As misunderstandings had already arisen among my colleagues at the broadcasting station, I had no choice but to add more to my answer.

“My parents were in an accident, and their condition is not good.”

“Ah… I see.”

I gave him a faint smile as he looked at me with pity.

“So I come here every day after work.”

“They’ll get better soon. Hang in there!”

“Thank you. I should go now.”

I got off the elevator as it arrived at the 8th floor, accompanied by the announcement.

Heading to the ward, I left him behind, still looking at me with a sad expression.

Dr. Kim was waiting inside the room, probably having received word of my arrival.

“Did you arrive?”

“How are they? I heard it was a cardiac arrest.”

I quickly approached the doctor standing by the bed.

He had a troubled expression on his face, as if my parents’ condition was not good.

“Your mother’s condition is a bit more serious. She shows signs of a cerebral hemorrhage.”

“Sigh…”

I felt crushed after hearing that they had been in the intensive care unit overnight due to acute cardiac arrest.

“Miss, I think…”

“I understand. You don’t have to say anything.”

I nodded my head, feeling like I knew what he was about to say without having to hear it.

Then, I suddenly remembered what happened earlier in the day and called out to Dr. Kim as he was about to step away.

“Doctor.”

He turned around at the sound of my voice, stopping on his way out.

“I haven’t been able to sleep well lately, and I have aftereffects from the accident…”

“Aftereffects of the accident?”

I hadn’t been able to sleep well since my regression.

I didn’t even know that the aftereffects were so severe that I would experience hyperventilation symptoms when exposed to bright light.

I was about to speak to the doctor, who looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I closed my mouth again.

There was no way to explain the aftereffects that came from an accident that didn’t actually happen.

“Never mind.”

“Yes. If you need a consultation, feel free to call me anytime.”

As I turned around and looked at my parents lying on the bed, my heart sank heavily.

First, it was a cerebral hemorrhage, and not long after…

The horrifying events I experienced in my previous life played vividly before my eyes.

“Why are you leaving so soon?”

Tears welled up as I looked at my parents, who were dependent on an oxygen respirator.

I tried not to cry…

But tears involuntarily gathered at the corners of my eyes.

Afraid that my composed emotions would crumble, I hastily wiped away the tears with the back of my hand.

“Today, I had an audition for an anchor position.”

I started to calmly discuss the events that had happened today.

I mumbled as I looked at my parents, who appeared no different from yesterday.

“I got locked in the underground set because of some despicable person right before recording. Can you believe that?”

The dangerous moment vividly came to mind.

If it hadn’t been for Jae Ha, I wouldn’t have been able to attend the audition, let alone come to see my parents like this.

“If Jae Ha hadn’t been there, I would probably still be trapped underground.”

I was able to escape thanks to him following me. On top of that, I was able to successfully complete the audition.

“He’s such a strange person. I don’t know why he keeps trying to help me.”

He had followed me to the underground set and had helped me during the anchor audition.

Those were not things he had to do for his revenge.

The image of Jae Ha, who went out of his way to help me with matters he could have ignored, made my chest feel heavy again.

“It’s strange… really.”

With the tension gone, I closed my heavy, drooping eyelids.

…

…

…

“Family member.”

I opened my eyes at the sensation of my shoulder being shaken. I made eye contact with the nurse who was bending towards me.

“It’s time for you to leave now.”

“I must have fallen asleep again.”

I slowly lifted my body, which had been lying face down on the bed, at the sound of the gentle voice.

“You might if you’re tired.”

The nurse, who was changing the empty IV bag, looked at me with a faint smile and replied.

Then she approached me, not my parents, with a pillbox.

“Can you show me your hand?”

“My hand?”

I tilted my head at the unexpected words from the nurse.

She then took out sterilized gauze from the container with tweezers and replied.

“I heard you got hurt.”

“Ah…? Here.”

“It’s quite scraped. It’s going to sting a little.”

After looking at my outstretched palms, she disinfected them and applied a regenerative tape.

How did the nurse know that I was injured?

“How did you know I was injured?”

I casually asked her as she was putting the pillbox back on the tray.

“I got a call from a man. He said there was an accident, and you probably hadn’t been treated yet for your injuries.”

“…”

“If you were hurt like this, it must have been throbbing all day. Please make sure to disinfect it well so it doesn’t leave a scar.”

I stayed blank until the nurse finished speaking and left the room.

I had an instinctive feeling that the man she mentioned was Jae Ha.

How did he know I came to the Daejin Hospital?

Moreover, he asked for treatment for my injury, which I had even forgotten about.

My head became cluttered.

I had rationalized the events of the day as just an accident and tried to make sense of the situation.

In my previous life, Jae Ha, who seemed cold, turned out to be such a caring person.

My thoughts that were trying to understand him wavered.

“What’s going on…? This isn’t right.”

I felt a strange sensation.

I thought he and I were simply helping each other with our revenge.

However, the kindness he showed was difficult to attribute to just helping with revenge.

“Why are you so affectionate?”

Even without realizing it, I was deeply moved.

An indescribable warm feeling welled up deep within my heart.

lu lu lo la ▪️ net (lululola.net)