Rotting the Doctor's Heart #2
The furious voice rang out beside me, thick with rage. “You fucking bitch!”
I opened my eyes, pushed myself upright, and looked up at the Doctor who stood there fuming. Then I flashed her a crooked grin.
“Sis…?”
At that, the Doctor let out a heavy sigh that rose from the depths of her chest. Ignoring her reaction completely, I shoved the still blissed-out Bo-young aside with my foot—she was still riding the lingering high of the drug—and rose to my feet. I walked over to the Doctor with heavy-lidded eyes and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Hey…! What the hell do you think you’re—”
“Sis… I really do love you… I can’t make it without you…”
The Doctor let out a hollow laugh, clearly stunned by my heartfelt confession. “And yet this is the guy who sleeps with another woman? Who takes the very drugs I told him to stay away from?”
“I’m sorry… I just couldn’t hold back… They said it was something good, so…”
“So this… you didn’t obtain it yourself. That bitch gave it to you?”
“Well… that is…”
“Enough. Don’t say another word.”
The Doctor cut me off with a decisive tone, then shot Bo-young—who was gingerly touching her cheek—a glare so murderous the dazed woman flinched and began to tremble. I changed the subject before Bo-young could dig herself into any deeper trouble.
“You did your makeup today, sis? Looks beautiful…”
“It’s not going to work. Get away from me.”
“Don’t want to.”
The Doctor gave the back of my head a light, childish swat. The gesture was the complete opposite of the vicious slap she had delivered to Bo-young’s cheek earlier. Even with clear proof that I had slept with another woman, she was reacting like this… which meant she didn’t consider my sin all that grave.
After stroking the nape of my neck for a moment, the Doctor spoke again. “We’re going to get you treatment right now.”
“Treatment…?”
“Yes. You need to get into the medical apparatus and return your body to normal. Don’t you dare refuse like last time. And don’t throw a tantrum either.”
It was her way of telling me to match her mood—she was furious.
“Understood…”
“You drove here, didn’t you? Where’s the car?”
“Underground parking lot…”
“I’m asking where the keys are, you idiot.”
“Ah, just a second…”
I released her waist, walked over to the desk, and deliberately tousled Bo-young’s hair as if she were my girlfriend. The Doctor looked ready to explode again at the sight, but perhaps deciding the drug was still in my system, she held herself back. I grabbed the car keys from the desk, returned to her, and twirled them around my finger.
“Want me to drive? I feel pretty sharp right now…”
“Cut the crap and hand them over. The same guy who was staggering around just minutes ago…”
“That was because I just woke up. Sleep talk, you know…”
“Give them here.”
“Fine…”
I obediently dropped the keys into her outstretched palm. The Doctor sighed so deeply it seemed the ground might cave in, then pointed at Bo-young while I continued gathering my clothes.
“Bring that bitch too.”
“Huh…? To the lab? You’re treating Bo-young as well?”
“We can’t just leave her like this. I have a few questions for her, so do as I say.”
“Got it. Just a moment… let me tidy up a bit…”
I tossed Bo-young her clothes in a heap and began straightening the floor. Watching me clean with such enthusiasm, the Doctor pressed a hand to her forehead, irritation flaring once more.
“Is your body all right?”
The Doctor’s tone was courteous, yet her face made her anger unmistakably clear. After finishing treatment in the medical apparatus, Bo-young had been resting in the lab’s break room. She jumped in her seat and quickly corrected her posture.
“Ah, yes… Thank you so much…”
Sitting across from her, the Doctor asked, “You’re Chae Bo-young, correct? Singer with WW Entertainment. I thought your face looked familiar earlier… I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct…”
“Everyone says you’re a genuinely kind and talented singer. So why would you make a choice like that? Drugs are an extremely sensitive issue in Korea. If you’re caught, it won’t just end your career—it’ll destroy your entire life. Didn’t you know that?”
“I’m sorry… I was wrong… Hic…!”
Bo-young immediately burst into tears and began sobbing. I sat in the massage chair, observing their exchange, and thought to myself that her acting was superb.
The Doctor pulled out several tissues and offered them to her. Bo-young accepted them with both hands in a show of politeness, dabbed at her eyes, and began to explain the situation—or rather, recite the lie we had rehearsed beforehand.
“Two months ago, something very difficult happened…”
“Difficult?”
“I released a mini album at the time… The title track the company had tailored to public taste outperformed the representative song that carried the musical identity I wanted. That song stayed at number one for weeks… It felt like my artistry was being denied. It was incredibly hard on me…”
The Doctor nodded. “I see… You had a musical direction you wished to pursue, but the public only embraced the commercially manufactured track, and that hurt you. Is that it?”
“Y-yes…”
This pattern appears frequently in the arts. History is full of cases where a casually doodled painting or a piece written on a whim gains far more fame than the work an artist truly wished to create. Countless creators have fallen into drugs after suffering crushing self-loathing as a result. Such incidents still erupt regularly even today, so the Doctor likely understood at least a fraction of Bo-young’s feelings. She wouldn’t sympathize, however.
“I understand, but you still made the wrong choice, Ms. Bo-young. You knew what would happen if you were caught, yet you still reached for drugs. And not only that—you dragged someone else down with you.”
“I’m sorry… Jihyeok said he was struggling too, so…”
The Doctor flinched and glanced at me. I turned my gaze toward the TV, letting a complicated expression settle over my face. The Doctor remained silent for a long time, clearly troubled by the situation. Finally she addressed Bo-young, who sat with her head bowed like a criminal.
“Do you know what this place is?”
“I’m not sure… It feels like some kind of scientific research facility…”
“You must continue not knowing. Forget that you ever came here today.”
“…Yes.”
“You are not to speak of it to anyone. Consider it the price for receiving treatment that can free you from drug addiction.”
“I swear I will never, ever speak of it…”
“Your body has been returned to normal. The cravings should no longer drive you insane, but the memory of that pleasure remains etched in your mind. Overcoming it will depend entirely on your willpower. I won’t interfere with whatever choice you make, but if you ever touch those drugs again, I will not treat you next time.”
“Yes… Thank you so much…”
The Doctor stared at Bo-young with clear displeasure for a moment before finally nodding, bringing the matter to a close. What a shame. I thought she would at least threaten her.
“I’ll drive you home. Jihyeok, you stay here.”
Those were the Doctor’s words as she stood.
“Okay.”
After seeing Bo-young off and returning, the Doctor fixed me with an incredulous stare as I sat munching snacks and watching television. I offered an awkward smile and spoke to her where she stood with both hands on her hips.
“You even wore earrings?”
“Shut your mouth.”
“I was complimenting you because they look pretty.”
“You can say that so casually? After sleeping with a woman you don’t even know?”
“I really am sorry. Once the drug hits, my sex drive just… surges. I couldn’t hold it back…”
“Haa…”
The Doctor squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then walked over and crouched in front of me. The beige H-line miniskirt she wore today had ridden up slightly, offering a glimpse of the delicate slip between her thighs…
“Stop staring at weird places and look at me.”
“Okay.”
I obediently met her captivating blue eyes. After a brief staring contest, she finally spoke, the words coming with visible difficulty.
“Jihyeok, Bo-young said you were having a hard time too… Was it because of me?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie. Then what was it?”
“……”
“I want to be honest with you. I know I’ve lied to you before… but I’m reflecting on it deeply. So no matter what you say, I’ll answer truthfully.”
Really? Even if I ask whether you planted a tracker on me, could you still say that? If I asked right now, “How did you know I was in that building?” she would be in a very awkward position. But I would let it slide for now. I planned to drop that bomb together with a much bigger one later. For today, I would settle for reinforcing the Doctor’s feelings.
I took her left hand and drew it toward me. Then I grasped the ring on her ring finger and slowly worked it free, sliding it back and forth. Throughout the entire process she simply watched me, her expression unchanging. It seemed she had resolved to remain still no matter what I did.
After a long, deliberate pause, I finally removed her wedding ring, slipped it into my pocket, and gently stroked the faint mark it had left on her finger.
“This is what made it so hard for me.”
“I thought as much.”
“Don’t think I’m being petty. To me, it was a very big deal.”
At those words the Doctor slowly rose, pulling my face against her chest. While gently patting my back, she spoke.
“Ever since I met you, strange things keep happening to me.”
I pulled back from her embrace. “Like what?”
“It feels like my entire value system is being shaken apart. Just look at what happened today. Bo-young was truly a good person, yet she nearly ruined herself by falling for the temptation of wicked people. You’re the same.”
“……”
“The world itself is like that. When monsters appeared as a common enemy, everyone banded together. But the moment peace returned, they became desperate to tear each other apart. They tried to excavate and exploit our weapons. Five states even attempted to overthrow the United States. If we had left them alone, the U.S. government would never have noticed. They even framed you. Does any of that make sense?”
Yes. Right now this Earth was a world ruled by villains. People who tried to live justly and kindly grew sick of the rampant hatred, violence, and corruption, and eventually changed under its influence. All of it stemmed from human greed.
The Doctor, who was confessing these thoughts to me now, surely thought the same. She had always believed that justice would prevail. That belief was the legacy left behind by the late Edward Parsons. It had taken root deep in her heart and become thoroughly fused with her very being.
But things were different now. While staying by my side and encountering one terrible incident after another—especially because the man she loved had suffered greatly—that root had begun to tremble. It had not yet completely collapsed, but if I continued creating incidents and systematically shattered the statue of Edward Parsons that stood inside her heart, it would only be a matter of time before she assimilated to my path.
No, in truth she was already beginning to assimilate. The proof was that she had allowed me to remove the ring that symbolized her bond with the Edward Parsons she had loved so dearly.
From now on, I would have to accelerate the process.
When I roughly scratched my head and voiced my troubled thoughts, the Doctor changed the subject.
“Shall we stop talking about complicated things? Want to go home and rest properly?”
“Yes… And sis.”
“Hm?”
“I’m sorry for causing you so much worry.”
At my guilt-laden apology, the Doctor gave a smile that mixed generosity with bitterness.
“I can’t say it’s all right. I was hurt quite badly today too.”
“I know.”
“Let’s go back. I’ll drive.”
“Okay.”