HTBP 17

 Chapter 17

Give Me a Chance

Hearing her blunt words that she wasn’t his type, Taehyuk felt a sting in his heart. But she wasn’t someone to fight—she was someone to seduce. So he calmly asked the reason first.

“What is it about me that you don’t like? Tell me.”

“Watch your words.”

As soon as he asked, Nayeong didn’t hesitate for even a second before replying, which made Taehyuk flare up, almost speaking carelessly in return.

“You’re being honest.”

Taehyuk tried to soften his words, but Nayeong immediately pointed out:

“If someone gets hurt by what you say, that’s what ‘careless’ means.”

“Have I ever insulted someone without reason?”

…And he was right.

Professor Choi Taehyuk may have unleashed his sharp tongue on a careless resident, but he had never spoken harshly to someone who worked well.

“And that’s because it’s me evaluating you as a professor. I don’t care about being judged as a man. Tell me what you don’t like about me as a man.”

She had nothing. That was why she kept challenging him.

If she started seeing him as a man, she would be at too much of a disadvantage.

Nayeong turned her head firmly, avoiding his gaze.

“I don’t want to see you as a man, Professor.”

Her statement had a flaw.

The two of them had already spent a night together. That day, she had treated him as a man.

But Taehyuk didn’t bring it up. He was gentlemanly.

If she demanded him now, it would be impossible.

But waiting for her to open her heart would be too much for him.

There had to be a process to close the gap between them.

And it had to be fair to both of them.

When Taehyuk stayed silent, Nayeong subtly observed him.

He had crossed his legs, gazing up at the cherry blossom tree, just as she had earlier.

Had spring embraced him, or had he plunged into spring?

He was spring.

For a moment, she stared at Professor Choi’s languid posture, captivated.

“Then let’s do this.”

He suddenly turned to her, speaking, and Nayeong couldn’t hide her surprise.

Seeing her widened eyes, Taehyuk’s lips curled briefly.

“Give me three chances.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll try three times. If after that, you still reject me, I’ll give up cleanly.”

“…….”

“But until I use all three chances, you can’t avoid me deliberately. Okay?”

He made it clear to Nayeong, whose habit was to avoid him.

Don’t run from me.

“…….”

She couldn’t easily accept, but she also couldn’t refuse.

Taehyuk saw a possibility in her.

He already knew from Oh Seungjun that she had rejected every other confession decisively.

So the fact that she couldn’t completely reject him gave him some hope.

Thump.

Taehyuk placed both arms on the table and leaned closer, making her tense.

“If you reject me here without even giving me a chance, you’ll regret it.”

Nayeong silently looked at his face.

His confidence annoyed her, but she couldn’t deny the truth.

If she had meant nothing to him, she wouldn’t have spent that one night with him.

She wanted to say, “Wait four years,” just like she had when she slept in the hotel room with him.

But the words wouldn’t come out. If she spoke them, it would reveal her lingering feelings.

If he knew, she’d be at an even greater disadvantage as a resident compared to the professor.

“If I reject you now, I’m more worried you’ll use your position to make my life difficult.”

She said it deliberately as if he were a cruel professor, even though she knew he wouldn’t.

That way, he wouldn’t know how her heart was wavering.

“So… you’re not rejecting me.”

When he wasn’t upset but actually pleased, Nayeong sprang from her seat.

“I still have a lot of studying to do. I’ll go first, Professor.”

She deliberately emphasized Professor, and he smiled dryly.

“If you get stuck while studying, ask me anytime. I’ll help, Moon.”

Help? Not teach, just help.

The professor pretending to be kind seemed more dangerous, so Nayeong hurried toward the hospital.

Taehyuk didn’t try to stop her either.

Now, he had three chances. That was enough.

He lifted his gaze from her back and looked at the cherry blossom tree she had been mesmerized by before he arrived.

He had never cared for flowers in his life, but because of her, he noticed them often this spring—white roses and cherry blossoms.

Tap, tap.

Taehyuk drummed his fingers on the table and pulled out his phone to make a call.

“Hongsik? It’s me.”

If Cha Hyun was an old friend, Hongsik was like family.

The day in the surgical ward began by checking on the hospitalized patients.

Everything would be fine if nothing went wrong, but patient conditions could change at any moment. Problems arose frequently, and the “poisonous tongue” professor often scolded residents.

Last night, a patient’s vital signs had been unstable, and Nam Hojin, who was on duty, had slept through it.

During morning rounds, Professor Choi Taehyuk noticed and stared at Nam Hojin.

Now, Nam Hojin was practically a dead man; everyone silently wished him well.

“You must have been really tired.”

For some reason, Taehyuk’s first words were surprisingly gentle.

The residents had expected him to tear into Nam Hojin, but he nodded as Nam Hojin explained how weak he had been lately, causing him to sleep through the night.

“Still, you can’t be in worse condition than the patients.”

Though it was a correction, his tone was unusually soft.

What was going on? Why was the ‘poisonous tongue’ suddenly acting like a caretaker?

Only Nayeong knew why, quietly suppressing a laugh.

Yesterday she scolded him for careless words, and today he was performing a comedy act with Nam Hojin.

Observing further, Taehyuk gently patted Nam Hojin’s shoulder, giving what looked like encouragement.

“Do your best.”

He gritted his teeth slightly, but Nam Hojin was moved, visibly impressed.

It was the first time Taehyuk had ever been kind after a mistake.

“Understood! Professor!”

Nam Hojin’s booming voice hit the eardrums, and Taehyuk immediately frowned and stepped back.

Guaranteed, his mouth would be wide open again within three days.

That day, Taehyuk didn’t say a single harsh word to residents, interns, or nurses. The rumor that the ‘poisonous tongue’ professor had changed spread quickly.

Hearing it, Oh Seungjun came to see general surgery. A strange spectacle indeed.

“Are you okay?”

Seated deeply in a chair, Taehyuk’s eyes had lost their usual sharpness, and Seungjun cautiously asked.

Taehyuk spoke with a low, weak voice:

“…My chest feels tight.”

“Did a day of careful speech give you a heart attack?”

He had never lived being careful with words, and now he realized how torturous it could be.

“You’re not one to obey orders blindly. Why care suddenly about your speech?”

“….”

“Judging by your silence, it must be Moon Nayeong. Wow, you do all sorts of things.”

Seungjun teased, but Taehyuk didn’t care.

He didn’t care about others’ words or glances.

Right now, the only heart he wanted to know was hers.

<Am I still far from being Moon Nayeong’s ideal type?>

Receiving Taehyuk’s message, Nayeong rolled her eyes.

After only one day of being careful with words, he sent such a question.

Without hesitation, she replied:

<Today, Professor, you looked just like an AI doctor.>

Trying so hard not to get angry, he spoke mechanically.

She shook her head and placed her phone on the desk.

Beep-beep.

Another message arrived, as if he intended to distract her studying.

She picked up the phone again, thinking this would be the last one.

<Seems like you’re hungry. Definitely not an AI then.>

She chuckled, feeling slightly beaten, and glared at his message.

Not bring, but go get.

She wanted to reply that she wasn’t hungry, but another message arrived first.

<Don’t forget—you promised not to avoid me until I’ve used all three chances.>

So he was using one of his chances to make her bring him snacks?

Nayeong frowned at the audacity of it and stood.

If after three chances her heart didn’t change, Taehyuk would honor his word.

Until then, it was his fault if the chances were wasted.

Nayeong bought cup noodles and drinks at the hospital basement convenience store and headed to the rooftop.

“Why the rooftop?”

Grumbling about leaving the lab, she climbed the stairs to the rooftop.

Clack.

Opening the door, she saw the wide Seoul nightscape—but no one was there.

“Professor Choi?”

Where could he be after calling her here?

She looked around.

“Moon Nayeong.”

At the sound of her name, she reflexively turned.

Swish.

Pink, fluttering petals surrounded her, drifting down.

Among the petals, Professor Choi stood.

“You seem to like flower gifts, so I prepared some.”

He sprinkled more petals into the air.

Nayeong lifted her head, watching the cherry blossoms fall like rain.

“This is so childish.”

She scolded him, believing her fluttering heart was just embarrassment.

Swiftly, Taehyuk’s hand reached out and brushed a petal off her face.

His fingers grazed her lips.

The warmth of another person felt searing.

“Then it’s the flowers’ fault, not mine.”

His voice held a teasing laugh.