Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 181

Fifth Vital- Episode 181

181. A Business Card

“Please, just take a look at this.”

“I’m looking for witnesses.”

Lee Su-jeong was, as always, handing out flyers seeking witnesses.

After handing them out for a while, she went around collecting the flyers that had fallen to the ground one by one.

They were just pieces of paper, but seeing the flyers with people’s footprints on them made her feel as if her own heart was being trampled on.

She collected all the flyers from the street and walked towards the trash can.

“Hello.”

Just as Lee Su-jeong was about to check the trash can, she heard a woman’s voice. Turning her head, she saw the owner of the donut shop slightly opening the door and greeting her.

“Yes, hello.”

The two, who had met because of the flyers being thrown into the shop’s trash can, were now comfortable exchanging greetings, unlike their first encounter.

When her eldest and second child were busy with their studies, Lee Su-jeong would often come out to hand out flyers with her youngest.

She would occasionally buy donuts for her youngest as a snack, and the owner would offer to watch the child so she could hand out flyers comfortably.

“I collected the flyers that were in there and kept them for you.”

“You didn’t have to do that. I could have done it myself.”

“I was cleaning around anyway, so it’s okay.”

Lee Su-jeong headed inside the shop to receive the flyers.

“사장님 [Sa-jang-nim, a Korean term of address for a business owner], please pack some donuts for me.”

Lee Su-jeong was grateful for the shop owner’s kindness and would occasionally buy donuts, though not often.

“Oh my! You don’t have to do that.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose. My kids really love the donuts here. My youngest wanted to eat them yesterday, so I said I’d buy some.”

“I’m even more grateful that your children enjoy them. Should I pack the usual?”

“Yes, please put them in a small box.”

While the part-time worker was packing the donuts, the owner brought out the flyers she had collected from the trash can and approached the table where Lee Su-jeong was sitting.

“But it seems like fewer people are throwing them away these days. Look at this.”

The owner was speaking as she placed the flyers on the narrow, long table where several people could sit side by side.

“Compared to yesterday……”

“Cough!”

A man wearing a hat, who was drinking coffee at the next seat, spat out his coffee as if he had choked.

“Oh my, are you alright, sir?”

“Here’s a tissue.”

Lee Su-jeong, who was sitting next to him, took out a tissue from the dispenser in front of her and reached out.

“Th…thank you.”

The man hesitated before slowly taking the tissue.

“Sir, the donut got wet from the coffee. I’ll get you a new one.”

“No, it’s alright. Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, please let me know if you’re uncomfortable.”

The owner didn’t insist further when the man adamantly refused.

“사장님, the donuts are ready.”

“The packaging is complete.”

The owner received the donut box from the part-time worker at the counter and handed it to Lee Su-jeong.

“I’ll give you another shopping bag, so you can put the flyers in here.”

“Thank you. I’ll come again.”

“Yes, go safely.”

After Lee Su-jeong left the shop, the owner went inside, where the counter and donut display were, and approached the part-time worker.

“Bora, did you put one more chocolate and strawberry donut in?”

“Of course. You told me to add more last time because the kids liked them. But 사장님, there’s only one flyer left?”

The part-time worker pointed to the flyer on the counter table.

“I deliberately kept one aside.”

“Oh! Why?”

“I was thinking of putting it up in our shop. If I told Hyun-joon’s mom, she’d feel sorry and tell me not to.”

The owner felt drawn to Lee Su-jeong, who consistently came out to look for witnesses, rain or shine.

Perhaps because they were of similar age and their children were of similar age, she felt sorry for her struggling alone. So, she decided to put up a flyer in the shop. Even if it wasn’t a big help, she thought she should inform people about the accident since many of the people who came to buy donuts were from the neighborhood.

“Wow! Our 사장님 is so cool.”

“What’s so cool about it? It’s not a big deal……. Give me the tape over there.”

“Here you go.”

The owner lightly attached the tape she received from the part-time worker to the end of the flyer and stuck it on one side of the glass wall in front of the table.

“Sigh!”

“Um, excuse me……?”

Just as the owner’s sigh poured out over the attached flyer, the man sitting at the table called out in a small voice.

“Yes, sir. Do you need anything?”

The person who called out to the owner was the man who had choked on his coffee earlier.

“Should I get you another donut?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s about that flyer.”

The man’s gaze was directed towards the flyer attached to the colorfully decorated glass wall.

“Is it a hit-and-run case?”

“This? Yes, that’s right.”

As soon as she put up the flyer, the customer showed interest, so the owner told him in detail as if it were her own business.

“Don’t even mention it. Her situation is so pitiful. The driver was working until dawn and got hit by a hit-and-run right in front of here.”

“Has the injured person not woken up yet?”

“No, the surgery went well, but they haven’t woken up yet. The hospital bills are also a problem, and the family is suffering terribly. Anyway, the hit-and-run driver who ruined someone else’s life should suffer the same……”

Ding-dong-

The conversation was interrupted when a customer appeared while the owner was passionately speaking.

“Welcome. What can I get you?”

“Two cream puffs, please.”

“Here you go. Goodbye.”

“Make a lot of sales.”

“Oh! Bora, did that customer leave?”

The owner asked about the man at the table who had left after serving the customer.

“Yes, he just left.”

“That customer didn’t even touch his donut.”

On the table where the man had been sitting, there was exactly half a cup of coffee and an untouched donut.

“Maybe it’s because it got wet when he spat out the coffee?”

“No. That customer never eats the donut whenever he comes.”

“How do you know that, 사장님?”

“He’s a regular customer.”

Since most customers were for takeout, there weren’t many customers who came and ate continuously in the store. That man had come for three consecutive days, so the owner remembered him.

“He came at night yesterday and the day before, but he came early today? Is he from the shopping district?”

“No, 사장님. I don’t think he’s from around here. I have a feeling about something.”

“What feeling?”

“He orders donuts every time but never eats them, and he only sips his coffee. And someone who always comes at night came early today. There’s only one explanation for this.”

The part-time worker’s expression was serious, as if she was about to say something important.

“What is it?”

“This is! 100% someone who came to catch an affair. I think his girlfriend or wife is cheating. So……”

“Hey! I thought it was something. Bora, stop watching so many affair dramas. That’s why you keep thinking like that.”

“사장님, you should watch it once. It’s more interesting than you think.”

“No way!”

The owner waved her hand and cleaned up the seat where the man had been sitting.

* * *

“Hello.”

Lee Chan-hee entered the hospital with a cheerful greeting.

“Hello, Lee 쌤 [Ssaem, a Korean term for teacher or instructor, often used for doctors].”

“No car in the parking lot?”

Lee Chan-hee, who came in through the back door, asked about the woman’s foreign car that had caused a commotion with propofol the day before.

“A tow truck came and towed it away this morning.”

“I wanted to see the car properly in the daylight……. But the weather is really nice today, isn’t it?”

“It is. I want to go for a drive.”

“Driving is great. Enjoying the wind while driving along the Paldang Bridge [a bridge known for its scenic views], and there’s a really famous 칼국수 [Kal-guksu, Korean knife-cut noodle soup] place near there, eating noodles there, 해물파전 [Haemul Pajeon, seafood pancake], and a glass of 밤 막걸리 [Bam Makgeolli, chestnut rice wine] would be perfect.”

“Perfect is perfect. Perfect with drunk driving!”

Choi Mona, who came out of the emergency room, said sternly with an indifferent expression.

“Hey! Who said anything about drunk driving? I’m just saying. Anyway, Choi 쌤, you have no romance. Romance……”

“Romance doesn’t feed you. What romance are you talking about? Besides, Lee 쌤 doesn’t even have a car?”

“I do!”

“Oh, Lee 쌤 had a car?”

“Of course. Every man has a dream car in his heart.”

“You have a dream car, but it’s true that you don’t have a real car.”

“Heh!”

“Pfft!”

The reception staff burst into laughter as the realistic Choi Mona threw consecutive fact bombs.

“If you look at it, Lee 쌤 and Choi 쌤 are like really close friends, you know?”

“That’s right. I think so too.”

“No. I refuse to have such a heartless friend.”

“Me too.”

“Our Lee 쌤 and Choi 쌤 are getting along well today too. Stop it and go to the examination room with me.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk approached and put her hand on the shoulders of the two.

“Yes? Why the examination room?”

“Is it the doctor’s call?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk nodded instead of answering and headed to Tae-kyung’s examination room with the two.

Knock knock-

“Lee 쌤, Choi 쌤. Come on in.”

“Hello.”

Team Leader Choi was also with Tae-kyung when he opened the door.

“It’s not anything special, but I called you to give you some information. Please pay special attention to patients undergoing endoscopy for the time being.”

Tae-kyung asked the staff to prevent patients like Lee Min-hwi from happening again.

“Yes, I understand.”

“And Lee 쌤, Choi 쌤?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“In the future, don’t think about treating drunk patients alone. Bring Team Leader Choi or Agent Jang with you.”

In the early hours of this morning, while Tae-kyung was performing emergency surgery, a drunk man who had been fighting at a bar came as a patient.

Fortunately, the patient’s injuries were not serious, but they had a hard time with the intoxicated patient.

It took more than 30 minutes to suture a 2cm wound on the back of his hand because the drunk patient kept pushing the medical staff.

“I think it’s important that the medical staff doesn’t get hurt as much as the patient is important. So, I’m telling you both not to overdo it.”

“Yes, I will be careful.”

“Please tell Nurse Lim and Team Leader Choi to the other staff as well.”

“Yes, Director.”

“That’s all.”

After finishing the delivery, Tae-kyung left the examination room, checked the condition of the patient he had operated on in the early hours of the morning, and came back down.

“Going to the emergency room.”

“Doctor!”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk called out to Tae-kyung, who was coming down from the ward and heading to the emergency room.

“There’s an outpatient.”

“Really? Please guide the patient in right away.”

“Yes.”

Clang-

“The patient can go in now.”

As soon as Lim Jeong-suk led Tae-kyung into the examination room, she approached the man sitting on the waiting room chair at the reception desk.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

As the man who needed to be examined got up from his seat, the three companions sitting around him all stood up at the same time and looked at the man heading to the examination room.

Knock knock-

“Yes, come in.”

“Hello, Doctor.”

“Yes, please sit here, patient. You came because you were uncomfortable with your stomach?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“How is your stomach uncomfortable?”

“Well, you see……”

The man explained his uncomfortable symptoms in detail. Tae-kyung palpated the man and informed him of the results after a simple examination.

“It’s not serious. Your stomach is just full of gas.”

“Gas? No wonder my stomach feels bloated and I keep farting.”

“I’ll prescribe some medicine for you. Drink plenty of water and eat foods rich in fiber.”

“Yes, thank you. Excuse me, Doctor……”