Chapter 10: The Heart Transplant

In the heavy rain, as Joon-ho, on the brink of fainting, was pushing Soo-jin out from the upside-down car's window, he noticed someone outside pulling her out.

Sighing in relief, the person who pulled out Soo-jin also grabbed Joon-ho and pulled him out. They were the security team of JinSeong Medical Center.

The head security guard hurriedly sent both of them inside the hospital. While on the stretcher, Joon-ho saw his car catching fire, its headlights flickering as if saying goodbye to him.

Seeing the car, clarity dawned upon him. His car had been taken care of and maintained every day. It was fully protected—even if a grenade were to go off beside it, nothing would have happened to the person sitting inside.

So how could the car's brakes fail in a critical situation? To protect Soo-jin, Joon-ho forgot a simple fact: not just Soo-jin's life, but many people were after his life too. Someone might have cut the brake line. After the brake fluid was exhausted, the brakes failed.

But still, the car did its job. Salute to the car, which came to its master's rescue when its master needed it the most.

As the leading doctor arrived, he saw Joon-ho and Soo-jin and immediately began emergency treatment. They were both taken to the surgical room.

Before starting anything, Joon-ho, grabbing the leading doctor by the coat, said in a broken voice, "The artificial heart... plant it inside me and transplant my heart into hers."

That was all he could say before fainting. Hearing Joon-ho, all the doctors were astonished, but there was a reason for Joon-ho's request, and the leading doctor knew it.

It was because the artificial heart was not perfect and was still in the development phase. If they had only three or four more months, they would have perfected the artificial heart, making it a reality without any faults.

But now, by implanting the incomplete artificial heart, they didn't know how it would react or what side effects it might have.

That's why Joon-ho didn't want to take the risk and make Soo-jin suffer even more. That's why he made this decision, and from the start, he had been willing to donate his heart to her.

Joon-ho had secretly tested their heart compatibility, and it matched. So if and when the time came and she couldn't find a heart donor, he was ready to give her his own.

The leading doctor had once proposed to Joon-ho the idea of a complete artificial heart, not a total artificial heart, which didn't need a donor and could function fully on its own.

Seeing a ray of hope in the darkness when everyone else was denying him, Joon-ho grabbed onto it, thinking that anything was better than nothing.

Now, looking at the fainted Joon-ho on the bed, the leading doctor understood the true meaning behind the words "prepare for the heart donation." 

This decision had not been made on the spur of the moment; Joon-ho had never intended to implant the artificial heart in Soo-jin. He had planned this all along.

In this world, there is no curse more twisted than love, the doctor thought to himself, laughing bitterly.

After fifteen days, Soo-jin opened her eyes. With blurry vision, she saw Ji-eun wiping her face beside her. Seeing Soo-jin awake, Ji-eun was overjoyed, calling out loudly to Min-su with joy in her voice.

"Min-su, Min-su, come in! Soo-jin has woken up!"

Min-su, who had been dozing outside, was startled awake by Ji-eun's shouts and hurried inside. Seeing both of them safe and sound, Min-su, still in a drowsy state, wiped his eyes.

As Ji-eun hugged him and began hopping up and down, shouting, "Soo-jin has woken up!" Min-su, hearing her and looking at Soo-jin flickering her eyes, didn't stop Ji-eun from hopping. He hurriedly ran out to call the doctors.

Ji-eun, seeing Soo-jin wanting to say something, moved closer. Soo-jin's voice was dry as she spoke; it was difficult for her to speak. "Where is Joon-ho?"

Hearing Joon-ho's name, Ji-eun's smile froze. She looked at Soo-jin but was unable to say anything. At that moment, the doors opened, and the doctors arrived. 

Seeing Soo-jin awake, they began checking her condition. When they noticed her wanting to speak again, they advised her,

"Miss Kim Soo-jin, we advise you not to speak much at the moment. Your vocal cords might be dry from not drinking water for many days."

One of the doctors handed her water, which she drank, but she kept looking at Ji-eun, seeking answers. Ji-eun, avoiding her gaze, looked at Min-su.

Soo-jin's last memory was of Joon-ho looking at her, which is why she had called his name first. As memories flooded her mind, she recalled Kim Tae-hyun's betrayal. Tears began to form in her eyes.

But with a strong will, she didn't let them fall. When she remembered that Joon-ho had come to rescue her when she was nearly killed by Kim Tae-hyun, she didn't know how to face him.

The person she had truly loved had betrayed her, and she had betrayed the man who had loved her like breathing. She didn't know how to face Joon-ho or how to look at herself in the mirror. 

Guilt formed in her heart. She didn't know how she would redeem herself, how she would repent, or if Joon-ho would ever forgive her.

Before she died, she thought she would definitely ask for his forgiveness. No one deserved a wife like her, least of all Joon-ho, who deserved the best woman in the world.

With her own hands, she had destroyed her husband, failing to realize whom to love and whom to trust. She regretted every decision she had made that had hurt Joon-ho.

As her eyes reddened, recalling the past, she could no longer hold back her tears as they trailed down her face.

God had given her the best husband a woman could ever ask for, but she had no eyes to see it. This time, with a determined voice, she asked,

"Where is Joon-ho?"