AOA 44

They looked at me, each showing some degree of dismay. I was essentially being held hostage.

“Don’t come any closer!”

The man choking me barked furiously.

“I’ll kill him if you do!”

The pressure on my neck intensified. It usually took time to choke someone to death, but this man was a professional, a bodyguard. There were faster methods, like a snap of the neck.

The bodyguards surrounding us hesitated, clearly aware of this. I was just as thrown off. I couldn’t understand how things had escalated to this point.

About half the bodyguards began inching toward Baek Jinseok, while a man who appeared to be the head stepped forward.

“Kim Hoyoung. Don’t make this worse. Let him go.”

“Fuck that. It’s already bad enough! Call the cops!”

“Let’s handle this calmly.”

“Call the fucking police! We’ve all seen what happens, the ones who screw up disappear without a trace. You know about the two guys from the Brick House? They vanished! They were the ones called in when the youngest madam died, and now there’s no way to contact them. Call the cops, damn it! I’m not going down like that. If you don’t want rumors spreading that the granddaughter-in-law killed himself again, then call the cops!”

The man holding me shouted like he was screaming for his life. The tension in the dining room turned suffocating. Everyone froze like statues.

So did I. His words hinted at many things. My eyes landed on Baek Jaehan, whose face had gone stiff like he’d just swallowed something foul. I didn’t know what the “Brick House” was, but it clearly had something to do with him.

But there was no time to dwell on mysteries I couldn’t solve. What mattered most was getting out of the hostage-taker’s grip. There was no way Baek Jinseok would actually call the police. If the standoff dragged on, anything could happen.

The moment I felt his grip loosen, I moved. I didn’t just learn boxing at the gym, when training got boring, we used to mess around with hostage scenarios.

There were plenty of ways to escape a situation like this. I stomped hard on the man’s foot with my heel. It was too bad I wasn’t wearing heels, but it still did the trick. As he flinched with a grunt, I seized his pinky, the one hooked around my neck, and twisted it with all my strength to pry myself free.

My movements weren’t perfect, but they were good enough.

As soon as I slipped from his grasp, the waiting bodyguards rushed in almost instantly.

“Subdue him!”

“Grab him, now!”

Amid the chaos, someone yanked me hard by the collar. Almost simultaneously, I got tangled up with one of the guards’ legs and lost my balance. My body was flung backward.

Huh?

I didn’t even have time to flail. I knew I needed to break the fall, but it all happened too fast. I was bracing for impact on my backside when the back of my head slammed into something.

It rang like a bell inside my skull. I realized I had hit the dining room wall. Thankfully, I wasn’t seriously hurt, or so I thought. I figured I could just prop myself up with my hands and be fine.

But my body wouldn’t move.

My vision slowly tunneled, and the sound of voices grew faint.

And that was it.

*

“Gasp!”

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a blindingly white ceiling. One I didn’t recognize.

I panted, looking around to figure out where I was. One side of the room had sunlit windows, a large TV stood in front of me, and IV bags hung from a stand to the side. The bed was also a familiar type.

As soon as I realized I was in a hospital room, the memories came rushing back. I’d blacked out and seriously thought I might die.

But I was alive.

Relief washed over me, and my body relaxed all at once. My back was damp with sweat, but I didn’t care.

“Damn…”

I rubbed my face with both hands. This was the first time I’d ever passed out from hitting my head. Not even in the previous timeline had anything like this happened.

Originally, I’d just been accused of being a pervert and then sent home. A few days later, Baek Mugyeong had told me it had all been cleared up.

I’d already experienced how minor changes could cause butterfly effects. This was probably another one.

Still, I hadn’t expected the bodyguard to chase me into the dining room and attack.

I didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing. But at least I hadn’t died. That was enough.

“Oh my, you’re awake.”

The door opened, and a middle-aged woman I didn’t recognize walked in. Startled, I scrambled to sit up.

She introduced herself as a caregiver who worked at Baek Jinseok’s residence. After checking on my condition, she called for a nurse. The nurse checked my blood pressure, then left. A doctor came in soon after.

He said I’d suffered a strong blow to the back of my head, which had caused a big bump. Thankfully, there was no internal bleeding, but there was minor brain swelling, so I’d feel dizzy for a while.

“You need absolute rest for a few days.”

“Yes.”

I responded dutifully. In the hospital, whatever the doctor in the white coat said was law.

After the doctor and nurse left, the caregiver asked if I needed anything. When I said I wanted to be alone, she handed me my fully charged phone and gave me her number before stepping out.

I checked the time, it was just after 10 a.m. Realizing not much time had passed made me feel a little better.

I had never been hospitalized before. My memories of hospitals were all bad, mostly because I had to watch my mother’s illness worsen there. My younger sibling also used to go in and out of hospitals for treatment, which had stressed me out terribly.

The moment I thought of my sibling, I hurried to check my DMs on Instagram. Thankfully, there were no messages from him.

Relieved, I wondered whether I should message Baek Mugyeong to tell him I was awake. It didn’t seem that important, so maybe there was no need. The caregiver might’ve already let him know anyway.

Still, just in case, I sent a quick message saying I was awake.

After that, I started wondering when I’d be discharged. Having been to the hospital often because of my mom, I knew discharge usually happened before noon. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but it felt like a stretch.

Well, with enough money, maybe I could get discharged in the evening.

I didn’t overthink it. Rather than rushing to leave two hours after waking up, it would be better to have lunch and go home calmly. Luckily, this was Daesong General Hospital, under Daesong Group. I didn’t know how much a VIP room cost, but Baek Mugyeong would cover it anyway.

With that thought, I lay back down. The bump on my head made the back of my skull ache slightly when it touched the pillow, and I frowned.

“Oww…”

I groaned and carefully turned onto my right side, avoiding the IV in my left arm. The pain eased a bit.

I figured the doctor had his reasons for prescribing strict rest. This was the perfect excuse to laze around on my phone. I told myself I’d just do it for an hour, since screen time could hurt my eyes.

The door opened, but I didn’t turn around. I assumed it was the caregiver or nurse and kept my eyes on my phone.

“Jeong Minchae.”

A voice I shouldn’t have been able to hear made me glance up. Baek Mugyeong was standing at the foot of the bed. Shocked, I bolted upright.

“What—how did you—ow ow ow.”

I’d moved too quickly. A pounding headache crashed into me, and I curled up, clutching my head.

“Are you in pain, Jeong Minchae?”

“Ah… I’m okay. I just moved too fast. The doctor said it’s a mild concussion.”

I looked up at Baek Mugyeong, who had hurried over, his face tense. He wasn’t in a suit today, he wore a light sweater and a coat, and his bangs hung down over his forehead.

The change in image was kind of surprising. Gone was the cold, dangerous pretty boy, replaced by something more like a fashion model.

He probably came straight from home. I glanced at the clock on the wall, it hadn’t even been 30 minutes since I woke up. That meant he’d come as soon as he heard.

“I heard about that too.”

“When can I leave the hospital? It’s almost noon. Is it okay to leave this evening?”

I asked the thing that weighed on my mind most.

“You need to stay a few more days.”

“I don’t really feel that bad though. I have work tomorrow…”

It was Sunday today, so I was worried about going to work tomorrow. It didn’t seem necessary to stay hospitalized for a mild concussion.

But Baek Mugyeong immediately furrowed his brows.

“Take medical leave.”

“Yes.”

His entire demeanor screamed that if I didn’t, he’d flip the world upside down, so I answered right away.

I couldn’t remember exactly how medical leave worked for interns, but I figured I could get a day or two off.

Only after hearing my answer did Baek Mugyeong’s expression ease a little.

“How do you feel?”

As always, his questions felt more like pressure. Even when I’d done nothing wrong, they made me feel guilty, like I had to answer honestly.