HTBP 24

 Chapter 24

Going on a Blind Date?

The sudden cohabitation proposal caught Nayoung so off guard that her mind went blank for a moment.

She must have let her guard down a bit since Professor Choi Tae-hyuk had just eaten tteokbokki with her.

He was teaching her, in his own way, that letting your guard down in front of him could lead to trouble.

Until the three opportunities were over, she couldn’t outright refuse him, but she had to be extremely careful.

After all, she still had a lot to go through as a first-year resident.

Nayoung forced a professional smile and responded.

“Senior Nam Hojin is also looking for a place. Then maybe you could just live with him.”

Professor Choi immediately frowned.

“Are you trying to raise my blood pressure to death?”

“So, are you saying I should go die by my father’s hand?”

When Nayoung repeatedly emphasized how strict her father was, Tae-hyuk crossed his arms and adopted a serious expression.

It was clear that Nayoung’s father, whom he had never met, was the biggest obstacle in their relationship.

Perhaps he had more trouble dealing with her father than her being a first-year resident.

Nayoung raised her hand to hail a taxi that was approaching.

“Then I’ll just take a taxi.”

“Ah! Wait!”

Tae-hyuk tried to stop her, but Nayoung, quicker than ever, hopped into the taxi and left.

He watched the taxi drive away, looking dejected.

“She’s really leaving me behind like this?”

He had already used two of his chances, yet she showed no sign of being caught.

Determined to figure out what mistake he had made, Tae-hyuk immediately went to find Cha-hyun.

“You ate tteokbokki?”

Cha-hyun asked in disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe what he heard.

“You said to let Moon Nayoung eat whatever she wanted.”

Tae-hyuk thought he had done the right thing.

Besides, the tteokbokki from the snack shop Nayoung had taken him to was genuinely delicious—much better than pasta.

“But you went on a date with a woman and ate tteokbokki?”

Cha-hyun couldn’t help but laugh.

Tae-hyuk, who had always been a bit abnormal, now felt like Nayoung was also somehow unusual.

“You didn’t take her there just to make me stop liking her, did you?”

Tae-hyuk disagreed with Cha-hyun’s negative suggestion.

“It’s a real regular place. The owner recognized Moon Nayoung first.”

“Even if that’s true, if you even had a tiny desire for her to become your girlfriend, you wouldn’t have taken her to a tteokbokki shop.”

Hearing that Nayoung had suggested the snack shop not because she wanted to be his girlfriend, Tae-hyuk’s expression stiffened.

“Why?”

“You can’t act coy while eating tteokbokki.”

Tae-hyuk frowned, shaking his head in disagreement.

“Moon Nayoung isn’t the type to act coy.”

“Even women who don’t act coy naturally want to look nice in front of someone they like. It’s instinctual.”

Tae-hyuk pressed his lips together and said nothing more. Cha-hyun patted his shoulder in consolation.

“You still have one more chance left.”

He knew. He hadn’t given up yet.

But his heart didn’t feel at ease.

“Does Moon Nayoung really not like me at all?”

Cha-hyun couldn’t answer that—he wasn’t Nayoung.

“Then why did you start liking her?”

Cha-hyun found that more surprising.

Sure, she had a pretty face, but she wasn’t the only beautiful woman in the world.

The women Tae-hyuk had been introduced to were prettier, more glamorous, and more social.

Yet he had never wavered for any of them.

Even if Nayoung being a doctor made her more compatible with him, that didn’t mean the other women hadn’t liked him.

Some of those women were even more experienced doctors than first-year resident Moon Nayoung.

“From the first time I saw her, it felt like I’d known her for a very long time.”

“Really? Did you actually meet her before?”

Tae-hyuk shook his head.

When Cha-hyun said it felt like he had met her before even though he hadn’t, he just smiled.

Seeing his friend so serious, he didn’t tease him about childish notions of fate.

Nayoung took a taxi home.

Even on her days off, if she didn’t go home, she truly wouldn’t have the time. Though it was late, she intentionally went to her family home instead of the hospital.

“Oh my, is that the outfit I bought for you?”

Her mother, Yeon-hee, smiled as she saw Nayoung wearing the outfit for the first time.

“It really suits you.”

While her mother was pleased, her father immediately scolded her for dressing up at the hospital.

So Nayoung quickly went to her room to change and came back out.

Her mother prepared a simple dinner for her late arrival.

Though Nayoung wasn’t hungry, she sat at the table.

“Where’s Hwiyoung?”

She picked up her chopsticks while looking for her younger brother.

“He went out. He hardly stays at home these days.”

Nayoung chuckled at how he acted like the end of the world was coming soon, not just military service.

“Even if Hwiyoung doesn’t come home, Dad doesn’t say anything?”

Normally, she would have just accepted it, but today, since Professor Choi had directly addressed her living situation, it felt harder to swallow.

Why was it okay for her brother to live as he pleased, but she couldn’t be independent even for work reasons?

She picked a few grains of rice with her chopsticks and finally spoke out.

“Mom, can’t I move out?”

The moment she said it, she realized that for a very long time, she hadn’t been able to voice what she truly wanted in front of her parents.

Her morning started with Professor Choi’s message, which sounded more like a command.

She didn’t like that he had changed the time on his own, but she didn’t argue.

Soon, there wouldn’t be many more days when Mrs. Hwang would come for her health check-ups and she could pick up lunch.

When Nayoung visited Professor Choi’s lab at lunchtime, she was surprised to see Yellow and Kkamang in the aquarium by the window.

“Why is Kkamang here?”

It was the fish she was supposed to take care of.

“You forgot it.”

She hadn’t forgotten—she had planned to pick it up today.

“Give it to me now.”

“No. You can’t have it until you find a place outside the hospital.”

Nayoung was speechless that he was now putting conditions on a gift he had bought for her.

“It’s a hundred times better than keeping it in the hospital dorm.”

She couldn’t deny that. The dorm was only meant for sleeping—not suitable for keeping fish.

“Then why did you buy it?”

“I thought you got Kkamang because you intended to find a place.”

In the end, he was blaming her.

Nayoung couldn’t find words to argue, and quietly glared at him. Then she noticed there were two lunch boxes on the table, not just one. She was surprised.

“Professor, did you eat lunch too?”

“No. Mrs. Hwang made it for us today, since we were going to eat together.”

She had gotten used to Mrs. Hwang’s lunches by now, and though she had met him outside the hospital yesterday, Nayoung still kept a cautious distance.

“Don’t do this from tomorrow.”

“Sit down.”

He gestured for her to sit, and she finally moved to sit across from him. But her phone rang.

Both she and Tae-hyuk froze, thinking it might be a call from the hospital.

When Nayoung checked, she relaxed.

“It’s my brother.”

Tae-hyuk also relaxed and opened his lunch box.

Nayoung walked toward the window to take the call.

“Why?”

[Did you tell Mom you want to move out?]

Her mother had said she would wait for the right moment to talk to her father. Apparently, she brought up Nayoung’s independence at breakfast today after she left for work.

“Yes.”

[Dad said if you want to move out…]

Her brother sighed before finishing.

[He wants you to go on a blind date and get married.]

Nayoung instinctively glanced at Professor Choi.

He was lifting eel with his chopsticks.

“…Okay. Just hang up.”

[You said okay? You’re really going on a blind date?]

“No. I’m not leaving home.”

Click.

She ended the call and walked back to Tae-hyuk to sit down.

He was still staring at the eel without eating.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

It occurred to her that it might be the first time eel was included in her lunch.

Since eel was considered a stamina food, Nayoung was a bit worried. She hadn’t expected Mrs. Hwang to show so much affection in this way.

“Eat first.”

Professor Choi placed some eel onto her plate.

Nayoung immediately moved it back to his bowl.

“You eat a lot, Professor.”

“If I eat too much, it’ll be a problem.”

After a playful struggle over who should eat first, she finally gave in.

Just as Nayoung was about to take a bite of eel, Tae-hyuk asked:

“Why did your brother call?”

“Cough!”

She almost choked on Mrs. Hwang’s eel.

As she coughed violently, Tae-hyuk immediately opened the water bottle for her.

Nayoung gulped down the water, finally calming herself.

Seeing the determination in his eyes to get an answer, she had no choice but to speak.

“Cough. Dad won’t allow me to move out.”

She left out the blind date part.

She felt guilty for no reason.

“Then there’s no choice but my place.”

“I don’t want to go there.”

“Then I’ll keep Oh Seung-jun at our house, so you can go there instead.”

It was a suggestion she hadn’t expected, so she paused.

Seung-hee was currently living with her older brother, Seung-jun.

So he was basically suggesting she live with her close friend Seung-hee.

It wasn’t a bad idea at all.

“Did Professor Oh approve?”

She was supposed to leave her own house under her name to live at someone else’s. Naturally, he wouldn’t like it.

Professor Choi confidently placed another piece of eel onto her plate.

“If I say it, he has no choice but to approve.”

At this point, it seemed she should start worrying about Professor Oh instead.

“Why are you so concerned about my moving out?”

Her father opposed it, her mother lacked the power to persuade him, and she had almost given up.

Professor Choi answered simply while eating.

“You need a place to keep Kkamang.”

Hearing it was because of Kkamang, Nayoung chuckled.

“And every time you see Kkamang, you’ll think of me.”

Nayoung stopped smiling and looked at him.

He had first brainwashed her with food, and now even a pet fish.

“Are you… training me now?”