It was about 20 minutes later when we finally met the doctor.
We didn’t go to find him.
Somehow, he knew and came to the cafeteria where we were.
Though he didn’t wear glasses, he gave off the impression of someone with poor eyesight.
His hair was a bit messy, as if he hadn’t styled it, and he wore blue surgical scrubs with a white coat over them, making it clear he had been here since the morning.
The dark circles under his eyes added to that image.
When the doctor saw me, his eyes widened, and when he saw Yang Hye-in, he paled.
He must have a good memory, as expected of a doctor.
…Judging by his reaction, he might not have known we were here.
Maybe he was just coming for a coffee and ran into us.
Since we were seated near the cafeteria entrance, we could see the moment he froze in place as he tried to enter.
“…”
No matter how long we waited, he didn’t seem to intend to approach us, so I stood up first.
I walked slowly towards the doctor and said,
“Do you remember the day I came here?”
They say the polite way to start a conversation is with a greeting, but unfortunately, I’m not very good at dealing with people.
I had only just started learning a week ago.
So, what came out of my mouth was a direct question.
The doctor looked down at me with his mouth slightly open, then nodded.
“Could you spare me a moment of your time?”
Once again, I went straight to the point.
*
The doctor, surrounded by women who could easily be called beauties or lovely young ladies, didn’t look very comfortable.
Understandable.
After all, even though three of them were strangers, both Yang Hye-in and I were people who could potentially ruin his career.
The doctor and I were sitting across from each other at a small table, while Yang Hye-in and the others occupied the tables on either side.
We were only taking up three two-person tables, but with the doctor in the middle, ‘surrounded’ wasn’t an exaggeration.
“Is your body alright?”
For someone who only met me once, and then saw me coming to him out of the blue, asking that question first showed he truly was a born doctor.
I used to think all the people from schools under the Hwayoung Foundation were just like each other.
But, well, my thoughts had changed a lot over the past week.
I nodded.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
At least, from what I’ve checked over the past week, there were no visible injuries on my body.
I hadn’t been hurt again either.
In fact, I was healthier than before I lost my memory.
I ate much better and had more stamina than usual.
Though I still couldn’t say I was healthy compared to others, at least now I could run around a track once without collapsing.
Honestly, at first, it was disorienting.
When it was time to eat, I felt unbearably hungry, and before I knew it, I was eating more than I remembered I could.
How much had that person cared about my body?
“That’s… a relief.”
The doctor said that and took a sip of his coffee. Then he glanced at Yang Hye-in and the girl in the same clothes next to her, Shin So-hee.
After that, he leaned slightly toward me and spoke in a low voice.
“Has anything similar happened since then?”
Even in such a low voice, everyone could probably hear him.
But no one interrupted.
“No.”
I answered as clearly as possible.
“How bad was my condition back then for you to ask that?”
At the same time, I asked him about the situation at the time.
“…You don’t remember?”
The doctor spoke with a grave expression.
Then he glanced at Yang Hye-in again.
Was he worried she might be trying to stop us from talking?
Well, it wouldn’t be strange if that was the case.
…Maybe it was a mistake to bring Yang Hye-in here.
Still, the doctor seemed to clearly remember my condition back then.
It had been three months already.
It must have left a deep impression.
There were probably many patients more severely injured than me, but not many would leave the hospital in the way I had.
After pondering for a moment, I nodded.
“No, I don’t remember much from that time. I was out of it from the pain.”
“…”
The doctor’s face turned serious again.
“…Are you sure there wasn’t any domestic violence?”
It depends on how far you extend the definition of violence.
I caught a glimpse of Yang Hye-in flinching slightly in my peripheral vision, but I decided to ignore it for now.
“No, there wasn’t. But because of that incident, my memories are still hazy. I’m not even sure how I managed to attend school. Could you tell me about my condition back then?”
That’s what I truly wanted to ask.
The moment when another ‘me’ woke up for the first time, something only the people who had seen me firsthand would remember.
I didn’t leave the house often, and even when I did, few people could have seen me.
Fewer still would remember.
I intended to trace that person’s footsteps little by little.
As if retracing memories.
“Well…”
The doctor frowned slightly, crossed his arms, and thought before speaking.
“You seemed like you weren’t fully aware of what was happening.”
“Not aware of what was happening?”
“Yes.”
In response to my question, the doctor nodded.
“You kept saying you were fine, even though you clearly weren’t.”
Was it because I genuinely couldn’t grasp the situation?
“And you were also in a lot of pain.”
“…”
The bruises that were on my back.
“Do you have any records from that time? Not just a medical report, but photos or something…”
“…”
The doctor said nothing for a moment.
No, it wasn’t that he said nothing—he went pale after hearing my words.
Why?
Considering how he kept glancing at Yang Hye-in, the reason was probably related to her.
“Uh, well…”
“Could you wait over there for a moment?”
I cut him off and asked Yang Hye-in.
Without a word, she stood up and quickly walked away.
Yang Hye-in walked all the way to the window on the other side, turned around, and waited, looking back at us.
“And the others too…”
The doctor still spoke cautiously.
“Please.”
At my words, Yoo Ha-neul, Lee Soo-ah, and Shin So-hee exchanged glances, then nodded at me.
They stood and moved away as well, not as far as Yang Hye-in, but far enough that they couldn’t hear the conversation.
Everyone was still watching us, though.
People passing by glanced curiously at us.
“…Is it okay now?”
“Yes…”
The doctor nodded and pulled out his smartphone, hesitating.
“What I’m about to show you was taken just in case it needed to be shown to the police. I hope…”
“It’s fine.”
I nodded, but the doctor still looked slightly worried as he turned on his phone and searched through it.
He hesitantly passed the phone to me.
…What appeared on the screen was a picture.
A picture of me.
Or rather, you could say it was a picture of ‘that person’.
Someone was lifting up my shirt.
And the camera captured a back completely covered in dark bruises.
It wasn’t just a simple bruise; it looked like blood hadn’t circulated for a long time.
The person in the photo was limp.
Had they screamed in pain and then collapsed from exhaustion?
There weren’t many photos.
As the doctor said, they weren’t personal keepsakes, just pictures of my back and arms.
“There are only a few photos, but your condition was worse than what they show. Your head and legs were in similar shape. It looked like someone had persistently tormented you.”
If those injuries were caused by someone else, it wouldn’t be called ‘torment’.
“Were there only bruises?”
“Yes, exactly. That’s why we thought it was abuse.”
The doctor explained that if there had been an accident serious enough to cause such bruises, there should have been more than just bruises.
“If you need help, you can tell me now.”
Did he realize how dangerous it was to say something like that?
…It meant he was a kind person.
He was willing to report this to the police for the sake of a girl he had just met.
I handed back the phone and said,
“No, it’s fine. Nothing like that will happen again.”
At least, taking the medicine to switch bodies is on hold.
Even if I survive the switch, I can’t bear to put that person through such pain again.
I think I now have a sense of why these injuries happened.
I won’t question whether it makes sense.
It’s something that actually happened.
At least I now know this person didn’t wake up right after I fell asleep.
…Did this person know?
Did they know it was me who caused them such pain?
Even knowing that, did they still act for my sake?
…If it were ‘me’, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.
Well, I wasn’t even able to protect my own life.
*
He didn’t become a doctor for the money.
He wanted to save people.
It wasn’t some touching story like in a drama.
He had grown up watching those dramas and developed that mindset.
Yes, in truth, it was as unimpressive a reason as becoming a doctor for the money.
But still.
He thought it wouldn’t be right to give up his profession as a doctor for the sake of money.
…To be honest, after losing a patient last time, he couldn’t deny that he had rationalized it to himself.
“…”
He stared at his smartphone for a long time.
It had been about an hour since the victim who came to him, asked to see her own photos, and then left.
She hadn’t asked him to delete them or to hand them over.
She simply looked at the photos, smiled bitterly, thanked him, and left.
“…”
Was it right to let this go?
Was it right to just prioritize his own safety and move on while knowing the victim was right in front of him?
As a doctor?
…No, it wasn’t.
He pulled up the phone dialer.
As he typed 112 into the keypad, he thought, this is far too late already.