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Chapter 04
Just a Whim?
At his command, Nayeong was horrified.
As her face was about to be revealed, she quickly grabbed her mask with both hands and shook her head.
“I can’t! Because of the virus!”
Her strong resistance only irritated Taehyuk.
It would make sense if she were standing in front of a patient with a weak immune system. But he was clearly a healthy adult man.
To him, it sounded like nothing but an excuse.
He reached out to remove the mask himself.
As Professor Choi Taehyuk’s hand came closer, Nayeong instinctively turned and ran.
Survival first.
She didn’t even look back.
Her sudden escape left everyone, including Professor Choi, stunned.
Nam Hojin, standing beside him, asked carefully,
“Should I bring her back?”
Instead of answering, Taehyuk shot Hojin a sharp glare.
After running away from him, Nayeong went straight to the department head’s office.
“Professor, I’d like to change my specialty.”
It had only been two days since she started her first year of residency.
Department Head Park looked at her in disbelief.
“Why don’t you try at least one month before deciding?”
She had been diligent even as an intern. He wanted to keep her in surgery if possible.
“I would, but Professor Choi—!”
She stopped herself.
Blaming her supervising professor directly was reckless.
“I’m sorry! I’ll get going.”
She hurried out again.
She had no idea where her residency life was heading.
As soon as Taehyuk returned to his office, he searched through the personnel records of the surgery residents.
He wasn’t completely certain that the resident was the woman from that night, but he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
His scrolling hand suddenly stopped.
He leaned closer to the monitor.
The clean, delicate face in the photo—
It was her.
He read the name.
“Moon Nayeong.”
He never imagined he would find her this quickly, and in this way.
He hadn’t known she was a doctor.
He hadn’t known she was only a first-year resident.
He thought finding the owner of the earring would be a happy ending.
But now that he found her, the genre had changed from romance to survival drama.
Just as he was thinking about what to do, the office phone rang.
“Yes, this is Choi Taehyuk from Hepatobiliary Surgery.”
[Professor Choi. Come to my office immediately.]
It was Department Head Park.
When Taehyuk entered, Park’s expression was serious.
“A resident wants to change specialties because of you.”
Taehyuk immediately thought of the woman who had run away from him.
“I know you’re skilled. But you don’t work alone. Take it easy. Residents these days don’t work like we used to. There’s even a law limiting shifts now.”
While Park advised him not to push the residents too hard, Taehyuk thought about Nayeong.
She must have recognized him from the beginning.
The mask wasn’t because she was sick—it was to hide from him.
If she even tried to change departments, she must have been desperate to avoid him.
He understood what the first year of residency felt like.
But that didn’t make him feel better.
He could confront her right now.
Ask why she ran from the hotel.
Ask why she tried to transfer.
But then what was the point of trying to find her?
He hadn’t wanted to meet her again to scold her.
He just…
He forced himself to think calmly.
His actions would directly affect her first year of residency.
“I’ll change her mind. Don’t worry.”
Park warned him seriously.
“Absolutely no threats.”
Taehyuk made a bitter expression.
Maybe she had lost interest after seeing his real personality.
After leaving the office, he took out his phone and made a call.
[It’s rare for you to call first.]
It was Associate Professor Oh Seungjun from Orthopedics, his college classmate.
“Your younger sister studied at our medical school, right? Is she a resident now?”
[My sister?]
Seungjun suddenly felt uneasy.
Nayeong couldn’t avoid Professor Choi forever.
As long as she was still in Hepatobiliary Surgery, she would face him.
Her phone rang.
She expected it to be a call summoning her.
But it was Seunghee.
“Hello.”
[I heard you caused a scene during rounds?]
So the rumor had spread through the whole hospital.
[Are you okay?]
Seunghee sounded genuinely worried.
Nayeong felt tears well up.
“What should I do now?”
[He won’t make a huge issue of it. You didn’t harm a patient.]
But Nayeong wasn’t just worried about that.
She regretted that night deeply.
If only I had held back.
Why did I act so recklessly?
Seunghee tried to comfort her.
[Don’t be too scared of Professor Choi. My brother said he’s not perfect either.]
Her brother was Professor Oh Seungjun.
[Apparently, the night before his first day at work, he got so drunk at a club that he blacked out and almost missed his first day.]
Nayeong froze.
That was the night he had spent with her.
“What? He blacked out?”
[Yeah. He doesn’t remember anything he did when he drinks. I guess he’s hopeless when drunk. Hehe.]
Nayeong went blank.
She had assumed he remembered everything because she did.
But he didn’t?
By the department head’s order, even residents who weren’t assisting gathered to watch Taehyuk’s surgery on a monitor.
Nayeong stood in the very back on purpose.
She had heard he was amazing in surgery, but this was her first time seeing it.
The anesthesia staff entered first.
Then the door opened.
Like the main character, Professor Choi Taehyuk walked in.
Standing at the operating table, his eyes focused only on the patient.
In that moment, he looked like the only savior before life itself.
Even if he was a man who couldn’t remember the woman he spent the night with, she couldn’t deny his skill.
“Let’s begin.”
He was always polite at the start.
The liver resection lasted four hours.
His technique was so precise and clean that it felt like watching a medical textbook.
After the surgery, Nayeong went to find him.
There was something she had to confirm.
“Professor Choi!”
He stopped and turned.
She removed her mask.
For the first time, she showed her real face to him.
Her heart pounded once—
But his calm, indifferent gaze made it settle.
He really doesn’t remember.
Feeling both disappointed and relieved, she bowed deeply.
“I was rude this morning. I’m sorry.”
Running away from the hotel wasn’t something she regretted.
But running from her professor was wrong.
“Dr. Moon Nayeong.”
His voice was calm as he said her name.
She looked up, surprised.
“Do you still want to transfer departments?”
Hearing that from the very person who caused it sent a strong wind through her chest.
It wasn’t attraction this time.
It was resistance.
He felt like a huge mountain standing before her.
If she wanted to become a real doctor, she had to climb it.
When she couldn’t answer immediately, he crossed his arms.
“If you’re leaving because you lack confidence, then leave as soon as possible. Don’t stay here and interfere with others.”
His words ignited her anger.
“That’s not it!”
“Then why? Just a whim?”
His tone pushed her to the edge.
“I have no intention of transferring. Please guide me well from now on!”
It sounded almost like a declaration of war.
She bowed politely, then turned and walked away firmly.
Taehyuk watched her back.
This time, she would not return like she had after taking that taxi.
When he woke up in the hotel room and found her gone without a single message, he had promised himself—
If he ever saw her again, he would never let her slip away like a fool.
Yet now—
He had to watch her walk away again.
It felt as if a hole had opened in his chest, and the emotions he once felt for her were slowly leaking out.
He wanted a drink.
Something strong.
