadn’t aged at all, he looked exactly the same as he had back then.
Unable to face him, Harin lowered her head and simply held out her phone.
“Here. Take it already.”
“You’re supposed to look someone in the eye when you talk to them.”
He abruptly got to his feet and crouched down in front of her.
Then he took off his hood and held out his large palm right in front of her face.
“Phone.”
“Why are you holding your hand out? You’re not a dog.”
“Do you remember Buddy?”
Buddy was the golden retriever Jaehyuk had raised.
Seeing him crouched in front of her with his hand out instinctively reminded Harin of Buddy.
Suddenly curious about how the dog was doing, Harin asked,
“Of course I remember him. He was so gentle, and he was really handsome.”
“That’s because he takes after his owner.”
Harin couldn’t help laughing at his shameless remark.
The handsome, large Buddy’s personality was nothing like the prickly Choi Jaehyuk’s. He had been incredibly loyal and friendly with people!
Apparently pleased that she had laughed, Jaehyuk looked at Harin fondly.
“It’s nice seeing you smile. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen those dimples?”
He casually poked his index finger into one of Harin’s dimples.
Her heart throbbed as though it had been poked along with it, but she stubbornly held herself together and asked about Buddy.
“Buddy’s doing well, right? He’s not sick or anything?”
“He’s barely hanging on. That bastard’s an old dog now.”
Harin couldn’t laugh anymore.
The two of them hadn’t seen each other in all the years it had taken for the puppy to become an old dog.
The gap left by those empty years was that vast.
“Kang Harin’s getting serious again. Don’t worry. He’s still alive.”
“Yes.”
“Want to come see Buddy sometime?”
“Really?”
Actually, ever since Buddy had come up, Harin had really wanted to see him.
Even when Jaehyuk had been tutoring her, whenever she missed Buddy too much, he would occasionally bring the dog over to his house so she could see him.
Harin had always loved dogs, but she had never been allowed to raise one because of her father’s opposition. You could say Jaehyuk had been helping her make up for that longing.
Harin blinked excitedly as she looked at Jaehyuk.
He held out his hand again, as though urging her on.
“If you want that, you’ll have to give me your phone, right?”
“Here.”
When Harin handed him her phone, his large hand brushed against her smaller one.
Startled, Harin quickly pulled her hand away.
Jaehyuk looked at her incredulously.
“Are you treating me like I have some kind of bacterial infectious disease?”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“Anyway, you’ve promised to come see Buddy, okay?”
She gave a brief nod, and Jaehyuk chuckled as he stood.
“Getting a little brat’s number sure is difficult.”
“Stop calling me a little brat.”
“Though now that I think about it, maybe you’re not such a little brat anymore since you drink.”
He tipped the beer Harin had been drinking straight into his mouth.
“Before you go see Buddy, let’s have a drink together first.”
“A drink?”
“You like drinking, don’t you? Then I’ll see you again. Lieutenant Kang.”
Pulling his hood back over his head, Jaehyuk waved and jogged away.
Harin stared blankly after him as he disappeared among the runners.
You like drinking, don’t you.
That short sentence made her chest tingle.
Without realizing it, she fidgeted with her curled fingertips and let out a quiet sigh.
I got swept up by Choi Jaehyuk again.
In the blink of an eye, she had given him her personal number, agreed to go see Buddy, and even made plans to drink together.
“Ah, seriously! Choi Jaehyuk!”
Even as she complained irritably, her heart beat rapidly with anticipation.
The feeling was so vivid that it only made her angrier.
What am I going to do? Seriously. What am I going to do?
She could already picture herself helplessly circling his orbit again, not knowing what to do with herself.
He was a bewitching vortex she could never escape, like a black hole.
Her return to everyday life was also spent right in the middle of that vortex.
She barely had time to think about Choi Jaehyuk’s orbit before a stream of dispatch calls swept her along.
Still, today was relatively manageable. At least there hadn’t been any emergencies accompanied by screaming.
“My stomach feels like it’s going to burst! Please, somebody save me!”
When they arrived at the scene, a man who looked to weigh at least 150 kilograms was rolling around on the living-room floor.
He was completely unable to move on his own.
Harin unfolded the stretcher and helped transport the patient.
After resolving that call, she had to head straight back out as one radio dispatch after another came in without giving her a moment to breathe.
“There’s a beehive at my front door, and I’m too scared to go outside!”
After dealing with even the beehive complaint, Harin was frantically organizing the equipment and preparing to return to the station when another urgent dispatch came through.
There was an intoxicated man collapsed by the roadside, and his condition appeared abnormal.
“Yes, we’re on our way.”
When they arrived moments later, an intoxicated man was lying beneath the glow of a streetlamp.
As Harin tried to support him and help him sit up, the man gave her a leering smile through unfocused eyes.
“Oh, look who it is… 119?”
Along with his slurred words, the man’s unpleasant gaze traveled up and down Harin’s body.
“Damn, you’re pretty. How about one more drink with me?”
“You shouldn’t behave like this.”
“You’re even hotter when you play hard to get. Fuck.”
The concern on Harin’s face disappeared, replaced by a hardened expression.
After hearing the man’s blatant sexual harassment and profanity, her fellow paramedic stepped in and shouted at him.
“You’re conscious and seem perfectly fine. If you keep this up, we’re calling the police!”
The other paramedic was about to hurry the drunk man home when Harin’s eyes fell on the back of his neck and his faintly trembling fingertips.
“Wait. Don’t get him up yet. Let me check something.”
It was too early to dismiss this as simple intoxication.
His pupils were shifting irregularly from side to side, unable to maintain a steady focus.
Then the man suddenly lost consciousness and went limp.
A sharp instinct flashed through Harin’s mind.
This could be a warning sign that a cerebral blood vessel is about to rupture—or a severe metabolic disorder.
Putting the man’s offensive behavior aside, Harin quickly pulled out a blood pressure monitor.
The life of the man who had just insulted her was now in her hands.
Harin wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm, steadied her breathing, and immediately checked the reading.
Her brows furrowed deeply.
“Two-twenty over one-thirty…”
“Oh, God.”
This wasn’t simple drunkenness.
His blood pressure was high enough that a cerebral blood vessel could rupture at any moment.
“This is an emergency! Contact Daehan University Hospital. Suspected cerebral vascular rupture!”
The ambulance instantly turned into a war zone.
Oxygen was connected, and an IV line was established.
Though the situation was urgent, Harin calmly examined the patient’s condition.
“There’s also a deformity around the clavicle. Possible fracture.”
“He must’ve fallen while drunk and injured himself. What would have happened if we’d just sent him home? This guy harassed you, and you ended up saving his life, Harin.”
While her fellow paramedic clicked his tongue, the ambulance siren split through the night.
The moment they arrived at the emergency department entrance of Daehan University Hospital, the stretcher cart slid down.
As the hospital doors opened, a low, composed voice rang out.
“What is it?”
It was Choi Jaehyuk.
He wasn’t wearing his white coat, presumably because he was on his way home, but simply hearing his voice somehow made Harin feel reassured.
“Emergency patient?”
“Yes.”
Harin calmly reported the patient’s condition.
“Blood pressure is 220 over 130. He had decreased consciousness and slurred speech. We suspect warning signs of a cerebral vascular rupture. Possible clavicle fracture as well.”
Choi Jaehyuk’s gaze quickly swept over the patient’s face, limbs, and the marks left by the blood pressure cuff.
“Get a CT. Keep the stroke code active and run blood gas and an electrolyte panel as well. I’ll handle the fracture, so call neurosurgery right now.”
“Yes, Professor!”
His short, precise commands immediately changed the atmosphere in the emergency room.
The stretcher was pushed inside alongside the medical staff.
Only then did Harin let out a long breath.
The tension drained from her body, and her legs nearly buckled beneath her.
“Can’t even let you finish your shift in peace.”
Jaehyuk had approached without her noticing and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to support her.
Harin reflexively looked up at him.
“Professor.”
“I heard the report. You’re the one who found that patient, right? Not bad, Kang Harin.”
His hand casually ruffled her bangs.
She could feel every sensation of his fingers brushing through her hair against her scalp.
“I look forward to working with you in the future as well, Paramedic Kang Harin.”
With a brief smile, he disappeared among the medical staff.
Even after his back vanished from sight, Harin’s heart continued pounding like crazy.
It was the kind of heartbeat that made her think she ought to have an ECG attached to her.
It must be because I rushed here with an emergency patient.
Harin placed a hand against her chest as she stared toward the end of the corridor where he had disappeared.
I have a feeling I won’t be able to escape his orbit this time, either.
It was a vivid premonition.
