CH 109

It was a late and cloudy night. Lee-yeon sat in her office, writing up how she was going to treat the tree. The quiet room was filled with the sound of her typing.

As she was about to turn her head to look for a book, she started. “Oh my god!” Lee-yeon jumped like she had seen a ghost as Kwon Chae-woo, who was leaning against the door, pouted.

“How long have you been standing there?” she choked out.

He shrugged. “A while.”

“You should’ve said something.”

“I was wondering when you would notice.”

Lee-yeon blinked.

“But you’re pretty quick. I was tempted to bite you if you took any longer.”

As Lee-yeon noticed his eyes changing, she quickly went back to looking for the book. She knew that nothing good happened when he looked at her like that.

As if she was ignoring the warning signs, she said, “You should’ve gone to bed first.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Lee-yeon looked at the lock. 2:00 AM. Lee-yeon’s eyes widened. “You should still sleep! You’re going to work tomorrow!”

“What fun is it to lie in bed alone?” he whined while staring straight at Lee-yeon. Even though his body was impatient, his eyes were not.

Lee-yeon held onto her chair tightly. “You really should sleep.”

“I don’t even want to do that if you’re not there,” he said. “Am I being a bother?”

When she missed her chance to answer him, Kwon Chae-woo sighed and closed his eyes. He put a hand to his tired face and stood by the door. Even though he wasn’t saying anything, Lee-yeon could sense that he was upset. She got up quickly.

But he already left and Lee-yeon froze with her arm stretched out. She felt a little embarrassed so she sat down, but still she couldn’t focus when she remembered the look on Kwon Chae-woo’s face.

Then, she heard knocking. When she looked up, she found Kwon Chae-woo standing there with a couple of her training pants.

“Lee-yeon, pick.”

“Pardon?”

“I want to help you,” he said. “Pick which one you want to wear to the competition.” He waved the pants around as if he was in a hurry. “Left or right?”

“Right.” Lee-yeon’s throat felt ticklish for some reason.

“Right.” Kwon Chae-woo nodded. “This does look a bit more fancy.”

Lee-yeon hid her embarrassed expression but also managed to smile to herself.

Kwon Chae-woo started walking in and out of the room. Each time, he made her choose from things like a straw hat, to his dirty shoes, to handkerchiefs. Lee-yeon kept on glancing at the door even while looking at her monitor. She was waiting for him to come back each time.

“Which one is better?”

Lee-yeon couldn’t hold back her brightest smile as she answered, “I like you the best, Chae-woo.”

The man stood there like he had been hit in the head and his entire upper body became red.

***

Lee-yeon left the house in the caring hands of Chae-woo. Each time she touched the things they had picked out through the night, she couldn’t help but giggle. Did he know that it was like waiting to go on a picnic? It was something that she had never felt, even when she was little.

But that feeling was fleeting. Now, she was speechless.

“Oh my god I can’t believe this! How can you just say that now?” Choo-ja was angry as she held the judge’s arm, shaking it.

They had worked on the treatment plan together over a few sleepless nights and practiced the surgery countless times. But when they got there, what the judge had to say startled them out of their fatigue.

“The director of Mi Hospital isn’t participating?” Lee-yeon asked, just to be sure that she had heard it correctly the first time.

“Yes.” The judge sighed. “It seems like he was in a car accident. He’ll have a cast on his neck for the next two weeks. We just received the message as well so we couldn’t announce it before now. Anyway, you guys win by default. Would the Spruce Tree Hospital like to proceed?” The judge was barely able to get Choo-ja off of him as he pulled his tie up.

“Is that true?” Choo-ja demanded.

“Pardon?” the judge asked.

“Did you check if it was true?”

“He said he was forfeiting, so we didn’t bother.”

And yet Lee-yeon couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he believed the horror stories of the spirit tree and was avoiding treating it just as she had guessed. She scoffed as she looked around at the crowd that had gathered. She felt their hostility from where she stood.

While Lee-yeon and Choo-ja prepared to work on the tree, a soju bottle randomly flew overhead and hit the ground beside them. They jumped back.

The atmosphere had immediately changed for the worse. The glass fragments reflected the sunlight threateningly. Lee-yeon froze in an instant.

“You crazy bastards! If you change our spirit tree, you’ll be punished by it! How dare you?”

It was the old man that they had spoken to a few days ago who was now shouting. This time, he seemed quite serious.

From what Lee-yeon had learned over the past few days, it seemed like people picked the falling leaves from the tree and sold them claiming that if you caught the leaves before they fell, your wishes would come true.

Nowadays, not a lot of people fall for it, but around 30 years ago, it seemed like it was good money. It seemed like that old man’s generation was the one who got the most out of it. They also spent $100,000 on treating the spirit tree, but she couldn’t tell that they had done anything at all. She was confident that people of the city, the shaman, and the tree doctor had taken all that money from the old citizens and split it nicely among themselves.

“Choo-ja, are you okay?” Lee-yeon asked.

“It’s not like they hit my head,” Choo-ja smiled. “Besides, I wouldn’t be me if I was surprised by some soju bottle.”

“This is the only way,” Lee-yeon said. “If we don’t do anything, this tree will die.” She gulped and looked at the people around them who seemed very angry. The camera that was filming the tournament, people who seemed like they were about to riot, city employees who were whispering amongst each other were all aiming their score sheets like spears at Lee-yeon. She was scared, but she pulled at her pants hard.

“Today, these people will see the cuts in the spirit tree,” she said. Before she started the surgery, Lee-yeon closed her eyes and said a short prayer. Please hold on. The strength that will heal you will come from your roots. Then, a thought hit her. If something goes wrong, I might have to move.

Lee-yeon had someone to take care of now. She had to be realistic. If she fell, Kwon Chae-woo also fell.

Lee-yeon confidentially took a deep breath and lifted the ladder.