Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Yeonji Runs
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Lee Bora asked if there was a doctor among the attendees of the ten-million-view breakthrough party.
Actor Kim Yu-chan answered.
"I wouldn't know."
Lee Bora asked again.
"I figured as much. Do you know someone who might?"
"Who knows? No one showed up in a doctor's coat that day. If a doctor's just wearing regular clothes, how are you supposed to tell by their face alone?"
"I see."
"Why are you looking for a doctor?"
"I wanted to know who treated Director Son Tae-min's arm injury."
"Huh? Wasn't it just bandaged to stop the bleeding right there?"
"Pardon?"
"That's what everyone thinks."
Only Shin Eun-ha, assistant director Byeon Yeong-chan, and Son Tae-min himself had seen Na Gang-in stitching up the wound. Everyone else was standing a bit farther away and assumed he'd just stopped the bleeding.
"No, that's not it. I heard a doctor stitched up the director's wound. So who did the bandaging then?"
Na Gang-in spoke up.
Kim Yu-chan realized the danger lurking in Lee Bora's question.
"Uh? Uh? Well, who knows? Haha. Hey, I've suddenly got something urgent come up!"
The call cut off abruptly.
"Huh? Oppa doesn't just hang up on girls like that..."
Kim Jung-seok asked.
"What's up? What'd he say?"
"He doesn't know. Even if a doctor was there, they weren't wearing a coat, so no one would recognize them. Sounds like no one was introduced as a doctor either."
Kim Jung-seok let out a sigh.
"Whew. Got it."
"But are you sure the wound was stitched up right there at the scene? Oppa said it was just bandaged to stop the bleeding."
"Well... I didn't see it myself..."
Kim Jung-seok had only heard about it from his classmate doctor. And that classmate hadn't seen it with his own eyes either—just heard who stitched it and where.
"What? So it's not even confirmed. Maybe someone else did it later outside."
"Could be."
Kim Jung-seok thought for a moment before speaking.
"There's only one person who definitely knows exactly when and who stitched it."
"Who?"
"Director Son Tae-min. He saw it himself."
"Oh. Yeah, makes sense."
Kim Jung-seok made a request.
"Bora, could you set up a meeting with Director Son Tae-min? I want to ask him directly."
Lee Bora waved her hands in flustered panic.
"Are you crazy? You think I'm on that level?"
"You're a famous actress."
"Director Son is way up in the heavenly elite class compared to me! How am I supposed to even approach him? Our levels are totally different! Totally!"
"Uh... then do you know someone who is on that level?"
She did.
'Oppa Gang-in could probably do it.'
But casually asking him for that favor didn't seem like it would leave a good impression on either Na Gang-in or Son Tae-min.
"No way. I don't know."
"Then just his contact or home address. I really need this."
"Umm..."
Lee Bora agonized over it for a while before giving him the phone number.
"Absolutely do not say I told you. Ever."
"Got it. Just don't mention your name, right?"
"Don't mention Oppa's name either until the vibe's better. And I don't want to get dragged into whatever this is, so I'm not hearing any details."
Orthopedic surgeon Kim Jung-seok met with Section Chief Lee Jeong-ho again and relayed his conversation with Lee Bora.
Lee Jeong-ho asked.
"Think you can meet Director Son Tae-min if you go to him?"
"He's traveling the country right now prepping his next film. He says he comes home often, but showing up unannounced might make him suspicious. Better call first."
"Should I?"
Lee Jeong-ho dialed Son Tae-min.
Son Tae-min wasn't one to pick up unknown numbers easily. But he was expecting a call right now, so he answered immediately.
"Hello."
"Is this Director Son Tae-min?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Hello. I'm calling because we're trying to find the doctor who treated your arm at the drone explosion site."
Son Tae-min was caught off guard.
"Pardon?"
"The doctor who sutured your arm wound."
Son Tae-min laughed awkwardly.
"Ha, haha. What are you talking about...?"
"I'm a doctor too. Not a reporter. We really need to find that doctor."
The fact that the caller claimed to be a doctor only heightened his worry.
'Gang-in isn't a doctor, but he treated my wound that day.'
He tried to play it off.
"I have no idea what you're referring to."
"Come on, just tell us. We heard it was only bandaged at the scene. So you must've gotten treated somewhere else, right?"
Son Tae-min's eyes lit up.
'That's it!'
The other side had handed him the perfect excuse.
"You're right. They only stopped the bleeding there. I got treated separately later."
"So just tell us which hospital."
"Ah, sorry. I've got something urgent, so I'll hang up."
Son Tae-min ended the call.
"Whew. That was a scare. Guess treating it without a license technically breaks medical law. No wonder doctors are investigating."
His phone rang again almost immediately.
Son Tae-min quickly flipped it over. No ringtone that way.
"Jeez, persistent. Gang-in isn't even trying to open a clinic or anything. And it was just a few stitches for my injury."
Lee Jeong-ho tried calling Son Tae-min a few more times, but no answer.
"He's not picking up."
Kim Jung-seok was frustrated.
"Why's he dodging your calls, Section Chief? We're not asking anything weird."
"Maybe that doctor has some circumstances."
"What if their license got revoked?"
"Revoked licenses can be reinstated after time. Probably not."
"Or maybe they committed a crime and are on the run..."
Lee Jeong-ho had the same nagging thought.
"How many doctors like that could there be in the country? Should we check them all?"
"Might not even be a Korean doctor. Then we're screwed."
Both knew that approach wouldn't work.
Lee Jeong-ho said.
"Jung-seok, can you find out where Director Son Tae-min is right now?"
"I already asked. Bora said she has no way to track him either and refused because she doesn't want to get involved with me."
"Still, let's find a way. We need that doctor to operate on Yeonji. It's a hunch, but I think the director knows something."
Na Gang-in stood at the neighborhood intersection where it had all begun.
"Our memories start from here..."
He was wearing the Earth Union Strategic Special Forces uniform here when he witnessed the car accident. Everything from that point was clear. But before? Nothing.
"Nothing coming to mind for you?"
"None."
Jeon Ji-in's initial setup memory held nothing prior—no activity logs at all.
"All the traffic lights at this intersection were flashing broken back then. Why? Think it was because of us?"
He stretched both arms out to the sides.
"Maybe some supernatural event happened right here, and that's what fried the lights?"
"What kind of event?"
"No idea."
"Figured as much."
"I was in Earth Union military gear. You're a 2082-model combat support AI. How else without something supernatural?"
"No idea."
"Knew it."
Na Gang-in chuckled and looked around.
"Back then, the accident sent stuff flying everywhere from the road, and someone got hurt. Nothing like that today..."
A discarded tire from the back of a speeding truck bed suddenly tumbled off.
The tire bounced and rolled across the road.
"What the hell? Is there a ley line here or something? Why's another accident happening?"
"Coincidence."
"Why do these 'coincidences' always hit when I'm around..."
The tire rolled straight across the road. But on the opposite sidewalk, a little kid was sprinting along at full speed.
"Uh-oh."
Jeon Ji-in projected the projected path in the air. The lines for the kid's path and the tire's crossed right in the middle.
"Collision course! The kid's too light. Severe injuries expected!"
Na Gang-in could sprint full tilt and grab the tire in time.
But it was across the road—and traffic was heavy. Crossing would risk causing another crash.
Na Gang-in scanned around quickly.
"Find something to throw and stop it!"
To his right was a wooden stake supporting a roadside tree. Na Gang-in dashed over and yanked it free.
He gripped it like a spear and ordered.
"Calculate the angle!"
"Suggesting intercept trajectory."
Jeon Ji-in drew two translucent lines in the air, marked with hit probabilities and stop chances if speared.
"Path A!"
One line vanished, leaving the other. Na Gang-in wound up to hurl the javelin.
Suddenly, Jeon Ji-in warned.
"New person appearing! This stake won't fly stably. High risk of friendly fire!"
Na Gang-in halted his throw. He checked who it was. The high school girl from the hospital.
"Yeonji?"
"Lee Yeonji confirmed. She's charging toward the tire!"
Lee Yeonji sprinted at top speed and grabbed the tire with both hands.
"Caught it! She's being dragged!"
The tire was too heavy—she got yanked along instead.
"Speed decreasing! Projected path shifting!"
Lee Yeonji managed to slow the tire's roll just a bit.
The kid, eyes forward, zipped past the collision point ahead of it.
Lee Yeonji confirmed that, let go, and fell back onto her butt.
She sat there on the sidewalk curb, throwing both hands up triumphantly.
"I saved her!"
The rolling tire slammed into a building wall, tipped over, and stopped.
The kid only realized what happened after the tire whooshed past behind her. She froze in shock, eyes wide.
Lee Yeonji popped right back up. She flashed a V-sign with her right hand toward the kid, left on her hip.
Lee Yeonji grinned.
"Pretty cool, right, sis?"
The kid nodded vigorously.
"Sis is the best!"
The light turned green. Na Gang-in set down the stake and crossed the road.
Lee Yeonji spun on her heel, then bumped into Na Gang-in.
"Eek!"
Na Gang-in said.
"How many times have we met now?"
"Of course! You're the ajusshi who visited Bora unnie's hospital room. The one who cooks amazingly. And the martial arts director!"
Na Gang-in eyed her hands.
She hadn't grabbed the tire barehanded. She'd pulled her sleeve down over them like makeshift gloves.
But the sleeve was torn.
Na Gang-in said.
"Let me see your hands. Might be hurt."
"Nah, I'm fine. Not hurt at all."
She pulled hand sanitizer from her bag and wiped them down—generously, not sparingly.
"Not hurt, but you're using a ton of sanitizer?"
"We have tons at home. Dad and Mom use it a lot."
The kid spotted her mom and ran off again.
Na Gang-in watched her go.
"That kid almost had a disaster, but she just leaves?"
"Kids are like that."
Na Gang-in asked quietly.
"No injuries anywhere?"
"No injury traces detected on the kid."
"No, I mean Yeonji."
"No injury traces detected."
Na Gang-in told Lee Yeonji.
"Don't jump in so recklessly next time. You could get hurt."
Lee Yeonji giggled.
"Pfft. Ajusshi, you're hardly one to talk."
"Huh?"
"When that child actress with a similar name got kidnapped, you jumped onto a moving car. I just stopped a tire."
That time it had been Lee Min-ji kidnapped.
"How'd you even know about that?"
"Video's online. I looked it up after meeting you at Bora unnie's room."
"Uh... okay. Still, be careful."
"Got it! But where you headed?"
"To eat."
Na Gang-in sometimes sold food at the PC bang. Not today.
He usually ate out. Jeon Ji-in preferred instant ramen cooked by others over his home cooking.
He'd stopped by this intersection on the way because it reminded him of the day he'd first come here for food.
Lee Yeonji asked.
"Somewhere good?"
"That snack bar over there?"
"I love snacks."
Na Gang-in glanced at her sleeve. Ripped to shreds from grabbing the tire.
"Want me to buy you a new one?"
"Yes!"
Lee Yeonji didn't hesitate a second.
"Didn't your parents say not to go with strangers offering snacks?"
"That was for little kids. And you're not a stranger."
"Alright. Let's go."