"Do it my ass... I'm super tired, let's go to bed."
Then, Lisa didn't even bother changing out of her clothes; she found a comfortable spot in Jungkook's arms and closed her eyes...
"Sounds good. Plus, this place is too small, there would be a few positions that we won't be able to do." Jungkook laughed.
Lisa's eyes were closed, but she still raised her fist and punched Jungkook lightly...
"Stop being so dirty. Let's go to bed..."
"Doll, just now..." Jungkook originally wanted to ask her if she got any information from downstairs.
But Lisa suddenly opened her eyes and glanced at him...
Jungkook understood what she meant immediately and changed the subject, "Just now you were downstairs for too long, I missed you."
"Okay, let's go to bed. We need to get back on the road tomorrow."
Then, the two of them slept through the night without even changing out of their clothes.
The truth was, Lisa didn't sleep well. She kept waking up, feeling as though there was a pair of eyes watching her.
In the end, she was so tired that she fell asleep, but she had a really weird dream.
She dreamt that Uncle Seung was sitting outside his old house petting a black cat, before suddenly dropping dead.
A shadow stood outside his old house, but she couldn't recognize who it was...
Lisa ran after the figure, wanting to catch him but not being able to reach. Finally, she woke up...
– 6 AM –
The two of them got up and left the motel in a rush, without even having breakfast.
After retrieving their car at the gas station, Lisa bought some bread and milk.
On the car, she and Jungkook each had some...
"You didn't tell me last night because you were afraid we were being watched?"
Lisa nodded. "I can't promise that there weren't any monitors in the room. After all, technology is advancing fast. Even that owner knows how to use a computer."
"Did you manage to get any information?"
"First, I have to tell you that motel is basically a whore house."
"What?" Jungkook almost spat out the milk in his mouth.
"Seriously, I wasn't kidding..."
"How... did you find out?" Jungkook needed some time to digest the information he just heard.
"First... Andong city's floating population is low, so their motel barely has any business. Second, last night as I was going downstairs, I saw a dark-skinned man. He looked at me really weirdly, and after I went downstairs he came down as well and pulled the owner aside to talk to her. They were whispering really quietly, but... I can read lips."
"I know that, you don't have to show that off." Jungkook laughed.
Lisa knew lip reading as early as seven years ago.
Back then, high-tier Public Security universities even sent people to her high school to scout Lisa. They wanted her to join their criminal investigation unit so she could help them crack cases.
This was because she knew sign language, lip reading, as well as a bunch of random languages. Others needed years to reach that level of expertise, but it took her less than two months to learn each of them.
"The man asked the owner if I was new, and how much I cost. The owner said I was a guest.
Then, the man said he didn't care if I was a guest, he wanted to have his way with me, but the owner told him that I was with someone and that he shouldn't cause a scene."
"So that black douchebag wanted to sleep with you?" Jungkook's expression immediately darkened; if he had known, he would've beaten him up.
"Yeah, but the owner stopped him. I think they know each other well. Do you remember hearing noises last night? I didn't see a woman, but it was definitely a prostitute the owner sent over."
"Fine, let's assume you're right, but that doesn't have anything to do with you. You were downstairs for so long, didn't you get any information?"
"Of course I did. Not only that, I also obtained quite a lot of useful intel." Lisa smiled proudly.
"For example...?" Lisa looked at her.
"For example... I suspect that Doctor Kim didn't move away, but her entire family was murdered."
"Murdered?" Jungkook frowned slightly at this information. A family of three, murdered? It sounded crazy.
Lisa nodded. "Because the owner said that Doctor Kim never sold their house and didn't take their furniture or even their clothes. It's like they disappeared into thin air. It's not logical."
"But still, you can't be sure that they were murdered. What if they left because of an emergency?" Jungkook didn't agree with Lisa's theory.
"That's also possible, but the chances are really slim. Think about it, from the death of Uncle Seung, we can tell that the killer is an abomination who won't even let an old man live. Therefore, there was no way they will let Doctor Kim, an important witness, off the hook. Don't forget, she was the key person to that incident all those years ago, and if she died, no one would be able to give witness to what happened. I don't think that someone who was smart enough to quietly kill Uncle Seung and make it seem like a suicide will let Doctor Kim and her family escape."
Jungkook sucked in a breath of cold air upon hearing Lisa's analysis. "You sure are meticulous, I forgot that these two cases may be related. You're right, someone who is willing to kill an old man must be an abomination. But... we need proof, so should we check out Doctor Kim's old place?"
"Of course not... unless absolutely necessary, we should never come back to this town again."
"Why not?" Lisa's meticulousness made Jungkook worry.
"Because there are too many informers and suspicious people in this town. We don't know who we can trust, so we can't risk ourselves. If we identify a new witness, we have to find them before they're killed... The owner's husband, that man... I didn't really talk to him, but he's really weird."
"Weird how?"
Lisa thought about it for a second and then recalled, "I think it's my woman intuition, I have a feeling that there's more to him. We met for the first time yesterday, but he's so unfriendly towards me that I feel like something's off about him."
"Maybe you were too nervous..." Jungkook speculated.
"Maybe... but I also made sure of one other thing."
"What's that?"
"The fire at the health center's archive room all those years ago was not an accident... Not only that, whoever did it was very familiar with chemical principles."
"Oh? How so?" Jungkook hadn't thought about that.
"The owner told me that the fire was really weird, they couldn't even extinguish it at all. Therefore, the older people in the village claimed that it was a fire from the Gods, sent here to kill monsters and demons, and that's how word got out. But the owner said that she witnessed the fire and that it became even bigger when they tried to put it out. Apparently, it was really scary... tell me, under what circumstances will water make a fire worse?" Lisa smiled as she looked at Jungkook.
"I got it, whoever set the fire was a chemistry expert, they probably stored some sort of chemical or easily inflammable substance in that room, like potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium carbide, or calcined lime. These substances react to water, so not only will the fire refuse to die down, it'll make things worse. That's why regular folks thought it was a fire sent from the Gods."
"Right, that's exactly it." Lisa nodded.
"I'm surprised that weird things like this would happen to that small city. Doll, I have a feeling that your birth parents aren't ordinary people. Their identities may be really complicated." Jungkook looked at Lisa and guessed.
"I feel the same," Lisa said restlessly.
"Either way, I will help you find them. Don't worry." Jungkook consoled her again.
After they returned to Seoul, they immediately went to work. As soon as Lisa arrived at South Side, one of the nurses told her, "Head Nurse, Deputy Director asked you to go to his office."
"Okay." Lisa nodded; she quickly changed into her white lab coat and headed up to the deputy director's office.
After knocking, Lisa walked in...
Deputy Director was leisurely enjoying a cup of tea. Unlike Director Jung, he was an extremely glib-tongued man.
He was an old fox and extremely scheming. Lisa didn't like him but couldn't do anything about it. After all, he was an old employee and a high-level executive.
Therefore, she had no choice but to cope with him here and there...
"Lisa, you're here?"
"Deputy Director, you were looking for me?"
"Yeah, come in, sit."
He was being so polite that Lisa began to feel uneasy.
With a calm expression on her face, Lisa sat down on a chair. Deputy Director put down the cup in his hand and slowly said, "Lisa, since you arrived at South Side, you have been extremely outstanding in your job. As your boss, I admire your work ethics and loyalty, but..."
Lisa knew that there was more – there was no way he called her up to shower her with compliments.
"But you've requested for a lot of days off recently. Sometimes, you didn't even request for time off in advance before leaving for three days. You know how busy South Side is; we are constantly short of personnel. What you've done has put me in a pickle, especially when Director Jung directly approved your days off. But think about it, Director Jung mainly manages the Asan medical center, and after all, I'm in charge of South Side. Therefore... I was thinking, in the future, I think it's better if you let me know if you need anything. You don't have to alarm Director Jung. After all, he's a busy man and doesn't need to be involved with mundane things like this. What do you say?"
Lisa secretly smiled at what he said; the deputy director lost face because she went over his head.
But the three days at Seoraksan Mountain and this time at the Gamble God cruise... Jungkook was the one who asked for her, okay?
She didn't even get the chance to ask for time off herself...
However, she didn't want to bicker with Deputy Director, so she nodded in agreement. "Deputy Director, you're right. I will remember that from now on."
"Okay, I'll let it go this time. After all, you've been here for less than a year, and there's a lot of things that you're not used to yet. You'll slowly get the gist of it."
"Okay." Lisa nodded.
Then, Deputy Director glanced at her and said, "Lisa, my new home is under renovation right now, and I need some funds. 2 million should do. Do you think you can lend me some from the Oh Foundation? Consider it as a loan, and once I gather enough cash, I promise to return it. It won't affect your job, what do you think?"
When Deputy Director finished, Lisa finally understood that picking on her was just an excuse.
He was actually eyeing the Oh Foundation's money?
"Haha... to tell you the truth, Deputy Director, I don't have the authority to touch the Oh Foundation's money. Plus, you've asked for a really large amount. Every time we use the foundation's money, Sehun needs to sign off on it. What about this, I can call him for you and tell him your current situation. You and President Oh go way back, so I'm sure he'll be happy to lend you 2 million."
Then, Lisa took out her phone and pretended to dial...
However, Deputy Director immediately stopped her. "Don't alert President Oh. Ha, he's so busy, I'll figure something else out with the renovations."
"That's fine too, but if you need to, remember to let President Oh know, and as long as he agrees, I'll be more than happy to approve the funds." Lisa smiled.
"Okay, sounds good. You can go now, Lisa."
After Lisa left, Deputy Director's expression turned grim.
"Brother-in-law, I told you that this damned woman wasn't easy to deal with. We finally got the Oh Foundation but can't get anything out of it. What the hell..." Department Director suddenly came out of the office.
"Lisa isn't easy to deal with. She's really smart," Deputy Director said with a solemn expression.
"She is really unappreciative, standing directly in our way to wealth. Should I... get someone to teach her a lesson?" Department Director, a thievish-looking man, asked.
"Don't be absurd, do you know who she is? Don't think about doing anything to her."
"Isn't she just an illegitimate daughter of the Oh Family? I heard that her relationship with them isn't even that good, why would Sehun make her the chairwoman of the Oh Foundation? Gosh."
"Not only is she the illegitimate daughter of the Oh Family, director Jung also values her. I believe that old fox will never hone anyone for no reason, she must have someone behind her that no one knows about."
"What person? Is she director Jung's mistress?" Department Director said in disdain.
"That's none of your business. Anyways, don't act rashly..."
"You don't have to be so careful! She's only in her twenties, what's she capable of? She recently upgraded from a Volkswagen to an Audi R8, it's obvious that she's dating some rich guy. Nurses at South Side have all dated rich men or are sugar babies. Otherwise, with their salaries, none of them will be able to drive Mercedes or BMWs. Lisa may look all high and mighty, but I bet she's no more than a gold digger. Where else do you think her sports car came from? I heard that while Jimin was here, there were rumors going on about them."
"Jimin?" Deputy Director's expression froze.
"Yeah, but I bet Jimin's already sick of her. After all, she's not the prettiest woman alive. He was probably just looking for some fresh blood. Men are all like that, they like women they can't get. Jimin probably fell for her arrogance, but I didn't think that anything else happened between them, it was probably no more than a brief encounter... If it were up to me, I would first try to get her into bed; after that, she's yours to command."
"All you know is your damn bed. You seriously need to control yourself these days, don't let anyone set you up, and stop fooling around with those nurses... they might be the death of you."
"Okay, I got it, geez." Department Director was obviously impatient.
They fantasized about taking the Oh Foundation's money but failed, since Lisa was not an accommodating woman.
Department Director once hinted to Lisa that if she was willing to help them, they would give her 30% in return, but Lisa immediately declined.
Sehun wasn't a good nut, but since he handed over the foundation for her to manage, she was going to try her best.
After all, it was all life-saving money...
After Deputy Director gave her a good talking to, Lisa went back to her office to organize documents.
"Head Nurse, it's time for rounds."
"Okay."
"Head Nurse, last night a new patient was admitted into room 1. He wounded his ankle playing basketball, it's not serious, but apparently, he's really rich. He kept saying that we need to come up with the best treatment plan and even brought with him two 24-hour on-call orthopedic experts."
"People like that exist?" Lisa was a little speechless.
"If he's rich enough to hire experts to tend to him, then why come here?" Lisa didn't understand rich people logic.
"We thought it was weird too, but no one dared to ask. That patient has a hot temper."
"Hot temper? Don't tell me Jimin's back." Lisa had a bad feeling.
"It's not Young Master Park..." The nurse's face turned red upon hearing Jimin's name and said shyly.
"That's good."
She was happy to hear that it wasn't Jimin. With the patient's chart in hand, she, along with two other nurses, head towards room 1.
She looked at the name on his chart and felt like she's heard of this person before. But she didn't remember where.
"bang Chan... I think... I've heard of this name," Lisa mumbled.
Then, the nurses knocked and opened the door...
When Liaa saw who it was, she suddenly remembered that this person was Jimin's friend, and they always hung out with that Kim Taehyung guy as well.
"Head Nurse, perfect timing... my foot hurts, come and see what's wrong with it." Bang Chan was munching on an apple and watching EXO's concert on TV. He seemed to be in a good mood and didn't look like his foot was in pain at all...
"You look healthier than a healthy person, not at all like someone who hurt his foot." Lisa walked over with his chart and looked at Bang Chan.
"My mentality has nothing to do with my foot. I'm an optimist, even if I lose a leg, I will still drink and eat if I wish."
Lisa ignored the talkative man in front of her and looked down at his chart.
He twisted his ankle playing basketball. It really wasn't a big deal – all he needed to do was go see a traditional medicine practitioner and then spend some time recovering at home.
Why make a big deal of it by coming to South Side? Was he here to burn money?
Lisa closed his file and looked at Bang Chan through her black-rimmed glasses. "I took a look at your chart, you don't need to stay here at South Side, you can recover at home. Are you sure you want to take up a room here?"
"What are you talking about? I'm rich, so I'm going to do what I want. So what if I took up a room? Forget about my ankle, next time when I suffer from a cold, I will come stay at South Side again. I'm rich, bite me."
A long time ago, Taehyung mentioned to Bang Chan that Lisa was a really unique woman.
Therefore, he wanted to take this chance to see what she was made of, and to get to the bottom of why the fuck was Jimin so head over heels in love with her?
Lisa wasn't angry at what he said. Instead, she turned around and ordered the nurses, "Get ready to draw blood for this patient, I'm scared that the injury on his ankle is causing inflammation elsewhere. We need to be diligent, draw six tubes, and we can give him a comprehensive test."
"Okay, Head Nurse."
"Hey, wait, why are you drawing my blood and so much of it too?" Bang Chan's expression changed immediately; he put down the apple that he was midway through eating.
"It's South Side's policy, we're doing it for the patients. Giving you a comprehensive examination is mandatory, we're just trying to be accountable for your health..."
"Lisa, you're using your position to get even with me over a private grudge. I'm going to file a complaint against you."
"Feel free to do that any time."
Then, Lisa said to the other nurse, "The patient in room 1 is emotionally unstable, I suspect that he might be suffering from early onset mania. Go get a doctor from psych to give him a psychological analysis. If nothing's wrong with him, he can stay here in ortho. If it's a psych case, then... he'll have to transfer elsewhere."
Then, Lisa coolly turned around to leave...
Bang Chan thought that he would be able to stuff a metaphorical sock in Lisa's mouth after a few minutes of confrontation. But...
Oh my gosh, what did Wei Liao do to him...
Wei Liao said that if he purposely injured his ankle and was admitted to South Side, Su Yu would be able to visit him, which will give him more opportunities to see her.
However, these opportunities were created as a result of his pains and sorrows...
Not only did he have to get his blood drawn, but he also needed to undergo a psych analysis...
He immediately took out his phone and yelled in their group, "I am going to leave this hospital immediately! Right now! That woman Lisa is horrifying!"
Taehyung burst into hysterical laughter upon hearing this...
"Remember, this is all for our Young Master Park's fight for love. We will forever remember you for your sacrifices, soldier."
"Don't do that, why don't you come and stay here for a few days instead? You've really tricked me." Bang Chan thought that no matter who Lisa was, at the end of the day, she was a woman, how scary could she be? But it's only his first day and he's already going crazy. What's he supposed to do for the remaining days?
Seeing that Jimin didn't respond, Bang Chan shouted, "Jimin, please show mercy, why can't you find another girl to fall in love with? This girl isn't the one for you. If you marry her, she's going to kill you!"
Three seconds later, Jimin typed three words into their group – "That's my choice".
Bang Chan was flabbergasted... he felt like he was being pushed into a corner.
That night, Lisa felt bad about taking multiple days off, so she decided to take a week's worth of night shifts, thus giving the other nurses in her department a few nights off.
As she was sitting at the on-call booth, she suddenly saw a warm cup of milk tea placed before her.
She looked up – the man in front of her had upward inclining eyes, and a deviously charming smile on his face.
"Head Nurse, here's your milk tea." Jimin smiled.
"Why are you here?" Lisa asked Jimin; the truth was, she wasn't surprised, because Bang Chan was hospitalized here.
So, she was certain that Jimin would come...
"My buddy is living here now, and he's even staying in your department."
"I know, Bang Chan, right?" Lisa took a sip of milk tea.
"Yes, him."
"He doesn't have to stay here, you forced him to come, didn't you?" Lisa asked up front.
"Would you believe it if I said that it wasn't my idea?" Jimin looked at Lisa in all seriousness.
Actually, it really wasn't his idea. With Jimin's temperament, if he wanted to see Lisa, he would've twisted his own ankle.
Bang Chan was here because while playing basketball with Taehyung, he accidentally twisted his ankle. He was going to go find a traditional medicine practitioner when Taehyung suddenly came up with the idea that he should just go with the flow and stay at South Side. This way, Jimin would have the chance to see Lisa.
That's how that young heir ended up in South Side and was forced to suffer...
Lisa didn't answer him; she didn't see the point in discussing something like this with Jimin...
Therefore, she purposely changed the subject. "This milk tea tastes good, it's really authentic."
"If you like it, I'll bring you some every day." Jimin stared at her face.
For some reason, Lisa didn't have the courage to look into Jimin's eyes...
She didn't know how to face a serious Jimin.
On the Gamble God's cruise, she broke his heart by not even sharing a dance with him.
She thought that he would give up on her. Yet, for some reason, he seemed to forget about all that and was still courting her.
This made Lisa feel perplexed and awkward...
"Jimin... you don't have to do that, we..."
"We what? I know what we are, don't worry, I won't burden you. Courting you is my business, not accepting me is yours. The two don't conflict."
"But... Jimin, you need to know that I'm already married to the person that I admire and love the most in this world. I am telling you all of this just so that you won't have any false hope. I don't want to lead you into something that I cannot reciprocate," Lisa held the warm milk tea in her hands and reminded him again.
"I know..." Jimin smiled bitterly.
"So... you need to know that some things are..."
"Lisa... you don't have to keep reminding me, I know my position, and I know how you feel about me. I just want to do things for you; I never wanted anything in return and didn't fantasize about a future with you. I'm a free spirit who follows his heart, and I just want to do things that make me happy. Right now, I get happy buying milk tea for you. That's how I feel, and I treasure it. In the last twenty or so years of my life, no one has ever made me this happy... therefore, just humor me, will you?"
Jimin was actually a man with high IQ and EQ. He used to be childish only because he never met anyone he liked as much as Lisa and therefore didn't know what to do about it.
After spending some time together, Lisa realized that Jimin was aware of everything.
Including how he felt about Lisa and Lisa's attitude towards himself...
What Jimin said left Lisa at a loss for words...
For the first time, Lisa lost a verbal confrontation against Jimin...
You can reject a man who loves you, but you couldn't step all over his heart...
She made things really clear to Jimin already, but he still said what he said; it was obvious that he knew better than anyone how she felt.
"But why would you..." Lisa turned her head. She felt sad and didn't want to look into his eyes.
"I think... it might be a debt I owed you from our past life." The corners of Jimin's mouth curled into a smile, and his tall figure stood before the on-call booth.
Just then, Lisa's phone began to ring. It was a video call from Jungkook.
Feeling guilty, Lisa glanced over at Jimin...