A Gentle Intruder (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3
“Nurse Yoon, you’re on day shift starting today, right?”
Charge nurse Kyung Mi called out to Da Jung. Da Jung turned around and smiled.
At work, she treated Kyung Mi respectfully as her superior, but in truth, Kyung Mi had been like an older sister to her since birth—always by her side. Sometimes Kyung Mi cared for Da Jung even more than she did for her own younger brother, Kyung Jun, which often made Da Jung feel guilty toward him. Of course, Kyung Jun himself never minded such things.
“Yes, ma’am.”
When Da Jung’s older brother passed away and her family began to fall apart, Kyung Mi and Kyung Jun became her pillars of support. That was why Da Jung considered them family.
Must family share blood? Sharing one’s heart is just as difficult as sharing blood.
Kyung Mi flipped through the charts and gave instructions.
“Lower the dosage of Labetalol for patient Im So Ra in room 701 to eight milligrams—please confirm that. And patient Kim Ji Sun in room 707 has been moved to a private room.”
“Understood.”
“Take a short break before things get hectic, Da Jung. Baby Kim Hye Jin will be fine. Don’t worry too much.”
Kyung Mi always worried deeply about Da Jung whenever something unfortunate happened in obstetrics, because she understood Da Jung’s anxiety about life better than anyone else.
Though Da Jung had improved significantly, during her early days at the hospital she’d needed sleeping pills every time a baby suffered complications just to get any rest at all. Knowing exactly how Kyung Mi felt, Da Jung answered brightly.
“Yes. Then I’ll go grab a cup of coffee.”
Haet Sal Yi would be discharged in good health. She had decided to believe that on the day she saw Lee Jae Ho’s social media post. That was why Da Jung could smile.
[This is the timeline separator]Three nurses gathered in the break room called out to Da Jung. They were her close friends—Sun Ah, Yoo Mi, and Young Sook. As Da Jung approached, they handed her a cup of coffee.
“Have some coffee. If not now, when will you get to rest?”
“Thank you.”
“We’ve got a lot of surgeries today. Professor Kim alone has three scheduled. It’s going to get crazy busy this afternoon.”
“C-sections?”
“No. Cervical cerclage procedures.”
Depending on the type of surgery, patients were assigned to different floors. C-sections, which mark the end of full-term pregnancies, were handled on the 8th floor, while cerclage surgeries—aimed at preventing premature birth—were on the 7th. One ends a pregnancy; the other tries to prolong it.
Today’s going to be busy…
Da Jung nodded and listened intently. Their idle chatter soon veered toward the latest drama gossip, then shifted to skincare, puppies, weddings—and eventually circled back to hospital matters.
“Oh, by the way, Nurse Yoon—don’t be shocked, but they say baby Kim Hye Jin passed away after all.”
Yoo Mi said it.
“What?”
Young Sook, standing nearby, gasped in shock even before Da Jung could react. Da Jung couldn’t even bring herself to ask for clarification. Her mind went hazy, as if a hot stone were pressing down on her heart. She stared blankly at her coffee cup.
“How? She was holding up well in the NICU.”
Someone spoke in a voice full of dismay.
“I know. I guess she struggled badly with breathing at the very end.”
“Oh no…”
A single hot drop of liquid plopped into her cup. Quiet ripples spread across the surface—then swelled into a great wave that crashed over Da Jung.
“Oh my—Nurse Yoon, are you crying? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Yoo Mi tried to comfort her. But her voice sounded distant, as if echoing underwater. Da Jung had tried her best not to dwell on it, yet not a single moment had passed without her thinking about Haet Sal Yi. Today marked exactly ten days.
The tiny baby she’d never even seen continued to flounder endlessly in her mind. Da Jung desperately wanted to reach out and hold its hand—but there was nothing she could do.
“Haet Sal Yi… If only you’d been born today, you would have lived.”
“…”
“I kept thinking about it. You were 26 weeks and 4 days. They’d waited eight long years for you. You were practically here already—how could this happen?”
Da Jung sighed, her voice thick with tears. She set down her cup and covered her eyes with both hands. Grief poured out uncontrollably. Yoo Mi rushed off and returned shortly with a whole box of tissues.
“I didn’t mean to upset you—I just thought it wasn’t something you needed to hide. You’ve clearly been carrying this. Go ahead and cry it all out. What can we do? It’s beyond our power.”
She wrapped her arms around Da Jung and offered comfort.
Could crying truly wash anything away?
Da Jung knew all too well that it couldn’t.
She had wept for months, her heart torn apart, yet her brother never came back. The misfortune unleashed by his death swallowed her family whole like poisonous mushrooms. In the end, her father followed him. Her mother collapsed, unable to bear it any longer.
No matter how loudly or how long she cried, nothing ever changed. Her sorrow only grew larger.
And yet she couldn’t stop the tears.
Must tears always mean shedding something? For the 774-gram baby who never even received a proper funeral, Da Jung wept with genuine sorrow. At this point, this work no longer brought her joy.
She had wanted to marvel at the miracle of life—but reality far too often offered the opposite. Countless babies became stars in the night sky, never hearing their parents’ cries.
The thought flashed through her mind: I can’t bear this anymore. It felt like a warning that her capacity had reached its limit. Therefore, now—
She should quit.
Da Jung felt she’d hit her breaking point. It was burnout.
[This is the timeline separator]“You said you want to resign?”
Kyung Mi repeated the words as if she’d just heard news of an alien invasion. Da Jung silently nodded. Kyung Mi immediately voiced her disapproval.
“No way. Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ma’am—”
“I’ll give you vacation leave. No—take a leave of absence. I’ll get it approved, no matter what. But quitting? Absolutely not.”
Da Jung had made her decision precisely because she knew this pain ran too deep to simply suppress. She had no intention of backing down. The warmth of those fragile, birdlike babies lingered dryly in her mind, slowly eating away at her heart. She no longer wanted to see such babies. She truly, desperately wished it.
“…Let me go, unnie.”
She’d never addressed Kyung Mi this way at work before—but now, for the first time, Da Jung crossed that line. It was a heartfelt plea for Kyung Mi to understand the magnitude of her grief—to recognize that she simply couldn’t endure any longer.
“No. I can’t. I know you too well to let you go like this, Da Jung. You need to keep working—or you’ll collapse.”
Kyung Mi shook her head.
“I’ll give you one month. Drop everything and go rest by the seaside. I’ll do absolutely everything I can on my end to make it happen.”
“I don’t want to—”
“People are doing month-long stays in Jeju these days, right? Just go relax by the ocean for a month.”
“A whole month, unnie? You know that’s impossible.”
Da Jung tried to protest, thinking of her mother still hospitalized—but Kyung Mi cut her off again.
“Don’t worry about Mom—I’ll take care of her. I’m practically her daughter too. Leave it to your unnie.”
Da Jung fell silent, taking a moment to steady her breath and collect her thoughts. Kyung Mi, clearly refusing to hear any more objections, busied herself shuffling charts noisily, pretending to be occupied. Da Jung watched her hands.
Sssshhhhh.
Suddenly, the sound of ocean waves from long ago crashed into her ears.
When was that? A time when her whole family enjoyed a seaside vacation together—a time when laughter still lingered in their days. After that, life grew too hectic, and she never got a chance to see the ocean again.
Interpreting Da Jung’s silence as consent, Kyung Mi added gently,
“You’ve always loved the sea, haven’t you?”
Did she? She wasn’t even sure if she still loved anything anymore. Right now, only Lee Jae Ho came to mind. When her family fell apart, Da Jung had forgotten every small joy she once knew.
“Just throw your whole heart into the sea and come back.”
She’d never spent time solely for the purpose of letting go—doing nothing but surrendering completely. Since she’d never tried it, she doubted it would work. Yet, somehow, her heart suddenly thumped loudly in her chest.
A month-long stay by the seaside.
Was it even possible?
She couldn’t imagine freeing herself from all of it—her mother in the nursing home, hospital bills, mounting debts, and the relentless hospital shifts.
Kyung Mi quickly pulled up search results and showed them to her, scrolling through blogs and cafes to thrust images of Jeju’s stunning turquoise sea before her eyes, repeatedly exclaiming how beautiful it was.
“They rent out pensions by the month. All you need to do is show up.”
“…”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t resign. Just go, and if you still feel exhausted when you come back, we’ll talk again. If you’re still absolutely set on leaving then, I’ll let you go.”
Kyung Mi took Da Jung’s hand. Countless unspoken words traveled through the warmth of her palms.
“Please, Da Jung. Do this for your unnie. Okay?”
At this point, Da Jung couldn’t refuse any longer. A month was a long time, and she clearly understood just how great a kindness Kyung Mi was offering.
In her heart, she quietly said goodbye to Haet Sal Yi. Suddenly, she felt this time might turn into an unexpected opportunity.
Outside the window, the sunset deepened into rich hues. It was autumn—the cold wind had already begun to settle in.
“I’ll go take a break then. I can’t go on like this, unnie.”
In the end, she accepted Kyung Mi’s offer.
The sound of waves rushed in her ears—ssshhhhh—and receded, over and over.
One month.
What would she let go of—and what might she fill her heart with?
[This is the timeline separator]True to her word, Kyung Mi swiftly secured approval for Da Jung’s leave of absence. It must have involved a fairly complex process, yet she’d handled it skillfully.
After work, Da Jung ate a convenience store meal and sat down at her desk. She turned on her laptop to plan her getaway. A faint thrill stirred inside her—a warm, flickering light somewhere deep in her heart, like a distant lighthouse. She hadn’t felt this way in a long time.
Typing “one-month stay in Jeju” into the search engine flooded her screen with endless results. She clicked her mouse.
“The sea…”
Sssshhhhh. The waves crashed into her again.
One day in her memory, her family of four—armed with hoes and wearing rubber boots—marched confidently into the tidal flats. They’d planned to dig enough clams for both clam noodle soup and steamed clams, but their harvest turned out pitifully small.
In the end, they went to a nearby restaurant and ordered a huge pot of clam stew with extra knife-cut noodles, enthusiastically giving thumbs-up as they declared, “Now this is the true taste of the sea!”
Dad had said even if they’d gathered lots of clams, they’d have had to purge the sand for days, so buying was actually more efficient.
Then why did we even bother trying to dig them in the first place? her brother had retorted with a scold. Mom simply smiled and said,
“It’s about making memories.”
Da Jung pressed backspace, deleting “one-month stay in Jeju.”
Jeju was a beautifully blue island—but it felt distant from the sea she remembered. Her sea was tidal flats and sunsets—not emerald waters, but skies heavy with clouds; not surfing, but clam-digging. That was her ocean.
She’d go to the West Sea. Back to that beach. To Taean, where her family had once gone together.
But finding a standalone pension available for an entire month in Taean—where month-long stays weren’t yet common—proved quite difficult. Da Jung spent several days endlessly searching online.
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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