Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 72

Fifth Vitality – Episode 72

72. Not a Kid. Lee Woo-jin

“Mom…….”

The sudden sound of ‘Mom’ made me stop reaching for the Pororo [a popular Korean children’s drink].

Pausing, Choi Mona’s gaze, which had been fixed on the drink, shifted to the side.

‘Room 311?’

The child in the patient gown was a six-year-old boy admitted to Room 311.

‘He must be out with his guardian.’

Choi Mona, assuming a six-year-old wouldn’t be wandering around alone at this hour, decided to ignore him and focus on her task.

“Mom, Mom?”

But then he called her ‘Mom’ again. He even approached Choi Mona, accurately repeating the word ‘Mom’ twice.

Just as she was about to put down the Pororo drink, wondering what was going on, the six-year-old delivered the final blow.

“I missed you, Mom.”

“Cough!”

Choi Mona was so surprised that it felt like a worm was stuck in her throat, and she coughed involuntarily.

“Hey! I’m not your mom.”

It was the perfect moment for a misunderstanding. Choi Mona quickly and firmly corrected the child.

“You shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly. Children shouldn’t lie. Got it?”

“Sniff!”

She was just correcting a mistake, but it caused a problem. Tears welled up in the child’s eyes.

“Hey? Kid? Why are you crying all of a sudden?”

Choi Mona thought she was speaking as gently as possible, but from the child’s perspective, it probably didn’t sound that way. Her expressionless and somewhat cynical demeanor likely made her sound angry.

“Don’t cry. Hey, don’t cry. Huh?”

Choi Mona’s skills with children, who even her nephews were afraid of, were practically non-existent. How could someone who disliked children be good with them?

“Don’t cry. Sh, stop!”

It wasn’t comforting at all, but strangely, the child from Room 311 was trying hard not to cry.

“This…….”

“Do you want this? This is mine. My Pororo.”

“Sniff! Pororo.”

“Okay. Don’t cry. I’ll give it to you.”

Choi Mona didn’t want to give up her favorite Pororo drink, but she figured it was better than the child crying at this early hour.

“I’ll give you this, so don’t cry. Got it?”

“Yes. Woo-jin won’t cry.”

“Okay. Here! Drink it all up.”

“It’s delicious. Hehe.”

Woo-jin, who gulped down the drink in one go, looked like he had everything he could ever want.

“Hey? Kid?”

“I’m not a kid. Woo-jin. Lee Woo-jin is my name.”

“Did you come out here alone?”

Choi Mona actually knew about Woo-jin’s existence. For the past two days, every time she went to the ward, this child had been openly staring at her.

She had no particular fondness for children, so she hadn’t been particularly curious or inclined to find out why he was staring.

“Where’s your grandma?”

Come to think of it, she remembered the child’s grandmother lying on the guardian’s bed when she made her rounds earlier.

“She’s not my grandma? She’s the grandma who takes care of me because my mom and dad are at work.”

“So she’s a caregiver. But why did you come out in the early morning? You shouldn’t be out at this hour.”

“Because I missed my mom.”

Woo-jin then did the ironic thing of pointing at Choi Mona while saying he missed his mom.

“Why are you pointing at me, saying you miss your mom? I’m not your mom.”

“You look like my mom.”

“I look like your mom?”

“Yes.”

Woo-jin showed her a crumpled family photo from his pocket.

“Ah, that’s why…….”

After seeing the photo, Choi Mona immediately understood why the child had been calling her ‘Mom’.

The photo showed his mother smiling, with almost the same hairstyle as her.

Woo-jin thought she looked like his mom because of her hair. A child of that age could easily make that connection.

“Woo-jin waited for the teacher [referring to Choi Mona].”

“You waited for me? Why?”

“Yes, when I see the teacher, it feels like I’m seeing my mom. I like it.”

Woo-jin had even asked the ward nurse what time Choi Mona would be coming and waited.

Because he couldn’t see his mom often due to his parents working early morning jobs, he comforted himself by looking at Choi Mona.

“I’m sorry, kid.”

“Woo-jin. Not a kid. Lee Woo-jin.”

“Y, yeah. Anyway, I’m not your mom, and you need to sleep at this hour. That’s how you can get discharged from the hospital quickly. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go back inside quickly.”

“But. I need to poop. I want to go to the bathroom. Please come with me.”

“……!”

In that short moment, Choi Mona had exactly three thoughts.

First: Did I really have to go through all this just to drink a Pororo at this early hour?

Second: Should I ask the nurse at the station for help?

Third: Or should I wake up the caregiver grandmother?

‘Ha! Forget it.’

But she decided to give up on all of them. The nurse at the station would be busy, and she didn’t really want to wake up a sleeping old woman.

‘Why isn’t the call ringing? Is the phone off?’

Besides, why was the hospital so quiet today? Choi Mona checked her innocent phone and sighed.

“Teacher, I need to poop.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“Teacher, can’t you come in with me?”

“Kid, no, Lee Woo-jin, you’re a boy, and I’m a woman, so I can’t go in with you.”

“Mom goes with me.”

“I’m a doctor, not your mom. The children’s toilet is at the front, so go in there.”

“…….”

“You said you needed to poop? Aren’t you going in?”

“Goblin.”

“What? Goblin?”

“My brother. My brother Woo-hyung said that if you go to the bathroom alone at night, a goblin will catch you.”

The fear of goblins was so strong that Woo-jin was even crossing his legs, holding in his poop. That’s how scared he was to go in alone.

“Lee Woo-jin? There’s no such thing as goblins. The scariest thing in this world is people. Go in and poop quickly.”

“Really?”

“Really. So go in quickly.”

“Then please sing the Pororo song for me instead.”

“What? Sing what for you?”

Choi Mona asked again in bewilderment. It never rains but it pours; it was clear that she was having a bad day.

“The Pororo song. Mom sang it every time I went to the bathroom at night. Then I’m not scared.”

“I can’t sing. My throat hurts.”

“Woo-jin is scared. I need the Pororo song…….”

“Okay. I’ll play the Pororo song for you instead. Okay?”

“Really? I can go in now.”

Fearing that the child might poop his pants, Choi Mona quickly took out her phone and played the Pororo song as a second-best option.

Porong Porong Pororo, our friend~♬

“Teacher? You didn’t leave?”

“Kid, I didn’t leave.”

“You can’t leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Teacher, do you like Pororo too?”

“No way. Hurry up and poop.”

“I like Pororo the best.”

Woo-jin, who kept talking to Choi Mona throughout his bowel movement, washed his hands thoroughly and came out of the bathroom, returning to the ward.

“Now, are you okay? Go back inside quickly.”

“Thank you. Teacher, will you come tomorrow too?”

“No. Lee Woo-jin. I’m not coming tomorrow. Now go in and sleep.”

“Teacher, just a moment.”

“Kid, do you still have something to say?”

“I’ll go in after doing just this.”

“What is it?”

Choi Mona, who just wanted to get back down to the emergency room quickly, lowered her head at Woo-jin’s gesture.

“Thank you.”

Then the child gently hugged Choi Mona, expressed his gratitude, and went into the ward.

“Good night, Teacher.”

Slam-

“Ha! That was tough. Kids are tough after all.”

* * *

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Taekyung was receiving greetings from Turtle No. 1 and No. 2 [a playful nickname for junior doctors], who were leaving work at the reception desk.

“Yeah, good job.”

“Um, Teacher? Could you switch me to something other than ward rounds?”

“What kind of answer do you think you’ll get from me?”

“I’ll see you later.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Doctor Choi so listless.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook, who was next to her, found Choi Mona’s tired appearance unusual. Perhaps because she came from a military family, Choi Mona, who had better stamina than most men, had never seemed tired before.

“Doctor Choi came back from her rounds earlier and had dark circles down to her ankles?”

“Really? I didn’t think anything was wrong during the early morning rounds…….”

“I think she’s not physically tired, but mentally tired.”

“Oh! As expected of a friend, Doctor Lee seems to know Doctor Choi’s heart well.”

“I always understand the hearts of all the people at our hospital equally.”

“Really? Then you understand my heart right now?”

Taekyung narrowed his eyes at Lee Chan-hee, who was full of excitement about leaving work.

“I don’t think I have that much skill yet. Then I’ll leave work now.”

“Hey! Lee Chan-hee, don’t you stand there?”

Lee Chan-hee, who felt guilty about something, ran out of the hospital without looking back at Taekyung’s call.

“Is it just my imagination? It strangely seems like Doctor Lee is running away.”

“He’s running away. He didn’t do his homework properly today.”

“But you’re just letting him go?”

“I didn’t catch him on purpose.”

“You usually wouldn’t let him leave work, so why did you let him go today?”

“Sometimes, you need to loosen the screws like this so they can take a breather.”

“When you look at it, you’re really good at training.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re completely training them by giving them both the whip and the carrot [a Korean idiom for reward and punishment]. I think you’re almost at the level of a trainer.”

“I still have a long way to go to train our turtles. Oh, I’ll be seeing outpatients early today, so let me know as soon as a patient comes.”

Before he knew it, it had become natural for Taekyung to see outpatients even before regular clinic hours on the days he was on duty.

“Instead, get some sleep for an hour or two.”

“But what should I do if I can’t sleep right now?”

“Try counting sheep or something and force yourself to sleep.”

“Sheep? What sheep?”

Just then, head chef Oh Gye-soon, who was busily moving around preparing breakfast, passed by.

“If you eat breakfast, your stomach will be relieved, and you’ll get sleepy from the food.”

“That’s right, ma’am. I’ll have breakfast and then sleep.”

“Then you should. A doctor needs to take care of their own health. Director Kim is good in every way, but when I look at it like this, he lacks a sense of responsibility.”

“No, ma’am. Where else is there a doctor as responsible as our teacher?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook didn’t understand Oh Gye-soon’s words, which usually made sense, for the first time.

“He’s the director of the hospital, but he’s too careless about taking care of his own body. I think a doctor taking good care of their own body is also a sense of responsibility to the patients.”

“As expected of our ma’am. I didn’t know you had such a deep meaning.”

“If that’s the case, I should take better care of my health in the future.”

“Hmm. You should. I made a refreshing Yeonpo-tang [octopus soup] with octopus for Director Kim. Go and eat it quickly.”

“Okay.”

Taekyung headed to the cafeteria to eat the Yeonpo-tang that Oh Gye-soon had made with sincerity.

* * *

Residential alleyway-

A healthy middle-aged man who got out of a fairly large cargo truck headed to a nearby fruit shop.

“Hello?”

“Oh, who is this?”

The female owner of the fruit shop seemed quite happy to see the man after a long time.

“I didn’t see your car this morning, when did you come up?”

“I just arrived. Is everything okay?”

“What else would be wrong besides housework? Our second child’s store is about to go bankrupt, so I have a headache right now.”

“You must be very worried.”

“Of course. Oh, look at my mind. I heard you became a dad. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you happy?”

“I feel like I’m flying in the sky.”

“Why wouldn’t you be? It’s not easy to become a dad in your 50s. I heard the baby’s nickname is Kkan-ddam [meaning ‘darling’ or ‘precious’ in Korean]?”

“Yes. My father-in-law gave it to him.”

“I heard it from Kkan-ddam’s mom. When you think about it, Phuong is very lucky.”

“I think so too. Please pack some fruit for me, ma’am.”

“Okay. What should I give you?”

“Just give me whatever fruit is good for pregnant women.”

Lee Go-cheol, who had asked her to choose for him, picked out quite a lot of fruit while thinking of Phuong.

“This grape is a pregnancy congratulatory gift from me. Kkan-ddam’s mom likes Shine Muscat, so go and feed it to her.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Take good care of your health for Kkan-ddam’s sake, and work harder for the sake of your child and wife.”

“Of course. I’ll be going now.”

Lee Go-cheol, holding a heavy bag of fruit, was walking down the alley leading to his house. Just as his light steps were getting faster, a welcome voice was heard from afar.

“Husband!”

Phuong, unable to bear it, had come out to meet her husband in the alley, eagerly waiting for him to come.

“Ah! Don’t come. Stop there!”

Lee Go-cheol, as if there was some dangerous substance, stopped Phuong’s steps and quickly ran towards his wife.

Thud-

Then, dropping the fruit bag on the ground, he spread his arms and hugged Phuong, showing off his newbie dad side.

“What were you thinking, coming out here where you could fall?”

“It’s okay. It’s not dangerous. I missed you, husband.”

“I missed Phuong and our Kkan-ddam too.”

Lee Go-cheol’s expression as he looked at Phuong was full of love. But for some reason, Phuong’s face as she looked at her husband was full of worries.

“I bought a lot of fruit. You like fruit, right?”

“I like it. Thank you.”

“Oh! Where is the place you really want to go with me today? Just tell me.”

“Promise me first. Promise me you’ll definitely go.”

Phuong, who had become much more fluent in Korean, even used the newly learned words to emphasize the promise.

“Don’t go back on your word. You have to go.”

“Of course I have to go where you want to go. Where is it?”

“Hospital.”