novelraw Chapter 32 : Chapter 32
Chapter 32 : Chapter 32
Chapter 32
The Doctor spun the felt-tip pen she held on her fingers with great skill.
It was a skill from someone who had done some pen spinning in her younger days.
The way the pen spun looked like a mouse cursor buffering.
The buffering continued for five seconds before it finally ended.
“Did you forget what I said last time? I said that helping you was the first and last time.”
“I’m not asking you to help me.”
“I was really terrified when I was surrounded by players in the gym, you know?”
“I’ll tell you clearly that a thing like that won't happen.”
The felt-tip pen that was spinning on the Doctor's hand fell onto the desk with a thud.
She flinched with a ‘Whoops’, then after checking on me, she put on a serious face as if nothing had happened.
I could tell well that she was someone with no knack for acting cool.
I picked up the felt-tip pen and placed it back on the Doctor's finger.
The Doctor spun the felt-tip pen again as if nothing had happened.
“Just as you have the right to make a proposal, I have the right to refuse.”
“Will nothing work?”
I, Lee Ju-seong stared blankly at the Doctor with a slightly gloomy expression.
The Doctor looked intently into my eyes and then suddenly turned her head to the side.
A sound of her clicking her tongue with a ‘Tsk’ leaked from inside the mask.
Is she the type who is weak against being pushed?
She replied as if reluctantly accepting.
“Double the amount from last time.”
“5 million won to eat a meal together for an hour…… That's on par with the recruitment fee for top-tier celebrities.”
“Well, I'm not a celebrity, though.”
“Yes, you are someone more precious than a celebrity.”
“So don't waste expensive money for no reason and get out…… Eh? What did you say?”
“Because if the Doctor isn't here, there's no way to survive even if I get hurt. Isn't it an insult itself to compare you to something like a celebrity. 5 million won for an hour? I'll pay as much as you want.”
The pen resting on the Doctor's hand fell down.
Earlier she dropped it by mistake, but this time it dropped because her body stiffened from a sense of crisis.
“Is it a plan so rough that 5 million won isn't a waste? And you're trying to drag me into that?”
“It's not rough at all, so please come with a light heart.”
“It's more uncomfortable because you say it like that.”
“You clearly said you'd spare time if I paid 5 million won. There's no taking it back now.”
I picked up the pen the Doctor dropped and placed it in her hand.
And I smiled brightly at the Doctor.
The Doctor couldn't bring herself to face my brightness and checked on me with a sidelong glance, then eventually let out a deep sigh.
“Haa, I get it. I'll contact you when I get off work. Where should I go?”
As for the place to designate, the hint had already been provided.
The first words of the conversation were that the hotel's cooking skill was good.
As if I hadn't brought that up for no reason, I boldly declared the meeting place.
“I'll see you on the 3rd floor of the hotel.”
***
Around evening, the sun at the sea was enjoying a half-bath at the horizon as if wrapping up the day.
The window seats of the luxury restaurant on the 3rd floor of the hotel were perfect for enjoying a dinner show with the orange-colored sea as a performance.
Currently, the Doctor and I were occupying a prime seat in the restaurant, sitting across from each other and waiting for the course meal.
“Your coordination is stylish. Especially how the bottom of the mask is wide open, it gives a cool-biz feeling, I should say.”
The Doctor's outfit was not much different from the outfit she wore in the examination room.
A green shirt, a white gown, a black skirt covering just above the knees, and a simplicity without a single common accessory.
If there was one thing that had changed, it was the mask.
Originally, masks covering the entire face were the default for organization members.
However, the mask the Doctor was wearing now was a party mask that revealed the lower face.
The Doctor suddenly grabbed a butter roll from the basket with her hand, then tore it apart with both hands and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Didn't you say let's talk while eating? When I told the dealer, they gave me this mask.”
“Oh~.”
“What are you staring at so intently? I'll charge you money if you keep looking.”
“I'm looking at things like your jawline or lips. I was curious about how you looked, so that's how you looked.”
“Like that? What does ‘like that’ mean?”
Just then, a restaurant staff member brought the appetizer.
The staff member left after explaining that it was a baguette topped with watercress and sea urchin.
I picked up the baguette with my hand as if handling finger food and said.
“Since you are so boisterous, I had imagined a thick jawline and lips.”
“You say such rude things without a care.”
“I meant that I was surprised because I could feel you were pretty just by looking at your lower face.”
“…….”
“Of course, that's only when evaluating objectively without personal feelings.”
The Doctor put the baguette in her mouth and chewed, then swallowed it at once and said bluntly.
“You say such embarrassing things without a care.”
The course meal that followed was steamed egg with shrimp and ginkgo nuts.
It came out in a 200ml ceramic cup, so it had a strong petite impression.
I emptied the cup at once with three spoonfuls and said in a somewhat lowered voice.
“I had an unusual conversation with Bang Su-hyeok in this 2nd round. We talked about how much each other's target amount was.”
“Hmph~ so?”
“A thought like this suddenly occurred to me. What to do after returning to society with a huge amount of money.”
“That's up to your heart.”
“You really answer half-heartedly.”
“It's not my money, so why should I be nosy? And if you have a head attached, think. Where would there be a person who wants to hear that kind of affluent talk, worrying about what someone else will do with a huge amount?”
The Doctor quietly chewed the second baguette.
Whether she thought she acted too coldly herself, she couldn't look straight at me and feigned indifference.
Then, to fix what she had blurted out as it came to mind, she set out to patch things up a beat late.
“I don't know if it'll be of help, but in my case, my goal is to open a hospital.”
“Being a director was your goal.”
“I mean the kind of hospital where one can focus entirely on treatment, not a hospital that does various sales just to make a profit.”
“Using money as a material to achieve a dream…… that's nice.”
“I'd be glad if it was of help.”
Next, the steak, the main dish, came out.
It was a tenderloin steak so tiny that it could be placed on the palm of a hand.
I sliced the meat with a knife and said.
“Yes, it was a very big help.”
“Oh? Were you speaking on the premise of leaving the game until now?”
“It's not confirmed yet, though.”
“I see~.”
“Are you sad that I'm leaving?”
“Pfft, that was the most ridiculous thing I've heard recently. Acting up when you're just a debtor.”
Following the steak, pasta, dessert, and after-meal tea came out, putting a period to the course.
Throughout the remaining course, the Doctor looked around and did not let down her guard for a moment.
As if to mock her vigilance, there were no other guests in the restaurant besides us.
The evening course meal was 5 million won per person.
Since a single meal was on par with the lodging fee for a day, it was true that it was burdensome unless one had a decent amount of money.
After the meal finished, I wiped my mouth with a napkin and stood up from the seat.
“I enjoyed the meal today. If there is a day I'm indebted to you again sometime, I'll count on you then.”
At the comment bidding farewell, the Doctor's head tilted 45 degrees to the side.
“Is this the end? What about the operation? Who was the enemy to face this time?”
“Didn't you hear my words in the examination room?”
“Uh…… what did you say again?”
“I'm not calling you to ask for help this time. There won't be anything rough, so please come with a light heart. I believe I clearly said that.”
The Doctor made an exclamation of panic with her mouth and then fell into confusion.
By now, the image of herself acting coldly throughout the meal would be flowing in her head like a projector film spinning.
She had been on edge thinking the previous gym situation would be reproduced, but hearing the news that it wasn't, she couldn't help but be flabbergasted.
“Why?”
The question she barely thought of amidst the confusion was simple.
She was asking why I treated her to such an expensive meal.
She seemed to hope I would answer that I spent the cost because I had personal feelings instead.
Because then it would be easy to understand.
I shrugged my shoulders and gave a purely innocent answer.
“Because I've received help from the Doctor several times. I wanted to treat you to a meal at least once.”
“No, no, no, that's not it. You took money and bought my time. That's enough, so why go as far as treating me separately, that's what I'm saying.”
“It's something I did because I wanted to. Please don't feel burdened.”
The Doctor covered her head with both hands.
Between her clean fingers without a single accessory mark, her brown-dyed hair rose up disheveled.
She looked quite shocked.
“Oh my god! Right now, I've acted all high and mighty saying pay 5 million won if you want to have a meal with me! Why are you making me a bad person?”
“You're making me repeat what I said. I'm not calling you to ask for help this time. There won't be anything rough…….”
“I know! But who would believe that as it is!”
“Anyway, I'm glad that you seemed to have eaten deliciously. I'll be heading back now.”
I was about to return to the guest room when suddenly the Doctor reached out and grabbed my sleeve.
“Don't go! If you leave like this, what am I supposed to do?”
I pulled my arm and ignored the Doctor's clinging(?).
“What do you mean, what are you supposed to do? You can just go back to the staff dormitory and sleep.”
“I wouldn't have taken the money if I knew it was something like this! I'll give you back the money I received from you. No matter how much I need money, I can't take it in this way.”
“Just keep it. I'll consider it as having given alms.”
The Doctor got flared up and grabbed my arm with both hands.
When I tried to pull my arm, the Doctor tilted her upper body back and added her weight.
A rare sight unfolded where the Doctor, who had the highest status after the dealers in this facility, was clinging to a mere player.
“Whaaat~? Alms? You're doing this on purpose to make me mad, right? I'm going to send it now, so I know that. I can never let you go like this.”
“Isn't it over if I just press the reject button?”
“Don't do that and take it! You're dead if you refuse!”
“What? The Doctor's heart?”
“Gaaah! Do you really want to die?”
The scuffle continued for 10 more minutes.
While the restaurant staff who didn't know the inside story didn't know what to do, the Doctor finally sent 5 million won to me.
And a second scuffle broke out while I pretended to contemplate whether to press the button or not.
Like that, we left the restaurant only after 30 minutes of going back and forth.
Just before parting, the words the Doctor shot at me were impressive.
“I'm never going to hang out with you again, so know that! I'm serious this time!”
***
The morning of the 2nd day of the rest period.
January, who stopped by the control room, heard shocking news from July.
“Lee Ju-seong is trying to buy a boat ticket? That can't be.”
July pointed to the monitor reflecting the scene in front of the ticket office.
On the monitor, Lee Ju-seong, who was waiting for the ticket office to open, was reflected.
July touched his crooked mask and corrected it to the right angle.
The habitual hand movement meant that July was in a serious state.
“It's a story I heard directly from Lee Ju-seong himself when I went to the shopping mall. He says he intends to leave.”
“To think he would return even while paying a fee of over 1 billion won. With his capability, he could more than hold out until the fee drops further.”
“I also considered Lee Ju-seong to be a person bright at calculating profit and loss. But it seems our judgment was complacent.”
“I can't believe it.”
It was right after an order fell from the higher-ups to scrape up as much of Lee Ju-seong's data as possible.
The orders of the higher-ups are absolute.
If Lee Ju-seong left like this, all responsibility had to be shouldered by the dealers, including January.
While Lee Ju-seong's sudden behavior was just suspicious, an additional report followed that made January's heart even more hurried.
“January, please check the company network. A report written by the Doctor has been uploaded. As you will see from the content, it says Lee Ju-seong had applied for a consultation with her on the premise that he would leave the game.”
The fact that Lee Ju-seong had a history of having a conversation on the premise of leaving in advance was decisive.
There was no more room for denial.
The fact that some of the dealers were dispatched to other islands during the rest period was also a misfortune if it were a misfortune.
The conditions were not such that an emergency meeting could be convened to hear the opinions of many people.
Lee Ju-seong would leave if they didn't take action right away.
January quickly made a decision amidst the pressure of running out of time.
“Arrange a meeting with Lee Ju-seong. I will personally have a conversation with him.”