Chapter 65 – The Queen of a Jungle

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

“I’m cooking ramen,” she replied, eyes fixed on the boiling pot of water.

“Ramen?” He gave her a fierce look, moving to grab a water bottle from the fridge.

“I forgot to have dinner, and I couldn’t sleep because I was hungry.”

“Your face is going to end up bloated tomorrow morning.”

“Once I run around the ER a few times, it’ll calm down.”

Muyeol couldn’t believe she was having ramen, again. He opened the fridge and looked inside, silently wondering if she chose to make ramen because there was nothing else available.

“Don’t even think about nagging me,” she added when she saw what Muyeol was doing, “I simply decided not to eat what’s in there.”

Muyeol got up, closing the fridge after him.
“Are you trying to recall the days you hungered for success? Is that why you keep eating ramen?”

“No, I earn more than enough money to not think about it.
Why are you talking about the old days, you idiot?”

Muyeol leaned against the fridge.
He took in her upset features and realized she wasn’t in a good mood, but didn’t understand why.
“Why are you upset?”

Yiyoung put the dry noodles in the pot, and gave him a random reply, “I should’ve been born in the jungle.
I would’ve been its queen.”

It was a seemingly irrelevant, incoherent comment, but Muyeol somewhat understood what she meant.
Yiyoung was referring to the unfair way the world treated her, which meant something must have happened at the hospital.

Muyeol grabbed a bottle of wine out of the wine cooler, also bringing a couple of glasses, before sitting down at the dining table.
He poured himself half a glass and took a sip.
“I’m sure you would have, since you’re so good at fighting.
You would never lose a fair fight.”

“Yeah, you’re right.
I would’ve been the queen because I’m so good at fighting with my own abilities.” Yiyoung stirred the pot.
“Darn it.”

Muyeol took note of how she swore.
“What happened? Did you lose the battle?”

Yiyoung pursed her lips, hesitant to tell him the truth.
What if Muyeol got himself involved in the situation?

But it seemed he noticed her hesitation.
“But even if you tell me about your situation, don’t expect me to do anything.
I’m not interested in matters related to the hospital.”

He didn’t have to worry about others; he needed to prepare for Jaeho’s return.
His half-brother would immediately find a way to be part of the project he was currently leading, so Muyeol needed to find a way to prevent that.
He already had a lot on his plate, so he could not possibly be expected to intervene in a feud between doctors.

Besides, the hospital was meant to be a philanthropic contribution to society on S group’s part; nobody expected it to be profitable.

Yiyoung turned off the gas, carrying the pot full of ramen to the table.
“Do you mean it?”

“What? That I’m not interested in hospital related matters?”

“Yeah,” Yiyoung replied with a frown.

Muyeol observed her carefully.
She had lost weight, clearly an effect of all the stress she was taking.
She was an idiot for believing she could handle it, like some sort of superhuman.
It would be good for her if she could spill everything on her mind.

“Right now, I’m focused on myself.
As long as the hospital doesn’t go bankrupt because of poor management, I have no interest in it,” he said so calmly that it almost sounded provocative.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.
Why? Is there a rumor about the hospital going bankrupt?”

“No.” Yiyoung lost herself in her thoughts, hands still busy stirring the ramen.
She desperately wanted to talk to someone about it.
She couldn’t wait to vent all the frustration and hatred eating her up from inside.
It would definitely make her feel better, but she wondered if it really was the right thing to do.

“Then, you don’t have any reason to not tell me about it,” Muyeol urged her.

But before she could make up her mind, her heart had already given in.
Without even realizing, the words began to spill from her mouth, “You know…”

She told him everything; she couldn’t help it.
All the anger and resentment bottled up inside her which she couldn’t even express in front of Jaehee… It was all out in the open.

The clock ticked past midnight, and the ramen turned two servings instead of one after the first one became soggy.

It was the next day already, and Yiyoung flew into shock when she checked the time.
“Time flew by so fast! How did that happen?”

Yiyoung didn’t think she had talked so much.
How had time passed by so quickly? She didn’t even realize it.
Yiyoung knew she should clean up and go to sleep so she could work tomorrow, but something inside her did not let her move, almost as if her body was glued to the chair.
She didn’t want to leave, and Muyeol felt the same way.

“Are you going to finish that?” Muyeol pointed with his chin, crossing his arms.

Yiyoung followed his gaze.
Seeing the pot of ramen, she replied quietly, “No.”

She hadn’t eaten properly—courtesy of her conversation with Muyeol—which had never happened to her before.

“Then…” Muyeol asked, “do you want to cook another packet?”