Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 40

Of course, it was an excuse that wouldn’t work at all.

‘You think being sick makes you special or something?!’

She’d let it slide until now because she felt sorry for him after all those long hospital stays—but not anymore.

“Do Hee-seong, you stop right there! Look at my face when I’m talking to you!”

Ji-woo immediately opened the front door.

Unfortunately, her little punk of a brother had already escaped down the stairs.

Left behind, Ji-woo pressed her fingers to her forehead.

“…Seriously. I can’t believe this.”

Top secret, my foot.

Is this puberty or what?

‘Well, I guess if he’s in eighth grade, that phase could’ve started.’

Ji-woo thought back to when she herself was in eighth grade.

Back when she wrapped herself in a dark aura and played at being a lord inside a game.

Back then, Ji-woo—known as 〈Mom’s Hand〉—was nothing like she was now.

She had the dignity of a server-wide rank 1 player.

Always serious, heavy, and dignified.

She acted so well that people she met online thought 〈Mom’s Hand〉 was a grown adult with years under their belt.

‘The people I played with back then were all really nice. I wonder how they’re doing.’

Just when she’d grown close to them through long hours of playing together,

her parents suddenly went missing—and not long after, the game itself shut down.

‘It’s a shame I had no way to contact them. I should’ve at least gotten their phone numbers.’

Ji-woo smiled sadly.

Anyway, compared to her own dark phase, her brother’s middle-school syndrome was easy to forgive.

It wasn’t just harmless—it was downright cute.

Ji-woo went back inside.

Then she started getting ready to go out herself.

…Wait a second.

“Why did he take Dong-sik with him?”

He said he was going to a friend’s house—so why bring Dong-sik?

A sense of unease crept over Ji-woo’s face as she stared at the closed front door.

am 11:00
Hee-seong, you didn’t forget your hospital checkup today, right?

pm 1:00
Hee-seong?

pm 1:00
You’re on your way, right?

pm 1:11
Do Hee-seong

pm 1:34
If you see this, contact me immediately

pm 1:56
Hey, where are you? Why aren’t you answering your phone?!

Ji-woo’s bad feeling quickly became reality.

“This little— I told him over and over not to be late for the appointment!!”

Seriously, one person makes the reservation, another blows it off?

Hee-seong, who had gone out early that morning, never showed up at the hospital.

Hoo. Calm down, Do Ji-woo.

They say if you endure three times, you can even avoid murder.

The checkup could be rescheduled.

The bigger problem was……

‘Did something really happen to him?’

He was always glued to his phone.

This was the first time she couldn’t reach him at all.

Was it a mistake to just let him run around after being discharged?

She hadn’t had the heart to restrain him, knowing how stifled he must’ve felt over the past few years.

“When I see him, I’ll ask him properly.”

Not yelling—talking gently, like those family counseling programs on TV……

Ding.

Hee-seong

Oh right lol
Forgot the appointment

A gentle conversation……

Hee-seong

Noona I’m home
Get me a Jaws Bar on the way back

No.

This calls for a heated conversation.

A Jaws Bar, my foot.

Puberty or not, you’re seriously dead today, you little punk.

Grinding her teeth, Ji-woo passed through the hospital’s main entrance.

Unlike her blood-red mood, the weather outside was bright and clear.

The hospital walking paths were crowded with people.

Under the warm sunlight, families, friends, and couples were running around and laughing.

As Ji-woo walked a few steps through them, an elderly man in a wheelchair caught her eye.

The old man, wearing a hospital gown, sat still on the hospital walking path. A dark shadow filled his wrinkled face.

For no reason, Ji-woo felt worried and kept glancing at him.

‘Why is he alone without a guardian? Did something happen…?’

Huh?!

Startled, Ji-woo hurried over to the old man.

A small stone was stuck in the wheelchair wheel, and the man couldn’t move at all.

“Grandpa, I’ll help you.”

“Oh my, thank you, miss.”

Ji-woo crouched down and started removing the stone caught in the wheel.

‘Hmm, this wheelchair is pretty old.’

It was an old model that hospitals provided by default.

After the hospital was privatized. When Hee-seong was first admitted, he had used the same kind of wheelchair.

Even though he was skinny from being sick, the old wheelchair creaked because it couldn’t handle even his light weight.

‘It broke down often. It was really hard.’

She had promised that once she made a lot of money, she’d buy a sturdy one.

‘Sigh, maybe I should stop by the mart later and buy Hee-seong some ice cream he likes—’

Wait.

Do Ji-woo, don’t go soft!

What’s so cute about a kid who even forgot his appointment?!

Shaking her head, Ji-woo spoke to the old man.

“Grandpa, where are you going? The road here is bumpy, so I’ll push you from behind.”

“I just need to go to the end of the walking path. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

“Hehe, I’m going that way anyway.”

Ji-woo pushed the wheelchair naturally.

Up close, the old man was surprisingly big and had a strong, intimidating presence.

The old man, who looked like he must have been quite something in his younger days, spoke first.

“What brings you to the hospital, miss? Your eyes are green too—are you a healer working here?”

“Haha, I wish. I’m just a healer.”

Healers are divided into two main types.

Healers who can only heal other awakened people, and healers who can also heal ordinary people.

The latter were rare and highly valued.

Instead of working as dangerous hunters, they usually worked in medical fields, dungeon-disease treatment, or potion development.

“A healthy hunter wouldn’t be sick. Then why the hospital? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“No, I’m here as my younger brother’s guardian.”

“Younger brother? Oh dear, that must be hard. Is your brother very sick?”

“Yes, but he’s gotten much better these days. Today was supposed to be a checkup…”

“Checkup?”

What kind of checkup? Dungeon disease? Since when?

After that, the old man kept asking this and that, and Ji-woo answered honestly.

It was getting a bit embarrassing how interested he was.

“I’m sorry. I must’ve bothered you. Seeing another hunter reminded me of my grandson.”

“Your grandson is awakened too?”

“Yes. He’s so busy these days. Even when I miss him, I only get to see him in photos.”

From the conversation, it seemed the old man was staying in the hospital alone, without a guardian or caregiver.

Ji-woo felt her nose sting.

‘Oh no… how lonely must he be.’

Just then, the old man lowered his head and muttered,

“Today he said he’d come, so I came out early to wait. But maybe he won’t come again without saying anything…”

“What? How busy could he possibly be?”

Is he clearing every dungeon in the country by himself?

How can he not come see his hospitalized grandfather even once?

Such an unfilial person!

Cold-blooded! Heartless! Terrible!

Ji-woo silently bad-mouthed the grandson she’d never even met. By the time she finished, they had reached the end of the walking path.

Friendly as ever, Ji-woo had already grown close to the old man.

“Grandpa, please take this. I brought it as a snack…”

She took out a bag of tangerines from her bag.

They were tangerines Guild Master Shin Woo-hyuk had sent by courier a few days ago.

Apparently he’d gone on a business trip to Jeju Island or something.

“I’m fine. You should eat them, miss.”

“Oh no, we have boxes of them at home!”

In the end, Ji-woo pressed the tangerines into the old man’s hands.

“Then I’ll be going now, Grandpa. Please get well soon. I hope you get to see your grandson!”

Ji-woo waved cheerfully and walked away.

“Hm, what a rare kind-hearted young person.”

Left behind, the old man chuckled as he watched her back.

Just as he was holding the tangerines she had given him,

a middle-aged man in a neat suit appeared behind him.

It was Kim Jun-sik, the chief secretary of Daewoon Group.

“Chairman, you were here?”

“Secretary Kim, why are you only coming now?”

“I’ve been looking for you and walked around the hospital three times. You should at least tell me where you’re going.”

The old man in the wheelchair—no, Chairman Seo of the Daewoon Group—patted his knees and stood up.

“Ahem, the hospital room gets stuffy. So, did you get in touch with Kang-woo?”