Chapter 1Baek Kanghyeok was wearing a gown so stiff it looked as if it had been starched with paste.
As he walked with the hem fluttering, he looked quite dignified.
"Professor Baek, good morning!"
"Oh, right. Good morning."
"Are you going on rounds?"
"No, the director's office. See you later."
"Yes, Professor!"
Kanghyeok passed a few nurses and residents and stepped into the elevator.
The face reflected in the mirror looked especially handsome today.
In his early thirties, yet already a full professor thanks to his exceptional skill.
Broad shoulders, a well-proportioned physique.
A pale, intelligent-looking face.
He was even good at drinking and entertainment.
There was no reason for women to leave him alone.
Kanghyeok wasn't the type to reject women who came to him either, so he had played around quite a lot.
There were even days he went out with two or three in a single day.
The problem was his heart.
There wasn't a single woman he truly felt drawn to.
As if love between a man and a woman had been left behind in his mother's womb.
It was always quiet.
They're not going to tell me to meet some professor's daughter again, are they?
How was he supposed to trust and meet a woman he had never even seen?
And if she was a professor's daughter, he couldn't just casually date and break up either.
He absolutely hated serious relationships.
—Ding.
While he was thinking, the elevator stopped at the top floor.
A small door was visible to the left. Inside that door was yet another door.
Only by going inside could he finally meet the director.
As Kanghyeok approached, the seated secretary greeted him.
"Professor Baek, please wait a moment."
"Yes."
When the secretary informed them of his arrival, the inner door swung open.
"Professor Baek! Come in, come in."
The director's voice was as bright as ever.
As expected, this isn't just a casual call.
Kanghyeok sighed and stepped inside.
On the way in, a black bag placed to the side caught his eye.
It was a house-call bag, something hardly anyone used anymore.
Normally he would have ignored it and passed by, but for some reason, it felt strange.
The director was already standing before Kanghyeok entered.
"Oh, Professor Baek. Welcome."
"Good morning, Director."
"Right. Sorry for calling you in when you're busy."
"Not at all. I don't have any particular schedule today."
It would have been better if he did.
He had come all the way here because he didn't even have an excuse.
The director kept rubbing his hands together.
It looked like he was about to bring up something quite troublesome.
He was like that when he asked me to go golfing during the holidays too.
He was rubbing them almost twice as fast as back then.
What could be more annoying than playing golf in the freezing dawn wind on Lunar New Year's Day?
Kanghyeok forced a smile and waited for what came next.
"Well, you know the chairman, right? Of our hospital."
Who in the world would be a professor without knowing the chairman?
Kanghyeok nodded obediently.
"The chairman wants you to make a house call. And while you're there, he said he'd introduce you to a woman…"
"What?"
"No, I told him it's a bit strange for Professor Baek to personally make a house call. But the chairman insisted quite strongly."
"Ah…"
Kanghyeok let out a groan as he looked at the director.
If it's a house call for the chairman with a blind date thrown in, shouldn't he be rubbing his hands twice as fast as this?
It wasn't something he could easily refuse.
He wanted to refuse, but couldn't.
In other words, it was an order.
Who exactly was the chairman of Chungmu Hospital?
Chairman Lee of Chungmu Group, the largest and most prestigious conglomerate in Korea.
He was also known as a representative patriotic enterprise leader.
If he asked for a house call, it would be better to go even if it were near the Demilitarized Zone.
"I had them pack the bag in advance. The chairman requested quite a lot of medication. Inside, aside from the basic medicine, there are other bottles too—just pretend you don't know and hand them over."
Going was already a foregone conclusion.
He had never said he would go, but things had turned out that way.
"Then when should I go?"
"Didn't you say you had no schedule today?"
"Yes, I did."
Just moments ago, with his own mouth.
There was no taking it back.
"Then go now. I'll have a car prepared."
"…Ha. Understood."
"Sorry. But, well… it might turn out well, right? You're not interested in women anyway. If you're going to get married, it's better to be introduced by the chairman."
"You really know how to put it. Anyway, understood. I'll be going."
"Alright. Good work."
Kanghyeok picked up the black house-call bag and got into a black sedan.
The sedan stopped in front of a private museum in Hannam-dong.
The sign was so small that one could pass by without even realizing it was a museum.
When the driver operated the entrance, the door opened.
"You may go in."
"Ah, yes."
Kanghyeok awkwardly nodded and headed inside.
He was usually confident, but here, he was an exception.
Inside was far more shabby than expected.
A flickering hallway stretched deep inward.
Rather than shabby… it's eerie…
It felt like not the chairman, but a grim reaper might be waiting.
"Professor Baek?"
"What—who is that?"
Kanghyeok looked around the hallway.
Looking closely, there were speakers and cameras installed on the ceiling.
"Chairman?"
"That's right. Follow the hallway and come in."
"Ah… yes. Understood."
An order from the distant, towering chairman.
Kanghyeok had no way to refuse.
Moreover, the man was something of a benefactor to him.
For some reason, he had been particularly favorable to Kanghyeok.
Back when he was a resident, he had once treated the chairman's secretary in the emergency room by chance, and it must have left an impression—he was even told that the chairman had actively recommended him.
Of course, Kanghyeok's own skills were top-tier as well.
As he walked, the smell of old dust pricked at his nose.
The rooms on both sides of the hallway were filled with antiques.
At a glance, many looked like items a private individual shouldn't even possess.
Old weapons, in particular, made up the majority.
They said Chairman Lee had eccentric tendencies… but why call me to a place like this?
Before he knew it, he had reached the last room.
The door was slightly open, and a muttering voice could be heard.
It was clearly Chairman Lee's voice.
But he couldn't understand what was being said.
It doesn't sound like Korean…
Standing awkwardly in front of the half-open door made him feel ridiculous.
"Ahem."
"Ah, come in."
Kanghyeok opened the sliding door and stepped inside.
A subtle fragrance of tea drifted through the air.
Pu'er tea… perhaps?
An old man with completely white hair sat on a very worn cushion.
Though his hair was white, his face made it difficult to guess his age.
According to the director, he had looked exactly the same even when he was younger.
There were even jokes that he might be a vampire.
His complexion was excellent, and his build was robust.
In earlier times, he could easily have held a general's rank.
At the very least, he didn't look like someone who needed a house call.
"It's been a while."
His unusually bright eyes even carried an inexplicable trace of longing.
"Yes, it has. Greetings, Chairman."
"Hm."
Without telling him to sit, the chairman stared at Kanghyeok intently.
"Well, since you're here, check my blood pressure."
"Yes, Chairman."
Calling in a surgery professor just to measure blood pressure.
Kanghyeok felt like he should check his own blood pressure instead.
He calmed himself and prepared the device.
"May I have your arm?"
"Mm, go ahead."
"It may feel a bit tight. 120 over 80. That's normal."
"Is that so? Maybe it's because I've been playing golf lately. Good."
The chairman smiled and took a sip of tea.
"Do you drink tea as well?"
"Yes."
"Then have a cup."
Kanghyeok brought the tea the chairman personally poured to his lips.
The sweet fragrance calmed his mind.
Only then did the room come fully into view.
Various antiques and artworks that seemed familiar from somewhere.
Most striking of all was the large sword hanging behind the chairman.
"Do you have any interest in antiques?"
At the chairman's question, Kanghyeok smiled as he replied.
If he said no, he'd become the kind of professor who "had no interest."
He had been part of a calligraphy club in university, so he did have some interest.
He could even recite a few classical Chinese poems.
"I like them."
"Is that so? Then would you take a look at this painting?"
The chairman carefully took out a scroll from a drawer.
It was extremely old and worn.
A portrait stained with reddish marks, making it difficult to tell what it depicted.
It didn't seem like something a chairman of Chungmu Group would treasure.
And yet, he couldn't take his eyes off it.
Without realizing it, Kanghyeok became absorbed in the scroll.
The chairman spoke as if he had expected it.
"It's quite a good painting, isn't it?"
The tone was strange, but Kanghyeok didn't notice at all.
The intense sense of longing emanating from the painting disrupted his focus.
"Huh? Ah… yes. This person… no, are there two? Who are they?"
"I don't know the details either. If you look to the side, there's also a sword."
The sword the chairman pointed at was clearly identical to the one hanging behind him.
In addition, there were drawings of a swing, a tightrope, books, an inkstone, a brush, acupuncture needles, and more.
The chairman looked like he knew something.
His lips twitched, as if he was itching to speak.
But Kanghyeok stared only at the painting.
"This looks like a pair—a man and a woman…"
He pointed to the two figures at the front.
From the painting alone, it was impossible to distinguish male from female.
And yet, Kanghyeok was certain.
"Is that so? As expected, that's how it looks to you."
"What did you just… no, wait…"
To feel something this strange from a painting.
It was as if he were possessed.
"Ah."
As if truly bewitched, Kanghyeok reached out his hand toward the scroll.
The chairman merely muttered, "As expected," and did not stop him.
The moment his hand touched the scroll, it felt as if the entire world flipped upside down.
He needed to grab something—but the only thing he could grasp was the house-call bag.
From afar, he heard the chairman shouting.
It buzzed like a mosquito, impossible to understand.
Soon, someone shook Kanghyeok's body.
"Young master, young master! Don't tell me you're sleeping?"
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