CGC 15

Chapter 15

Realizing far too late what he had done, Ji-hyeok hurriedly hung up the phone.

He must’ve been so overwhelmed that when he heard Gong-gal’s voice—someone who worried about the baby almost as much as he did—his subconscious must have sent out an SOS.

“Damn it…”

But Gong-gal wasn’t the problem right now.

Ji-hyeok bit his lips hard enough to draw blood as he tried to figure out how to deal with the situation.

Should he take Doha to the ER like this?

No, should he call an ambulance first?

“Ha… I don’t know anything right now.”

In the end, he picked up his phone again and called Madam Shim.

Unfortunately, she didn’t pick up right away.

Hearing that the call had gone to voicemail, Ji-hyeok hung up and dialed again.

Only then did Madam Shim’s voice come through.

— Director? My phone was in the living room, so I couldn’t answer right away. Is something wrong?

Strangely, hearing her voice calmed him somewhat.

His mind wasn’t capable of making sound decisions right now, so he felt that listening to Madam Shim—who had far more childcare experience than he did—might help him avoid the worst.

“Ma’am… I think something’s wrong with Doha. He has a fever…”

— What…? Oh—since when? What symptoms? Did you take his temperature? How high is it?

“Uh… well… he didn’t eat much last night, and he barely peed. It was worse today. I thought he was sluggish because you weren’t here. The fever… wait a second. Let me check again.”

Ji-hyeok carefully checked Doha’s temperature again.

“It’s 39.1 degrees.”

— Oh dear… that’s high. Director, the most important thing right now is lowering the fever, okay? There’s fever reducer in the kitchen cupboard.

Ji-hyeok rushed to the kitchen.

Following her instructions, he found the medicine and gave it to Doha.

— Did he swallow it okay?

“Yes. I think so… but he’s still crying. Should I go to the ER?”

— Try waiting about an hour. He had a fever last time too, from a cold. It usually went down after taking medicine. Is the baby coughing?

“No. He’s not coughing or sneezing… and I don’t think his nose is blocked. Ma’am… maybe going to the ER is better.”

— Hmm… If it’s just a simple cold, the ER won’t really do anything. They’ll just give fever meds and send you home.

“I… see.”

Ji-hyeok felt horribly uneasy.

The child was clearly sick, but he couldn’t do anything for him.

— Director. Try waiting until 9. If the fever doesn’t go down, then take him to the ER. Director? Are you listening?

Staring at the crying Doha with a grave expression, Ji-hyeok finally answered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

— Just in case, call Secretary Choi or the driver. It’ll be hard to drive alone with the baby…

“Yes, understood. I’ll monitor him and contact you again.”

The moment he hung up, Ji-hyeok called Secretary Choi.

Choi said he was currently on the way to Anseong for his family’s ancestral rites.

Rejecting Choi’s offer to turn around, Ji-hyeok called the driver instead.

The driver said he would leave right away.

With transportation to the ER secured, Ji-hyeok continued watching Doha while searching the internet for his symptoms.

Things popped up on the screen, but none of it registered.

Doha’s crying and the high number on the thermometer made it impossible to focus.

All Ji-hyeok could do was watch over the child, who seemed to be drifting in and out of sleep.

Doha was sick, and he couldn’t do anything about it—that alone weighed heavily on him.

It was the first time in his life he’d felt such helplessness, and his mood was sinking lower than ever.

Ding-dong—

The doorbell rang.

Ji-hyeok quickly headed to the intercom.

On the screen was Gong-gal, on the verge of tears, shouting to open the door.

“…Ha.”

He had forgotten, briefly.

The mistake he’d made.

Unsure whether to open the door or not, he eventually pressed the unlock button.

Since she had come all the way to his house, she wasn’t going to leave quietly.

If he left her outside, she would ring the bell nonstop for thirty minutes straight.

And if he had to go to the ER after 9, he’d run into her at the gate anyway.

And then she’d follow him all the way to the hospital.

Doha was sick enough to drive him crazy—he didn’t need Gong-gal adding to the chaos.

Besides, a thought crossed his mind during that brief hesitation.

Was she truly sincere toward her nephew? Or was she planning to use him as leverage to get money?

Maybe this would be the chance to find out.

Ji-hyeok glanced at Doha—who seemed to have fallen asleep—and hurried to the front door.

The moment he opened it, he met eyes with Yu-eul, who had brought with her a sweet scent.

Ji-hyeok flinched.

Her eyes were red.

Had she cried on the way here?

“W-Where is the baby sick? Where is he right now?”

Her worry for her nephew was so genuine that it didn’t feel like acting at all—Ji-hyeok could feel it himself.

So, without realizing it, he stepped back to let her in.

Yu-eul immediately squeezed through the gap and hopped inside.

Like a little white mountain hare.

…Why am I thinking like that right now?

Shaking his head quickly, Ji-hyeok looked at her.

“Lead the way!”

But she barked it like a command.

“…What?”

“To where the baby is!”

Ji-hyeok almost snapped back—What’s with that tone?—but he realized Doha was what mattered right now.

Exhaling deeply to blow out his irritation, he turned and told her to follow.

Yu-eul clung close behind him.

Halfway there, Ji-hyeok paused, glanced back, and warned:

“He’s asleep, so don’t make noise.”

She nodded rapidly.

They both tiptoed into the living room.

There lay Doha, asleep on the mat in the exact position Ji-hyeok had laid him down.

Just as Ji-hyeok was about to approach, he stopped and looked at her.

She was frozen, eyes wide, as though she’d seen a ghost.

“Hey. Gong-gal.”

He called her quietly.

She didn’t answer.

Looking closely, he realized tears were welling in her eyes.

“Hey. This isn’t the time for emotional reunions.”

“A… Right…”

Finally, Yu-eul wiped away a tear that had escaped down her cheek.

“I just… I can’t believe this is the first time I’m seeing the baby… That this child is really my sister’s kid…”

Slowly, carefully, she approached the child.

Lowering herself, she looked at him, then turned to Ji-hyeok.

“What’s wrong with him? How is he sick?”

“His fever hit 39 degrees. I gave him fever reducer and we’re watching him for an hour.”

He checked his watch.

“In 30 minutes I’ll check again. If it’s still high, we’ll go to the ER.”

“E… ER?”

Yu-eul’s face went pale.

But then she inhaled sharply—loud enough for him to hear—and forced her voice steady.

“So the fever is the only symptom? Nothing else?”

“Mm. He didn’t eat well yesterday, and today he barely ate at all and kept whining.”

“Ah… Babies and animals not eating—that’s serious.”

Biting her lip hard, Yu-eul lifted her phone.

She searched for various things, scrolling through the screen with a tense expression.

Even though she must be emotionally overwhelmed meeting her nephew for the first time, the moment she heard he was sick, she was looking up information as calmly and logically as she could.

Seeing that only made Ji-hyeok feel worse.

It made him feel like he was even less useful than Gong-gal.

“Is the baby pooping and peeing normally?”

“No.”

“Tch…”

Yu-eul held out her hand.

“Give me the thermometer.”

He placed it in her palm without thinking.

Yu-eul checked Doha’s temperature again.

“39.1 degrees. It went up. You did give him the fever reducer, right?”

“Yeah. Exactly 35 minutes ago.”

“It seems like he has some kind of infection. Around this season, kids often get urinary infections… Let’s just take him to the ER now.”

Ji-hyeok considered it seriously.

It would take about fifteen minutes to get to the hospital anyway. There was no point waiting longer.

Right then, Yu-eul lifted the baby into her arms.

Startled awake by the movement, Doha began crying irritably.

Yu-eul seemed a little clumsy, but she hugged him tightly and comforted him gently.

“Baby. It’s Auntie. Auntie’s going to take you to the hospital so you don’t hurt anymore, okay? Are you scared because it’s your first time seeing me?”

“Waaahhh!”

“Yeah. I know. You’re hurting. Okay. Let’s go. Yeah?”

Pressing her cheek to the baby’s, she soothed him tenderly and headed toward the entrance.

Halfway there, she called out:

“Grab your car keys! I don’t have a car—I walk everywhere!”

Ji-hyeok stared blankly at her back as she strode out of the living room, confidently taking charge.

Strangely, her frail-looking back—smaller than half his size—looked incredibly reliable.