I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 122

122

“Then, let’s all meet tomorrow.”

Professor Seong, having finished his academy class, headed to Seil Hospital as he always did.

His old car, a reflection of his modest circumstances, started with a sputtering sound.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

These days, besides his daughter, the hospital staff and nurses were the people he saw the most.

Some people even mistook Professor Seong for a staff member, as he visited the hospital so frequently, for so long, and so regularly.

“Welcome, Ji-hyun’s father.”

“Here…”

Professor Seong always bought drinks whenever he came to the hospital.

One box for the staff working on the first floor, and another for the nurses in his daughter’s ward.

“Oh… thank you, every time.”

“It’s nothing. It’s also for my daughter.”

“…”

The staff member’s lips twitched for a moment, as if trying to say something, but the words didn’t follow.

“… ?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Ji-hyun will get up soon.”

“I hope so. Thank you.”

He knew the words were sincere, but he also knew better than anyone that they were quite difficult to achieve. Professor Seong’s expression turned gloomy for a moment.

But only for a moment. He couldn’t show such an expression when he was about to see his daughter, so Professor Seong started managing his expression from the first floor of the hospital.

“Boss.”

The flower shop was located on the first floor of the hospital.

Unfortunately, because it was a hospital, they only sold artificial flowers, so the unique scent of fresh flowers was absent. Still, it was a pleasant place, always crowded with people.

“Oh, Ji-hyun’s father is here. Another flower today?”

“Yes, please.”

His daughter used to love flowers so much when she was full of energy.

She said she resembled them, or something like that.

Every time, he would praise her, saying she was prettier than the flowers, but she would always scoff, saying she already knew.

“Just take it today.”

“Yes? Still…”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s a gift.”

“Then… I won’t refuse. Thank you.”

This had never happened before, and both the staff on the first floor and the flower shop owner felt subtly different than usual.

He thought it was just his mood, and Professor Seong headed straight to room 1312.

The place where his daughter was.

Before entering the ward, Professor Seong handed the nurses the drinks and spoke to them.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Oh my, Ji-hyun’s father is here? Thank you always. You don’t have to take care of us like this…”

“I’m just trying to butter you up to take good care of my daughter.”

At Professor Seong’s words, the nurse who had explained the woman’s situation to Seong-hyun a few days ago bit her lower lip.

“… ?”

“Ji, Ji-hyun must be waiting for her father.”

“Ah, right. Then, goodbye.”

His daughter’s ward, located at the very end of the hallway.

Strangely, even though it was sunset, the light coming in from the window at the end of the hallway felt more abundant than usual.

‘… Well, it’s not like it’s the first time…’

Professor Seong chuckled lightly.

There were thoughts he had every single time he walked down this hallway, without missing a single day.

Wouldn’t his daughter greet him with a smile today?

Wouldn’t she complain that she didn’t want to be in the hospital anymore?

Truly, there hadn’t been a single day when he didn’t have these expectations.

Of course, as time passed, the intensity of those expectations might have decreased, but they never disappeared.

“My daughter, Dad’s here.”

The sound of the ward door opening ended, and the scene inside the ward was always the same.

The curtains surrounding the bed, all the lights in the other beds were turned off, and only the light where his daughter was located was on.

Even before removing those curtains with his own hands, he held a small expectation that she might be awake, but the result was always the same.

That was the same now.

“Daughter. Did you miss Dad?”

He was about to show her the flower he had brought, but his daughter had her eyes tightly closed.

“Is she asleep?”

Professor Seong wore a slightly puzzled expression because this rarely happened.

Professor Seong had been coming at the same time every day, and his daughter knew this, so she had been holding on without sleeping until her father arrived.

“Could it be…”

Could it be a bad sign?

It seemed like it wasn’t just that she couldn’t resist the sleep that was coming.

Was his daughter’s energy, who was only lying down, gradually running out?

Was it becoming difficult to endure even the act of enduring itself?

Even though he tried to ignore them, the negative thoughts that always flooded in tormented Professor Seong’s head.

Fortunately, his daughter slowly opened her eyes.

“…”

But that look in her eyes, as if he was seeing his daughter before she collapsed, left Professor Seong speechless for a moment.

“Ah, where did Dad leave off yesterday?”

But how many times had he felt this illusion?

There were so many times that he couldn’t count them, so Professor Seong continued the conversation he had left off yesterday.

“Right. I talked about the mutated 3rd class gate, right? So the king of the snowmen appeared! His size was so big, um… yeah. It was about half the size of this hospital.”

He even drew a picture directly on the notebook next to him to explain.

He didn’t know if his daughter would find it interesting, but wouldn’t it be appropriate to relieve a little boredom?

“And do you remember the hunter Kim Seong-hyun I told you about yesterday? All the professors and students were looking at hunter Kim Seong-hyun. At the same time, the king of the snowmen started running, shaking the ground, getting closer and closer like that…”

“Ji-hyun’s father?”

Professor Seong, who was explaining while waving his hands in the air, quickly straightened his posture at the nurse’s voice from outside.

“Dad will be right back.”

He stroked his daughter’s hair and headed to the nurses, who seemed to have just received snacks.

“Let’s eat together. There’s not much.”

“Haha. I’m grateful just for the thought. I’m okay.”

“Still… I always only receive…”

“If you really feel that way, I would be grateful if you could give it to my daughter when she wakes up later.”

Professor Seong, who bowed his head and returned to the ward, doubted his eyes for a moment.

“Ji, Ji-hyun-ah?”

His daughter, who should have been lying in bed, had suddenly disappeared.

It was impossible for her to disappear in that short amount of time.

Even if his daughter had woken up, there was no way that a child who had been lying down for six years could suddenly get up and disappear in the short time he was talking to the nurse.

Then, it was more certain that his daughter had been kidnapped by someone.

‘Who, who on earth? Who would have a grudge against me…’

All he could think of were the directors of the academies from when he used to run an academy.

If not, it could be the work of someone who wanted something from him as an academy professor.

There was no time to waste.

If it was a kidnapping, every minute and every second was precious.

“Th, there!”

The moment he turned around to ask the nurses for help, Professor Seong froze on the spot.

“… Dad.”

The voice he always wanted to hear, the word he wanted to hear.

The face he wanted to see. The vitality he wanted to see.

“Ji-hyun… ie?”

“Dad!”

His daughter ran and hugged him so quickly that it was hard to believe she had spent six years in bed.

“Dad, Dad…”

How hard those six years had been. His daughter’s voice hadn’t changed much from before, but the depth of emotion contained in it felt quite profound.

“My daughter. My daughter…”

Even the hand that hugged his daughter was so delicate, as if she would break if he hugged her too tightly.

“Dad… sob, Dad…”

The tears that had been held back began to pour out, and that was the same for Professor Seong.

“…”

The nurses who had run over after hearing Professor Seong’s cry were also watching this scene.

Of course, it was a situation that should be celebrated, but just watching the father and daughter reunite after a long time was overwhelming.

They hugged and cried in the ward hallway for several minutes.

Whether it was because it was a happy occasion rather than a sad one, tears came out, but they didn’t last long.

“My daughter. Are you really okay? Does anything hurt?”

At the expression as if telling her to answer that way, his daughter burst into laughter.

“Pfft! Dad, I’m really okay!”

The sight of her raising one hand and flexing her arm, blooming with laughter.

Looking at the flower behind her, his daughter was definitely much prettier than the flower.

“Ji-hyun’s father, is it okay if I come in for a moment?”

Soon, the voices of the nurses were heard from outside.

“Of course. Come in.”

Though they probably shouldn’t have, all the nurses who had to guard their posts appeared in the ward.

Holding a handful of snacks for themselves.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to the nurses.”

“No. We…”

It was a fleeting moment of guilt-ridden expression, but Professor Seong, who was already happier than anyone else, didn’t notice it.

“Then, have a lot of conversations that you haven’t been able to have.”

“Yes. And I’ll enjoy the snacks.”

The father and daughter talked for several hours like that.

Lying on the same bed, they talked about what they had eaten, what the result of the 3rd class gate subjugation [monster subjugation] they were talking about earlier was, and so on.

Professor Seong was the one who did most of the talking, but it was the first time that he didn’t get bored even if he said the same thing again.

“Daughter, there’s one thing Dad is curious about.”

“What is it? I’ll tell you everything!”

“Did hunter Kim Seong-hyun come to see you?”

“Yes. That’s right. That *oppa* [term for older brother or male friend] also treated me.”

“I knew it…”

Waking up was a miracle, but moving as if nothing had happened was also a miracle.

And above all, the bright, bright eyes, not only the vitality, but also the bright eyes, like before losing her mother, represented that it was impossible with a simple method.

“It was amazing.”

“What was?”

“It hurt so much, it was hard, and it was sad, but when *oppa* stroked my head, everything got better.”

“…”

His daughter’s expression saying this was so happy that Professor Seong bit his lip to hold back the tears that were about to burst.

Perhaps realizing her father’s expression, his daughter changed the subject and said.

“That’s right! That *oppa* told me to tell Dad if he came.”

“Tell me what?”

“This.”

His daughter, who was rummaging behind her pillow, soon held out a small hand.

In that small fist was an even smaller machine.

“A recording… device?”

A recorder used by nurses.

He wanted to ask his daughter why this was in there, but Professor Seong stroked his daughter’s head and answered because it was obviously not a good thing.

“Dad will listen to this alone.”

“… Okay.”

It seemed like the content was roughly predictable from his daughter’s hardening expression.

“And *oppa* said.”

“… ?”

“Don’t feel guilty. You have to cut off what you have to cut off so that the rest doesn’t rot.”

He was clearly hearing it in his daughter’s voice, and Seong-hyun wasn’t even nearby, but it felt clear.

Those words seemed to be advice and counsel.

“… I have to. If I don’t want to rot together.”