Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 109

109. Media Play

“Choi, I just heard some crazy news.”

Lee Chan-hee, entering the emergency room, approached Choi Mona, who was talking to a nurse at the station.

“Seriously, I didn’t think someone could be this cruel.”

“Lee, is it about Do Han-yeon?”

The hottest topic in our hospital right now was the level of punishment for Do Han-yeon.

“That’s right. Everyone, brace yourselves.”

“Stop stalling and tell me.”

“I just overheard Soo and Officer Kim talking, and apparently, that woman asked for a lawyer.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“And she’s denying everything, asking if there’s any evidence of her abuse. It’s a mess.”

“That’s just ridiculous.”

“We need solid evidence to arrest her. Honestly, it’s not surprising that Do Han-yeon would do this, but it’s frustrating that we need evidence to punish her.”

“Seriously, how can they ask for evidence when the victim is so obvious? Don’t you think so, Choi?”

“That crazy bitch, she deserves to be struck by lightning.”

Choi Mona, who had been listening quietly, exploded and cursed vehemently.

* * *

“……”

Long eyelashes fluttered as if waking from sleep.

“Doctor…”

Se-young, opening her eyes in the recovery room, called out to Tae-kyung as soon as she woke up from the anesthesia.

“Se-young, are you okay?”

Tae-kyung came to the recovery room straight from the operating room after stopping by the doctor’s office.

“Yes. Is the surgery over?”

“Yes. The doctor took out what was hurting Se-young’s tummy.”

“Thank you.”

“The anesthesia is wearing off, so it might hurt a bit. Don’t hold back if it hurts or is difficult, tell me right away.”

“Yes. I’m okay now. This isn’t even that painful.”

Every time Se-young, accustomed to pain and suffering, spoke so calmly, Tae-kyung felt even more sorry as an adult.

“Se-young, shall we move to the hospital room?”

“Yes.”

Tae-kyung headed to the hospital room with Se-young.

“Wow! Doctor, what is this?”

Se-young’s eyes widened as she returned to the hospital room.

Tae-kyung had prepared a small gift for Se-young, who had been through so much.

The hospital room was decorated brightly with cute dolls and stickers of all sizes.

He wanted Se-young to see only bright and good things and feel comfortable while she was in the hospital. So, he had asked Team Leader Choi right before the surgery.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s so pretty. There’s a fairy tale book my mom used to read to me, and it looks just like the princess’s room in it.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I really like it. Thank you.”

“Se-young, if you need anything or want anything, tell the doctor. Okay?”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Actually, there is one thing.”

“Okay, what is it? Just tell me. The doctor will do anything for you.”

Tae-kyung reacted strongly when Se-young told him what she wanted for the first time.

“It’s not something I need or want. I have a wish.”

“A wish? What wish?”

“I hope that bad woman who hurt me gets punished.”

The bad woman Se-young was talking about was Do Han-yeon. The child must have been through so much that her wish was for Do Han-yeon to be punished.

Of course, she should be punished, but this issue was that desperate for the child.

“That’s Se-young’s wish?”

“……Yes.”

“Okay, that wish will definitely come true. I promise.”

Knock knock-

“Doctor, can I talk to Se-young for a moment?”

“Come in. Se-young, I’ll come again.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Tae-kyung made way as Officer Kim entered.

* * *

“Se-young really said that?”

Tae-kyung was going down to the first floor with Ui-jin after leaving the hospital room.

“I can’t believe she wished for something that’s so obvious, just because of how much she suffered because of that woman.”

“I know. It made me feel bad again to hear that.”

“But it seems like Do Han-yeon is shamelessly talking about evidence and lawyers.”

“I heard. She’s a woman who’s given up on being human.”

“I know a lawyer who’s really good. Should I ask her?”

Ui-jin had been seriously considering asking her older sister since earlier.

“That’s a good idea, but I think we need something bigger to make sure she gets properly punished.”

“Bigger?”

“Yeah. The thing is, anyone can hire a lawyer if they have money, even if they’ve committed a really serious crime.”

“That’s true.”

“Do Han-yeon must have made a ton of money from YouTube. If she hires a so-called successful lawyer with that money, she’ll definitely try to get out of it somehow. And if all else fails, she’ll at least try to reduce her sentence.”

Tae-kyung’s words made a lot of sense. Ironically, the law doesn’t always side with the weak and protect only the weak.

Sometimes, people who have done unbelievably bad things are acquitted by using expensive lawyers and claiming diminished capacity and mental illness.

Do Han-yeon, who is rich and cunning, would probably do that.

“But, seriously, would there really be a lawyer who would take on the defense of such a heinous person?”

“There might be. How else do you explain people who get acquitted even after killing someone? There are quite a few people who will do anything for money.”

“I guess so, just looking at the cases in the news. Then what do we do? Do Han-yeon is making a fuss about hiring a lawyer.”

“In times like these, you have to add fuel to the fire.”

“Add fuel? What’s that?”

“We have to use the media.”

“Are you going to tell the media?”

“I might.”

* * *

“Hello. Are you here for a checkup?”

“I’m not here for a checkup, but to see the director.”

“The director? Who are you?”

Given the situation, the receptionist asked cautiously at the middle-aged man’s words that he had come to see Tae-kyung.

“I’m from the SBC News Bureau for an interview.”

“SBC, as in the broadcasting station! Oh my, really. Listen, our director doesn’t do that kind of thing.”

The staff responded firmly to the words that he was from the broadcasting station.

“Young, call security quickly. What’s with this talk about an interview?”

“Officer Jang, we have a peddler here.”

“What, a peddler?”

Jang Deuk-chil, who was guarding the front gate, frowned and approached upon hearing that.

“Hey, mister. We don’t do interviews or anything like that, so it’s best if you leave nicely.”

“No, sir, I think you’re mistaken.”

“What mistake? Don’t say such things and leave quickly…”

Just as Jang Deuk-chil was about to drag the middle-aged man out, Tae-kyung, who was coming down the stairs, saw the scene.

“It’s okay. He’s my guest.”

Leaving everyone with curious expressions, the middle-aged man entered the doctor’s office with Tae-kyung.

* * *

“Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule. I’m Goo Go-chan, team leader from the SBC News Bureau.”

“I’m Kim Tae-kyung.”

“I contacted you thinking I would definitely be rejected, but I didn’t expect you to agree to the interview.”

The whole story of how Tae-kyung met the broadcasting station person was like this.

Goo Go-chan had seen the footage of Do Han-yeon filmed at the hospital by PD Park, who had been doing a documentary on Seri Sera at the broadcasting station. And without hesitation, he decided to air the footage on the 9 o’clock news main segment today.

‘Ah, it would be more dramatic if we included an interview with this doctor.’

But no matter how he thought about it, it seemed like he needed an interview with Tae-kyung, who was an expert and Se-young’s doctor, to attract more attention.

In the end, he contacted her using the cell phone number he had found by mobilizing all his broadcasting station connections, thinking he would at least give it a try, and he got Tae-kyung’s permission. So, Goo Go-chan hurriedly came to the hospital to do the interview himself.

“I’m asking out of curiosity, but why did you agree to the interview? My junior PD told me that you refused filming even when you were at Shinhwa University Hospital.”

“The reason is simple. I agreed because I thought the interview would be helpful to Se-young.”

The way to make Do Han-yeon unable to move was to gain the attention of the entire nation.

Anything that became a big issue and attracted attention was that much more advantageous for resolving the case.

He thought that there was nothing faster than the media for that, and just in time, he accepted Goo Go-chan’s offer, who had contacted him.

“I briefly mentioned it on the phone earlier, but the footage of Do Han-yeon taken at the hospital will also be aired. Is that okay with you?”

“It’s okay as long as it focuses on Do Han-yeon and doesn’t show the staff. People need to see that footage to know the truth about Do Han-yeon.”

“Actually, this is a really top-secret matter, but after our PD Park received the hospital footage, we also obtained evidence footage.”

“Evidence footage?”

“Yes, a young man living next door dropped his cell phone from the second-floor window while talking to his girlfriend in the early morning.”

Goo Go-chan told Tae-kyung about the evidence footage in detail.

The man who went out to pick up his phone accidentally heard a child’s sobbing coming from the basement of the house next door.

Feeling uneasy, the man couldn’t just let it go, so he eventually climbed over the fence and entered Do Han-yeon’s house. And he captured the horrific scene visible through the slightly open basement window on his cell phone.

After agonizing over it, the man sent the tip-off video to the broadcasting station and then handed over the video to the police who came to his house.

“At first, the tip-off came to another current affairs reporting team, but that PD thought it would be better to air it on the news first, so it came to the news bureau.”

“That’s really good.”

He thought that Do Han-yeon, who had been talking about evidence, was really done for now.

Probably, if this video is released tonight, Do Han-yeon will be the enemy of everyone in Korea.

“Our team also thought that this was Se-young being helped from heaven. Just answer the questions I ask comfortably during the interview.”

“Okay.”

“Then, let’s proceed.”

* * *

“This!”

Thud-

“This!”

Thud- Thud- Thud-

“And this and this too.”

Officer Kim, who was investigating Do Han-yeon, laid out the items that his juniors had brought back on the desk one by one after returning from the investigation.

“Do Han-yeon, you know what all this is, right?”

From the long 50cm ruler to the sharp wires and leather straps, all were items that Do Han-yeon had used to abuse the child.

“Why would she do this? Seriously!”

And the most absurd item found in the room was an amulet.

On one side of the room that Do Han-yeon used, several amulets were plastered on a picture of Se-young smiling.

“These are the exhibits taken from your house. Are you still going to deny it?”

“Yes. These are all my things. But why! Did I hit anyone with this? It’s just my stuff, why are you saying I’m denying it? And hurry up and contact my lawyer. I gave you the number earlier.”

“Quiet, and tell me why you put these amulets on the picture?”

“Hey, can’t a mom buy an amulet and put it on a picture for her child’s well-being?”

“So, you’re saying you bought an amulet and put it on the picture for Sera’s well-being?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Then how about this? You talked about evidence, right? Let’s see if you can deny it even after seeing this.”

“Officer, Officer?”

Just as Officer Kim was about to click on the video saved on his phone, he heard his junior’s urgent voice.

“What is it? I’m in the middle of an investigation.”

“Please watch TV quickly.”

“TV?”

The junior turned on the power to the TV that was hanging on the police station wall.

“They’re previewing that the evidence footage we obtained will be on the news.”