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Chapter 11
Dog Dream and a Bouquet
The moment the word photo came out of her mouth, Professor Choi Taehyuk’s expression hardened like steel.
“So, you made people take pictures of me?”
Where had things gone wrong?
What exactly had he thought he understood?
Had he just been testing her?
Her mind became complicated, but the most urgent problem was the man standing in front of her.
She had walked straight into a snake’s mouth.
There was no way she would leave without getting hurt.
Nayeong explained slowly, her voice tense.
“I thought patient Lee Suji would feel better if she saw your pictures, so I offered a gift coupon as a reward.”
After hearing her confession, Taehyuk’s face twisted uncontrollably.
“How dare you sell me, your professor, for a gift coupon?”
His words made it sound like she had committed a terrible crime.
She hadn’t sold him. She had just taken photos.
And it was for a patient.
But the way he looked at her—
It was the look someone gives to a traitor.
“I only showed the photos to patient Lee Suji. That’s true. Please believe me.”
The veins stood out on his tightly clenched fist, showing his anger.
“Leave.”
His heavy voice did not make her feel relieved. It made her more afraid.
“You’re not going to make me write a report?”
Even Nam Hojin, who had just been caught taking photos, had to write fifty pages.
She was the mastermind. She should receive a worse punishment.
“Get out. Now.”
His sharp tone made her feel real danger. She quickly turned and left the office.
Bang.
As soon as she closed the door, she heard something being kicked hard inside. Her shoulders shook.
What should I do?
Trembling, she returned to the residents’ room.
Inside, Taehyuk had kicked the trash can and lowered his head deeply, trying to control the rising shame.
He had never felt this embarrassed in his life.
He had almost confessed to a woman who had no feelings for him.
And worse—he had been arrogant, as if he were accepting her feelings.
The more he thought about it, the more humiliating it became.
Nayeong posted a message in the residents’ group chat telling everyone to stop taking photos of Professor Choi.
The steady stream of photos immediately stopped.
Professor Choi was quiet. The photo-takers were quiet.
It felt as if nothing had happened.
But Nayeong knew.
This wasn’t over.
Maybe her real trial had just begun.
That night, she sent Professor Choi a long apology message.
<I wanted to make patient Lee Suji smile because she is your number one fan. I thought you wouldn’t allow us to take photos, so we did it secretly. I will never do it again. I am deeply reflecting on my actions. Please forgive me.>
There was no reply.
She wondered what kind of punishment he was preparing for her in his silence.
That night, perhaps because she was so anxious, she had a terrible dream.
In the dream, she was being scolded by Professor Choi’s mother and living miserably as a daughter-in-law.
When she woke up, she felt paralyzed.
What kind of crazy dog dream was that?
She didn’t even know what his mother looked like.
But in the dream, his mother was raising a dog—so it really was a “dog dream.”
Because of the nightmare, she looked tired during morning rounds.
People’s eyes gathered on her.
Everyone seemed curious about Professor Choi, but no one dared to ask.
She also didn’t speak first. She felt she needed his forgiveness first.
Professor Choi arrived exactly at 7:50 a.m., as usual.
She tried to make eye contact.
He didn’t look at her once.
And that continued until rounds ended.
It seemed he had decided to treat her like an invisible person for violating his portrait rights.
“Professor Choi!”
She chased after him and called out.
He walked away as if he hadn’t heard.
The residents watching whispered among themselves.
“It’s my first time seeing Moon Nayeong chase someone, and my first time seeing the snake torture someone with silence.”
“Isn’t fifty pages of report worse?”
“Exactly! I’m the biggest victim here!”
Nam Hojin complained, but few people sympathized.
“Different people suffer in different ways. For Moon Nayeong, fifty pages might be easier. When has Madonna ever been ignored before?”
“That’s true. Wow. Professor Choi is a very intelligent snake.”
Seeing her return looking discouraged, they agreed the silent treatment was working.
They comforted her, saying it was better to stay away from a snake anyway.
Professor Choi’s silent treatment continued for three days.
Thankfully, Lee Suji’s fever finally went down.
After the catheter was removed, Suji became lively again.
“Now I’m going to take Professor Choi’s picture myself.”
Since Nayeong had already been caught because of the photos, she had no choice but to tell Suji the truth.
Photos were banned now.
“Roses really do have thorns.”
Hearing muscular Professor Choi compared to a rose gave Nayeong goosebumps.
But maybe it wasn’t wrong.
A rose…
That day, she purposely left the hospital and went to a flower shop.
“Could you make a bouquet with white roses?”
Red roses were for love confessions.
White roses felt more suitable for an apology.
She bought a card and carefully wrote her apology, neatly signing her name.
The white roses looked pure and beautiful.
She felt better just holding them.
She didn’t know if Professor Choi liked flowers, but she believed he would at least feel her sincerity.
If even this didn’t calm his anger, then maybe the problem was truly his personality.
In that case, she would stop worrying about his feelings and focus only on work.
As she walked with the bouquet, more eyes than usual followed her.
A pretty woman holding pretty flowers was hard to ignore.
She didn’t realize hospital staff might misunderstand.
Her only thought was to calm Professor Choi.
After finishing surgery, Taehyuk stepped out of the operating room.
Nam Hojin stood straight and handed over fifty pages of report.
“I completed fifty pages as you ordered, Professor.”
Taehyuk didn’t even need to read it to know it was written just to fill space.
“Leave it in my office.”
Tired from back-to-back surgeries, he walked toward the locker room.
Behind him, Nam Hojin pretended to punch the air, but when Taehyuk suddenly turned, he quickly changed to a cheering pose.
“Good work today, Professor!”
“….”
Taehyuk stared at him silently.
Nam Hojin hurried away.
Taehyuk opened the locker room door—
And heard voices inside.
“Someone gave Moon Nayeong a bouquet.”
He froze.
It sounded like the Moon Nayeong he knew.
“The important thing is she carried the bouquet very carefully.”
A dark emotion twisted inside him.
“She accepted flowers from a man? That’s surprising.”
“Must be a pretty impressive guy.”
“How impressive does he have to be?”
“I heard her father is an executive at Taeyoung Construction. She must have powerful connections.”
“That explains why she rejects everyone so coldly. She’s from a different world.”
Bang!
The door flew open as if hit by a storm.
Taehyuk stepped inside with a terrifying aura.
The chatting residents quickly bowed and ran out.
Left alone, he ripped off his surgical gown and threw it on the floor.
The muscles on his back tensed fiercely.
Nam Hojin entered Professor Choi’s office to leave the report.
He planned to just put it down and leave.
But he noticed a bouquet of white roses on the desk.
“Did a patient’s family leave this?”
Curious, he picked up the card and read it without permission.
When he saw it was from Moon Nayeong, his face twisted.
They had both been involved in the photo incident.
He wrote fifty pages.
She got no punishment.
It felt unfair.
He looked at the bouquet unhappily.
A pretty female resident gave flowers as an apology.
Even if Professor Choi was a snake, he was still a man. Of course his anger would melt immediately.
Nam Hojin reached for the bouquet.
If he had to suffer alone, then he might as well take this.
It was just a small revenge.
As long as he felt satisfied now, that was enough.
The flowers would wither soon anyway.
When Cha Hyun entered the bar, Taehyuk was already drinking alone.
He looked exactly like a man who had just been rejected.
Cha Hyun sat beside him and asked coolly,
“What? Already got dumped?”
Taehyuk poured him a drink.
“If she got a bouquet from another guy, does that mean I got dumped?”
“What’s the guy like?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him.”
“So you’re sure it was from a man?”
Taehyuk turned to look at him.
“What do you mean?”
Cha Hyun took a sip of his drink.
“It could’ve been from a woman. Thinking flowers must be from a man is kind of a stereotype.”
“……”
Suddenly, Taehyuk stood up and rushed out of the bar.
Cha Hyun didn’t bother stopping him.
