My Bloody Valentine - 26

In a large hospital established by a major corporation, Pyo Jin-hee worked as a specialist in surgery until she was expelled from the hospital due to some unforeseen circumstances.

As the first assistant in surgery, she became involved in a medical incident caused by her senior, who was in charge of the surgery she assisted, reversing the blame and leaving the hospital in disgrace.

The doctor who was the director of that surgery was the son of the ruling party’s chairman and also the man she had secretly been seeing for almost three years behind the hospital staff’s backs.

Dealing with the wounds of betrayal, her older brother asked her how long she would continue like this and suggested opening her own clinic. With a medical license, obtaining a loan for opening a clinic was easy, and she could receive a substantial amount at a low interest rate.

Determined to stand up again, she decided to open her own clinic with the strong persuasion of her older brother.

Her brother, well-versed in business, actively assisted her by researching buildings and finding interior designers, treating it like his own work.

Thanks to him, she could delegate tasks she wasn’t familiar with to her brother and focus on studying what she needed to know as a clinic owner while actively searching for staff to work with.

However, when she went to check the progress of the interior construction at the location where her clinic was supposed to be, she was dismayed.

Another hospital was already occupying the space. The contract her brother presented was all fake, and he had taken the 400 million won loan she borrowed, escaping with his family overseas.

With the reputation of being a doctor who caused a medical incident spreading in the industry, she couldn’t find a decent hospital where she could work as a locum tenens. In the end, she ended up taking a night shift part-time job at a local clinic on the outskirts of Seoul.

About six months after starting the job, on a cold winter day with snow piled up to her ankles, she felt immersed in her thoughts while listening to the New Year’s address on the radio, thinking about how she was already in her thirties.

Suddenly, the outside became noisy, and six or more men entered the hospital. Even at a glance, they looked unusual in their black suits. As soon as they entered, they locked the hospital door and quickly occupied the place.

Without even asking if the reception had been done, the man in a crumpled suit lay down on the bed in the treatment room.

The patient was called “Director Jang” by the men.

There was no question about whether the reception had been done. The man’s shirt was soaked with blood, and Jin-hee, following her instincts as a doctor, took action.

When she cut the shirt with scissors, she saw a wound resembling a long slash as if it had been deeply cut with a knife. The internal organs were not damaged, but the wound was quite long and deep, requiring immediate suturing.

Jin-hee, trembling at the overwhelming presence of the men, called the night duty nurse, who was shaking at the reception desk, and started suturing after disinfecting the patient’s wound.

It could be considered fortunate; thanks to the sharp instrument, the wound edges were clean, and the suturing went well.

The men who hadn’t even registered left a check equivalent to her one-month salary, ordered her to keep quiet, and disappeared after conducting an inspection. Needing money, Jin-hee, once again in need of money, split the amount with the night duty nurse who had been on duty.

A few days later, a man in a black suit appeared again, offering a business card. He was Nam Joon-ho, a person holding the position of an accountant at Lime Business Hotel.

He made her an irresistible offer. He would provide her with a clinic in the commercial building next to Lime Business Hotel. They would pay all the initial opening costs, including interior design and medical equipment, and, in return, she would become the personal physician for Jang, the man who was previously a patient, and his subordinates.

It was a request to become a doctor for gangsters.

For her, who thought such things only existed in movies or dramas, it was a quite shocking proposition. However, the conditions the man presented were too good. The location for the clinic in Gangnam was prime, and the floor plan he showed her was large enough to accommodate two surgery rooms.

Having been betrayed twice by those closest to her, she had no faith or hope left in humanity. There seemed to be no downside to accepting the proposal, and at the edge of the cliff where she had no other place to fall, she reluctantly accepted his offer.

As soon as she signed the confidentiality agreement, things progressed quickly. The man’s drive was tremendous, and two months later, she found herself sitting in the director’s chair of a state-of-the-art surgery department in Seoul.

At first, she started boldly, thinking, “It’s just some mafia doctor. Well, whatever.” However, daily life was peaceful. The well-established hospital always had a steady stream of patients, and her hotline number received surprisingly few calls, making her wonder if everything was going as it should.

Over the course of nearly a year, the extent of her work was prescribing painkillers to an employer suffering from chronic headaches and occasionally treating injuries caused by the blunt objects or knives of organization members who were called out twice in the middle of the night.

Today, she received a call from her employer, Jang Taesin, and, as usual, brought a well-sanitized medical kit filled with various tools to the hotel.

Opening the hotel room door, she was greeted by Jang Taesin himself. Without saying a word, he led Jin-hee to a room inside the suite. Like the living room, the room was filled with colors converging to zero, consisting of white, gray, and black.

In the center of the room, on the white bed that occupied the space, lay a man covered with a blanket up to his waist, emitting an aura completely different from the men in black suits she had seen so far.

The moment she saw him, it was a jaw-dropping sight. It was as if he had narrowly escaped being devoured by zombies, with scars engraved here and there, both on his waist and arms, resembling delicate red fingerprints.

Just by looking at his exposed upper body, it was clear that the man had been through something significant, likely a consequence of a rough relationship. Probably his employer, standing behind him, was the one who had demanded such things.

Jin-hee, feeling a bit uncomfortable to call him a guardian, asked the man lying down, “Did you have a relationship with him?”

“Yeah.”

“Was there bleeding?”

“Yeah.”

“…I see.”

Hearing the employer’s voice responding like answering a question such as ‘Have you had breakfast?’ to ‘Did you see blood?’ made Jin-hee feel pity for the patient lying down.

Come to think of it, his face seemed familiar. Seeing his thin and small face, her memory came back. He was a patient she had examined a couple of months ago. A patient from a comprehensive hospital who showed symptoms like low blood pressure, vasovagal syncope, and even mild anemia due to quite a bad diet.

If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, one might mistake him for a corpse. If his upper body looked like that, the lower part must be quite interesting.

She silently sighed and, along with one of the nurses, sent a text message requesting some medication. Then, she started searching for a vein in the man’s arm to insert an IV line.

Adjusting the flow of the IV fluid, she examined the state of the tattoo on the nape above the visible scars. The situation was more severe than she initially thought. There were two or three places where the dried blood, as if teeth had pierced the flesh, was visible.

Did he really intend to devour flesh…?

“…First, I need to disinfect the wounds on your neck.”

Wearing nitrile gloves, she gently grabbed the scarred nape with her gloved hand, spraying plenty of sterile saline solution and carefully cleaning the wound. Afterward, she applied an antibiotic ointment and dressed the wound with gauze to prevent any rubbing against the pillow or blanket in case he tossed and turned during sleep.

What came next was crucial.

Given that her employer was close to 190 cm and had a robust physique, it was obvious at a glance that there was a considerable difference in stature between him and the patient.

Moreover, people in such professions were unlikely to have gentle sexual preferences, as they were accustomed to breaking and trampling. However, when she uncovered the blanket and slightly raised the man’s body to examine him, she realized that the difference in stature was more significant than expected.

If he was in such a state on the upper body, the lower part must be quite remarkable.

As she uncovered the blanket, she saw a man with egg-sized fresh bloodstains on the sheet, emitting a color aura that was completely different from the black-suited men she had seen before, lying on the white bed in the middle of the room.

Just by looking at him, she could tell that he had been through a lot. Scars were scattered all over his body, and the exposed parts were covered in fresh, crimson bloodstains. The man, lying there with an indifferent expression, seemed to have lost his vitality, resembling someone who had narrowly escaped being devoured by zombies.

Feeling a mix of shock and pity, Jin-hee couldn’t help but wonder what kind of ordeal this man had experienced.

As soon as she signed the confidentiality agreement, things progressed quickly. The man’s drive was tremendous, and two months later, she found herself sitting in the director’s chair of a state-of-the-art surgery department in Seoul.

At first, she started boldly, thinking, “It’s just some mafia doctor. Well, whatever.” However, daily life was peaceful. The well-established hospital always had a steady stream of patients, and her hotline number received surprisingly few calls, making her wonder if everything was going as it should.

Over the course of nearly a year, the extent of her work was prescribing painkillers to an employer suffering from chronic headaches and occasionally treating injuries caused by the blunt objects or knives of organization members who were called out twice in the middle of the night.

Today, she received a call from her employer, Jang Taesin, and, as usual, brought a well-sanitized medical kit filled with various tools to the hotel.

Opening the hotel room door, she was greeted by Jang Taesin himself. Without saying a word, he led Jin-hee to a room inside the suite. Like the living room, the room was filled with colors converging to zero, consisting of white, gray, and black.

In the center of the room, on the white bed that occupied the space, lay a man covered with a blanket up to his waist, emitting an aura completely different from the men in black suits she had seen so far.

The moment she saw him, it was a jaw-dropping sight. It was as if he had narrowly escaped being devoured by zombies, with scars engraved here and there, both on his waist and arms, resembling delicate red fingerprints.

Just by looking at his exposed upper body, it was clear that the man had been through something significant, likely a consequence of a rough relationship. Probably his employer, standing behind him, was the one who had demanded such things.

Jin-hee, feeling a bit uncomfortable to call him a guardian, asked the man lying down, “Did you have a relationship with him?”

“Yeah.”

“Was there bleeding?”

“Yeah.”

“…I see.”

Hearing the employer’s voice responding like answering a question such as ‘Have you had breakfast?’ to ‘Did you see blood?’ made Jin-hee feel pity for the patient lying down.

Come to think of it, his face seemed familiar. Seeing his thin and small face, her memory came back. He was a patient she had examined a couple of months ago. A patient from a comprehensive hospital who showed symptoms like low blood pressure, vasovagal syncope, and even mild anemia due to quite a bad diet.

If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, one might mistake him for a corpse. If his upper body looked like that, the lower part must be quite interesting.

She silently sighed and, along with one of the nurses, sent a text message requesting some medication. Then, she started searching for a vein in the man’s arm to insert an IV line.

Adjusting the flow of the IV fluid, she examined the state of the tattoo on the nape above the visible scars. The situation was more severe than she initially thought. There were two or three places where the dried blood, as if teeth had pierced the flesh, was visible.

Did he really intend to devour flesh…?

“…First, I need to disinfect the wounds on your neck.”

Wearing nitrile gloves, she gently grabbed the scarred nape with her gloved hand, spraying plenty of sterile saline solution and carefully cleaning the wound. Afterward, she applied an antibiotic ointment and dressed the wound with gauze to prevent any rubbing against the pillow or blanket in case he tossed and turned during sleep.

What came next was crucial.

Given that her employer was close to 190 cm and had a robust physique, it was obvious at a glance that there was a considerable difference in stature between him and the patient.

Moreover, people in such professions were unlikely to have gentle sexual preferences, as they were accustomed to breaking and trampling. However, when she uncovered the blanket and slightly raised the man’s body to examine him, she realized that the difference in stature was more significant than expected.

If he was in such a state on the upper body, the lower part must be quite remarkable.

As she uncovered the blanket, she saw a man with egg-sized fresh bloodstains on the sheet, emitting a color aura that was completely different from the black-suited men she had seen before, lying on the white bed in the middle of the room.

Just by looking at him, she could tell that he had been through a lot. Scars were scattered all over his body, and the exposed parts were covered in fresh, crimson bloodstains. The man, lying there with an indifferent expression, seemed to have lost his vitality, resembling someone who had narrowly escaped being devoured by zombies.

Feeling a mix of shock and pity, Jin-hee couldn’t help but wonder what kind of ordeal this man had experienced.

If blood was flying, it must have been quite painful. It was a scene that couldn’t be easily overlooked with indifference.

Right on cue, someone rang the bell. Worried that the nurse who came for an errand might encounter something difficult, Jin-hee quickly made up an excuse.

“Oh, it’s the person I called. I asked them to bring some necessary medication.”

For a moment, Jang Taesin, who had been looking at her with slightly narrowed eyes, didn’t seem to sense any suspicion. He personally went outside to receive the items.

What he brought back was medication to prevent infection at the injured site, numb the area to reduce pain, and make sure the patient wouldn’t feel any pain in the sensitive areas.

Jin-hee changed her gloves and applied a thin, pale-orange ointment on her right index finger. Then, she cautiously lifted one of the patient’s thighs with her left hand.

It was when she was about to bring the ointment-covered hand through the patient’s buttocks.

“What are you trying to do?”

Taesin’s hand grabbed Jin-hee’s shoulder. It felt like he just lightly gripped it, but her entire shoulder tensed up. It was evident that this person had tremendous strength.

“What?”

” What are you trying to do right now?”

“I’m trying to apply the ointment. There seems to be a wound, and I thought—”

“Just put it on the hole, can’t you?”

“No… I have to apply it inside the rectum to make sure—”

“Come out.”

When Jin-hee stepped back, Taesin covered his body again with the blanket. It was as if he was a wild animal burying its prey in the ground to hide it from competitors in the middle of winter.

Curious about his intentions but unable to ask from the location where something was supposed to be asked, Jin-hee had no choice but to quietly step back.

“Explain. I’ll do it.”

“Ah… I need to squeeze enough ointment into my hand and apply it evenly inside the rectum. Also, around the anal entrance.”

“Got it. Go out.”

Jin-hee, feeling like she was being robbed of the ointment and being kicked out, exited. In the hallway, she muttered with a strange feeling.

“What the… it feels like I’ve become a shameless woman trying to snatch someone else’s man…”

❖ ❖ ❖

In the world, there are fish without scales, they say. Instead of scales, they flip their mucus-covered skin to protect themselves.

Han felt as if such a fish were stirring inside her belly.

“Ugh….”

As if applying salt to a sharp wound, she woke up feeling a warm sensation from below. Then, she immediately tensed her body.

Jang Taesin, sitting on the bed in a shower gown, was inserting his finger between her buttocks.

“Ugh, please, stop….”

As Han writhed, Taesin tightened his grip on her behind her knees.

“Stay still.”

Although she jerked her arms and legs like convulsions, they were repeatedly pushed back down.

Feeling overwhelmed by the fear of experiencing such a thing again, Han could only silently move backward.

“Explain. I’ll do it.”

“Ah… you need to squeeze enough ointment into your hand and apply it evenly inside the rectum. Also, around the anal entrance.”

“Got it. Go out.”

Han, feeling as if she were about to be robbed of the ointment again, was chased out. It wasn’t until she saw Taesin putting the blanket back over his body like an animal hiding its prey that she wondered about his intentions.

With the fear of experiencing such a thing again, Han’s head, which had been blank with dread, regained clarity from the moment she saw one of his knees placed on the bed.

The scar on his knee, which she had often applied medicine to with her own hands, resembled the wound on her buttocks in a dreadful way.

‘Should I pick that feeling too?’

‘It’s too high. How do I…’

‘No, now I just have to reach out.’

The moment she saw one of his knees on the bed, Han, who usually applied medicine with her own hands to the scars and the frightfully similar wound, suddenly found herself trembling.

“Tae… Taesin…”