After showering, Sun Woo came out to the living room, lightly turning his neck, and only then remembered he hadn’t eaten dinner when he heard the signal from his hungry stomach.

How could he not be hungry when he had just looked at the night view with food in front of him?

Grabbing a cookie, Sun Woo plopped down on the sofa and let out a deep sigh while opening the package, thinking that today had been a very long day.

Though he deliberately left without looking back, he felt uneasy thinking about Hye Ji sitting alone in that place.

If what I saw was right, if what I felt was right. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to maintain the same relationship with Hye Ji as before.

Why didn’t I realize it?

I’ve known her for 13 years, but I never recognized her feelings. I was keeping boundaries too appropriately.

Yet when other emotions suddenly showed through, I rationalized it my own way, thinking it couldn’t be, it must be similar feelings to mine.

It’s true that I cared for her as a friend or colleague, but I never saw her as anything more than that. If I had known it would be like this, I should have made my position clearer.

“What do you mean make it clearer.”

I don’t even remember doing anything nice for her.

I pride myself on not having done anything to cause misunderstanding.

“She should have at least finished eating before talking.”

Making me unnecessarily troubled.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, he saw the hands approaching midnight.

Then suddenly, at the end of the hallway,
He remembered the existence of the woman he had momentarily forgotten.

I wonder if she ate dinner?

“As if she would have eaten.”

Recalling the motel room without proper cooking utensils, Sun Woo strode towards Eun Jae’s room.

Then he lightly knocked on the guest room door.

“Ms. Ji Eun Jae, aren’t you hungry?”

It’s quiet in the room. Thinking she might be washing up, he turned around to see the slightly open bathroom was dark. The floor was completely dry, showing no signs of use.

Sun Woo turned back and knocked on Eun Jae’s door again.

“Did you eat dinner? You didn’t, right? Do you want to eat something?”

Knock knock. Even after two or three knocks, it was quiet beyond the door.

“Is she sleeping?”

Just in case, he slowly turned the doorknob and the door opened without resistance. Entering the room, Sun Woo let out a helpless laugh seeing Eun Jae asleep in an extremely uncomfortable position, hugging a robe and towel.

Really, since when did I start worrying about someone else’s meals?

Sun Woo muttered quietly, standing stiffly in front of the door.

“Ms. Ji Eun Jae, sleep lying down properly. Do you know how much strain that puts on your spine?”

Standing in front of the bed, Sun Woo reached out from afar and tapped Eun Jae’s shoulder with his finger, but the woman still showed no reaction.

“She must have been really tired.”

Scratching his brow, Sun Woo turned and left the room. Before closing the door, he pressed the switch to turn off the lights.

After carefully closing the door, Sun Woo hesitated for a while in front of the closed door, wavering back and forth.

If she sleeps like that and wakes up, her neck will hurt.

“What do I care.”

Don’t bother. Why are you trying to do something you don’t usually do? Are you going to hug her and lay her down?

Sun Woo trudged back to his room and flopped down on the bed.

He was sure he had been a little hungry just a moment ago, but strangely he didn’t feel hungry anymore.

Not hungry and dead tired, why can’t I fall asleep?

Sun Woo tossed and turned on the bed for a while. The image of the woman sleeping uncomfortably kept floating around in his mind.

[This is the timeline separator]

Sun Woo, who had just finished surgery, headed to the station. The nurses around the station bowed their heads towards Sun Woo.

“Hello, Professor.”

“Good morning.”

As Sun Woo approached the station while greeting them, the faces of the nurses looking at him all changed to the same expression at once.

Their eyes grew about twice as big, and their mouths were wide open.

Sun Woo approached nonchalantly and carefully examined the charts of patients he would see today. At that moment, a man who looked like a colleague walked over and asked from a distance.

“Nurse Lee! How did the blind date go?”

It was Jung Hee Won, a neurosurgeon. Hee Won was Sun Woo’s college classmate and colleague.

“Oh, Professor Yoon was here too?”

“You came?”

Sun Woo gave Hee Won a brief greeting and lowered his gaze back to the chart. Hee Won leaned on the station and continued to ask Nurse Lee about the blind date.

“He was very considerate. The menu was dakgalbi, and you know how he casually brought me an apron? I was fluttered right there. I was wearing a white blouse, you see.”

“Things appear as much as you’re interested. Men never do such unnecessary actions for women they’re not interested in. It’s just instinct. That man must really like Nurse Lee. Did you ask for a follow-up date―”

Sun Woo, who had been quietly examining the chart while leaning on the station, carefully interjected.

“Nurse Lee, sorry to interrupt your conversation. This patient, no dyspnea after VATS?”

“No. The OP site pain is also fine, they say.”

“Please encourage deep breathing and ambulation.”

“Yes.”

Sun Woo closed the chart and seemed to walk past, but as if remembering something, he turned around.

“A guest will come looking for me later. Don’t be surprised and let them in.”

“Yes, Professor.”

As soon as Sun Woo disappeared, they huddled together as if they had been waiting.

“Did you hear what Professor Yoon said earlier?”

As Nurse Lee spoke to her colleague nurse, Hee Won, who was flipping through charts, chimed in.

“Why? What did he say?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Professor Yoon smile since I started working here.”

It was faint, but it was clearly a face with a smile. To put it in words, his expression was always cold and emotionless, like a monochrome color.

When a smile spread across his face, it seemed like indescribable vibrant colors were being painted on.

“What’s this? They say people do things they’ve never done before when they’re about to die.”

“He’s even more handsome when he smiles. What should I do?”

“What’s this? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know, what did Professor Yoon say?”

As the nurses were making a fuss like teenage girls blushing over a new student teacher, a man suddenly bowed his head and asked.

“What are you talking about so excitedly?”

As the man smiled gently with his eyes curved, Nurse Lee, who was standing closest to him, turned bright red.

“Ah, Dr. Yoon. Oh, hello!”

“Let me join too, I’m curious.”

Yoon Tae Gyu’s weapon and specialty was this smile, with his puppy-like gentle appearance. His looks especially showed their true value when he smiled brightly like this.

Unlike Sun Woo, Tae Gyu was playful and sociable, getting along easily with people around him. Being young and having many medical peers his age also played a part.

“No, Professor Yoon just passed by, and oh my, he went by with such a bright smile. Saying ‘Good morning.'”

Nurse Jung, standing next to her, imitated Sun Woo’s expression from earlier and laughed.

“Eh? Yoon Sun Woo, I mean, Professor Yoon smiled like that? No way. Nurse Jung must have seen wrong.”

Ignoring Tae Gyu’s words, the two nurses continued their conversation.

“Come to think of it, his complexion seems different too. Until just recently, he looked somewhat sick, didn’t he?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, that’s true. Do you think he got a girlfriend?”

“Hey, you wouldn’t tell me when I asked, but you answer right away when Dr. Yoon asks? I’m hurt.”

Between Hee Won frowning and the nurses chatting cheerfully with bright smiles, only Tae Gyu’s expression turned serious as he straightened up and gazed at Sun Woo’s professor’s office.

“No way.”

Yoon Sun Woo? Having a girlfriend?

[This is the timeline separator]

As soon as he stepped into the professor’s office, Sun Woo took out his phone from his pocket. After a moment of hesitation, he immediately called someone.

“This is Yoon Sun Woo. Could you send just one chauffeur to the house today? Ah, not for me, but for a 27-year-old woman. Though she looks like she’s in her early 20s when you see her face.”

The person on the other end, who let out a faint laugh, asked about the woman’s size.

“Ah, her size…”

Troubled by the unexpected question, Sun Woo scratched his head, then recalled Eun Jae when he pulled her into his arms yesterday.

Did she not even get a bite to eat?

He only remembered her fragile shoulders, which felt like nothing but hard bones when he touched them.

“She’s on the petite side. Her height is in the early 160cm range, and for colors, please focus on bright ones, from mid-range brands that aren’t too burdensome.”

After adding a few more requests, Sun Woo hung up the phone and immediately sent a text message to Eun Jae.

As soon as he sent the message, Sun Woo put down his phone on the desk and leaned back leisurely on the chair backrest, closing his eyes for a moment.

The image of the woman packing her things yesterday comes to mind. Her luggage was nothing more than a small eco bag. Just a few clothes and toiletries were all.

It must have been because she had to run away, but the woman was like a shadow. Her clothes were like that, and her careful behavior was like that.

The woman, who looked just like a cat, all curled up and wary, tiptoeing carefully – if she becomes free, wouldn’t we be able to see a somewhat different side of her?

Thinking he was having quite strange thoughts, Sun Woo snorted and sat up from his leaning position, picking up the thesis in front of him and quickly flipping through the pages for no reason.

[This is the timeline separator]

As expected, Kwon Seung Chul came to see Sun Woo early.

Despite Sun Woo’s words not to be surprised, his appearance caused a stir around, and people were surprised once more by the fact that he was Yoon Sun Woo’s guest.

Kwon Seung Chul was not accompanied by the men who always went around with him. Guided to the professor’s office where Sun Woo was, he leisurely strode down the corridor with both hands in his pockets.

Through the slightly open door, a man wearing glasses was sitting on the sofa, turning pages of a book.

It seems children from well-off families look dignified even just reading books like that.

Looking at that sight, Seung Chul felt a momentary surge of resentment, but when his eyes met Sun Woo’s, he cleared his throat with a cough and pushed the door open.

No special greetings were exchanged. They both knew well that they weren’t on friendly enough terms to exchange greetings.

Kwon Seung Chul sat down in front of Sun Woo without a word. Sun Woo put down his book and placed the glasses he was wearing on top of it. He also loosened his crossed legs.

Before Kwon Seung Chul could even sit on the sofa, Sun Woo looked up at him and said.

“Hand over the documents first.”

“You’re in quite a hurry.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Woo conspicuously placed his phone with the recording button pressed on the coffee table. Kwon Seung Chul’s face turned pale, as if he hadn’t thought that far.

“Isn’t it better for both of us to make everything clear? We don’t need to see each other two or three times for the same matter.”

I didn’t know he was this meticulous. Kwon Seung Chul smacked his lips and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. He unfolded the A4 paper, which had been folded several times, in front of Sun Woo.

“Twenty years ago, Ji Tae Kwang borrowed 50 million won from me. At that time, 50 million was a huge amount of money. Look, here’s Ji Tae Kwang’s thumbprint.”

Showing five fingers to Sun Woo to emphasize the amount, Kwon Seung Chul tapped with his finger on the name “Ji Tae Kwang” written at the very bottom and the red thumbprint next to it.

It was a piece of paper with only handwritten details of how much was borrowed and when it would be repaid.

The number 50,000,000 written at the front, with one zero clearly added hastily afterwards, was an obviously sloppy piece of paper.

“I’m not even asking for more. I’ll just take the legal maximum interest of 20%, okay?”

“So how much is it?”

As if he had been waiting for this, Kwon Seung Chul leaned towards Sun Woo.

“We wasted some manpower trying to catch Ji Eun Jae, and of course, my precious time too.”

I wonder how much more he’s trying to inflate it with such a long-winded explanation.

Looking at Kwon Seung Chul, whose intentions were obvious, Sun Woo smiled and leaned forward, whispering softly.

“I’ll pay, whatever it is.”

“300 million.”

“Account number.”

Why is this so easy? Looking at Sun Woo with a puzzled face, Kwon Seung Chul, fearing Sun Woo might change his mind, handed him a business card with the account number written on it without asking anything.

“So, when will you deposit it?”

Without answering, Sun Woo carefully folded the paper spread out in front of him back into its original folded shape.

If he were to argue every single point, he could clearly reveal that the amount Ji Eun Jae’s father borrowed was not 50 million but 5 million won. It would be messy and troublesome to wallow in that mud.

Nevertheless, the reason he decided to deposit the money to him without questioning anything was for one reason only.

“Promise me you’ll never appear in front of Ji Eun Jae again.”

It was because he wanted to give freedom as soon as possible to the woman whose life had been sufficiently muddy, because he didn’t want to see that frightened expression anymore.