RM 5

Chapter 5

Charge Me Up

Opening his eyes, Ho-rang placed his hand over his chest.

It was beating. His heart.

Confirming that his heart was beating, Ho-rang let out a sigh of relief. Even though it was a surgery he underwent once every few years, there was always an underlying anxiety whenever he had to go through with it.

That was why every time after a surgery ended, he made a habit of resting his hand on his chest. To check if his heart was beating properly, to confirm that he was alive.

After touching his chest, Ho-rang reached out to feel around the table out of habit, only to freeze in surprise when he found nothing—and sat bolt upright in bed. He then realized the truth: he had lost the tie pin that had protected him like a charm.

Just as he let out a heavy sigh while running a dry hand over his face—

“They said it was a ruptured appendix.”

A woman’s voice drifted over.

Ho-rang doubted his own ears, wondering if he had misheard. But—

“I’m fine, Mom. The surgery went well and I’m totally fine, so you don’t need to come. Don’t go telling Dad for no reason, either.”

Once again, the woman’s voice reached him.

Ho-rang looked around his surroundings. This was definitely the VVIP suite he always used whenever he had surgery. A private single room, naturally.

So where on earth was a woman’s voice coming from?

Stepping out of bed, Ho-rang noticed a curtain drawn across a corner of the room. He even saw the distinct silhouette of a person behind it.

There was never supposed to be anything like this. It shouldn’t be here, and it was logically impossible for anyone to be here.

His surgery was a secret kept even from his own family, after all.

Ho-rang approached the source of the noise and aggressively pulled the curtain aside without hesitation.

“AH! Goodness, you scared me!”

“What are you doing here, who are you?”

“Who are you? Why are you walking into a woman’s hospital room and flinging open someone’s curtain like crazy?”

“A woman’s room? This isn’t a woman’s room, it’s—wait, you are…?”

Ho-rang was far more shocked by the fact that this woman was here than by the fact that there was another patient in the VVIP suite reserved exclusively for him, or that someone other than Secretary Yoon knew about his hospitalization.

“The kiss lunatic?”

“The ’10 meters no-approach’ guy?”

Bo-bae caught sight of Ho-rang’s face only then, staring at him with wide, astonished eyes.

“W-Wait, why are you here?”

Ho-rang found it utterly ridiculous.

That was my line.

Could this woman be…

“Are you a stalker?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Then are you a reporter?”

“I’m pretty sure I told you I’m a writer?”

“If you’re not a stalker and not a reporter, why are you following me around?”

“HA! Unbelievable. Can’t you see I’m wearing a patient gown?”

“I can.”

“A patient is in her hospital room, so why are you picking a fight?”

“Because this isn’t a place where a meager person like you belongs.”

At the word ‘meager,’ Bo-bae naturally looked down at her own chest. Maybe because she hadn’t been eating properly, it did look extra meager today…

“Hey, mister! Why do you keep calling my body meager?! She’s already sad enough that she couldn’t grow big, why are you crushing her spirit?! Did you ever buy me a single meal, or even a slice of bread?! You offered zero help toward her growth, so why are you bringing up the wealth gap?! Who do you think you are to… Huh?”

Stepping down from the bed to argue with Ho-rang, Bo-bae finally took a look at her surroundings.

State-of-the-art medical equipment, a luxurious bed where you couldn’t tell if it was a hotel or a hospital, a sofa that looked like it would softly embrace anyone who sat on it, and even a magnificent chandelier hanging above.

“Is this a hotel or a hospital?”

It wasn’t the kind of hospital room Bo-bae had pictured. She had assumed she would be placed in a standard six-patient ward packed shoulder to shoulder with others. And yet…

“Why am I here? There’s no way I should be in a room like this.”

As Bo-bae muttered to herself, Ho-rang scoffed and sat down on the sofa. Crossing his long legs, he spoke in an arrogant manner.

“Alright then. Explain.”

It was a completely natural posture ingrained in him—an overbearing attitude as if he were always receiving a report from someone. But Bo-bae wasn’t intimidated by his aura and spoke right back.

“How should I know? I had surgery, opened my eyes, and here I was.”

“Do you really think that makes any sense?”

“Why wouldn’t it make sense?”

“Because you already have a track record.”

“A track record? What track record?”

“Yesterday, a woman was clinging to me begging for a kiss and a hug, and today, that same woman is in my private hospital room. How am I supposed to interpret this?”

“That was just a coincidence—”

“You’d better not try to gloss over this with a ridiculous word like ‘coincidence’.”

“Look, the Earth is round, so…”

“Do you think we belong to the same social stratum where we can just bump into each other by walking around?”

“The world is surprisingly—”

“Don’t give me any unscientific nonsense about the world being small, either.”

Having every word she tried to say cut off at the pass, Bo-bae shut her mouth tightly.

Is he reading my mind or something? How does he shut down every single thing I’m about to say? Is he asking me to talk or telling me to shut up?

While she was glaring at him and grumbling under her breath, a low, cool voice brushed past Bo-bae’s ears.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“Can’t you hear me? Get out.”

“Ha! I told you, I just opened my eyes after surgery and found myself here! Why can’t you trust what people say?”

“I made myself clear yesterday, didn’t I? Even if we cross paths again, don’t come within a 10-meter radius of me.”

“I’ve heard it so many times I practically have calluses in my ears.”

“If you’ve heard it that much, get the hint and get out!”

When Ho-rang pointed toward the door with his long finger, Bo-bae plopped herself stubbornly down onto her bed, refusing to budge.

“No! I’m not leaving!”

“What?”

“If someone brought me to this hospital room, there must be a reason for it.”

“I don’t care about any of that. This is my room. Get out!”

“I’m a patient at this hospital too, and I’m staying here with my own money, you know!”

“If you knew how much a single day in this room costs, you wouldn’t be saying things like that.”

While the two of them were shouting back and forth in a heated squabble, the door to the room opened and Professor Kwak walked in.

“Both of you are awake.”

Professor Kwak looked back and forth between Ho-rang and Bo-bae with a strangely wistful gaze, but the two were so caught up in their argument that they failed to notice his odd demeanor.

“I have something to tell you both…”

“Hold on a moment. Let me kick this stalker out first.”

Bo-bae flared up at Ho-rang’s words.

“I told you I’m not a stalker!”

“Like hell you aren’t. You’re a perverted stalker lusting after someone else’s body. Don’t ever come near me again and get out!”

“Whoa, hey! Where do you think you’re pushing me?”

Realizing words weren’t working, Ho-rang began physically pushing Bo-bae by her back.

As Ho-rang tried to push her out and Bo-bae dug her heels in to stay, the two bickered and shoved until Professor Kwak called out to Ho-rang.

“CEO Baek.”

“Just a second. Let me kick this woman out before we talk. Get out, you stalker.”

“No! I’m not leaving!”

“I said get out.”

“Baek Ho-rang!”

Hearing Professor Kwak—a man who never raised his voice—shout so loudly, Ho-rang turned to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. Professor Kwak then spoke with great difficulty.

“Don’t send that patient away.”

“I can’t do that. This woman is a stalker who has been trailing me since yesterday. I don’t know how she got in here, but I must kick her out!”

“No. Don’t do that. You must not treat that patient that way.”

Professor Kwak tried to stop him with wistful eyes, but Ho-rang refused to listen, stubbornly insisting.

“I need to call security—no, the police.”

“Police? Wow, are you treating me like a criminal now?! Fine. Call the police!”

“You think I won’t? Professor! Please call the police!”

The fight between Ho-rang and Bo-bae showed no sign of ending anytime soon.

In fact, far from ending, the emotional tension between the two was only escalating.

Finally, Professor Kwak, who had been watching them, shouted out:

“Ho-rang! Without that woman, you will die!”

At Professor Kwak’s bombshell statement, not only Ho-rang but Bo-bae as well were rendered completely speechless, staring at him in shock.

“Die? What on earth do you mean…”

“Patient Na Bo-bae… saved your life.”

When Ho-rang wore a completely bewildered expression, Professor Kwak spoke as if suffocating with frustration:

“I said you’ll die without Patient Na Bo-bae!”

“What kind of absurd…”

“Without that patient, your heart won’t beat!”

Ho-rang knit his brows at Professor Kwak’s words.

He would have believed it if the professor had said the surgery went wrong. He would have taken it seriously if told there was a complication during the operation. But saying he would die without this woman? That his heart wouldn’t beat? Who was this woman supposed to be? He felt like he could only survive if she was nowhere near him, yet he would die without her?

Bo-bae was equally bewildered. What did I do to kill this man or make his heart beat? If anything, I might cause him to faint from sheer anger.

“Let’s sit down first.”

At Professor Kwak’s command, Ho-rang and Bo-bae, who had been standing while grabbing each other’s collars, sat down on the sofa.

Professor Kwak looked back and forth at the two of them before finally speaking with difficulty.

“Your surgery went very well. The same goes for Patient Na Bo-bae.”

“And?”

If the surgeries went well, why was he talking about death and dropping terrible warnings like his heart wouldn’t beat without that woman?

“The surgery was successful, but there was a minor accident during the procedure.”

“An accident? What kind of accident?”

“The entire hospital suffered a power outage.”

Only then did Ho-rang’s gaze turn grave, as he had been completely unaware of the situation at the time.

A hospital power outage was directly linked to countless lives. Backup generators would have kicked in, of course, but the risk of potential accidents could never be entirely ruled out. Furthermore, if a power outage occurred right in the middle of his surgery…

“I believe a problem occurred at that moment.”

“Please explain in detail.”

As Ho-rang adjusted his posture, Professor Kwak recalled that moment and spoke.

“During the power outage, it appears the battery connected to your heart was completely drained.”

“Drained…?”

Overcome with shock, Ho-rang stared at Professor Kwak with wide eyes.

Drained? The brand-new battery model that had been touted for its performance, promising no need for re-operation for a lifetime, was drained?

It was unbelievable. No, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.

“Is such a thing even possible?”

“There has been no precedent, so we were equally flustered.”

“Flustered? My life is on the line, and all you felt was flustered?!”

“We are looking into every possible angle, so please give us a little time.”

At Professor Kwak’s words, Ho-rang clenched both fists tightly.

He knew very well the high level of medical competence at Taeseong Hospital as well as Professor Kwak’s skills. If they hadn’t found a solution by now, it meant there was no clear way out.

“I will undergo re-operation.”

That was the only way to survive.

He had been overly ambitious. Trying to replace the battery with a semi-permanent one to avoid the eyes of those targeting his position had led to this. But if he had another surgery, there wouldn’t be a major issue. He just needed to hide it well from the public eye as he always had.

“That… isn’t possible right away.”

At Ho-rang’s statement about re-operation, Professor Kwak spoke with a troubled expression.

“If not right away, when are you saying it will be possible?”

“It will be possible after at least three months.”

“Three months? I can’t wait that long. How am I supposed to wait three months?!”

Ho-rang shouted, but Professor Kwak remained firm.

“Opening up a chest is not as simple as it sounds! Your body won’t be able to handle it.”

It was a surgery he underwent periodically every few years. Of course, every operation felt like brushing past death, but he had assumed it was always possible if he set his mind to it. Yet to be told he couldn’t undergo surgery…

Hearing that even the method he considered his final lifeline was impossible made all his energy drain away.

“Sigh.”

His mind thrown into total turmoil, Ho-rang tousled his hair with both hands.

The artificial heart battery was drained, and re-operation was impossible for three months. Then how was he supposed to live for those three months? Carrying an artificial heart connected to a drained battery in his chest—how?!

Just then, a fundamental question flashed through Ho-rang’s mind. He was told the battery was drained. That meant there was no power source to drive his artificial heart.

Then how am I alive right now?

Ho-rang placed his large hand over his chest.

His heart was beating.

Just like normal.

“My heart… is beating though?”

“Well, about that…”

Professor Kwak trailed off and turned his head toward Bo-bae.

Following Professor Kwak, Ho-rang’s gaze landed on Bo-bae’s face as well. Only then did the words Professor Kwak said earlier rush back to his mind.

“Without that patient… your heart won’t beat!”

As the two men’s eyes landed on her, Bo-bae offered an awkward smile.

Listening to their conversation, she now understood the situation. In particular, she knew down to the exact detail how this man’s “drained” heart was beating right now.

“Why are you looking at that woman?”

Anxious, Ho-rang asked.

Professor Kwak’s gaze lingered on the woman for quite a long time, and the woman wore a knowing smile.

Just as an ominous feeling began to envelop Ho-rang’s entire body, Professor Kwak uttered words that were impossible to believe:

“We don’t know the reason, but as long as Patient Na Bo-bae is near you, you are fine.”

“…”

When Ho-rang wore an incomprehensible expression, Professor Kwak picked up a mobile phone and a wireless charger resting on the table to explain it in easy-to-understand terms.

“When Patient Na Bo-bae is next to you, your drained battery recharges very slowly. Just like this phone and wireless charger.”

“…”

“And if she moves further away, it stops charging. The battery drains.”

“What on earth…”

“A phone can simply be recharged again, but you are different. If that battery runs completely empty, your heart will stop beating. Permanently.”

He needed to hear something that made sense to offer a reaction, but these overly unscientific words left Ho-rang utterly speechbound. That woman is charging my heart battery? Isn’t that complete nonsense?

“I know it sounds unbelievable. But it’s the truth. I’ve personally verified it several times.”

When Ho-rang’s heart stopped, Professor Kwak felt as though his whole world had ground to a halt. Ho-rang was the son of his dear friend, a kid he cared for like his own child. To have his heart stop right during a surgery performed by his own hands…

Just as he was collapsing in despair feeling as though his world was crumbling, he noticed the flatline on the electrocardiogram monitor trembling ever so slightly. But his joy was short-lived as the fluctuating graph flattened once again.

Professor Kwak frantically began searching for the reason why Ho-rang’s heart had briefly beaten. At that moment, the bed carrying Bo-bae, who had just finished her surgery, passed by—and right then, Ho-rang’s heart started beating. And as she moved further away, his heart stopped again.

Having stumbled upon this fact by pure chance, Professor Kwak arrived at the conclusion that Bo-bae was exerting some kind of effect on Ho-rang’s heart.

So, just in case, he placed the two in the same hospital room. Sure enough, just as he anticipated, Ho-rang’s heart beat—and what’s more, the battery was slowly recharging!

It was equally hard to believe for Professor Kwak. Furthermore, he was a medical doctor. He didn’t possess the soft sentimentality to believe in things like miracles.

However, it was an undeniable fact that being close to Bo-bae recharged Ho-rang’s battery. Just because it couldn’t be scientifically explained right this moment didn’t mean he could put Ho-rang’s life in danger. Keeping Ho-rang alive was the top priority.

“The one who saved your life is Patient Na Bo-bae.”

At Professor Kwak’s words, Ho-rang turned his head and stared at Bo-bae.

The kiss lunatic is my savior? Not only did she save me, she’s keeping my heart beating right now?

“Haha, hahahaha!”

Ho-rang burst out laughing like a madman.

Is today April Fools’ Day or something? What kind of unfunny joke is this?

Laughing to the point of tears, Ho-rang wiped the corners of his eyes and spoke.

“A thunderstorm struck and a brand-new battery model drained—fine. Conceding a hundred times over, I’ll try to believe that part. Incomprehensible things outside human common sense occasionally happen, after all. BUT! That woman is making my heart beat?!”

That was incomprehensible. Conceding a thousand times over, that was an assertion he could never accept. She wasn’t a deity—how on earth could that woman make his heart beat!

“It might be hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

“Professor!”

However, Professor Kwak remained resolute.

“If you really can’t believe it, verify it for yourself.”

Professor Kwak pointed to Ho-rang’s wrist. On his wrist was a watch he had never seen before.

“What is this?”

“It’s a smartwatch that tracks your heart rate and electrocardiogram, as well as your remaining battery level.”

Ho-rang checked his wrist.

On the smartwatch, the remaining battery level was displayed numerically, and the current battery reading was 11%.

It was ridiculous and hard to believe, but there was no other choice.

Since Professor Kwak had spoken with such conviction, there was no choice but to verify it personally—the effect that kiss lunatic was having on his heart!