Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 77

“Chairman Seo Chang-seok?”

“Yeah, the person you were just talking to! The chairman of Daeun Group! The founder of this hospital foundation! The founder of the guild you work at! You really didn’t know?”

Hee-sung kept scolding her.

“…You’re lying, right?”

“Why would I lie? How can you not know this much about the world?”

“No, I know the name, but… that person is really Chairman Seo? No way. That can’t be.”

Then that person is Kang-woo’s real grandfather?

And the grandson who’s busy dating these days… is Kang-woo?

It felt like someone had hit the top of her head hard with a fist.

Ji-woo’s pale face turned bright red.

“H-Hee-sung, what do I do?”

“Why? Did you mess up?”

“Yes, I made a huge mistake. I… gave the chairman of Daeun Group my phone number.”

“Why would you do that?”

“So he could rely on me when he feels lonely or when he’s having a hard time.”

“What are you talking about? Did you take some medicine or something?”

“Yeah, I think I need to take some.”

Otherwise I’ll be too embarrassed to live normally.

“Hee-sung, what do you think Grandpa was thinking when he took my number? Huh?”

Ji-woo grabbed her hair.

Her already curly hair became a complete mess.

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Lalalala lalalalala lalala~♪ Hi hi Happy Hello Mart~♬”

The cheerful mart logo song echoed through the store.

Ji-woo, shopping for groceries, was still in panic mode.

“Hahaha, let’s think positively. Grandpa didn’t seem upset. I had good intentions.”

She was just worried he might have bad thoughts because he looked depressed.

Yeah, that’s all it was…

Ji-woo sighed deeply and put ten packs of frozen dumplings into her cart.

The lady at the tasting corner happily handed her dumplings to sample in both hands.

Munching happily, Ji-woo muttered,

“But what does it mean that Kang-woo is dating?”

In a news article she saw before, it said the chairman of Daeun Group had only one grandson.

Then the grandson who’s dating must mean Seo Kang-woo.

“Kang-woo dating… no way.”

Ji-woo shook her head.

Kang-woo never even had one gram of interest in anyone except her.

But once the doubt was planted, it kept growing.

“Is he not coming home these days because he’s busy dating?”

Just as she muttered that—

Bang.

A loud noise suddenly came from behind her.

Startled, Ji-woo turned around and saw tuna cans scattered all over the floor.

“What? Did I knock them over while walking past?”

Some of the tuna cans were dented.

“Sigh, I can’t just leave them like this. I guess I’ll make tuna kimchi stew today.”

Ji-woo put all twenty fallen tuna cans into her cart.

‘Kang-woo likes tuna kimchi stew too.’

He used to eat it so happily that she once made it for three days straight.

‘I wonder if he’s eating properly after leaving home.’

He’s not filling his stomach with tap water again, right?

The anger and shock she once felt toward Kang-woo had long faded with time.

Worried, Ji-woo called him.

But the ringtone went off once or twice and then suddenly stopped.

“He… hung up on me?”

Kang-woo? Of all people?

As Ji-woo stared blankly at her screen in shock, a text message arrived.

Kang-woo

Ji-woo what’s wrong?

It was obvious he had typed it in a hurry.

Kang-woo why didn’t you answer? Where are you?

Three dots appeared and disappeared as if Kang-woo was typing and deleting his message.

‘No way.’

Ji-woo had a suspicion and quickly asked.

If you tell me honestly, I won’t get mad. Are you at the mart right now?

No reply came. Ji-woo pressed her screen firmly and typed again.

If I call you again, don’t hang up. If you do, I’ll call you Mr. Seo Kang-woo forever.

Ji-woo called again.

Then, from behind the aisle she had just passed, a ringtone went off.

‘No way, is he really—!’

Ji-woo ran toward the sound.

As expected, with a display shelf between them, she saw a tall man holding his phone awkwardly.

“Mr. Seo Kang-woo.”

“Ji-woo….”

Eyes faintly glowing like sunset light followed her.

His face looked even sharper and thinner than the last time she saw him.

Seeing how gaunt he had become, Ji-woo’s heart softened.

“Have you been following me around and protecting me the whole time?”

“…Because it’s dangerous. Only when you go to and from work.”

“What about weekends?”

“I was always by your side when you went out.”

That meant he had spent more than half of each day on her.

Ji-woo frowned.

“You have your own things to do, Kang-woo. How is that even possible?”

The emergency disaster team handles everything related to gates.

Gate appearances, control, dungeon raids, and rescuing hunters.

Especially since Kang-woo was the only irregular awakened in the country, he must have had a packed raid schedule. Just like during the Jeju and Udo gate incidents.

Kang-woo answered quietly.

“I went when you were sleeping.”

“You finished dungeon raids in eight hours? No, forget that. When was the last time you even rested?”

“…….”

Kang-woo avoided her gaze silently. Like a big dog pretending not to hear because it’s afraid of getting scolded.

Ji-woo wanted to ask him.

If he was protecting her so desperately, why wouldn’t he tell her what he was protecting her from?

But seeing his well-shaped lips tightly shut, she knew she wouldn’t get an answer this time either.

‘What am I supposed to do with this foolish person?’

More than frustration, she felt worry.

No matter how awakened he was, he still had a human body. Without proper rest, fatigue would just build up.

Thinking about how he hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly while guarding her made her nose sting.

“Let’s go home first.”

This time, she had no intention of letting him go before they entered the house.

Ji-woo grabbed his sleeve tightly—then quickly let go in shock.

The fabric felt obviously expensive.

‘No. What if I stretch it out!’

Instead, she targeted his arm, which wouldn’t stretch no matter how much she grabbed it.

She wrapped both arms around his firm, muscular arm, and Kang-woo stiffened.

“Let’s talk at our house. Hee-sung kept calling for you, saying ‘Kang-woo, Kang-woo,’ and looking for you desperately!”

“…But, Ji-woo.”

“And my arm hurts, so I can’t push the cart. Look at all this shopping I did today!”

Ji-woo exaggerated and pointed at the shopping cart.

It was filled with food for several days.

Ten packs of frozen dumplings, twenty tuna cans, 20 kilograms of rice, 5 kilograms of chicken nuggets, three trays of 30 eggs, 10 kilograms of pork neck, and three huge watermelons.

And she hadn’t even gone through the vegetable section yet.

“I didn’t calculate how much Kang-woo eats. I should go around and add more.”

“I’m fine—”

“No saying you’re fine! I won’t make you keep any promises or anything, but today you’re eating a warm home-cooked meal and going home to sleep properly. You need to rest.”

Ji-woo kept chirping like a little bird.

“How did you become half your size already? This won’t do. Let’s go to the meat section and buy chicken. I’ll add ginseng and boil it down for samgyetang. A lady I’m close with in the next building dried jujubes on the apartment rooftop and gave me some to eat. If we put those in and boil it well, it’ll taste amazing, right?”

Kang-woo nodded at every word, listening carefully.

Blinking with a blank expression, he slowly leaned his upper body toward her.

“Then… are we sleeping in the same house tonight?”

The sudden closeness and his scent made Ji-woo’s mind go blank.