Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Intersection
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The drug cartel boss, who had jumped down from the second floor to evade the police, made up his mind the instant he spotted Shin Eun-ha.
'Grab a hostage!'
The moment he decided, he charged at her like a wild boar.
Na Gang-in thrust his foot out at the oncoming boss.
The boss's waist folded right in half.
"Kek!"
The boss flew backward, slammed into the building wall, and slid down limply.
Shin Eun-ha asked.
"What was that? That guy."
"He wasn't with the earlier bunch, so he must be the boss."
"That thing? Seriously?"
Shin Eun-ha had seen the international mercenary leader Jackal and the pirate captain Nak-gwi up close. Compared to them, this guy was way too weak.
The detectives waiting on the first floor came rushing over.
"He ran this way... Huh?"
Shin Eun-ha pointed at the boss.
"He's over there."
"Pardon? Oh. Right."
With her sunglasses and mask on, passersby didn't recognize Shin Eun-ha.
But the detectives, who knew who had reported it, did.
Two detectives slapped handcuffs on the unconscious boss.
Another detective approached Shin Eun-ha and said.
"It's dangerous here. What if you get hurt?"
Shin Eun-ha waved with a smile.
"Nah, I'm fine. I just wanted to help catch the bad guys."
"We'll handle that. Thank you for your cooperation. Shall I escort you somewhere safe?"
Shin Eun-ha lightly grabbed Na Gang-in's arm.
"No need. I'm plenty safe right now."
The pension by Cheongpyeong Lake, where the actors had gathered to party, had turned into a crime scene.
Several police cars arrived. Detectives investigated the site of the fight. All the cartel members had already been arrested and hauled away.
The party, naturally, was over.
But the actors, still buzzing from the thrill of battle, didn't leave.
No one had been seriously hurt anyway.
Director Son Tae-min suggested.
"How about we move nearby and grab another round? Anyone who wants to head home can go."
He said only those staying should remain, yet nearly all the actors stayed.
The police decided to handle witness statements later. They had to deal with the arrests first.
The actors drank and bragged to each other, exaggerating how bravely they'd fought.
Oh Sena, who hadn't fought, had nothing to say. She deliberately clutched her arm and said.
"Ow. I think I got hurt. Pushed myself too hard."
Director Son Tae-min asked.
"Didn't you close your eyes and lie down early, Sena?"
"That was because I was hurt."
High schooler Lee Yeon-ji boasted.
"My dad's a doctor. Super famous one."
Chief Surgeon Lee Jeong-ho approached.
"Mind if I take a look?"
Oh Sena panicked.
Her injury was fake. The other actors had cool fight photos and stories to share, but she had nothing—and it bugged her.
"No, it's not that bad..."
Kim Yu-chan, spotting her fake-out, grinned and said.
"Wow, having a doctor here means we get treatment and all."
Oh Sena glanced around. If she was faking treatment, she wanted it from someone else.
"Yeah. Last time Director Son Tae-min got hurt, Na Gang-in treated him."
Lee Jeong-ho froze.
He was here hunting the doctor using the sewing machine suture technique. Recently, that method had shown up on Son Tae-min's arm wound.
Lee Jeong-ho swallowed hard and asked.
"This Na Gang-in... which hospital is he from?"
Son Tae-min realized why Lee Jeong-ho was asking and was startled.
'Whoa! Now that I think about it, that's the voice of the doctor who called me before! Is he here to catch Na Gang-in?'
Son Tae-min jumped in hastily.
"No, it's not like..."
Oh Sena answered faster.
"He's our martial arts director."
Lee Jeong-ho was flustered.
"Pardon? A doctor's doing martial arts direction?"
"He excels at everything. You saw him earlier, right? The guy flying around. That's Na Gang-in."
"Ah, him. But he's a doctor?"
Oh Sena didn't get why Lee Jeong-ho kept asking, but she answered anyway.
"To become that skilled, he's gotta have gotten hurt plenty. Makes sense he'd be good at first aid."
Lee Jeong-ho grew confused from the explanation.
'Something's off.'
He glanced at Son Tae-min.
'When I called, he said it was treated outside separately...'
Son Tae-min looked uneasy.
'If that were true, his face wouldn't sour like that. So it was on the rooftop? Does this Na Gang-in even have a medical license?'
He wanted to ask Son Tae-min, but couldn't. His daughter's surgery required Na Gang-in to be a real doctor.
The people there gave brief statements and headed home. Lee Jeong-ho's family ditched the pension and went back too.
Lee Jeong-ho dropped his wife and Lee Yeon-ji off at home.
"Dad?"
"I have work at the hospital."
Lee Jeong-ho drove to the hospital. The radio news covered today's incident.
- The drugs found in the car trunk could supply fifty thousand users...
Lee Jeong-ho said gravely.
"Something's wrong. Very wrong."
On the way, he called Surgeon Kim Jung-seok.
In his office, Lee Jeong-ho explained the fight to Kim Jung-seok.
"Whew. Glad no one got hurt. Yeon-ji's fine too?"
"She wasn't hurt. But listen. I found out who treated Son Tae-min's arm."
"Worth the trip. The one who bandaged it? Or sutured?"
Lee Jeong-ho's eyes darkened.
"Seems Son Tae-min lied. Looks like he got sutured fully that day on the rooftop. So we're looking for one person."
Kim Jung-seok got excited.
"Tell me the name, and I'll track him down."
"Na Gang-in."
Kim Jung-seok quickly searched Korean doctors for the name.
"Huh? No one by that name."
"I checked too. Nothing."
"Hmm... Maybe licensed abroad? Not practicing here."
"Right? Let's meet and ask."
"We should. Got his contact?"
"You find it."
"Me?"
Lee Jeong-ho said seriously.
"He might not have legit credentials. If so, I can't investigate him there—I'd blow it. Son Tae-min's already suspicious. Couldn't ask for contact."
"Then how..."
"He's a martial arts director."
Kim Jung-seok was Yi Bo-ra's cousin.
"Wait. The guy who saved Bo-ra recently was a martial arts director too."
"Yi Bo-ra was there."
"No way..."
"Yeah, probably him. Ask Yi Bo-ra."
"For his number?"
Lee Jeong-ho shook his head.
"No. Set up a meeting. Asking over phone like with Son Tae-min, he might dodge."
The next day, Yi Bo-ra visited the PC bang.
Like Shin Eun-ha, Yi Bo-ra had a reserved seat there.
Na Gang-in's was in the farthest corner, so passersby couldn't see what he was doing.
Right next to it was Shin Eun-ha's.
Yi Bo-ra took the seat beside Shin Eun-ha.
"Eun-ha. Swap seats?"
"Nope. Would you if it were me?"
"No."
Na Gang-in entered the PC bang.
Yi Bo-ra jumped up and clung to him.
"Oppa Gang-in. Got a favor."
Shin Eun-ha yanked Yi Bo-ra by the nape.
"Hey! I said no! Don't do that!"
"Ow! Let go! I'm not talking seats!"
Na Gang-in said.
"Fighting here bothers other customers. Take it to the rooftop."
Shin Eun-ha tsked and released her.
Yi Bo-ra brushed her clothes and said to Na Gang-in.
"You know Jung-seok oppa? The truck crash right before our drama wrap party. The doctor with him."
"Seen his face."
"Jung-seok oppa's mentor really wants to meet you. Can you make time?"
"No."
"Wow. So firm."
"Why meet some stranger without reason?"
"You've seen his face too."
"When?"
"At Cheongpyeong the day before yesterday. The doctor who came to watch and got dragged in."
Na Gang-in realized.
"Yeon-ji's dad?"
"Yes. Him."
"Hmm... If urgent, tell him to come now."
Yi Bo-ra beamed.
"Sure!"
Yi Bo-ra went to the staff lounge and called Kim Jung-seok.
"Set the meeting."
- Really? Wow, so easy. Worried for nothing!
"What? Oppa Gang-in never meets strangers, but I begged special time."
- Heh, got it. Time and place?
"This PC bang. Now."
- Huh? PC bang? Now?
"Close to the hospital. Sending address."
- Wait, our chief's in surgery, can't come.
"Then whatever."
- No, I'll go! I'm free now!
Surgeon Kim Jung-seok came to the PC bang to see Na Gang-in.
Kim Jung-seok greeted first.
"Our chief and Yeon-ji said thanks for keeping them safe yesterday."
"No big deal. Just did what needed doing."
"Heard Yeon-ji accidentally witnessed a drug deal, blew it up?"
"But we caught them all. Yeon-ji okay?"
"Yes. At school. But..."
Kim Jung-seok asked cautiously.
"Do you... have a medical license by any chance?"
Shin Eun-ha, listening nearby, burst out laughing.
"Haha! Come on. Even if Oppa Gang-in's great at everything, doctor is too much..."
Her smile vanished.
"Wait, you actually have one?"
Na Gang-in answered.
"No. Nothing like that."
"Phew, scared me. Knew it."
College hacker An Seong-hwan nodded too.
"Even for hyung, that's a no."
Everyone relaxed, but questioner Kim Jung-seok paled.
"Th-then how'd you suture Son Tae-min's arm wound?"
"Hm? How'd you know?"
"It was you! Heard from a doctor."
Na Gang-in explained.
"Director Son was at risk of bleeding out, so I just stopped it temporarily. Heard he got proper treatment at hospital later—from the treating doctor, I guess."
"Pardon? Uh, yeah..."
"Anyway, just basic hemostasis. Not a doctor, so no full treatment."
Kim Jung-seok was deeply disappointed.
'This won't do. We need that skill for Yeon-ji's surgery.'
There was one key difference between the intersection crash and Son Tae-min's suture: plain thread then, suture material for Son.
'Son Tae-min's arm was a lucky fluke. Not this guy.'
After Kim Jung-seok left disappointed, Shin Eun-ha whispered to Na Gang-in.
"Oppa Gang-in. Not just once, right? I saw you suture Scarlett's gunshot wound."
"That was just a few stitches for hemostasis too."
"Oh?"
Kim Jung-seok trudged toward the hospital from the PC bang. He'd taxi'd here excited; now he walked, drained and dazed.
"What now with Yeon-ji? He was our last hope."
He stood blankly at the intersection, waiting for the light.
Suddenly, it felt familiar.
"Huh? This is..."
When Na Gang-in first appeared here, the crossroad crash aftermath sent a rebar flying into a passerby's gut—right here.
That victim went straight to the nearby hospital, where ER doctor Lee Jeong-hyeon first spotted the sewing machine suture.
Surgeon Kim Jung-seok had seen the wound, sought Lee Jeong-hyeon, and learned someone did it in minutes.
He and Chief Lee Jeong-ho had hunted that person since. Kim Jung-seok had checked this exact intersection for hospitals.
"This is the exact spot the patient crashed!"
Kim Jung-seok whipped around. The PC bang was hidden by buildings but walkable distance.
"Then it is him!"