Chapter 3

A Name Worth Remembering

The treatment room was unusually quiet.

Outside, the emergency department buzzed with the familiar sounds of hurried footsteps, ringing phones, and distant announcements.

Inside...

Only silence remained.

Yoon Min-jae pulled the rolling stool closer.

"You know," he said while opening the sterile suture kit, "most patients try very hard to avoid stitches."

Seo Kang-jun sat perfectly still.

"You seem disappointed."

"I am."

Min-jae laughed.

"I've had a sixteen-hour shift. You're the only patient who's voluntarily waited two hours just to let me sew his forehead."

"I said I would wait."

"You really did."

Min-jae shook his head.

"Strange."

Kang-jun watched him prepare the needle.

"Is that what you think of me?"

"I don't know you well enough to think anything."

A brief silence settled between them.

"Look at me."

Kang-jun lifted his eyes.

"The cut isn't deep," Min-jae murmured. "Three stitches should do it."

He leaned closer.

The scent of antiseptic mixed with the faint smell of rain lingering on Kang-jun's suit.

"Don't move."

"I won't."

The first stitch went in.

Most patients flinched.

Kang-jun didn't.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"It does."

"You hide pain well."

"So do you."

Min-jae paused.

"What makes you say that?"

"You smiled after losing a patient."

"..."

"It wasn't a real smile."

The room became still.

Min-jae looked at him carefully.

"You noticed?"

"I notice many things."

He said it so casually that Min-jae simply shrugged and continued working.

"You shouldn't."

"Why?"

"You'll make yourself miserable."

Kang-jun didn't answer.

Instead, he asked quietly,

"Why did you become a doctor?"

Min-jae tied another stitch before replying.

"My mother was sick when I was little."

"Were the doctors able to help her?"

"They tried."

A small smile crossed his face.

"She's still alive. She just works too much."

"So you wanted to repay them."

"I wanted to become someone people could rely on."

His voice remained light, but there was a sincerity in it that caught Kang-jun's attention.

"What about you?" Min-jae asked. "What do you do?"

For the first time that night...

Seo Kang-jun hesitated.

"I work in pharmaceuticals."

"Oh."

Min-jae nodded.

"So that's why the expensive watch."

"You noticed that too."

"I notice many things."

The corners of Kang-jun's lips curved upward.

"You've stolen my line."

"I improved it."

Ten minutes later...

"Done."

Min-jae stepped back to admire his work.

"Try not to get into another accident for at least a week."

"I'll try."

"And don't get the wound wet."

Kang-jun looked toward the rain-covered window.

"That may be difficult."

"It stopped."

He glanced outside.

The rain had indeed ended.

For some reason...

Neither of them had noticed.

At the reception desk, Min-jae handed over the medical form.

"The cashier will explain everything."

Kang-jun accepted it.

"How much?"

Min-jae looked at the total.

"Forty-three thousand won."

Without thinking, Kang-jun reached into his wallet and placed a black card on the counter.

The cashier stared.

"So... um..."

She swallowed nervously.

"Sir..."

Min-jae looked between them.

"What's wrong?"

The cashier whispered,

"This card..."

Min-jae frowned.

"It's just a credit card."

The cashier shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"No..."

She recognized it.

Only a handful of people in Korea carried that invitation-only card.

Before she could say another word, Kang-jun quietly took it back and handed over another card instead.

"This one."

The payment went through.

He thanked the cashier politely and turned to leave.

Min-jae watched him disappear through the sliding doors.

"Strange guy..."

Outside...

A black sedan waited by the curb.

Han Ji-soo opened the rear door.

"The chairman has called six times."

"I know."

"He wants to know why you ignored him."

"I was busy."

She glanced toward the hospital entrance.

"...With the doctor?"

Kang-jun didn't deny it.

Instead, he looked back at the brightly lit building.

"What did you learn?"

Ji-soo blinked.

"About Doctor Yoon?"

"You already investigated."

"...Only the basics."

"Tell me."

She opened her tablet.

"Yoon Min-jae. Twenty-four years old. Final-year medical student at Seoul National University Hospital."

She scrolled.

"Works night shifts three times a week."

"Scholarship student."

"Father disappeared years ago."

"Lives with his mother."

"No criminal record."

"No scandals."

"No romantic relationships that we could find."

She lowered the tablet.

"Would you like a full background report?"

Kang-jun remained silent for several seconds.

The hospital lights reflected in his eyes.

Finally...

"Yes."

Ji-soo's expression changed.

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"The report may include personal matters."

"I know."

"And photographs."

"I know."

She hesitated.

"Vice Chairman..."

He looked at her.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"The answer to a simple question."

"And what is that?"

"Why did he look at me like I was... ordinary?"

The sedan slowly pulled away from the hospital.

Neither of them noticed that inside the emergency department...

Yoon Min-jae was standing by the second-floor window, absentmindedly watching the black car disappear into the sleeping city.

He had no idea that a single rainy night had just made him the center of the most powerful man's attention.

And once Seo Kang-jun decided something belonged in his world...

He rarely let it leave.

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