CHAPTER 12

*

As Seungbin craned his neck and approached closer, Yeonseo swung her arm to fend him off, but she couldn’t overcome his strength. Eventually, she was pushed back, and Seungbin forcibly pressed his lips against hers.

Yeonseo was taken aback by Seungbin’s unexpected advance and felt terrified. She couldn’t help but think that perhaps Taeheon was right. Her mind was in turmoil, especially when faced with Seungbin’s arrogant face.

Startled by the unpleasant contact, Yeonseo vigorously shook her head to avoid his foul breath, struggling to escape.

“Hmph!”

With each unpleasant touch on her lips, tears welled up in the corners of Yeonseo’s eyes.

“Ha, Yeonseo.”

While she momentarily stopped rebelling, Seungbin tried to kiss her again. She twisted her face away, and his teeth scraped harshly against her delicate lips.

“…Ouch!”

A stinging pain rushed through her, and at the same time, an urgent sound rang out from somewhere.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

It was an alert bell – Mrs. Kang’s notification bell.

“Go, you… you have to let go!”

When Yeonseo spoke with a choked voice, Seungbin stopped kissing her and grabbed her shoulders.

“You want me to let you go? Then meet me. If you promise to meet me, I’ll let you leave.”

“Please let me go. Mrs. Kang woke up.”

“I told you yesterday was a mistake. I was drunk. I drank a lot, and that’s why I was thinking of you… Ha…”

Seungbin cursed under his breath. Taking advantage of that moment, Yeonseo pushed away from his chest quickly ran off.

*

Yeonseo tried to erase the distorted expression on her face while wiping her lips and headed for Mrs. Kang’s room. She thought it was just an alert that she had woken up, but Mrs. Kang was lying lifelessly on the bed.

“Mrs. Kang!”

Yeonseo yelled as she rushed to her. She turned Mrs. Kang over, checked her pulse, and lifted her eyelids.

“Mrs. Kang, can you hear me?”

Thankfully, Mrs. Kang was still conscious. However, her face was swollen unrecognizably, and her breathing was rough.

Is it an allergic reaction?

As far as Yeonseo knew, Mrs. Kang didn’t have any allergies. However, sometimes allergies could suddenly occur when the immune system is weakened. Yeonseo quickly recalled what the madam had eaten today and called out to Mrs. Kang.

“Ms. Kang, wake up. Mrs. Kang!”

“Yeonseo, grandma’s chest is……. stuffy, huh…….”

Mrs. Kang trembled while making rough breathing sounds. Yeonseo carefully removed Mrs. Kang’s clothes to examine her back. There were long red marks resembling whip marks.

“Are you allergic to something?”

“Huff… a little, a long time ago…”

“A little?”

Yeonseo asked, but Mrs. Kang was struggling to speak. If she suddenly went into shock like this, her allergy must be severe.

Yeonseo quickly opened the bedside drawer and rummaged through her medicines.

“Antihistamines, epinephrine…”

Yeonseo shook her head. There was nothing that could help.

Although she was a nurse, Mrs. Kang had a distinguished physician, and she could only stock the medicines he approved.

There was no time to waste.

Yeonseo quickly dialed the emergency number and called for the driver urgently.

“What’s going on?”

Seungbin, who came in through the open door, noticed the alarming situation and asked in surprise.

“We need to go to the hospital. It’s an anaphylactic shock.”

“What? Grandma!”

Seungbin rushed in, shocked.

“We need to get her to the hospital immediately.”

“I’ll take care of it. Step aside, Yeonseo.”

“No, the security team will be here soon.”

When Yeonseo tried to stop Seungbin from embracing Mrs. Kang, he sneered.

“I am her grandson.”

“There’s a manual for situations like this. I have to follow it.”

Yeonseo was emphasized on the contingency plan when she first took over the caretaking responsibilities. She was obligated to follow that order.

“No. I will personally take care of her.”

But when Seungbin firmly insisted, Yeonseo had no reason to stop him. After all, in this place, Yeonseo was the outsider.

Now that Mrs. Kang was unable to express her wishes, Seungbin was in charge. He rushed out with Mrs. Kang in his arms, and Yeonseo following behind.

*

A large hospital in downtown Yongin.

After a short stay in the emergency room, Mrs. Kang was moved to a VIP room. Many medical staff came and urgent treatment was administered.

Seungbin spoke with the medical staff. Superficially, Yeonseo was nothing more than a caregiver, so she had no place to intervene except when initially explaining her illness.

As Yeonseo had expected, Mrs. Kang’s diagnosis was anaphylactic shock. The doctor diagnosed it as an allergy due to the appearance of a rash, caused by a shiitake mushroom.

As Mrs. Kang regained consciousness and her condition improved, Yeonseo wiped her arms with a wet towel, all the while calculating the whereabouts of the shiitake mushrooms in her mind.

A little while ago, she had confirmed with Aunt Bokhee that they hadn’t used shiitake mushrooms at all. According to her, after Mrs. Kang experienced symptoms of hives ten years ago, so they had completely stopped using shiitake mushrooms in their cooking.

Then could it be from the herbal medicine?

She had brought some herbal medicine from their hometown yesterday.

The hand holding the wet towel stopped. It was a plausible assumption, considering that after consuming the herbal medicine, itching and rash symptoms had appeared around 12 hours later.

Did Director Woo deliberately do this?

If that was true, then Director Woo is a criminal. Yeonseo’s back became damp with sweat. Mrs. Kang, who had regained her strength, noticed Yeonseo lost in her thoughts and gestured for her to stop.

“Sweetheart, I’m fine now, so take a rest, okay?”

“It’s okay. Mrs. Kang, I’m sorry. You must have been very surprised.”

“Don’t apologize, Yeonseo. And if anyone was surprised, it was you.”

“I should have realized it sooner. It’s my fault.”

“It was just bad luck.”

“I’m going to go over what you ate, and I don’t want this to happen again.”

If I had known about the shiitake mushrooms earlier, I could have been more careful.

“About ten years ago, it only caused minor hives, so I didn’t worry much. But now that I’m getting older, it’s suddenly gotten worse. Tsk, all these unnecessary concerns people have because of an old woman like me.”

“Don’t say that, please. You need to recover and get up quickly, Mrs. Kang.”

“Yes, you’re right, Yeonseo. I should recover quickly to stop causing concern.”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Yeonseo responded as she put away the towel. The door opened, revealing a well-dressed man.

It was Taeheon. By his side was his secretary, whom she had seen before. He greeted Mrs. Kang, making eye contact with her.

“Hello, Madam. I am Secretary Shin Youngkwang, serving Director Taeheon.”

“Yes, please come in.”

“I’m sorry to see you under such circumstances. Please get well soon.”

The secretary straightened his back after a polite bow and briefly nodded to Yeonseo, who returned the gesture as well.

Mrs. Kang followed Taeheon with narrowed eyes as he walked in with small steps.

“What brings you here, company matters?”

“I had some time. Once you’re feeling a bit more stable, we can go over everything from the beginning.”

“You could have waited a day or two. There’s no need to make a fuss.”

“I will transfer you to Shinju Hospital instead of Gukhan Hospital.”

Gukhan Hospital was the hospital Yeonseo had worked before, and it was sponsored by Sewon Group. Naturally, Mrs. Kang received outpatient care from Gukhan Hospital.

“No need for that. Come closer. Let grandma see your face.”

Taeheon sighed and walked over to her side and sat down in the chair provided. The sight of his long legs folded uncomfortably was somehow not unpleasant today.

Until this morning, Yeonseo had been avoiding Taeheon, but strangely, seeing him now brought a sense of relief. Despite being a bad guy who caused bruises on her arm, she had a vague belief that he wouldn’t do something as malicious as what Seungbin did.

Compared to the helpless Yeonseo, Taeheon had power and influence. At times like this, Taeheon was far more helpful to Mrs. Kang than Yeonseo.

“You need to get a comprehensive check-up again and get some rest. We should also thoroughly manage things to ensure such incidents don’t happen again in the future.”

“It’s fine. I had a check-up not long ago.”

“Don’t expect me to trust the results from a hospital that helped falsify your test results.”

“And besides, Grandma is more comfortable at home in Yongin. It seems like I develop illnesses that didn’t exist before once I enter hospitals.”

Mrs. Kang was being uncharacteristically stubborn. She didn’t like hospitals. For most symptoms, she would only call her personal doctor for treatment and rarely visited hospitals.

Knowing that Mrs. Kang was losing her spirits in hospitals, Yeonseo thought it would be better for her to stay at her home in Yongin as long as there were no major issues requiring immediate medical attention.

But at this moment, Yeonseo had no place to intervene. She stood up and made way for the two to talk.

*

Sitting on a bench in the hospital corridor, pressing her tired eyes, Seungbin’s voice poured down on her like boiling water.

“Yeonseo, are you very tired?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Stop beating yourself up. Why is your face so dark?”

“If I were just a little late, Mrs. Kang would have been in serious trouble.”

It was Yeonseo’s fault. She had been neglecting her caregiver duties.

“Your lips are split. Are you okay?”

Seungbin’s fingers suddenly touched Yeonseo’s wounded lip. It was a cut she got while trying to avoid him a little while ago.

She jerked her head up, startled by the touch, and saw Seungbin’s face contorted into a smirk. It was a strange look. Yeonseo quickly turned her head away.

 “Please forget about what happened earlier. I beg you.”

“Yeonseo.”

“And I hope nothing like that ever happens again. If it does, I won’t stay quiet…”

At that moment.

“What’s the matter?”

It was Taeheon’s voice. He appeared from behind Seungbin. With a cold expression and a look demanding an explanation, Taeheon gazed at him. Seungbin awkwardly smiled, turning away from him.

“You’re quick with the news. How did you find out? Oh, did Yeonseo tell you?”

“Is listening to what others say difficult for you?”

Taeheon’s gaze fell on Yeonseo, who was slowly rising from her seat. His sharp eyes briefly gazed at her lips before he looked away.

“Grandma will be taken to Seoul tomorrow. She’ll go to Shinju Hospital.”

“Shinju Hospital?”

Seungbin’s eyebrow arched upward.

“I can’t trust a hospital that plays tricks with test results.”

“Taeheon, you know the connection between Gukhan Hospital and Sewon, right? If you’re aware of that and still act this way, Dad won’t stay quiet about it.”

“Chairman left Grandma’s matter to me when he passed away, and everyone agreed. Do I need to call the lawyer?”

Taeheon asked in a monotone, and Seungbin fell silent.