SATURDAY 77

The ventilator became unnecessary, and no further signs of shock reactions or panic were visible. The doctor and nurse checked my vital signs one last time.

Seeing no significant abnormalities there, they left the room with relieved faces. Before leaving, they did not forget to place the call button next to my hand, earnestly requesting that I press it immediately if even the slightest thing felt wrong.

In the quiet hospital room, only the monitoring device flickered. I felt as if I had become a critically ill patient.

A bandage was wrapped around the upper part of my left arm where I was receiving the IV. When I reached out with my right hand and touched it lightly, it throbbed painfully. I didn’t remember how such a wound had been caused. Looking at the position, it was the spot where the IV had been inserted until just a moment ago.

“Don’t touch it. They said you got hurt while recklessly shaking and pulling out the IV needle.”

The answer came from my uncle. I asked in confusion.

“Really? Me? I don’t remember doing that….”

“They said you might not remember. Don’t worry.”

Mr. Taeseon, who said that, approached carefully and stopped near the bed, then asked me quietly.

“Inyoung. Is it okay if I come closer?”

Instead of an answer, I smiled and reached out my hand. Mr. Taeseon took my hand, stepped closer, and pressed it against his cheek.

When my ice-cold hand touched Mr. Taeseon’s cheek, I felt it melting away as if I had placed it against a heater. After we stayed like that for a while, my uncle cleared his throat lightly. Mr. Taeseon and I quickly pulled away, looking away from each other as if we had been caught doing something strange.

I cleared my throat as if imitating my uncle and asked again.

“Ah, um…. Wh-what happened?”

Surely three days hadn’t passed again. However, upon checking the clock, fortunately, it was the same day; only time had passed. It was already 10:00 PM. Outside the curtained window, it was still raining.

Mr. Taeseon said:

“The nursing station and the hallway were perfectly normal. So I was about to tell the nurse that something seemed wrong with the room lights, but then you suddenly screamed from inside….”

“I did?”

“Yes. When I came in, you were already in a state of shock, and from then on, both the doctors and I were completely frantic.”

“I also rushed over after getting an urgent call, and you were having a terrifying seizure. The Director said he had only stepped out for a moment. What on earth happened during that interval? Did you see a ghost or something?”

I flinched at my uncle’s joke. Then my uncle, who had been laughing after tossing out the remark playfully, stopped laughing abruptly; he suddenly became serious and looked at Mr. Taeseon. Mr. Taeseon’s face didn’t look good either.

Just as my uncle said, I had seen a ghost. Inha. Even thinking about it again, it was so chilling and terrifying that my body trembled.

It meant that while I was experiencing something in the darkness—not knowing if it was a dream or reality—while being tormented by Inha, my body had been screaming and seizing. For several hours, no less.

Inha appearing had lasted no more than fifteen minutes at most…. Contrary to what I thought, my throat was in terrible condition from how long I had been screaming and making a scene.

Seeing me touch my throat with my other hand, my uncle brought over a water bottle, even opened the cap, and handed it to me.

“Drink slowly, bit by bit.”

“Okay….”

“Give it here, Inyoung. I’ll feed it to you.”

“I-I’m fine.”

I blushed while avoiding Mr. Taeseon, who was trying to take the water bottle after I let go of it, and my uncle let out a “Ha.” I felt my face turning even redder.

I emptied half the bottle, drinking the water bit by bit, just enough to moisten my lips. Even though it took quite a while, Mr. Taeseon and my uncle waited patiently.

“…What exactly happened for you to be like that? Do you really not remember anything?”

My uncle, who took the water bottle back from me, asked. Should I tell them? Would they believe me? How should I bring it up? I hesitated greatly, but unexpectedly, a familiar name came out of my uncle’s mouth.

“Did you see Inha or something?”

The blood drained from my face instantly. Just hearing the name Inha made my heart sink. Mr. Taeseon and my uncle flinched slightly, seemingly surprised by my reaction.

I asked haltingly.

“U-Uncle, h-how did you know?”

“The Shaman said it before, didn’t she? Asking if Inha appeared to you.”

“Ah….”

Come to think of it, my uncle was also there at that time. He seemed to have remembered. Seeing my reaction now, he must have been certain that it was indeed Inha.

Now there was nothing more to hide. Or rather, it was more like I hadn’t been able to speak because I thought it would sound like nonsense.

“What is that supposed to mean? The Shaman said something like that?”

Mr. Taeseon asked.

“…Yes, to be precise… I have been seeing Inha since before then. When I met the Shaman before, she correctly guessed that fact.”

“Wasn’t she just making a wild guess?”

I shook my head. When she said that, the Shaman’s eyes were full of conviction. The conviction that there was no way Inha wouldn’t appear before me….

…How can she be that certain?

I fell silent at the sudden thought, and my uncle, perhaps having the same thought, spoke up.

“Something is definitely strange. That woman, didn’t she pull some kind of trick on you, Inyoung?”

“A trick…?”

“A trick to make Yoon Inha visible to your eyes. It seems she’s learned a thing or two after being a fraud Shaman for decades; wouldn’t she be able to do something like making a ghost visible to a frail person’s eyes?”

“….”

I fell into thought for a moment. Mr. Taeseon also seemed to agree with my uncle’s words. In the past, I probably wouldn’t have believed it, but haven’t I already experienced it once now?

‘If the Shaman is deliberately sending Inha to me….’

Then is that ‘Inha’ an illusion, or is he real? Every Inha that appeared before me was as vivid as if he existed in reality. However, there were parts that were difficult to understand.

“But Uncle, why? Is there anything for the Shaman to gain by me constantly seeing Inha? What do you think, Mr. Taeseon…?”

“Well, it seems like a common tactic. She’s trying to put a hole in your heart. If you keep seeing the ghost of Yoon Inha, you’ll gradually become weak-minded, right? Then you’ll eventually want to seek out the Shaman. Isn’t she trying to take advantage of that moment?”

“I have the same thought as Mr. Chaein.”

“Hmm….”

Hearing that, it makes sense. If Inha continues to appear before my eyes like this, I will become completely devastated.

The perception that only the Shaman can help me when such problems arise is still stuck in my head like a callus. It wasn’t hard to imagine myself persuading my uncle and Mr. Taeseon, or if that didn’t work, even evading them to go see the Shaman.

Mr. Taeseon said:

“There’s no need to worry, Inyoung. I told you I would handle them before they could do anything foolish. The preparations are going well, so whether you’re in the hospital or at home, just… only think about marrying me and living happily.”

“M-Mr. Taeseon.”

Right in front of my uncle…. While looking at my uncle with a burning face, my uncle subtly pretended not to notice and said with his characteristic indifferent face:

“Come to think of it, I’ve been wanting to ask since a while ago… what is that ring on Inyoung’s hand, Director? The kid is wearing something like a Han River view apartment on his hand.”

“It’s an engagement ring.”

Mr. Taeseon answered calmly. My uncle looked at Mr. Taeseon with an incredulous face.

“You already did it, didn’t you.”

“I did it again. There’s no law saying I can’t. Since the old ring disappeared anyway, isn’t the proposal done with that ring void?”

“Yes….”

My uncle let out a sigh and shook his head. Still, he didn’t look like he disliked it.

“Must be nice for Inyoung. Getting proposed to twice by one Alpha. Hmm…. Is it not a good thing? It’s not like things turned out this way because of a good event.”

“Why, they say all’s well that ends well.”

“It’s not over yet, Director. Don’t let your guard down.”

Listening to that conversation, I smiled slightly without realizing it. There is something interesting about the conversation between Mr. Taeseon and my uncle. Mr. Taeseon now unhesitatingly shows the cold and blunt attitude that is part of his original personality before others, even in front of me.

But even he uses a somewhat soft way of speaking toward my uncle, whether it’s because my uncle is an Omega or because he is my uncle.

In contrast, my uncle was refreshing because he had a blunt way of speaking, as he did with everyone, and even went so far as to question Mr. Taeseon’s actions.

“Right. I know it’s not over yet. The exit ban hasn’t gone through yet, has it?”

“Yes, it hasn’t been approved. It’s because not all the evidence has been found for both of them…. The things that have come out now aren’t even enough of a crime to immediately ban exit. It’ll only be possible if we attach everything including fraud and murder, haaa, so Director, you should have fed some bribes to the high-ranking folks in advance.”

“I suppose so.”

An exit ban…? I thought he said he would send both of them abroad, so why specifically…. Is it perhaps one of the necessary processes?

I don’t know. There must be something I don’t know. I quietly let that remark pass.

Then suddenly, my uncle looked at me and said:

“Oh, Inyoung. Both your hyung and sister-in-law woke up. I went to see them, and now they can speak to some extent, they are conscious, and they answer the doctor’s questions well… their condition is good.”