ABFR 17

Chapter 17

Without knowing what was going on in my mind, Railey did not contact me until late at night, probably because he was still dealing with the situation around Songpa.

In the meantime, Dr. Jeong Sihoon came back first.

He seemed to have come to retrieve the things he had left with me. I absentmindedly raised my head, and without thinking much, I noticed that his face was a dark, leaden color.

He did not look like a living person at all.

At this rate, I thought he might collapse before anyone else.

I was so shocked that I shouted without realizing it.

“Shouldn’t you rest first, Doctor?!”

“Yeah……. I’m going to rest.”

He answered weakly while rubbing the corners of his eyes with one hand, cold sweat pouring down his face like rain.

“Thank you for looking after them. Kim Ajin, you probably don’t feel safe going home right now either, so let’s go to the rest room together and get some rest.”

“Ah, uh, yes.”

Until Railey returned, it would probably be better for me to stay at Seran University Hospital, since he already knew where I was.

Instead of refusing the doctor’s kindness, I quickly stood up.

When he reached out to take back the things he had left with me, I refused to let him and instead supported him.

At this rate, he really looked like he was going to kill himself through overwork.

He seemed to have intended to refuse at first, but he staggered at that moment. In the end, instead of refusing, he quietly leaned against my shoulder and let me support him.

As I followed his directions toward the rest room, I shuddered as I felt the looks from everyone around us.

Admiration.

Respect.

Resentment.

Requests.

I could feel all the gazes being directed at him.

By the time we entered the rest room and were finally away from those eyes, he collapsed onto the sofa and suddenly asked,

“Did you hear about my ability?”

“I saw it in the news…….”

“I see. Then I don’t need to explain it in detail. Whew……. It’s a good ability, and I’m really grateful for it, but it takes an enormous amount of stamina.”

As he said that, he mumbled as if he were about to lose consciousness.

“I wish I could use it more…….”

His final whisper, something like, I should have exercised more, was almost impossible to hear.

Then he seemed to fall asleep just like that.

Actually, it looked more like he had passed out than fallen asleep.

I anxiously stared at his pale face. Only after I carefully reached out and checked that he was breathing properly did I finally let out a sigh of relief.

I straightened his gown and placed his phone close to him just in case.

Then the door suddenly burst open.

I jumped in surprise, but quickly gestured for the person to be quiet.

The person who had hurriedly opened the door looked at Dr. Jeong with an embarrassed expression before looking completely exhausted.

Then he quietly gestured for me to come outside for a moment.

I cautiously followed him out, wondering what was going on.

He handed me several files and asked me to give them to Dr. Jeong Sihoon when he woke up.

“For some reason, he said he was going to take a voluntary break, but it looks like he practically passed out. I told him to go rest as soon as his ability ran out, but why did he schedule a surgery? Why?”

Crazy man.

He had even gone to help with an emergency surgery in that condition.

While my eyes narrowed, the man rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

Anyway, he bowed his head slightly toward me.

“By the way, are you a nurse working with him?”

“Oh, no! If I had to say, I’m one of Dr. Jeong’s patients. But since it was an emergency, I was only helping with the dressing.”

“Oh. A civilian. I was going to ask you to help with something, but I guess that won’t work. Somehow, everyone just leaves him alone.”

The man sighed.

“Sorry for dragging you into this. But if you don’t mind, even if it’s only for a little while, could you keep an eye on that guy while he rests? I’m worried that he’ll be the one who ends up in trouble at this rate.”

“Yes, I’ll keep watching him.”

“Whew, then I’ll get back to it…….”

And he walked away toward the other end of the hallway.

I hadn’t even heard his name, but I thought that when Dr. Jeong woke up, I should at least tell him that someone had been worried about him.

With that thought, I awkwardly returned to the rest room.

Dr. Jeong was sleeping as if he had passed out, to the point that I wondered whether he was even breathing properly.

And with him right in front of me, there was not much for me to do.

I searched through my phone and slowly gathered information, but eventually even that became exhausting.

After I lowered my hand and began staring blankly at the ceiling, my sense of reality started coming and going.

For a while, I floated in and out of a daze.

After some time passed, Dr. Jeong’s complexion also improved a little.

Perhaps getting some sleep had helped.

I checked several times to make sure he was breathing properly and that nothing was wrong.

At some point, without even realizing it, I fell asleep beside him.

I had been asked to watch over Dr. Jeong and make sure he was okay, so I felt sorry for falling asleep.

But perhaps I had also been under more mental strain than I realized.

I woke up when Dr. Jeong gently shook my shoulder.

“Ms. Kim Ajin.”

“Gah!”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“No, it’s just—when did I fall asleep?”

“How would I know?”

I quickly sat up, unconsciously wiping the corner of my mouth.

Dr. Jeong Sihoon’s face was still pale, but he definitely looked much better than before.

He stared down at me with an incredulous look before letting go of my shoulder.

“You said you had lunch with the new doctor. Did you eat anything after that? Let’s have dinner together. It’s late, though.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the clock on the wall.

I followed his gaze and only then realized that it was almost midnight.

“When did it get this late……. Are you feeling okay, Doctor? You looked like a corpse earlier. Did you get enough sleep?”

“I rested a lot. Still, before eating, I’m thinking of using my ability—or superpower, whatever it is—on some of the seriously injured patients one more time before I go. There are probably a lot of injured people that would be difficult for you to see, so eat first. I heard they left boxed meals at the front desk. It would be even better if you could pick up mine too.”

“No…… You should rest, Doctor. I don’t know who it was, but another doctor came by earlier and was really worried about you. He even left some files for you.”

“I heard Dr. Kim stopped by. Hmm, apparently, because of me, they also transferred serious patients from other hospitals here. I won’t feel comfortable unless I at least use it on the people who urgently need it.”

Dr. Jeong answered casually, as if it were nothing important.

He fiddled with his phone for a moment, then finally put it into his pocket and added,

“It’s an emergency situation, so it can’t be helped. Anyway, Ajin, go get yours and eat first.”

“…….”

I understood that it couldn’t be helped, but I couldn’t help wondering whether he knew what his own face looked like.

Unable to agree or argue, I simply kept my mouth shut with a sulky expression.

He looked at me a moment later and sighed.

“I’ll manage my condition, so don’t worry. For now, I can guess that I’ve become some kind of emergency medical worker who can’t easily be replaced. It would be ridiculous if I became exhausted and couldn’t do anything when the moment comes when I’m absolutely needed. I’ll do it while keeping an eye on my own condition, so relax your face.”

“I know you’re full of a sense of duty, and I think that’s really admirable, impressive, and wonderful. But even aside from that, I can’t help thinking that you should at least put yourself first and take care of yourself, even if there really is a moment when you’re absolutely needed. It might be childish and selfish of me, and I hope you won’t take it the wrong way. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll take care of yourself, but please look after your health while doing this.”

In the end, I answered as if I could no longer hold it in and stood up.

“Anyway, I’ll eat first without waiting for you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Despite my sincere concern, Dr. Jeong answered absentmindedly and opened the door first.

Then we went our separate ways.

I went to the front desk he had told me about and picked up both his boxed meal and mine.

I returned to the rest room and opened my meal without hesitation.

But somehow, I still felt reluctant.

So instead of eating properly or waiting properly, I sat there picking at the grains of rice stuck to the edge of the container, eating them one by one while waiting for him.

While I was doing that, I checked my phone.

Messages from Railey had been coming in little by little.

He was only briefly telling me where he was heading and where he had arrived.

According to the news, after rescuing Lee Jung-ah in Gangnam and dropping her off at a hospital, Railey had headed toward Songpa, making it sound like some heroic act.

But the messages that actually arrived on my phone were much simpler.

[Gangnam is handled. The college student you were worried about is safe. I’m heading toward Songpa as well, so stop worrying about other people and take care of your dinner. It looks like I’ll be finished before midnight.]

It had been several hours since he sent that message, so I replied late.

[I couldn’t reply because I borrowed a rest room and slept. I’m going to eat dinner now. The person who was keeping the things you left behind is connected to the hospital, so they gave me a boxed meal too. Don’t worry.]

[I thought communication problems were delaying your replies as well. I’m glad you got some sleep instead.]

You’re in the middle of all that chaos, so why are you replying immediately?

[By the way, a boxed meal? I know you probably won’t be able to finish it all, but if you don’t want to suffer the consequences later, you should eat more than half of it.]

[Ah, okay.]

His threatening tone had finally managed to annoy me, so I replied first.

Then, after hesitating for a while, I added another message.

[You be careful too. I heard something happened around Songpa when magic? An ability? Whatever it is, was activated.]

[I’ve already checked. There’s no problem.]

If he was really okay, that was good.

But I wasn’t sure whether Railey Craha’s “no problem” really meant there was absolutely no problem.

From what I had vaguely heard through the news, half of an apartment complex had been destroyed, and the ground over a large area had collapsed.

Yet according to Railey’s standards, there was a good chance he would consider it a place where he could walk around without worrying.

It was technically a story from the world inside the book, but even when his back was soaked in blood and torn to pieces, he had acted as if it were nothing important.

Railey Craha had not become a different person just because he was in this world.

So perhaps his standards were still exactly the same.

He was relatively insensitive to his own danger, pain, injuries, and losses.

I typed a reply in a complaining tone.

[If I were there and thought it was dangerous, then it’s not “no problem.”]

[I am the one actually there.]

[Is that really the best answer you can give?]

[There really is no problem, so don’t wander around unnecessarily or come anywhere near this place. Just stay where you are.]

The way he talks!

I absentmindedly rubbed my chin while glaring at the screen.

In the end, I added several more things.

I asked whether he had eaten anything after walking around since the afternoon, told him to check once more that he wasn’t injured anywhere, told him to be careful and not let his guard down, and told him absolutely not to show his face or do anything that might reveal his identity.

Another reply came.

[No problem.]

Are you really sure there’s no problem?

As expected, worrying about Railey Craha was probably the most useless thing in the world.

I told him one last time to be careful and that I understood.

Then I declared that I was going to eat dinner.

I finished by nagging him that he could reply later, after everything was safe, and that he should please stop getting distracted by replying to me.

Then I roughly tossed my phone aside.