Young Saeng awoke to an unfamiliar surrounding. 
As his eyes adjusted from the blur vision, he noticed that there were several machines beside him.
A familiar figure was resting with her head on the bed, and it took a moment for him to remember what had happened.
He managed to lift his free hand and began her head, thanking God for not taking him away and allowing him to live on.

"Oppa? Are you feeling ok?"

Hae Yeon, who was woken up by his touch, began tearing almost immediately.

A pang of guilt filled him as he looked at the precious face in front of him.
Her eye bags were still visible even though she had taken care to conceal it. 
He was also pretty sure she had also lost some weight.

"Thank you for waking up! I'll get Hyun Joong oppa over"

Young Saeng's POV
Hae Yeon ah… why aren't you scolding me instead?
I thought I'll never see you again…

Though Young Saeng wanted very much to call out to her and apologize for making her worry,
he was still being hooked up to a ventilator, which made it impossible for him to speak. 

She soon returned with Hyun Joong and some nurses soon after and left them to do their work.

"You've been out for 3 days. I made her take some time off and took her off your case.
It was too hard to see her act as if nothing was wrong"

Hyun Joong said as he saw Young Saeng's eyes trace after Hae Yeon as she exited the ward.

"We'll be taking you off the ventilator later in the afternoon and monitoring your progress.
You'd better think of a good apology to say to her"

After Hyun Joong left him for another patient, Young Saeng began thinking back on the events before he passed out.

Flashback

"Why are you so stubborn? Why do you always have to sabotage my biggest deals?"

"Why don't you just give up? You know you're surrounded. Let go of me, or my men will shoot any time"

"We'll see who gets out alive"

"Die!"

"Young Saeng Hyung!"

---

"Hyung! Don't close your eyes! You need to stay awake"

"Hyung Jun ah, tell Hae Yeon I'm sorry"

"Tell her that yourself!"

End of Flashback

He wondered what happened to Viper after that, but soon drifted back into sleep again due to the medication.

"Young Saeng ah, it's been so many years. I've already lost my son and daughter-in-law,
why don't you just put everything behind and come home to Harabeoji?"

"Sajangnim…"

"I'm fine. Is it almost time?"

"Yes. The car is ready"

"Let's go then. He wouldn't want to see me when he wakes up"

"Dr. Kim will inform again once he's well enough to be transferred to the normal ward"

"Arrange for him to be transferred to the suite. No, forget it. He'll not be happy about it"

Young Saeng opened his eyes as soon as he heard the click of the door, and the familiar back view of the
retreating figure brought tears to his eyes.

He had woken up when his grandfather was around, but yet chose to keep his eyes closed for the entire time. 
He didn't know how to face the elder man in such a state, after leaving home after the fight years ago.

Young Saeng's POV
Mianhae, Harabeoji. I haven't been a good grandson

---

"Took you long enough to wake up! You should have seen the Turtle's face while you were in the operating theatre. 

"Yah I was really worried! Don't remind me of it…"

"I'm not done yet. Which man makes his lady cry over him?"

"Woah! Mal is at it at full force already"

"Jung Min ah, don't harass my patient or I'll kick you out"

Hae Yeon couldn't help but laugh as she witnessed the banter between the guys.
Young Saeng had recovered well enough in the past two days to be transferred to a normal ward,
so he was allowed to have more visitors.

"I'm sorry, for making all of you worry"

"You have a lot of explaining to do to my baby cousin"

"Not now Oppa..."

Hae Yeon exchanged a look with Kyu Jong and shook her head.
Now that the worst was over, all she wants is for Young Saeng to recover well.
The explanation can come later when he's feeling better.

"It's almost time for me to get back to work. I'll come by again later"

"Hae Baby…"

Hae Yeon was about to leave when she heard Young Saeng calling out to her softly.
He looked like he had something to say.

"Wae? I'll be right back after my shift ends, ok?"

She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, to which one of the guys began coughing deliberately to clear his throat.

"Seems like they forgot we're still around"

"Give them a break… it must be difficult enough for Hyung to be confined to the hospital bed like this"

"Make sure you get some rest"

Hae Yeon said and hastily let go of Young Saeng's hand and left to escape the teasing.
Hyun Joong too followed soon after to return to his duties.

"Don't mind them. They're like a bunch of high school kids at times"

"It's ok"

"Let me know if the work load is too much"

"No it's fine, I've already taken so much time off work"

"Don't push yourself too hard"

---

Time seemed to fly by past as Hae Yeon busied herself. It was already late in the evening when she was
done with her rounds. Young Saeng had just finished his dinner when she returned to his ward.

"You managed to get some food in, that's a good progress. Does it still hurt?"

"Just a little, Dr. Choi"

"You know I'd prefer not to see you as a patient"

"I'm really lucky to have a personal doctor"

"..."

"Can we take a walk in the garden?"

"Has Hyun Joong oppa allowed you to do so?"

"As long as I don't overdo it. I've been taking short walks down the corridor"

"I'll get a wheelchair"

"But -"

"It's either the wheelchair or you stay in your ward. It's too long a distance to the garden"

"Yes, Doctor"

The garden in the evening was filled with patients who were out also for a breather with their families.
Young Saeng smiled as he observed Hae Yeon when she stopped to greet several patients along the way.
It was this caring side of hers that he fell for, and he couldn't help but feel a little jealous as he thought of
all the people she was seeing daily.

When they finally got to a quieter spot in the garden where they stopped, Young Saeng got off the wheelchair
to take a stroll. Much to Hae Yeon's surprise however, he immediately moved over to hug her instead.

"Oppa…"

"Just a little while... I've been wanting to do this"

The familiar feeling of being in his arms again brought tears to her eyes. 
Young Saeng, upon noticing, began kissing the tears away from her eyelids.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep it from you. I was afraid you'd get worried.
And I was too bent on getting Viper that I got careless"

"I thought I was losing you... your heart was close to stopping several times"

"I was afraid I'll never see you again. How am I ever going to make up to you for this?"

"Can you…"

"What is it?"

"Can you please quit being a detective? You almost lost your life this time..."

Hae Yeon's POV
I'm sorry for being so selfish. It's just too dangerous.
I just can't imagine really losing you one day…

Young Saeng's POV
I've worked so hard to get to where I am so that I can reopen the case one day, I can't just give up like this.
Hae Yeon ah, I'm sorry...

"There's still something that I need to do…"

Flashback
"Oppa, do you know of any way to talk him into changing his profession?"

"Have you spoken to him about it?"

"Not really, it's just a thought. It's too dangerous. I wouldn't stop him if it was something
he loved to do, but it seems like something else…"

"Has he told you anything?"

"About what?"

"I believe he'll tell you about it when the time is right"

End of Flashback

Hae Yeon led Young Saeng towards a bench where they sat side by side, with their fingers entwined.
He seemed to be lost in thoughts again. It always happened whenever they got to the topic of his job.

She had a feeling that it was about his parents, and she pondered over whether or not to ask about it.
He had lost both his parents when he was young, but that was all he had ever told her.

"Is it about your parents?"

Young Saeng turned to look at her for a brief moment before nodding.

"My dad died because of medical negligence, but it was covered up by the hospital.
There was no proper explanation, no formal apology. 
Omma took her own life because the pain was too much for her to take.
It all happened so suddenly..."

Sensing the quiver in his voice, Hae Yeon brought herself closer and hugged him.
She never could have imagined the trauma he had to go through back then.

"Sorry, and thanks for telling me about it"

"It's ok. I would have told you eventually"

"That's why you don't like hospitals. And you had to send me to work so often. Oh, do you not like doctors too?"

"It had nothing to do with you, pabo!"

Young Saeng couldn't help but laugh at his adorable girlfriend, but stopped soon after he felt a pain in his chest.

"Omo… are you hurting?"

"Who's fault was it for making me laugh?"

"I was just speaking my mind. But Oppa, is it really worth it?"

"Someone has to do it. Those people shouldn't be getting off just like this"

"But your parents wouldn't have approved of you putting yourself in so much danger too, they'd want you to be happy"

"…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said so much"

"Don't worry about it, I know you're just concerned"

Hae Yeon's POV
What am I doing? Nobody will ever understand what he went through.
I shouldn't be forcing my opinion on him like this… 

Young Saeng's POV
She shouldn't feel so bad about it. I should have told her about this earlier.

"Is there any thing I can help with?"

"What are you talking about?"

"If there's any information you need, I might be able to pull some strings.
The old man is in the management committee after all"

"Old man?"

"My dad. Only a couple of people in the hospital knows about me being his daughter"

"No, I don't want you to get involved"

"But how are you going to do it?"

"I have my ways. I'll quit when this is over, ok?"

"Please be careful…"

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

i think this is one of the longest chapters~ what do you think is going to happen next? :P
by the way, probably won't be updating again until after next week cos my schedule's really tight.
but i'll do so as soon as i can so please stay with me & leave your comments! thank u ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥