Wanna Go to the Sea?
After what felt like a long time, Tae-hyuk finally opened the bathroom door and stepped out. Na-young turned her head to look at him and asked,
“Professor, did the galbitang upset you too?”
It didn’t make sense that she felt this sick after eating only a little, while Tae-hyuk, who had eaten it all, seemed perfectly fine.
Tae-hyuk walked silently over and stood in front of her. Na-young carefully studied his expression.
“Don’t just look at my face—tell me. How bad do you feel?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really?”
Na-young couldn’t hide the doubt in her eyes. Tae-hyuk bent his legs and sat down in front of her, asking,
“For the last, third one… do you want to go to the sea?”
Na-young’s eyes widened slightly; she hadn’t expected him to bring up the third opportunity. It was part of their prior arrangement, but she wondered what he could possibly have been doing in the bathroom that made him bring it up first.
“Do you like water, Professor?”
Last time it was the aquarium, and now it was the sea. Both places had water.
“Yes. Seeing water calms me down.”
His expression, as he said this, looked much softer than before he went into the bathroom, as if a layer of his shell had been peeled away.
“Then let’s go to the sea.”
When she agreed, Tae-hyuk smiled pleasantly. Watching the light spread across his eyes as he smiled made Na-young feel a flutter in her stomach.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve seen you smile like that, Professor.”
Tae-hyuk didn’t fully understand what she meant—he had never seen himself smile that way.
“How do I usually smile?”
“You rarely smile. And when you do, it’s a bit crooked.”
“You mean even when I’m alone with you, I smiled crookedly?”
As he asked this, his face drew closer to hers, and Na-young tensed.
“I think I must have been seeing it wrong.”
Denial of her words made Tae-hyuk’s gaze turn mischievous.
“Wrong? How?”
“Don’t come closer. I’m still sick.”
Na-young held his shoulder with her hand, trying to push him back.
“I came closer so you could look properly, in case you can’t see well because you’re sick.”
It had been her excuse that she was sick, but when she used that as a reason, Na-young gave him a reproachful look. Yet when Tae-hyuk’s hand reached out and cupped her cheek, her resistance melted instantly.
“I need to check if you have a fever.”
He should have checked by touching her forehead, but his lips moved toward hers. Even seeing clearly what he intended, Na-young couldn’t stop him. Her eyelids fluttered as if caught in a breeze.
As his face filled her two-toned brown eyes, her chest tightened, as if her heart had been completely filled by his presence.
She was scared. He was only a continuation of desire, yet she feared she would lose herself to him. But no matter how much she had guarded herself from the beginning, it was impossible to stop her feelings from flowing.
When his warm breath touched her lips…
Beep beep beep.
Instead of hearing her heartbeat, she heard the door unlock.
Door lock?
Clack.
The door opened immediately, and Seung-hee entered, grumbling.
“Oppa left me on the street and went on a date! Why are all guys like this? I even called home, and Mom said she didn’t call!”
Seung-hee froze when she saw the two in the living room. Na-young was lying on the sofa, and Professor Choi Tae-hyuk was sitting on the floor.
Before the door opened, Na-young had shoved him away with all her strength. Tae-hyuk’s piercing gaze met Seung-hee. She hadn’t expected to get scolded by the deadly professor right after being outsmarted by her own brother.
“Should I go back out?”
Seung-hee awkwardly smiled and turned toward the entrance.
Even the next day, Seung-hee shivered at the thought of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. It was understandable. Coming home, being forced to drink, and having a tie competition—no wonder she was traumatized.
No matter how hard Seung-hee tried, she couldn’t beat him in the tie challenge, whether it was a one-hand tie for him and a two-hand tie for her, and drinking only made everything worse. But Tae-hyuk insisted on continuing until he won, so yesterday was like a nightmare for Seung-hee. Eventually, she pretended to be drunk to end it.
Feeling guilty, Na-young prepared breakfast for her.
“I’m not a gastroenterologist, so it’s just yesterday’s ordeal for me. But what about you? Living like that every day will make you sick.”
Na-young could only smile awkwardly; there was nothing else to do.
“I think every time I practice tying a tie from now on, I’ll think of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk.”
Seung-hee shivered as she spoke.
“You go eat. I’ll go first.”
Na-young hurried out and headed to the hospital. Now that she felt better, the events with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk yesterday kept replaying in her mind. He had tried to kiss her.
She should have scolded him for taking advantage of her being sick, but every time she thought about it, her heart warmed. The fact that they had already spent a night together made meeting him at the hospital feel tense.
“Just act like normal.”
Something so simple felt unusually difficult today. She had never truly disliked him. She had just been busy keeping her distance because of the circumstances.
But the heart cannot be fully controlled by will. No matter how much she tried, her feelings had grown this much. After giving him three chances and planning to cut it off firmly, nothing had gone her way. The third opportunity was still left.
What now?
Amid the soft flutter of excitement, a sharp tension pierced through her. Standing at the crosswalk, Na-young looked up at the hospital building. It was time to face reality.
Knock, knock.
No response came from inside, so Na-young opened the door. She had only planned to pick up Mrs. Hwang’s lunchbox and head to the ward, but she froze when she saw Professor Choi Tae-hyuk sleeping uncomfortably on the research lab sofa.
He was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. Had he really slept here instead of going home? He hadn’t been drunk enough to lose his way. He hadn’t come here to handle an emergency while drunk either.
Na-young cautiously approached and called him.
“Professor?”
His brow furrowed in his sleep, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Na-young moved a bit closer and called again.
“Professor.”
“Mmm.”
He responded without opening his eyes.
“Why are you sleeping here?”
“Oppa Seung-jun… keeps bragging endlessly… even if I lock the door, I hear it all.”
He frowned as if it really annoyed him. Na-young suppressed a smile and crouched in front of the sofa, staring at his sleeping face.
His thick eyelashes were unusually long for a man. His sunken eyes looked lonely. His straight, sharp nose was strikingly masculine. And his lips…
Just looking at them made her face flush. Na-young buried her face in her arms and let out a long sigh.
Stay composed.
She steadied her voice and said,
“Professor, it’s time to wake up now.”
Rustle.
His eyes opened halfway. His drowsy gaze met hers. For a few seconds, he stared blankly at her, as if trying to decide whether this was a dream or reality.
Sweep.
His hand reached out and touched her cheek, startling her. She hadn’t expected him to touch her so openly.
“Why… why are you doing that?”
Tae-hyuk still remembered clearly. The hotel room scene when he woke up alone. The whole room was filled with light, yet his heart felt trapped in a dark room again. Unable to hold onto the person who left without staying by his side.
But today, as soon as he opened his eyes, she was there. Not an illusion, not a mistake—truly her.
He lifted the corners of his mouth into a long smile.
“Because I’m happy.”
The morning sunlight sparkling around them broke over his smile.
Na-young stared at his face blankly. She had promised herself to work normally before coming to the hospital, but she had spectacularly failed.
Fortunately, once rounds started, she could return to her usual hospital routine. In front of people, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk remained the notorious “poisonous snake,” so she didn’t lose herself staring at him. She hadn’t lost her senses to that extent yet.
During the conference, the pediatrics department requested a collaborative consultation.
Since liver transplantation was Professor Choi Tae-hyuk’s specialty, they asked him to perform surgery for a pediatric patient.
This patient was only twelve months old. The liver donor was the baby’s mother.
“I can’t perform this surgery.”
When those words came from Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, everyone in the conference room couldn’t believe their ears.
“The poisonous snake just said he can’t do the surgery?”
“Really? That’s the snake? Bowing out in front of surgery?”
Na-young also stared in disbelief at the back of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk sitting in front of her. She had thought he was someone who would take on any difficult surgery, not avoid it out of fear.
The liver is an organ with relatively high transplant success rates, but pediatric liver transplants are inherently more challenging than adult cases. Surgery on a baby who had barely lived a year would naturally be even harder.
Even the pediatric specialists were flustered and tried to persuade him.
“When I told the patient’s parents about Professor Choi’s history, they insisted on having him perform the surgery.”
“I’ve only done pediatric liver transplants once before, and that was for a ten-year-old. This baby is too small. It would be better to transfer the patient to a hospital with a specialist in pediatric liver transplantation.”
After stating his reasons, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk stood up and left the conference room. Everyone stared at the door he had gone through as if watching a suspenseful plot twist.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Professor Choi!”
Na-young rushed out of the conference room after him, calling his name with all her strength.
Tae-hyuk stopped in his tracks but didn’t turn to look at her. Na-young, thinking he was upset over the conference incident, spoke calmly.
“Giving up on this surgery isn’t like you, Professor.”
If he was refusing due to lack of experience with pediatric patients, she wanted to encourage him.
“With your skill, you can definitely save that baby. So please reconsider.”
Professor Choi Tae-hyuk turned to look at her. But his gaze was so cold and emotionless, unlike the man she had seen in the morning, that Na-young’s heart sank.
“If I say I won’t do the surgery, then I won’t. No one can change my decision.”
It was already known to everyone at the hospital that Professor Choi Tae-hyuk wasn’t a warm or gentle person. But Na-young realized for the first time that he had never been cold toward her. Now, seeing him look at her with such a harsh, dismissive gaze, she felt unbearable pain.
