Chapter 59

Charge Me Up

Bo-bae bit her nails anxiously.

Seeing Ho-rang collapsed, she had kissed him without giving a second thought to anything else. The moment the collapsed Ho-rang woke up, her surroundings finally came into view. Countless people were surrounding her and Ho-rang. Only then did her mind snap to attention.

Seol-hee looking at her with astonished eyes, and Chairman Baek turning his head with a dismal expression. Only then did she regain her senses.

“Sigh. Is Ho-rang going to get scolded a lot?”

After all, they were people who didn’t want her. Not content with staying quiet in front of such people, she had gone ahead and kissed him. How flabbergasted must they have been?

As she was letting out a deep sigh, the door to Ho-rang’s hospital room opened and Chairman Baek walked out. Bo-bae stood up abruptly before she even realized it and bowed her head. Chairman Baek shot her a fierce, displeased glare and walked right past her. It was a complete snub.

“Wow. His charisma is no joke.”

Then again, since he was a man who built Taeseong Group with his bare hands, he couldn’t be an ordinary figure.

What was Ho-rang’s childhood like, growing up under a grandfather like that? Just the thought of it made one side of her chest feel heavy.

Just then, the room door opened and someone else stepped out. It was none other than Soo-yeon. Surprised, Bo-bae jumped up again and bowed deeply toward her.

“Hello.”

At that, Soo-yeon offered a gentle, elegant smile to Bo-bae.

“You’re our Ho-rang’s girlfriend, right?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes.”

Since no one had willingly called her his girlfriend before, Bo-bae was a little surprised, but since it was true, she answered promptly.

“Could we talk for a moment?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. Of course.”

Moving to the lounge, Bo-bae and Soo-yeon sat across from each other with a table between them. Awkward with one another, the two women merely fidgeted with their paper cups.

Bo-bae recalled Ho-rang’s family tree she had seen on a portal site. Grandfather Chairman Baek Man-seok, aunt Managing Director Baek Mi-kyung, uncle-in-law Representative Choi Tae-shik, and cousin Choi Do-yun. That was as far as the family tree went when searching for Ho-rang.

‘Then this person is…?’

Though she wasn’t entirely certain who she was since she didn’t pop up in portal searches, Bo-bae could roughly guess.

Kim Soo-yeon, Ho-rang’s legal mother.

Bo-bae didn’t know much about Ho-rang’s biological parents either. She hadn’t bothered to ask because she didn’t want to bring up painful stories, and Ho-rang hadn’t brought it up first either. Furthermore, there were only endless rumors floating around in the world with nothing confirmed as fact.

“I didn’t know our Ho-rang had a woman he liked.”

Breaking the silence, Soo-yeon spoke up. Her voice was as warm and gentle as her refined face. How to put it—it was the typical image of a kind character in a drama.

“My greetings are late. I am Na Bo-bae.”

When Bo-bae introduced herself, Soo-yeon muttered her name a few times as if trying not to forget it: “Na Bo-bae, Na Bo-bae.”

“It’s a pretty name.”

“Thank you.”

“It would have been better if I had known Bo-bae a bit earlier.”

Pausing for a moment, Soo-yeon continued speaking again.

“To be honest, the family is currently pushing forward with Ho-rang’s marriage.”

That was something Bo-bae was well aware of. She had already run into Seol-hee several times as well.

“If I had known Ho-rang was seeing Bo-bae, I would have persuaded Father. I’m sorry I found out so late.”

“No, not at all. I should have introduced myself first, I’m sorry.”

“Actually, I’m not Ho-rang’s biological mother.”

Soo-yeon let out a slightly awkward smile. It was a face tinged with embarrassment, as if finding out about Bo-bae and Ho-rang late was because she wasn’t his real mother.

“Even if I try to care for Ho-rang, he doesn’t welcome me warmly. I understand his feelings. After all, I’m not his biological mother.”

Bo-bae couldn’t say anything. Because she understood Ho-rang’s feelings just as much as Soo-yeon’s.

How terrible must Ho-rang have felt when he found out he had a legal mother he didn’t even know? To the world, a woman he didn’t know was announced as his mother, while his unacknowledged biological mother hadn’t even been placed on the family register yet. Feeling that misery directly made Bo-bae’s heart ache.

However, that misery wouldn’t have belonged solely to Ho-rang. Soo-yeon’s misery upon realizing her husband had another woman—and even a child—pained Bo-bae as well.

All of this must be a tragedy created by Chairman Baek Man-seok. A tragedy that made his child, daughter-in-law, and grandson all miserable out of his own greed.

“When Ho-rang was ten, both of his biological parents passed away. He grew up lonely and alone. He never let anyone close to him. He had no friends and no lover, so I was worried… to think he had hidden away such a pretty girlfriend.”

As Bo-bae smiled shyly, Soo-yeon took her hand.

Was it because of the warmth? Somehow, her touch didn’t feel unfamiliar.

“So what I mean is, please stay by our Ho-rang’s side and take good care of him, Bo-bae. Although I might not be of much help, I’ll still cheer you on. I hope our Ho-rang can live happily from now on.”

Bo-bae felt that Soo-yeon’s hand gently patting hers was incredibly warm.

Judging that he couldn’t get any information from Seol-hee, Do-yun headed straight to Taeseong Hospital. All the way to the hospital, only one set of words kept lingering in his mind.

“He woke up after she kissed him? Ah, no way.” “I’m serious. He didn’t wake up even when the doctor performed CPR, but he woke up when that woman kissed him.” “You must have misseen. It’s not Snow White. Does it make sense that someone wakes up just from a kiss?”

That strange story people leaving the shopping center were sharing. That absurd story kept bothering Do-yun, and he wanted to confirm it. No, he had to confirm it. Because that must be the giant secret connecting Ho-rang and Bo-bae.

Before Secretary Yun was fired, he had planted a informant at Taeseong Hospital, and he hadn’t known it would come in so handy like this.

Arriving at the hospital, before searching for Ho-rang, Do-yun first sought out the nurse Secretary Yun had mentioned. She was a nurse guarding the front of the VVIP ward. Contacting Do-yun away from people’s eyes, she looked around cautiously and opened her mouth.

“I don’t know the details very well either.”

“Just tell me what you know.”

Hesitating for a moment, the nurse barely parted her lips.

“Patient Baek Ho-rang had surgery about three months ago to replace his heart with a semi-permanent artificial heart battery that doesn’t need replacement.”

“A battery that doesn’t need replacement?”

“Yes. Originally, artificial hearts require periodic battery replacements, but it was a surgery to replace it with a battery that doesn’t need that.”

Do-yun nodded as if he understood.

“However, on the day of the surgery, there was a blackout at the hospital. I think there was some kind of accident then. I don’t know the exact details, but because of that accident, Patient Baek Ho-rang’s battery ran flat.”

“Ran flat?”

“Yes. But the medical team only realized it after the battery replacement surgery was over. Since there was no battery, in short, he was as good as dead.”

“Then how is he alive?”

“From here on, it’s my guess. It’s not very reliable story…”

Up until now, these were things she had overheard. They were facts she heard while passing by as the doctors and nurses who attended the surgery whispered among themselves. But from here on out, it was purely her imagination and speculation. That was why she was hesitant, but Do-yun urged her, saying it didn’t matter.

“For whatever reason, for Patient Baek Ho-rang to live, he has to stick close to Patient Na Bo-bae. Extremely close.”

At her words, Do-yun furrowed his brow. The story so far had some degree of credibility. It was roughly believable scientifically. But sticking close to Bo-bae is what keeps Ho-rang alive?

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t really know either. That’s why I said it’s not a reliable story.”

When Do-yun tilted his head, the nurse grew extremely timid and asked:

“Should I… stop?”

“No. Keep going.”

Do-yun gestured for her to continue and listened closely to her words.

“Anyway, from a certain point, Patient Baek Ho-rang started following right behind Patient Na Bo-bae like a shadow. And the words he kept saying were, ‘Charge me up.’”

“Charge me up…?”

What could that mean? Charge him up? What?

“It’s my guess, but didn’t Patient Na Bo-bae charge Patient Baek Ho-rang’s drained heart battery? That’s the only thing there could be to charge…”

The nurse trailed off timidly once again. It seemed she herself judged that it made no sense.

Do-yun fell into thought.

Ho-rang’s drained artificial heart battery. If the battery was discharged, he should be dead, but seeing as he was alive, it was true that something was playing the role of a battery. But what…?

Just then, he remembered the moment he had held hands with Bo-bae. That exact time when he was startled by electricity strong enough to feel like an electric shock.

“Could that woman really…?”

As he continued his absurd imagination, someone called out to him.

“It’s Do-yun.”

The one approaching him was none other than Soo-yeon.

“Ah, you were still at the hospital?”

As Do-yun greeted her awkwardly, Soo-yeon approached with a gentle smile.

“Did you come to see Ho-rang?”

“Yes. Is Ho-rang doing alright?”

“His body seems fine, but his mind probably isn’t. Grandfather scolded him heavily.”

“I’m sure he did.”

They said he kissed Bo-bae in front of countless onlookers. Right in front of Representative Han, not to mention Seol-hee. Covering people’s eyes and shutting their mouths might work for others, but Representative Han wouldn’t be like that. When marriage talks were going back and forth, if the prospective son-in-law acted like that, what father would grant permission for that marriage?

“Go on in.”

“Yes. Are you leaving?”

“Yes. I should get going too.”

“Take care, then.”

Do-yun said goodbye to Soo-yeon and walked toward the VVIP ward.

The VVIP ward was blocked off from the middle of the hallway so that just anyone couldn’t enter, but he saw someone standing in that space. Wondering who it was since they didn’t look like a doctor or a nurse, Do-yun walked toward that person and quickly realized it was Bo-bae.

Bo-bae was standing blankly in front of the hospital room as if lost in thought. While wondering what she was thinking about so deeply, the magical words he had heard today kept echoing in his ears.

“He didn’t wake up even when the doctor performed CPR, but he woke up when that woman kissed him.” “You must have misseen. What is she, Snow White? Does it make sense that someone wakes up just from a kiss?” “It’s my guess, but didn’t Patient Na Bo-bae charge Patient Baek Ho-rang’s drained heart battery? That’s the only thing there could be to charge…”

A woman who charges Ho-rang’s drained battery.

In a way, it was like a magical tale, and in another way, a fairytale-like story.

And Do-yun thought: It would be really nice if I were the male lead in that fairytale.

But that wouldn’t happen. Because that woman was already Ho-rang’s woman, and he was likely the villain between them.

When Do-yun let out a soft chuckle, Bo-bae, sensing a presence, turned around toward him.

Seeing her surprised to see him, Do-yun walked toward her as if making up his mind. Because if he was going to be the villain, he had to be faithful to the villain’s role.

Do-yun approached Bo-bae and reached out his hand. And he pulled her right into his arms.