Chapter 25: Secret Treatment [4]
The girl was staring directly at Ganghyuk, who was so embarrassed that he could not help laughing.
“Oh!”
Then, he hid behind Yeoni.
‘Oh my goodness!’
There was no use of hiding since she had already seen him, but he could not think of anything. He tried finding a good option, but there were not many choices that he could think of.
‘I had heard that the professor and my old man had a student-teacher relationship…’
So… maybe marriage? He thought that it would not be bad, as she was indeed quite pretty.
‘Considering that her face is swollen right now, it is not bad at all.’ He wanted to live freely but maybe the dream might be shattered.
While he was busy imagining about a son, grandson, and daughter-in-law, the girl asked again. “I asked who you are…” It was an elegant but stern voice, no wonder she was a daughter of the professor. She showed a dignity even though she must have been somewhat intoxicated.
“Tell her something.” With the whisper from Ganghyuk, Yeoni was startled.
“What should I tell her?”
“I don’t know. Tell her something. Any excuse.”
Ganghyuk withdrew his body and tried to hide behind Yeoni. But, it was of no use because of the difference of body size. When he tried to hide, the girl pointed at Ganghyuk.
“I asked who the man behind you is. I will yell if you do not answer.” It was clear whom she had pointed at. Seeing this, Yeoni heaved a sigh of relief and retreated.
“Sir, you must tell her.”
“What?”
“Any excuse.”
He did not feel good to hear the same comment that he had made just a second before. Ganghyuk regretted his irresponsibility as he stepped forward.
“Did you ask who I was?”
“Yes.” The girl straightened up her posture. Although her clothes were shabby, she had the dignity to be called a noblewoman.
‘No wonder she is a daughter of the professor.’ It seemed that he had educated her very well.
‘If I do not answer, she will scream for sure.’
It seemed that he could survive this situation only with his improvised speech. Hence, Ganghyuk straightened up with a few dry coughs; it was the posture that Seungmun took when he greeted guests.
As Ganghyuk had a good body, he looked good with such a posture. It was impossible to think of him as a scoundrel who intruded a noblewoman’s room at night secretly.
“I… I am Baik Ganghyuk.” Ganghyuk answered with an elegant voice and a refined expression in his eyes.
As the lamp gave off a dim light, the room felt just like a washroom.
‘When I was a professor, they liked my refined eyes.’
But, she was somewhat different. She opened her mouth again without any movement, “Why did you come here?”
“Ah, it is because…”
Ganghyuk thought of the broken needle that they pulled out a while ago.
“I came here because of this.”
“Needle?”
“Yes! As you see, this is broken.”
The girl looked at the broken needle that Ganghyuk held. The color was faded, and there was a bad odor coming from it; but, it was undoubtedly a needle.
“Did you come here to find it?”
“No, I mean…”
She was a straight arrow like her father.
Ganghyuk shook his head and pointed at her leg, “This was in your leg. That is why you were sick even though you took the medicine.”
“Ah!” She groaned and then looked at her leg. Yellow pus and red blood were flowing from the part where the needle was taken out. She did not feel much pain at this point.
And it was then that she realized the fact that she was familiar with his voice.
“You are the doctor who came here in the evening.”
“Yes, I was there.”
She doubted something and then looked outside; it was midnight.
“Why do you come here this late at night again?”
“It is because the professor did not let me see the patient directly.”
“So, you came here at this hour to treat me?”
“Yes.”
“It seems it is already curfew time.”
“It will be fine if we are not caught.”
It was not a good statement to say out loud, since they were, after all, caught by the girl.
“En…” She moved her right toe. Since the swelling had already gone down, it was easier to move it. It was true that Ganghyuk had treated her anyway, even though she did not know of the situation in detail.
The one who touched her was a woman…
“You did that… Thank you for treating me.” When she finished understanding the situation, she bowed in gratitude. Joseon people were all very cool indeed.
Ganghyuk shook his hands and answered. “No, no. The treatment is still under progress.”
“I feel much better before I went to bed.”
She seemed conscious even though she had taken painkillers. But, at least it was sure that she would not scream now or cause any problems.
The question was if he had to treat her right now or come back later. But again, when could he come back to the room? Another home visit while avoiding the patrol? No matter how daring he was, even he did not want to try this twice.
“I would like to finish the treatment now only.”
“Is there anything more to be done?”
“There is some major inflammation in the part where the needle was lodged. I need to remove the pus. I did not do it in order not to wake you up, but now that you are already awake, I would like to cleanse the wound.”
“I believe you will not do that by yourself, right?” (f)reewe(b)novel
Even though he had saved her, there was a rule to follow, and Ganghyuk understood her concern.
‘There is a saying that a boy and a girl should not sit together after they have reached the age of seven.’
He thought that it was nonsense in that world, but this place was Joseon.
“This girl will do that. As you can see, she is a woman.”
“Yes, I am a girl.” Yeoni brushed up her hair and smiled. She felt awkward because she always tied up her hair to pretend being a man.
She had brown skin because she showed the performances very often, but it only made her look sexy.
“Yes, good.” The girl nodded and gave her leg. She was better than her father in terms of broad-mindedness at least.
“Good. Yeoni, Open the bag.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yeoni opened the bag again. Ganghyuk took out a cotton ball and forceps from the bag, then gave them to Yeoni.
“Can you do it well?”
“Yes.” She could obviously not say ‘No’ because the patient was right there, causing her to sigh.
“It is not difficult. Remove the dirty things from the place where you pulled out the needle.”
“With this?”
“Yes, then wipe it with this white thing.”
“She will feel pain…”
It was the sole, which was a very sensitive part; and a wound like this would bring quite a lot of inconvenience. This meant she would have as much pain as one could possibly imagine.
“Yes, it is going to be painful. If you feel too much pain, let me know. Do not bear it silently.”
“I see, but…?”
“But?”
“You must hurry. My father gets up very early.”
“Oh!”
It was not too big a deal even though they were caught by the girl herself. But, if they were caught by the professor?
The best solution might be marriage, and the worst? He might be killed instantly.
“Yeoni, did you hear that?
“Yes… Yes.” Yeoni had experienced interaction with many people in the marketplace. She already had some idea about Changgweon, even though it was the first time for her to see him the day before. She knew that Makbong and she would be surely killed even if Ganghyuk was exempted.
The best would be a shot, and the worst would be ‘being rolled in a straw mat’ or a club hit. As a result, she was even more anxious.
“Good job! You can endure very well. Yes. Remove that and dig there.”
“What can I do with it?”
“There… that would be too painful. Leave that. She will take medicine for that.”
“Yes, sir.”
The patient had a great capacity of patience and endurance. On the other side, Yeoni did a good job as well. As a result, they could finish the treatment in time.
“You two were so good! Now, put this one on the leg.”
Ganghyuk gave the gauze with a disinfectant to Yeoni, who made a dressing on the leg with it quite skillfully.
“It is done!”
Ganghyuk picked up his body while looking around. It seemed that it was becoming brighter. ‘It can get serious if we stay any longer.’
At the same time, Yeoni hurried, “Sir, let’s go.”
“Good! You did a good job. Do not tell your father.”
“No, sir. Do not worry.”
“Sorry, but I treated you without asking your name.”
He had forgotten to ask name as he did with Sunshin.
‘Is she a famous woman in the history?’
Ganghyuk looked at her while thinking of famous people among women with the last name of Jeong.
The girl smiled and bowed, “I forgot to introduce myself. I am called Jeong Yeoju.”
“Yeoju…” That name reminded him of no one. ‘But I have a strange feeling.’
It seemed very familiar to him, as if he knew the name for a long time.
‘Was there a student with that name?’
Ganghyuk shook his head. There was no chance for him to forget female students’ names, since there were only a few.
“You have a pretty name. Ok. We will take our leave. Sleep well.”
“I see. Please take care of yourself… And thank you.”
When he came out of the room, he saw Yeoni, who was trying to tie her hair. She tried to make man’s bun, but what she ended up with was more like a woman’s updo.
Seeing this, he felt something deep inside, ‘Yeoni is very familiar as well.’
It was strange! He felt a longing and familiarity on seeing these girls. It was an embarrassing moment for him, as he was a chic boy.
‘Is it because I did not do it in too long?’
Looking back, he had not done it even once after being sent to Joseon. A few days ago, he even had a wet dream like an adolescent.
He woke up at midnight alone…
If Dolseok had seen him, he would have laughed at him a lot.
‘Yes, it must be…’ While he was thinking, he heard a groaning sound.
“Sir, please jump. It is hurting now”
“Oh, I am sorry.”
With that, Ganghyuk jumped over the wall, with Makbong following suite. Yeoni shook her hands to expel mosquitoes.
“Are there mosquitoes already?”
“Huck! There is a patrol.” Makbong suddenly pulled Yeoni and Ganghyuk, waiting till the patrol went away with their torches.
Makbong gave a sigh of relief on seeing them go away.
“What is the reason to treat her after taking such pains? They do not seem to be rich at all.”
“En…”
He could not think of a good answer. Of course he had a pride as a doctor.
‘I do not want to let my patient die. But…’
But, he was not the type who would not take care of his safety. Looking back, he did not know why he climbed the wall and treated her like that.
“I don’t know. Maybe we had some karma in our last lives. We might get caught. Let’s go.”
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