🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 03
“Wait a moment, sir! Please wait! Let us board too.”
The crew member who was untying the rope from the post to set the boat afloat spotted Iseol and froze mid-motion.
“Hey now, he’s bleeding like crazy. Shouldn’t he go to the hospital first?”
The man asked in shock as he looked at the injured man.
“We don’t think we can make it to the hospital like this, so we’re going to take him to the island first and have the public health clinic director treat him.”
“What about the ticket?”
“I’ll pay for him in cash. Please, just this once. If we’re late, he might die.”
“Well… he can’t die, can he. Good grief, what on earth happened?”
The last ferry entering the island on Sunday evening was quiet, with no tourists—only a few island residents and public officials who worked on the island.
Teachers often came in on the first ferry Monday morning.
Instead of the crowded first floor where most passengers were, they helped the man up to the second floor.
It wouldn’t be good to draw attention to a bleeding outsider.
On the second floor there was a small, cozy room with a pleasantly warm floor.
Not only the man but Iseol herself was trembling, and they both needed warmth.
“I’ll take off your jacket.”
Iseol spread a blanket she found in the corner of the room, took off the man’s jacket, and laid him down on it.
The boat began to move.
Only then did Iseol let out a sigh of relief.
At least they hadn’t been spotted by the gangsters. If the treatment went well, she could save him.
After finding a first-aid kit, she wrapped a bandage around his abdomen over his cardigan.
The bleeding stopped more effectively.
“Just hang on a little longer. Once we get to the island, there’s a clinic where you can be treated.”
“……”
“But if your organs were damaged, the clinic might not be able to do much. I’m worried. You might need surgery.”
“It’s not that serious. Just a few stitches… should be enough.”
He spoke as if he’d suffered wounds like this countless times before, but his intermittently broken breathing revealed how much pain he was in.
Then suddenly, the man’s gaze turned to Iseol, and he reached a hand toward her head.
“Why…?”
“When were you planning to eat this…?”
He plucked something off her hair.
It was a strand of seaweed.
“When did this get stuck there…?”
So she’d been walking around with this hanging from her head…
Embarrassed, Iseol clenched the seaweed in her hand.
Looks like he still had the energy to joke, even now.
“Try to get some sleep. It’ll take a while.”
“How long?”
“About fifty minutes?”
“Hah.”
The man closed his eyes and soon lay completely still.
Just then, there was a sound of footsteps, followed by a familiar voice.
“Iseol.”
It was Junpil, a colleague teacher at the same school and her senior.
“Oh, senior.”
She’d thought he wouldn’t come in until tomorrow morning—this was bad.
“I had a hunch and came, and sure enough, it’s you. What kind of mess is this? And who’s that guy? Did he fall into the sea?”
“Yes. It’s a long story.”
Fortunately, a crew member approached with some paperwork, rescuing Iseol from the awkward situation.
“Could you tell me his name and phone number? I need to write them on the passenger list.”
“Ah… just a moment.”
Iseol searched the pockets of the man’s jacket and pants.
But there was no wallet, no phone.
It must have fallen into the sea when he did, or been dropped somewhere.
“Sir?”
But the man didn’t respond, his eyes still closed.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but he doesn’t have any ID. I’ll let you know once he wakes up after we arrive. And this is the fare.”
She handed over a generous amount of cash instead.
“All right. Make sure you tell me later. And here—towels. You need to dry him off or he’ll catch a cold. You’re fearless, jumping into the sea in this freezing weather.”
Taking a couple of towels from him, Iseol made a quiet request.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but please don’t tell anyone about what happened today. It feels like this man’s life depends on it.”
The man’s gaze shifted to the figure of the man lying there like a painting.
“He’s not dangerous, is he? He is being chased by those scary gangsters who searched our boat earlier, right? Doesn’t seem like the kind of person you want to get involved with.”
“He’s someone who saved my grandmother and me when we were in danger. He’s not a bad person.”
“Alright. I won’t say anything, so don’t worry and get some rest.”
“Thank you.”
Having more or less grasped the situation from their conversation, Junpil looked down at the man.
Iseol used the towels to dry the man’s wet body and hair, then covered him with two overlapping blankets.
After drying her wet hair and clothes and putting on her coat, her shivering gradually subsided.
“Looks like he was stabbed. Shouldn’t you take him to a hospital? How could you put him on a boat?”
“I’m planning to take him to the clinic director. I thought that would be less dangerous.”
Iseol stared quietly at the man’s face—whether he was asleep or unconscious, she couldn’t tell.
His striking features were delicate, almost artistically beautiful, while his strong jawline radiated masculinity.
He looked close to 190 centimeters tall, his body solid with muscle, yet his lips seemed soft enough to be sweet—an odd, captivating contrast.
Why would such a beautiful man be chased by gangsters and even stabbed?
Where had the two men who’d been with him gone?
From his speech and stylish clothes, he seemed like someone from Seoul—so why had he come all the way down to this place, practically the end of the world?
Questions piled upon questions, but even if she asked, she doubted she’d get answers.
Was he twenty-nine? Thirty?
Even being generous, he didn’t look over thirty, yet his heavy aura felt like someone who’d endured a much longer life.
Iseol curled up and lay down.
With the warm floor beneath her, drowsiness washed over her.
“Teacher Yoon, we’re here. Get off now. Everyone else has already left, so you can just come out.”
Woken by the crew member’s voice, Iseol looked around.
Junpil was nowhere to be seen—he must have gotten off first.
She shook the man gently.
“We need to get off. Can you walk?”
The man opened his eyes, frowning as he pushed himself up.
It was the last ferry, and the terminal, emptied of people, was deserted.
“Iseol, over here.”
Junpil, who had gotten off earlier with his car, waved at them.
They put the man in the car and headed to the clinic.
“Fortunately, the wound isn’t very deep. His muscles are so solid that the knife didn’t damage his organs. If it had gone a little deeper, it could’ve been dangerous.”
Director Jang treated him first without asking many questions.
At her words after finishing the treatment, Iseol let out a relieved sigh.
“That’s a relief.”
“If his organs had been damaged, there wouldn’t have been much I could do.”
“Then will stitching it up be enough?”
“Well… that depends on how much blood he lost and whether the wound gets infected. Just in case, I gave him a tetanus shot. Teacher Yoon, go wash up. You’re shivering. You’ll catch a cold.”
“Yes.”
Iseol left the examination room and took a shower.
The sight of herself in the mirror afterward was a complete mess.
When she came out after changing, Director Jang, having finished suturing, muttered as she washed her hands,
“What on earth does he do to be covered in scars like that?”
“He has a lot of wounds?”
“There were stab wounds on his arms and back too. Some old scars, some recent.”
So he really was from that world, after all.
Well, what reason would an ordinary person have to get tangled up with gangsters?
The man was so tall and well-built that the hospital bed looked small beneath him.
“But how did he end up getting stabbed?”
Director Jang asked quietly, belatedly curious.
Unable to explain everything, Iseol gave a vague answer.
“I don’t know the details. He fell into the sea after being stabbed, and I saved him.”
“I didn’t know you were so brave, Teacher Yoon. But if he fell into the sea, the water must’ve been ice-cold. The wound is a problem, but if we leave him like this, he could get pneumonia. We should change him out of his wet clothes quickly.”
The two women’s gazes naturally turned to Junpil.
“Why—why are you looking at me?”
Junpil held up his palms.
“Is there anyone else here but Mr. Park? We can’t do it ourselves, can we?”
At Director Jang’s words, Junpil sagged his shoulders in resignation.
“Do you have clothes for him?”
“I have a few of my husband’s. And new underwear too.”
Director Jang’s husband lived on the mainland raising their children and would come to the island to stay together during school vacations.
Director Jang brought out clean clothes.
“Then please, senior.”
“Good grief!”
As Iseol waited outside, there was a loud crash and a scream moments later.
