Jeha and the Wook Family Legacy
A week later, a nurse emerged from a private hospital room at the Wuga Hospital. She removed her gloves and threw them into the surgical bin standing against the wall in the hallway. The nurse pressed on the sanitizer dispenser mounted above the bin and turned to her right, heading to the nursing station. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening when she saw the group of ten men walking toward her.
Jeha Wook was used to this reaction on the nurses’ faces.
The ten men following him were a necessity he could no longer deny. This past week had turned into a trial. The guards dressed in black tailored suits, their facial expressions varying degrees of unfriendliness were his saviors.
The nurse started to move to the side to let them pass, her gaze full of hope that they would ignore her.
Too bad for her, she had come out of a room that interested Jeha the most.
“Afternoon,” Jeha said, stopping right before her. He checked her nametag and smiled. “Sandy.”
“A-afternoon,” Sandy said, glancing at him, her gaze shifting to the ten men who spread out in the rest of the hallway. “How may I help you, Mr. Wook?”
“I want to ask how my grandfather is doing this afternoon,” Jeha said. “Did he eat anything for lunch?”
“He did,” Sandy said, dragging her gaze away from the men checking the hospital rooms in the hallway. “Shouldn’t you stop them from opening doors to other patients’ rooms?”
“It’s a necessity, Sandy,” Jeha said, waving the matter off. “I’ll apologize to anyone who feels offended. What did grandfather eat?”
“Um,” Sandy frowned when Ryan returned to Jeha’s side and gave him a nod, clearing the hallway.
“Sandy?” Jeha prompted.
Sandy looked at Jeha, her expression blank, and his right brow rose in question.
“Y-your grandfather ate scrambled eggs and a shredded broccoli salad,” Sandy said. “He asked for a glass of red wine, but his diet is restricted. We substituted his request and gave him a glass of cranberry juice.”
“Did he clear his plate?” Ryan asked.
Sandy sighed.
“No, he only ate half his plate. His appetite has not returned, yet. We’re working on it.”
“Thank you for taking care of him so well,” Jeha said, and then urged her to continue down the hallway.
Sandy hurried away to the nurses’ station, though her gaze returned to the men now lining the hallway.
“The security team in the hallway does look excessive,” Jeha said, watching them, trying to put himself in Sandy’s shoes. “Ryan, send them to eat lunch in the cafeteria. The meal is on me.”
“What about you? What if—?” Ryan started.
“I have you, don’t I?” Jeha smirked. “I’m not useless in a fight either. Besides, Moon won’t try anything in such a public place where Grandpa can see him. The team can find me when we’re leaving through the emergency room. Let’s not worry my parents.”
Ryan nodded and motioned for their men to head to the cafeteria.
Jeha took in a deep breath, steadying himself, and then he knocked on the hospital room door.
“Yes.” A gruff voice said in answer.
Jeha opened the door and fought the urge to step back when he saw his parents sitting on two chairs at the foot of his grandfather’s hospital bed.
His grandfather, Chae Wook, sat propped up on his hospital bed, dressed in a hospital gown and a fine black wool sweater knitted by Jeha’s mother, Maria. The covers pulled up to his waist to keep him warm.
Chae Wook sat watching Jeha’s parents, a complicated expression on his face. It looked as though they had been discussing something important. The conversation stopped when they saw him.
Chae Wook gave Jeha all his attention, even gifting him a warm smile despite his illness.
Jeha stopped a few feet away from the bed and lowered his head in greeting, first to his grandfather, and then to his parents.
Ryan followed suit a step behind him, and then Jeha motioned him to leave. He started to turn, but then Jeha’s father stopped him.
“Ryan, stay,” Yisu Wook said his tone hard to ignore. “Close the door.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Ryan closed the hospital room door and faced Jeha’s father.
“I’m going to ask you one question,” Yisu said, sitting back in his chair, he folded his arms against his chest and leveled his gaze on Ryan. “I expect a truthful answer, or you’ll end up working in the satellite Wuga Retirement Center at the border of Aeras Kingdom. You won’t see Jeha again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” Ryan said, stepping up to stand just behind Jeha’s right side.
Jeha stayed still, fixing his gaze on the monitors above his grandfather’s bed.
“Why have you increased security around Jeha?” Yisu asked. “The nurses have noted a ruckus when he walks in this last week. The nurse, Sandy, asked us about it. We handled her inquiries, but I got curious. You haven’t reported any trouble to the main house. I suspect it is because Jeha does not want us to know the truth. I’m expecting an answer, or we transfer the guard around Jeha including you, Ryan, to another facility.”
Jeha heard Ryan let out a defeated sigh.
They had been expecting this, especially after the rapture incident a week ago.
Jeha had not wanted to disturb his grandfather with Moon’s indiscretions.
Chae Wook was already experiencing severe stress ulcers. They had rushed him to the hospital after a bad episode of stomach pain. It was so bad that Dr. Raff was afraid Chae Wook had cancer and ended up subjecting Chae Wook to a battery of tests.
They had all breathed a sigh of relief when Dr. Raff cleared Chae Wook free of cancer.
Jeha was grateful his grandfather was free of cancer, but he did not want to add to his grandfather’s stress. So, he had kept recent events hidden from his parents and his grandfather.
Now, he could only be glad they were in the hospital. If anything happened with his grandfather, after the coming conversation, the nurses and doctors were in-house.
Jeha bit his bottom lip to keep from speaking, but he gave Ryan a thumbs up behind his back releasing him to tell the truth.
Ryan let out a sigh of relief.
“Boss has lived through some trouble this past week,” Ryan said. “We have thwarted seven attempts on his life. We cannot avoid having a security team following him anymore.”
“Why do we know nothing about this?” Yisu asked, his narrowed gaze shifting to Jeha.
“Boss asked us to keep the attempts on his life out of the daily reports to the main house,” Ryan said. “He worried it would stress Chairman Wook even more.”
The room fell silent and Jeha swallowed when he noted his mother’s frown.
“Who is attacking Jeha?” Yisu asked, breaking the silence.
Ryan paused this time.
A minute passed, in which Jeha met his grandfather’s gaze.
Chae Wook’s gaze widened in understanding.
“Speak,” Maria prompted Ryan. “My husband asked you an important question.”
Ryan cleared his throat.
“Boss is investigating a problem with the three Raven Clubs under his cousin’s care,” Ryan said, his voice trembling slightly. “He wanted to keep his interest on a need-to-know basis so as not to ruffle feathers. We tried our best to keep the investigation quiet, but we failed.”
“A problem with the clubs,” Yisu said, his tone turning thoughtful.
He dropped his hands from his chest and looked at Jeha as realization grew.
“Thank you for your hard work, Ryan. You can step out now. Thank you for being honest with us.”
Ryan left the room in fast strides, closing the door with the gentlest of clicks. He would wait for Jeha outside.
Sui Writes 
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