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Chapter 39
The Terminally Ill Child Doctor Doesn’t Hide Her Genius
Jeok Yun-ha clapped her hands.
“Interesting. Really, you never know what life will throw at you. Right, Mr. Heuk Bi-hu over there?”
Dad stood with his arms crossed, not answering.
Even earlier, when he’d gotten worked up, she seemed to already know who he was.
“I was so shocked when you suddenly showed up at my shop—you, who’s famous for being ‘missing.’”
“……”
“I thought you’d come to kill someone. I figured you were about to show off those old skills of yours, cleaning up the dirty work for your family.”
She didn’t seem to care that Dad wasn’t responding.
“Are you trying to brush it off as some kind of irrational impulse?”
“Ah, no, I’m not trying to brush it off.”
Jeok Yun-ha shrugged, then stood up and bowed politely.
“I’m truly sorry. Sometimes my brain just short-circuits. I apologize for suspecting you. And thank you for the kindness your doctor friend has shown.”
“……”
“Un-deok here is like family to me.”
“Whether we accept your apology or not is up to the leader of our group.”
“Leader?”
Jeok Yun-ha tilted her head. Dad gave me a meaningful look.
“Well? Decide, leader.”
Both Jeok Yun-ha and Uncle Un-deok’s gazes fell on me.
I blinked.
‘Jo-ah, Dad’s your subordinate now. You know that, right?’
Wait… seriously?
‘So one person you treat as family, but me you call a subordinate?’
Wow, petty! So petty!
Dad, unfazed, declared with his arms still crossed,
“I’ll follow the leader’s orders.”
Ultra petty!
Jeok Yun-ha smiled broadly, clearly entertained.
“Oh my, and who exactly are you to have the great Heuk Bi-hu as your subordinate?”
…She definitely heard Dad introduce me as his daughter earlier, but still says this?
Still just as playful as ever. So that’s how she wants to play it, huh.
I let out a deep sigh and lifted my head.
“I’m Heuk Ppi-yu.”
“Ppi-yu.”
“Dad, be quiet.”
I glared at him before continuing.
“As you already know, this is my dad, Heuk Ppi-hu.”
“It’s Heuk Bi-hu.”
This man, seriously!
“…Ha. So, you know you owe us an apology and that you’re grateful, but you’re not planning to end it with just words, right?”
“Oh my… such a cute way of speaking, but the content is so mature. Feels like I’m talking to an adult. How novel.”
“That uncle over there asked me to treat his son.”
The smile faded slightly from Jeok Yun-ha’s face.
“…Uncle Un-deok did?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
When Jeok Yun-ha looked over, Uncle Un-deok nodded.
“I told her that I’d do anything if she could treat my son, Lady Yun-ha.”
“……”
A fleeting look of pity crossed her face.
“I understand. Then I should reintroduce myself. I’m Jeok Yun-ha, head of the White Dragon Trading Company. It’s a modest business.”
Well, even now, the White Dragon Company wasn’t just a mom-and-pop shop.
It was big enough to have some influence in this massive market.
Considering the market’s size, that was impressive. Plus, most of its members were from the East.
‘Climbing to that position despite the West’s territorialism is impressive.’
In the future, they’d become a trading company that dominated the entire empire.
“I’m not planning to stay silent for free. That man’s son is like a little brother to me.”
“……”
“If you can treat him, I’ll do anything in return. No, I will.”
Her serious eyes locked onto mine.
“Please, Miss Ppi-yu.”
“…It’s Ppi-yu.”
“…All right, Ppi-yu?”
“Heuk, Ppi, Ppi, Ppi, Bi!”
Jeok Yun-ha blinked for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter.
My cheeks flushed red in frustration.
Dad, watching me, bent down and whispered consolingly,
“A little lisp is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“…Be quiet, Dad.”
Not long after the conversation ended, Uncle Un-deok brought over a boy.
‘He said it was his son, so I imagined someone older…’
He was maybe four years older than me? About the same age as Heuk Gye-won.
He limped, but he was handsome.
And the way he smiled shyly at Uncle Un-deok was mature for his age.
“My late wife had him late in life. That’s why I cherished him even more…”
Just from that single line, I could tell how much he adored his son.
And to have lost such a child without even being able to treat him…
‘In the third timeline, he’d gone to every local clinic and pharmacist he could find.’
Even then, when it didn’t work, he went to my family—the famous Heuk clan, one of the top in the empire—only to be coldly rejected.
Light green eyes. The boy was pale, but his droopy eyes made him stand out as a delicate beauty.
“…Tak Min-jae, sir—cough!”
The boy wavered but bowed politely.
Not to me—
“To the doctor over here,” Dad said, giving me a light push on the back.
Tak Min-jae’s eyes widened.
‘Even better looking up close.’
I’d only heard about him from Uncle Un-deok until now; this was my first time seeing him.
“…I-I greet the doctor…?”
“That’s enough.”
I cut off the coughing boy before he could speak more.
The restricted zone had fixed times for people to leave, so we didn’t have much time. I needed to start quickly.
We were in a storeroom Jeok Yun-ha had prepared for me, filled with clean water and rare medicinal herbs.
“I’m going to diagnose you now, so don’t be startled.”
Jeok Yun-ha and Uncle Un-deok waited a bit away.
“Why aren’t you stepping back, Dad?”
“I’m your bodyguard.”
He patted my head.
“I have to protect the doctor.”
I fiddled with the spot he’d touched.
“It’s also a subordinate’s duty to protect their leader.”
“Wow… the pettiness continues.”
“What?”
If only he knew when to stop!
Pouting, I plunged my hands into the basin of clean water.
“Let’s begin.”
The boy flinched when our eyes met, then quickly nodded.
“Ah… yes! It’s just… you look like a fairy, so I can’t stop staring. I’m sorry!”
“What nonsense.”
Dad covered my eyes.
What was that about? I pried his hand away with effort.
‘It’s not like I don’t know I’m pretty.’
I’d gotten unwanted attention before because of it, but I wasn’t so shallow that I’d get giddy over a simple compliment.
Besides, this was the same gaze Heuk Gye-won gave me—nothing more.
Water surged up, enveloping Tak Min-jae’s body in a large sphere.
As I scanned the diagnostic information flooding into my mind…
I snapped my head up in shock.
‘What is this? Asthma, pneumothorax, and even paralysis of the limbs?’
I glanced at Uncle Un-deok, then pressed my lips together at his anxious expression.
And that wasn’t all.
‘There are traces of poisoning…’
Persistent, long-term poisoning.
So much so that in his already frail body, there was nowhere left for the toxin to go.
‘If we left him alone, he could die as soon as tomorrow.’
Had Uncle Un-deok made an enemy somewhere?
After some thought, I waved my hand. Water streamed through the storeroom, sorting the herbs—lifting some, setting others back down.
‘Pre-existing illnesses, complications, and poison on top of it all…’
Not an easy case.
Of course, still nothing compared to my two uncles’ conditions.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first person I’ve treated outside the Heuk family in this life.’
The boy looked at me with slightly nervous eyes.
I smiled warmly to reassure him as he floated in the water.
“Don’t worry.”
“……”
“When you open your eyes again, you’ll be healthy.”
Tak Min-jae’s face went blank, then, as if moved, he spoke with determination.
“Yes… fairy lady!”
…Huh?!
