"One day, she will understand." After saying that, Jungkook lifted the shot glass in his hand and downed it.
Bambam had originally wanted to get drinks with his good friend to cheer him up, but instead, he seemed more depressed.
Upon leaving, Jungkook had to help Bambam walk, who seemed to be mildly drunk.
"Man, I'm telling you, that brat Lisa has such a screwed-up personality. Liking her is like asking for misery, but I'm also so envious of you. To have someone like that appear in your lifetime, taking up your entire life, to feel love for her so deep in your bones… it's really something for others to be jealous of…" Bambam said in a drunken manner.
In the end it was Jungkook who drove Bambam back to the bureau in his Maybach; apparently Bambam had to work the night shift.
A couple of the policemen at the Public Security Bureau began to gossip.
"Hey, that guy who just dropped off our captain seems to be a really good friend of his."
"Yeah, he's also really good looking. Even I'm jealous of him and I'm a man."
"What if the reason why the captain has never had a girlfriend is that he actually likes men?"
"No way! But the captain is so masculine. If he was gay, I'd bet that he's the one on top."
"Looks like you all have gotten too bored recently. Everyone needs to go out on a mission. Now." At some point, Bambam appeared in the doorway holding his head. He had originally wanted to drink some water but ended up hearing the others talking about him.
"Haha, captain, we're just joking, but speaking of, that car your friend drove was so flashy. He must be some rich guy, right?"
"Not only is he rich, he has so much money that you wouldn't be able to spend it all in this lifetime," Bambam said after taking a sip of water.
"Captain, does that friend of yours have a girlfriend yet? My elder sister is 27 years old this year, and she has a master's degree…" Bambam flicked the younger policeman in the head, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"Eh, Song, didn't you say that you were saving your sister for Captain Bam last time?" another officer interjected.
Bambam became stressed just listening to them...
*
Lisa was busy at the hospital all day, occasionally pulling out her phone to check the time. Her phone was exceptionally quiet today.
Not even a single call...
Looks like her words last night were too harsh. Was he angry now? Lisa thought.
Following this, she got up with her cup and walked to the lounge to get some water, but ended up bumping into Kai right outside the door.
"Lis." Kai's face was slightly red, and his breath reeked of alcohol.
"Did you want something?"
"I'm here for you." He stepped closer, and Lisa unconsciously took two steps back, increasing the distance between them.
"What is it, tell me."
"Are you still unwilling to forgive me?"
"Kai, we've talked about this before, I don't want to continue this conversation," Lisa looked at him, speaking calmly.
"But I can't let go of you. I can't forget you." Kai's eyes were red as if he had been crying.
"We're not kids anymore, don't be like this."
"I know I was wrong, Lis, I'm sorry, give me another chance, one last chance, okay? Let's not mention the past anymore, let's just stick to our original plan and get married, okay? I'll give you back your portion of the down payment on the apartment, you don't need to worry about the mortgage, and I'll let you drive my car. I'll transfer the ownership to your name, okay?"
"None of these were fundamental issues, Kai, we can't go back. I can't turn a blind eye to everything that happened. It's like if someone stabbed you, yes, the wound will eventually heal, but there would still be a scar. Do you understand?"
"I don't understand, anyway… I miss you, I want to be with you." Concluding his thoughts, Kai drunkenly threw himself at Lisa.
He roughly pressed Lisa onto the desk behind her…
"Kai, what are you doing? Let go of me!" Lisa struggled desperately.
But no matter what Lisa said, Kai ignored her and leaned down to kiss Lisa's lips.
At that crucial moment Lisa panicked and grabbed a porcelain pen holder from the desk behind her and smashed it on Kai's head.
With a crashing sound, Kai's movements came to a violent pause; his entire body froze.
Taking advantage of his momentary confusion, Lisa escaped from his grasp and fled away from him.
"Lisa, did you actually... hit me?" Kai laughed coldly, with a furious look in his eyes.
"Everything happened because of you, Kai. There... was no love between us, so there isn't any hate either. You've treated me with great kindness over the past few years, and I don't owe you anything as I have done my best to repay you."
"You don't owe me anything? when I was trying to win you over, I bought you a lot of things. Wasn't I the one who made sure you weren't cold and were well looked after? How can you say these things? Don't you have a conscience, huh? Did a dog eat it, you ungrateful woman?!" Kai covered his swollen forehead, sneering sinisterly.
Lisa maintained her calm demeanor, the gaze with which she used to look at Kai was now complicated, with an additional hint of sympathy.
"True, you did buy me a lot of things back then, but the combined cost of all those things was probably less than the amount I gave you to use as the down payment for the apartment. The apartment was purchased under your name alone, and since I don't want that money anymore, you can just call it even. In the end, who do you think really owes the other?"
"Fine, so even if you don't owe me from a monetary perspective, what about emotionally? Can you put a monetary value on that? Can you make up for all the emotional effort I've given these years?" kai roared.
Lisa smiled faintly after hearing his words.
"Kai, given how long we've known each other, you should know that I'm not a calculating person. But since you've brought this up, I might as well speak the truth. Honestly, you've been very good to me these past few years, but I haven't treated you poorly either. I often visited your parents, and when your relatives came to the hospital for treatment, not only did I pull connections to get them hospital rooms, I also watched and took care of them through the night. All this was for you, and most importantly... Kai, I'm asking you, if you didn't have me, would you be as accomplished as you are today? Do you think you would have successfully become a doctor at this hospital?"
"You... what do you mean?" Kai clearly felt guilty.
"My point is obvious. With your grades, you never would've graduated from medical school. I was the one who wrote your thesis, and because your thesis on techniques in ophthalmology was outstanding, the Asan medical center's Ophthalmology Department made an exception and accepted you. And even after that, for all these years that you've been on the job, every time you had to write a thesis or report, I was the one who wrote it for you. Isn't all that enough? Tell me, at this moment, what do I owe you?"
After Kai finished listening to Lisa speak, he was rendered speechless...
If Lisa hadn't reminded him, he would have almost fooled himself into thinking that he was an exceptional ophthalmologist.
But everything was done by Lisa on his behalf, as his grades during medical school were very mediocre.
Back then, when it was close to graduation, he felt too stressed out and frequently ditched class to go gaming with his roommates.
In the end, he almost couldn't graduate. Even the most important component in his graduation, his thesis, was written by Lisa.
And because of that exceptionally-well-written thesis, he was given the opportunity to work at Asan medical center, one of the largest medical center of Seoul.
Since then, whenever the hospital conducted employee evaluations, he would get Lisa to help him prepare for them.
He had enjoyed the results, feeling as if his reputation of being a genius doctor was justified. However, was he really the genius?
Of course not, someone else was the genius, but the other people didn't know that.
"So what do you want? Are you going to report me to the hospital? No one will believe it, after all... there's no evidence," Kai said smugly.
Lisa's eyes filled with disappointment after hearing what he said. She didn't know that one could turn so despicable after a breakup.
"Evidence? Of course, I have evidence."
"You do? I don't believe it. You were so trusting of me, so there's no way you would leave behind any evidence." Kai remained unyielding, but his mind became anxious.
"See, if you knew how trusting I was of you at the time, what are you feeling anxious about? What are you afraid of? You think I'd report you? I really don't have the time for that, nor the need to. After all… it wouldn't benefit me. Kai, I just want to say that we may have broken up, but we are not enemies. We were together for a long time, and we can't become friends because we've hurt each other in the past. I admit, it was because of Jungkook's unexpected interference that caused our relationship to fragment, but the things that you did afterward truly disappointed me. So, there won't be any more interactions between us, and we will never get back together. I believe, with your current reputation and status, there will be many amazing girls who are lining up for a chance to date you, and you will be fine without me, right?"
"Of course," Kai immediately replied.
"Great. I'll forget what happened today, but don't do it again. Please take a left once you exit this room. I won't bother to show you out," Lisa ordered strictly.
Kai held his bruised forehead and turned to leave dejectedly.
Suddenly, he turned back to look at Lisa.
Lisa immediately became alert…
"Lisa, since things have turned out this way, I just want to get an honest answer from you."
"I never loved you," Lisa coldly spoke these words.
"Okay, I understand." Kai smiled bitterly, turning around to leave.
Lisa finally let out a sigh of relief...
She never thought that Kai would suddenly come and cause such a disruption. Thankfully, there was no one else in the clinic, or else she would've been so embarrassed.
Not long after, Wonyoung walked in and upon seeing the pen holder on the floor, she exclaimed, "Oh my God, what happened? My poor pen holder."
"Ummm… I'm sorry, I accidentally knocked it over when I was grabbing something earlier. I'll buy you a new one."
"Hm...." Wonyoung pursed her lips, looking like she had been bullied.
"I'll even throw in a family bucket from KFC," knowing the nurse's personality, Lisa immediately added.
"Okay, deal." Wonyoung immediately perked up.
"On that note… Unnie, you've been very generous lately, even treating me to KFC. Tell me, did you get rich recently?"
"No, if I were rich, I would have quit a long time ago."
"Then did you find a rich guy to lean on?" Wonyoung asked secretively.
"Ahem…" Lisa thought for a bit... Does Jungkook count as a rich guy? Not really, he was more of a billionaire, right? But wasn't it the same thing?
She shook her head, "Nope, no rich guy to lean on."
"Oh, I got it, your brother's case was resolved, wasn't it? The perpetrator must have paid a lot of money, right?" Wonyoung smiled happily.
"Yeah, that's right. Gosh, you are so smart." Lisa was afraid of her probing deeper, so she nodded her head vaguely.
But in reality, she didn't get any money from Haruto's case.
All the other victims did, but she originally wanted to sue them in court and receive payment for the hospital bills.
But she never thought that in the end, thanks to Jungkook's involvement, the perpetrator's entire family were met with disaster.
He was already locked up, so what more could he give as compensation?
Either way, the fact that Haruro was okay was already her biggest comfort.
"Oh right, it's lunchtime, let's go to the cafeteria. If we're late, then all the good dishes will be gone."
Not waiting for Lisa to reply, Wonyoung dragged her towards the cafeteria in a hurry.
The hospital's cafeteria was on the second-floor basement and could only be accessed by the hospital's staff.
But most doctors didn't eat there since their high incomes allowed them to order delivery.
On the other hand, intern nurses like Lisa and Wonyoung had low incomes and few bonuses, and would, therefore, come here to eat.
At lunchtime, the cafeteria would usually be crowded with people, but the overall environment was pretty good.
Wonyoung and Lisa found a table with seats facing each other in a corner, and they had just settled in when they heard a female voice yell rudely, "Lisa, you bitch! Come out here."
"Unnie, I think someone's calling for you."
"I hear it too," Lisa replied quietly.
"Lisa, where are you, come out!" The hysterical female voice came from a woman who was also wearing a white lab coat.
Her long hair was curled in waves. Her face was slathered in seductive makeup, but her complexion was extremely unsightly.
"Lisa, right there. Huh, isn't she a nurse from the ophthalmology department?" Wonyoung pointed at the door.
Lisa turned around, her demeanor remaining calm upon spotting Dahyun.
Dahyun spotted Lisa at the same time, and she made a beeline straight for her aggressively.
"Unnie, she looks like she's up to no good! Be careful," Wonyoung warned Lisa quietly.
Lisa nodded, not saying anything.
"Lisa, get up."
"Is there a problem?"
"Of course there's a problem! Do you think I've come to have a heart-to-heart with you?"
"Sorry, I don't have time to have a heart-to-heart with you, we're not that close." Lisa sat down and continued eating, not even acknowledging her.
Dahyun's temper flared up, and she pointed at Lisa while screeching, "Stop pretending! Tell me, are you harassing my Kai again?"
"Your Kai? When did this happen?"
Dahyun slightly paused and then said, "Don't pretend you don't know, Kai and I started dating a long time ago. You've known this for a while."
Lisa nodded slightly, and then she replied in a pondering manner, "Oh, so last week when I went over to his apartment, the person bumping uglies with him in his bedroom was you?"
"What? Last weekend?" Dahyun's complexion paled.
"Oh? Wasn't it you? Unless..." Lisa probed.
"Of course… it was me." Anyone could tell how forced Dahyun's words were.
"Since you so clearly know that we're together, why did you still go looking for him? Didn't you already break up?"
"Yeah, I went to ask him for my deposit on the apartment. We were originally planning to get married, so I offered some of my own money for the down payment."
"Oh really? I've never heard Kai speak about it," Dahyun said proudly.
"Really? What a shame. It looks like you two haven't progressed to that stage yet."
"You… stop distorting my words." Dahyun ran out of words to say. Initially, she had arrogantly came to condemn her, but she didn't think that the normally sweet Lisa could be so sharp-tongued. Each of her sentences was as sharp as a dagger, causing her to be at a loss for words.
"Tell me, did you bruise Kai's head?"
"Yes."
"What gave you that right? What made you think you had the right to hit Kai? What right do you have, as a dumped ex-girlfriend, to interfere in Kai's matters? I knew it! You probably hit him because he wouldn't get back together with you when you asked, didn't you?"
Lisa's eyes grew cold, and she lifted her head to ask, "Did Kai tell you that?"
"He didn't say anything, but I'm sure that's what happened. Everyone at the hospital knows what kind of person you are."
"Unnie is a great person, everyone in the OB/GYN department knows that," Wonyoung interjected.
"This has nothing to do with you, shut up," Dahyun pointed at Wonyoung and growled.
"Are you done speaking rubbish? If you're done, then please leave. We're in the middle of a meal, and I don't want to ruin my appetite," Lisa asked her to leave because she didn't want to deal with Dahyun's unreasonable harassment any longer.
Because everyone was staring, she felt like a clown. This didn't agree with Lisa's usual low-profile character at all.
"Eat eat eat, I'll show you how to eat, you b*tch." Then, in front of everyone, Dahyun flipped Lisa's plate. The food scattered all over the floor, with some splattering onto Lisa's clean white lab coat, causing everyone to stare in shock. No one anticipated that Dahyun would do something so extreme.
After a moment of silence, Lisa, enunciating each word, asked, "Did no one teach you that wasting food is a disgraceful thing to do?"
"So?" Dahyun looked at Lisa and asked provocatively.
"So, whoever wastes food has to eat it all." Finishing her sentence, Lisa grabbed Wonyoung's plate of food and tossed it at Dahyun.
Within moments, Dahyun's entire body was covered in food.
"Wow, unnie, you're so… awesome." Wonyoung silently got up, giving her a thumbs up.
"Lisa, you bitch, how dare you treat me like this?" Dahyun was flabbergasted.
"I'm not your mom, why should I condone your retarded behavior?" Lisa said in disdain.
"I'm going to kill you, you b*tch!" Dahyun gathered a lot of energy, preparing to slap Lisa.
But when her hand was no more than 5 cm away from Lisa, it stopped abruptly.
Lisa had quickly raised her own hand, which tightened around Dahyun's with vicious strength.
"If you're going to act like a monkey, act like one at the city center square. This is a hospital, please control your behavior."
Upon finishing, Lisa forcefully pushed away Dahyun and grabbed Wonyoung's hand to leave.
At that moment, Dahyun actually wimped out…
She didn't even have the guts to follow them, because her hand was red from being grabbed by Lisa just now.
That woman looked so weak but was actually so strong that it was scary.
"Oh my, what is going on? Isn't that woman a nurse from the Ophthalmology Department?"
"Yeah, from what I heard, she took advantage of her position and seduced one of the handsome intern ophthalmologists. That intern already had a girlfriend, who's an OB/GYN nurse. Was that the ex-girlfriend and homewrecker in a fight just now?"
The other nurses all began to gossip in hushed voices…
Dahyun also felt very embarrassed, so she left the employee's cafeteria with a long face.
- Department of Ophthalmology -
"Kai, are you okay?" Dahyun asked caringly upon seeing that Kai's forehead was still slightly red.
"Let me ask you, who told you to go looking for Lisa?"
"I just wanted to stand up for you."
"I never asked you to stand up for me. You just added to my problems." Kai heard what happened in the cafeteria and was extremely angry.
"I couldn't stand Lisa treating you like that."
"That's between me and her. From now on, don't ever go looking for Lisa again, or you might as well disappear from my sight." Kai left after glaring at Dahyun.
Dahyun felt unhappy and simultaneously confused about one other thing.
Since Kai and Lisa had already broken up, then last weekend, who was the woman Lisa saw at Kai's apartment?
Of course that wasn't her, because last weekend, she had been at work for 24 hours straight, and didn't even have time to go to Kai's...
Unless, Lisa was lying? Was she trying to destroy her relationship with Kai? But it didn't look like she was lying.
The fight in the cafeteria was originally a small matter, but someone with their own motives had recorded it and distributed it amongst the different departments at the Asan medical center.
Lisa, the gentle-looking intern nurse, became famous after this fight.
People began referring to her as the 'hot and spicy nurse'.
Along with the fame came the male doctors, assistants, and even the male coworkers who all wanted to get a glimpse of this hot nurse. The most courageous of whom sent flowers and tried asking her out, making Lisa unsure as to whether she should laugh or cry.
Gazing at her desk full of chocolates and flowers, Lisa was at a loss for words.
"Unnie, what should we do? You're the famous hot and spicy nurse now."
"Hot and spicy? That doesn't sound like me, I'm more of a tomboy." Lisa was embarrassed.
"So, is there anyone you like among all these suitors? That deputy director of radiology isn't bad. He's 30 years old, 178 centimeters tall, drives a BMW, and apparently comes from a wealthy family. He also looks a lot like that Korean actor, Song Seung-heon. Are you sure you don't want to consider him?" Wonyoung asked, a little jealous.