Chapter 7: Arrival at Asan Medical Center
A BMW zoomed across the roads, rushing towards its set destination—Asan Medical Center. No traffic or signals hindered Joon-ho from reaching his goal fortunately.
When Joon-ho finally reached the hospital, he opened the car's back door and gently picked up the unconscious Soo-jin. Careful not to bump into anyone, he hurried inside.
Behind him, reporters and media personnel were stopped by security guards, preventing them from entering.
As the doctors and nurses saw the patient, they were first astonished. The two hot newsworthy figures—world-famous actress Kim Soo-jin in a devastated state and the world's richest man Kim Joon-ho in shambl.
But despite their curiosity, they hurriedly brought a stretcher and, with practiced precision, rushed towards the ICU, suppressing their urge to ask questions.
Nearing the ICU room, as Joon-ho wanted to enter, he was forcefully stopped by one nurse who politely said, "Sorry, sir, we can't allow you to enter. Please wait outside."
Stopping outside, his eyes never left the doors which separated him from her. Every moment was agonizing for him as teardrops constantly fell from his eyes.
"Is she in pain? Did it hurt a lot? How are you feeling?" he thought. The idea of her suffering tore him apart from the inside.
Joon-ho couldn't ever imagine a world without Soo-jin. Without her, he had no purpose, no existence. Nothing mattered to him without her.
The nurse who had stopped him earlier from entering returned, carrying bandages and medicine. Seeing Joon-ho staring at the closed doors, she wondered to herself,
"The woman inside is so lucky to have such a man in her life. Sigh... and here I have a sleepyhead of a husband."
Approaching Joon-ho, she said, "Sir?" But Joon-ho, hollow-eyed, did not respond, merely looking at her with a blank gaze.
As the nurse heard no response seeing his red eyes, she was not surprised—being a nurse, she had seen many broken people like him in her line of work.
Smiling gently, she tried to console him, "She will be fine, sir. Nothing will happen to her, don't worry."
When he still didn't respond, she noticed his head bleeding with dried-up blood and wondered what might have hit him. Seeing his suit all messed up with red stains, she said,
"Let's treat your wounds first. Please sit down, sir, and I think seeing you in this state, your wife might not like it."
The word "wife" echoed in Joon-ho's mind. "Can I really call her my wife?" he wondered.
Seeing his continued silence, the nurse sighed and gently guided him to sit down. Finally, Joon-ho slumped into a chair, exhausted.
She carefully cleaned and bandaged his head injury before leaving, whispering, "Don't worry." She knew this wasn't the right time for paperwork and stuff like that...
The weight of the situation pressed heavily on Joon-ho. He closed his eyes. All he could do now was wait, hope, and pray that Soo-jin would pull through.
He had never believed in God, but now he prayed—prayed harder than ever. If some devil offered to trade his life for hers, he would gladly give up everything for her.
Joon-ho couldn't ever imagine a world without Soo-jin. Without her, he had no purpose, no existence. Nothing mattered without her.
After some time, Soo-jin's friend and manager, Ji-eun, too arrived at the hospital. Seeing the crowd of reporters outside, she quickly disguised herself and went in.
Inside, as she approached the counter to ask about Soo-jin, she overheard a man also inquiring about her. Suspicious, Ji-eun quickly dialed 112, thinking he might be a potential threat. She loudly confronted him, "Who are you, and why do you want to know where Kim Soo-jin is?" gaining everyone's attention.
The man in question, startled by her outburst, was initially shocked, then smirked hearing the voice. Turning around, he met gazes with Ji-eun.
It was none other than Lee Min-su, Soo-jin's driver and the person Ji-eun had proposed to marry on the phone.
Ji-eun, seeing Min-su, was both happy and embarrassed. In a panic, hearing the counter woman's voice saying Soo-jin is in the ICU, room no. 34, she walked as if fleeing from someone, and not wanting to lose her, Min-su too followed her in a hurry.
As Ji-eun walked, she calmed down but recalled the smirk on Min-su's face from earlier. A frown formed on her forehead as she clenched her fists. "How dare he smirk at my embarrassment. I should have punched him right there!"
Min-su, seeing Ji-eun clenching her fists from behind, started to slow down his steps. She is really scary when she is angry. I better keep my distance, or else I will be the collateral damage, he thought.
Ji-eun, glancing back, found Min-su ten steps away from her. She again shouted, "Come here," and took one step towards him.
Seeing Ji-eun coming one step towards himself, Min-su instantly took a step back, shaking his head furiously.
Ji-eun, frustrated, yelled, "You bastard!" and took fore steps towards him Min-su without hesitation immediately took four steps backward.
Min-su remembered his father's words: "Never go near an angry woman." He silently thanked his father a thousand times, finally understanding what his father meant.
Ji-eun, stomping her feet on the floor, walked towards the ICU room in fury.
Upon seeing Joon-ho sitting on the chair outside, she was extremely angry. This man was the reason why Soo-jin always cried, the one who always made her sad. Arriving in front of him, she said,
"Hey, who are you trying to show—the media or the netizens—that you care about Soo-jin?"
Joon-ho's gaze was fixed on the ICU doors. He never heard or noticed Ji-eun approaching or saying anything. His face, pale as ice, had dried-up tears staining his cheeks—there were no more tears left to come out from his eyes.
Ji-eun, not hearing any response from Joon-ho, frustrated by his silence, grabbed his shoulder and shouted angrily, "Hey, you! I'm talking to you! Why are you doing this? She's already sick! Why are you making her life more difficult? Isn't this enough? Haven't you made her life hell already?"