A Light Contract - Chapter 34

‘It’s hard to control myself when I look at you.’

As soon as Yura opened her eyes in the morning, she blinked blankly at the sentence that flashed through her mind.

“What… is this?”

Fear suddenly washed over her as she recalled the unfamiliar sentence along with the image of Lee Hyun looking up at her with a sticky gaze full of heat.

Slowly rolling her eyes to check her surroundings, Lee Hyun was nowhere to be found. Just as she was carefully moving her body, feeling a throbbing tension, the door opened.

“Yura, are you awake?”

The moment Lee Hyun’s voice was heard, Yura ran at full speed towards the bathroom. She locked the door and clutched her pounding heart.

She remembered drinking at the tripe restaurant, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall the memories that were cut off at some point. In that situation, Yura was startled by Lee Hyun’s appearance and instinctively ran away.

What should I do in this situation? As she was hesitating in the bathroom for a while, Lee Hyun’s voice was heard from outside the door.

“How about taking the day off today?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

“I have a meeting in the morning, so I’ll leave first. Have a good day at work.”

“Okay.”

At Lee Hyun’s words, Yura took a deep breath of relief and finally started her shower. The lost memories even took away her courage to face him.

Moreover, she wanted to ask what that one memory meant and what the situation was, but at the same time, she didn’t want to know. She had a vague feeling that she shouldn’t know what had happened.

So Yura went to work with a nonchalant face. Although her mind was still in turmoil, she greeted the employees with her usual bright smile and quickly checked the documents to report to the CEO.

Just then, her phone on the desk vibrated. Yura was startled like a thief caught in the act and dropped the documents she was holding.

Clicking her tongue at her pathetic behavior, she checked her phone. She let out a sigh mixed with relief and concern at the word Oh Se Jin that appeared clearly.

“Hello, this is Jin Yura.”

−It’s me.

“Hello, Pianist Oh Se Jin.”

As she furrowed her brow, recalling the series of events that hadn’t been neatly concluded, an unexpected statement was heard.

−I think I need to go to the hospital.

“What? Hospital?”

−I think I’ve overworked my hands.

‘How are your hands these days?’

At that moment, Song Min Woo’s words from yesterday flashed through Yura’s mind. It didn’t seem like just a casual remark, and she frowned involuntarily, realizing there was indeed something wrong.

Yura thought about how to handle this, and judged that if Song Min Woo knew, IF would know too. For the health of their contracted artists, management companies usually have primary care physicians or partner hospitals.

Deciding it would be better to go to a related place rather than searching for a completely unrelated one, even if she didn’t know if there was a partner hospital in Korea, she asked:

“Do you have a primary care physician?”

−That’s why I wanted to ask a favor. Can you find a doctor who can keep things confidential?

Of course, there was no way an overseas management company would have a partner hospital in Korea.

As her question turned out to be unnecessary, Yura quickly reassessed the situation. There were doctors who could keep things confidential, but it was uncertain how far they could diagnose.

“We have a doctor in charge at Songlim. I’ll make an appointment with them first.”

−Can I go right now?

“It’s difficult to give you a definite answer, but I’ll check the schedule and get back to you.”

Pianists had various occupational diseases related to their hands. It could be tendinitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Although it wasn’t an immediate serious problem, it couldn’t be ignored either. Especially now, with a concert coming up soon.

Knowing it was an urgent matter, Yura contacted Professor Ko Myung Jun at the university hospital as soon as she ended the call with Se Jin. He was a psychiatrist who managed the psychological state of artists performing at Songlim.

Professor Ko Myung Jun was always busy with patients due to his reputation alone, so it wouldn’t be easy without an appointment, but the fastest possible response was needed.

Fortunately, she was able to make an urgent appointment as one patient had just changed their reservation, leaving a time slot open.

As there wasn’t enough time to call a dedicated driver, Yura drove to the hotel herself.

She was worried that Se Jin might make unreasonable demands like last time, but thankfully, he didn’t say a word during the ride, looking unwell from the moment they met.

After arriving at the hospital and parking, as they were about to get out, Se Jin expressed his gratitude in a low voice.

“Thank you. For coming with me.”

“It’s nothing. It’s just a normal procedure.”

Yura clearly pointed out that there was absolutely no personal emotion involved as she got out of the car.

Se Jin came out of the consultation room not long after he went in. Yura looked at him questioningly, wondering why it ended so quickly, and he gave her a gentle smile.

“He says it’s a symptom caused by stress. I’m going to get some physical therapy.”

“I see.”

Although the situation was unsatisfactory, Yura didn’t probe further. It was clear he was hiding something, but she remained silent, fearing that if she intervened unnecessarily, he might make unreasonable demands again.

As she was staring at Se Jin walking away with an uneasy gaze, the door of the consultation room opened.

“Team Leader Jin.”

Yura turned her head at the sound of someone calling her name, and there stood Professor Ko Myung Jun with a kind face.

Even though he was a well-known psychiatrist and a time slot had opened up due to a rescheduled appointment, it was still a great consideration to allow such a sudden consultation.

Yura expressed her sincere gratitude to Professor Ko Myung Jun for graciously accepting her request.

“Ah, Professor Ko. Thank you for accommodating my unreasonable request.”

“It’s nothing. The timing happened to be good. Let’s have a quick chat.”

“Alright.”

Yura followed Myung Jun into the consultation room. At his suggestion, she sat in the chair where patients usually sit, and he offered her a courtesy drink.

After a brief word of thanks, Myung Jun spoke carefully, as if he had been pondering deeply.

“It’s patient information, but since he’s an artist performing at Songlim, I think you should know too, Team Leader Jin.”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“He claimed it was stress, so I concluded as such, but I think it would be good to get a detailed examination.”

“A detailed examination?”

“In my opinion, it looks like polyneuropathy. It’s not my area of expertise so I can’t be certain, but my wife had similar symptoms, so I know a bit about it.”

“Ah, I see.”

Although it was a familiar disease name, it wasn’t a common illness, so Yura was unsure how to react. So she cautiously inquired about the symptoms.

“Is it serious?”

“No, it’s not. If he gets a detailed examination at the neurology department and undergoes treatment, it will improve quickly. The later the diagnosis, the longer it takes to recover.”

“I understand. Thank you for your concern.”

“It’s nothing.”

After saying goodbye to Myung Jun and leaving the consultation room, Yura felt a bit uneasy.

Although it wasn’t serious, having hand problems was a critical weakness for a pianist. In the worst-case scenario, he might have to step down from his position as a pianist. Of course, this was just one of the worst-case scenarios.

Yura felt troubled. It wasn’t clear whether this was because of her or unrelated to her.

However, regardless of the reason, she had no intention of taking responsibility for it. The saying ‘what goes around comes around’ exists for a reason.

Moreover, as a pianist, hand care was a personal responsibility. Especially in Se Jin’s case, it wasn’t caused by physical damage.

So even if someone else provided the cause, managing it was his responsibility. Yura reminded herself of this as she took out her phone.

Suddenly, Lee Hyun came to her mind. She wondered what he would say if he knew about this.

He seemed to have a stronger individualistic tendency than her, so he probably wouldn’t care at all. Maybe that’s normal. Perhaps there’s no need to carry emotional baggage from a past relationship.

Yura called someone who could blow away all this awkwardness.

“It’s me. I have something important to tell you.”

−Important?

Kang Ji Ho’s serious voice came through the receiver.

“I met Professor Ko at Oh Se Jin’s request.”

−Professor Ko? I see. Then come to the house.

“Alright, I’ll see you shortly.”

Yura ended the call with Ji Ho and cast her gaze in the direction Se Jin had gone.

“Sigh, I should prepare. Before anything happens.”

She waited for Se Jin, imagining various scenarios in her head – if his symptoms worsened, or if he tried to blame her for the cause, and so on.

About 20 minutes passed like that. In the distance, she saw Se Jin walking towards her.

While feeling relieved at his brighter expression compared to before, she also reassured herself. She hoped this matter would be unrelated to her, and reminded herself that self-blame and sympathy were unnecessary.

“Let’s go.”

Looking at Se Jin’s bright smiling face, Yura carefully spoke up.

“Um, just in case, a detailed…”

Se Jin raised his hand to stop Yura’s words, as if he didn’t want to hear it. Then he stared at his hand for a moment before hiding it behind his back.

“The doctor seems to have said something, but I have a dedicated physician overseas. He said it’s just simple stress, so don’t worry.”

Yura didn’t push the issue any further. She knew that doing so could potentially create an excuse. Even with this small situation, Se Jin was the type of person who could create his own delusions and more.

“I like that you’re worried about me like this.”

“It’s natural as the manager in charge.”

In response to Se Jin’s excessive emotional investment, Yura clearly stated that their relationship was professional. She intended to remind him of the nature of their relationship at every moment, every time. As if to say, ‘This is the distance between you and me now.’

“Yura, I…”

“Let’s get in.”

Yura blocked Se Jin’s path and opened the back door of the car parked in front of the hospital. His eyes held a question of why this car. Yura conveyed the inevitability in a businesslike voice.

“I have an urgent schedule now, so I won’t be able to escort you to the hotel.”

Watching Se Jin stiffen suddenly, Yura maintained her composure. Eventually, Se Jin seemed to nod in agreement as he got into the car and left the hospital.

Se Jin watched Yura through the side mirror. Despite not being in a very serious condition, Se Jin chose to go to the hospital. He hoped that Yura would be shaken by his pain. And he wanted it to be an opportunity to sway her.

However, contrary to his expectations, Yura didn’t show even the slightest gap. That turned his stomach. He couldn’t understand why she was trying so hard to deny her feelings for him.

Still resenting that breakup, he failed to realize that the resentment stemmed from the emotion of love.

If he had returned to Korea a little earlier, he could have awakened that emotion and brought her back to his side. And he could have made Yura’s power his own. It would have been entirely possible if he had just a little more time.

But damn it, Baek Lee Hyun interfered, and things went wrong. So now he intended to use every method at his disposal to get her back.

Jin Yura was his woman from the beginning. So the end should be his too. The size of Se Jin’s terribly distorted desire grew bigger and bigger.

Just then, Se Jin’s phone vibrated softly. A sardonic smile spread across Se Jin’s face as he checked the message that had arrived.

Se Jin’s expression seemed lighter and more excited after sending the short message.

“Will it be this evening, or tomorrow morning? I’m looking forward to it.”

Se Jin’s strange muttering mingled with the classical music playing in the car.