Ja-kyung looked down at his bloody clothes. His stabbed arm was stitched and bandaged so it looked like a mummy. As Ja-kyung stayed there blankly looking at his less bloodied hands, Wang Lun finally said something, perhaps because he was worried about his mental state.
“You should go back to your room, there’s no point in staying here like this.”
When Ja-kyung refused to go, Wang Lun grabbed his arm and pulled him up. While Ja-kyung sat still, Wang Han patted Wang Lun on the shoulder and shook his head, telling him to stop. Wang Lun sighed deeply and turned around to see a line of men in black suits in the hallway outside the operating room.
After moving Kang Il-hyun, Park Tae-soo was busy trying to clean things up. Ja-kyung stood up whenever the door opened as the operating time got longer. Nonetheless, the majority of those who come out from the operating room were medical staff.
Among those who entered the operating room was Kang Yoo-jung. Ja-kyung couldn’t look her in the eye because he felt guilty. Time passed slowly, and the exhausted Wang Han and Wang Lun left their seats to smoke. Ja-kyung sat firmly in front of the operating room, nervously staring at the door.
Ja-kyung heard footsteps and turned around to see Park Tae-soo returning from work.
“Please go back to your room, I’ll let you know when the surgery is over.”
He spoke politely, but Ja-kyung did not answer. There was a long silence between the two. Ja-kyung was the first to break it and asked about Chairman Kang’s condition.
“What about Chairman Kang…”
Park Tae-soo’s always calm face looked tired.
“He’s also unconscious.”
Ja-kyung’s face darkened. Even the one he thought was dead was moved to the emergency room and narrowly escaped death through surgery. That damn old man, why did his fate have to be so long? He should have had his life snuffed out. The disappointment was short-lived as the door to the operating room opens again. Ja-kyung stood up like a robot.
Kang Il-hyun appeared as the portable bed came out. His bandaged upper torso was covered with a sheet up to his shoulders; he was unconscious and reliant on an oxygen mask. He had intravenous drips and blood bags, and his face was as pale as paper.
Yoo-jung, who had followed, lowered her mask and looked at Park Tae-soo.
“He will be transferred to the intensive care unit. But even if he makes it through tonight, he’ll need to be monitored for a few days.”
With a tired face, she informed Tae-soo about Il-hyun’s condition and was about to leave. Ja-kyung grabbed her arm in haste. It was clear who the blood on her gown belonged to. Feeling guilty, he let go of the arm he was holding and bit his lips.
“I… I’m sorry…”
She let out a small sigh instead of a resentment.
“Go to your room and rest for a while. You can’t visit him now anyway.”
“Okay…”
After a moment’s hesitation, she then patted his shoulder and disappeared down the long hallway.
Wang Han and Wang Lun, who were bringing lunch boxes to eat, saw an empty hospital room and rushed straight to the intensive care unit. Sure enough, Lee Ja-kyung, who was dressed in a hospital gown, was sitting motionless on a chair in front of the intensive care unit.
His exhausted appearance was evident as he leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. Ja-kyung was also bleeding profusely, and the doctor advised him to rest for a while, but he had been sitting there day and night for several days.
“Are you going to keep this up? At this rate, you will die before CEO Kang.”
Unable to bear it, Wang Han said bitterly. His cheeks and lips were covered with dried blood, and his face was rough because he hasn’t eaten properly. His big brown eyes slowly disappeared and reappeared between his eyelids. Ja-kyung sat silently like a stone.
The two sighed and sat down next to each other. As time passed, it was time for visiting hours. From two days ago, he could visit once a day, but only for a short time, so all he could do was look at his face. Ja-kyung stood up, put on a mask and gown, and entered the intensive care unit when the time came.
Artificial respiratory devices can be seen attached to dying lives everywhere. Nurses and doctors move around busily. And within that, there was an intensive care unit. The nurse guided Ja-kyung inside. He opened the door and saw Kang Il-hyun lying there.
Lying on the bed, Il-hyun looked no different from when he came out of the operating room. He was a little more frail, had stubble on his chin, and was still dependent on a machine to breathe. After the nurse had left, Ja-kyung pulled out a chair and sat down next to him.
Most of his upper body was bandaged, and there were faint bloodstains outside the bandages. His cheeks were swollen, and his temples were clearly torn. Ja-kyung looked at him without missing any detail. He cautiously reached out his hand after seeing the ringed needle in his arm. As soon as his fingertips touched him, his throat began to feel hot.
Uhh, he trembled as his emotions overtook him. His eyes became red, and his nose was stuffy.
“Wake up…”
His voice was hoarse. Come to think of it, he had never held Il-hyun’s hand before. Fortunately, his hand was warm. Don’t leave me and go anywhere. If you wake up, I’ll do anything for you. I’ll love you more. So please don’t go anywhere. Please wake up.
Ja-kyung struggled to keep the tears from falling down his cheeks. He might have cried out loud if it hadn’t been for the nurse’s words that the visit had ended. Wang Lun, Wang Han, and Park Tae-soo were waiting for him when he came out, wiping away tears with his bandaged arm.
[It’s been a week since Chairman Kang Hoon and CEO Kang Il-hyun of the Haewoon Group were kidnapped and knocked unconscious. However, it was reported this morning that Chairman Kang Hoon’s condition in the intensive care unit had deteriorated and that he had died. In response, the police and prosecutors have stated that they will use all means and measures to locate the culprits as they concluded that this was a planned attack by an organization associated with the Shipping group.]
Every day, the news was buzzing about the case of the Shipping group. Kang Hoon and Kang Il-hyun were the topics of all newspaper articles. On the other hand, a seemingly convincing narrative was stated on an internet broadcast that the relationship between Kang Hoon and Kang Il-hyun had not been good before and that there was also a family conflict that erupted due to a power struggle. Even Kang Il-hyun’s mother’s death was brought up, and the media was all over it.
Wang Han, who was watching the news, asked with a puzzled expression.
“Chairman Kang. Why did he suddenly die? Looking at his condition, he was better than CEO Kang, wasn’t he?”
“What does it matter? He’s dead, and that’s good. If that old man woke up first, we would all be dead.”
“Indeed. I even thought about whether I would go and kill him secretly if the situation had to be.”
The two people who were talking quickly turned off the TV at the sound of the hospital room door opening. Ja-kyung entered the hospital room with a cast on. It has been over a week since Kang Il-hyun stayed in the intensive care unit. There was an improvement, but he still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Lee Ja-kyung has made it a routine to go and sit in front of Il-hyun’s bed all day long. Even the two persons who had been stopping him at the beginning, Kang Yoo-jung and Park Tae-soo, raised their hands and feet at Ja-kyung’s stubbornness. Ja-kyung found a newspaper on the table.
Wang Han quickly flipped it over, but Ja-kyung also knew that Chairman Kang had died. Ja-kyung wondered what was the reason. Park Tae-soo informed him that Chairman Kang was in better condition than Kang Il-hyun. Ja-kyung was sitting on the bed when Kang Yoo-jung enters.
After checking Ja-kyung’s injured arm, she sterilized it and bandaged it. Her hands were warm. She was so calm, not like someone who had lost their father a few hours ago. Ja-kyung was at a loss as to what to say. Wasn’t he himself the one who made Chairman Kang Hoon like that? Does she know the truth? Would she treat him so kindly even after knowing all the facts?
At the very least, Ja-kyung didn’t want to be hated because she was the only person in Kang Il-hyun’s family whom he trusted and depended on. She smiled as she wrapped the bandage around him.
“You’ll be discharged tomorrow, right?”
“Yes…”
“That’s good. Do you know how many complaints there were during your hospital stay? Didn’t you know that there was a rumor that the handsome bachelor was sitting around, so everyone went down to take a look at least once.”
She joked and laughed faintly, then found a newspaper on the table after finishing the treatment. She grabbed it up, searched for her father’s death, and read it. Wang Han and Wang Lun exchanged glances. Surprisingly, she tossed it in the trash. Then she put her hands in her gown’s pockets and said casually:
“Anyway, Koreans are very interested in other people’s affairs. It’s time for him to die, so he died. Don’t you think so?”
The Wang brothers were stunned into silence. Ja-kyung also raised his head in surprise. She smiled.
“Take care and have a good recovery.”
When Ja-kyung nodded, she waved goodbye and left the room. Ja-kyung looked at the newspaper she had just tossed away. Chairman Kang’s face was smeared with trash. Wang Lun tilted his head as he glanced at the door through which she had left.
“Doesn’t she somehow resemble CEO Kang?”
Wang Han rubbed his chin and nodded. At first, he thought she was just a smart beauty, but the more he looked at her, th
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