Chapter 17: An Unwelcome Proposal

“That’s not it. I was just curious. I wondered if you would handle people who meet your financial standards even if they were to die tomorrow.”

“Matters of life and death are for the reapers to handle according to the register. It’s not for me to interfere.”

Jeong Eun-gyu, who had been chewing a sandwich, swallowed and asked. His question was as monotonous as flowing water.

“Then how will you save me? You said ‘December’ is written on my forehead. If that’s the case, you can’t interfere with my death.”

“Professor.”

“Yes.”

“You keep showing that you’ve never been in love.”

He couldn’t retort, asking why the hell he was bringing up dating again. Because Ahn Dae-young’s thumb wiped the sauce from the corner of Jeong Eun-gyu’s mouth. The movement of his lips, which had been continuing physiological caloric intake, slowed.

“So sloppy. Even so, don’t you think you’re cute?”

‘I wish he wouldn’t smile like that. It’s definitely not because I’m weak to a smiling face. When this man smiles, it tickles as if ants are crawling on my skin.’ Jeong Eun-gyu wanted to believe it was a physiological reaction. So he asserted.

“I want to live.”

The smile slowly faded from Ahn Dae-young’s face. Jeong Eun-gyu meticulously wiped his mouth and hands with a wet tissue, then glanced alternately at Ahn Dae-young’s untouched sandwich and his sharp eyes.

“You asked if I want to live. Yes, I want to live. But I probably can’t meet the amount you want. My income falls far short of your clients’.”

Tap. His short, trimmed fingertips tapped the table. Then, with a familiar deflating laugh, he said, “How about dating me?”

Ahn Dae-young presented a new alternative. ‘At best, it would be sexual harassment…’ Jeong Eun-gyu, who had been thinking vaguely, became dazed as if hit on the head with a hammer.

‘Dating? Dating? It would have been much better if he said let’s sleep together once.’ The sudden strong shock made even the coffee taste bland like water.

“If I date you… can I, who already has a death date, live?”

It was so absurd that he almost burst out laughing, words popping out uncontrollably.

“Yeah.” But it was an extremely serious answer. “You’re mine, I can’t let you die.”

“…” For a moment, he thought he was alone with Ahn Dae-young here. As the dazed Jeong Eun-gyu shook his head and slapped his cheeks, Ahn Dae-young neatly collected the scattered trash into one place and stood up. What was left for Jeong Eun-gyu was Ahn Dae-young’s untouched sandwich and more than half-empty coffee.

“Eat that later if you’re hungry. I’m busy, so I’m leaving first. See you at home. You said you’d buy dinner, Professor, so keep your promise.”

‘I never made such a promise.’ Normally he would have retorted, but Jeong Eun-gyu remained like a stone statue for a while, unable to get up. Because those few words—this kind of confession… no, proposal—were quite unpleasant.

‘Think of him as a savior, a savior. If he’s a savior, what does it matter if it’s an administrative office or city hall?’

For Jeong Eun-gyu, the real savior was Father Peter. He took in a child holding a knife beside a dead mother covered in blood. He didn’t ask anything. He always prayed for Jeong Eun-gyu and helped him grow up normally in every way. Without Father Peter, socialization would have been unthinkable.

That Father Peter called Ahn Dae-young a ‘savior’. Conversely, Ahn Dae-young quite dislikes Father Peter. He acts as if he has no respect for elders at all.

‘Isn’t his method too obvious?’ Although he kept in mind the possibility of a third party, at this point he lacked information and couldn’t see an inch ahead. Since there wasn’t enough evidence to support the claim, from Jeong Eun-gyu’s standpoint, it was only natural that the speculation gained weight.

Father Peter gave him a go stone containing holy water for exorcism. Ahn Dae-young called it a toy, but without that holy water, Jeong Eun-gyu’s nerves might have been scratched raw and he might have gone mad long ago. He knew well that the mindset of giving disease then medicine exists in humans. But his relationship with Father Peter wasn’t that line.

‘Apart from personal feelings about Peter, that bastard isn’t stupid.’ But he couldn’t ignore Ahn Dae-young’s words either. So he couldn’t easily take a neutral stance. ‘Which side is right?’

Jeong Eun-gyu is not easily shaken. Though his childhood had a past he couldn’t easily tell others, that past rather forged a firm, strong will. Father Peter praised this as great progress and was very pleased.

Today is the 15th. Ten days left to die on his birthday. Ten days is both long and short. His head grew complicated.

He was going into the operating room again starting next Wednesday. He collided with reality.

First, if he died. The packed schedule would be disrupted. Others would cover for him, but… Jeong Eun-gyu, unaware that he was a workaholic, amusingly worried about work first. Hadn’t Kim Hyun-soo appeared with a rotten face in the last four days? This place would truly become a hell of work.

Second, if he survived. To do that, he had to accept Ahn Dae-young’s unpleasant proposal. Frankly, the very act of making such a lousy suggestion to someone who might die in ten days was damn annoying. But he asserted: ‘You’re mine, I can’t let you die.’

Third, Father Peter, whom that Ahn Dae-young dislikes.

“…” He tapped the calendar with his pen. Something was shrouded in a veil. An unforeseen event that Jeong Eun-gyu hadn’t yet realized might be hidden, waiting to be discovered.

‘Why do I have to die? Why me? I’ve lived a sufficiently hard life. And now I’m supposed to die. What kind of life is this?’ The only explanation for calmly accepting this situation was that he himself was indifferent.

Suddenly, he recalled the various ghosts he encountered when living alone with his mother in the mountains. ‘Did they really want to be friends with me?’ The answer came immediately. ‘No.’ Self-questioning, Jeong Eun-gyu pressed his eye sockets.

‘What a twisted life. He might as well write an autobiography in ten days. If published, wouldn’t it easily become a bestseller and even be made into a movie?’

The stray thoughts didn’t last long. A nurse entered through the clinic door, stood in front of the monitor, and clicked the mouse.

“Professor, if you’re very tired, shall I give you a garlic injection? Yuna had one while running the evening shift because she was so tired, and she said it worked like a charm. Except for the garlic smell when she burps.”

“It’s fine. Please ask Mr. Hwang Byeong-hyeon to come in.”

“Sure~ Oh, you asked about the operating room. Mrs. Lee Jin-ok. The anesthesiology department called saying she’s available early next Wednesday morning. It’s fully booked except for early morning.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Professor, you really should get a garlic injection.”

“I don’t need one… I hate garlic.”

The nurse chuckled. ‘It’s not a joke. Ah, whatever. I need to deal with the accumulated work first.’ Stretching, Jeong Eun-gyu asked, referring to Choryang who was unseen through the door crack.

“Did that goblin… looking person outside leave?”

“No way. He’s in the waiting area outside the clinic. Sitting up straight, eyes wide like this.” She mimicked Choryang’s wide eyes. Letting out a dry laugh, Jeong Eun-gyu said in a tired voice, “Ignore him…”

“I’m already doing that without you telling me.”

A knock was heard. Greeting the limping patient who entered and sat down, Jeong Eun-gyu put down his pen and clicked the mouse button, and the patient’s brain scan appeared on the monitor.

“The screen shows your father’s brain scan. Here, do you see these parts where the blood vessels are narrowed? When these vessels narrow or block, symptoms like tingling in the hands or feet and severe headaches occur…”

His phone, thrown carelessly, vibrated. He stopped explaining and turned it over. In a flash, he saw the caller was Father Peter. Jeong Eun-gyu paused for a moment and stared at the now silent phone.

“Isn’t that a call you should answer?” Seeing Jeong Eun-gyu’s expressionless face, the guardian asked cautiously. He soon smiled and shook his head. Explaining step by step at the patient’s eye level was a habit he had kept since becoming a doctor. They say being a doctor is also about luck… That’s why on days when Jeong Eun-gyu was on duty, nurses would comfortably say that the patient who came on Professor Jeong’s duty day was lucky.

“No matter the disease, if you miss the timing, even I can’t do anything. You can be admitted today, right?” Saying that, Jeong Eun-gyu put his phone into his gown pocket and looked at the nurse. “Please catch me as soon as the room is ready.”

“What’s wrong with him?” With Ahn Dae-young standing by the bed, saying nothing, Assemblywoman Lee Jae-suk couldn’t stand it and asked, but he remained silent. Seeing her husband, who seemed about to suffocate without even being told the severity, was infuriating.

“Is it because we went to see a shaman? We went together to ask for a talisman regarding the nomination. That shaman is well-known in this field…”

“I’m not interested in the story.” Cut off, Assemblywoman Lee Jae-suk growled internally. She urged Ahn Dae-young, who was just looking down with annoyance plastered all over his face. “Representative Ahn. At least tell me what’s going on. What’s his condition? Is he possessed by a ghost?”

“It’s not a ghost.”

“Not?”

“A snake much larger than a python is coiled around his body.”

“Wh-what?!”

“If you understood, get out. Make sure no one comes in.”

“C-can he live? Can he? Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me say get out?”

Shooed away like a bird, left alone, the husband’s coughing worsened. Because the snake squeezed his body tighter. The man, his face pale, seemed to be in agony as if about to die soon.

Glancing at the number on the forehead, Ahn Dae-young instinctively reached for a cigarette, then realized he was in a hospital room and gripped the pack. That’s why he hated hospitals.

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